Dancing on the golden ashes

The entire city fell into a heavy silence. For a long moment, not a single soul dared to breathe. I nodded in approval. This one would serve me well. As for the others? Fear was the best leash to keep them in line. And I had no intention of playing games.

Those who lay sprawled on the ground—I could almost hear their heartbeats, erratic and pounding against their ribs. Each second after the announcement stretched endlessly, as if time itself had halted, sealing this moment as an unshakable decree from the heavens. Frozen. Absolute.

I swept my gaze over the survivors, memorizing each face. I had to remember them. If any of them dared betray me in the future, I'd know exactly where to strike.

"Rise, all of you!" My voice boomed, shattering the eerie stillness. "Today, I declare this empire…" I hesitated. What was this place even called again? Tch. It was probably some forgettable name. "—The Empire of the Golden Phoenix, sister empire to the Undying Flame! Those who object to its name or its ruler shall be deemed traitors. If you still foolishly believe democracy exists…" I let out a cold chuckle. "Let my blade put that delusion to rest."

Summoning my scythe, I watched as its razor-sharp edges bathed the city in suffocating darkness. A living void. The pressure alone was enough to make some collapse, gasping for air. Strange… Every time I grew stronger, the scythe changed in ways I couldn't describe. Twisting. Warping. Evolving into something beyond mortal comprehension.

Nobody dared to stand.

"Very good." I let the words sink in. "Now, take me to where you keep the prisoners. Release the women. And if any of them wish to kill you, I'll allow it. If they want to rip your balls off, they have my full permission." I tilted my head slightly, letting the weight of my next words settle over them like a suffocating fog. "You all had better be prepared to suffer the consequences of your actions."

A wave of shivers rippled through the crowd. Fear clawed at their spines, their trembling impossible to hide—especially from my little slave. Han Seungho. He was the worst of them, and he knew it. The things he had done to those women... unspeakable. Inhuman. But I needed him alive, for now. That didn't mean I wouldn't let them have their way with him. If they wanted to castrate him, I wouldn't stop them. They were all lucky—pathetically lucky—that I hadn't simply wiped this entire place off the map.

"Lead the way," I commanded coldly, my eyes locking onto Han Seungho. "Now."

He sprang to his feet instantly, bowing so deeply it was almost pitiful. "Y-Yes, Master… Please… follow me."

He didn't dare meet my gaze. Instead, he turned stiffly and pushed through the massive crowd. The others remained kneeling, heads lowered, even after I had withdrawn my pressure. Their fear was carved into their bones. But beneath it, I saw it—the hatred burning in their eyes, in their clenched jaws.

Let them hate me. Let them glare and curse under their breath.

They were nothing but cowards. And when the time came, I would throw them onto the front lines, let them bleed for me.

Soon, we reached the massive citadel. Even I had to admit—I was impressed by how quickly they had built it. But after everything I had seen in this world, it made sense. Some people had abilities that allowed them to construct entire structures in mere seconds. Honestly, if the construction workers from my old world saw this, they'd probably be tearing their hair out, watching their years of training and hard labor get reduced to nothing but a relic of the past.

But now wasn't the time for idle thoughts.

Too many women had been kidnapped and brutalized in this place. The sheer number made my stomach churn. I followed Han Seungho into the dungeon, the air growing colder with each step. And then I saw it.

The sight before me nearly made me retch.

The moment I took in the squalid, blood-stained cells, my body burned with a rage so raw, so overwhelming, that I almost lost myself. Without thinking, I drew my scythe, its edge slicing through the air, stopping just before it cleaved Han Seungho in half.

It took every ounce of restraint not to finish him right then and there.

"Help!"

The moment the women saw me, they rushed to the bars, clutching them with trembling hands, their voices hoarse from desperation.

"Don't worry," I said, forcing my tone to remain steady. "I'll get all of you out of here. Justice will be served."

Han Seungho scrambled to unlock the cells under my order, his hands shaking as he fumbled with the keys. There were at least two hundred cells in total—holding over five hundred women. A staggering number. Too many.

Their bodies bore evidence of unimaginable suffering—open wounds, bruises, broken limbs. Some had limbs turned black from frostbite. The dungeons must have been freezing. I couldn't feel it, my level was far too high for temperature to affect me—but the state of these women made it clear.

Many of them begged me for me to slaughter every man in this city. And despite how much I wanted to, I couldn't afford to act purely on emotion. I needed them alive. I needed them to be my cannon fodder.

If war broke out with another empire, it would be better if they died on the front lines than my own people.

Soon, I had everyone bring clothes and arrange accommodations for the rescued women. Entire households were seized, their former occupants thrown out, and I let the women take control of those homes. I had no plans to move them elsewhere—not yet. If I could restore order, I would have a fully functional puppet empire at my fingertips. That was why I named it the Golden Phoenix—a symbol of rebirth, of something rising from the ashes.

But how naive that hope had been.

Days passed. The cries for blood didn't lessen—they grew. More and more women begged me to slaughter every last man in this city.

Han Seungho had been stripped bare and tied to a massive wooden pole in the heart of the city. A fitting humiliation—though, in truth, it was the least he deserved. The act alone had brought a twisted sense of satisfaction to many of his victims.

Weeks passed.

Word reached me that Zeltra City was slowly recovering, and before long, trade routes between the two cities had opened. This place—now the Grand Phoenix Capital—had begun to stabilize. Rebellions flared up here and there, mostly from the men, but each was swiftly and brutally put down. Yet, I had come to realize something.

Not all the men here were monsters.

Most had simply been lured by temptation, but with time, that temptation had transformed into something else—an urge to protect, to rebuild, to carve out something resembling hope. Actual relationships were beginning to take root, the scars of the past slowly giving way to something new.

For a moment, I allowed myself to believe things were finally moving in the right direction.

Until the first reports came in.

Foreign forces had begun creeping around the city's borders.

At first, I didn't care. Let them bark. Let them mock this place for being ruled by a woman. Their words meant nothing if they didn't have the guts to act.

But not all of them were afraid to bite.

The Golden Lightning Empire was expanding its borders, and the news reached us swiftly.

A messenger soon arrived at the Golden Phoenix Empire, demanding Han Seungho surrender his lands and transfer all available manpower to serve the so-called "great emperor."

I sent the unlucky fool back home—without his limbs. Along with a simple message: Cease your expansion, or I will deal with your emperor myself.

A week later, I received my answer.

A declaration of war...

"Master, what will we do?" Han Seungho's voice trembled as he delivered the latest report. "The enemy has nearly ten thousand men and women in their ranks… and they aren't just fodder. They're high-level warriors. Currently…" His voice wavered. "Currently, we don't have enough people. I'll try to recruit fighters from neighboring cities, but even then…"

I slammed my fist into his head.

"Idiot," I said, annoyed. "Did you forget who I am?"

This fool dare to look down on me?

"No, Master… of course not," he stammered. "But even with your strength, we'd still lose too many people…" His hesitation was obvious—he was choosing his words carefully. But I understood his concerns.

The Grand Phoenix Capital barely housed over a thousand people. Compared to ten thousand? It was a slaughter waiting to happen.

I glanced at the map. "Nobody asked you to fight."

"You mean…?" He blinked, confused.

"I mean," I said, my voice calm, absolute, "that I will fight them alone."

I met his wide-eyed stare. "I will protect you useless fools." My lips curled into a smirk. "One day, you will have to defend me. But today is not that day."