Lord Shadow

Chapter 1165: The price of power (2)

League of Freedom also did not sit still and out of all the world powers their action is the most open. 

Everyone knows that there is some bad blood between the League of Freedom and the World Government.

And the League of Freedom have always been targeting the World Government from bombing their facilities, to inciting insurrection, attacking the borders, spying, all normal stuff world powers always do against each other

Azief thought to separate the world into seven.

of course, he himself believe that after doing that he would exhausted most of his energy and he had to rest for a few years before he is back at the peak again

In normal cases, if Azief was that weak, he had to be wary of the Heavenly Will resistance. 

But since he decides to use the Heavenly Will to merge and then split the world into seven the Heavenly Will would also be exhausted. 

But after seeing what the technology that the Orvanian used to transform this world into a world of abundance while at the same time without draining too much of the energy of the world, Azief had new ideas. 

He probably did not need to merge all the continents but only the separate continent.

His idea might be too extreme.

At the same time, between the seven world powers, the Wall of the Sky technology could be implemented. 

This Wall of the Sky is a technology that Katarina told him exist in the lab. 

The description of the technology made him feel that it could be used by the world powers to at least maintain the uneasy peace between the seven world power.

One of Azief worries was always that the world would get into another world war. 

In the beginning he was not worried about this. But as he became one of the great powers, it is one of his worries.

And the threat is no longer only the seven great powers. The seven great powers at least had some balance and restricted each other.

For example, the most extreme rivalry is about the League of Freedom and the World Government. 

But even though those two have world obliterating weapons, they would not use it against each other

Is it because they are thinking about the people in their dominion and sphere of power? 

No. 

At least not for Narleod who have extreme hatred against the World Government. The reason is simply because as crazy as Narleod is, he is not entirely crazy like Rosulka.

If he is fully crazy he could not lead such an organization. The reason why these two powers did not throw world ending weapons against each other is because there are laws.

Laws that he had crafted and written. They do that, and regardless who wins between the two, they would lose the entire game.

Because once that happen, the other four great powers would declare that the winner had violated the Article. 

The Article of World Distribution might seem only like an article detailing the partition of the world influence. 

But it was supplemented over the years by the World Council. Any laws that were to enter the Article requires majority support from all of the world powers.

Of course when such majority rule become the deciding factor one might think that this is simply strengthening the other four world powers.

After all, the alliance between the four world powers compared to the Triumvirate that is the World Government, The Republic and Pandemonium

But of course, Loki at that time will not lose an inch and instead insisted that Pandemonium have three votes. 

So as long as the Triumvirate did not have too much of a difference in opinion most of the laws proposed by Pandemonium is passed.

One of those laws stated that no world power is allowed to use world ending, universals breaking weapons against the other world power

Any such unprovoked and deliberate use of such weapon detonated on Earth or any nearby Universes that would affect the wellbeing and the safety of Earth would be punished by all of the other world powers.

Basically if anyone does that, the world powers will gang up on them and destroy and tear them down and as for the people and the territory of that world power, it would be divided among the world powers.

At that time, it was simple. There is already balance between the great power and while there is still skirmishes and battles against each other, they know where to keep the line.

War was not eradicated. Only minimized. 

But over the years, things have not been to peaceful. 

there is even more powerful factions and organization that has rises over the years. Some of them even have powers rivaling some of the world powers.

They rose in underdeveloped parts of the world. 

For example, the Lotus Order legally acknowledge to have the right of rule over all of Asia, the right of rule which is derived from the authority of Pandemonium, the strongest world power in the world, kind of like a superpower nation

To some other people in other world power they might think that the grip that the Lotus Order have over Asia is tight and stable when that is not the truth at all.

There were rebellions in the begging of enforcing the rule of the Lotus Order in the beginning that they have to ask or help from the Three Great Powers.

And the sphere of influence of the Lotus Order is around the Central Plains only. Mongolia for example is ruled by another warlord, a Mongolian warlord.

Thankfully enough, this Mongolian warlord is nothing like Genghis Khan. Of course, if he were, in this world, the strongest person in the world is him

You run wild in the world and be prepared to be cut by a sword that came from ten thousand miles away 

That warlord might have control over the Mongolian plains and made alliances with the Tibetan warlords and to people who have low level, they might seem like a great figure, but in Azief eyes, they are simply small characters that he didn’t even need to pay attention to

If he were to pay attention and if this small character did not know their place and run wild, one thunderbolt and one strike of a sword is enough to neutralize the threat. 

Regardless this shows that the world powers do not exercise full control over the continent they were given to

In the case of the Lotus Order, they compromise with the warlords all over Asia. 

There are many warlords in Minor Asia that pays lip service to Lotus Order but do whatever they want in their territory.

they know that as long as they do not do things that touch the bottom line of the Three Great Powers and be low profile, they would not be targeted. 

Because the territory is under Lotus Order and by the laws of the Article, no other world power could interfere in the other world power internal conflict. 

This is to avoid overextending a small war into a world war. 

If the premier power of the continent could not handle even an internal war, they are not worthy to sit among the other world powers. 

After all, the establishment of the world power is to pacify the world. It is the creation of Pandemonium and World Government.

But some factions and organization uses the laws of the article to their advantage and gather their strength under the banner of the world power and some of these organization even have power rivalling that of world powers but content to remain as regional overlords.

The only differences were that they are not acknowledged by the Article of World Distribution. 

Azief act of authoring the Article of the World Distribution had set a precedent that any legitimacy of power, especially of a new faction or organization rested in the hands of the most powerful person in the world with the support of other powerful supporters.

It is precisely because Azief is the strongest person in the world at that time, that the Article of World Distribution was acknowledge by the world power.

Azief alone was not enough. 

Even if at that time he had the title of the world strongest, if World Government and the Republic truly could not accept it and launch a full out desperate attack at him at that time, throwing everything they have against him, then the article would be nothing but a piece of paper that have no power.

If that happens at that time, the world would be thrown into chaos.

It is precisely because it is authored by the world strongest man and supported by the Republic and the World Government, the two other world power that exist at that time that the Article of World Distribution gain legitimacy and power.

Legitimacy is an intangible thing. 

As long as enough people believe in it, it become legitimate. 

Before then, the conflict between the three great powers whether it is the start of a war or an end of the war had no legitimacy because there was no one to arbitrate the matter

But the moment the Article was acknowledged and accepted, this intangible power becomes real. 

Since then, any conflict between the world powers would be arbitrated by the representative of Pandemonium. 

Any change of territory, any claims of lands, any complaints against another world powers, any decision to declare war against other world powers would be at first begins in a discussion where Pandemonium must preside.

In a way because of the Article, large scale wars between the world power is contained and crimes against humanity in a war dropped.

Everyone believe in Death Monarch words. 

Because if there is one thing about Death Monarch that everyone know is that he rarely breaks his own words. 

Once he had given his words everyone could rest assured that he would not break his promise unless you went over his bottom line. 

And it is because of that, Hirate throws the blame to Loki, it is also the reason why Jean shut his mouth and why others that have a hint of what really happens during the Multiversal Convergence chose to shut their mouth and follow the narrative that Loki is the culprit

Because the position of Death Monarch in the seven great powers is based on trust. Once that trust is broken, then slowly things would start to crumble.

And the crumbling of the order of the Seven Great Powers would signify another period of chaos. And right now, Earth could not afford another period of chaos. 

As for the hidden threat of these other organization that rivals in power with the other world powers, since Azief had never let that throne of being the strongest man in the world, the legitimacy of these factions and organization is not acknowledged unless he himself acknowledges them. 

Loki plays a dangerous game with supporting some of these organization and faction to contain the other six great world powers but it is also undeniable that Loki method works.

Even when Pandemonium did not have Death Monarch guarding it, because of his genius use of balancing the powers in the world, Pandemonium remains the premier power of the world

But that is a method only Loki could do. 

Azief mind is always fill with the thoughts of what he would do after he returns home. He hopes the lab could give him some help

Azief had not seen the lab before because Katarina had to convince the Artificial Intelligence of the lab to agree to it.

The AI of the lab is very independent and has her own thoughts and it took her this long to finally make the Artificial Intelligence agree for him to look at the lab.

He himself had promise a few things to the Artificial intelligence and he also agree that the Artificial Intelligence could hide certain advanced technologies that is not suitable for the current development of Earth Prime

Azief knows that the Artificial Intelligence had a huge databases of worlds in that head of hers and she seems to fear that he would use it to arm humans on Earth with technologies that could threaten the Multiversal safety.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Azief was startled a bit and his thought come back to the dining room. Katarina notices Azief weird behavior

‘Focus mode again?’ she asks. He nodded and his face is solemn a bit. Katarina also seems worried.

‘It is getting worse’ he said. Katarina face tightened. 

‘Are you sure that hypothesis of yours is correct?’ Katarina said. For a moment, the atmosphere in the dining room turns a bit cold and oppressing. 

Azief close his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Opening it he said

‘Maybe, I’m wrong. Maybe, it is my problem. Maybe. I am just overthinking it’ Katarina however did not buy it.

‘I also felt it’

‘Sometimes’ she added. Azief close his eyes for a second. He had told Katarina that as he grows stronger his mind wander more and more. 

At times, he went lost in his thoughts. While the time he uses to think of all these things only took a second or so, the burden it places on his mind is accumulating.

And so, Azief found out that one of the things he did not need to do since the Fall, needed to be done

And the act that he is talking about is the act of sleeping. 

After one reaches the Energy Disperse Stage, one could forego sleeping. 

Ironically enough as he grows stronger and rise to Divine Comprehension he found out that he needs to sleep to calm down these thoughts in his mind that would not stop thinking and speculating, divining, deducing.

He thought of powerful creature that he heard from Alsurt that slumbers for thousands and tens of thousands of years or the Dark Things in the Dark Universe that slumbers for million and billions of years, awaken only when certain resonance is formed, when one spoke its name, or remember it.

Maybe, one day when he grows stronger enough, even he had to go into a long slumber. If not, he probably would go crazy. 

But if his hypothesis is not wrong and that this thing happens not only to him, then he also has to worry about the mental state of Jean and Hikigaya.

Jean is obsessed with Time Laws. 

Azief acknowledges that when it is about the laws of Time, even he with all of his powers could not rival Jena understanding of Time.

The only reason why he could suppress Jean is because he is on another level entirely with his Divine Comprehension level on the pinnacle realm, only one step toward Essence Creation while at the same time having the Perfection of his Physique and Laws. 

If he is on the same level with Jean and Jean uses his Time Laws against him, even Azief don’t know if he could win the fight.

‘hei’ Katarina said and it startles him again

She looks at him, worried

‘Again?’

Azief click his tongue feeling frustrated at himself. One thought leads to another and it continues.

‘You should take a nap or something. You do not have to rush meeting her. We have a month left’

Azief shake his head.

‘I’ll take my sleep at night. I need to see her. It already takes this long to get the permission. It is better if I confirm some things. And if what you said about the technology there is true, I need to take time to memorize it all’ Sighing Katarina could only nod.

Azief then say to Katarina

‘Thank you for helping me.’

‘I just hope that Pandemonium and the Republic would never have to be enemies. The weapons I saw the Orvanians uses is something that would simply put nuclear weapons to look like stones and sticks. And if Pandemonium and the Republic both have these weapons, then if we did war against each other, the damage would be unimaginable and might span other star system and other universes.’

‘I thought that the AI would not give any weapons related technology.

‘They won’t. But development is not some tech tree. If you have some other information you could derive and reverse engineer certain technology that the Orvanian would give us, it is enough to create new weapons’ 

‘While I doubt that you and I have time to research these technologies our research department have a lot of time in their hands to research the technology that we will brought home and they would have enough time to create weapons that is more advanced than what we have right now’

Azief frowned

‘You think I want to be enemies with you?’

‘Katarina, these organizations, these world power is nothing but people playing house. I hope you did not get caught up in it. 

‘You don’t believe the power of a civilization?’

‘No, I do believe in them. If I didn’t why would I even bother to move? I am just reminding you not too get too attached. When we are strong as we are we could sometimes forget that not all people are as strong as we are. Not everyone desires good’

‘You think that by being unattached, it would be better for us? That it would get us closer to the true source of power? Is that what you think?’

Katarina did not seem to be mad. 

She is simply trying to understand. 

Azief knows that this is not the place or time to discuss about such heavy things when they are having breakfast. 

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