The Empire's End

Eriri extended her right index finger and made a beckoning gesture towards the imperial capital. Instantly, all the beastman in the capital were enveloped by a white light shield, which disintegrated the collars around their necks, freeing them from their bonds.

The humans in the capital, witnessing this, flew into a rage and began attacking the white shields or tried to manipulate the slave collars, but their efforts were in vain. They could only watch helplessly as the beastman were lifted into the sky by the light shields.

The countless white cocoons slowly rose from the ground and converged about a hundred meters above. Suddenly, the sky emitted a crackling sound, and a massive spatial rift appeared behind the beastman enveloped in light.

A strong pull from the spatial rift sucked all the beastman into it. In the next moment, a similar rift opened in the center of the beastman nation, Verbergen, and the beastman from the capital emerged from it, descending gently to the ground as the white shields surrounding them disappeared.

Though the beastman had no idea what had transpired, they found themselves back in their homeland in an instant. However, the audience watching through the screens had witnessed the entire scene, a spectacle so divine that it left them speechless.

After rescuing all the beastman slaves from the capital, Eriri turned her gaze back to the imperial city. "Your emperor, Garhard, was a foolish, arrogant man, and he has paid the price for his hubris."

As she spoke, Eriri replayed the scenes of the emperor Garhard and crown prince Byass' deaths on the screens, causing an uproar among the audience in the capital and beyond. Some of the emperor's most devout followers even began to weep bitterly, while the imperial family fell into despair.

In the Heiligh Kingdom and among the demon tribes, leaders watched the fate of Garhard with mixed feelings. The demon king, with his golden hair and red eyes, glanced at Arifureta beside Eriri, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his gaze before he turned away.

The reactions of the people in the capital did not affect Eriri in the slightest. She continued, her face expressionless, "However, I am a fair and just person. I will give you all a choice. If, deep in your hearts, you hold no malice towards beastman, you may freely pass through the barrier surrounding the capital and leave this place. But for those who cannot escape, there is only one fate—disappearing with the capital from this world."

Pausing briefly, Eriri added, "From this moment, you have two hours. Try to escape the capital while you can."

As soon as Eriri finished speaking, the entire capital descended into chaos. Everyone rushed towards the barrier, only to find that almost all of them were blocked, with less than one in ten thousand managing to pass through unhindered.

Seeing some people pass through the barrier unscathed, those left behind grew even more frantic, launching attack after attack on the barrier, only to find their efforts as futile as raindrops on the ocean.

In the following hours, violence erupted throughout the capital, with the darkest aspects of human nature on full display.

Two hours quickly passed, and as the sun began to set, painting the sky a deep red, the impending fate of the capital seemed all but certain.

"Time's up!"

Eriri's voice rang out, snapping the crazed inhabitants of the capital back to reality. They looked around in horror at the carnage and the bloodstains on their hands, shaking their heads in disbelief that they were responsible for such devastation. Then, one by one, they began to wail and beg towards the screens in the sky.

But their pleas fell on deaf ears. Eriri's cold voice echoed once more, as if the tolling of a death knell. "Unfortunately, you were unable to leave the barrier. Now, you must face your deaths."

With that, Eriri raised her hand, and under the watchful eyes of the entire world, a small yet overwhelmingly powerful energy sphere began to form in her palm.

Eriri then flipped her hand, and the energy sphere, no more than a dozen centimeters in diameter, descended slowly toward the capital.

The remaining people in the capital stared in terror at the approaching energy sphere. The overwhelming power radiating from it made it difficult for them to breathe, but there was nothing they could do. They could only wait for the inevitable end.

Finally, the energy sphere made contact with the ground, releasing a blinding white light at the point of impact. From that origin, the energy spread outwards, rapidly disintegrating the earth as it expanded.

As the ground crumbled, the shockwaves rippled across the entire planet. However, under Eriri's careful control, the tremors were mild, enough to be felt worldwide but without causing significant damage to the surface.

The energy wave halted at the edge of the barrier, leaving behind nothing but a deep, bottomless crater spanning tens of thousands of square kilometers where the capital once stood.

Eriri and her companions, hovering in the air above the now-desolate landscape, were completely untouched by the devastation.

At that moment, whether human, beastman, or demon, all who watched the screen fell silent. The mild tremors they had just experienced confirmed the horrifying reality of what they had witnessed.

Eriri's apocalyptic display of power left them with no will to resist. They realized their insignificance, and Eriri, standing above them, seemed like a goddess, transcending all living beings. Their so-called human-demon war now felt like a mere joke.

Even those who had faithfully worshiped the god Ehit found their faith wavering. Eriri's perfect image began to replace that of Ehit in their minds.

In the beastman nation of Verbergen, the five great elders knelt in awe, their faces filled with reverence as they bowed towards the screen showing Eriri. Behind them, all the beastman knelt as well, their expressions equally fervent and devout.

From this day forward, Eriri would be the only goddess in their hearts.