Deadmeat Saga

In the city slums-

An unassuming man sat in a shoddy bar, drinking cheap ale with another man.

"Over a dozen men got arrested, including the Prime Minister, and Hugh, some bastard, was selected as the new King? And it was thanks to this powerhouse named Gerhart?" One of the men asked.

"Yes, here is what I know-" The other man nodded and described things.

Ten minutes later, the other man left the tavern, ten more gold coins in his pocket.

The first man remained, clenching his fists under the table.

"Those idiots fell for such a simple trick. Years of planning are gone. We have disappointed the holy one." The man thought before calming down and continuing to drink his ale. "There is no point for me to stay in this city. I shall return to the holy one with the remaining others."

Little did he know that the man who left met with a cloaked young man.

"Holy Agent, it is done." The man lowered his head, a silver glint in his eyes.

"Well done. Continue your life as it were." Ray ordered.

"Yes, Holy Agent." The man said and left.

"They were informed, my lord. With this, they would never guess we can sense them." Ray said.

[Good. The Echos would think it was a clever trick like this. Go and have some rest.] Gerhart said.

"Thank you, my lord," Ray replied and hurriedly returned to the palace. He had an appointment with a lady-in-waiting-in-his-bed.

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After dealing with the hassle of the palace, Gerhart and his group rested in the palace until the following day.

Hugh was unsurprisingly not coronated yet since the new King needed to be taught the ropes for several months before being coronated. During these several months, the four queens would be proxy rulers and slowly pass their ruling rights to Hugh, now named Hugh Youvamore.

While some voiced their opposition, the amount was surprisingly low. While many had interests in one of the four princes, they also recognized the problem of selecting any one of them. More importantly, Hugh was raised in the palace, taught by the best tutors, read most books in the royal library, and was supposed to be a Royal Advisor, a very esteemed position. And Hugh was no weakling and had great untapped potential in him.

Of course, no one would consider him if he didn't have Gerhart's initial support. But since Gerhart supported him, everyone more or less agreed. That was the effect of having a backer. The other S-rank powerhouses of the kingdom also more or less supported him.

Anaya the Giant Crusher and Duke Fitzgerald showed their immediate support. Although Fire Magus Detaz and Leo the Silver Hawk didn't show immediate support, they accepted this result.

The princes also begrudgingly accepted it. While they wanted the throne, they acknowledged that they almost sent the kingdom into civil war. It was better to have Hugh in the reins than to rule a shambling kingdom. At least they could live comfortably as courtiers or in high-profit positions.

Hugh was, understandably, flustered about this, but he quickly adapted. He was no bumpkin, and he had extensive training no less than the princes, surpassing many. As the new heir to the throne, it would take several months until his coronation, conducted by the temples. The queens would teach him the ropes, gradually handing over their authority for a smooth transition.

Of course, Gerhart had little interest in these events. Sending the others to do some missionary work, he and Hope made a short visit to the dungeon-

 

"YELP*! Woo! Woo!..." The 60th-floor final boss, a Cerberus, was yelping like a beaten child.

Or rather, it was really like a beaten child when faced with the same-leveled Gerhart. Without using Aura or any tricks, Gerhart one-sidedly beat it to a pulp. Two of its heads were already dead, leaving the main head.

"Sorry, buddy. The pity card won't work when you look so grotesque." Gerhart cruelly said before raining a finishing blow.

THUD* CRUNCH*

The main head's skull caved in, its brain crushed and died.

"Good work, Gerhart." Hope said.

"Hm." Gerhart nodded and turned to Hope. "Hey, Hope. As an Agent, can you conquer a dungeon?"

"No." Hope shook her head. "However, on my next promotion, we can begin conquering dungeons for you."

"I see," Gerhart muttered.

His desire to expand his forces grew. He wanted to ascend to Stage 3 soon.

During this time, his agents were busy converting thousands in the Nehan Kingdom. They spread their reach to the towns and villages.

"At this rate, it would take about a month. I should make more Agents if I want to speed up things." Gerhart thought.

More Agents meant greater reach. Although the requirement demanded only ten Agents, making more wouldn't hurt.

"I guess I should lower the requirements." Gerhart thought as he started to conquer the dungeon.

Minutes later, the dungeon was his, and he gained the familiar feedback from Heaven Reward the Righteous.

But this time, he didn't get 100 million points, but a billion! It all flowed to Ancient Earth Dragon Power, raising it by 20%!

 

Ancient Earth Dragon Power(4.02 -> 24.02%)

 

Gerhart didn't get any rewards for capturing the Corrupted. However, he did get points for that charity event. However, the amount was negligible for Gerhart, barely over a million points. In the past, he might be thrilled, but now, it didn't even fill the gap between his teeth. But since it was free, Gerhart wouldn't refuse it.

After Gerhart changed some settings, he did some shopping.

 

Wondrous Item - Ring of Status Concealment (Tier 4) x12: Can hide and camouflage the Status. Cost: 120,000

Wondrous Item - Ring of Partial Shapeshifting (Tier 4) x12: Can use Partial Shapeshifting while resisting lesser True Sight. Cost: 120,000

Wondrous Item - Ring of Translation(Tier 3) x12: Can translate all sapient languages. Cost: 12,000

Wondrous Item - Monocle of Analyze Status(Permanent)(Tier 3) x12: Can use Analyze Status without usage limit. Cost: 12,000

Wondrous Item - Shackles of Binding(Tier 6) x10: Can bind a target with SS-rank strength for a year, preventing them from casting magic or using Aura while limiting physical prowess. Cost: 10,000,000

 

The first four items were for camouflage. It increased the plausibility of how they did things. As for the Shackles of Binding, that was for a certain Echo. Gerhart somewhat underestimated her strength, and she had already worn down one of the Shackles he gave to Havre. He prepared ten just in case, but she could free herself in two to three weeks if he didn't replenish them.

Speaking of which, the Corrupted in the palace were all A-rank cannon fodder. It was evident the Echo targeting the Youvamore Kingdom gave it a low priority. Then again, Gerhart never expected anything. There were only so many Echos and hundreds of nations out there. For the Nehan Kingdom to house one was bad luck.

After taking all the items he needed, Gerhart absorbed 9.98 billion points, leaving a bit for the dungeon to continue operating before leaving with Hope.

 

Energy: 10,639m

 

Seeing this, Gerhart inwardly nodded. These ten billion were enough for many things, such as completing two Regular tier 8 talents. But he decided to focus on raising his forces. With the feedback from Heaven Rewards the Righteous, Gerhart didn't need to focus on himself.

Exiting the dungeon after selling some loot, Gerhart returned to Vlita with his group.

After returning to Duke Garrington's Mansion and eating dinner, Gerhart called the five members who didn't have a Divine Bloodline yet, namely Calvin, Ray, Bertrand, Ariyana, and Honorius.

He then took out the bloodline injectors he got from the Tabarga Dungeon, injected them with the bloodlines, and improved their bloodlines to 100% using energy.

Of course, Gerhart didn't randomly choose. According to each of them, he chose the most suitable bloodlines.

For Calvin, he chose the Warrior God bloodline. It was a bloodline that created a Divine Warrior. There was no Divine General or Divine Knight, so Gerhart chose this. It was similar to the Tyrant Bloodline but focused on combat prowess rather than survivability and procreation.

For Ray, he took the Slaughter God bloodline. It was a bloodline dedicated to the art of killing, be it through stealth or upfront. To begin with, Ray was less suited for stealth and more for killing. Ray didn't like it for obvious reasons but knew it was the most compatible with him.

Honorius received the Earth God bloodline. Since he was a Builder, Architect, and Earth Magician, Gerhart figured it would suit him. It not only increased affinity to Earth, it also focused on Magic, Strength, and Endurance. Honorius was pleased with it.

Bertrand received the Divine Black Dragon bloodline. It wasn't that Gerhart didn't want to choose anything else, but that Lizard kin Bloodline advanced to Dragonewts and then Dragon Men. Since he was a black-scale lizardman, he selected the Divine Black Dragon by default. While not as tough as Earth Dragons, Black Dragons were renowned fierce and cunning fighters, having great physical might, incredible resistance to Aura and Magic, and black flame breath. After Bertrand gained this bloodline, his scales grew thicker and gained a noble yet sinister air. Also, his Lizardman Warrior talent mutated into Dragon Warrior.

And last but not least, there was Ariyana. When it came to her, Gerhart was confused when he was in the item shop. There were no bloodlines suitable for Tinkerers. But then, he remembered the Tinkerer's background, so Gerhart searched for the Goblin Bloodlines. Funnily enough, he found it there. There was a sub-folder for various goblinoid branches, including Orcs, Oni, and Tinkerers, but nothing for Wild Goblins.

When Gerhart further investigated, he deduced that the Ancient Goblin society had a caste system where Oni served as a counterpart for humans, orcs were more specialized for physical and spiritual work, and the Tinkerers were the ruling class, the think tanks and engineers. It is because the Tinkerers were the only sub-branch with the Ancient Goblin bloodline!

Either way, Gerhart had difficulty picking her one bloodline since they all sounded awesome!

Ancient Goblin Techmaster. Ancient Goblin Master Smith. Ancient Goblin Overmind. Ancient Goblin Prophet. Ancient Goblin Psy Master. Ancient Goblin Psy Warrior. Ancient Goblin Psy Agent. Ancient Goblin Sage. Etc.

They didn't have Divine in their name. Ancient Goblin was synonymous with Divine for them. Looking at Ariyana's talents, Techmaster, Smith, and Overmind suited her. But in the end, Gerhart had to choose one-

"But choosing is for losers!" Gerhart thought.

And so, he gave in to temptation and purchased the bloodline above that, the Primordial Ancient Goblin Bloodline. Yes, it was the counterpart of the Primordial Human bloodline. It was a bit of a splurge, and he would not develop Ariyana in the short term, but he decided to invest a bit.

After the upgrade wave, Gerhart saw a dip in his points. He didn't raise their Compound Talents to tier 7 since they were too expensive, but he raised them to tier 6.

 

Energy: 10,639 -> 10,300m

 

Gerhart then shifted his focus to Hope and To-Meri, using more points to give them the Golden Marrow, evolve their talents, and give them the Golden Evolution before raising them to level 60 again.

From the beginning, Gerhart was reliant on Hope's prophetic powers. As for To-Meri, she was a living lucky charm. Although pure combat power was excellent, he already had Havre and himself as muscle. What he needed more was Hope's ability to foresee danger and To-Meri's luck to avoid unfortunate events and gain opportunities.

 

Energy: 10,300m -> 5,100m

 

Gerhart also gathered the talented people he found, 22 of them(Since eight either already left or were too young), and raised them to S-rank Agents before setting them loose to convert towns and villages. He also blessed twenty-two horses to S-rank and gave them to them to make them go faster.

Yes, it was overkill, but he wanted to finish with things. Being stuck with an Echo was stressful, and if he wanted to become even more efficient when conquering dungeons, he needed the promotion of Agents. Was he supposed to ride to every corner of the world to conquer every dungeon? That would take him years!

Either way, he splurged a bit on this, but Gerhart regrets nothing!

 

Energy: 5,100m -> 5,002m

 

Also, to make things easier for them, he found 220 jobless shantytown bums, forcefully raised them to Noble Human Envoys with S-grade stats but weak talents, and gave each of them an A-rank steed.

Each level 60 Noble Humans cost him another 500,000, while the steeds cost 100,000 each.

After evolving into a Noble Human, these weak and helpless people transformed into mighty strongmen, giving them enough muscle to subdue any town singlehandedly, let alone ten. Although Gerhart limited their future potential by making them Noble Humans, these people were almost too thankful for this.

"Thank you, my lord! For giving us new purpose!" That was what their representative said.

By the way, after creating so many Noble Humans, Gerhart knew the benefits of being a Noble Human.

 

Noble Human Benefits: Randomly generate three evolvable regular talents. Comprehensive racial strength is greater by one grade.

 

Either way, Gerhart improved those three talents to tier 5 before leaving them as-is.

 

Energy: 5,002m -> 4,870m

 

After settling this issue, he had one more thing on his agenda.

Gerhart went to the prison and looked at Havre, who silently meditated. "Havre, go and take a break. I think I will be here for a few hours."

"Thank you, my lord. Please enjoy." Havre smiled and slowly left the prison.

And then, Gerhart looked at Laverna, who had an absent-minded look. "Laverna! How are you?"

Laverna didn't respond, still blankly gazing at the wall.

"Ah, the silent defiance phase, hah? Or is it the denial phase? Don't pretend you're mind-broken. That won't save you." Gerhart smirked as he entered the cell and started undoing his belt.

Laverna continued staring at the wall as if she didn't hear him, but soon, she knew her ruse fell as curses and moans filled the prison. Qold and Stella had a feast after that.

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The next day, Gerhart visited the last Dungeon City, Noln, and returned with a small haul.

 

Energy: 4,870m -> 5,869m

Ancient Earth Dragon Power(24.02 -> 26.02%)

 

When he went to visit his little prisoner, finally, there was a breakthrough.