A Guide to Kingdom Building

The darkness consumed the entire camp. But 132-X's eyesight had no qualms seeing through the thick pitch-blanket surrounding the camp. His eyesight greatly improved by a tenfold, seeing every individual alive and dead across the field.

The living ones he saw emitted a vibrant crimson light coursing from the center of their bodies spreading their extremities. That was the first thing he noticed when he looked at the beastman who laid adjacent to him.

He scoured the field and looked for his other comrades. But all he saw were dull dimmed lights from the dead bodies lying on the ground. Even with all the bodies that laid around, 132-X was confident that his missing comrades are still alive, hopefully still fighting and not worse.

He looked around for them once more when a voice caught his hearing. It started as a weak mumble; 132-X was able to finally track it after a loud shriek gave away its direction. Lord Prestonheim was down on his knees holding the hilt of his sword that he stabbed on the ground.

132-X saw how the old Commander's crimson light slowly dwindled as it got directly absorbed by the sword forming a spell on the ground.

He intervened Lord Prestonheim, stopping him from releasing the spell that might prove fatal for the aging Commander. He tapped the Commander's shoulder and asked him to stop the spell.

"Lord Prestonheim…don't do it!" He smiled at him.

This was the first time 132-X saw the commander startled. Naturally, he should be too if he was in his shoes. Being subjected to hours of fighting and mental torture could take a toll even if you're an elite knight.

"W-who…are you?" Lord Prestonheim asked while stubbornly holding the hilt of his broken blade.

132-X hurriedly took the Commander's hand away from the blade before it could go worse for the fatigued knight. He could see from Lord Prestonheim's eyes how he wanted to protest at the idea, but his body had already betrayed him.

After taking the Commander's hand out from his blade, 132-X proceeded to cast his own spell using the Moon Goddess' word.

"Bright Light Oyue." He spoke under his breath.

He suddenly felt his energy traveled from his body into the blade. The ground glowed brighter and pulsated as patterned swirls and lines began to form on the ground creating a sturdier barrier. The swirls and lines danced around the barrier in a slow yet graceful harmonic waltz.

"…you?!" The Commander exclaimed. "H-how?"

"Later, my Lord…" 132-X answered. "After I bring them all down."

132-X could see the crowned Dhampiir cowering behind its army of ghastly undead knights. He grinned at the Obscuros and taunted it by putting his thumb across his neck, then slowly dragging it back to his right.

The Obscuros pointed at him in response. 132-X confidently walked out of the barrier with his right hand raised. He was trying to call that blade he acquired from the burrow. Not another moment to spare, the monster found the opportunity to attack him in the open while he waited for the blade to come right to him.

The horde of ghastly apparitions came rushing on him as the crowned Dhampiir commanded them to do. The pale contorted faces of the suffering enslaved ghosts didn't make 132-X flinch. As the undead knights closed towards him, he simply smirked.

Suddenly a glowing disc came cutting through the darkness and into the rushing ghosts. The moving disc slashed its way through the ghosts vaporizing them along the way before it finally rested on 132-X's hand.

"That gladius!" Lord Prestonheim shouted after finally realizing who he was. "You're going to drain yourself, 132-X!"

132-X smiled at him, "It's alright. I can handle this."

132-X looked at the beautiful blade in his hands. The veins of Aetherium glowed brighter than ever, happy to get back into its owner's hand. The blue light flowed around faster inside the blade. He could feel his power surging and his blade, and his magic slowly merged into one.

It was a feeling he never thought was possible. He could feel the warmth of his blade flowing through his body and vice-versa. The merging was awe-inspiring but at the same time, terrifying for him. This was a new kind of magic. A magic that he never had once used nor knew his during his incarnations.

He cursed Oyue at his breath. He didn't want this kind of power, but he needed it to work for now. His body felt lighter as he took a step. The blade seemed to enhance his reflexes too, and that's where he put it to the test.

He charged at the retreating monsters. He flickered his way into their ranks without being noticed. Everyone seemed to move too slow for them to notice his presence. He cut through the ranks and vaporized the ghosts out of their misery.

The undead army was decimated in a blink of an eye. Threatened by his new-found power, the Obscurii tried to slow him down to give enough time for the Crowned one to retreat back into the burrow.

The first two of the monstrous entourage, turned themselves into shapeless blobs with tentacles randomly emerging everwhere. They tried to block the 132-X's advance but unfortunately failed miserably.

The blobs were able to spot him but were not able to land a single hit on him. 132-X would simply weave away from the tentacles which slowed down the moment it came close to him. He easily weaved and evaded the attacks with a simple backstep and side-to-side lunges.

He wanted to toy with them for a bit more. Unfortunately, he didn't want to let the crowned monster go back to its hiding place. 132-X immediately slashed the monsters down, making them evaporate into thin air.

He continued his pursuit for the crowned Dhampiir but another monster stood in his way. A big grossly monstrous hand came out of nowhere and tried to stop his momentum with a punch. But even that attack was too slow for 132-X. He dodged the punch by flipping over it, before landing on the gigantic Obscuros' arm.

He dodged every attack from the humanoid creature. He evaded the swarm of tentacles rushing towards him jumping in between the tentacles. He was able to reach its shoulders and saw the grisly image of an enlarged octopus' head sitting on a thick neck covered in carapace.

The monster tried swatting him by its other arm, but he was quick to jump out of the way. Seeing how slow the monster was able to guard itself, 132-X decided to take it down quickly. In one lightning-flash move, he rushed for the monster's neck and striked the well-defended body part with one slash from his gladius.

The head fell to the ground and the monster went on a rampage for its final attempt to stomp him but even that failed. 132-X was finally winning against the Obscurii. This wasn't a flunk either, as he had mowed the monsters and their summoned ghost down.

As he floated in the air, he was able to get a bird's eye-view of the camp. At the eastern part of the camp, a dark fog seemed to be retreating towards the burrow. He knew that was the crowned Obscuros and made his way towards it.

He threw his blade in front of the fog causing a huge blast and a burst of light. The fog cleared and in the middle of it, the crowned monster covered its eyes as its skin burned by the tremendous light 132-X's attack produced.

"Psst!" He tried to get the Crowned One's attention. "Remember me?"

The monster squinted and tumbled back as if it saw a ghost.

"Remember how you fed on me?" 132-X picked up his blade stuck on the ground. "Remember how you wanted to make me suffer?"

It was only a short encounter as 132-X recalled, but it felt like an eternity. After he was dragged back into the hall, it was that crowned monster who tried to torture him with fear and his past. Showing him images of the monsters that either killed him or one of his comrades from before.

It was still unknown to him how he had managed to escape from there. It bummed him out knowing how he forgot to ask Oyue about that circumstance. It was clear to him that Oyue might have been the one who helped him. He cursed Oyue again under his breath.

He got back to the crowned monster who slowly crawled away. He grabbed the monster by its long wire like hair before cutting up its extremities.

The monster screeched in agony, but 132-X could care less about it. The screech did not affect him by one bit. He grinned again at the Obsucros before throwing it hard across the camp and back to where Lord Prestonheim and the others waited inside the defensive shield.

The monster trembled in fear as it landed near his shielded comrades. The monster tried to attack his friends; He let it do so. He wanted to see the grotesque creature suffer even more.

The crowned monster opened its maw and revealed the tentacles hidden inside of itself. It tried to attack 132-X's comrades within the barrier. Alas for the monster, it only burned and vaporized its tongue.

132-X emerged from the thick smoke and ashes with his sword by his shoulders. He grinned at the monster once more, intimidating the once terrifying monster.

He looked into the monster eyes before smashing it to the ground, breaking the horns and crown in the impact.

"You weren't strong!" 132-X said as he lowered down his blade and pointed it at the creature. "I will tell HIM that myself when I see him down there!"

He knew there were still Obscurii out there, and he wanted to make this message clear for the rest of them.

With a slash of his blade, the monster's head rolled on the ground before finally disappearing into the thin air.

132-X wanted to mock it even more but soon realized how childish and selfish it was for him to do. He still needed to treat his comrades after all, and with every delayed moment, it could cost him their lives.

"ADALOUN…" He blurted out of awe and wonder.

He turned around and saw Lord Prestonheim looking at him straight in his eyes looking for answers. He wanted to answer him with everything that had happened to him, but the old Commander might not believe him.

Then he remembered Oyue asking him if he ever had a name in mind. In all honesty, he just said yes even if he hasn't come-up with a name for himself yet. But after hearing the name coined by Lord Prestonheim, he felt very nostalgic with it.

The name was the closest pronunciation he had to his real name, Adlaw-on. It was his real name! The name he left behind for a different persona, only to get it back after 364 reincarnations. He loved the name so much; he didn't dare to tell the Commander that it wasn't his real name.

And so, he just went along with it.

"Yes, my Lord? Did you call my name?"