Demon Lord - (New World Book 1)

by K R Zax

  ‘He stays in an expensive Inn and molests the maids.’

  ‘The Demon Lord went to an orphanage and turned them into his followers.’

  ‘A woman can lose her virginity if she looks him in the eyes.’

  A lot of rumors sounded more like jealousy than actual reality. I did hear that he is a handsome young man.

  “Your Grace, a messenger from the Samran region has arrived. He said that he bring urgent news.”

  “Bring him in.” The woman sigh, leaning back into her chair. The knight from the Samran region entered the room, he was wearing chainmail under his breastplate since his entire armor was designed to increase his mobility. The Samran region had many disputes with the southern tribes, whose tactics were hit-and-run.

  “Your Grace,” the knight was holding his helmet under his left arm as he knelt in front of the woman. “I bring dire news, undead had appeared in the Samran region, on the other side of the Vogla river. Our scouts also found several Murim villages empty, it is suspected that their inhabitants had become undead as well.

  So far, there was an attack on a wolf-kin settlement a few days ride from Tolia, most of them managed to escape. According to witness claims, there were hundreds of zombies.”

  Undead? Maybe a Lich? The woman interrogated the knight until she wasn’t able to obtain any more useful information.

  A Lich was a C rank monster able to reanimate the corpses of any person or monster that was weaker than him. And they weren’t just mindless monsters. A Lich had the same level of intelligence as when he was alive, and they always gain an intense hatred for the living. If one is there, making an army of undead, it would be a mistake to let him grow and become a great danger for the Empire.

  “You may leave,” she told the knight as she took a blank piece of paper.

  Chapter 13.

  When Lina and I entered the Guild the next day, we were surprised by the amount of noise. It wasn’t like any other morning, and the adventurers looked excited about something.

  “Alex!” Elyn called out when she saw us, and after putting some of the documents aside, she handed me a letter.

  “What is this?” Who could possibly write to me?

  “It’s from the palace!” Elyn said excitedly. “Will you open it? Maybe it’s something important.”

  I inspected the letter first, but couldn’t find any sign that it has been tampered with, then I opened it:

  ‘To Alex Miller, leader of the Demon Lord’s Party.

  Mr. Miller, after hearing a lot of interesting things about you over the last several days. We found you to be a strong and capable man, and as such, We recommended you for the Samran Quest.

  Please, understand that this is not an order of any kind, you are in your right to refuse, and no actions will be taken against you for doing so.

  With the well-being of the Rasik Empire in mind, We only hope that you would be willing to accept the quest and help the people of our great Empire.

  Nalisia Voznesensky.’

  “Oh, Kriss! You got a letter from the Warden Empress!”

  “Who’s that?” I asked the overly exhilarated girls. It was obvious that Elyn and Lina were well aware of this person and their importance.

  “You don’t know?!”

  “Darling, that is one of Emperor Ailmar’s wives. She is in charge of the Empire’s security, it is her responsibility to deal with any problem that may arise. And she also provides counsel to the Emperor in times of war.”

  So that’s how it is. No wonder she knows about me, her eyes and ears are everywhere. I did stand out a lot, being a Dark Mage and killing all those monsters. Maybe there are even some spies tailing me. But if that is the case, does she suspects something about the Desert Blades?

  “Wives?” I asked suddenly, Lina said something about it if remember correctly. “How many does he have?”

  “Nine,” Lina rolled her eyes at me. “Is that all that’s on your mind? Women?”

  “Only pretty ones. I don’t like fat, ugly chumps.” Nine? What a lucky bastard.

  Elyn was bent at her waist, dying of laughter. I had to wait for almost a minute before she composed herself.

  “Sorry. It’s just… You’re so funny.” She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Now to go back to business, you have been elected as one of the 500 adventurers for this quest. As stated in that letter, you are free to refuse, and there won’t be a penalty if you do so.”

  “Can I think about it?” I didn’t like the thought of traveling with that many people, mostly because I would have to look over my shoulder if a wanted to Absorb a monster’s life force. Of course, I could put the bodies in my Storage and do it some other time, but that would be a hassle.

  “Of course, Darling. No one is forcing you. I mean, why would you want to earn some money, or try to be famous? Let's take it slow. If we continue hunting around Tsarigrad, in a few years, you may be able to buy a house in Central.”

  Hmm, a few years sounds like a lot. We could go to Jolek or some other place.

  “I didn’t mention it, but every participant gets a gold coin, and the rest of the reward will be determined by the scale of contribution. And you can hunt monsters along the way if you want since you have the Storage, it won’t be a problem to bring their corpses back.” Elyn sounded so reasonable I couldn’t refute her. And I may even find some good zombie materials.

  “Okay, fine. Sign me up.”

  Lina and I went straight to the forest after hearing out all the details of the quest.

  It seems that a Lich had appeared in the Samran Region and is gathering an army of undead. No one saw the Lich yet, but all the evidence points at one being there: large amounts of zombies of different races, nomad settlements destroyed, a reduced amount of monsters in the eastern forests of the region...

  The adventurers will gather tomorrow on a field near the eastern side of the city before the sixth bell in the morning. There, 2000 Imperial soldiers will join us on the way to Tolia, the capital of the Samran Region, where even more soldiers and adventurers will be added to our forces.

  “We should buy some horses,” I told Lina after a while because from what I’ve heard, we need to travel for around twenty days to reach Tolia. That’s crazy! I don’t want to walk that much.

  “Yes, m’lord. Your boots may fall apart if you walk for that long,” Lina said with sarcasm. Sometimes I find it hard to talk to her, she reminds me of some of the girls from my time.

  When we found a nice place, I encircled the area in shadows and took the big orc out of the Storage. His chest was a mess from all the bullets I fired at him. I purposefully left the head intact, since I wanted to make him my pet zombie. But first I had to Absorb what was left of his life force.

  “What are you doing?” Lina watched me as I took the crystal I bought this morning, placing it on the orc’s chest.

  “An experiment.” I held the rock and activate my Absorb skill. The orc’s life force flew into the crystal and stayed there, just like I wanted. When the orc was dry, I sent Darkness inside his body, and turned him into a zombie.

  “Okay, come here Lina, I want to try something.”

  “I don’t want to participate in your experiments, how about we find some goblins?” She was nervous as she looked at the shining crystal.

  “Fine, you leave me no other choice. I command you to come here and stay still.”

  “You… You… Uh!” She struggled in vain, the slave contract was way too powerful. She was pissed, but why should I care? Slaves should obey their Masters.

  I placed the crystal on her slave crest, to see if there would be a reaction, that’s when the bluish tattoo started glowing. I could feel how it slowly sucked all the energy from the crystal.

  “Uh, ooou...” Lina was covered in sweat and looked tired, but the process didn’t last long. When the crest sucked everything from it, the crystal disintegrated in my hand, it felt like it was made of sand.

  “Asshole!” She c
ursed, panting as she fell on her butt.

  I ignored her remarks and took out the Status Plate to see if anything changed.

  “Holy cow! It worked!”

  “Let me see.” Lina was still mad, but curious to see what was happening. “No way. This can’t be real.”

  Name

  Lina

  Mana

  E

  Strength

  C

  Speed

  D

  Air Magic

  G

  Her Mana and Strength went up a rank. Well, it was a strong orc and Lina’s stats weren’t big, to begin with. It’s easier to rank from D to C, than it is to go from B to A. The difference in power becomes greater the more you advance.

  It was a shame that she didn't get the Fire Element, though. I guess there are some restrictions, after all.

  I wanted to try a few other things, so we went hunting for more monsters. Lina’s attitude changed completely to the point where she was killing anything that moved: goblins, orcs, boars, giant rats, and spiders.

  Before, she used to struggle when facing orcs one-on-one. But now, she could take them down with noticeable less effort.

  After trying out a few more experiments, I was left without crystals.

  Lina’s stats didn’t change anymore, and I assumed that it was probably because we encountered only weaklings.

  Some of the crystals weren’t spent on her, but instead, I tried to implant them into my zombies. Since life force dissipates when a monster dies, I used the crystals to catch it, then put it inside the corpse and then pour Darkness to connect the crystal and the dead monster.

  The zombies created in that way were stronger, and a bit more agile than the regular zombies. I also tried putting multiple crystals into one dead body before zombifying it. That one made me really proud. It was almost three times stronger than when he was alive.

  Now I see why Dr. Sam was so obsessed with his experiments. In a world where magic plays a big role, you can do so much without high-tech equipment or actual medical knowledge.

  For example, imagine a team of the best doctors developing a vaccine. They spent years and years studying, and experimenting, and who knows what. And then, you have a Mage with healing talent who can do more than they ever could, with only some basic training.

  When we were back in the city, I went to Volseb & Voin to purchase more crystals and several other things. Then I bought two horses and went to a shabby smithy to purchase low-quality swords and spears for my zombies.

  Finally, I talked with Svetlana, the Night Bird owner, to see if she could arrange some food on a larger scale. I previously bought some cooking pots and gave them to her cooks, they will make a lot of food by early morning so I can put it all inside my Shadow Storage.

  When I went to bed that night, I was mentally and financially exhausted.

  ***

  “My Lord, you need to wake up.”

  I reluctantly opened my eyes when someone shook me. Then I remember telling the elf girl to wake me an hour before the sixth bell.

  Sure enough, Sashka was standing there, shaking my arm timidly. She even brought a tray of food and put it on the table.

  “The rest of the food you ordered is down in the kitchen, my lord.”

  “Thank you, Sashka,” I yawned and stretched my arms. I had a perfect sleep and was ready for a new day. “I should apologize for troubling the cooks.”

  The dark elf giggled. “You do not have to do that, my lord. After you gave them all that silver, all of them were ready to make as much food as you liked. They already went to bed and said that you can place such an order whenever you want.”

  Money, it opens so many doors.

  We ate our breakfast, put the cooked food into the Storage and left the Night Bird on our new horses. I had to ask the boy in the stables to teach me how to take care of the animals, and I think that I wrote it all down. Thank God Lina was with me. If I forgot something, I’m sure she will remind me. The toughest part was riding the horse, I almost crashed into several people on our way out of the city, but I managed to get the hang of it. At least for a slow walk.

  A big number of adventurers were already gathered outside. Some had horses, but most of them were going on foot. There was also a huge number of carriages and wagons loaded with various things. Probably food and camping gear.

  On the other side of the road was a similar group with carriages, only much bigger. They were undoubtedly the Imperial Army.

  Almost all of them wore the same kind of armor, chainmail, and red cape. Some of them had swords on their hips, while others had bows or carried spears.

  There was also a group of around 300 mages, with canes and staffs. They must belong to some faction since they were all wearing robes of the same design but in different colors.

  And finally, there was a group of roughly 500 knights. They had bulky, shining armors, lances, and sword. I was wondering if every single one of them had a warhorse and a squire, when a group of adventurers approached us.

  “Hey Alex, Lina. You two were also selected for the quest, huh.” Bjorsal, from the Three Wolf Fangs party, greeted us.

  “Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise.” Velira hugged my slave and then looked at me teasingly. “The Demon Lord’s name it’s widely known amongst the adventurers of Tsarigrad.”

  “What do they say?” I asked suspiciously. I did hear some things, but…

  “Besides the stories of your thirst for blood? Let's see... I heard that you like to take girls into dark alleys and force yourself on them. Also, that if a girl looks you in the eyes, she will get pregnant… That kind of thing.” They were all laughing now, but then a blushing Lina came to my defense.

  “That’s not true. I’m Darling’s only woman, and we didn’t even have… Muhh!”

  “OK, that’s enough.” I covered Lina’s mouth before she said something unnecessary.

  It’s not that I didn’t want to. But we would usually only end up kissing passionately before falling asleep. And I must admit, kissing a cat-girl was an amazing experience.

  Our conversation was cut short when the sound of a trumpet came from where the group of knights was located.

  Two men on horses rode from the Imperial group, one was a Mage, and the other seemed like a commanding figure, a tall knight with blond hair and a strict face.

  “Listen here! I am Sir Stephen Gorzo, the leader of this campaign, appointed to this position, by none other than the Warden Empress - Nalisia Voznesensky, herself.”

  His voice was amplified with magic so everyone could hear what he said, and all the Imperial soldiers saluted when the Empress’ name fell from his lips. She had such a big influence.

  “On our march to Tolia, the Imperial army will take the lead and the adventurers will be in the back.” I could hear complaining murmurs from some of the adventurers, but most of them seemed to be expecting such a development.

  “The adventurers aren’t used to follow orders, and as such, you will be in the back. After we arrive at Tolia, you will play your part, and the army theirs. Now! Let’s bring victory to the Rasik Empire! Everyone, march!”

  Chapter 14.

  Several lizard-man corpses lay at my feet. A few hours after we departed for Tolia, Lina and I dived into a forest. At first, we were chatting with the Three Wolf Fangs, and then Aler told us about the various monsters that could be found around this area, so we decided to go for a hunt.

  Once I judged that we were far away from everyone, I summoned the zombies from my shadow and sent them to hunt. They would take down the small fry with numbers and notify me if there was a strong opponent.

  “Uuuuu!” A scream filled with rage came from deep inside the forest as I was turning the lizard-man into my ne minions.

  “Here’s another one!” Lina came running from the bushes, chased by a Vogor – a big, bull-like monster with four horns on his massive head. The animal was 10 feet tall and fast, so she had to zigzag through the forest to escape from
him, which wasn’t much of a problem for her nimble legs.

  “Uuurrrrrggg!” The Vogor let an enraged scream when I sent a barrage of Fire Bullets at his chest. He completely forgot about Lina and focused his attention on me. I had to pour a lot of mana and send the Bullets flying as fast as I could manage since it was incredibly hard to pierce his skin and abundant muscles. But in the end, he fell down, just like several others of his kind.

  “Uh, can we take a break? I’m tired from all the running.” Lina sat on a fallen tree that a previous Vogor broke, and I handed her a flask of water.

  “Sure, we made some good numbers already.”

  “Good numbers?” Lina looked at me incredulously and pointed at the big pile of corpses. “That is one hell of a number. I can’t even count them all, and your zombies keep bringing more. That is an insane number!”

  She had a point. I made more and more zombies and then sent them to hunt. There were around 1000 of them, and the amount kept increasing with every new corpse.

  “How many zombies do you plan on having? Didn’t you want to sell some?”

  “I can sell the ones that are too damaged, which is about one in five,” I said as another Zombie rose to his feet and silently went into the forest, then I knelt in front of the next one, and start filling him with Darkness. “Besides, we wouldn’t be able to kill this many on our own. The zombies aren’t the greatest of warriors, but they can hack and stab their opponents to death.” It was such a good thing that I bought all those swords and spears.

  “I must be going crazy because I’m starting to like the way you think, Darling.”

  After a while, I assembled my zombies and put them back in the Storage, then we took our frightened horses and went to catch up with everyone.

  When we arrived at the camp, it was already sunset. The fires were lit, and the adventurers were either making dinner or drinking. Lina found a good place to put our tent, close to the Three Wolf Fangs' campfire. There was already some meat baking when they invited us to join them.