Hero of Darkness

After Kahn was finally done with saying goodbyes to all the important people, he and the subordinates used various modes of transportation and traveled to the closest city from one of the borders of the Rakos Empire.

Currently, he had east and north sides of the empire where he could escape from. But he chose the eastern region for a particular reason.

Because this side was closest to the No Man's Land zone where even the top saints of the Rakos Empire didn't dare to venture… as for the reason why…

It was because No Man's Land was shared by the two neighboring empires at the same time. It was more of an interjection between 3 empires and the 500 kilometers of area was basically a hot warzone.

If one side invaded it or tried to attack either of the two opposing empires through this region… it would be considered a declaration of war.

At this moment, Kahn, Omega and the rest of the generals were under the disguise of common travelers and were seated in an inn while completely hiding their auras, levels as well as ranks and enjoyed the local food.

"So do all of you understand the instructions? We barely have 5 days left till my final plan is executed.

Before that, we must find a way to enter the No Man's Land undetected and without causing a single scene. Or all of our plans will be foiled." spoke Kahn in a hushed voice as their group sat on one side of the inn, away from the normal crowd filled with demi-humans and other species of the populace.

"Master… just give me 2 days. I'll find a way to cross the border." said Ronin, the spymaster among Kahn's generals.

The reason Kahn asked for this was because even with his peak space force storage he currently had… he'd be barely able to cross 200 kilometers at best using the True Dimension. And after that… he'd soon be found out by the 5th stage saints stationed at the borders of any of the three empires.

This was a mission they could not afford to fail.

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5 DAYS LATER.

It was the day when the mission to get the Tablet of Arcana was supposed to officially end and who won this race among the three talented semi-saints would become clear.

And soon, if neither of them succeeded just like those who tried in the past hundred and fifty years… their place and future in their respective clans and factions would be decided based on the results.

Other than the faction whose representative actually got the tablet and got out even before the time window of the forbidden region closing came, the other two would still be on the edge of their seats.

However, while the noble factions were concerned about the results of the expedition…

A sudden recording spread across the entire Rakos Empire this very morning. And the contents of this recording shook the entire empire as well as the basic foundation of its structure.

A face of a man donned in regal gray attire appeared in front of the screens of the projection artifacts and every single village, town and city of the Verlassen fiefdom had this same recording displayed on the wide broadcasting screens.

And the man exuding authority and dominance was the most famous figure of the entire Rakos empire for the past one year.

"People of the Verlassen fiefdom as well as Rakos empire.

If you're watching this… means I, Kahn Salvatore, the sovereign of the Verlassen… am dead."

Declared Kahn in the recording right off the bat.

"This is a precautionary last recording I made for the worst-case scenario. In case my worst fears have come to reality, this last will of mine shall be spread throughout the empire and everyone will come to see it." his voice resounded in the whole empire.

Let it be households who suddenly received these artifacts on their doors or a crowded inn where some customers started playing the videos without any notice… Majority of the populated zones filled with people going about their lives quickly came across this recording.

"For the sake of gaining control over Verlassen fiefdom and its resources, you have already seen how far the three factions have gone in the past.

Let it be corruption, oppression, scams that you saw getting unveiled in the People's Court.

As well as the very recent massacre… there's no level of ruthlessness they'd not stoop to." he iterated.

"Recently, I was summoned and then put under pressure on by the government that is basically run and controlled by the people from the three factions.

They summoned me under the pretense of discussing issues related to the management of resources as well as the economy that is affected by my reign.

But for many reasons, I felt that there seemed to be an ulterior motive devised by these factions." he explained.

"If I'm not wrong… soon, they would declare some preposterous and obtuse news about me either being a traitor sent by one of the enemy empires or a corrupt sovereign who killed innocent people to cover my wrongdoings.

I'm certain that they'd even go as far as saying that I fled the empire or ran some underworld criminal organization.

And that I planned and made slaves out of government officials and criminals to do my bidding. That I manipulated the resources of the fiefdom to fill my personal needs.

I won't even be surprised if they called me the reincarnation of the devil himself." he said jokingly.

"I don't know which faction would go as far as kill me but if you're watching this… means it could be any of them or maybe all three of them." he spoke in a serious tone.

"So in case I die… I have already made arrangements for that scenario.

From here on… I declare Verlassen as an autonomous fiefdom under my last right as its sovereign.

The government running the fiefdom shall be self-sustaining and people should be able to vote for the officials and leaders from now on.

There shall be complete transparency of where the funds and resources of the government are used and those records should become accessible to any normal citizen of the fiefdom.

The army and every governmental as well as economic institution will have their own authority and would be independent of any input or influence from the government of the Rakos Empire.

The rules of trading and commerce shall be declared soon by the government of the fiefdom and the commanders will have the access to use the full military forces." said Kahn in an authoritative tone, befitting of a sovereign.

"In case any of the factions try to overthrow the government, I ask that the military and government of the fiefdom to take arms against them.

And citizens should not accept whatever reason they may give because the one who tries to take over Verlassen…" spoke Kahn as he ended his speech in the recording that echoed in the entire Rakos Empire.

"Are also the ones behind my death."