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"Do you feel it?" asked one of the three people inside the spaceship that tried to teleport into the Solar System.
"Yes, that weapon is a Tier 8 one, meaning that this Arcane Empire is not the Tier 6 Civilization that we estimated."
The room became a little silent for a brief moment.
"So, what do we do?"
"Treat them as we treat the other 3. However, we still have to investigate," replied one person with a sigh. Pressuring low-level civilization is the way that The Federation established its prestige and also amassed an enormous amount of resources.
However, they now understood that this was not possible. The Arcane Empire was not a little bunny as they expected but a hidden tiger.
Not long after this conversation, the intelligence system of their ship received communication from the fleet that surrounded them:
"You have illegally trespassed into the Arcane Empire's territory, please identify yourselves or you will be annihilated."
"We are ambassadors from the Intergalactic Federation."
"Please prove your identity."
A beam of light flew from the federation's ship showing an insignia of a golden balance scale. A weird energy signature came from the insignia, which the Empire's ship scanned.
"Your identity has been confirmed," said the Fleet Commander. "News of your arrival has been sent back to Empire and someone will soon be sent to receive you."
Not even 5 minutes afterward, the blockade was removed and a small ship of the Empire escorted the ambassadors to Earth. After landing in the appropriate place, the three people descended from their ships.
The three ambassadors were from three different races: a human dressed in armor with a large hammer casually hanging by his side. A Dragon descendant with a red scale, tail, and black horn. A slight heat could be felt emanating from his body.
And the last person was a beautiful elf dressed in white robes while holding a staff.
"Welcome to the Arcane Empire, esteemed ambassadors," said Grindelwald, who was in charge of receiving the guess.
'Two Tier 6 and one Tier 7 Elf Caster,' thought Grindelwald.
"My name is Gellert Grindelwald, and it is my honor to be the one who received you today."
"The honor is all us," replied the elf gently. "My name is Ghilanna Kelsys, and these are my partners. Augustus Alina and Auron." While introducing her companion, she also took note of the fact that Grindelwald was a Tier 6 Caster.
Grindelwald saluted the human named Augustus first before doing the same to the Dragon Descendant.
"His majesty is awaiting you, so please follow me."
Grindelwald led them to a Warp Gate that was not far from here before indicating for them to enter. While the others were hesitating, Ghilanna smiled before entering. So, the other 2 followed.
Soon, all of them found themselves in front of a magnificent castle. And on the side were rows of soldiers wearing golden armors and spears, standing straight like javelins.
The group walked inside the castle to the dining room where a feast awaited them, along with the Emperor and the Queen, Olivier.
"Welcome, fellow ambassadors," said Edward with a gentle smile.
"It is our pleasure," replied Ghilanna. After a brief chat and introduction, the dinner began. The food consisted of a variety of orthodox elf, human, and dragon descendant food, obviously tailored for the visitor.
At the start of the meal, Auron could not help but focus on a few of the plates. No matter what he did, he could not help move his eyes or smell these specific plates.
'What are you doing? You're embarrassing us," said Augustus through a secret communication spell.
'It's not my fault, I can't help it.'
Upon seeing the situation, Ghilanna decided to take action.
"Your majesty, what is this meal exactly?"
"This is Dragon-marinated pork. Since I heard that a Dragon Descendant was coming, I especially asked the chef to fetch some true dragon blood to make some of the meals."
'No wonder Auron could not control himself. As a Dragon Descendant, his body contained a very small trace of Dragon Bloodline, and this meal could probably increase it by a small amount. However, why is this Emperor being so generous?' thought Ghilanna.
'No, more importantly, where did he get True Dragon Blood?'
Beasts or other species with dragon bloodline could be seen everywhere in the Milky Way, but True Dragons are very rare. Not to mention usually very powerful, so it is very difficult to either kill or capture any of them.
The dinner then continued with Auron gorging himself to the fullest. Afterward, everyone had a chat.
"Ms. Ghilanna, are you a believer of any God?" asked Olivier.
"No, I am not."
"What about you, Augustus. I can feel the power of faith emanating from your soul."
Augustus frowned slightly before nodding his head: "I am a Paladin that served the God of Light, Lifer."
"I have never heard of him, but he sounds wonderful."
Augustus wanted to immediately talk about how great his God was, however, he received a message from Ghilanna that immediately stopped him.
"What about you, your majesties. Do you believe in any God?"
"No," replied Edward. "The Empire is more magically oriented. So, although believing in God is not forbidden, it served more as spiritual sustenance for some people instead of pure worship."
Ghilanna nodded her head but did not ask any more questions as this subject can be controversial and quickly lead to disagreement. So, after a long chat, the three were escorted to the resting place prepared for them.
"What do you think?" asked Edward.
"So far, everything seemed normal except for the elf lying about her faith."
They could feel the very slight faith energy inside her Soul Dimension with the enchantments in the palace.
"She might be a Divine Mercenary, hence the reason she lied."
"That's a term I've never heard before."
"Sometimes, the Gods want to do some shady things but do not want to be traced back to them. So, as a preventive measure, they will sign contracts with some talented individuals. In exchange for them doing their dirty work for them, they will be granted an increase in life spans, mana, magical knowledge, etc.
"Those people are referred to as Divine Mercenaries."
"How do you know all of this?" asked Olivier.
"Didn't I tell you? In my early days in the Empire, I traveled throughout the universe to gather some important information. I even left some clones in some places to monitor some changes when needed."
Edward could not help but remember these times. Back then, he was only a lowly Tier 3. In fact, he did not even know the concept of Tiers. So, he was always worried during his travels and the information he could gather was mostly rumors and nothing more.
However, he left some clones in some places to monitor the general situation. And after his first voyage and becoming Tier 5, he once again visited those clones, increasing their Tiers to gather more information.
This time, he also visited them and learned a few more things as well.
"I was not the one who you told this," said Olivier, however, Edward ignored her.
"Do you know who is this God called Lifer?"
"Him? He is one of the most powerful Tier 10 Gods from the Central Region. However, I know very little if nothing about him."
The Central Region is the place in this universe with the highest concentration of mana. And it is also the main area where all the most powerful Gods and races reside and battle for supremacy.
Edward never dared to go near that region–even to this day.
"Do you think that he is one of the people behind the Intergalactic Federation?"
"Most likely."
The Federation is essentially a scam. Although they preached that their purpose is to allow low-level civilization a chance at surviving and prospering in the harsh environment of the universe, the truth that Edward learned is far from this.
Their main objective is to discover low-level civilizations and secretly spread faith amongst them. And also discover talents that may serve the Gods behind them.
"So, what do we do with these people?" asked Olivier.
"It would be best not to antagonize them or reveal too much about our Empire. Additionally, we can try to gather some more information from them regarding the current state of the Milky Way."
Meanwhile, back at the Ambassador Residence:
After the group returned, Ghilanna took her staff and lightly touched the ground. A golden shield then surrounded the entire room.
"Finally could breathe properly," said Auron.
"It's normal for them to monitor us at all times," replied Augustus who could also feel some people watching him ever since he landed in this place.
"So, what do you guys think about this place?" asked Ghilanna.
"Well…"
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