The Witch Hunter System

Great Ratholos Empire, Imperial Capital

Over the past three days, the black pillar region has undergone startling development. To contain it, tall magic-enchanted walls have been erected around it.

At the same time, a new military district was set up right behind those very walls.

Although they had been told the Evernight Territory wouldn't invade the Great Ratholos Empire again, only fools wouldn't try to set up any forms of defensive measures in case things went south with Gehenna.

Nevertheless, 80% of the construction work was completed quickly, thanks to the help of the Red Dragon Clan and Black Rose Empire. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made that much progress, even if they were given another four months.

Whether it was the transportation of materials or the technicality of construction, the convenience of magic made everything much simpler.

Even so, Emperor Varan had to give a lot of credit to the Red Dragon Clan.

For a dragon race boasting superior strength and knowledge, he didn't expect them to be so skillful in human construction. It made him feel ashamed. It seemed like anything humans could do, the dragons could do it better.

Nevertheless, since the black pillar region was mostly settled, Emperor Varan could focus on other matters.

Although the Black Pillar region may have experienced the most destruction, it wasn't the only place in the imperial capital that suffered. Various buildings scattered throughout the city also required repair.

Furthermore, several new districts needed to be built to accommodate the homeless citizens. They could stay in temporary refuge camps and receive disaster relief forever.

It was both a burden on the empire and the citizens.

Resolving all of these matters would take at least six months, minimum. The vampires didn't invade for long, but the extensive damage still set the empire back a substantial amount of time.

Nevertheless, Emperor Varan had seen the convenience of magic. As such, he initiated a meeting with Astoria and Henrietta to discuss some matters.

"Empress Astoria, Queen Henrietta, and Lord Kuvat, you have all been a great help in rebuilding the imperial capital these past few days. For that, I am eternally grateful," Emperor Varan stated.

They were all gathered in the open courtyard outside the Imperial Palace's Great Hall since Kuvat couldn't fit inside.

"You didn't call us here just to say this, right?" Henrietta calmly asked.

"Of course not," Emperor Varan shook his head before mentioning, "In the past, none of our countries could get along due to our biased views and lack of trust. However, we are now united under one person."

"Your point is…"

"I believe it's time to open our borders and trade. We have much to learn from each other, and personally, I would like to hire more witches and wizards to aid this country's development and education," Emperor Varan stated.

"Oh? If this were the past, I definitely wouldn't have believed you could come up with such a proposition, Emperor Varan," Henrietta smiled before saying, "I don't see any reason to refuse. Opening trade routes between our countries will certainly be mutually beneficial."

"However, I do have one doubt about your country's wealth. I wonder if Emperor Varan is willing to enlighten me?" Henrietta mentioned.

"Since we are now on the same side, how can I possibly refuse a simple inquiry? What do you wish to know, Queen Henrietta?" Emperor Varan asked straightforwardly.

"The Great Ratholos Empire is located south of the seven witch kingdoms, further away from Gehenna's entrance. The mana density here is much lower than our witch kingdoms, but your country has a far superior wealth of mana stones," Henrietta mentioned before asking, "Why is that so?"

"It seems you have been quite busy with work and had no time to look deeper, Queen Henrietta," Emperor Varan casually smiled before saying, "Because if you did look, you would have easily found out about it. The source of our mana stones isn't some guarded secret at all."

"The Great Ratholos Empire acquired its wealth of mana stones from the sea. In fact, nearly all of its wealth comes from the Eastern Sea, Lady Henrietta," Kuvat spoke up, adding, "The Eastern Sea is home to an abundance of resources, mana stone deposits being just one of its richer resources."

"But isn't that strange?" Astoria asked, realizing Henrietta's doubt. She added, "Even I find it strange for the Eastern Sea to be so rich in mana stone deposits."

"Why do you both find that strange, Empress Astoria?" Emperor Varan asked with a baffled look.

To him, the Eastern Sea being rich in mana stone deposits was normal.

"Think about it. Before Gehenna's emergence, mana didn't exist in our world. Thus, the rich mana stone deposits in the Eastern Sea shouldn't have existed before that time," Henrietta mentioned.

"However, mana is like air; it's light and more likely to float into the upper sky, where most of the world's mana is gathered. Even if it dropped on water, it should float and not sink to the bottom."

"Despite that, the rich mana stone deposits in your Eastern Sea tell us otherwise," Henrietta stated.

"Indeed, mana is more likely to float if it lands on water. But suppose it was submerged from the start. In that case, sinking becomes reasonable," Astoria chimed, adding, "However, wouldn't that also imply Gehenna's mana is being injected into the sea directly?"

"You suspect there's another dimensional crack connected to Gehenna in the Eastern Sea?" Emperor Varan casually asked, unsurprised, before nodding, "Indeed, that should be the case, though we have never confirmed its exact location."

"You see, the Eastern Sea isn't exactly a place we can freely explore. In fact, I could argue the sea is far more dangerous than the Perilous Lands on the continent."

"However, I'm more concerned about the power that has been connecting Gehenna and Pangea," Emperor Varan added.

"What do you mean, Emperor Varan?" Henrietta asked curiously.

"The dimensional crack in the northern land is connected to another land, and the one hidden in the Eastern Sea should also be connected to another sea. If that weren't the case, the Boundless Sea would have been drained long ago. However, isn't this too coincidental?" Emperor Varan mentioned.

"Even Great Devil Abaddon required long years of preparation and a huge sacrifice before he established a connection between Gehenna and Pangea, and even then, it's not on the same scale as the dimensional crack north of your seven witch kingdoms."

"Doesn't that suggest the power that created those large dimensional cracks is even greater than the Great Devils?" Emperor Varan raised an alarming question.

However, Kuvat suddenly chuckled without any concern.