Chapter 269: The Empire's Finale

"By the way, has the Prime Minister been caught?" Akame walked over to Najenda's side and asked.

"Leone went to catch him, but she hasn't returned yet, and I'm a bit worried. After all, when the Prime Minister was young, he was also a very formidable expert!" Najenda said, also looking somewhat worried. "Moreover, as the Prime Minister, there's no telling what kind of things he might have in his possession that could contend with Teigu."

"Hey, everyone, I'm back!" Just as Najenda was about to ask Akame to go look for Leone, Leone's figure appeared on top of a ruin, waving in their direction. In her hand, she was dragging a bulky fellow.

Leone hauled the big guy in her hand as she leaped down from the ruins and landed in front of the group. When everyone took a closer look at the person in her hand, it was none other than the Prime Minister, who had been beaten beyond recognition.

"Wait, Leone, where is your Teigu?" Najenda suddenly noticed that Leone's abdomen was covered in blood, and most importantly, the Teigu at her waist was gone, yet she was still maintaining her beast-like form!

"That? You'll have to ask this guy." Leone extended her foot and kicked the Prime Minister, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog. "This guy actually had an Anti-Imperial Arms hidden on him, and he used it to pull a nasty trick on me. If I hadn't gone through Luo Yexi's training, I might have fallen into his hands!"

"Then Leone, now you..." Najenda asked with some hesitation.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Leone smiled, and then, to Najenda's surprise, she transformed back to her original appearance.

"Leone, it looks like you succeeded!" Luo Yexi flashed to Leone's side, looked her up and down, and spoke.

She could perceive that a powerful force was hidden within Leone's body; it was the power of the lion from the great grasslands. Moreover, with Lingyun's power as a backing, Leone's future potential was immeasurable.

"Yeah, come to think of it, if it weren't for that bastard Prime Minister using an Anti-Imperial Arms to destroy Lion King, I wouldn't have been able to devour all of its power in such a short time!" Leone said with a smile.

"Tch, this guy, I suppose he did one good deed after all!" Luo Yexi looked at the Prime Minister lying on the ground and sneered.

"Now that the little Emperor and the Prime Minister have both been captured, and the Supreme Teigu has been destroyed, this country should be heading toward its finale, right!" Lingyun said.

"That's right, this country has already perished, and a new nation will be rebuilt on the ruins of this one. Here, I must especially thank you for providing me with those documents. Without the help of those documents, I'm afraid we wouldn't have had any good plans for the future of this newborn nation about to be established!" Najenda looked at Lingyun with a face full of gratitude.

"Regardless, the documents I gave you were only for reference; the final implementation is still up to you. I don't want to interfere in such matters!" Lingyun waved his hand. "The rest is up to you all; I'll be heading back now!"

Seeing Lingyun leave, Luo Yexi and the others also bid farewell to Najenda one after another and followed Lingyun away from there.

With the curtain falling on the final battle of the Empire, the Empire that had lasted for a thousand years finally met its doom, and a brand-new nation was established on the original ruins.

A newly established nation is naturally one where everything needs to be rebuilt. Facing a country that had been ruined beyond recognition by the Prime Minister and his faction, Najenda also had a massive headache, and she had been so busy during this time that her feet barely touched the ground. Fortunately, Lingyun had previously used his own methods to save a group of quite capable officials from the Conscientious Faction from the Prime Minister's hands, and combined with a group of talented people Najenda promoted against the rules, they were able to roughly assemble a leadership team.

Compared to Najenda, who was always burying herself in hard work, Lingyun had been living much more comfortably these days. Because he had made preparations early on, he had set up heavy Defense Arrays outside his mansion, making his mansion one of the few buildings that remained intact under the carpet bombing of the Underworld King.

Although he had used power that nearly exceeded his limits when defeating the Underworld King, he himself had also gained quite a lot. Moreover, the World Consciousness of this world, to thank Lingyun for his help, not only copied a portion of this world's laws for Lingyun but also allowed Lingyun to go to the Origin Space of this world to cultivate.

Borrowing the power of the Origin Space, Lingyun not only repaired all the injuries he sustained in this battle but also replenished all the Dragon Qi he had consumed. More importantly, Lingyun used this opportunity to take his strength to the next level. Now, Lingyun had full confidence that even without using the True Dragon Transformation, he could severely injure the Underworld King by borrowing the power of the Four Symbols Dragon Sword Art.

"Yo, Najenda, aren't you usually very busy? How do you have time to come here today?" When Lingyun finished cultivating in his room and came to the living room, he saw Najenda and Akame chatting there.

Najenda rolled her eyes at Lingyun: "If you could help out, would I be this busy? Today, Minister Joli brought a group of his students to the Imperial Capital; with their help, I'm finally able to steal a moment of leisure! Unlike you, so leisurely day after day!"

"You can't blame me for that; after all, I'm not from your Empire, and the future of the Empire still needs to be managed by you yourselves. If I intervene now, what will you do after I leave?" Lingyun spread his hands.

"You're leaving?" Najenda looked at Lingyun in astonishment.

"After all, I don't belong here. Staying in the Imperial Capital for so long this time was because there were things to resolve. Now that everything has been resolved, the day I leave is not far off." Lingyun sat down on the sofa. "By the way, how are the other members of Night Raid and the Jaegers doing now?"

"Them? Tatsumi and Sayo went back to their village and successfully improved the environment there. Next, Tatsumi is going to the north to be stationed with Bulat; after Esdeath stepped down, she handed over the military power to them. Mine opened a dessert shop, and Leone opened a tavern, though I always feel they did that to satisfy their own appetites." Najenda said with a smile.

"I think so too!" Lingyun nodded slightly.

"Lubbock is still continuing to run his bookstore, and the one I'm most worried about is Sheele; she's still as scatterbrained as ever, so I'm keeping her by my side for now. Wave has returned to the navy, saying it's to guard the maritime frontiers for the Empire. Seryu said she wants to carry out her mission of justice and has become a member of the Imperial Guard again. Run has been following me to handle affairs during this time; he has great ability, and perhaps in the future, he will become a famous minister like Joli." Najenda also stated the current status of the remaining few.

"It seems they have all found their own futures; it looks like I don't need to worry!" Lingyun smiled and nodded.

"Lingyun, you said you're leaving, where are you going?" Najenda asked with some concern.

"As for leaving, that would be to a very distant place; I reckon we will hardly ever see each other again in the future!" Lingyun said. "Well, there's no rush, though; the newborn Empire is not yet stable, so I will wait until this country stabilizes before I leave!"

"Must you leave?" Najenda asked with some unwillingness.

After spending some time together, Najenda had long since realized that Lingyun was absolutely a rare talent; if the Empire had him as a pillar in the future, it would definitely have a different future.

"After all, I am not a person who belongs here; leaving is just a matter of time!" Lingyun said with a hint of implication, but he did not notice the pupils of Akame, who was beside him, shrink slightly.