They all came slowly, and behind me sat the Great Turtle and the Basilisk, they are kind of my assurance.
Everyone ate the meal calmly, and finally, I brought up the subject, "I am the new master of this place, pledge your allegiance or..." Before I could finish my sentence, I looked around and noticed a silence.
"Pledge your allegiance or leave, that's all." Partially true, since I will kill them after they leave, well. There's no need to think too much about it.
The first to speak was the Male Angel, "As I said, my lord, we have pledged our loyalty to the one who saved us. My wife and I are your faithful servants."
Only 3 nagas remained, and 2 of them did, while the 3rd one didn't. As I said, I did what I promised, and as no one was looking, the basilisk killed the one who didn't yield. We used his body to heal the severed limb of the Mantis.
Both his life force and the life force of two more nagas were barely enough.
After instructing everyone to repair the castle gate, I went on the back of the Basilisk to the old settlement to gather mushrooms. I had stored around 82 units of life force there. Even though it might seem small, it was constantly decreasing and increasing due to our continuous injuries.
I coughed, and again, blood came out of my mouth; I guess this is normal. Since one of the Basilisk's eyes couldn't see, it was considered half-blind for now. After a long time, I collected it and returned.
I retreated to the room, taking the Basilisk with me. I obtained the soul of the former dungeon lord and started dividing it slowly. Then, I began injecting it into the Basilisk bit by bit.
When about 2% of the soul was used, the Basilisk seemed to be in pain, so I stopped. I gave it some life force to help it heal and left it alone.
Our power is approximately as follows: 1 Basilisk, 1 Mantis, 1 Great Turtle, 2 Angels, 2 Elite Nagas, and 18 regular Nagas.
These nagas are not considered strong militarily as they serve as workers. I ordered them to repair the surroundings and instructed the others to find food.
Now, only Basilisk and I are here. We're not that strong in terms of military power, but well... I could kill more and become stronger, but I don't feel like doing that deep down.
I'm still thinking about Nymph, Ifrit, Lif, Succubus, and that peculiarly powerful wolf. I still miss them; let's hope I don't get attached to them too.
And now, I'm bored. After minutes or hours, a surge of energy came from the Little Spirit and suddenly disappeared. I looked towards it and noticed that its body was composed of pure flames.
The Little Spirit had finally reached the transcendent level, but normally spirits find other humans to use their mana for them. But since I'm not so great at this, the Small Spirit is using its own mana; however, it's an apprentice, so it's using too much mana.
But it's still useful. I looked at the Little Spirit, but its body seems like it can't handle more mana. It's like a glass filled to the brim that would overflow with just one more drop.
Well, in cultivation series, they always have some kind of compression thing going on. They compress their qi or mana to make it purer, something like that.
But the Little Spirit seemed to look at me as if it didn't understand—technically, it wasn't looking, but there's something like emotional transfer.
To show it an example, I picked up some stones in my hand. "Now, look, think of these stones as your mana. And there's a lot of space between them. If we subject these to high pressure like this..." I used a little force to compress them.
"And as you can see, more stones can fit into this area now." It seemed to understand a bit and compressed its own mana using its mana. After hours of compression, it regressed to the Middle-Low level.
I don't know how it managed this, but its level regressed. If we say that the Middle-Low level is 1 unit, then it probably regressed to something like... 1000 units of the Transcendent level? Well, probably. I guess the level of spirits is tied to their mana levels rather than the density of their mana.
It returned from that pure flame form to its old form. The Small Spirit is at most 1 or 2 years old. Yet, it's stronger than me. I feel jealous. Quite strange.
I got up and started doing things like squats, push-ups, and sit-ups. Boredom is awful.
And hours later, I'm really tired. If these things tire me out, I wonder what they would do to regular humans. Probably my muscles will recover in a few hours. Or maybe longer.
Basilisk recovered and looks stronger than before, but it destroyed the remaining part of its soul on its own instinct... This was strange, after all. Why did it destroy it? It wasn't its own decision; was it instinctual? Maybe, but I'm not entirely sure. Could the remaining soul have seemed like a threat to it?
There are two possible options for now. The first option is that it did it instinctively. The second option is that it saw the remaining soul as a threat to itself. But the first option includes the second one.
So, for now, I'll go with the second option. The remaining soul saw itself as a threat. But why? I don't know... This soul fusion thing... Very strange.
With crazy questions in my mind, I looked at Basilisk, but decided not to think too much about it. I looked at the mushroom on my body and examined it, but there's no other will, as Ifrit said. It's just an extension of my own will. Maybe that's what it meant? Maybe if this extension of my will gets too far from me, it transforms? But that's too exaggerated a theory.
And while I was lost in thought, Bultar entered the room, bent in front of me, and gave a report. The report mainly concerned the repairs of the walls and some buildings.
So, it's not that important, but a part of the report mentioned that our clean water source will dry up in a few weeks.
And this is generally a serious problem. We need to either dig a new well or seize another water source. The first option is what I want, but it's difficult; after all, finding a new water source is hard. And since this one has dried up, the possibility of finding another one nearby is also low.
So, we need to either dig this new well further away, which is possible. I'll tell them to start working on a new well, at least 100 meters away from the old one. When I waved my hand, he left the room.
Actually, I don't really believe I can defeat that Angel; after all, without the Little Spirit, my overall attack power is equivalent to a B-level adventurer. And I can probably go up to A-level at most.
So, I can't defeat a dragon without mana, well. But that doesn't mean I'm helpless! After all, in real battles, everything isn't just about physical strength.
So, in general, I've really become stronger. But is it normal to become this strong? What if developing so much without a blessing is normal? What if it's abnormal?
Let's assume it's abnormal, but what can I do about it? Can I do anything? No, I can't. I'm still weak right now. I've changed my fate a bit, but changing it completely is impossible.
After all, once I leave here, I'll be like a wild cat let loose in nature. The general condition to leave here is to defeat the demon king. Technically, you need to be strong enough to fight the demon. But I'm on par with a level B adventurer, my overall attack power is at level S, but that doesn't count for much.
And days later, I went out to see the changes that were made out of boredom. It was mostly the same, but traces of the old architecture are still visible... It would be nice to entrust the city management to someone.
But that's impossible; now I understand why settled life is like a prison. I've become attached here; even if I wanted to, I can't leave. I went to the side of the castle walls and was saddened by the incomplete craftsmanship.
But there's nothing I can do. Even though it's incomplete, it needs to be repaired; we can fix it later, but it's better than having no defense at all.
As I watched the working laborers, I observed the small mistakes they made and the petty arguments that arose... Is this world really fake? I don't want to believe it, but considering how many times I've died... It's sad but true.
And finally, the workers seemed to notice my presence and stood at attention, and I signaled them with my hand, and they went back to work.
And hours later, a group of monsters tried to launch an attack, but the defense forces and Bultar took care of it. Watching Bultar easily handle the Zirgon herds was truly astonishing.
Yes, Zirgon! A creature about 1.5 meters tall, resembling a raptor, and incredibly powerful. A Zirgon herd is equivalent to death.
Out of curiosity, I called Bultar over, and he came to me. "Bultar, what level of angel are you?" I asked, and Bultar responded without much delay. "I'm a Low-High level angel, sir!"
"Low-High? How powerful exactly are angels?" He seemed a bit surprised and paused, then answered with a hint of sadness on his face. "We're powerful, very much so... But we can't communicate with the main headquarters. And the number of angels in this world has decreased to almost nothing."
I was taken aback; I didn't expect this answer. "Can you tell me about your past before coming here?"
Bultar nodded and replied, "We came here to investigate a semi-god level being. So, the most powerful angel among us was at the Transcendent level. But unexpectedly, other semi-gods came too, and there was a battle. Most of us died or went insane, only a few thousand of us survived..." His face was filled with deep sorrow as he spoke these last words.
"Then we hid, protected ourselves, and suddenly found ourselves here. After that, our communication with the main headquarters was cut off. I don't even remember how many years we've been here. And now, this Demon King... Lord Oriel is seeking out the prophesied heroes to deal with him."
My mouth hung open; learning that there were others from different worlds here made me glad, but... It seems like he might not be aware of the repetitions.
I placed my hand on my chin and started thinking. "So, you came here for research but found yourselves in the middle of a battle."
He nodded his head in agreement, and then I pondered more. 'I must be missing something... But I can't find it.'
"Fuck," slipped out of my mouth, and Bultar was taken aback; he definitely didn't expect that. "Is there something bothering you... Sir?"
I shook my head in a way that meant 'no' and looked up, a possibility. This world isn't as rosy as it might seem. There's much more to this world. I can feel it; the story is deepening...
I left there and started exploring the castle. Well, if you could even call it a castle. It's protected by walls. Yeah, I'm exploring this place.
There are dozens of nagas working on the construction of the walls around, and our numbers are currently very low. It's hard to rely on Nagas for military power. Getting information from the former king's secretary is impossible since I killed him.
I called a naga over and asked them the most important question, "Is there a way to increase our manpower?". They clearly didn't know and directed me to an elderly naga who gave me the answer.
"Hmm? A human... Yes, there is a method. Present the cores of monsters to the core of the dungeon."
I nodded my head. "Do you have an issue with me killing your king and taking over?"
He shook his head, indicating no. "I must confess, that king was only exploiting us. But the fact that the new king is of a different race... that's strange."
I nodded my head in agreement. After all, having a human king in a Naga dungeon is indeed strange.
But the man looked at me as if he wanted to say something and eventually gathered his courage to speak. "My lord... You, you don't discriminate against your people. No matter their race, isn't that right?" There was a bit of sorrow and longing in his expression. It was a sorrow that didn't suit an old man, almost as if he was about to cry.
"No, I don't." I replied firmly. His face lit up with happiness. "Then, please follow me."
After walking for dozens of minutes, we arrived at a place where even an animal wouldn't want to live, let alone a human. Though calling it a house would require a thousand witnesses. It was a dilapidated shack.
"Enkidu lives here, he's a half-Naga half-Wyvern. Due to his mixed heritage, the people and the king don't like him. If his mother weren't my relative, I'd probably treat him the same way." The man opened the door, revealing a peculiar-looking being lying on the ground, three meters tall. It was a chimera-like creature.
When that 'monster' heard about our arrival, he was initially startled and withdrew, dragging himself backward until his back touched the wall. For heaven's sake, I don't even know what to say. Disgusting.
"Enkidu, calm down. It's me!" When Enkidu realized who had come, he ran towards the man and hugged him. Then his gaze shifted towards me.
"I am the new Naga King, Aquarius." When he understood the meaning of my words, he knelt beneath my feet and assumed a prostrating position.
I can't find the words to say; he's such an ugly creature. But this life seems worse than mine...
"So, Enkidu has been living like this his whole life? Just degraded, humiliated, and experienced similar things?" When the old man nodded, I lowered my head and looked at Enkidu.
'Are these stories, these beings... Are they all fake? Are they just puppets prepared for the growth of heroes? Right? Damn it, I think I'm going to cry.
"Hey, old man... Whatever your name is. Take Enkidu to the city. He will stay with me." I left there and started crying outside. Enkidu probably got pregnant against his will. Enkidu isn't the fruit of forbidden love or something. He's just a mistake... Hopefully, that child won't become too intelligent, or else existence can't bear all this.