Chelsea suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Souta's voice echoed in her mind:
"Chelsea, I've just temporarily disabled your neck's healing ability. But here's the thing—if this video chat doesn't end in five seconds, the effect will become permanent. Your move."
She glanced over at Souta and met his half-smiling, half-threatening gaze.
If he could whistle smugly, he probably would've.
Tch, is this supposed to scare me? Seriously? You think this can threaten me? Ha! I'll show you what backbone looks like!
Chelsea scoffed inwardly.
"Chelsea, why did you stop?" Altair prodded. "I'm really curious—go on!"
"Sorry, I've got government duties to attend to," Chelsea said, forcing a helpless smile. "As the Saint of our faith, I've got a full schedule. Let's end the chat here for now. Catch you later!"
Swish—Kurumi and the others turned into glimmering light and disappeared.
The video chat had been forcefully terminated.
Chelsea turned to Souta and asked, "How many seconds was that?"
"Exactly four," he replied.
Ignoring Souta's contemptuous look, Chelsea exhaled deeply and patted her chest.
After Kurumi and the others left, Souta resumed his glorious slacker lifestyle.
He sat on the throne daily, striking dramatic poses, occasionally listening to reports from his subordinates.
His main focus now was understanding the laws of matter.
Meanwhile, the Church of Path of Peace had blossomed in both Jerok and the Empire.
With national-level promotion, its spread was nothing short of terrifying.
Souta could feel the flood of faith growing by the day—practically exploding!
Every day, he could convert massive amounts of faith into divine power and upload it to the system's marketplace. Like a squirrel hoarding nuts, he was stockpiling, stockpiling, and stockpiling...
He had no intention of gradually leveling up his divine authority—too inefficient.
He wasn't one for installment payments. He liked to save up and pay in full—it was just more satisfying that way.
So his plan was to wait until his divine energy and comprehension of the laws reached a tipping point, then ascend in one grand move.
During all this, Budo had been aggressively promoting Chelsea in the public eye, boosting her reputation.
The false memory Souta had implanted—"Chelsea is the true royal bloodline"—drove Budo into a frenzy of loyalty, desperate to put her on the throne.
The poor little emperor? Banished to the cold palace.
Might end up in prison next.
The late emperor's coffin lid was probably rattling from the afterlife.
Souta was all for it and left everything in Budo's hands.
After more than a month of propaganda, the Capital finally ushered in Chelsea's coronation ceremony.
She was crowned not just as empress but also as the official Saint of the Church of Path of Peace. On that very day, the Church became the state religion.
And of course, "God" descended with blessings for the new Empress:
"Child, when you were born, the forests outside the Capital whispered your name—'Chelsea.'"
"Child, I watched proudly as you grew into a symbol of justice."
"I once said, the Empire's decay would reach its end and you would be crowned as ruler."
"That day has arrived. Remember, rule this land with wisdom and strength."
After the divine speech, Chelsea officially became Empress.
Naturally, Najenda didn't miss the ceremony.
Watching it unfold, she was deeply moved, the old Empire had finally ended. A new era had begun.
She closed her eyes and listened to the wind, it almost carried the sigh of the new age.
But even in her joy, Najenda was confused.
"Why was the God so... talkative today?"
Four whole lines of dialogue!
"Your Majesty, it seems the God is quite fond of you," Najenda commented as she reported to Chelsea in the palace.
"That blessing... it's practically more words than everything He's ever said to us combined."
"...Is that so?" Chelsea looked slightly awkward.
Souta's "blessing" had felt more like a personal prank, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.
It sounded... fine. Probably just her imagination?
"I understand," she replied calmly, brushing off her doubts.
"Najenda, how's the pacification of the rebel forces going?"
"Only half have surrendered. But rest assured, Your Majesty—once news of your coronation spreads, the remaining forces will likely fall in line."
She paused, face darkening slightly.
"However... a few have outright rejected the offer—and even killed our envoys."
"What audacity, ignorant of thy immensity of heaven and earth, SHANGRILA!"
Chelsea's brows furrowed in displeasure.
After months of reform, the Empire's corruption had been purged, talented individuals promoted, and the Church had introduced new, beneficial policies—thanks to Souta's otherworldly knowledge.
The people were visibly happier.
So what the hell were these rebels fighting for?
Did they even know the public no longer wanted a revolution?
They were clearly just mad they couldn't be Emperor.
Chelsea's tone turned cold:
"If that's the case... Budo, you and Esdeath will each lead a force to the south. Eliminate the rebels and stabilize the Empire swiftly."
In the hall, Esdeath glanced at Chelsea but said nothing.
She'd already received Souta's orders... in bed.
Later, Chelsea stormed up to Souta, who was lounging as usual and barked:
"Souta! That speech you gave today, was that a setup?!"
"Yup. It's a line a king once said to a prince. Thought it fit the occasion."
"You should call me Daddy."
His shameless honesty left Chelsea feeling like she'd just punched a cloud.
"I'm Empress now! Show me some respect! I could revoke the Church's national status, y'know. See how you collect faith then!"
Souta, mid-dinner, looked up and calmly asked:
"Your Majesty, why are you rebelling?"
Something about that sentence felt... off.
In just half a month, Esdeath and Budo crushed the rebels into submission.
Another two weeks and all remaining dissent was wiped out.
The Empire was now completely unified.
Budo returned to the Capital.
She'd gotten hooked on conquest and requested to suppress rebellious tribes in the outer regions.
Souta, after instructing her not to slaughter civilians, left her to it.
He was far too busy counting faith points.
The Church of Path of Peace now had temples in every city.
Chelsea's dual status as Saint and Empress, combined with her role in ending the chaos, had become the perfect propaganda cocktail.
Every household in the Empire now knew of the Church and with tangible benefits, most had converted.
To say the entire nation now worshipped Souta was no exaggeration.
Tens of millions of followers.
The faith rolling in was unimaginable.
Souta had moved the separated piece of his divine kingdom from Jerok to float above the Capital and was using divine power to expand it constantly.
At this rate, he estimated that—
"If I head to the Date A Live world for a bit of harvesting, then swing by Shinobu's world for some crab... I could probably finish filling my divine office."
"That crab's been around for centuries, its faith must be massive."
Souta had consulted the system and roughly calculated his plan.
He wasn't going to spend years accumulating faith in the Akame world. That was way too slow.
He'd just top it off from other sources.
While making these mental calculations, his system phone suddenly buzzed.
He checked the screen, eyes widening in surprise.
"Huh? Well, this is rare—it's a solo mission!?"