Clean up. That was what Zion had to do for the following week.
He and his people eliminated anyone who belonged to an opposing faction or people who Crystal wanted to get rid of, such as the royal advisors and other royal staff. Her entire close circle was replaced by Zion’s men, and the Royal staff, all of them, were also replaced by his men.
Smaller noble families were promoted, some all the way up to Duke status, such as Crystal’s maternal home and Lidia’s house. Others only jumped up one or two ranks, some even stayed the same.
Zion fully authorized the construction of Churches, Shrines, and Temples for Luminera, and after Crystal’s coronation, she officially declared that the Teachings of Light would be the official religion of the kingdom.
Since Crystal had been helping out the people for a while, they were ecstatic that she became queen and easily accepted Luminera as their new goddess.
Luminera, not wanting to lose her newly found followers, blessed everyone with her power. While they didn’t get holy power, they were cured of any sickness or illnesses that pleauged them and had her protection from harm.
Zion and Crystal worked together to rebuild the kingdom in their image, primarily his, guiding it into a new era defined by progress, where education, technology, science, and magic thrived side by side.
After six months, the kingdom was the most prosperous it had ever been in its long history.
Alfheim, the Kingdom of Astir, and the Holy City of Light merged into one nation, the Kingdom of Light.
The other kingdoms did not take kindly to this event. The Valkoria Kingdom, Thalrond Kingdom, and the Alithtos Alliance held a meeting with Crystal, Melina, and Zion, wondering what their reason was to merge together, greatly shifting the power balance of the nations.
Zion brushed them off, Crystal did the same, and Melina took a more diplomatic approach, telling to mind their on fucking business without actually saying that.
The dragons didn’t care. The beastmen were confused but accepted it. The dwarves closed their borders, fearing they were next, and the other three kingdoms of Midgard eyed the newly founded nation with caution.
"And so we’ll merge all of Midgard by the end of the year," Zion said, closing his PowerPoint as he talked about his future plans.
"Why the rest of Midgard? Shouldn’t we take over Cernunnos first to get their nexus pool?" Crystal wondered, now informed about all of Zion’s plans as well as what had been going on behind the scenes with the demons.
"While it would be good to have the nexus pool under our control, we need to unify Midgard under one rule and one god. This way, Arion will lose the strength he gets from people’s faith, and Luminera will get stronger. This will also make it easier for me to kill him when the time comes." Zion explained.
"We also wouldn’t have to worry about a sudden attack on our land if we decided to attack Cernunnos first." Zaleena chimed in.
Zion nodded. "Exactly. So, while you make plans for conquering all of Midgard, my team and I will start preparations for-"
An alarm, blaring as loudly as it could, went off, sending everyone into high alert. Zion stood up, checking a map that showed the entirety of the kingdom.
"What’s that alarm for?" Crystal wondered, a bit of fear resonating in her voice.
"My fracture alarm. It alerts me when a fracture is formed." He explained
"That must be annoying. Fractures form every day."
"No, this alarm isn’t for weak fractures. It only goes off if the fracture is Rank-8 or above."
"Oh....Oh...OH! I’ll head back to the castle and inform everyone. A rank 8 fracture isn’t something to take lightly. The kingdom will be placed on lockdown."
Zion nodded and flew out of his home alongside his mother. It took them approximately 0.5 seconds to find the fracture because a massive tear in space, the size of the Capital City, hovered in the air, pulsing with negative mana. There was no color, nothing that showed its rank, which was the worst part. It simply looked like a distortion in the sky with a crack that led to a dark, gritty world.
"Fuckkkkk! You gotta be shitting me!"
"Is that what I think it is?"
"I hope not. Because if I’m not mistaken, that’s a Rank-11 fracture, the most dangerous one that not even a Transcendant could take on. Mom, you go in there."
"What? I’m not going in there, are you crazy? Even dragons have a hard time taking on a Rank-11 Fracture. I remember Drakoth telling me that he almost died in a Rank-11 fracture 400 years ago. I may be stronger than a normal mystic cultivator, but I’m still in the inept state. Hell, even if I were at the True stage, I still wouldn’t be confident taking it on."
"All I’m hearing is that you’re a pussy."
Zaleena grabbed the back of his neck. "Watch it, son, I might throw you in there if you continue to piss me off."
"W-Well, since this is here. How about we study it? This is a great opportunity to understand how fractures work and see if we could make them ourselves."
Zaleena shrugged her shoulders. "Do as you please. Just don’t enter the crack. I don’t want to lose my only son."
"Do you think I’m an idiot or something? I have no plans to-"
A massive arm made of infernal energy shot from the fracture, grabbing Zion.
"Did an arm just-AAHHHHHHHHHH!" He was yanked away, pulled toward the fracture at high speeds.
"Unhand my son now!" Zaleena pulled out her sword, swinging down with enough force to tear space apart, not holding back anything to save Zion.
But the arm didn’t even falter and succeeded in pulling Zion into the fracture.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" She shot forward, trying to enter the fracture herself, but it started closing rapidly. She used all of her strength to keep it open, but it wasn’t enough. The fracture closed, blasting Zaleena back with devastating force.