The shadows split, all migrated to a continent, and have been observing everything from afar. The actual fact is that Emperor Adam Smith attempted to attack Hellsing. All branches in the Empire were partially and indirectly attacked, in assaults aimed at removing Hellsing from control, something he eventually achieved when he ceased sending official missions to the Guild.
From what I understand, it wasn't really something without reason. The royal faction itself expanded significantly when Ethan was announced as the next Emperor, due to the Axilen Family, Ethan's betrothed.
Axlien Yuruzen, a beautiful woman considered one of the most beautiful in the entire kingdom, and her family, Yuruzen, are originally from the eastern continent, or rather, coerced to come to the west with the Emperor's proposals.
It was a clever move; the Axilen Family is, in fact, one of the largest merchant families in the world. They have support from almost all kingdoms for being the best navigators in the world, possessing various hidden and faster maritime routes than others.
It was like having an express ship. Despite there being magic, it was complicated to find specialized spatial mages in Teleportation, something extremely rare. Even my mother didn't use teleportation when she disappeared into her flames; she used a calculation bond. She walked among the fire, and that was only for her and me, something I completely lost the ability to do.
The fact was that teleporting just one person was simple; mana itself already helped, but when it came to materially dead things like wood, clothes, and the like, it was very taxing. Even portals were generally indicated not to carry many things to avoid breaking space.
The only person I'm sure can use teleportation without restriction is Musashi Miyamoto's sword, which cuts through the veil of space, meaning it cuts the distance between it and the location.
But getting back to the main subject, with the unique ability of the Axilen family, the Empire began to become something akin to a gigantic commercial center. That's why more people started coming to the Empire in search of work, including people from other kingdoms and the Supernatural world who come here to make money more easily.
The strength of the Empire now rivaled that of the Vampire Kingdom, one of the Three Greats.
The Three Greats: the Witch Kingdom, led by Alice Arcano; the Vampire Kingdom, led by Vlad Dracula Tapes; and the Eastern Empire, led by Lyriana Vortex.
"I understand," I said as the Shadow named Aaralyn continued to explain about the current world.
"In summary, that's why Ethan is being elected as Emperor, to maintain the agreement with the Yuruzen family, making Axilen the current Empress," she concluded and sat thoughtfully about what I could do.
"First, I have something to resolve," I said to her, remembering the creature being tortured, whatever it was, it's a rare animal. "My spear, where is it?" I asked, the spear created by the Dwarf King, forged from the base of the demon progenitor's horn, perhaps the most evil spear in history.
"I won't give you that information. I don't trust you, and I have no intention of being your subordinate until I'm sure you're Dante," she said. Of course, she still suspected me. She'd be crazy to blindly trust.
"Fine, just give me basic information about the Empire. When your loyalty is confirmed, I'll tell you what I'll do to bring Valentina back," I said and started to get up.
"Where's the square? And I need it to have an alley or something," I asked, straightening out my wrinkled clothes. "To the East, there's a square with the Emperor's statue holding a book, look around," she said, and I nodded.
"Hmm, a knight," I heard from the other side, a slender man holding a knife while licking his blade, disgusting.
"Oh, so it's a knight," the big guy said, and two more men appeared, the two who were behind me.
"I see, you guys are the bad guys," I said with a mischievous smile... I can't believe I'm doing this.
"But you know, big guy, I like bad men... how about you take me down there, and we can have a little fun...", I said pouting, this was completely embarrassing!
"A determined woman, I like that," he said, seeming like the boss. "So, miss, how about you entertain me a bit," he said pulling my arm.
Men... are so stupid.
SHIN
My sword severed his fragile little worm and his two legs. He didn't even have time to react and just fell screaming in pain.
AHHH~
"Oops, looks like you slipped," I said with a big smile on my face as the man screamed a lot, but no one would hear anything, after all, I could still use [Silence], although I no longer had the fire element in my arsenal.
"So, any of you want to show me what's so special behind that door to have so many people guarding it?" I asked, with some drops of blood on my cheeks as I thrust the sword into the neck of the man whose legs I had severed.
"Oh? No? Alright, I can find out myself," I said and lunged forward at considerable speed, severing the slim man's head as I turned to strike both of the remaining ones.
One of them dodged; he was much more practical than the other two who were led by my appearance. Of course, it wouldn't be any different from those two; the two idiots fought but still eyed me with their predatory eyes, a pity.
SWIN
Quantity was never quality; experience determined the fight very quickly. They were potato chips while I was a great dragon, useless lackeys who follow orders, with not good enough skills, yet they guarded something questionable.
I headed towards the door. I thought I could just walk in, but I was wrong, locked. Well, not that it would stop me.
With a mighty kick, the door broke entirely, and thus, I entered the premises.