After the teleportation gate finish and started working, I let Alfred to meet with Nrowe for a whole day and met with the others again before continuing our travel.
What surprise me is the fact that Layla learn pyrokinesis. It may be small and weak currently but it is indeed pyrokinesis. Is it because last night the two of them had- No, no. That's is ridiculous! There is no way one would be able to learn pyrokinesis because they had intercourse with a fire a dragon. Then what could possibly trigger such a thing?
(Note: Pyrokinesis is a pyschic ability of an individual to create and manipulate fire with the mind)
Letting go about the fact that Layla can now somehow use pyrokinesis, I wander around the entire place of the sea floor to search for mana stone mines and there were a lot of them. I mark the locations in a map and gave them to Inosi so that when 'Project H' is completed, my new workers will be able to start mining.
Should I maybe start to produce some facility here? I think that would be a good idea considering that the sirens want to do things like this and that.
I went back to the elder and ask her if it was possible for them to work under me. Sirens don't really interact with the outside world so instead of giving them money that they wouldn't even be able to use, I promise them monster corpses which will serve as food for them.
She said that they were already tired of eating sea animals and gave it a go. Making the negotiation a lot more easier.
When the trade of the northern capital and the eastern capital comes back, there'd be a lot of people who would try to steal goods from the ships or try to monopolize the sea using underhanded tricks. To prevent such things, I'll be investing three hundred white gold coins for creating an immortal army that doesn't need sleep nor food.
I say immortal but their bodies will still get destroyed. But it would be better if there was some guarding the route to prevent any accidents.
-Nrowe, how much is there in our treasury?
-Currently, about seven platinum coins, master.
That would be... seven hundred white gold coins.
-There will be some project that Inosi will do under my orders for security purposes so give him all the money he asks for.
-Understood.
We are gaining more money than what I expected. I have to quicken things up a bit. I am the one who made all the plan, I can't let myself to actually be the one to fall behind now. That will only hurt my pride.
After spending three days in the northern continent via teleportation gate, I successfully made thirty crates of biscuits. I gave two crates for Udo's hard work. If it wasn't for him most of us would be dead already.
[The God of War, Ares, would like to have some word with you]
What does this douchebag wants now?
[I want my people to have some fun by going to war but I don't want them to die either. If you make a plan that can entertain them then I would give you my blessing]
REJECTED.
"I don't want to. If they want to have a war for fun, then they should just wait for the upcoming holy war. I wouldn't waste my time on doing something so time consuming just for a blessing"
[The God of War is displeased to your words]
[The Goddess of Wisdom is happy for her half-brother's upset mood]
The two sure are siblings.
[The Goddess of Hunt would like to propose a quest]
"If you can assure me that this quest is beneficial for both sides and the information is correct this time unlike last time then I'd be willing to listen"
[The Goddess of Hunt have already finish her own research and is confident that her information is reliably correct and will be beneficial to you as you possess the
"Go ahead"
The quest appeared.
[Quest information]
The Goddess of Hunt which the forest elves and dark elves worships is tired of their unending dispute. The forest elves and the dark elves still don't recognize each other as the same kind due to 'Cultural differences'.
Objective: Make the two elven nations understand one another to get rid off of the discrimination of each other.
Clear condition:
-When forest elves and dark elves are not hostile with each other anymore.
Time limit: 1 year.
Rewards:
-Affinity to all wind, earth, and plant spirits will rise to the max.
-Affinity to all other spirits except the demonic type spirits will rise by ten percent.
Penalty upon failure:
None.
+
Over all, it is good. There are no penalty and the time limit is quite long as well. Besides, visiting the eleven nations is already part of my plan so having a quest related there would also be beneficial to me.
Meanwhile, the 'cultural difference' mention on the quest refers to their over all nature. Forest elves are known for their calm composure and collected aura that shows dignity. On the other hand, dark elves are known for their barbaric behaviors and their tendencies to fight one another since they prefer the strong both in academics and fighting power.
The power of each other are the same. Both excellent in the field of magic and have uncanny precision with the use of bows that leaves all other races to be speechless.
Habitats are also the same. The food they eat are also the same. Honestly everything about them other than their behaviors are the same.
"I accept the 'Quest of the Goddess of Hunt'"
[You have accepted the 'Quest of the Goddess of Hunt']
I guess I will need to put a hold on going to Daedalus' labyrinth.
...
We said our goodbyes to the sirens and we went back to the surface.
I gathered everyone for an announcement. Summoning all of my spirits who are not doing anything as well.
"Right now, Mel is still in the empire for reconnaissance the same goes for Will who is currently at Xyhn kingdom. Ella and Ello will be gathering any useful information about the Ochikris kingdom, especially to the feudal lord who is handling the labyrinth of Daedalus"
Zoe raise her hand.
"Excuse me for my rudeness, but will you please allow me to go to the western continent for reconnaissance, master?"
Oh, so she also knew about 'that'.
"That is alright"
She is becoming more reliable now. She wouldn't speak anything back then, but now she is talking to me with nice intent. I'm so happy for her improvement.
"Continuing what I was saying, Maximos will be going to the northern continent and help Nrowe in her mission to conquer all of the three kingdoms there"
From what Nrowe said, Catros kingdom seems to be building up their strength and is planning to go to war with Astel within the next two months. I have a promise that I have made with the sirens so 'Project H' will be going to the sirens as first priority. Someone like Max should be able to massacre everyone in Catros, so I will be sending him there for insurance.
"Me, Alfred, Nunu, and Layla will be going to the elven nation. A certain goddess gave me a quest and so I accepted it. It will be a good training for you guys as well"
...
While they were all sleeping I took the opportunity to take a look at Layla's memories.
An illegitimate daughter of the emperor who's mother is a commoner. Layla has been treated as an outcast because of her commoner blood that is flowing inside of her. Not only that, her engagement with the duke's son is staged by her brother, the imperial crown prince. By using Layla as a political tool to garner more power to his side by marrying the beautiful princess Layla to the Duke's son.
Honestly speaking, based on Layla's memories, both the duke and the crown prince are scumbags but the duke's son is a whole other story.
With her memories and the info and what I got from the trio that I sent to the empire back then, Lord Marcellus de Exousia, the son of the duke is actually a good and a decent guy. He strives for equality and is the one responsible for training the knights within their territory. A righteous and noble man is born in a corrupted family.
Seventy two sword master, Twenty seven grand sword master, and the sword king. The one hundred most powerful imperial knights of the Empire that belongs to the Dukedom of Exousia. The family which greatly contributed back in the holy war producing many talented knights. With their ancestor who was given the blessing of the God of Swords, their bloodline pretty much became a big deal that it affected the whole central continent.
Not only that, they are also the ones who invented the widely known sword style, Ferganemos.
A sword style which uses mana to cover the sword thus strengthening it. Additionally, if you add elemental category of the user the power of the technique will get amplified.
If I were to compare it to the swordsmanship from the sword clan in my world, the only difference is the goal. The fundamentals and moves are quite the same the only difference is that the goal swordsmanship here in this world is to kill the opponent as quickly possible with the use of quick draws and extensive footwork. In my world the swordsmanship there is more versatile since they can quickly adapt to any situation as it is a sword technique made for both support, defense and offense. Whether it is in an open area or narrow spaces, a master of the Heavenly sky breaker is a huge nuisance no matter where you are.
(Note: 'Heavenly sky breaker' is the name of the sword technique of sword clan from Michael's world)
But for Marcellus to be the youngest sword master recorded, he do possess the blood of the Exousia's. Base on records, the normal age to be a sword master would be around twenty five years old. But he got approved and became one at the age of fourteen, not even their founder hold that much talent.
I gotta do what I gotta do. I better take him away from them sooner or later so he can be under me.
And the reason why this little princess doesn't want to get married with the perfect good guy is because she already fell for Nunu when they first met. The fact that dragons are extremely loyal to their partners was the deciding factor for Layla why she fell for Nunu. A die-hard girl who loves stories related to 'knights and princesses' is bound to fall in love when she is put in a similar situation.
A love story like this where there are no problems will only make them weak in the future. I need to test their feelings myself sooner or later. I feel like if they don't face any conflicts now they would suffer even greater in the future.
The next morning, the rest have already head out to do the mission I gave them. Now only the four of us are here in the hill.
Normally, the summon spirit's time in this world should be limited depending on the mana of the summoner but since the skill I got is part of the hundred pages of Solomon's forbidden grimoire I am able to make them stay here for as long as I want, if they have vessels of course.
How convenient of a skill it is.
-Master!
-Mel? What is it?
-Run away, now! The sorcerer king is on her way there!
How can that be.
As we prepare to depart a magic circle appeared and four men with Hasshule appeared.
Teleportation spell?!
"Abyssal World: Null"
Shit, I wasn't able to cancel the teleportation.
Confused, the sorcerer king's expression did not change despite her power being sealed and look at Michael and the rest with a cold blank stare.
"Princess Layla, are you alright?!" One of the knights shouted.
Base on their appearance, they'd be the sorcerer king, and four sword masters at that. I can't summon either Udo or Nia since Hasshule already know their appearance. We are at a clear disadvantage here right now.
"You must be curious how we were able to track you all down. It is because the necklace the princess is wearing serves as a transmitter. For some reason, it didn't showed up on the radar for more than a week, and here we are now" Hasshule said.
-Inosi, make Maximos to get back here quickly. I'm in real pinch right now.
-Understood.
It is? How come none of us didn't sense anything.
"Loki"
"She doesn't know anything about her necklace being a tracking device"
Man, taking care of my son's lover sure is a huge hassle.
"Phantom World: Space alteration"
I pulled out the car from my inventory.
"Alfred, take the other two and go to the location we are going to! Disposed all jewelries Layla is wearing right now!"
Alfred quickly grab Layla and the three went inside the car and drove off at max speed.
Michael duck, barely escaping one of the sword master's attack.
"You villain, bring us back the princess!" The sword master said.
Even if they are fast, unless they are as fast as Hasshule or Maximos, there is no way they'd be able to catch up to the car.
But I still can't use warstyle so winning is close to zero.
I need to preserve my aura as well.
I deactivated Abyssal world and quickly activated,
"
Again, Michael was able to barely evade the sword master's attack.
Soul chamber will not allow any one with soul energy to leave this place.
"Are you really planning on taking all of us, alone at that?"
"I have my pride as an executive of the Blood moon" I replied.
I said it so that they'd think that I am part of an organization which is my enemy as well so that they would hunt the location of the 'blood moon'. However, all of them only got even more furious at me.
"So you are a member of that inhumane church, huh" The sword master whispered.
With Hasshule's wand being wave, the sword master teleported to her side.
"I won't hold back against such criminals like you. And you dare brag that you are an executive? Fool! I will make sure that you regret ever being born!" Hasshule yelled in anger.
I didn't expect such reactions, really.
"Grand magic: Flame cannon"
"Grand magic: Thousand serpentine wall"
For three nights, I have practice using water magic with the best teachers of the water element which are the sirens. I don't need to use my
"Lady Hasshule please let us-"
"Silence! I will take care of this criminal myself!"
The knights that accompanied the sorcerer king know that Hasshule suffered through a lot because of the blood moon church. Now that there is a self-proclaimed executive right in front of her, she wasn't able to control her anger. The sword masters knew very well that if they try to butt in, they would be fighting with the sorcerer king later on. With no choice but to watch from the rear due to the
Continuously using a special skill to slow them down a bit and a grand magic to make sure they stay here is draining my mana real quick. I need to think about something real fast.
I pulled out a ten bodies from my inventory.
"
The soul chamber was quickly filled with water, the legendary beast and demon lord Vepar once again rise from the dead under my control.
While I control the two corpses I pulled out the sorcerer king was busy dealing with them while the other sword masters were also busy with the other high ranking corpses that I collected from back then.
"Grand magic, Scorpio: Disorienting flux"
With that spell alone, all the water and all the corpses I was controlling disappeared.
How did she do that? The name of the spell she used didn't even made any sense on how she did it.
I knew from Gwen that her student was very exceptional in using space magic but I don't have any clue what she just did.
"The vibe I am getting from the corpses just now is similar to the giant skeleton knight that appeared back at the banquet. Were you also responsible for that incident?!"
Instead of answering her question, I focus instead on what to do. She isn't using any wide scale spell to finish me off since she already know that there are villagers nearby.
-We are nearby, master.
-That's good.
"Soul binding chains"
I dispelled the
I focus my attention to the sorcerer king, ignoring the sword masters.
Hasshule quickly understood Michael's intention of keeping only her here in this place since she is the only one that threatens their plan. However, she is not called as the king of sorcery who specialize in space magic for no reason.
"Forbidden magic: Black hole"
I can't escape this one!
The sword masters were far enough not to get suck by the black hole while Hasshule is protecting herself with another grand magic.
"Soul manipulation"
While I stay in place using my own space alteration, I controlled the sword master by focusing all my mana into it to attack Hasshule. Even if they are strong, they are knights. Knights do not have the same resistance as mages.
They sure are putting a lot of resistance.
"Cancel grand magic.
Slothful World: Stellar hypno"
The black hole vanish and the other four fell asleep.
Her special skill was supposed to be Magical world, right. It's either she killed the apostle of the Demon of Sloth or she received the blessing herself from Belphegor. Not even Gwen knew about this.
Thanks to the immunity I got from killing Will, I am immune to her special skill.
"Earthen wall"
Hasshule succeeded on defending herself against the lighting magic that came to her from behind.
"Master, we now have arrived!"
"We?" She muttered.
Knowing Inosi he must have instructed Maximos to keep a certain distance to avoid falling asleep due to the sorcerer king's special skill.
"Water manipulation"
I now controlled the blood in her body and quickly slash her a bit with a knife with powerful sleeping effects.
Using any kind of hypnosis towards her would be a waste of time now that I know that she has the power from the Demon of Sloth.
"Slothful world, cancel.
Magical World: Spatial domination"
The gravity within three hundred meters around the sorcerer king increase by five hundred with her own special skill.
I... can't move... my body.
The moment I remove my aura on me, I would get crush. Inosi can't make any moves since he doesn't have any spells that can go through Hasshule's magical world.
Hasshule stood up, while Michael is forced to kneel down due to the intense gravity. She approach the man with a distasteful look.
"You are sturdier than I thought you'd be. No wonder you are an executive of that shitty organization. I was planning on taking you back in good condition so I can get more info from you"
As she walk closer, a wound appeared right on her neck. Little droplets of blood started to go down to her dress.
Nice job, Max.
The knife that Maximos used was laced with poison. A type of poison that can make someone to fall asleep instantaneously. As it is not magic nor a spell but is created through science, it took effect on the sorcerer king. Michael went closer to her with great caution.
Phantom World: World creation.
Their positions have changed. It was Michael who is the one looking down while Hasshule is now the one whose knees is on the ground. Powerless, she wasn't even able to move one bit on Michael's domain.
With a light chop, Michael knock Hasshule leaving her unconscious.
After exiting both Maximos and Inosi were already gone. The four sword masters were tied up, also unconscious.
-Inosi, you already move out?
-Yes, master. Sir Max was really upset with suddenly going back here since he was attempting to court and seize the heart of lady May.
Why does the people around me kept on falling in love here and there?!
-Okay. Thanks for the help, you can go back to work now.
-Understood.
I contacted Gwen and ask her to take the little girl with me. It was done for free. Hasshule is Gwen's one and only disciple. As for the sword masters, they died a painless death. Their souls were dark and dirty, proving the evil deed they have committed. I absorb their souls to make my aura capacity grow bigger. I put their bodies in the inventory since they all will prove useful when the time comes.
I arrive at the location where the three had stayed in only an hour thanks to Nia.
"Did you kill the sorcerer king?" Layla ask with trembling legs.
She might not like her home but that does not change the fact that the sorcerer king, Hasshule is the shield of the empire. If I did killed her back there, the whole empire would be put in great chaos.
"No. I just knock them out"
It wouldn't be possible without Max's help though.
"You guys better rest first, I'll keep on guard for today and tonight. You all need to remove all the stress inside you before we depart"
They nodded.
Nunu was busy teaching Layla on how to use fire while Alfred was training nearby.
-Master.
-Udo? Something wrong?
-No. It's just that, I've been wondering on how are you able to create your own original grand magics in such a short span of time.
-Let's just say that I have an easier way on how to do it. It only applies to me though.
-I understand. I will go back now.
For me, it is easy on how to create grand magic since spells is the same as programming. Each spell have its own codes and structures. By creating a grand magic, you just need to construct a formula with the desired effects. Dragons and elves have perfect memory which is why they are the race that is known for quick spell casting and multiple spell activation.
There are some humans who can do it but those who can do it are mostly either from the elf race or the dragon race.
...
I wonder if they like stew.
As night came I prepared our dinner, monster stew. It may sound a bit... sort of disgusting but the taste is not bad at all.
As usual, I would reconstruct souls at night. At first it would take me six whole hours to reconstruct one soul now I only need two hours each, making my production rate even higher.
"Listen up, Alfred will be riding on top of Nunu. Me and Layla will be riding Nia"
"Eh. Why?" Layla ask.
"We will be going to the Ochikris kingdom at full speed since it is overseas. Now tell me, can you really stay behind Nunu who is a dragon when he fly at full speed? If you fall there must be someone who can also fly to get you so you'll be sitting behind me"
"That does make sense" Nunu said with a sigh.
Alfred raise his hand and ask, "Master, if I fall will you guys stop to rescue me?"
His asking me a question like that with such a carefree expression? Sigh, "No, I won't. Surely you can take care of yourself now that you are a lot stronger since we first met, right~"
His face lit up with excitement.
"Of course I did!"
"I can't let the fragile princess to be left unattended. Nunu will rampage if that happens. If you want to stay with him everyday make sure to train hard. I don't like slackers in my group" I whispered to her.
After two days, we reach the multiracial kingdom Ochikris.
We landed on some uninhabited shore.
"Be on alert"
Something is wrong here. I can't sense a shred of life here. By releasing my aura and stretching it to cover a huge area, I would be able to tell whether there are any creatures within range. And yet there are none.
Before landing I saw a forest not so fat on our current location. And I didn't even sense any animal or insect. The whole forest is pretty alive on its own but what worries me is that a forest this lively should also have a lot of bugs.
"Master, something is coming!"
Alfred pointed it towards the forest.
Weird, I didn't sense anything and yet there is something over there.
A creature without soul energy... a golem?
As we get into formation, the thing that Alfred heard came closer to us.
And finally it decided to show itself once and for all. A chimera.