Azekiel wanted to take over the Empire of Wrath, which was closest to the Empire of Greed, so it didn't take long for Azekiel to get there.
The Empire of Wrath was said to be the strongest Empire of them all, but still, it couldn't face off against the combined army of the Empire of Pride and Empire of Greed.
Most of the strength of the Empire of Wrath was because of their King, who was the strongest King. Finding themselves unable to stand against the armies of the enemy, the Ministers of the Empire of Wrath decided to contact the King of Wrath to call him back at the earliest.
Unfortunately, within thirty minutes, the entire Empire of Wrath had called. It was taken over by the Army of Azekiel. The Castle was under his control.
Azekiel knew that these people were going to call the King of Wrath. He wanted to take control of this Empire before Lucifer got here so he could get the rewards and the bonus of finishing the Trial.
Azekiel had effectively taken over two Empires now, and both were under his control now.
Just as he had expected, the Trial was over. He heard a notification about his Trial being finished. A screen appeared before him, notifying him of the same.
[Congratulations: You have finished the Trial of the Second Floor in a record time of three days]
[New Title Received: Ruler of Second Floor]
[Experience +50]
[Level +1]
[Level +1]
[Special Reward Received: Escape Orb]
Azekiel glanced at the reward list, which was really underwhelming for him. He had finished the floor in just two days, but the rewards were so low. All he received were two levels and an Escape Orb, which was an even weaker reward than the last time. There was nothing more.
He remembered that both Michael and Elijah had received a better reward from this floor even though they weren't the first ones to clear this floor.
"Is this because I used a loophole to clear the floor without starting an Empire of mine from scratch?" he wondered why he had received such a low reward.
The only thing he did that was different from what those two did was not following the rules to the letter and instead using a loophole and a cheat to clear the Trial. It didn't feel like that could be the reason behind his lack of rewards.
"This tower can see how we finished the Trial and give rewards accordingly."
"So clearing this floor really wasn't worth it. But if I had started from scratch, it would've taken months to finish this Trial. Moreover, Elijah would've taken the books, and I would've never known."
He glanced at the two books in his hand. "Even though I didn't receive any rewards from the Floor, this book itself should be worth it to some extent."
"This Floor really messed with me in a way," he muttered, gazing at the sky above. "Why do I feel like messing with this Floor in return?"
He rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. "Well, in any case, all of them are my enemies, so I really don't have to be considerate, do I? Lucifer might come here as well and use the same trick I did."
"What are you thinking?" Raphael appeared before Azekiel.
"I've been thinking about changing the entire landscape of the world on the second floor."
"How?"
"There are many Empires at the moment, and there would certainly be conflicts sooner or later, but what if there was only one Floor? I can also gain some more stats along the way," Azekiel suggested.
"You mean you're thinking about...? But that would make all the Kings hate you."
"Don't they already?" Azekiel asked, seemingly amused. "I've killed two Kings. I'm sure they must hate me to their cores already."
"Moreover, if I take over this Empire, I can effectively control all the supplies to Floor Zero. All the Lords of Sins would have to deal with me if they wanted something. Currently, each of these Empires supply items to Floor Zero through the porters."
" The entire ecosystem of the Zero Floor runs because of the second floor, which supplies most of the water, spices, and many such items to Floor Zero."
"If there is only one Empire, all the supplies will be controlled through me. This way, I can slim down the support of the other Kings and bring all the Lords of Sins to my side, effectively weakening the other teams."
"Moreover, I also need some stronger people, and the Lords might fulfill the role. I think it can be good in the long run."
"I see. What you're saying does make sense. I can't believe I didn't think of this. You're starting to see the bigger picture now, it seems." Raphael nodded in satisfaction.
As the next plan of action was decided, Azakiel commanded the army to prepare for departure once again. They were going to take over the next Empire, the Empire of Lust.
****
Back on the fifth floor, the King of Wrath Lucifer was on the fifth floor. He had entered the Valley of Dragons all alone.
Along the way, he had killed tens of Dragons before reaching the core of the Valley where most of the oldest Dragons lived.
The Dragon King himself came out to meet Lucifer. "For a human, you're really strong. You've managed to get here without even a scratch on your body."
Lucifer opened his lips to respond, only to get a message that Azekiel was attacking his Empire on the second floor.
"Azekiel..." he muttered, glancing at the sky.
Unfortunately, he could only ignore the message for now since he had more important things to do than take care of an Empire on the Second Floor.
"I was in a really good mood today." He glanced at the Dragon King. "I was going to be merciful, but now..."
****
King of Lust was indulging in some intimate time with a lady when he also received a message that his Empire was attacked by Azekiel.
He was surprised that Azekiel chose to attack his Empire. Still, he couldn't go. He didn't care about that Empire at all. He thought that Azekiel was doing it to clear the second floor. He didn't expect that Azekiel had already done so.
Ignoring the message, he kept thrusting...
****
More and more kings received the message, but most of them were involved in one thing or another, so they couldn't go down. They let Azekiel have free reign.
Back on the second floor, Azekiel continued his crusade, taking over one Empire after another. His own Empire kept getting bigger and bigger.
Moreover, he also kept absorbing more and more soul energy from the battlefield, getting stronger with each war.
A week passed, and Azekiel finally managed to take over the last Empire as well. He had finally achieved it. He had taken over the entire second floor.
He didn't expect anything special coming from it. It was all done on a whim. However, as soon as he finished, he realized that there was more to it as a screen appeared before him.
[Congratulations, you have finished the Hidden Quest]
