"Arasaka Heavy Industries! What are you trying to do! Put down your weapons!" Looking at the group of fully armed B rank type armored warriors at the door, Damian pointed at them angrily and roared, "I'm telling you, I've already called the police! We are an officially recognized church here. Pointing heavy weapons at us like this is a blatant violation of the law!"
At this moment, a man in military uniform slowly walked out and spoke to Damian with a serious face:
"Bishop Damian, we suspect your church of secretly colluding with an enemy nation. Therefore, we received orders from our superiors to come and arrest you, and the church must also be disbanded immediately after being searched!"
"Colluding with an enemy nation, how is that possible." Damian frowned. "And even if we really were secretly colluding with an enemy nation, the ones coming to arrest us should be the AMA's law enforcement forces, not your company's private armed forces!"
"Currently, because a large number of crimes committed by Ability Users have occurred in the Hive District, the AMA's law enforcement forces are currently unable to spare any hands, so we are acting on their behalf."
The man in military uniform explained calmly.
"'Acting on their behalf'?" Damian repeated the phrase with an unkind tone. "Since you are acting on their behalf, where is the enforcement warrant? Without an enforcement warrant, you have no right to represent the AMA!"
He stared fixedly at the other party, emphasizing "acting on their behalf" heavily, seemingly certain that the other party couldn't produce that warrant.
And the fact was exactly as Damian said. The man in military uniform didn't produce the so-called "enforcement authority," but he also didn't give any reason. He just looked at him quietly.
After waiting for a while, a trace of cold sweat slightly seeped from Damian's forehead, but he still feigned an angry appearance and continued:
"Why haven't you left yet! Without an enforcement warrant, no matter how much you try to stall with me, I will never agree to let you enter the church!"
Silence. The man in military uniform did not reply.
"Pfft—Pfft, hahahaha..."
But at this moment, it was as if the man in military uniform couldn't hold it in anymore, and he began to bend over and laugh out loud.
"What are you laughing at?"
Looking at the man in military uniform who suddenly burst into wild laughter, Damian frowned and asked.
"Hahaha... Oh my, I can't take it anymore." The man in military uniform wiped his tears while slapping his thigh. "When I think about you trying to act calm and confronting me, while actually screaming internally about why you called the police but the AMA's law enforcement forces still haven't arrived, I just couldn't hold back my laughter."
Hearing this, Damian's face instantly became extremely ugly.
"You didn't really think that if you didn't agree, we wouldn't go in, did you?" The man in military uniform straightened up, a mocking curve hanging on his lips, appreciating Damian's somewhat ashen face at the moment. "I was just teasing you~"
"As for today..." His smile faded, and his tone suddenly turned icy. "We're not here to catch any traitors at all. We came to destroy your church."
"As for the reason... who told you to be the dogs secretly raised by the AMA, preparing to trip us up in the future? So, I had to take a step ahead and clean you up first."
The man in military uniform spread his hands, his expression as casual as if he were about to pull a weed.
"You... are you trying to violate the laws established by the nation and officially go to war with the AMA!"
Upon hearing these words, Damian's anger was completely ignited, and he roared at the man in military uniform.
"Tch." The man in military uniform picked his ear with a disdainful face. "Why do you think the AMA law enforcement forces haven't shown up yet? Because... the AMA can't even protect themselves right now. Their main combat forces have all gone back to guard their nest."
"And furthermore, the law? That is established by the strong. Right now, right here, we are the strong ones. What bullshit law, do you really think of this thing as your protective umbrella?"
After finishing his words, he returned to an expressionless look and calmly uttered a single word:
"Action."
As soon as his voice fell, the electromagnetic weapons in the hands of the armored warriors beside him began to rapidly accumulate energy, aiming at the church's main door.
Zzz-wumm—
High-energy pulses shot out, rushing straight toward the church's main door.
Seeing this, Damian's pupils contracted sharply. The spiritual power around his body began to fluctuate violently, forming an invisible barrier to block this attack.
Boom——!!
The barrier was pierced and torn apart like paper. The high-energy electromagnetic impact, wrapped with debris, completely blasted a large hole in the church's main door.
The furious air current viciously flipped Damian to the ground. He tasted sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of fresh blood forcefully spurted out.
The armored warriors coldly stepped over the debris and the collapsed Damian, directly pouring into the church.
The man in military uniform, however, paced over to Damian's side. He bent down and said in an icy tone:
"Old man, you should be glad that you are more valuable alive than dead. Otherwise, just from that strike alone, you probably wouldn't even have a complete corpse left."
After finishing his words, he stood up and, carrying the posture of a victor, walked into the church.
...
Meanwhile, Cerydra, having just finished sensing her own abilities, heard the sounds of an argument coming from outside the door.
She frowned slightly, then opened her eyes.
Seeing that the two people originally standing in front had become one, she looked at the person named Sylens.
"You, come here."
"Eh? Are you calling me?" Sylens was taken aback at first, then hurriedly came before Cerydra. "Lord god, may I ask what the matter is?"
"God?" Cerydra raised her eyebrows slightly, somewhat displeased with this form of address. "I am not a god, but you may call me—Imperator."
"Imperator?" Hearing this name, Sylens paused slightly, then fell into deep thought. "Such a familiar name, have I heard it somewhere before?"
'Familiar? Does this world also have the title of 'Imperator'?'
After hearing Sylens's words, this was the first reason Cerydra thought of.
After all, in the history of the world in her previous life, Imperator was originally the name of a person in history. It was just because that person became so famous that it gradually evolved into a title.
Forget it, familiar is fine. It doesn't matter anyway.
"What is this place."
"Here?" Sylens thought for a moment before answering, "This is the Hive District of the Pan-Pacific United States..."
But after he finished speaking, as if thinking of something, he hurriedly added:
"...Uh, you can think of this place as an empire, and the Hive District as a... city-state of this empire?"
'The Hive District of the Pan-Pacific United States? I kept hearing Luo Lin, Little Ran, and the others mention it before, but I just never came over. This time it's a direct step to the destination.'
Thinking of this, just as Cerydra wanted to continue asking about the "god" they mentioned and what the summoning ritual was...
——Boom!!!
A deafening loud noise came from outside the door. The furious shockwave, wrapped in smoke, dust, and crushed stones, instantly blasted the church's main door into powder.
The blinding light of the high-energy weapons even briefly illuminated the dim hall.
Following closely behind the loud noise was the cold roar of the man in military uniform, clearly piercing through the pervasive dust:
"Tear the church down for me! As for the people inside the church! Leave no one alive!"
The heavy combat boots of the armored warriors stepped on the wreckage of the main door, filing into the church one after another.
The man in military uniform, however, walked in with a trace of a smile on his face, following behind these armored warriors.
But what they didn't know was that at this moment on the throne, Cerydra was looking at these uninvited guests who had created a large amount of noise with her ice-blue eyes, a cold killing intent instantly congealing in her eyes.
The various noisy and ear-piercing sounds brought about by their explosions, clamoring, orders, and the metallic friction of moving armor just now, coupled with the previously interrupted conversation, successfully made her feel incredibly irritable at this moment.
"So noisy."
After saying these words, she expressionlessly raised her right hand, her five fingers forming a loose grip.
Immediately after, a scepter topped with a massive deep blue diamond appeared out of thin air in her fair palm.
"I will..." her voice was not loud, but it carried terrifying majesty, instantly overpowering all the clamor and echoing clearly within the shattered church, "have order!"
Subsequently, her eyes rested on the figures of those uninvited guests.
"Transgressors, shall be judged by the [law]!"
★ ★ ★
T/N: The familiarity Sylens had with Cerydra's title stems from the fact that she's called 凯撒 or Caesar in Chinese, which has been localized to Imperator.