Currently, altogether Chthonian Empire had three Apocalypse-Class powerhouses and more than twenty of those at the Super Devil Class.
From 3 Apocalypse-Class, one was me, and the other was Hela; even though she was Mighty Stage God, her combat prowess was unrivaled. Among the Super Devil Class Powerhouses, 5 were of my Family, six if I counted in Zekram.
Due to the plan to prepare for the Astral Boundary, every resource found in Baator and acquired by Chthonian Empire was instantly used. When someone looks into our vaults and reserves, they are mostly empty, as most of the resources obtained are sued to cultivate soldiers or talented people that are citizens to become stronger.
The name Chthonian Empire wasn't something that I invited, but rather a nation that lived in Baator was called that by other factions, and I just took fancy onto that as for now, Chthonian Empire controlled the entire Underworld, formerly Baator, with the exception of territory belonging to the Izanami, but that would soon change, as I would dispatch Hela to deal with her.
After three hundred years of development, the situation in the Chthonian Empire has moved up drastically upwards. Now, all of the power was absolutely concentrated in the hands of the Imperial House of Lucifer and in the hands of its members. At the same time, Nobles of Old were just a decoration of the past.
To perform even better, I have planned to implement some reforms to the Nobility. While the current system was good with TML, I have found it could be better, and I would present it at the next meeting of the Senatorum Imperialis.
The biggest flaw was that, even though TML and Commissariat were good at keeping Nobles in check by directly forcing them to manage their territories, not all Nobles were good at it naturally, and some territories were stagnating, and stagnation was something unacceptable in the Chthonian Empire.
I planned to make the Noble Position within the Chthonian Empire something dependent on personal strength, while Heads of Houses won't be ruling their territories themselves but rather chose a person or people to act as Governors of the Territory to manage it in the most effective way.
New Noble Positions would be Chthonian Elector Lord, a special Rank reserved only for Elders of the Baator and Chthonian Empire and their Houses. Then Chthonian High Lord, to be granted this title, Head of the House needs to achieve Super-Devil Class. Chthonian Lord, to be granted this title, Head of the House needs to achieve Satan-Class. Chthonian Viceroy, to be granted this title, Head of the House needs to achieve Legendary-Class and finally Chthonian Eques, to be granted this title, Head of the House needs to achieve Ultimate-Class.
This would make Chthonian Nobles to focuses entirely on getting stronger as competition would be fierce. Additionally, I will make a rule that there would be only a limited amount of Chthonian High Lords, and if all positions are full, then the only possible to achieve that rank would be to challenge someone and defeat him in combat.
I walked through the Imperial Palace Sanctus Imperialis, as I have finally arrived at the garden, where Vena was taking care of the flowers here.
Most of them were precious herbs collected across the entire Baator, or dimensional realms connected to the Draconic Deus, and some were from distant planets in the Earth Plane.
'Slap'
When Vena saw me, she instantly slapped me full force. While it didn't hurt too much, she used her full power of Super Devil, so I still felt it as I didn't defend against it.
"Okey... maybe I deserve it..."
I said in a silent voice.
"Indeed... but I am happy that you are back."
She then hugged me tightly as I hugged her back.
"So, how were you doing?"
I asked as we sat down.
"Pretty well... even though it was sometimes lonely, but alas, that is something I need to get used to."
I nodded.
In the near future, I may comprehend laws for centuries, and soon enough, Vena may be the same, as she was already a Super Devil, and after hitting a peak of the Super-Devil Class, she could start comprehending Laws to achieve Apocalypse-Class.
"I took care of the IMC and often cooperated with Military in conquest or with Ajuka in researching and manufacturing new tech."
IMC, short for the Interdimensional Manufacturing Corporation, was created by merging of all businesses I had before I became Chthonian Emperor; afterward, I passed it to Vena, as she was more talented and even more interested in business than me, so she managed it and made money.
Now Chthonian Empire and even the majority of Baator mostly used Divine Crystals or other types of energy Crystals as currency. Even though Soul Coins were still used, now only by commoners that didn't have access to the higher forms of currency.
"That is good. You have already reached Super Devil and soon would hit peak..."
I praised her as she looked at me.
"And you have reached Apocalypse-Class; we will have at least finally another advantage over those bastards from ExE Planet."
With my advancement, Empire could finally be more offensive in relation to the ExE. Before we could only attack when being attacked, as they had a far higher number of the Mighty Stage Gods, and some of those were extremely strong.
Chthonian Empire, which was situated in the Baator, could maximally dispatch Hela and only in direst situations. After Azrael broke through, then one of them could go out more often, but the second one needed to remain the Baator and guard the Chthonian Empire from dangers.
"Don't worry. Now that I have returned, I am not planning to leave for a very long time."
I said with a smile as I looked at my wife.