Chapter 790: Roads of a Dark Lord (Patreon)

[Your Kingdom Core has advanced to Level 9!]

[Your Kingdom Core has unlocked a new skill!]

Excellent.

Far more people lived in the village than the citizen count suggested, but not everyone had been converted yet.

[Crown Roads]: Official roads built to connect populated regions of the Kingdom become conduits for the Kingdom Core’s influence. Citizens who travel, work, or live near these routes receive increased effectiveness from [Domain Mana], while sections crossing territories inhabited by beasts are reinforced by the power of [Safe Domain], making them less attractive to hostile creatures and reducing the frequency of instinctive attacks. The influence of [Crown Vigilance] also intensifies along these roads, making threats, ambushes, and disturbances near official routes easier to detect. The more regions connected by roads recognized by the Core, the more stable and efficient the circulation of mana, authority, and security becomes throughout the Kingdom.

At the same time, [Sovereign Gaze] made the road connecting his village to Otto’s stand out within the Core’s field of perception.

Interesting. So it really is working.

The roads were carrying the Core’s influence with them. Build enough of them, and the kingdom’s influence could spread without him taking every stretch of land by force.

One more reason to build them.

He found Nara that night.

“And the orcs?”

“I didn’t attack any of them, like you asked, but I watched them closely in case they came too near,” the spider mother replied.

“Good.”

If orcs started disappearing every time they crossed the forest along his border, the others would get suspicious. Better to let them feel safe.

Luke followed them alone for a while. Their presence had been thinning for days as they slowly migrated out of the area. The dwarven forge they had been using had gone cold, and the food they once received from the ratfolk was gone too. Ever since Ruax’s death, they seemed to have simply abandoned the place.

Luke had expected a much harsher response. Maybe after losing at Nyvma and then losing a general, they’re saving their resources for places where they’re actually making progress.

It made sense. He still didn’t like how quietly they were leaving.

A grimoire floated in front of him. His [Spell Grimoire] had gained a new page when his class reached level 115, allowing it to absorb a scroll and reproduce the spell afterward. That part was new. The real problem was finding spells worth feeding it. For a moment, he wished he could go back to the auction at Hotel Olympus and buy all the interesting scrolls he had passed on.

The next morning, Cecilia showed him the Baumann Company’s newest acquisition.

“This is an excellent Scaled Strider, Lord Luke. A little old, but still very useful.”

As soon as she heard a merchant was passing through town with one for sale, she tracked him down and bought it.

“The first of many, I hope.”

Old or not, the strider turned a trip that normally took days into a few hours. Good enough.

Now that things are starting to run without me, I should get back to searching for the Teleportation Array.

The territory was well protected. Nara and Norn could handle most threats, and each settlement had people who could handle most problems on their own. He could afford to give them more autonomy now.

I think I’m the one running out of things to do.

Back in the laboratory, Cadmus rested on the table, still nothing more than a mysterious metal sphere as far as Luke was concerned.

“Yeah, buddy. I still have absolutely no idea how to fix you.”

Not exactly the kind of thing the average blacksmith could fix. He stored Cadmus back inside his pocket dimension and returned to the plants. By the time he looked up again, night had already fallen.

I forgot today’s offering.

Luke grabbed a bowl, filled it with food from the kitchen, peeled some fruit, and even added a cookie. He carried it over to a tree in his laboratory and placed the bowl beside it.

“Artemis, my beautiful goddess. I present this offering to you.”

Outside, rain hammered the castle as thunder rolled overhead. Some sections still had holes in the roof, and water dripped into the dark corridors.

Luke stopped outside one of the bedrooms and found the door open.

“Scared?” he asked, looking at the three children.

All three were curled up under their blankets.

“No,” they answered.

“Good. Then I’ll put out the torches in the hallway.”

“Don’t do that,” Kobi said.

“Okay. I’m leaving. Good night.”

“Hey, human...” Franky called. “Can’t you stay a little longer?”

Who would’ve guessed that guy was scared of rain and thunder?

“You scared, Rheera?”

“No.”

“Want me to stay?”

“No.”

“She said no, so I’m leaving.”

“Don’t listen to her, human,” Franky said.

“Sister...” Kobi murmured.

Rheera stayed quiet for a moment before giving in. “Fine. You can stay.”

Luke pulled up a chair and wrote in his journal while rain battered the castle.

“D-do you know any stories?” Kobi asked.

“Stories?”

“My mother always told us stories when it rained like this.”

Luke paused. “What kind of stories do orcs like?”

“A battle story,” Rheera said.

“A battle? I can probably do that. I fought a giant snake once.”

“A g-giant snake?” Kobi asked.

“Yeah. I can tell you how I killed it.”

“Don’t tell that one, human!” Franky shouted.

“Okay. Then I don’t know any good stories. That was my best fight.”

Kobi went quiet for a moment before asking, “Do humans eat orcs?”

“What? No.”

“My mother said humans ate orcs for breakfast.”

I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around. Wait, am I living through the ending of I Am Legend?

When the children finally fell asleep, Luke slipped out and pulled the door shut behind him before heading to his own room.

“Waiting up for me, Charlie? Don’t tell me you’re scared of thunder too.”

***

Luke stood in the forest, watching a group of people gathered around the entrance to a cave. A camp had been set up outside. Men stood around eating and laughing between rows of cages while a woman screamed as she was dragged across the camp and thrown into one of them.

“Why do they only kidnap human women?” Mivi whispered beside him.

“Because they’re scum.”

Kidnapping reports had been piling up over the past few days. The chaos left behind by the orc attacks had created the perfect environment for gangs like this. In villages where dozens had already been killed, a few more missing people barely stood out.

When Charlie gave the signal through [Soul Infiltration], Luke stepped out of hiding and headed for the camp.

“What the fuck? Where did this freak come from?” one of the men said.

Luke ignored him and kept walking toward the cave entrance.

“You should’ve kept your nose out of this. You’re not leaving here alive, asshole,” another man said, drawing his sword.

Before he could take another step, an arrow buried itself in his face. A heartbeat later, Pip dropped a second kidnapper with a rapid volley. More men charged, but Ribbo burst from the trees and met them with his fists as the other goblins rushed in behind him.

One of the men near the entrance tried to stab Luke, but Mivi was faster. She leaped past him, wrapped her tail around his neck and squeezed before drawing the rusty dagger and driving it into his throat again and again.

Luke entered the cave at an easy pace while screams echoed through the tunnels. He was halfway inside before he realized he hadn’t cast a single spell.

At one junction, one of Nara’s spiderlings had three men tangled in webbing while a spear-wielding goblin finished them off. Around another bend, Norn was already chewing through a body while two more kidnappers lay dead nearby. Luke kept moving.

“You son of a bitch! You’re with those things!” a man shouted, raising a crossbow.

A fireball hit him before he could shoot.

[Frankzaroth’s Class [Crypt Mage Apprentice] reached Level 12!] (+5 Wisdom, +4 Intelligence, +3 Willpower, +2 Vitality, +2 Perception, +2 Free Points.)

“I leveled up, human!” Franky shouted from atop a spider as he rode past and continued the hunt, Crypt Rats scurrying after him.

Charlie emerged from another tunnel and headed toward him, leaving a trail of bodies behind her. Nearby, a wounded man tried to crawl away until an axe came down on his head.

“Hahaha!” Barb laughed.

She looked delighted. Battle suited her a little too well. Screams echoed through the tunnels, but by then the gang had already lost the cave.

Luke passed a room filled with children locked in cages. “Stay there. We’ll get you out.”

Farther ahead, he found a locked door. He tried Telekinesis, but the door wouldn’t budge. The resistance told him someone had barricaded it from the other side, so Luke kicked it in. Something yelped as the wood gave way, and he stepped through.

“A-are you one of them? One of the attackers?” the man asked, trembling.

“Probably.”

“I have money, man. A lot of money. Just let me go.”

“No.”

The man pulled a dagger, then hurled a sphere at the floor. Smoke quickly filled the room. He rushed through the smoke and drove the dagger hard into Luke’s stomach.

“I’m an assassin!” he said with a laugh.

He pulled the dagger back, still grinning, but the smile vanished when he saw the bent blade. He looked down at where he’d stabbed Luke, but there wasn’t even a cut.

Luke smiled. “So am I.”

When he looked up again, a knife was already at his throat. He stiffened. Luke held it there for a moment, then turned the knife around and offered him the hilt.

“Want to try mine?”

The man stared at him. “What the fuck are you, man?”

Luke lowered the knife, and the man took off into the corridor. At the first turn, a spider landed in front of him, and he stumbled back with a scream. Goblins were already closing in behind him, so he took the only open passage and ran straight into Kren, only to hit the floor while Kren barely moved.

“Monsters! Monsters!” he shrieked.

Luke crouched to inspect what the man had been guarding: a sack of coins, probably an advance from the slavers buying the captives, and several crates filled with swords and daggers. Nothing fancy, but the steel was good.

A symbol had been stamped onto the crates, and Luke recognized it immediately: a crown above a hand dripping wine.

So this wasn’t just some local gang.

The mark belonged to a criminal organization with operations in cities all across the continent.

“Wait.”

The man was curled up on the floor, crying. “Monsters... monsters everywhere...”

“I want you to answer a few questions before you die.”

Once they had secured him, Luke left the cave and leaped into the air. From high above, the gang’s entire base came into view. Dozens of spiders crawled over the small mountain and poured through the mine’s many openings. At the summit, Nara watched everything below and fired webs at anyone who tried to escape.

Goblins waited in the forest, spears ready for anyone fleeing through the hidden exits. The last few kidnappers who made it outside barely got a dozen steps before something caught them.

Luke smiled. “Having an army is actually kind of fun.”

***

Garen Voss sat in the saddle, watching the orc army from a distance. They had arrived by ship, destroyed a city, and were now marching inland from the coast. Farmarug would be next.

“They just keep coming,” one of the soldiers muttered.

A lone survivor named Clyde had brought the warning. The orcs themselves had sent him.

“First the Orc Lord’s army marching through Solvar and Jungral, and now this,” Garen murmured.

Solvar couldn’t fight on two fronts. And if the reports on how many orcs were arriving by sea were even close to accurate, no kingdom could face them alone.

“Evacuate Farmarug.”

“That’s Rosemark territory, sir.”

“Doesn’t matter. Their military won’t respond in time.”

They had one option left: get the monarchs talking.

“Do what I said. Send letters to Duskridge, Jungral, Rosemark, and anyone else you can reach.”

“All of them?”

“I don’t care if you have to send one to the traitors who sided with the Empire.” Garen looked back at the army marching inland. “If we face them separately, they’ll wipe us out one kingdom at a time.”

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As Luke’s kingdom starts to take shape, I think it’s finally time to give it a name. Any ideas? I’ve got a few of my own, but I’ve intentionally kept it pretty open because I thought it’d be fun for us to come up with something together.

And yeah, I know “Empire” fits the whole Dark Lord vibe perfectly, but with so few citizens, we’re not quite there yet lol. Maybe someday.

For now, though, the kingdom still needs a name. So let me hear your best ideas.