Tyranny of Steel
chapter-1103

The walls were collapsing around Shiba as he tried desperately to maintain the Empire that Itami had built. The entire infrastructure of Japan had suffered repeated bombings, and without an influx of resources from their previous colonies, the Empire of Japan was no longer capable of repairing what had been destroyed.

Shiba was currently standing in the middle of Itami's old bedroom. The Japanese Empress had left in such a hurry that most of her belongings were still around. Within Shiba's hand was a lacey nightgown, which he held to his nose and took a deep inhale of its scent. The very smell that Itami had left behind was comforting to the man.

After sniffing Itami's used nightgown for several moments, Shiba flew into a fit of rage and tore it to pieces with his bare hands before tossing the scraps aside. The woman of his affections had betrayed him. How could she not see that he was keeping her locked up for her own benefit?

Instead, she had escaped to the Reich, and submitted before the Kaiser with a proper kotow. Shiba had no doubt that by now, Itami was servicing that golden-haired shit like a common whore. The very idea drove him to the brink of madness.

Shiba began to breathe rather heavily as he attempted to calm his nerves. Contrary to his knowledge, another General who had supported Shiba in his coup d'état witnessed the entire scene. Despite this, the man did not reveal himself until after the Shogun had calmed himself.

"Sir... The Germans have begun dropping fliers across the Japanese mainland. They depict a photograph of Itami kowtowing before the Kaiser with a title "The Japanese Empress Surrenders!" By now, most citizens who are capable of reading know that the Empress is not under your protection and has instead escaped to the Reich.

It would appear in the pamphlets that the Germans have made up a story. They claim that all the war crimes and atrocities committed under Itami's reign were in reality your orders, and that the Empress had been nothing more than your puppet throughout the duration of her reign. This news has outraged the public, who are looking for restitution.

Worse yet, rumors of weapon caches being air dropped into Japan are spreading about, as the Germans seem to supply those malcontents who wish to rebel against your reign. If we do not act quickly, then I fear we will have a full-scale revolution on our hands."

Shiba did not respond for some time, instead he gazed upon the portrait of Berengar which hung on the wall of Itami's bedroom. Why the Empress had a painting of her mortal enemy hung on her wall, Shiba did not know, but he felt as if the smug smile on Berengar's face was mocking him. Thus, rather than respond to the General, Shiba unholstered his pistol and fired a magazine into the portrait's center.

The echoes of gunfire resounded throughout the halls of the palace, causing the Imperial Guard to scramble towards the source. Where they saw a frustrated-looking Shiba, pulling the trigger of his now empty handgun repeatedly as if trying to vent his anger towards the portrait of the Kaiser. It was only after Shiba dropped his pistol to the side did he scream at the intruders with all his might.

"Leave us!"

Perhaps disturbed by what they had witnessed, the members of the Imperial Guard fled the scene where Shiba had completely lost his mind. Once the Shogun was alone with his General, Shiba glared towards the man before giving him a command.

"If the people wish to rebel against my rule, then we will just have to dispatch the Imperial Guard to deal with them. We pay those fools quite a bit to lounge around and eat to excess. Now is the time for them to prove their loyalty to the new regime. Hunt down these dissidents and kill them where they stand. Do not hesitate and show no mercy. Those are your orders. So, what are you still doing here?"

The terrifying look in Shiba's eyes did in fact confirm for the General that the Shogun had completely lost his mind. However, he did not dare reject these orders. After all, what remained of the military was currently loyal to Shiba.

However, this sense of loyalty was fragile, and if one man disobeyed orders, it would spark a rebellion, until all of Japan was embroiled in a brutal and bloody civil war, where the old samurai clans of old fought with modern weaponry to determine who shall sit upon the vacant throne. Just when the General was about to leave, Shiba called out to him with a rather intimidating tone in his voice.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I want the German ambassador on the line by the time I get to the war room. If he is not, you can kiss your head good bye!"

Naturally, the General would do everything in his power to make this meeting a possibility. However, when Shiba finally made his way to the war room to take the call, he was surprised to find that it was not Gerhard's voice that was on the other end of the line, but Itami's. There was a stern tone in Shiba's voice, as Itami spoke to the man as if she were scolding a child.

"For the sake of the friendship we once had, I will give you one last chance, Shiba-kun. Tell your men to stand down and accept the terms of my surrender. Or don't blame me for starting a revolution that sees your head on a pike!"

There were many things Shiba wanted to say to Itami, but he struggled to find his voice. It was only after taking several seconds to collect his thoughts, did Shiba unleash a verbal torrent of abuse onto the woman he had secretly longed for with all his heart.

"Give me one last chance? Who do you think you are talking to? Do you honestly still believe that the people of Japan consider you to be our Empress? You betrayed Japan and all its citizens when you ran off to become that white devil's plaything!

You filthy whore! You always said that no man was good enough for you, and yet you kowtow before that bastard for all the world to see! How dare you call yourself our Empress! You are nothing more than a common slut!

I will not surrender, not until I have defeated my enemies and bound you to my side in perpetuity. If you wish to take back your throne, then you will have to fight for it. Let's see how much that golden-haired shit is willing to sacrifice just so that you can continue to play the role of an empress! You know where I am, so come at me, you foolish little girl!"

Despite his enraged actions, Shiba still wanted nothing more than to take Itami as his wife, and thus he was rather convinced that all he had to do was defeat Berengar to ensure that the albino beauty would come crawling back to his side. However, the tone in Itami's voice when she responded was one of utter disgust and contempt as she said her farewells to a man who had once been among her closed advisors.

"You can consider this our last exchange. The next time you see me, I will be sitting back upon my throne, and you will be right where you belong, hanging on a cross, begging for death. Goodbye Shiba-kun, and may the gods show you mercy, for you shall receive none from me."

After saying this, Itami hung up, leaving Shiba more outraged than ever. Shiba immediately reacted in a fit of fury as he trashed the radio in his rage. He then stared at the rest of the men in the war room with a fierce gaze before giving them their orders.

"Execute anyone who dares to show their support for our traitorous empress. The time has come to defend our homeland from these foreign invaders that she who must not be named has sided with!"

As for Itami, she sat in Berengar's war room with a sulking expression on her face, though she shed no tears. She was very upset by the way Shiba had responded to her. If there was one person who she could consider a friend, it was Shiba, and yet the man had clearly been driven mad though by what she did not know.

Berengar was by Itami's side and quickly took off his headset. He had listened to the entire conversation, and felt a bit bad for Itami after seeing the depressed look on her otherwise gorgeous face. He placed a hand on her shoulder and comforted her with some words she did not expect to hear.

"You should not lament the loss of your friendship with that man. He was never truly your friend. He merely acted as such so that he could get in your pants."

Itami looked up and saw a warm expression on Berengar's face. Despite his kind words, she felt outraged at what she had heard and was quick to vent her emotions onto the man, since he had made himself an easy target.

"What would you know? You don't know anything about Shiba! He was my friend!"

Berengar simply gazed upon Itami with a stern expression before lecturing her on the nature of men.

"You're right, I do not know Shiba, or the extent of your relationship with the man. However, what I do know is the nature of men. It may not have been your intention, but from the very beginning, you never considered a man like Shiba to be good enough for you to settle down with.

Despite this, he had feelings for you, probably from the very beginning. After all, you are an incredibly beautiful woman, even if your personality is a bit lacking. As a result, you forced him into the friend zone. I'm honestly impressed with the man's tenacity. The willingness to sit by side for so many years, just for a chance to be with you.

It's a frustrating thing for a man to endure. He probably thought that so long as he won the Korean theatre and defeated me in battle, then you would consider him to be a man worthy of your hand in marriage. However, you ordered him to withdraw from Korea before he could mount a proper resistance, and then you denied him the glory of defending Tsushima in your honor. Something which ultimately saved his life.

Despite this, he did not repay you the way he should have. Because the moment you announced your intent to surrender to me, he realized that not only would he never be able to prove himself as the man you desire, but instead, in his desperate mind, he thought that I would fulfill that role.

In that moment, he could no longer endure the thought of losing you to another man, especially one who had so thoroughly defeated him at every turn. As a result, he imprisoned you, so that you could not go through with your surrender, and thus buying him enough time to prove his worth by defeating me in what he perceived to be an impending German invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Unfortunately for him, he never got this chance, as I had you extracted back to the Reich for your safety, and that of your family, as well as to end this bloody war once and for all. I bet there is still some part of him that wants to marry you, even after what he thinks you and I have done in the back of his mind. But such hope is buried beneath the rage he nows feels after what he perceives to be your betrayal."

Upon hearing Berengar's assessment, Itami was shocked. She had never even thought of Shiba as a potential partner, and if what Berengar was saying was true, she had indeed forced the man into the friend zone without even thinking about it. Though she felt pity for the man, and his collapsed mental state, which she was responsible for, that did not change her mind about what needed to be done.

After thinking about all of this for several moments in silence, Itami rose to her feet and scoffed with a determined expression on her face.

"So what? None of that really matters. The fact is, Shiba has betrayed me, and is now leading my people towards the edge of the abyss. If we do not stop him, all of Japan will bleed for the sake of his wounded pride. I can't get my throne back on my own, so I am forced to rely on you from now on. Thank you for enlightening me about this sad reality. I dare say it has helped me move on from my grief."

With that said, Itami left the war room. She had better things to do than mettle in Berengar's plans, now that he was the only one capable of removing Shiba from power, and reclaiming her throne. As for Berengar, his stern expression twisted into one of interest as he watched Itami walk away. He sighed shortly thereafter before expressing his thoughts aloud.

"Seems like she is warming up to me..."