As, per usual, Yuki's speech was met with applause, Satomi, Lucy, Yamato, and Pheobe all still remained in awe of the sheer scale of her creation. The four arching supportive structures itself span from almost the edge of the town, to about the 500 meter mark of the main structure, seemlessly connecting to the tower. It was not just the size, but also something else about it that was just eye catching. It would not be too far fetched to say, that this structure was the most beautiful thing Yamato had ever laid his eyes upon, aside fromYuki, of course. However, as beautiful as it was, for privacy reasons they entered the Citadel again, the Cube section of it to be precise.
"Does Pheobe have to climb stairs all the way up that if she wants to see the top…?"
"But of course not! I am proud to say that I have integrated the first functional elevator of this world, and have it fully operational as of now!"
"Pheobe doesn't know what an elevator is… But she is detectiv-ing that it means no stairs!"
"It's deducing, Pheobe…", Yamato said while patting her head.
"She's deducing!", Pheobe repeated proudly.
Yuki, who let this interaction play out without interrupting, continued with her dramatic presentation.
"Ahem, yes, no stairs! An elevator is basically a moving room, in which you can travel while doing nothing!"
"So you can use that room to travel to the top? And what does one do once they reached the top?", Lucy asked curiously.
"Nothing!"
"…As in…?"
"Not a single thing! There is no purpose!"
"Oh…"
"Well, the sphere has a purpose! But you can't access that without my top secret hidden way!"
"Okay… I'm confused."
"That's a shame. How come?"
"I'm not even sure."
"Is the secret way to use teleportation?", Satomi carefully asked.
"…No! Maybe. It's a secret so I won't tell you."
"O-okay…"
"Anyway, some of the lower space does have rooms, so it's not like the whole structure is inaccessible. And the higher floors have practical functions which are also super secret."
"T-that's great and all, Yuki… And I do feel reassured by this that you posses the ability to save my people… However, you mentioned having a solution?"
"That's right! Because with the rapid advances of the Naru Empire, there's only one way this can end now! So we will get directly involved."
As Yuki clapped her hands, Petrisha, Marberas and Amael appeared behind her, all three on their knees.
"Huh? Why are you here, Trishy? I only told these too to come…"
"Apologies, Mistress… I must have instinctively followed your call. I can retrieve if you wish."
"Uh, yeah… Or actually, no. You take Pheobe, cause Yamato and I have to go somewhere in a moment, and this whole thing is grown up talk anyway."
"Aww, but Pheobe wants to stay and keep pretending to listen and understand!"
"Sorry, but no. You can go take a look at the elevator though. Doesn't that sound fun? You can be moving up and down without even having to move!"
"Really!?"
Pheobe was suddenly really invested in using an elevator, and that was enough to convince her to storm off with Petrisha.
"Ahem, anyway. Satomi, worry not, as this actual angel Amael, and… Marneras, who is also super strong, will be taking care of the situation at the imperial capital right now!"
Not being able to call Marneras an archdemon sure hurt the dramatic effect Yuki was going for.
"Yes, please, lady Satomi, leave it to us."
"We will make sure to stop the conflict between your people and the Holy Empire, as well as take over their capital by ourselves…"
"I-if Yuki trust the two of you so much, then I will do the same… I realize that I am not in a position to make demands, and that we are currently at war… But might I ask that you try to avoid killing those who retreat?"
"But of course… We would never do otherwise…", Amael confidently promised.
"Thank you… My worries have been resolved, and I will leave the rest to you."
As Satomi too left the scene, only the four of them were left, and Yamato immediately addressed Marneras and Amael,
"Okay, listen, this is very important. If for some reason, you find relatives of Satomi, so other members of the royal family that are currently on the run, you report back to me. Otherwise you are free to do whatever you deem necessary to secure the capital. Prepare it for our takeover, but minimize civilian casualties."
"Understood, you can count on us, Lordship!"
"God, in your glorious name shall we take what is rightfully yours in the first place!"
And so they too departed, to do what they had been tasked to do. Resolve the conflict between the Naru and Holy Empire at the Holy capital, and take it over after. A job worthy of an army, assigned to two men. But that problem was already dealt with in Yuki's mind, and so she started the final part of her presentation, grabbing onto Yamato's arm and teleporting all the way up to the sphere at the top of the Citadel. The sphere was actually two half sphere's, about four meters apart and creating a large room in between. Pillars at the edge connecting the two, but leaving space for a balcony, the scenery reminded of a modern penthouse. Though the space was not divided in rooms, there was a single wall in the center cutting the area in half. One side having a desk and chair directly against the wall, with view directly outside. There were also bookshelves, maps and other work related things present. On the other side on the other hand, connected by a rotating piece of the wall, was a more relaxed theme. A bed, of course. But also a small water fountain, plants and pool, a true paradise. Almost 2 kilometers away from distractions, the optimized living space designed by Yuki for the two.
While Yuki was giving him a more detailed tour of all the things the Citadel had to offer, Marneras and Amael were on their way to the imperial capital, which was over 200 kilometers to the north. A trip that would take them around 10 minutes, due to the fact that unlike Amael, Marneras was unable to travel at light speed.
"You do know if you let me carry you, we would have already arrived by now…"
"The only time you can carry me is when I'm dead."
"Well, I suppose I would not want to be carried by you either… I only have the success of our mission in mind, is all."
"Well, you are welcome to fly ahead."
"My God entrusted me with this task alongside you for a reason. One I can only assume has to do with a concern regarding our ability to work together. Acting on my own would therefore most definitely be met with disappointment, which I would rather replace with praise."
"You think we caused his Lordship to worry…? But was it not lady Yuki who gave the directive for this?"
"Even so, I believe Milady has noticed his disapproval of our most recent disagreements as well, and is merely acting with his best interest at heart."
"We better not fail then…"
"Fear not. For Milady has graced us with this opportunity. She would not have done so if she did not have faith in our ability to succeed."
"I suppose so…"
Both now motivated than ever, sped up their flight and the city became visible in the horizon shortly after. The city was truly a sight to behold. White, large buildings of stone filled the city walls, the central cathedral and palast being the highlight without a doubt. Though, after having helped construct the Absolute Citadel, in a single night no less, this town could simply not compare. It was however eye catching enough for them to not immediately notice the fire seg to the buildings in the west of the city closest to the city wall. It seemed what remained of the Holy Empire's army had retrieved behind the wall and was fighting off catapult attacks as well as mages and soldiers on foot climbing or flying over the wall.
"What senseless slaughter… And it does not even happen in the name of God…"
"His Lordship would be disgusted by such a sight… Unforgivable."
"Truly…"
Completely agreeing on that, they both moved above the wall that was mainly attacked. Marneras cast a massive barrier, separating the city from the elves outside. Amael was impressed, as he found that he would struggle with passing through such a barrier, let alone considering the scale of it.
"Impressive… I will take the inside of the city, if you don't mind."
"Very well. I will be dealing with the elves, and any human soldiers still fighting them outside. Don't forget to look for members of the royal family. They might hide amongst the humans in the city."
"Unlikely considering what I heard was that the two nations are heavily racist towards each other… But even so I will be careful. I'm sure I wouldn't forget, but just to be sure… Did Milady or God say anything about the emperor of the humans?"
"They did not. Whether we take them captive or kill them seems to be up to us."
"Good to know…"
Marneras open a section of the barrier through which Amael passed and descended towards the town, and Marneras did the same. As he hovered over the confused elves that were stuck at his barrier, he honored Satomi's request to prevent bloodshed if possible and spoke loudly, so everyone could hear.
"Elves of the Naru Empire, retreat at once if you value your life. This land has already been claimed by his divine Lordship, Absolute Emperor and de facto God of the Absolute Empire, Yamato Tasumaki. All actions taken against his present representatives will be faced with execution. This is your only warning."
As a single magical projectile directly hit Marneras, he remained completely unharmed by the lesser spell. He responded accordingly, lifting his hand and shooting a spell of the 10th tier, "Absolute Inferno", a beam of concentrated black flames as hot as the surface of the sun, directly aimed at the aggressor. Not even ashes remained at where they had stood, only a black spot on the ground.
As he waited for the others to retreat, he was unexpectedly met with a large warrior, wearing damaged white and golden armor, with a sword as big as himself. He spoke in a clear and confident voice.
"I think not, lesser servant. I bring glory to Naru. You will vanquish at my hand. And your emperor will be next. For I am the Hero that emerged from the darkness, and brings the light."