After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

The female knight Roland's words remained indifferent.

"Fifteen hundred years ago, this continent... was like most of the world as we know it... with many races, kingdoms, and principalities, a fragmented situation."

"However--"

"With the rise of an empire named after silver... it only took five hundred years..."

"The entire continent...whether elves, dwarves, orcs...or the winged race dwelling in the Sky Mountains, or the mermaids hiding in the depths of the sea..."

"In this world, all civilizations and races have been incorporated into the territory of the Silver Empire."

Roland's words were tinged with undisguised arrogance, and Charles nodded calmly.

It was able to unify the entire territory and bring different races under the empire's control...

Even though Charles himself actually preferred the republican system of the racial council, he had to admit that it was indeed a magnificent undertaking.

"After the Silver Empire unified the continent... came its most prosperous period, also known as the Golden Age—"

"Descend into the void of the expeditionary dimension to vanquish those remaining rebels and monsters..."

"Up to the Arcane Academy, which develops based on wizards and magic, they analyze the essence and laws of the world..."

"Turn your gaze above the clouds...to that more distant and profound starry sky."

Roland's beautiful eyes sparkled with a dazzling light.

Even if she never experienced that golden age, even if she only saw records of that era in history books...

Yet, one can still sense the prosperity and flourishing of that time between the lines.

"It was a vibrant and thriving era..."

"The ancestors of the empire expanded its territory, continuously broadening the Silver Empire's borders and giving the entire continent a unified language and culture..."

"until--"

"The appearance of gods... or rather, false gods."

Roland's hoarse female voice slowly rose, and the dragon carrying the two of them traversed the vast expanse of sky—

A vast and magnificent city, suspended in the clouds, like a sky kingdom, made of chalk.

And so it slowly came into Ciel's view.

"A remarkable feat."

Charles once again expressed his sincere feelings.

With his discerning eye as a legendary mage, he could naturally see... the sheer complexity of the interconnected levitation arrays behind it, necessary to support such a city, almost a kingdom, soaring through the clouds...

This is a monumental undertaking that could only be accomplished by mobilizing the entire resources of an entire civilization...

It can almost be described as a miracle.

Roland was clearly used to such commonplace scenery.

She lightly tapped the flying dragon beneath her feet, and the seventh-tier dragon carried the two of them into the floating city—

Then, in the very center of the holy city—

It slowly descended onto an open plain in the royal city.

.......

"The first appearance of those false gods was approximately five hundred years ago..."

"At first, they adopted a very gentle approach, simply using divine magic to spread their faith and accumulate followers..."

"The elders of the Arcane Academy speculated..."

"This should also be the most common tactic used by those false gods when they invade other planes..."

Roland put his metal gauntlets and knight's helmet back on, then gently leaped off the dragon's back... and gestured for Charles to follow.

"If the mainland were not yet unified, but instead remained fragmented, with each region governing its own territory, and wars breaking out from time to time in a chaotic period..."

"Then their method will indeed be very effective."

"On the one hand, those divine arts that can be obtained without labor simply by offering faith... are quite tempting to civilians in war-torn areas."

"On the other hand...those rulers in the midst of chaos and whose positions are precarious...also need to rely on the power of faith to appease the restless people and suppress their intelligence...so those in power may even actively support the spread of the belief in deities."

"only--"

Roland paused slightly in his speech.

"For an empire that is unified, stable, thriving... where the people are self-reliant and strong, and where the benefits of magic reach the masses—"

"But there is absolutely no need for a supreme, inviolable god."

"So... those false gods didn't even have time to spread their faith... before the Empire discovered their projections and launched multiple campaigns against them."

"And after the false gods suffered defeat after defeat... when the wizards of the Arcane Academy finally realized the truth behind the constant return of those false gods..."

"They... finally revealed their previously hidden, ferocious fangs."

Charles pointed to the giant beasts moving on the gray-white ground below.

"Is this all there is?"

“That’s right… They no longer develop their faith step by step, but instead directly draw upon divine power from the astral plane…”

"And the most powerful of those false gods... we also call him the God of War... or the God of Military Affairs."

Roland's words carried an undisguised hatred.

"Those colossal beasts that traversed the paper of the earth, destroying civilization and our homes..."

"That is the God of War's most powerful reliance... His army and subordinates—we call them the Colossus Legion."

"These behemoths possess extremely strong vitality and healing abilities... and due to their size, they also have extremely strong destructive power."

"And the most powerful of them, the nine-headed ones... are also known as the Colossus Warriors. Each one possesses strength no less than that of a peak legendary-rank warrior."

A cold killing intent flashed in the female knight's light brown eyes.

"certainly......"

"The mere fact that one is at the peak of the legendary rank, and has the advantage of being enormous... is not actually that insurmountable."

"After paying the price of a legendary fall, we did manage to defeat several Colossus warriors..."

"only......"

Charles guessed what Roland meant: "But... not long after, they, like those false gods, returned from the astral plane."

"Is it?"

The female knight looked at Charles and nodded silently.

"Destruction... is far easier than protection."

"Those behemoths are too large and cumbersome to pose much of a threat to high-level superhumans... If a high-level superhuman is determined to escape, they don't even need to worry about being caught."

"but......"

"For the ordinary people who built civilization, however, these were devastating blows."

"Every attack by the Colossi was a catastrophe for the Empire..."

"Either we barely manage to repel or even kill them after suffering enormous losses, including the fall of legendary figures, only to have these colossi return shortly afterward..."

"Or it will end in a tragic fate of the city falling and people dying."

Even though the empire unified the entire continent and devoted all its resources to promoting extraordinary education, resulting in a significant increase in the number of extraordinary individuals compared to the time of war...

"However, the advancement of each legendary powerhouse is an unrepeatable miracle..."

Roland's hoarse voice rang in Charles's ears, and Charles nodded in agreement.

Becoming a low-level transcendent being (below the third rank) isn't actually that difficult...

With just a little talent, plus persistent training and practice...

With more than ten or even twenty years of painstaking effort, most healthy adults can become novice superhumans.

However—legends are different.

A legend is called a legend precisely because the journey of every legendary strongman is worthy of being engraved in epics and sung by countless bards.

Even within the Silver Empire, legends are extremely rare... their deaths mean one less to be found...

They simply cannot withstand this endless exchange of cards.

"so......"

Roland's words were tinged with a dryness.

"final--"

"We have decided to abandon the ground and take in all the remaining civilians in the Holy City, which was formerly the capital of the Empire."

"Then, by harnessing the full power of the Arcane Academy, the Holy City was given the ability to levitate, rising to a height of over a thousand meters..."

"In this way, we can avoid the invasion of those colossi who cannot fly."

If it weren't for unavoidable circumstances...