Imperator: Resurrection of an Empire

Julius' convoy rolled steadily into the ruins of northern Ramie, a stark reminder of the brutal conquest that had unfolded only weeks prior.

Unlike the roads of Parthia or the bustling markets of the Eternal City, these lands bore the weight of devastation.

Where villages once thrived, only charred skeletons of buildings remained.

Smoldering farmland, left untended after its farmers had been killed or fled, stretched endlessly along the horizon.

Ramie's proud northern cities—once formidable bastions of trade and culture—were now little more than half-collapsed shells of their former selves.

The people who remained were haggard, gaunt, their faces lined with both fear and reluctant hope as they watched the royal banners of Romanus approach.

Julius, sitting inside his royal carriage, exhaled slowly as he scanned the desolate landscape.

His System Interface hovered beside him, the further he traveled behind his carriage the torn up and dusty roads became roman concrete.

He dismissed the rolling build point cost for now.

He had expected this level of destruction.

He had ordered it.

And now, he would rebuild it.

~

Julius' convoy reached Rhyda, once one of Ramie's northern strongholds.

Now, it was a ghost city.

The outer walls still stood but bore heavy scars from the siege.

Massive breaches, hastily patched with scavenged timber, made it clear that the city had barely been holding itself together before the final conquest.

Inside, the streets were eerily silent.

Unlike in Parthia, where towns had shown signs of cautious recovery since their nations collapse, Rhyda's populace had yet to stir from the trauma.

Shops remained closed, homes stood abandoned, and the few people who roamed the streets did so with hollow expressions, clinging to the scraps of a lost kingdom.

Julius dismounted, his Praetorian Guard flanking him as he approached the central plaza.

The mayor of Rhyda, an elderly man with sunken eyes, stepped forward.

He did not bow.

He did not kneel.

He only stared at the conqueror of his homeland.

Julius admired that.

"What is your name?"

Julius asked.

"Varren,"

the old man rasped.

"I was the city's steward before… before you burned our world to ash."

Julius met his gaze evenly.

"Then you will help me rebuild it."

Varren flinched but said nothing.

The people watching from the shadows whispered.

Julius raised a hand, summoning his System Interface.

And reality started to shift.

~

To the citizens of Rhyda, it was instantaneous.

The ruined walls—which had been barely holding together—were suddenly restored, reinforced with fresh stone and iron supports as if they had always been that way.

The massive breaches were gone, replaced by fortified gates.

The marketplace, which was nothing but an open square was now lined with dozens of high grade looking street stalls just waiting for product and merchants to man them.

Buildings and shops destroyed by the launched catapult stones were replaced with new buildings that were ready to have families move in, or for a brand new shop to open up in a storefront like no other in the former kingdom of ramie.

Fresh water flowed through newly created aqueducts, feeding into restored fountains that had long since dried up.

Cobbled streets, once broken and uneven, gleamed as if freshly laid, perfectly paved and polished.

The people who had been cowering in their homes, perception changed in an instant as their moods were adjusted by the rising moral caused by the forced restoration fo their city and nation as a whole.

To them, it was as if Romanus had peacefully occupied the city during the war, and having done all these improvements during their occupation.

Even Varren, for all his bitterness, stared at the transformed city in mute disbelief.

"Thank"

he breathed. "Thank you milord!"

Julius only smiled.

"This is Romanus. This is what we do for our people."

He turned to his commanders.

"Ensure the people are fed. Establish patrols. We will not allow this city to slip into disorder again."

Varren clenched his fists but said nothing.

He wanted to hate Julius.

But how do you hate the man who quite literally saved your city and it's people even if it came at the cost of those being forced to fight against the invaders by the higherups?

~

With Rhyda secured, and better yet rebuilt Julius' convoy moved deeper into the war-torn heart of Ramie.

Each stop repeated the process.

Wherever Julius went, destruction became prosperity.

The people, who had once looked upon Romanus with fear and resentment, now welcomed the kingdom banners with cautious hope for a brighter future than their own failed monarchy had provided.

Even former Ramie soldiers, once willing to fight to the death, deserted in droves to join the new Romanus legions, as the captives moral soared as if they had simply surrendered rather than fighting to the point of becoming a battlefield captive.

Julius' advisors took note.

"They're flocking to our banners willingly,"

Ana observed as she rode beside his carriage.

"They see what Romanus is capable of. They know they had nothing before, and that now, they can have everything."

Julius nodded.

"A nation is not conquered by the sword alone."

He gestured toward the thriving towns behind them.

"It is conquered by making them believe in something greater than what they lost."

~

As Almorr came into view, Julius' expression darkened.

The former royal capital of Ramie had suffered the worst of the war.

The outer city, though somewhat stabilized, still bore the scars of conquest—entire districts burned, noble estates razed, and bloodstains that had yet to fade from the stone streets.

The inner city, where the nobility had made their last stand, was even worse.

would be spending multiple days to get all of the city restored, unless he only did half the job and then let the city itself return to life as its population also returned slowly to normal as time passed.

The ruined noble district became government offices and military headquarters.

The markets, once symbols of Ramie wealth, now bore the banners of Romanus.

The old royal palace, where King Aled had met his end, was transformed—no longer a throne room, but a governor's seat, where Romanus' rule would be administered fairly.

By nightfall, the people of Almorr awoke to a city no longer theirs—but one that had, paradoxically, become far greater than it ever was before.

Julius stood at the city's gates, watching as his work unfolded before him.

Ana approached.

"It's done."

Julius nodded.

"Yes. Ramie is gone."

He turned his gaze southward, toward the lands beyond his newly stabilized province.

"Now, we move forward."

The conquest was never-ending.

And Romanus would not stop until the world was theirs.