Now it was Senani's turn. As a new combatant to the gladiator pits, he was placed in a free for all group combat. This would be a last man standing event with 50 combatants. The fight was to the death, winner take all, including the other combatants' weapons and gear. Ilromy had done as she said, if Senani survived and was the last man standing, all the corpses would come home to House Sloths guild hall as well. Senani was ecstatic to hear this, as the combatants would be rather strong, even in the free for all. Typically, only the best of a guild's fighters would be used for the arena. Once Senani heard how many enemies he would be facing, he decided that it would be wise to ask each of the leaders of his kingdom to send him as many ring sized gemstones as possible. He also requested smaller gemstones. After he made the request, the guards arrived to take him to the arena. Once inside the arena, Senani was amazed at the variety of combatants. He saw dark elves, humans, orcs, and even a few ogres and giants.
When the gong was rang and the battle began, Senani drew his sword and charged at the closest competitor. The human died before he could even draw his weapon. Senani had decided early on that he would try to eliminate as many of the combatants as possible. To that end, he charged one after another. Each one he encountered fell. If he encountered combatants fighting, he would simply kill them both. His sword skills were far superior to all the combatants at this level. The battle that was intended to last hours was over within 15 minutes. Senani stood alone in the center of the arena. He cleaned his sword on the shirt of the last dark elf he slew. Extremely poor dark elves would join to draw the eye of the guilds. Many were recruited from competitions like this. While the rules stipulated a fight to the death. Few combatants dared to slay the dark elves in fear of repercussions. Senani however was not most combatants. Every corpse he created was one more member to join his army.
The Arena organizers were at a loss on what to do. This was the one battle scheduled for the day, and it lasted 15 minutes. They now had at least 1 hour and 45 minutes to fill. After discussion, they decided to see if the winner were willing to face off against more beasts. They did not dare to have him face another round of combatants. Only the top tier would be worthy of challenging him and they were not quick to organize. They sent for Ilromy as Senani was her guilds slave to negotiate terms. Ilromy said, "Senani will not degrade himself by fighting beasts. He is worth more than many of the guilds in this city. As such, I have the following proposal: Senani will challenge guild leaders or a champion to act in proxy of the guild leader. If the guild leader wins, they win all of House Sloth. If Senani wins, everything belonging to the challenging guild will belong to House Sloth."
The Arena organizers were speechless. No prize of this magnitude had ever been wagered in the gladiator pits. They however saw nothing inherently wrong with the idea, so they made the announcement. Ilromy did not think she would gain much from this. At most some of the small guilds may make the wager in hopes of growing their strength. For a small guild this would be a win-win situation. The guilds that accepted the challenge surprised everyone. The first guild to make the challenge was none other than House Glenrod. They were currently ranked 3rd in the entire city. If Senani were to win this, they would gain several arena combatants, a gladiator training ground near the arena as well as housing at the training ground, a slave army of 3000, 300 dark elves, and the ability to merge their base with House Glenrods. This would put House Sloth among the ruling class and give them a seat on the council of elders. The organizers asked House Glenrod if the guild leader would fight or if they would send a Proxy. The guild leader chose to fight Senani himself.
Senani had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that an incredibly large and powerful dark elf was entering the arena. The leader chose to fully exert his aura. He hoped Senani would fall to the ground. Instead, when he arrived 15 feet from Senani, he could see Senani was laughing at him. This of course made him angry. He spoke, "I am Glenrod ruler of House Glenrod, we are the 3rd strongest guild in this city. How dare you laugh in my presence slave. You will die for your insolence.
When he finished speaking the Arena organizers struck the gong to begin. Glenrod then charged at Senani like a bull. He hoped to use his superior size to his advantage and bowl Senani over. When he hit Senani with his shield it was like hitting a brick wall. Senani did not even budge and yet Glenrod was knocked backwards to the ground. This scared Glenrod, after all Senani only carried a sword. He blocked the charge with his shoulder. Glenrod now knew he was no match for Senani, his only advantage in any battle was his vast size. He never bothered learning many skills as he never needed them to overpower his opponents. He chose to stay on the ground and admit defeat.
Every dark elf in the audience's jaw dropped. This battle lasted a whopping 20 seconds from start to finish. In 20 seconds, a slave beat the 3rd strongest guild leader. In 20 seconds, a guild that did not even exist in their world for more than a day had become one of the leading forces in the city. The Arena organizers called for Ilromy and Glenrod to come to the stands. Ilromy spoke, "Glenrod it is a pleasure to welcome you to House Sloth. I expect you to give control of your guild hall now, we will be moving the guildhall of House Sloth to your location. I will have my army begin to move through the warrens and meet there. I expect that you and all your guild as well as your mounts and slave army will be registered with House Sloth as soon as the merge is completed." She then turned to the Arena Organizers and continued. You still have 1 hour and 45 minutes to kill, Senani is prepared to continue to fight. Are there any further challengers?"
The Arena organizers asked for more challengers. While they waited, Glenrod turned over control of the guildhall to Ilromy. She ordered Haren to move the guildhall of House Sloth and gave her directions on where to go. Haren was speechless. This was more than they dreamed they would achieve in a month on their own. Ilromy was a genius.
To no one's surprise, there were no further challengers. Ilromy was now one of the 3 members of the ruling council. House Sloth also had a significantly larger slave army than all the other guilds. Every guild leader was supremely afraid. This battle had given Senani an idea. There were currently only 48 guilds in the whole of the city. Of those, only the guild leaders of 10 would be able to resist his master assassins. Only 2 would be able to resist Haren or Ilromy, none would be able to resist Senani. This would be a truly bloody night. Senani requested a meeting with Ilromy. She complied. When she arrived Senani told her his plan. She responded, "If we completely take over the city word will get around to the other dark elf city's in the underworld. I suggest you assassinate the leader of the Avatar and Spider guilds. Revive them as you revived me. Do not merge the guildhalls with House Sloth. You will already have the guild leaders under your control, so in essence you will control every being in the guild. Have the guild members swear fealty to you. You will then control all the ruling council and in turn the entire city. If any challenge the council, it is not uncommon for the guild to disappear overnight and be integrated with one of the top 3. Unfortunately, you are the only one strong enough to pull this off. I would be unable to assassinate either guild leader.
Senani considered what Ilromy suggested. While it would not give him quite as large of an army, it may benefit him more in the long run. Competition generally proved fruitful to strengthen trade and training. Senani decided it would be best to train until nightfall.
Once night fell and the elves had returned to their homes, Senani used Ilromy's assassin skills and hid in the shadows. He then moved toward the Avatar guild hall. Once there, he stalked through the halls and directly into the guild leader's bedroom. He then pulled out his dagger and cut the guild leader's throat. She never had a chance to wake. Within moments of her death the blue mist began to leave her mouth and formed her normal shape. She then spoke. "I recognize you Senani. Ilromy has larger ambitions than I feared. As you have slain me, I assume that means that she intends to consume the Avatar guild and become the top guild in Darkshire. What I do not understand is how you made it into my chambers without alerting the guard, or how you are able to speak to my spirit. What are you?"
Senani replied, "I am Overlord Senani, Emperor of House Sloth. I rule many kingdoms, this will be just one more on my list. Ilromy works for me. As will you and the Avatar guild. I will make you an offer to live. Have every member of your guild swear fealty to me. Have your slaves officially join your guild and swear fealty to it. Send me a list of the species in your slave army and your gladiators, give me 10% of your treasury, and pay 5% in tribute to me in the future, and you will live. Every kingdom I rule pays the same tribute."
The dark elf spoke again, "My name is Priscilla. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I do not wish to be undead. I would rather die."
Senani replied, "You will not be undead Priscilla. Ilromy had also died. She is flesh and blood just as you will be. Accepting my Covenant will be your first sign of trust and submission to your new emperor."
"Do you wish to activate a Spirit Covenant with the dark elf Seducer known as Priscilla?" Yes or No."
Senani chose Yes. As did Priscilla. Senani bound her spirit to an amethyst. She then began to form her new body. Senani averted his eyes from her nudity and requested she dress in the clothing from her corpse. Priscilla complied. Senani then removed her System Stone from the corpse and inserted it into Priscilla's new body. He then sent her old body to his room in the palace.
Priscilla then took Senani to the guild assembly hall and summoned all the members of the Avatar guild. Once they were all in the assembly hall Senani unleashed his aura. When they fell to their knees, Priscilla told them of her deal with Senani. They all swore fealty to him. Senani summoned Zorin. He asked her to create a guild portal for the Avatar guild to his palace next to the one for House Sloth. He then told her she would have one more portal to create this night. Zorin did as commanded.
Senani then returned to the shadows and moved to the Spider guild. He moved toward the guild leader's bedroom. Upon arrival he was baffled by the guild leader's appearance. The guild leader had 8 appendages like a spider. Senani crept through the shadows to kill the guild leader. When he arrived nearby, he touched a web, and the guild leader opened their eyes. Senani charged forward and stabbed the dagger into the middle of their forehead. The guild leader immediately died and Senani had pierced their brain. The guild leaders spirit quickly formed above their body. Senani was still unsure if this were a male or a female. It looked more like a spider than an elf and it appeared to be missing vital parts of its anatomy.
The guild leader spoke, "Senani, you have made a grave error. We serve the spider queen in the abyssal plane in the great world. When she discovers my death, she will destroy you no matter who you serve."
Senani spoke, "I do not know this abyssal plane you speak of. But I assure you, you will not be dead long. And you will soon serve me."
"Do you wish to activate a Spirit Covenant with the Spidren Acolyte known as Grall?" Yes or No."
Senani chose Yes and activated his full aura. Every being in the guild hall fell to their knees. Senani spoke and projected his voice across the guild hall. "I am Overlord Senani, you will all swear fealty to me, and you will live. If you chose not to, you will all die tonight. Every creature swore fealty to Senani. Grall chose yes as well."
When Grall reformed, Senani bound it to an emerald. He then summoned Zorin. Zorin already knew what to do. Senani then met with Grall. Senani spoke, "Tell me about this spider queen you previously served."
Grall replied, "The spider queen lives in the abyssal plane in the great world. It is one of the many tier 6 worlds. She will destroy you once she realizes what you have done here."
Senani replied, "How do you contact her?"
Grall replied, "We utilize a relic in our chapel. It allows her to send some of her power to transform the highest ranking of our guild. Tomorrow I was to be made into a full widow, the mightiest of the spider queens' transformations."
Senani considered what Grall said. He then spoke, "The spider queen will have no way of detecting the Covenant you and your people have made. You will continue to pretend to serve her as you always have. Allow her to grow the power of the guild. You will have any new members officially join the spider guild. Have your slaves officially join your guild and swear fealty to it. Send me a list of the species in your slave army and your gladiators, give me 10% of your treasury, and pay 5% in tribute to me in the future, and you will live. Every kingdom I rule pays the same tribute. You will also give me an update on the spider queen as things progress. She is able to send over her power, see if she can send you any items."
Senani then sent the body of Grall to his bedroom in the palace and returned to the House Sloth guildhall. He spoke to Ilromy and Haren. "My job here is nearly done. We have taken control of Darkshire. All that remains is to eliminate each of The Great Lich Kings allies and force them to swear fealty to me. As we now control the council, have a secret council meeting, invite the guild leaders of each of the guilds that are allied with The Great Lich King. I will kill them and raise them. Then over the next week you will integrate their guilds with the three guilds we control here. How many guilds support The Great Lich King?"
Ilromy replied, "There are only 8, and no need to involve the council. I will send out assassin's now, they will bring you the bodies. We will absorb them all into House Sloth."
Ilromy gave the order. Senani then spoke, "I like your style Ilromy, very decisive. You and Haren now have a decision to make. Will either of you travel with me to the next dark elf city? I will need at least one of you here. You can decide between you what you want to do."
Ilromy was surprised by the offer. She assumed she would be Senani's puppet ruler in Darkshire for all eternity. She had Haren discussed the offer. After much discussion they returned to give Senani the verdict. "Haren will remain with you. While I am truly honored that you would like me to remain as your companion, I love running this guild. I love this city. Now that I know you are giving me the freedom to do mostly as I wish, you could never convince me to leave of my own accord. Haren on the other hand loves to travel. You will do well with her at your side."
Senani accepted their decision. Soon after, the 8 bodies were placed before Senani. He enacted a Spirit Covenant on each, using garnets for their soul stones. He then placed them under Ilromy's control. She would best know when to combine them with House Sloth. He then transferred the bodies to his bedroom at the palace. He then bid his farewells and prepared to leave. He wanted to spend some time at his palace before the next leg of his assault on The Great Lich King. He and his party teleported to the palace. He had his party go to train with Maximus while he went to his bedroom to evaluate the bodies that were there. Senani contemplated what to do with them for hours. Then Rikki-Tiki spoke. "I do not know why you're debating so much. There are only two choices. Either you absorb the bodies and strengthen our own, your have Fred raise them. After absorbing the Lich Overlord, your already immortal. I advise you to at least absorb the mind flayer corpse. It will give you great defenses against psychic abilities. Who knows, you might even gain the power to read minds."
That was all Senani needed to hear. He exerted his full aura and absorbed all the bodies at the same time. He then yet again entered a cocoon.