Basically speaking, Pandora is a more advanced soul that I have reconstructed in comparison to Nunu. I've spent so much time and resources to create one soul core capable of using the same level of
What's more is that I can remotely activate a spell from a far away place as long as it is in the island or around Pandora. With the powers of the black magician(the vessel) and the power Pandora can use I don't think that she would have any problems on how to manage the island herself.
"Lady Azraelle"
[The Master of the Souls is listening to what you have to say]
"Will you please transfer the apostle mark to Pandora"
[The Master of the Souls asks you, "What benefits will it bring me if I do what you are requesting?"]
"Pandora is an entity that I created who have an unbreakable bond to me through soul link. If she becomes your apostle, the things that I do and she does will be combine together. It is also beneficial for the two of us"
Normally a god or goddess' apostle's achievements will also affect their authority which is why the limit for a god is one apostle per world. But what if the apostle is directly link to someone else since that apostle is the creation of that person.
The answer is simple, that god or goddess will benefit from the achievements from two individuals.
[...]
I already knew from the start that it would take her time before she reply to me.
[If the same condition is applied to you then I will be willing to listen to your request]
"Please do. Other than the extra skill, everything else can go to Pandora"
White cloudy chains appeared that connected mine and Pandora's heart.
[Mark of the Master of the Souls is being transferred to creation,
[...]
[Done]
[Individual [Pandora] is now the apostle of the Master of the Souls]
Just as how the chain appeared with no warning the process of transferring the mark and the some of the blessing itself finish abruptly.
I checked at her status to see what she can now do.
[Status information]
Name: Pandora
Class: Soul/black mage
Race: Human(Artificial)
Age: O year
Level: 34
HP: 2,100/2,100
MP: 14,850/14,850
AP: 31,000/31,000
Strength: 16
Agility: 18
Stamina: 23
Intelligence: 78
Level cap: 34
Psychological state: None
Status: Slave
Abilities: Soul, black magic, curses, healing
Attributes: Anti-magic
+
So it is as I thought. The [INT] represents the number of knowledge inside someones head. It doesn't really matter on what it is, as long as you keep on learning many things the [INT] will keep on increasing. Plus, since Pandora is a compound soul core which is even more... complete(?) than Nunu, she is able to also take the power of the vessel she got.
A notification appeared in front of me, something that I didn't expect to come.
[You are now a candidate to become a king]
King? What's that supposed to mean? I'm already a royal anyway, is there really a need for me to become a king in name?
"Loki, what does being a 'king' mean?"
"I'll be confiscating a whole week worth. Still want to continue?"
It's that important?
"Sure"
"As you know Leviathan is known as the 'Sea king' while the kid named Maximos is known as the 'Phantom king'. When you are titled as a 'King' it means that you are the best in that certain field. It also means that you are recognized by the world. They rule over at what they do best. A good example would be 'Ruler of the Sea, Sea king Leviathan' or 'Ruler of Shadows, Phantom king Maximos'. Something like that. One more thing"
"What is it?"
"Someone who have the title of 'King' can know whether another king is near them"
"How?"
"Name tags. A king will see what kind or king you are. For example, if the boy, Maximos were to meet with the half-elf girl Hasshule, he'd see the title [Sorcerer king] above her head. That's how. For the record it is impossible to hide it"
Wait, so they do see game like interface.
The seven kings who are former adventurers and the seven generals of the demon king also have "kings" on their title. Doesn't that mean that I have to become one myself to be on par with them.
If Maximos took me seriously instead of being reckless when we met, he could have killed me without me knowing.
Without phantom world or abyssal world it would be impossible to even win against Hasshule or Maximos. Let alone win, I'm sure that I won't even be able to touch either of them no matter how hard I try. So saying that they are the best in their field won't be an understatement.
And right now, the system is telling me that I can become a king myself? Even if my growth rate increases by several times in this world in addition to the blessings that I got, I don't think that I would be worthy of something, to be acknowledge as the best at a certain field.
Putting that aside, Blacky is already done on his work. The construction of buildings in the port and in the soon-to-be city is also starting with no problems.
"For now familiarize yourself in the area, Pandora. If you take Kaota with you no one would bother you"
"I shall go then, milord" She said as she goes out while happily holding the demon cat.
Sigh, I'm not even bothered by them calling me with honorifics.
-Mel, how many more days until you get here?
-Two days is the fastest and four at latest.
-That's great.
The orphanage should be built by tomorrow. I'll have Pandora, Udo, and Blacky to be the ones in charge of security in the island. With their abilities, there should be no problem in maintaining the order and the nature.
Now that is settled I should go talk to Nrowe.
...
Michael went to Nrowe's office and talk about the current situation of the two kingdoms.
Astel is in great disadvantage as the number of their opponent is five times bigger than theirs. Despite being the smallest continent, the northern continent is still huge considering its size. The only thing is that the population is small. It is normal, after all many dies from either starvation or from monsters hence why people migrates to the central continent.
"Oh right. Master, you ask me to gather the orphans in Astel correct"
"Yes I did. Why?"
"You see there is a girl who caught my attention. Jinx said that she has an aptitude for magic"
Jinx may have been weaken ever since she went out the labyrinth but she is still a vampire. An average vampire is more sensitive to mana than a high elf.
"I'll meet with the girl later then"
"Don't you have something else to do in the eastern continent?"
"I do. But those guys may have already received the letter that I sent them"
Just as he said those words, the two elven kingdoms received the letter he was talking about.
A letter that says the right hand of the Torture king Crowley, demon lord of fire Paimon have arrived. Based on Vepar's memories, he wrote the letter that matches the hand writings and speech of Paimon while imbuing it with a lot of demonic energy coming from Kaota.
The letter which says, "I the demon lord of fire, the great Paimon will attack one of the two elven kingdoms into destruction to offer to my lord. As I am in a great mood I will let you to choose which country I will turn into ashes! I will be waiting for a week"
In Eliahiree, the elves were not alarmed to what the letter contains as they have thought that it was only a demon lord who is still greatly weakened from the holy war. However to those who did knew the identity of Paimon were filled with anxiety. They knew Paimon's power, to invoke the flames of hell,
As for Artoreseseo, the same thing happened the difference is that the fairy queen knew that this was Michael's doings. Confused, she is still trying to figure out Michael's plans as his actions were too extreme. To use the name of one of the strongest demon lord is the same thing as to declare war to the two kingdoms.
And because of this the two elven kingdoms who were celebrating for surviving the massive outbreak were put into a state of emergency. Making all the higher ups to be thrown into pure chaos.
As the letter said, only one kingdom will be targeted. Of course both kingdoms don't want to have a fight with someone who is basically their weakness. Now the two kingdoms are now debating who will be going up against the demon lord of fire.
...
Currently, Maximos have already assassinated the guys that will put Astel in trouble, such as the powerful knights and mages as well as high ranking mercenaries. This have put Catros in a very tight spot. They don't know how exactly these high rank(for them) magicians, knights, and mercenaries died before the war begins.
-Mel, you did put curses and poisons on market right?
-Yes. Though I don't know what you are going to do with it I just have a bad feeling about this.
-It's fine.
As ordered, Mel put poison on the food on the market in the northern part of the empire. Because of this Catros won't be able to receive any provisions or help anymore from the outside. Then again it won't last long since Aigreos will most likely intervene.
"After the war, you should go rule over the island I created. Make sure that orphans will have a place they belong to"
From what Alfred said, he himself doesn't know about the fact that he is a royal, the only thing he remembers is that he was already there in Astel since they were little. And since Nrowe came from the cat tribe I can make her the face of the island who governs it without any problems.
-Milord.
-What is it, Pandora?
-Based on the knowledge you have given to me, there are ships coming here with the flag that belongs to the holy nation, Aigreos. I believe.
They came earlier than I thought.
-I'll be right there.
I immediately went back to the island via teleportation gate. As I arrive, the ships were near and stop in the port. Holy knights came down with priestesses and some aristocrats.
They must have picked up strong magic formations which led them to think something was going on.
Though this is still within Aigreos, the sirens own this place. The Goddess that the sirens worships have already sent message back then to Aigreos so that they won't disturb them.
"We came from the holy nation Aigreos, and I am the commander of the 3rd regiment and one of the twelve paladins, Morfes Avarion. We were sent here by the pope to see what is going on on this island"
"I am Alfred, an aide and right hand of the hero Lucas"
[Immense blood lust detected]
How come this kind of notification never showed up before? That doesn't matter right now since these guys are throwing daggers with their eyes.
"An aide, you say? And how exactly can we believe that?"
I sighed and release my holy attribute which filled the entirety of the island. All of them were surprise and weren't able to believe what they just witness.
Holy attribute which is comparable to the saintess of Aigreos means that the man in front of them have received a blessing from the very gods they worship.
Aigreos who harvested the hope from the people use all those positive mana to empower their holy knights back then in the holy war. Ever since the news of the appearance of the hero was publicly announce the faith and prayers of the people were sent to Michael, thus increasing the level of his own holy attribute.
I stop releasing my holy attribute.
"You guys said that you want to know what is going on, correct?"
"Ye, yes. Yes we do"
"Follow me then"
We went to the mayor's house which is going to be Nrowe's after the war. Inside the building I let them rest in the vacant rooms for now while I had a talk with Morfes. Since they were picking up strong magic reactions from here they wanted to check if everything was okay so they were sent here.
It kinda irritates me that the vibe I am getting from him alone is already more powerful than the me before I came here. Ugh, this world sure is nice for having to speed up their growth.
In the end, they decided to establish friendly relationships with me and will conduct exchange of goods here in the island. The resources that I showed to the aristocrats caught their eyes and have decided to establish their own buildings while it is still early. Their merchant's instincts only benefits me so I have no problem with that.
The mana concentration on the sea floor is fairly high so there were a lot of possible mines that I've found. For now it would be better to sell the magi stones for a cheaper price. It is easy to get them after all.
-Milord, uninvited guests came from the western part of the island.
-How many are there?
-There are twelve of them.
-Capture and then put them in the fourth floor. In the negative mana extraction room.
-Understood.
I wonder who are the idiots that has the gall to infiltrate my own domain. I'll find out later on so I should go accommodate my guests here.
I showed them around the good parts to impress them while complimenting them on the process. Flattering them was easy and because of that I've gained their favor. Saying that I'm an aide of the hero played a big part on putting their trust on me.
-Milord, I have captured them.
-I'll be on my way.
...
I've put sentries all over the island so that Pandora will have access to everyone's location who are in the island, so her detecting people would be easy as long as they have a soul that is. But I didn't think that it would be her.
"Long time no see~ Have you found a way on how to remove the enslavement on you?"
It's the dark elf girl that I met back in then when I was at the city with the insect outbreak. The dark elf and her teammates(?)
"Without further ado"
While they were restrained I took a peak on their memories. Based on what I saw they were sent by the viscount in the northern part of the empire. The shocking fact is that the empire moves faster than the holy kingdom.
How did they even knew about the appearance of an island that is barely within the jurisdiction of Aigreos? It can't be that they had spies on Aigreos since these guys most likely took off before Morfes did due to the distance. Either that or they were already at Aigreos and was able to get here while passing through the detection of Morfes' ship.
"What were they after, milord?"
"The magi stone mines. My guess is that they already knew that there is a mana vein here which would create a lot of magi stone mines"
"Mana vein is a phenomenon when mana accumulates underground forming a vein like structure because the area naturally absorbs a lot of mana, correct?"
"Yes, you're right"
Its amazing that she can already use the knowledge I put inside her head, its hasn't even been a day since I made her.
It's a bit annoying that the original amount of [INT] I was supposed to have is around <550> since [INT] affects the way you use magic. To think that the gods themselves nerfed me the moment I entered this world, ugh.
Since they still have some value, I put them in the third floor the prison floor. And since the island is becoming more and more stabilize we moved Inosi's lab to the second floor where Pandora is at.
As the sun rise, I gathered the ones that came from Aigreos to the plaza. They were sitting on the chairs provided. With me at the front, I raise my hand.
-Let's start, Pandora.
-Understood, milord.
I hope this works.
"Spirits of the sea and sky, heed my call"
I release all of my holy attribute.
"For I ask you to bless this land which will be the monument of spirits"
A giant white colored magic circle appeared. It was covering the entirety of the island. The people from Aigreos were stunned by how big the magic circle was, the same thing for the sirens who were watching at the edge of the island.
"Protect. Unite. Sing a song full of dreams. Harmony. Benevolence. Show me a wonderful place"
The giant magic circle in the sky was dazzling. As if the sun have descended itself, there were no shadows on the island because of the light it produce.
"Grand magic: Spirits' eternal rhapsody"
The magic circle slowly vanish as it descended to the ground. It engrave itself to the prepared replica beneath the surface which makes the whole island within the effects of the grand magic that was just casted.
[You have succeeded on making your island state to be protected by the surrounding spirits]
[Affinity towards all types of spirits except demonic type spirits have increased by five percent]
[Spirits who are protecting your territory]
Undines= 270
Sylphs= 120
Dryads= 35
+
There's a lot more than I expected. Must be because of my affinity towards them. It would take me an hour at least to cast this without the help of Pandora.
[You have received a title]
Huh? What?
[You have received the title [Spirit king] for reaching the required amount of affinity towards spirits]
What is this? I'll check on it later I still have things to do right now.
"Does Aigreos believe that I am indeed affiliated with the hero?"
The stupefied men and women look at me slowly with their mouths open wide.
"O-of course. Once, again, we are very sorry for our conduct yesterday"
As Morfes lowered his head, the rest of them did as well. They were all trembling from awe. What they witness was something that they have never seen.
After my performance, I celebrated with them and bid goodbye as they go back to Aigreos. The aristocrats said that they were going to start on putting up shops here and there.
"Now tell me, when did you created something like that? Even though I was busy doing my own share of Godly works I was still keeping an eye on you"
"The magic circle on the ground? The sirens made that"
"Not that. The spell. When did you created the grand magic you just used?"
"That's gonna cost you, it is quite expensive you know"
"Never mind"
Cheapskate.
Now time to look for that notification earlier. It said that I am now a 'King'.
"Title information about 'Spirit King'"
[Title information]
Spirit King- By reaching the required amount of affinity towards spirits, you will earn this title.
Effects of the title:
-Absolute command over all inferior rank spirits.
-Elemental magic resistance is raised by ten percent.
-Resistance for dark and light magic is raised by five percent.
-Number of available familiar spirit have increase by five.
+
Eh? That last part is very convenient for me. How come- no, right, my powers are broken. I guess it is to be expected from one of the pages from Solomon's forbidden grimoire.
...
After things settled down I went back to Astel, seeing the situation from a tree on a cliff.
The war have started earlier than it was supposed to because of the sudden deaths of the higher ups in Catros which made them anxious. The fact that they still have an overwhelming advantage in numbers are still there but their mages who can use grand magic and well known mercenaries and knights died one by one making them think if there really is a third party helping Astel.
Since Catros made the first move earlier than the said schedule only 5,000 knights from Astel were deployed to hold back Catros' forces which numbers 40,000 men. It's basically a suicide mission for the 5,000 knights that were deployed.
-Pandora, are you ready.
-Yes, milord. Targets has been locked on.
Suddenly, white smoke started to go out from the head of the knights from Catros. Both the knights from Astel and Catros were confused as to what it was. There were at least 10,000 knights from Catros that has white smoke on their head.
"Grand magic: Reaper's judgement."
As Michael said those words, the knights from Catros fell down to the ground. The white smoke from into white orbs and went towards Michael's direction.
With the help from Pandora, he targeted all the knights from Catros who have dark colored souls with them. Because of this, the number of knights from Catros were reduced by more than a third from their forces.
The commander who was leading Catros' army retreated as he had thought there was some kind of forbidden magic at play from a third party, he didn't thought about it coming from Astel as they possess more power in comparison to them.
"Now with the souls from these guys, I'm going to raise my stats"
[1 stat point= 5,000 Soul cores(human)]
Huh? This is a scam I tell you! Why did the required amount of souls rise suddenly?! The system is basically telling me to go slaughter people.
I decided to put the souls away and store them, as if 16,000 soul cores will be enough for increasing my stats.
"Spirit king? I wonder what a big shot like you is doing here. Well, as we are the same I suppose that I don't have the right to say something like that, huh"
I turn towards where the voice came from and saw a man with a robe and a pair of glasses. He was sitting leisurely as if he was here this whole time.
Above his head I saw a name tag, a title. The [Novel king]... what is that supposed to mean.
"Honestly speaking, I was surprise to meet the infamous 'Phantom king'. And yet another king is right in front of me"
"What did you do to him?"
"Nothing. If I were to hurt him, his guardian the sorcerer king will be enrage so much that she will hunt me down so I put him to sleep"
He's afraid of Hasshule despite being able to put Maximos into such a state?
"I don't really like being barbaric unlike other men. With that, I ask you to stop assisting Astel in this war"
Based on what I know so far it looks like he was the one who made Catros go to war with Astel. There's no way Catros would have broken the treaty one-sidedly.
"I am only doing my work. I simply killed those who have evil souls. That is all"
"And only those from Catros have such souls?"
"No"
"Then that is unfair if your mission is to kill those who have a evil souls, no?"
"I don't think someone who plan on destroying the order here in the northern continent have any rights to judge my own way of doing work"
"I am doing this because it will bring him joy"
Him?
"The Gambler king?" I muttered.
He was banish back then because of being framed by Kaesul. Other than the gambler king, I don't think there are any other people who would be able to make another king follow them unless they are of equal or superior to them. Besides this guy did said that he was doing it for "him".
"Hmm, and what makes you say that?"
"Because he came from here"
"What makes you so sure about that"
"I have my own ways of gathering information"
"Aha! You must be the variable that he kept talking about"
Variable? Does he have his own ways of gathering information regarding the future?
I don't want to fight him if he is affiliated with the one I am supposed to be teaming up with. But I won't let him destroy my future power plants.
His title is a little bit weird but to be a 'king' you need to be powerful enough to be considered as one. Not to mention his mana pool is higher than mine. Maybe half of Gwen's?
"What is your objective?"
"And why should I tell you that?" He said as he stood up.
"If you want to kill the nobles and royals from Astel who detested Kavon, go ahead I won't stop you. But if your aim is to destroy the entirety of this kingdom then I will have to step up"
"If you can give me the people in this list, alive" He threw a paper which somehow slip to my hands, "I won't continue my plans on destroying Astel".
I read the names on the paper while keeping my guard up. Why is Kaesul's name not here?