A Guide to Kingdom Building

The monster's foul and icy breath petrified Servus 132-X. His heart sank as the creature's grotesque tentacles caressed his face with its slimy and painful suctions. This wasn't Servus 132-X's first time to be in such dire situation. During his quests from all his past incarnations, there was a thing or two that put him into this kind of spot. But unlike those lifetimes before, in this one he was powerless.

As a chosen one, the gods of the worlds he has been to, gave him blessings and gifts. Whether giving him the ability to learn fast, god-like strength or unlimited mana, there was always a cushion for him to fall if he ever fell into danger—but that was before.

In this world, the world where he forcefully opened, he was left to his own devices. He arrived in this world, powerless. The previous deity, the High Chancellor took most of his acquired skills and abilities from his previous lifetimes.

It took him a lot of getting used to, especially without his powers that could've easily free him from slavery. It could be an act of defiance or simply just arrogance, but he promised himself not to entertain any deities that would welcome him into this world.

Up to this point, he knew he would be alright. He knew he might die as a slave, without the honor, titles, land or songs to remember him by. It was a death that he longed for at the same time dreaded. Servus 132-X knew death was inevitable to him. But if he were to die, he wanted to go out on his own terms—fighting.

Servus 132-X was slowly enveloped with his fear and despair. He wanted to scream and cry for help, but the overwhelming fear muted him.

There was something about this entity that made its presence more terrifying than any Demon Lord he had ever faced. It manipulated his fear. The deepest and darkest of all his fears. The kind of fear that even the previous Demon Lords wouldn't be able to reach—himself being powerless.

As the slimy tentacles slowly wrapped itself on his face, he felt no surge of power in him to fight. There was no point of doing so. He was powerless, what's even the point? This creature's strength was in a whole other level than those of the previous monsters and Demon Lords he used to face. It was like those crawling tentacles that destroyed his previous world.

The sharp suckers penetrated his skin injecting its vile venom on him. The poison travelled all over his body, defiling every cell of him. A surge of pain numbed his senses, making his head feel lighter to the point of euphoria.

As the monster opened its other set of maws, Servus 132-X finally succumbed to the pleasure of his passing—a wonderful gory end.

"NO! WAKE UP!" Oyue's voice suddenly flooded his mind. "THIS IS NOT THE END OF YOUR STORY!"

Time began to slow. Everything felt like it. He could feel how the tentacles wriggle for only a fraction of its speed. His heart started to beat slowly as his body reacted to the vile venom of the monster.

Servus 132-X's wandering mind awakened to the horrifying sight of him being as close to the devilish maws. Suddenly another wave of panic emerged from him, in a whim he realized he wanted to live. But what can he do? How can he get out from the tentacles that's wrapping his head?

Oyue's voice came back once more, "Follow my lead, Adlaw-on if you want to live!"

There was still hesitation in Servus 132-X's mind. He never wanted any help from a deity—not anymore. But he also wanted to live, something triggered inside him that made him hope that he could.

"Why would I tru—"

"There is no time for this!" Oyue reprimanded him as her voice echoed in his mind. "These are immensely powerful monsters! You need to use head and exousia against these!" She said.

He had no more options; he would get killed if he did not put his pride aside. With a sigh, he surrendered his fate to the whispering deity in his head.

"I only have a little time left before everything goes back up to speed." Oyue warned, "Listen. I need you to fight them with all your might. This monsters mainly feed off from fear, that's the reason why it was toying with you. Do not be afraid of it! It cannot harm you as much once you do."

Suddenly, the tentacles came moving normal again. Oyue with her voice of urgency slowly faded but not before she uttered her final instruction, "These are Obscurii, they fear the light! Remember the li…"

The tentacles slowly squeezed Servus 132-X's head. He could feel his body going numb and his eyes were about to pop out of its socket.

Instead of fearing his upcoming end, Servus 132-X decided to fight back. With all his might, he focused the flow of his exousia into his hand—the hand that still held the light rune. Remembering, the basic steps he surged it with his energy, and wriggled his thumb until it was able to touch the rune.

The pressure from the squeeze strengthened. He could feel his teeth gnashing against each other, as they slowly cracked while his throat and neck began to merge from the pressure.

The unbearable pain almost made him lose his grip on the rune. His eyes watered as the pressure continued. He knew his blood flow was already abysmal. He should've passed out a while back, but his will was keeping him alive.

His mind began to flood with the faces of the people that cared for him. He began to envision images of the good times he had in the campfire with his new-found friends. The brash-talking dwarf, the quiet-elf and the timid beastman. Their smiles, their hopes and dreams suddenly became his fuel—his power to fight.

Wriggling his thumb in his last desperate move, he was finally able to touch the tip of the marking on the rune. Light finally burst out of the rune gracing the darkness with its blinding glow, engulfing even the monster from the void that eagerly wanted to devour him.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone. The tentacles finally lost its grip on him, and he dropped to the ground with his head intact. He gasped for air, and fumbled his way to find his weapon. As the blinding light distracted the Obscuros and its kin, Servus 132-X grabbed his sword and in one forceful swing and struck the reeling monster from its head downwards.