The Empire’s territory was vast, but that did not mean every corner of its land was inhabited.
In the northern reaches of the Empire, there lay a sprawling expanse of idle land that had remained unexplored since the country’s founding.
It was not that the Empire looked down upon the resources within those lands, but rather that it lacked the strength to harvest them —
Even before the Empire was established, that region had already become a place where all manner of magic beasts ran rampant.
Had it only been that, it might have been manageable.
With the Imperial Army and the twelve Great Mages who swore fealty to the Imperial Royal Family, the Empire could have eventually brought that land under its control, provided they were willing to pay the price.
However, during the very first year of the plan to reclaim the lost territory…
“That thing” appeared.
Further north of that land lay an endless sea.
To reach the Northern Sea, one had to pass through this territory occupied by magic beasts. Consequently, until the Empire sent its troops, the people knew very little about that ocean.
Naturally, they did not know what exactly existed within those waters.
The first encounter with “that thing” occurred on a night where only a few sparse stars flickered in the sky.
The soldiers on the watchtowers discovered something peculiar: the stars in the pitch-black canopy were gradually vanishing.
At first, the soldiers assumed it was merely clouds drifting across the sky, temporarily obscuring the starlight.
But as the point where the stars disappeared drew closer to the military camp, the speed of their disappearance accelerated —
Then, the people saw “that thing.”
It possessed a colossal frame capable of blotting out the sky, a massive body that could shatter mountains…
It was a small mountain floating above the earth through magic, the most terrifying creature the Empire had seen since its founding.
With a form resembling a whale, “that thing” opened its gargantuan maw under the cover of the black night…
Previously, the Empire’s scholars had always pondered a question:
If the land occupied by magic beasts was so rich in resources, why was the number of magic beasts not as high as predicted?
At that moment, the truth was revealed.
A suction force like a tornado swept everything living on the ground into that abyss-like mouth.
The soldiers attempted to fight back, but even the attacks of the Great Mage accompanying them failed to drive the giant beast away…
Once that night passed, less than one-tenth of the expeditionary force remained.
As for the giant beast? After completing its meal, it simply walked toward the Northern Sea and vanished.
Afterward, the Empire continued to send exploration teams deep into the land to investigate, but they could never find a trace of the giant beast.
It was as if it had evaporated into thin air…
By the fifth year after the giant beast’s appearance, the magic beasts on that land had nearly gone extinct.
Migrants gradually established a new order on this resource-rich land, and everything seemed to be flourishing.
Such beauty lasted… until the next five years passed.
It was a starry night while everyone was in deep sleep when a screech that pierced the heavens woke everyone from their dreams.
“That thing” had returned.
But there was no longer any food for it here.
Under the order established by humans, magic beasts had nearly vanished from the land.
Thus, the law of the jungle that should have fallen upon the magic beasts fell upon the humans instead.
In just one night, the black sky was dyed red by raging flames, and the silence was torn apart by wails and roars.
The order constructed by humanity was destroyed in a single night.
Yet the disaster did not end there.
This time, the giant beast launched an attack toward the Imperial Capital beyond the borders of that land.
The three Great Mages and the army stationed at the capital repelled the beast, but it cost them the life of one Great Mage, left two others heavily injured, and resulted in countless casualties.
From then on, the Empire abandoned its attempts to develop that land.
However, news of this soon reached the White God Holy Church, whose believers spanned the entire continent.
The Holy Church’s envoys visited the Empire and brought forth ancient texts, naming the giant beast “Leviathan” and calling it a kin of the Black God — the adversary of the White God.
The Holy Magic mastered by the White God Holy Church happened to be the bane of all things possessing Black God Mana.
Though they remained skeptical, the Empire’s greed for the land’s resources led them to accept the White God Holy Church’s presence and designate it as the state religion.
In exchange, the White God Holy Church was required to help the Empire handle the invasions of the giant beast.
Thus, another decade passed.
On yet another pitch-black night, Leviathan made landfall from the Northern Sea.
But this time, it brought a massive Monster Tide with it.
Like a king of magic beasts leading its kin, it intended to lead its subjects to reclaim the territory that belonged to them.
In this battle, the White God Holy Church fulfilled its promise.
The Saint and Saintesses capable of wielding Holy Magic exerted a powerful suppressing effect on the magic beasts.
However, that was not enough to stop Leviathan.
The resistance lasted for a week. By the time the last Saint and Saintess had exhausted their Mana, Leviathan still stood tall in the distance.
But it stopped attacking.
It simply watched the humans from afar before turning to leave.
One could hardly call that battle a victory.
While the White God Holy Church had annihilated nearly the entire Monster Tide, they had failed to cause any substantial damage to Leviathan.
After that, decade after decade, Leviathan would return with a Monster Tide every ten years.
To avoid wasting too many resources on that land, the Empire’s defense lines gradually contracted. The magic beasts in that region also began to multiply once more.
And as the number of magic beasts increased, Leviathan’s aggression toward humans gradually weakened.
If the Empire could have thoroughly abandoned that land, perhaps all their problems would have been solved. But —
That land held the continent’s most abundant mines of High-purity Magic Stones.
High-purity Magic Stones were essential materials for manufacturing all high-level magic weapons. As long as they could occupy that land, the Empire’s hegemony over the continent was within reach.
Yet ambition remained ambition, and reality remained reality. If the problem of Leviathan could not be solved, all of it was nothing but empty talk.
The Empire issued rewards for development every year, but even as the bounty was raised repeatedly, no one appeared who could conquer that land.
This situation continued until…
A young noble appeared.
Duke White, born with monstrous strength, accepted the Empire’s development bounty for the northern lands. He stepped onto the path of development that every other noble considered a certain death trap.
But this time, fate was on Duke White’s side.
Even today, no one knows how Duke White managed to reach the center of that land using only the private soldiers he gathered from his father’s territory. He gradually expanded toward the Empire, meeting with the Imperial Border Guard to open a direct path to the heart of the region.
During the ten-year interval before Leviathan attacked again, Duke White did not have the mined High-purity Magic Stones sent back to the Empire. Instead, he had them processed simply — into “bombs” that could be detonated at any time.
These bombs did not require complex processing, and combined with the extremely rich reserves of the magic stone mines, all defensive fortifications were completed two years before Leviathan’s next raid.
The Empire would forever remember that year.
It was the year the night sky was ignited by High-purity Magic Stones, which were considered far more precious than gold.
It was also the year Leviathan was severely wounded by humans for the first time and fled back to the ocean.
After that, perhaps due to the severity of its injuries, the scale of Leviathan’s next attack with the Monster Tide was significantly reduced.
The Empire bestowed that land upon Duke White, granted him his title, and allowed him to establish a duchy to manage the territory.
Human order once again took root and sprouted in that land.
Throughout his life, Duke White defended against Leviathan’s attacks a total of three times. The first two defenses were extremely successful, but during the third time, an accident occurred.
No one could have imagined…
—
“Ai’er!”
The library doors were suddenly thrown open. Elena’s chest was heaving violently as her gaze frantically searched for the figure of a silver-haired girl.
Several Red Books immediately flew toward her, seemingly intent on escorting Elena out.
“Get lost!”
A pulse of Mana instantly blasted the Red Books away, causing even the floating bookshelves to tremble.
“Lady Elena, please calm down!”
The librarian rushed out immediately, spreading her arms to block Elena while simultaneously intercepting more incoming Red Books.
Seeing the situation about to escalate further, Ai’er turned to rush to Elena’s side, but a sudden shift in light and shadow teleported her directly in front of Elena.
“!”
Elena immediately pulled the silver-haired girl into a hug. Her legs grew weak, and she collapsed against Ai’er.
“You’re okay… it’s good that you’re okay…
Next time, don’t sneak off on your own, okay? I was so worried, so worried…”
Not knowing what to say, Ai’er could only gently pat Elena’s back and give a soft reply in her ear.
‘Speaking of which, what was that teleportation just now?’
Ai’er slightly turned her head while still in Elena’s embrace, looking back at where she had been standing.
The book *Research on the Ecology of Demonic Beasts on the Empire’s Border* was still there, but the old woman was gone.