Dancing on the golden ashes

"Next is dark blue... and after that light green, then green..."

The cannon shifted through the colors. It felt like I was controlling an RGB lights1 cannon. It reminded me of my PC back home. Maybe I should have tried playing something before I left, but then again, if everyone's here, wouldn't the servers be dead?

Well, that didn't matter right now. The cannon was now at 50%.

"Okay, so as long as I don't cross the crimson zone, it should be fine, and it'll fill to 100%..."

Soon, the cannon shifted from green to yellow, then orange, and finally began to glow crimson. It was beautiful, and I really wanted to fire it.

But then something happened that made my heart sink. I might have put a little more than 100% of my energy into it. The whole cannon turned dark purple.

"Well, damn. If this explodes... I'll have killed half of the town, if not more." I quickly removed my hand, and in the next moment, I heard a scream.

"How is that possible?!"

I wanted to run, but that would be childish. If it came down to the worst-case scenario, I'd just tank the explosion. I doubt it would kill me... I think?

Well, what's that saying? Fuck around and find out? Yeah, I'd soon find out... if Ryu Chae-rin didn't do something to save my ass.

"This is amazing! It can actually go past crimson. I didn't know that. Empress, just how powerful are you?"

Wait, she's getting a little too casual with her tone... This is... whatever, I'll allow it. I'm not some old woman who cares too much about formalities.

"Are you telling me this thing won't explode?" I said, suspicion lacing my voice as I looked at the girl who might have more loose screws in her head than me.

"Exactly!" She literally screamed in excitement.

"This is the breakthrough I needed! It's perfect! Please infuse it with more power, as much as you can. It won't explode. I made it from a material that's extremely resistant to soul power. If infused, it will store a large amount of soul power. And with the Empress's strength..."

Her eyes literally started to shine, and a shiver ran down my spine. It couldn't be that she wanted me to be her lab rat... right?

"With your strength, we might be able to push the limit! I've never seen anyone go past crimson, so I thought that was the limit, but purple? Then what's the next color?! I must know! Empress, please!"

I suddenly gave up. Whatever, I might as well try. She said it wouldn't explode, so it should be fine. But if my full amount of soul power exploded... it would kill me and everything within at least a kilometer radius. The amount I possessed right now was terrifying—even to me...

"Alright, but what if something goes wrong?" I asked, a little worry in my tone.

"We die," the girl replied casually.

I thought I'd heard something wrong. Did she just say we die? What the hell...?

Well, whatever. Let's see!

I pushed my soul power into the cannon, and suddenly the purple turned to violet and then to pure black.

"Wow, this must be at least 200%. Is it possible for you to go even higher?" Ryu Chae-rin asked, her excitement uncontainable.

She really didn't know how to hold back when it came to ordering people around. Wasn't I the Empress here? What the hell is going on? How did I end up being ordered around?

"I haven't even started to warm up," I replied casually. Perhaps it sounded arrogant, but I was truly going slow and being careful. This was barely 30% of my soul power.

I pushed as much soul power as I could, probably using around 80% of my power. The entire room began to grow hot, and the cannon started to shine with multiple colors, radiating all over the room. The power, even scaring me, radiated from the cannon.

"Wow! I need to write this down. One second, please make sure it doesn't explode. This is great research material. I wonder, how much more can it handle before it explodes?"

The girl wouldn't stop talking, but I could tell this was becoming dangerous. I summoned my scythe and slashed the air, tearing a rift in space, then pushed the cannon out.

"Come with me," I said casually to Ryu Chae-rin, and she quickly followed, though cautiously.

We stood on top of a tall mountain. The ground below was covered with blazing Blazelia trees, and on the other side, there was an ocean stretching endlessly.

"Empress, what is this place?" Ryu Chae-rin asked, her voice trembling slightly. She didn't seem to like being outside much, her confidence fading instantly.

"Here we will test your creation." I aimed the cannon at the ocean and began infusing it with 100% of my soul power. The cannon was practically melting the ground beneath it; it was getting too hot. Soon, the multicolored light shifted to a pure white, blinding everything around and making the air tremble with heat.
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"Fire it!" I commanded the dazed girl. She quickly snapped out of her stupor and pulled the lever.

"Ahh!" I watched her get burned, but I quickly cast Water Aid to heal her. However, what happened next made my eyes widen. The massive white beam shot out, striking the depths of the ocean. It instantly penetrated the water, vaporizing everything in its path, leaving a massive crater in the ground and creating a violent whirlpool in its wake.

Not only that, almost instantly, a second shot followed, then a third, and a fourth. They were rapid-fire, and the entire cannon hadn't even returned to crimson. This meant that the shots weren't even at full power. Just how powerful would it be if it actually shot out one strong beam? Would it be enough to even kill me?

I was worried. At least right now, in my empire, I was the only one who possessed enough power to load this weapon. But in the future, this could turn into a weapon of mass destruction...

RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue—the primary colors used in digital lighting. Popular in PC builds,