The Hundred Reigns 174: Lux Vult (4) (Patreon)

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Elaine Malphas hated him.

She was clever enough to hide it well, of course, since she played the innocent, dutiful girl and fell to her knees the moment she walked into Simon’s quarters, begging for her father’s life. 

“Your Majesty, I swear to you, I did not know my father had been so thoroughly deceived,” she said, crying crocodile tears. “Please, I beg of you to spare his life…”

“I have no desire to kill him.” Simon had already slain Patriate once, after all, and considered that grudge settled. It was nothing personal now. “But I need you both.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I am your loyal subject.” Elaine pretended to think for a moment before suggesting, “I… I could be your spy. My father and I could pretend to work for the Oracle and feed her false information.” Her hands moved to sensually touch his thighs. “Please… I would do anything.”

Simon looked at her a moment before taking a deep breath. “You think your anti-brand dagger will let you free yourself and your father from my dominion the moment you leave Frightwall?” 

Elaine was experienced enough to feign confusion, but she couldn’t suppress the look of surprise in her eyes. “Your Majesty, I do not understand…”

“Or perhaps you believe you can slice my throat while I sleep? Selling your body is a small price to pay to kill the Overlord, after all.” Simon stepped back to the table. “Cease this comedy, Elaine. You can drop the mask.” 

And when she realized trickery was pointless, Elaine’s expression grew cold. Gone was the crying, innocent maiden trying to save her father from execution by any means necessary; the woman in front of Simon was a spy with a cause and the determination to see Endymion burn for its crimes against her family. Simon knew a cup of Uyo coffee with chocolate wouldn’t smooth over her disposition, but he still offered her one. 

She didn’t take it. 

“I did not murder your mother, Elaine,” Simon said, breaking the silence. It might not be the best conversation opener, but he didn’t have much to work with. 

Elaine’s glare would have murdered him a thousand times if looks could kill. “Did you force my father to tell you of our history?”

“No, I saw it in my visions.” Simon had found that people were a lot more respectful when they believed he could predict the future. “For what it's worth, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Your apology is worth nothing.” Elaine straightened up, her spine stiffening with defiance. “Did you call me here to watch me squirm? If so, then slice my throat now and spare me your drivel.”

“I would suggest holding your tongue, since other imperial officials are likely to cut it one day,” Simon warned her. “I called you here to offer you a job, not to take anything from you. I want you to be my ambassador to Illusea and the White Unicorn.” 

“Your… ambassador?” Elaine scowled. “I will not help you stir dissent among the White Unicorn.”

“And you won’t. Unlike my father, I am a man of peace.” Elaine scoffed at his words. “It is true. I want to sign a non-aggression pact with the White Unicorn and the elves. Let bygones be bygones… especially since a second Doom will soon devastate the world within a year’s time.”

“A second Doom, truly?” Elaine rolled her eyes in disdain. “Is that the best you could come up with? That we should leave a tyrant in peace because the world will end otherwise?”

“This is true,” Simon snapped back. “The Oracle knows. A black comet will befoul the sky and demons of old will rise again–”

“Lies!” Elaine replied. “Your kind always lies.”

“Won’t you at least listen?” Simon asked in annoyance. He knew this would be a tough fight before he even entered the arena. He realized arguing about the Doom was too tall of a bridge to sell for now and adjusted his strategy. “Play your cards right, and you will walk away with an official decree harshly punishing the kind of pogroms that took your mother’s life. Isn’t that worth the price of a little discussion?”

His words rattled Elaine into silence. So far so good. 

“Now, I have your ear, here’s my offer,” Simon said. “While I cannot repeal the laws outlawing other faiths than that of the Light for various reasons, I can end the pogroms, the expropriations, and the persecutions that targeted the elves during my predecessors’ reigns. I will return confiscated goods and lands when possible. I will pardon your family for your crimes, including your aunts, and allow them to retain their titles so long as you all swear allegiance to me rather than the Oracle. If your people have counterdemands, I will listen to them.” 

Elaine scowled, but said nothing. 

“I am also willing to recognize Princess Satine Renais as viceroy of Magvolia and grant that province as much autonomy as Bujan or Fablan,” Simon concluded. “We will no longer threaten Illusea nor the western continent so long as its nations do not interfere in Endymion’s affairs, and I may eventually agree to release Lady Firewand from my service. I cannot do so now without risking an attack on Frightwall, but if our treaty holds for years, then she will lose her value as a hostage.”

Of course, Simon had no intention of releasing Belzemine right now, considering her brainwashing and the fact he had no cause to trust the Oracle yet, but hopefully the prospect would cause Illusea to at least consider his offer. 

It was a very generous proposal, and better than anything the elves could have even hoped for under his father’s rule, but Elaine only saw the strings attached. “And in return, you want us to, what? Forget your family’s past crimes and conquests?”

“Yes, the same way I’ll have to convince my own empire not to go to war with Illusea after you helped murder our head of state,” Simon countered icily. “First of all, I want you to convince your aunts to come to my coronation and accept my amnesty. They and their husbands will be secured in their titles and offices, though your father and Firewand will remain my guests for an indeterminate amount of time. I need to forestall the planned bombardment on my castle.”

“Your cowardice won’t save you forever,” Elaine replied icily. “We will kill you as we killed your father.”

“And then what?” Simon rested his head on his fist. “You murdered my father with a Goddess-blessed sword hoping to destroy the Class, yet it still passed on to me. What will happen if you kill me and the Class goes to someone like Prince Louis?”

Elaine had no answer to that question. Nay, she didn’t want to learn the answer. 

“Whether you like it or not, the Overlord Class is here to stay, and I am the only holder who has ever shown interest in actually talking things out. I suggest you do not waste this chance.” Simon shrugged his shoulders. “Once you have convinced your family to take my pardon, I then want you to help my other representatives negotiate a lasting non-aggression pact with the White Unicorn and Illusea. Our nations will keep to their spheres of influence and coexist in harmony.”

“Why even ask me this?” Elaine asked, her frown growing. “You think we’ll be amenable to you because we helped assassinate your father?”

“How can I expect to win over the Oracle if I cannot convince you?” Simon steepled his fingers. “Besides, your family has all the necessary connections with the White Unicorn and Illusea to arrange diplomatic negotiations, should you care to try.”

The truth was that Simon didn’t expect miracles, but he had no other way of opening up communications with Illusea. Endymion and the elven homeland had had no true diplomatic relationship in centuries. Simon had more faith in Lady Justine, who had a vested interest in keeping her situation as it was, but she wouldn’t behave until she believed herself and her niece were safe. Simon had to win Elaine over first.  

“So?” Simon asked. “Will you help me settle our nations’ ancient grudge and take the first step towards peace?”

He guessed the answer before she even opened her mouth. “Or what?”

A long silence followed, as Simon hardened his heart. He truly didn’t want things to come to that. 

“Elaine,” Simon asked, very calmly, “Are you asking me what will happen if you deny the only chance the free nations of the world have to make peace with Endymion in four centuries? You want to know what will happen if you don’t even try? Do you truly want me to answer that?”

She held his gaze. “I’m not afraid of you, Magnos. There’s nothing you can do to us your father didn’t already put us through.”

“You are wrong, Elaine. But to answer your question, if I ever feel peace is impossible between Endymion and Illusea, that you will try to destroy me no matter what I do, that this struggle is existential for us…”

Simon put on his Overlord armor, his eyes burning with hellfire.

“Then I will make this entire planet unsafe for the elven people and the White Unicorn,” he said calmly. “Death and misery will find them everywhere my iron hand reaches. My shadow will haunt them relentlessly. They shall find no sanctuary from my agents. I will steal their souls, and their afterlives will be an anguished eternity spent trapped in rotting carcasses. They will fondly look back on my predecessors’ reigns as a golden age.”

And she saw in the fire of his baleful gaze that he was perfectly willing to go through with it. If Simon felt war was the only available solution, then he would wage it to the death. 

“I want to put an end to the hatred between our people, but if they won't take the olive branch I offer them, then I’m not afraid to go beyond my father’s policies,” Simon warned her. “If the Oracle still persists in sabotaging my efforts to prevent the Second Doom, and it is coming… then I will complete my predecessor’s plans and rain death from the sky upon Illusea. I will drag you all to the Abyss with me.” 

Her skin had lost its color, but her pride remained strong. “Then you are just like your father.”

“My father had made up his mind long ago, while I’m still on the fence,” Simon countered. “Besides, you have some gall to criticize me, you who were so willing to bombard Marthrone for a chance at victory, killing the Light knows how many innocents.”

That threw her off. “We do what we must to win.”

“And what’s victory to you? Millions dead? You, planting a flag over a grave, only to watch another Overlord rise from the ashes?” Simon could tell she had no idea what the ‘end’ she fought for looked like, the same way he had forgotten to ask himself that question. “My father is dead, and so are the men who killed your mother. Is that not enough?”

“Are you trying to make me feel guilty for avenging my family?” Elaine replied icily. 

“No,” Simon replied, “But do you want to feel guilty about dragging more families into this endless cycle, when you could work to end it right here and now?” 

Elaine bit her tongue, but Simon saw a brief flash of self-reflection in her eyes. The two of them were very similar at the end of the day, and that was why Simon sympathized with her. He dearly hoped she would take a moment to reassess her priorities like he did.

“Meditate on my words on your way back to your aunts, Elaine,” Simon said as he dismissed her. “We’re all trying to save the world here.”

“That may be true,” Elaine admitted on her way to the door, “But I suspect we have very different ideas of what this means.”

Simon waited a minute after she closed the door behind her, then dismissed his Overlord armor and summoned the Keeper of the Throne to his side. “Who is next on the schedule, Keeper?”

“A prisoner in the dungeons Your Dark Majesty asked to be brought to him,” the Keeper answered. “A certain Eole.”

Simon’s mood soured even further. Part of him knew this was inevitable, and he put this as far down the agenda as he could, but he couldn’t avoid it forever. 

Simon mustered his courage and resolve as the Keeper brought Eole to his quarters. His old friend and lover walked into the room dressed in a shoulderless white dress held by a sash and adorned with golden bracelets that showcased her curves… yet Simon could only see the naked woman he had taken to bed so many times in the previous reign. Louis had robbed him of that blissful relationship. 

Simon’s hand caught a strand of her hair before he knew it, acting on instinct. Eole remained motionless, her fair face and body showcasing none of the affection they’d shared less than a week ago from Simon’s own perspective. It hurt. 

“You are very beautiful, Eole,” Simon said in kish. 

Eole’s surprise at hearing him speak in her native tongue didn’t last. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, stiff as a statue. Simon’s heart sank in his chest as he realized what she thought she had been brought to the Overlord’s quarters for. 

“I won’t rape you,” Simon reassured her as he pulled back his hand. He had forgotten himself. “I… I won’t touch you.”

“Your eyes betray you, human,” Eole replied coldly. Hearing Eole call him that caused Simon no small amount of distress. “You imagine me naked. You want me in your bed, like all of you imperial pigs.”

Simon scowled, though he couldn’t exactly deny it. “I desire you, that is true, but I don’t take women by force.” 

“How kind of you, Overlord.” Her words dripped with sarcasm. “Do you expect me to give myself to you?”

A year of a blissful relationship had been wiped away with a stroke of Louis’ sword, leaving only anguish and memories. Simon bit his tongue as he tried to focus, but Eole was right. He couldn’t look at her without imagining her snuggling against him. 

I… I can’t keep her too close, Simon thought. Besides, Euphemia would no doubt notice his reactions and throw a fit. He wouldn’t be able to keep a clear mind with Eole around. The wound was simply too fresh. But I can’t let her leave either.

Besides the fact that he had plans for the Sanctuary and Nodens, both the Cobweb and Vouivre were still active. Eole kept encountering disasters, and her home would burn once the comet arrived either way. She needed his protection. 

So what could he do? 

“Do you wish to help your people?” Simon asked as an idea crossed his mind. 

Eole’s eyes widened in horror. “You… you think you can blackmail me–”

“No, no, of course not,” Simon cut in. Damn it, this whole situation had thrown him off his game. “I’ve heard about your struggle to free the shifters from slavery, and they have touched my heart. I have recently ascended to the Crimson Throne and I am considering new reforms. Perhaps you could serve as my advisor on shifter-related matters.”

“Is this a joke?” Eole asked, her disbelief written all over her face. “Are you mocking me?”

“I am very serious. Having taken power from my father recently, I wish to offer this empire’s inhabitants a path to a better future. I could introduce you to high-ranked figures like the empress and the High Confessor, and allow you to plead your case to them.” Though he would ensure Mastemo couldn’t manipulate her as he did back during their reign at the Lighthouse. “Your songs may find their way into the right ear.”

Eole hesitated a moment. She didn’t trust him—how could she, now that he was openly ruling as the Overlord—but she was wise enough to realize that if there was the slightest chance Simon was telling the truth, then she had to take it. It wasn’t like he couldn’t force her to do whatever he wanted either way. 

“I… yes.” Eole straightened up. “Yes, of course.”

Hopefully, something good would come out of it.

—-----

After that meeting, Simon stripped Eole of her slave bindings and officially took her on as a retainer. He had already become acquainted with Leonard and Meredith, and he had recalled the Honorius family to the capital. 

He needed loyal people to form his new administration now more than ever. 

Once he had completed all his meetings for the day, Simon teleported to his newest Dungeon: an abandoned church atop a hill, facing rocky canyon walls and winding paths. A large valley stretched ahead of him, beneath the slopes of flattened husks of mountains emptied by countless mining operations. The muddy streams below flowed between jagged peaks, boulder piles, and long-abandoned mines. 

‘Rust Valley’ was located roughly seventy miles away from Marthrone and used to be populated until Gargauth looted it of every last piece of copper. Mining operations had since moved to Valendre’s Golden Mountains, which made the area perfect for a certain test. 

Simon gathered his breath and focused on his bond uniting him to his Dungeon, whose core lurked inside the church. The great power he was calling upon should extend from it in a radius of roughly sixty-eight miles.

He sensed a will surging from inside him; a potent and singular curse, waiting to be spoken into existence. This calamity wished to be born into the world, to express itself on the blank canvas of existence. The strands of fate, of magic and physics, swirled inside Simon’s grasp for him to weave into a new reality. The words came to his lips on their own, his will made law. 

“It is my solemn duty as Overlord to show the world the might of Endymion, so that all may recoil from my wrath and take solace in my protection!” Simon commanded, his words reverberating through the canyon. “Let this barren land be burned in my flames until the sun goes down in the sky and night grant it respite!”

His Edict of the Wounded Earth twisted the world, and the land howled in pain. 

All creatures within sixty-eight miles of the Dungeon sensed it, from plants to beasts. They could feel the Overlord’s power course through the air and earth, his grasp warping the canvas of reality into something new and terrible. The very laws of magic and physics bent to his will and brought forth a dark miracle. 

A great earthquake first struck the valley. It shook the hills with such violence as to cause landslides all across the terrain, though the church one remained miraculously unaffected by the devastation. Simon himself stood tall as he watched birds fly away in panic, followed by rats, bugs, and lizards running for their lives. The tremors only grew in intensity as they heralded the true disaster. 

The greatest of the dead mountains exploded without warning.

Its top vomited a plume of fire and ash into the sky. Its sisters and brothers followed suit, steam jets and molten magma bursting up in a rising crescendo of chaos. Everywhere the land split open with hisses of pain and bled lava that poured out into the winding paths below. Great rivers of fire carried away boulders and ruins alike within minutes into their deathly embrace. Smaller splatters of lava rained down onto the valley in a rain of destruction worthy of an airship bombardment. 

Dry winds of searing heat fell upon the valley and turned the water to steam. Moss, trees, and plants alike caught fire, their ash and smoke blown across the canyon. Simon breathed in the ashes and smoke as both clouded the sky. 

Simon watched as the land died in hellfire, and all he could feel was joy.

Level 69 Overlord Perk: Devour Crestone VI (active): You can consume a Crestone—destroying it utterly—to permanently gain one of the Perks you’ve unlocked with its associated Class; once selected, the chosen Perk will then replace Devour Crestone VI across your reigns.

It wasn’t just the level-up. There was no word to describe the sheer thrill of casting the Edict, of feeling reality yield to his will and submit to his law. The rush of omnipotence was such an impossible thrill that it washed away the horror of the devastation and replaced it with dark satisfaction. This was the power that had allowed Mardok to cloud his castle in shadows and probably allowed Gargauth to turn Navarre into a desert. 

Simon’s power.

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