1645 Spy Lady
Jai Empire was experiencing a turbulent undercurrent.
The named princes were gathering from all over the territory leaving behind important missions abruptly.
Even their clones lurking in the alliance as powerful figures in kingdoms were recalled. The intelligence agencies vaguely realized just how deep the Jai princes infiltrated into their territories.
Even that information caused an upheavel in the kingdoms. The shocked rulers were too terrified that policies of heavy violence was exerted with an aim to rather kill the wrong one than to let go of the culprit.
In just a week, hundreds of millions of lives were affected, hundreds of thousands of powerhouses were purged, some rightly but most unjustly.
Surveillance at the border reached an all time high. Surveillance within was equally high.
Those who were identified to be close to the spy powerhouses that left were brutally persecuted, whether or not they had any knowledge of the spy's true identity.
The movement was soon weaponized by politicians and spiraled out of control.
Rulers who judged the situation pulled back but few let it exacerbate.
An atmosphere of fear filled these few kingdoms.
The empire typically wouldn't intervene in these issues, treating each kingdom as an experimental ground to see which governance brings more results and subtly promote it.
Divine rankers wouldn't care either. They were either neckdeep in training or too disdainful of these mortal kingdoms.
Even if there were some newbies who did care, the empire would ask block them off.
But one newbie divine ranker took special interest and the empire, surprisingly didn't show any objection.
When she appeared at top of the kingdom's capital out of nowhere, but even the fiercest guards who would've already attacked such intruder a thousand times showed no reaction except staring at her blankly.
The thought of attacking her didn't even cross their minds. It was as if their bodies and minds collectively surrendered to the majesty she exuded from her mere presence.
"M-Mom, s-she is the goddess!"
"I-Is the goddess here to punish the soldiers who killed father?!"
"G-Goddess! Please bring back my sister! These bastards called her a spy and took her away! She's just a school student!"
The cries of the naive children sounded in the capital.
When even the rank 9 powerhouses felt a horrible pressure under that purple light, no one knew how these children managed to speak so much.
There's no way they could withstand the pressure. It only meant that the powerhouse deliberately let them.
The most flustered person was the queen of the kingdom, a slender snake woman dressed in golden robes.
Bowing deeply, she cried out in a voice that reverberated across the capital "Y-Your ladyship! P-Please don't take these unaware young opinions. The kingdom has been searching for the spies rigorously and would never let them off!"
"Oh?"
A soft voice came down from the lady in the glowing purple light.
No one could see her properly but they could vaguely make out that she was in light purple clothes, giving off a mysterious and dangerous aura.
"Y-Yes! We have caught over a hundred and thirty spies already! Ten were in the capital no less!" The queen continued with a servile smile, not even trying to wipe the sweat the that flowed down her forehead.
"Why are you still continuing when most of the kingdoms called it off?"
That was the longest they heard her speak. Even though she framed it like a question, it sounded like an order that must be answered.
And the queen, always proud and arrogant, didn't dare not to.
Swallowing her saliva, she slapped her chest, declaring with the most solemn expression she could put on. "I-I have dedicated my body, soul and life to the empire, killing those filthy spies is my utmost duty. Any sacrifices for the great cause is an acceptable price!"
"Heh." Miss Calamity snorted.
That brief sound caused the queen's heart to drop.
"Is that it or is it because you've ascended the throne with the help of that spy you're so eager to catch them all and prevent your story from leaking?"
"Wha-What?!"
The queen's face paled and she instinctively took a step back.
It was true that she got helped and it's equally true that the reason she wanted the spies gone was to bury her dark past.
But to admit it in public—
"Y-Your ladship, even though you are a great being far above my lowly self, I cannot let you slander my loyalty! Every inch of my body and every strand of my soul is loyal to the empire!"
Miss Calamity narrowd her eyes and snapped her fingers.
With a roaring thunder in the sky, a bunch of videos played across the capital, alongside multiple documents.
The ethereal voice of Aurora rang, causing equal amounts of fear and reverence.
"You weren't spared because you weren't found. You were spared because you were supposed to lure the bigger fish. Now that you're useless, it's time to pay the price for working with the Jai spies."
The capital's citizens still hadn't recovered from the shock that their ruler worked together with the Jai spies to ascend the throne.
Without waiting for them, Aurora raised her finger and a guillotine was built in the clouds.
The queen's face turned ashen and gritting her teeth, she yelled.
"L-Ladyship, this one has recently become the concubine of Duke Porenz. I-I should atleast be spared alive!"
The citizens remained oblivious but the few knowledgable powerhouses looked at each other in shock.
Duke Porenz might not be as famous as All Mother Asherah, but he's one of the oldest peak rank 1s alive in the empire.
He had thousands of children to date and rumors go that he continues to have children to this day, hoping that atleast one would help him cross the barrier to rank 2.
'She'll definitely be spared. Heck, she might not be punished at all except for some stern warning.'
The thoughts of the elites were more or less the same.
They belatedly recognized the divine powerhouse to be Miss Calamity. Her ascension was shocking in itself but they didn't think a newbie divine would risk offending a peak rank 1.
It's simply not worth it.
But—
"Bringing out a backer to push me back?" Aurora's voice was filled with light mirth.
Seeing that she didn't attack her right away, the Queen was pumped with confidence.
She remembered the legends of Duke Porenz and the man's own bragging in the bedroom.
If even half of what he said was true, his position was unshakable within the alliance.
"N-No, this is just a fact. It won't do you do any good if you offend him, Your Ladyship. Everyone benefits from more friendships and less enemities, especially a new divine like your ladyship."
The Queen insisted on her position, trying to force Aurora away. Even though she tried to control her emotions, the rising confidence in her voice was too obvious to know how she was feeling now that she revealed her backer.
"I can't beat him now or in a thousand years." Miss Calamity's response only reinforced her confidence and she began to grin.
"Ofcourse, the duke is a powerf—"
"But!"
