Holy shit.

I wasn't expecting that many soldiers. I know that the reports said that there were thousands of them, but seeing this number with my own eyes is different compared to reading it on a screen.

There's also the fact that every single one of them is trying to kill me with varying degrees of success. Most of them are attempting to use their spells, but the Spell Jammers cancel their attacks. The only ones I need to be careful about are the heavily armored people who are using some beam-based artifact.

The artifacts are powerful, and each hit I endure takes a few cartridges from the magazine of my Glove. If these weapons become the new standard-issue equipment of the Empire, then we'll have some problems.

Mind you, they aren't powerful enough to tip the scale of battle in favor of the Empire, but it will put an unexpected strain on our ammunition reserves. The 'battle,' if we can even call it that, is raging as the Stonecrusher forces slowly approach me. With raised spears.

I glance at the gun in my hand and smirk at the irony of the situation. We were supposed to be the underdog, the ones with inferior equipment while the Empire had a reputation of wielding a fearsome industrial might.

Honestly, I might have overestimated them too much.

A bunch of barely-trained soldiers wielding spears marching towards someone with a gun is already idiotic enough, but I also have virtually infinite ammo.

The worst thing is that I'm not even done yet. The purpose of this mission is to shock the Empire while revealing the Order to the world, so we have to display our might as much as possible.

And the laser pointer in my hand will let me do just that.

Hundreds of portals appear above the enemy army, which is shocked into a standstill. The beam wielders immediately kneel as their armor shifts and a thick barrier envelops them while the regular soldiers just stare at the portals with their mouths wide open.

I can't help but raise an eyebrow at the way these elite soldiers are acting. Razing all those bases must have forced them to send the big guns.

A grin creeps on my face, the mighty Empire is already trembling, and they haven't seen anything yet!

A single salvo of the Hammer is all it takes to turn the relatively organized Stonecrusher army into a mess. The impact of the explosive shells already kills the poor sods who were unlucky enough to be under the large projectile, and the ensuing explosion wipes out entire sections of the enemy forces.

If the voice were still there, it would have laughed like a maniac, and I would have probably rushed into the melee to sow even more carnage.

But, instead of rushing in like a maniac, I stand still with my hands behind my back.

The chaos caused by the Hammer is even worse than I anticipated. Soldiers are trampled by their fleeing comrades while failed teleportation spells litter the battlefield. The few surviving elites barely pay attention to the mangled corpses surrounding them as they ready their weapons and fire again.

Their attacks bounce off my shield, and I sigh.

If this were the me from before, I would have enjoyed the situation, and if I were put in this situation soon after I created the Rewinder, then I would be a sobbing mess.

But I can only feel cold indifference at the carnage.

The Hidden World is a bloody and barbaric place, where almost everything is resolved with violence, so this is just business as usual.

Furthermore, the Empire cannot keep existing if we want to secure a future for our species, so I guess it can explain why I feel nothing when I see all this death and destruction.

I let my arms drop to my side and take out my Field Pistol, which is pulsating with power as I aim at the large armored soldiers who are still advancing towards me like mindless zombies.

A single pull of the trigger is enough to end their lives. The projectile causes a brief shower of sparks before it enters the enemy's body and makes them explode from the inside along with their armor.

An entire lifetime of training, countless Credits worth of rare materials and time-consuming crafting processes for their equipment destroyed in just a moment by a bullet which is worth less than a hundredth of a Credit.

In purely economic terms, the Empire already lost.

But warfare isn't solely decided by wealth, so the Empire is still fearsome. I cannot even imagine how impossible this battle would be if I didn't have the support of the Order, nor the help from the Spell Jammers. Hundreds of Strategic Spells unleashing their might at once would vaporize me, and most of the surrounding area, within seconds.

I sigh as I being the next step in our plan and teleport the Spell Jammers away before carpet bombing the entire area with Carter Bombs.

We want all the leaders, the hidden powerhouses and the world in general to witness our might.

"To anyone who's listening!" I shout as I activate Phase 2 for emphasis.

"It has been too long since we suffered your oppression, too long since we did nothing as you hoarded both resources and knowledge for your own gain!" I stomp the ground, creating cracks in the blood-soaked soil.

"The Order Of The First Flame has seen enough misery! Prometheus will not tolerate the injustice done to his people! I issue a formal declaration of war against the Empire and all the Enforcers. We will not rest until you are all dead, for it is time for Divine Retribution!" I shout as loudly as I can as the remains of the Stonecrusher forces are wiped out.

The massive vortexes of mana make my robes billow in a dramatic fashion, but I think it makes my message even clearer.

We are not going to negotiate; we are not going to make compromises.

This is a war of extermination, a total war on a planetary scale that will decide the future of Humanity and Earth in general.

...Adam's PoV...

"...it is time for Divine Retribution!" those last words echo in my office as I lean back in my chair.

This situation is exactly what I wanted to avoid. The bastard already made our assets disappear on another far away planet, and the cost to bring them back was not light. Now he decides to turn the entire world into a giant free-for-all, a massive battlefield where countless lives will be lost.

The Organization will be forced out of hiding again, and this time, our enemies are prepared.

I can already imagine the losses we will suffer from; it isn't going to be pretty.

But, more importantly, Prometheus' declaration means that we failed.

The primary goal of the Organization was to avoid this exact situation. I may have used the Organization for my own benefits, but the unwilling sacrifice of a few individuals was obviously in the interest of everyone.

I can't help but sigh, the next few years will be significant historical moments, at least if anyone is left to write it.

...Oracle's PoV...

My breath is heavy, and I grip my throne so tightly that the luxurious chair has turned into dust under the crushing pressure of my fingers.

P-02 has outdone himself; even I felt my spine tingle as he issued his passionate declaration of war.

The sheer chaos already caused by his declaration is making me smile. My ability allows me to follow the shitstorm, which is spreading across the planet like wildfire. Interdimensional news channels are even reporting on it, and the headlines of all those Earth-based news websites were already changed.

This is going to be so amusing, already multiple Enforcers Families are issuing emergency Council meetings, and the Coalition targeting the Empire are hastening their preparations.

The tiny Shard that P-02 uses as a home base is cheering, even the children are shouting in joy as the camera shows the deaths caused by the anger of Prometheus. Their recruitment stations are getting swarmed, and comments on the HiddenNet are exploding.

I lean back and smile, already two camps formed; The skeptics, the ones who do not believe that Prometheus will be able to challenge Enforcer authority and the ones who think that he'll be able to pull it off.

Honestly, P-02 might be able to pull it off.

Or at least for a time.

But he isn't going to stand a chance when the real powerhouses will move, so I need to have my fun before he's disintegrated into nothingness.

I lick my lips as my legs tremble; this is going to be so much fun!