Aquafina watched as a small pod flew from the fleet outside the planet. The pod landed in front of her castle, and not long afterward, a few people came out. The leading convoy was a mermaid with dark skin and red hair.
Two people followed behind her: one tall and one extremely short, similar to a child in height. Aquafina recognized the tall one as a human, and the short one was a species called Free Elves.
The two followers did not have any protection despite being underwater. She could tell that their magical robe provided them with an invisible protective shield so they could survive in this environment.
Furthermore, these three were all Tier 6 Arcanists.
"Your majesty," said Ariel. "My name is Ariel Mertail, and these are my companions, Tong Yu and Cabby."
"There is no need for politeness. After all, after today, I no longer will be royalty."
"But currently, you are still of noble lineage, so respect is a must," replied Ariel. And although Aquafina knew this was because of a diplomatic mission, she was in a much better mood for her decision.
"Do you want to enter for some tea? I believe this is a common custom of your Empire."
"Normally, we would love to, but the current situation does not allow it. So, let's get to business."
"I understand."
Tong Yu took out a long scroll and handed it to Ariel, who then gave it to Aquafina.
"The infamous Contract of Surrender," said Aquafina as she skimmed through it. Then, she condensed a quill with her mana to sign it.
"Your majesty, should you be more careful?" said one of the ministers.
"No need. Since we are going to integrate into the Empire, we should have some level of mutual trust," Aquafina replied as she signed her name before dropping some blood on the scroll and leaving some imprints of her soul.
The contract then lit up after the signing process.
"Thank you for your trust," said Ariel with a beautiful smile as she took the scroll and placed it inside her interdimensional ring.
"It's my understanding that you have a way to purify the Death Energy of our planets?"
"Your majesty, you don't have to worry. We will deal with the rest. Now, if you could please tell us the general situation?"
Aquafina then gave the situation of the undead on the other planets. Bluewater Star System has four habitable planets where the Nagas once lived and prospered. However, three of them have already been conquered.
"Three Baron Vampires? That's Tier 6," muttered Ariel. "Alright, we will deal with them."
"Do you mind if I accompany you?" asked Aquafina. "I would love to see the Empire into action."
"Very well."
Aquafina then followed the squad into the pod despite the rejection of her ministers. Then, they flew to one of the largest ships in the fleet. Ariel conducted a meeting and allowed the former queen to participate.
However, she did not immediately attend. Instead, she went to a particular room on the ship and placed the contract before recording a message.
"This is Ariel Merail, security code 7r08477382hdge649du, reporting to HQ. The mission has been successful." Then, a few seconds later, the scroll disappeared as it was teleported away, making Ariel sigh in relief.
A few times, the contracts of surrender were intercepted, creating political problems. So, the new security protocol is to immediately teleport them back to HQ instead of transporting them through a long voyage.
After receiving a message from HQ, Ariel went to the meeting room.
"How is the situation?" she asked as soon as she entered.
"We have already blocked the entire Star System's Space to prevent reinforcements from the Undead Legion–not that they would care about lowly Baron Vampire," replied Tong Yu.
"Our sensors have detected an energy signature which signals that the undead is indeed Tier 6 and not hiding their strengths for an ambush."
Ariel nodded before looking at another person in the room: that person was wearing a unique magical hood that hid all information about them.
"According to my divination, there is nothing wrong with this regiment. It's just one of the many normal ones sent out to cause chaos and increase the number of undead."
"Alright," replied Ariel calmly. Aquafina was not calm and had to exercise extreme control to hide her emotions. After all, she had just learned that a regular regiment almost destroyed her race and ended her kingdom.
It was not fair, yet she understood the cruelty of the universe was as such; the strong preyed on the weak.
"My mission is finished," said the hooded figure. "And according to War Time Emergency Order, I will excuse myself."
Ariel nodded. In the current war, Diviners have become essential to gather accurate information. As such, they faced constant assassination from the Undead Legion.
There is even a secret squad under the Death God Guzznad, dedicated to killing Diviners of the most influential civilizations. The Starskin Race suffered the most under this squad since they have even more Diviners than the Empire.
(AN: Nightskin race will now refer to as Starskin.)
And after the Empire suffered a few successful assassinations, new protocols were established to ensure the safety of Diviners. They will wear magical robes that hide their identity and will not stay long in any active war zones.
After giving the information, the hooded figure went to a special room that directly teleported them back home.
"Then, let's begin," said Ariel. The fleet then separated into three, each heading to a different planet. She took Aquafina to Bluesea Planet, where a black shield surrounded the entire planet.
Ariel ordered the ship canons to bombard the ship, and after firing a few rounds, the shield popped like a balloon.
Then, a magic circle appeared underneath her feet, surrounding her and Aquafina. They disappeared and appeared on the only piece of land on the planet.
"Damn the Arcane Empire," said a cold voice. It was a pale man with four long fangs dressed like a nobleman from the Middle Age. Numerous dark lights entered his body from different places on this planet.
"Trying to absorb the souls of the other undead to become stronger?" said Ariel with a smirk. She raised her hand to cast a spell. A magic circle appeared with weird writings on the corner.
The writing was composed of Sanskrit, ancient Egyptian, and other languages.
[Undead Purification]
This was a spell Edward created based on the Book of the Dead, the Golden Book of Amuhra, and the Oracle from his previous voyage.
After Ariel cast her spell, the souls of these undeads, mostly skeletons, flew from their bodies and entered the Underworld, and their physical bodies became useless.
"Damn it, I cannot die here," yelled the Vampire; once he saw the Arcane Empire's ships, he wanted to use this method to raise his Tier quickly. But the transformation was not as simple as he thought.
[Blood Tentacles]
Countless blood tentacles came from his body and headed straight for Ariel, trying to turn her into a shish kebab.
"Don't you know better to confront an Arcanist at the same Tier?" she said with a sneer. A magic circle appeared before her, creating a powerful jet of flame that turned the blood tentacles into ashes.
Ariel then raised her head to see a bunch of bats flowing into the sky and used another spell.
[Lightning Judgment]
A pillar of thunder descended from the sky on all the bats. Then, the Vampire's complete body fell to the ground with smoke on his body. He wanted to curse these Arcanists and whoever created that system.
All of them were powerful and could use powerful spells without pausing. They were strong physically and masters of hand-to-hand combat. Then there was the fact they were not restricted by any attributes and could use all types of magic. This was something even the undead could not do.
Ariel snapped her finger, and the vampire passed out.
"Envious?" she said, looking at Aquafina.
"Honestly, I am. Such a powerful and versatile magic system." As a water creature like herself, Ariel should only be able to use water magic–unless she had some special bloodline, a mutation, or used magical artifacts. But that was not the case.
"You will also be like me after you integrate into the Empire."
"I can learn your magic system despite being a foreigner?"
"There is no foreigner in the Empire, only its citizen. After the final integration, you can go to school to learn our magic system at no cost. Then, you can innovate to make it better and push its boundaries, creating a cycle of progress."
Aquafina paused for a moment, "That sounds beautiful and all, but can the Empire be so selfless? To give away such a precious thing…."
She could not fathom doing such a thing despite knowing the benefit. The Naga royal family has hidden its most powerful spells and magical artifacts for thousands of years. And even though she loved her people and would do anything to protect them, she was also selfish and wanted her family to have the power to rule.
"This is the charm of the Arcane Emperor," replied Ariel. "Alright, let's deal with the other mess."
Then, she looked at the dark ocean. She used a spell to scan the entire planet. Ariel then cast a large-scale spell; countless magic circles appeared in the sky, covering the entire planet.
Then, countless water bubbles flew from the bottom of the ocean; there were so many of them that the sun was almost covered.
"Are those?"
"Undead," replied Ariel.
"What's going to happen to them?"
"They will be sent to a facility that will awaken their intelligence and past memories before turning into undead. The successful one will be integrated into the Empire as citizens, while the others will be purified."
"Is it really alright for undeads to be treated as citizens?" asked Aquafina.
"I know you have your prejudice, but you have to understand most of them were ordinary people before they were forced into this state. Many of them have now become our allies and are now fighting on many battlefields across the galaxy. Their contributions to this war are no less than any other race or civilization.
"Furthermore, there is still the hope that the Empire will find a way to revert them to their former selves."
"What about the Vampire? What's going to happen to him?"
"According to the Empire's Laws, he is my personal property now. So, I can do what I please with him."
Aquafina sighed but no longer commented. Meanwhile, Ariel contacted the ship.
"Come get the undead. Plus, send in the Druids to purify this place."
Not long afterward, the ship descended on the planet and began to load the captured undead into a spacious pocket dimension inside the spaceship. At the same time, a bunch of Arcanists dressed in clothes with a nature theme also arrived.
They flew around the ocean while dropping seeds. Once they finished, they chanted a spell that echoed throughout the planet. As they chant, enormous white trees began to grow from the bottom of the ocean.
Then, the tree rapidly turned dark, and they did so, and the ocean slowly returned to its blue color. A few hours later, the dark sea had returned to its original color, and Aquafina rushed to check.
As she played with the water, she could no longer sense any death energy, and she did not need to protect herself when interacting with the water.
"It's really purified," she muttered.
"The process will be complete in another few days, but it is good enough for now," said one of the druids.
"Is there anything I need to help with?"
"No. Someone will come to take the trees away a few days later."
"Alright."
The druids then entered the ship to depart. Their services were needed throughout the galaxy, and they could not spend all their time on one planet. Although they would love to stay and listen to the thanks of the Planet Will, they had a mission to preserve nature in many other places.