I could feel him smile under his hood. “You are an interesting man, Eternal.”
DING!
WARNING! Your village, Ikarius, is close to critical damage. Villages that have been dealt critical damage will lose fame, and will have a reduction in defenses. Additional penalties may be added on.
Dammit, I cursed.
“We need to take this guy out, and fast,” Nyx said.
I gripped Dawnbreaker tight, infusing the sword with power, and swung out hard. A pressure wave came from the blade, slicing through the dark beam for a moment. I charged forward at the man, surging into him. My mind focused entirely on his presence, noting his every move.
I wasn’t sure how he’d been able to plant a decoy in my path the last time, but I sure as hell wasn’t letting that happen again. I could feel with every second I wasted here, the village became weaker, Freya, Ijyela and Nazu came closer to danger.
I couldn’t waste any more time.
“It’s a shame, Diablo,” the man said as he dodged my strike. “You are strong. It would have been nice to have you be a part of the Dark Alliance.”
“Over my dead body,” I grunted as I turned around and swung hard, catching a part of his robe my blade and slicing it off clean.
“Over your dead body?” he laughed. “It is amusing for a man with the powers of necromancy to say such a thing.”
I infused power into Dawnbreaker once again, and this time the void blade glowed with a purple hue. My strikes hastened, and I could tell Jelal was finding it harder to dodge. My blade found his body more frequently, cuts and tears in his robes appearing with just seconds.
All of a sudden, I leaned in, feigning a strike, and let go off my sword. The man moved back, his eyes focused entirely on my weapon. I quickly knelt to the side, out of his light of sight and sprung up to him, my hand touching his chest.
“Ekter!” I yelled.
I heard a chuckle, and all of a sudden, the resistance to my hold disappeared, leaving me with just a black robe in my hand. My attack came down a moment later, a strike of black lightning racing down from the sky and blazing into the clothes, the empty form of where Jelal had stood a mere second ago.
“He teleported,” Nyx said.
Dammit, I cursed, but my mind immediately shifted to what I had to do, unwilling to let this opportunity go to waste.
I turned to the knights around me, the men who had refrained from attacking us in the fear of being caught up in our attacks and dying. Of course, a numerous amount of them had already been killed, but a significant number still remained, close to a hundred and fifty at least.
I stood at the center of the village, brandishing my sword in one hand, and the burning robes of their leader in the other.
“Jelal has abandoned you,” I yelled, my booming voice silencing those who spoke, and stopping the actions of everyone else remaining. I could feel uncertainty in the minds of the knights, their unease showing clearly in their collective body language. They sure as hell knew how strong I was, and I could sense the fear they were harboring with every second that passed.
“You men have destroyed a village that I own,” I said. “Your death is warranted. However-”
I paused, waiting to see what their reaction was, and unexpectedly, I could see relief and hope on their faces.
“I will give you a second chance,” I said. “All of you before me have two options. You can either pledge allegiance to me and become a part of this village, or-”
I sliced into the burnt robes, mincing them to ashes.
“-You can go ahead and die.”
***
CHAPTER NINE
Silence rang through the air, my words echoing past the empty black of the sky, and into the panicked minds of the knights.
I knew I had to dominate this exchange if I had any chances of getting these people to join me, and so I did something that I usually didn’t.
I played the Evil Overlord card.
“What do you choose, Knights of the Dark Alliance?” I said, pointing Dawnbreaker at the men before me, the blade glowing with an ethereal hue of purple as I infused power into it.
I could feel the fear begin to play into their minds. They knew I could kill them here and now if I wished it. I had all the power in this exchange, and I was going to make sure they felt every ounce of it.
But of course, there are always idiots amongst cohorts of a legion, and as expected, there were a few here as well.
“Die, monster!” A group of seventy to eighty Knights charged me, their weapons swinging in the air, like a wave of metal approaching.
I sighed to myself. You poor fools, I put my hand up in the air. “Qeteria!” I yelled.
The section of the ground beneath the men shook violently, sending them sprawling to the floor. A fissure cracked through the stone, and the part of the street they were on split open. Raging fires sprawled beneath, rising high up into the air as the men fell within the gaps, their screams of terror echoing through the walls. The fissure closed just as quick as it had opened, and the street looked like nothing had happened ever.
Silence broke through the ranks of knights in front of me, a greater fear now holding them prisoner. They knew I was not afraid to kill, and kill harshly at that.
“Wow was that rough,” Nyx said. “Was that the first spell you’ve used from the Death Arts?”
I nodded. I figured I’d go for the most dramatic spell I had.
“You chose well,” he said. “Although I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s the MOST dramatic. There are certainly other things that you could have chosen.”
Maybe, I said. I focused on the task at hand and turned to the men before me. “This is what happens to those that oppose me,” I said. “There is only one safe option that you can choose. Join me and I will grant you a pardon and the journey to a fulfilling life.”
“I’d rather die that serve you, you villain!” A knight raised his sword into the air. He thrust it into himself, piercing his chest and falling to the floor, dead.
My eyes widened for a moment, my inner self jumping at the thought of someone choosing to die over actually serving me. Did I miscalculate? I wondered.
“We will never follow your path, Phantom Lord!” a lot more men raised their swords, and sunk them into their own bodies, taking their lives away in an instant.
Ugh, I mumbled, but did not show any restraint in my emotions. A cold, hard expression lay upon my face, as though I did not care even a bit for the life and blood that had been taken away right in front of me.
I looked past the pile of bodies, at the last few men remaining, about forty of them left. They all stared at me, their bodies stiff, silence on their lips.
“Do you wish to defy me as well?” I asked, a hint of a threat within my voice, my Evil Overlord card playing its part. More than three-fourths of the soldiers had all either been killed or had killed themselves. And yet I was still completely with a demeanor that showed I had the upper hand here.
“We do not wish to defy you, Phantom Lord,” one of the Knights stepped forward, his helmet design showing me he was clearly someone in charge, rather than one of the underlings of the Dark Alliance.
“What is your name, knight?” I asked.
“Raffiel,” he said.
“Well, Raffiel, the man you call Jalel abandoned all of you without a flint of hesitation. I will however not betray your legion the same way. Do you and your squadron pledge allegiance to me?”
“We do, Phantom Lord,” Raffiel said, without a hint of hesitation in his voice.
DING!
I heard a collective flurry of sounds and I noticed that every Knight in front of me had had a Ga’em prompt opened up in front of them. They all tapped on the screens, and for a moment I was confused about what was going on, but a second later, it all made sense to me.
DING!
Congratulations! A Squadron of Knights from the Dark Alliance have become citizens of your village, Ikarius. Village populati
on has been increased by +30.
DING!
Your village, Ikarius, has now obtained a fighting force! ‘Army’ sub-menu unlocked! Make sure to provide your army with enough equipment and resources to keep them happy and well-prepared for battle.
DING!
Your village, Ikarius, has been upgraded to Level 2. You have obtained 2 special skill points to use on the development of your village. Spend them wisely!
Your village, Ikarius, has been upgraded to Level 3. You have obtained 2 special skill points to use on the development of your village. Spend them wisely!
DING!
You have unlocked a new upgrade: Empty Moat! Create a moat around your village and watch as pillagers and plunderers sink down into the darkness!
You have unlocked a new upgrade: Guard Hounds! Summon these loyal beasts to patrol the village borders and find any threats to Ikarius.
TRING!
You have unlocked a new village special skill: Sundown haze! A dark haze has a 10% chance of enveloping foes that enter the village after sunset, and leaves them disoriented for a few seconds. Actual effect duration depends on stats of the intruder.
Daaamn, I thought, grinning widely. I looked at Raffiel, the leader of the Knight squad. “I acknowledge your allegiance,” I said.
He bowed. “Thank you for your hospitality, my lord,” he said, switching to addressing me as ‘My Lord’ instead of ‘Phantom Lord’ the moment he swore allegiance to me.
“You better be careful with these men, Zoran,” Nyx said. “Men who are willing to defect to the enemy are ones who will defect away as well with no hesitation.”
We’ll see, I grinned. I figured the death I’d caused in front of their eyes had told them more than enough about what I’d do to people who opposed me. Sure, I’d only played the role of an Evil Overlord, which really wasn’t who I wanted to be, but for all intents and purposes, that’s who they thought I was for now.
“Zoran!” a voice yelled, and my ears perked up.
I looked to the street opening on the side and saw Freya running through it, the little Kobold at her side, and a black-skinned elf in her arms.
Ijyela, my eyes widened.
“She’s fine,” Freya said as she neared me. “I found her unconscious in one of the houses, probably knocked out after taking on some knights. I’ve given her some health and mana potions so she should be fine.”
“Good,” I nodded. I noticed how calm Freya looked even though there was a squadron of Knights from the Dark Alliance right behind me.
She seemed to have noticed my confusion, and put a smile on her face. “Apparently, the assigned leaders for a village also get Ga’em notifications about the village. Even when new forces join our ranks.”
“Ah,” I said, surprised. “That’s actually very convenient.”
“I mean, it also makes sense,” she said. “I don’t have access to a village sub-menu within my Ga’em menu but I’m alerted of things that happen with regards to the village, as in intruder attacks, levelling up, unlockables, and other stuff.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Okay, I’m going to go take care of these Knights. I’ll be with you in a second.”
She nodded and I turned to Raffiel. “Knights,” I said, and all of them immediately knelt to the floor.
Wow, did not think they were that disciplined, I chuckled.
“Well, even if they’re from the Dark Alliance, Knights are still Knights,” Nyx said.
“What do you wish, my Lord?” Raffiel asked.
“I will fix up the village’s broken infrastructure in a bit,” I said. “I want you and your men to go around and find houses to occupy, four of you in each. We will set up proper living arrangements for you at the earliest.”
“Thank you, my lord!” he said, a sudden happiness in his voice, as though he hadn’t expected me to be that generous.
I nodded and slid open my Ga’em menu once again.
Status
Upgrades
Mass Inventory
Special Skills
I tapped on Upgrades, and a new screen opened up.
Upgrade
Cost
Time
Village repairs
650000 Sol
3 days
Build Tavern
100000 Sol
1 day
Build Farmlands
300000 Sol
2 days
Build water system
500000 Sol
5 days
Build Empty Moat
500000 Sol
4 days
Raise Guard hounds
450000 Sol
10 days
Wow that’s more than I’d expected, I realized and quickly tapped on everything but the last two upgrades. Money was no longer an issue to me, so I did not have to worry about costs at all. The Phantom Lord had quite the coin purse.
I wondered how exactly these upgrades would build themselves, and then I wondered no more. Forms of shadows and darkness sprung from the village floor, and began sifting through the streets, moving rubble, debris and bodies from the roads as they did.
“I have no clue what those things are,” Nyx said. “Shadow workers?”
Maybe, I thought. They were all completely featureless, and were basically just dolls of darkness that had sprung out of nowhere.
DING!
Congratulations! You have purchased your first village upgrades. Ikarius is on the path to being a great village and a greater home. Reward: 10000 XP.
TRING!
Congratulations! You have unlocked a new bonus: Multi-tasker. You have started multiple village upgradation projects at the same time. Village upgrades will now be built 1% faster than before.
DING!
Congratulations! You have unlocked a new bonus: Provider. You have started work on resources beneficial to your citizens and have shown you care about your village. Village happiness increased by +10. Village reputation increased by +10
Nice, I grinned.
“My lord, what are those creatures?” Raffiel asked.
“Shadow workers,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure that’s what they were called.
“Intriguing,” he said.
“The village will be up and about in 3 days,” I said. “In the meantime, you can find residence in the first set of houses that are fixed. There is a water well close to the outskirts, and a few berry trees around the village. That is all I can provide for the moment. Better sources of food and water will be built in a few days.”
“That is enough, my Lord,” he said. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
He turned around to face his squadron. “Knights! Move out!” he yelled and marched through, leading them into the streets.
I smiled to myself, amused that this is what things had turned into in the end. When I first found that Ikarius was under attack, this was the last thing I would have expected to result as an outcome.
“Speaking of attack,” Nyx said. “We should probably work on upgrading our defenses as well.”
Yeah, I said, opening up the upgrade screen and tapping on the only upgrades available to me now.
Upgrade
Cost
Time
Build Empty Moat
500000 Sol
4 days
Raise Guard hounds
450000 Sol
10 days
DING!
Congratulations! You have unlocked a new bonus: Protector. You have started work on resources that will protect your village from harm. Village happiness increased by +5.
I went back to my Village menu screen, and this time I delved into the Special skills menu.
Skill Name
Level
Buffs
Mirror Shield
Level 1 (9% to next level)
Renders village invisible to enemies. Effect wears off if any damage is inflicted on it
Sundown haze
---
Has a 10% chance of
surrounding intruders and disorienting them for a few seconds
I realized the italicized text and the lack of a level meant these were skills that I hadn’t obtained yet. Furthermore, the background behind the skill was not translucent white but was instead more of an opaque grey, which further added to the sign that the skill was locked.
I noticed small section at the top right of the screen, on the same level as the screen titel.
Unassigned Special Skill Points: 4
That’s more than enough, I thought as I tapped on the Sundown Haze special skill option.
DING!
A new screen instantly popped up.
Would you like to unlock: Sundown haze? Cost: 2 Special Skill points.
I tapped on the ‘Yes’ option at the bottom of the prompt and the screen disappeared. I didn’t see any notifications pop up after that but I was quite certain I’d bought the skill.
“Zoran,” Freya tugged on my arm. I turned and realized that Ijyela was stirring. The dark-skinned elf slowly got up, and she glanced at me, her green eyes still as haunting as ever.
“Where…” she sat herself up, and her sudden change in expression showed she’d just recalled everything that had happened to her. “The Dark Alliance,” she jerked around. “We need to-”
“It’s all okay, Ijyela,” I said, walking up to her. “We’ve fended them off.”
The Eternal: Dragonborn - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 2) Page 9
