Skybelle stopped her sword and looked at Skymender. The King, whose head had been lowered, also looked at him.
"The King is the only reason why I'd bother leaving the people on this island alive. Under his rule, they had created a unique society I had never even heard of. If you want to kill most of the officials, go ahead, but the King should stay alive."
Skybelle nodded. She turned her gaze from the King and looked at some of the officials. In just a few moments, around half of their heads had been cut off. She had killed the ones that had shown fear or hatred when she looked at them. The others had either feigned indifference, looked regretful, or simply showed resolve in the face of death.
Those who had felt regret had simply wished they could have led their people to better peace, while those who showed resolve in the face of death were naturally admirable.
She sheathed her sword and looked at the King. "Stand."
The King stood up. Although he had knelt just moments ago, his noble bearing was present. He had kneeled for the lives of his people, not out of respect or fear.
"From now on, you will no longer be a King. Is this understood?" She asked.
"Yes." The King responded.
"From now on, this island will be a part of the Faceless Empire. Is this understood?"
"Upon returning, the Emperor will decide your fate and the fate of this island. Is this understood?"
"Then I, Skybelle of the Sky Barony, and Sword Master of the Faceless Empire, have now spared this island from death. Welcome to the Faceless Empire."
The "King" nodded his head.
Skybelle turned to Skymender. "Have you learned anything about a possible other continent?"
Skymender nodded. "You should just come look at it. It is hard to describe in words."
Skymender led Skybelle to the ruins and into the secret room. When she saw the map, she could barely keep her composure.
"So the Mainland is even bigger than the Continent of Wu." She said.
It was about 1.5x the size.
"Indeed. Also, take a look at these papers." Skymender said.
Skybelle was able to make out the same words he was.
She wrote them down to take back with her. They could not move the paper, or even allow wind to touch it, else it would turn to dust.
She also recorded the map down and they left the ruins.
Skymender boarded a ship to head back to the Faceless Empire. His job was done.
Skybelle and most of the soldiers would stay behind to keep order and help the island advance.
After a few days, the ship departed with a few soldiers on it and some sailors. A few months later, Skymender saw the Continent of Wu once again.
After that was another long journey before they reached the Imperial Capital. Skymender was not received by any cheers or applause. His mission was relatively unknown, and though his contributions to the Empire were high, they did not affect the common people.
He went to the Imperial Palace and met the Emperor.
The Empire sat high on his throne, his old clothes replaced with much loftier ones that better suited his current status. As far as everyone was concerned, he was the ruler of the world.
"I was told you have urgent findings to report." The Emperor said.
Skymender nodded and began to speak. "I successfully infiltrated the Light Ocean Kingdom and gained their trust. I learned that they had a secret plan to escape, and followed them. The Light Ocean Kingdom dissolved all of its ties to the Ancient Empire, starting a new society on a secret island, leaving no trace of information behind. On that island, I explored some ancient ruins and found a map of the world. This map did not just have the Continent of Wu on it, but another continent. This was called the Mainland."
The Emperor nodded and closed his eyes, seemingly calm.
"We also found two papers with things written on them." Skymender proceeded to explain what he found written on the two papers.
"I also suspect that they have some connection with the writing in the small town inside of the Mountain Serpent."
Skymender had seen that all that now remained of the Mountain Serpent was a large skeleton with some pieces missing. There was no town to be seen.
"The town was found destroyed inside of the Mountain Serpent. It did not survive the battle." The Emperor said.
However, his mind was clearly preoccupied with the discovery of a new continent.
After a few minutes, he spoke. "The Faceless Empire must focus its efforts on controlling the Continent of Wu before we can care about another continent. In my estimation, it will take around ten years or so before we can exercise full control. I hereby issue you a mission to complete until then. Research a way to extend our lifespans, so that this world should truly be ours."
Skymender nodded. The Emperor was starting to get old, and so was Skymender. The Deprivation poison had done great damage to his longevity.
The Emperor stood. "Follow me."
Skymender followed the Emperor out of the throne room and into his chambers. Once inside, he cautiously looked around, before pulling a painting off of the wall. Behind it was a locked safe. The Emperor took out a key and opened it.
Inside was a glass container with some grass inside. Planted on that grass was a single flower. The Emperor held the container with extreme caution.
He then handed it to Skymender.
"This is my greatest treasure. This flower has the ability to increase someone's longevity by a year. I want you to use it to create something which can increase someone's longevity even further. Can you do that?" The Emperor asked.
Skymender nodded solemnly. "I can do my best. I won't use it unless I am absolutely confident."
The Emperor sighed. "Take care of it. There may not be another in the world, this continent or the next."