I Alone Am The SSS-Rank Regressor

Today was the day.

Getting up early, Mikhail dressed up and headed outside.

Assembling the squadron, he was the first to reach the drill grounds.

Various thoughts ran through his head as he saw the other squadrons report on the ground.

The routine for today was not going to be how it was any other normal day.

There were going to be no drills, even though they had all assembled in the grounds.

Rather, it was to welcome the Dominique who would be here in no less than an hour now.

"Nervous?" Mikhail turned to ask the squadron.

All of them shook their heads except Icarus.

"I guess a little. It's not everyday that someone this big comes to visit us."

Mikhail focused his gaze on him, making him shiver a little.

"It's not that I'm scared. It just feels a little odd to be this strict."

He nodded, turning back forward.

"I can understand. But you shouldn't think of it as something too big. As I always say, they are just Dominiques, not our gods."

"Uh huh." Icarus nodded, straightening up as well.

This was what Mikhail always tried to keep separate from his squadron and others.

No matter how high they were from them, he never thought of them as gods.

Their pride had just carried them too high.

And the people here today would witness it clearly.

There was no way to stop what had happened in his previous life. It was clear.

He wasn't able to figure out who the culprit was even after all those efforts.

And even if he somehow could, he had no confirmation of their strength.

But what he could do now was at least minimize the casualties.

From his previous life, the Dominique coming today would most likely be Celine Strathorne.

If he remembered correctly, she was the newly appointed Dominique La Borealis.

She would also be the youngest Dominique in the current council.

A Dominique was a person only second-in power to the Emperor himself.

In total, there were 6 Kingdoms under the Empire, making them 7 in total.

Each of the 6 Kingdoms represented one of the Essentia, with a Holy Church governing over each of the Kingdom.

All of the Kingdoms served under the Emperor and remained loyal to him.

The ruler of each of the respective kingdoms was the leader of their respective holy churches representing the elements.

Also called the Dominique of that element.

These Dominiques, however, were not appointed by the Emperor or by the Church.

They were appointed by the Gods above through a mark of a cross called the Rosaryth.

Whoever was blessed with the Rosaryth after the death of the previous Dominique would be their successor.

It did not matter whether they were a peasant or a royal or a bastard or anyone.

Even the age or gender did not matter. Under the gods, everything was a law and a rule.

Going against it would be against the very rules set by their ancestors of the Church and the Empire.

However, a Rosaryth wasn't only just a mark of position. It was also a mark of power.

Because a person blessed with a Rosaryth, had no Limiter for that respective element.

The power they could unlock with their element was then endless. There would never be a ceiling for its growth.

And it was the same reason why Mikhail's Otharis had no Limiter.

Because he had a Rosaryth.

And he was also a Dominique, one not known by the Empire.

One whose element had no Church or Kingdom.

He was Dominique La Otharis.

In any case, going back to the original topic, Celine would arrive in an hour or or less.

Again, there was no known reason for why she was coming.

Maybe it was just her interest in the world as a newly welcomed Dominique.

Or maybe she had an alternative purpose.

Nobody knew.

Maybe she was just here to kill some people and show her power as a newly appointed Dominique.

She was young after all, one could have such wants.

And the Empire couldn't care less about it anyways.

After all, they thought of the people outside the walls as nothing more than filth to be thrown out.

Unfortunately, these people here were yet to realize the harsh reality of the truth.

They presumed that just because she was young, she was going to take mercy on them.

It was all wrong for them though. Celine Strathorne was anything but naive.

No.

Mikhail still remembered that look she had on her face that day.

"Okay! Everyone, Assemble Up!" Vlahovic shouted from the middle of the grounds.

Everyone focused their attention on him.

"We have been going through this every year, so I don't think I need to explain what will happen!"

He looked at everyone for confirmation and everyone nodded.

"Good! Just get through this day as always and everything will go back to normal."

"Yes Commander!" A loud voice of agreement came from the squadrons.

The visit routine wasn't all that complex.

The Dominique would arrive at the camp.

They would inspect the camp. If they chose, they could also interact with the squadron leaders.

They would also check the drill routes outside of the academy to see how well the camp maintained the area.

These were the main things that made the visit so important.

In the first place, Mikhail didn't understand why Celine had informed them of a formal visit.

Usually, even if they wanted to come, Dominiques would come and go whenever they wanted or pleased them.

It was their world and most of them preferred it like that to not let their moves be known by the world.

But since it was a formal visit, there was a need for a proper visiting routine too.

Usually, it wouldn't take long as the Dominique would want to get out of the place as early as possible.

But if anything went wrong, they could do anything and the Empire wouldn't object to it.

To the government, Dominiques were their golden childs.

A couple of lives or some destruction was nothing compared to their worth.

They would go to any length to spoil them.

Mikhail was suddenly woken up from his thoughts by a shout.

A shout that marked the beginning of it all.