Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 54-4: Stockholm Conference (Part 4)

Understandably, despite Lu's bold wording, she can't just go out on a showing of every single bit and piece of evidence Belka has managed to collect. Firstly, it isn't feasible due to the time constraint. Ten days won't be enough to fit everything they have gathered so far, much less a single day. Other than that, a majority of the video and photographic evidence are littered with classified materials. It would be stupid of Belka to show their hands this early into the game. ONI Sections Two and Three had to work overtime to de-classify the materials that will be shown at the conference. Still, even the condensed and heavily redacted version has enough of an impact that will cause even a cold-hearted person to mourn.

Prior to the dissemination of their information, however, Lu has her retinue start handing out briefcases for the King of Sweden and other foreign dignitaries, a selected few reputable reporters are also given such briefcases. Contained inside the briefcases are the damming evidence against the Sardegna and its ruling religious body in a written format. Once the Belkan retinue has finished a round of distributing surprisingly durable cases, Lu kicks off the party by saying ominously.

"There's a reason why our Yggdrasil Pantheon, Belka's religious body, isn't allowed to dictate matters of the state and is not a governing body. What you will see next are the consequences of having a country run by a group of religious zealots and fanatics, with each and every single one of them either having their own corrupted agenda or twisted desires. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not for the faint of heart, the upcoming footage will test even the bravest of veterans and even they can't quite stomach what they see."

All eyes are now resting on the Belkan delegation who have started setting up a contraption. While most don't quite understand what sort of contraption has been placed in the middle of the conference room, Vill-V's analytical can identify the machinery as a visual and audio holographic projector. It's nothing too major, however, and isn't quite a cause for alarm since Japan also has something along that line nowadays. Hence Vill-V soon let the matter rest, now more curious about the things Belka has been insinuating nonstop. What the Japanese mad scientist hasn't known is that Belka's choice for the projector has been an intentional one to downplay their technological achievement significantly. As planned, it's just enough to impress people with, nothing to raise immediate concern.

People's eyes light up when the projector is turned on and a lifelike display, accompanied by crisp audio effects, appears in the center of the room. The projection is a large one, enough for everyone to pay attention to the minute details. And because of this feature, more and more viewers start turning a shade paler or have been unable to keep a hospitable expression as the footage goes on. This is only made worse by the fact that with each segment of footage, appropriate documents can be found resting in their briefcases, waiting to be read.

Yeah, it's that bad.

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The projection starts by showing a gathering of Belkan executives in a more militarist setting than the Stockholm Conference. With a cursory glance, the first thing that people will see is the stern visage of the one-eye Reich Marshal of Belka.

Sitting imperiously with her back reclined and a hand supporting her chin, with another holding up an intelligence report, the Marshal's visible severity only serves to thicken the air in the room, both in the projection and in the real world.

With a wave of her hand, the Marshal throws the documents on the table, with many around her table placing down their own. The Marshal can be heard saying. "This is one of the rarer cases where the reports might actually undersold the seriousness of the situation."

The viewers fall silent as the Marshal continues her speech. "Ten years, people. Ten bloody years that Sardegna has been doing this, and you're telling me that not once did the world raise an eyebrow in suspicion?"

"Marshal, our standing theory is that Sardegna has too much of a grasp over the public's opinion. Owing to their outreach to religious influence, they can easily cover up their actions. Entire overseas ethnic communities disappeared? They would be explained by taking a pilgrimage to Sardegna as newly converted Christians. The same reasoning could also be applied to an entire Jewish neighborhood being relocated elsewhere by the Papacy. Or, they would say that the relocation was made to prevent political conflicts with the true Christians. Either way, the Sardegnian government has been moving a lot of people, legally and illegally, to the Sardegna mainland. Primarily targeting communes with no notable impact on the geopolitical landscape, Sardegna has managed to spirit away hundreds of thousands of people."

"And because they have been subtly doing this for years, the actual number could be much, much higher, Marshal. We have been unable to continue verifying the matter, due to two major reasons: Our lack of manpower and the current conflicts around the world."

"There's also the fact that most countries would rather not invite trouble on their doorsteps. Since Sardegna has primarily targeted the Jewish people, many nations are content to ignore it. In their mind, one less Jewish merchant means more opportunity for their own."

"Their bias has only served to exacerbate the matter, leading to Sardegna gaining more and more bodies for whatever purpose they need."

"And Marshal, we have reasons to believe that the Crusaders, the all-female combat unit with magical affinity like many of our own, hold a vile secret in their creations. Ma'am, we have acquired evidence through intelligence gathering and by performing autopsies on dead Crusaders to shed light on their secret... The Crusaders are made by human sacrifice, and the number of lives required to successfully create a Crusader will be in the hundreds. It's even more troubling when the creation process is not a guaranteed success."

The chilling revelation makes people forget to breathe. Yet, before any sort of reaction from the spectators can be expected, the video projection is changed. Now, the projection shows the true nature of the creation of the Crusaders. Mass-human sacrifice, mostly Jews, and Africans, and when the Sardegna-Spain conflict kicked off, Spanish. The projection even shows the coffins that hold the sacrificial humans being activated, draining them of their essence. Inhumane experiments, injecting mana into live victims, performing vivisection on living, half-zombified subjects that still retain their sanity. Elderly, young, children, female, male... These Sardegnian madmen spared no one in their effort to accomplish their goals, to satisfy their insane curiosity. Then there was slavery, holding no correlation with their scientific pursuit no matter how bloody it might be. Yet, it was an integral part of running the human-devouring machine that was the Sardegnian dark underbelly. Forced labor, sexual assaults, the worst living condition known to mankind... It's as if they were viewing something that came from a once-forgotten barbaric age. Some viewers, unable to hold their stomaches, shed their dignity and run away from the room, only to throw up outside.

And then comes the mass graves, nothing more than pits dug by the slaves, filled with countless rotten corpses. With the high-resolution nature of the projection, people can see mutilated bodies of different ethnicities and varying ages from children to the elderly. Humans, half-zombified and half-demonized humans, and purely zombies with their limbs and heads cut open... The pits had... everything.

Much like what the Belkan Empress had implied earlier, more and more spectators are unable to carry on watching. Rather than asking whether the projection is real or not, the most relevant question in their minds right now is: Why, and how?

Before any can even voice what their hearts have been screaming out to do, the projection is cut back to the Marshal's meeting room. Tapping her finger on the armrest, the Marshal seems to be deliberating a hard decision. Her voice seems to shake everyone awake, for it is eerily calm, a stark contrast from what they have just seen.

"The world has come to learn that when one breaks the natural laws of Gaia, the world itself will retaliate with varying degrees of force depending on the severity of the faults. Yet, it has to be known that you will not, and can not escape punishment from the planet itself. With all the evidence stacking against Sardegna right now, it's very shocking to see that they have been doing this without any repercussions. So answer me this, why is that?"

The Marshal's question rings a revelation chime in everyone. By now, people have started to truly realize what video projection is all about. It's a step-by-step retelling of events that have been hidden from the rest of the world. And very soon, they will be seeing the true answer to King Gustaf V's question:

"Just what has occurred for there to be a literal Hell on Earth?"

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Impossible, utterly impossible. The words have been ringing in Amaterasu's mind on repeat like an annoyingly childish tune. Yet, as she watches on and on and on, Amaterasu finds herself unable to refute that yes, there are monsters in human skin that had been preying in broad daylight. Monsters akin to the corrupted Gods prior to Ragnarok, monsters that put even the Devil race of Hell to shame. The more she views, the more the Sun Goddess starts to feel her deepest trauma being slowly dug up. Even as a Goddess, she fears the retaliation of a higher being, a force that is stronger than her. Amaterasu had watched as Pantheons burned and erased from the annals of existence. And believe her when she says that one doesn't escape mentally safe when witnessing such events unfold.

Since she is a verified Goddess, Amaterasu understands very well the workings of the world, Gaia. With gods and goddesses now being much weaker than their prime, and the Primordial Goddess Yggdrasil being a neutral party, Amaterasu is justifiably afraid of any retaliation coming from the Will of the World itself. Play stupid games, and win stupid prizes, only in this case, the prize may very much be a massive wipe of the board, resetting everything back to zero...

But wait, Amaterasu has temporarily clouded her judgment. Thinking logically, if they are still here, viewing the projection right now, then it probably means that the worst has come to pass. The worst here is the cataclysmic event weeks ago, with its aftermath still being dealt with at this very moment. So, does that mean that Japan is safe? That her niece is safe? Will Vill-V and herself be ok?

That's a whole load of questions, and it takes Vill-V's squeezing her hand so that Amaterasu can wake up from her conundrum. She is thankful for her champion's action, and she is all the more grateful when Vill-V still retains a full set of morality. Vill-V's gentle reminder also energizes Amaterasu to power through the viewing. There is much to be learned here, and in front of many delegations, Amaterasu can't be seen as weak-willed.

But then again, she doesn't think that the other parties will have much of a sound mind to pay attention to their peers. The projection has been too impactful to ignore. And from the look of it, it's nowhere done yet...

Crap, this will be mentally painful to bear. If not for the public setting and the severity of the situation, Amaterasu would have loved to be draped in a blanket and hugged by Vill-V as they watched everything together. This is nothing short of a gory cinema experience, only that it is very, very real and the loss of lives must have been staggering...

Amaterasu starts thinking that maybe, just maybe, they shouldn't have pushed for answers in the first place.

Curiosity kills the cat, after all.