Deadmeat Saga

In the Atasheborg Magocracy-

On the peak floor of a white spire, tall enough to reach the clouds-

A kindly and friendly-looking elder held a token, his creation, as he heard a message.

[Gerhart, the one who killed Ianuarius, listened to reason and peacefully converted to our cause. He is now my Champion, and I am using his identity to travel. I will use him to sow chaos while abusing his identity for infiltration, pretending to be one of his women.]

"Well done, Laverne. Do as you see fit."

[Thank you, White Master. I shall donate him to your research after expending his utility.]

As the communication ended, a smile blossomed on the elder's face.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. Laverne is a good seedling." The White Master stroked his long, snow-white beard. 

He was a Truly Ancient Echo, one who lived for many millennia. He had many names and identities, discarding them like a snake shedding its skin. He changed his name to White Master, even forgetting his original name at some point.

With his vast experience, he saw many young Echos die due to rashness and stupidity. While Ianuarius's death was a loss, it also served as a lesson to the other Echos, a reminder of their mortality. With this, the young Echos would be more careful, raising their survival rate.

As for revenge against Gerhart? He had no reason to do it. To begin with, Gerhart didn't hunt down Ianuarius, but Ma Yang, who was causing trouble. That Ianuarius made the stupid decision of attacking due to his pawn getting killed was his fault. He wouldn't blame Gerhart for killing out of self-defense. That would be stupid.

Of course, some punishment was in order. After all, Gerhart killed a valuable Echo, even if a fledgling. Hence, offering him to become a dark servant was still an option. After becoming a dark servant, Gerhart was now their tool under their command, so why should he care what happens to him now? He wasn't so crude as to wantonly kill their tools! That was wasteful! At least let him sow some chaos and become his test subject before that.

The Echos refrained from putting their dark servants in situations where their bodies were hard or impossible to recover. If someone burned the corpse, they couldn't recover the energy, thus wasting months to years of accumulation.

Thus, he didn't demand that Gerhart do something outrageous since it would damage his precious younger Echo. He was very doting on them.

The other Echos shared this view and began ignoring Laverne's movements, letting her do as she pleased. Echos were free-willed and could do as they wished as long as they didn't interfere with one another. That was the consensus all Echos knew. Even Ianuarius, a 60-year-old fledgling, was allowed to roam freely, let alone Laverne.

"Now... Where was I? Ah, yes. Talent Transplantation experiment number 183,712. Subjects 183,712A and 183,712B, I have high hopes for you!" The White Master kindly looked at two horrified slaves he bought for cheap, strapped to two tilted metal tables, standing at 45 degrees.

"MMM! MMM!!!" The two slaves vehemently shook their heads, whimpering with their mouths sutered shut.

"Oh, don't be like that. I am sure you will succeed. Although my progress stagnated at 99.99% for the last 3,958 experiments, you might be lucky to succeed without your bodies breaking down!" The White Master encouraged.

"MMHMM! MMM!!!" The two slaves cried while whimpering.

"Ah... tears of gratitude. Thank you for your contribution to my revolutionary research! I will be sure to remember you for the next 12 hours." The White Master said as he approached with a disarming smile that failed to calm the two terror-stricken slaves.

Without bothering with any anesthesia(Not that it would help), he began a horrific experiment that would send shivers down even the cruelest necromancer's spine, blissfully unaware that one of his younger Echos was now a turncoat.

.

.

.

After a night of fun and feeding Qold and Stella, Gerhart rode with his now-larger group of dark servants and an Echo, all riding S-rank horses. Such a force was enough to alarm even larger kingdoms, let alone the relatively tiny Youvamore Kingdom.

As he rode out, Gerhart glanced at his points.

 

Energy: 5,869m -> 820m

 

"Creating Deadmeat Junior was fun, but he cost me a small fortune, over five billion," Gerhart thought, pained.

When he created Deadmeat Junior, he had in mind a powerful substitute that could blow up when he triggered it. The talents were also not lost on it, giving it sufficient prowess and durability to close the distance and survive retaliation attempts before blowing up. And the additional aptitudes and strength would serve as fuel for the explosion.

However, his heart eased when he thought of the big boom this clone would cause. The explosion would be so powerful that even Gerhart would likely evaporate if it hit him head-on, let alone an Echo less savvy in defense. If it hit an unprepared magician in the face, even if the magician was a Divine Rank, he would likely not fare better than Gerhart if he took the blast at point blank.

"Fuck it. Even ten billion points are worth it for killing a thousand-year-old Ancient Echo, let alone five. I would willingly spend a trillion to kill a Truly Ancient Echo like the White Tower Master." Gerhart maliciously thought, and the pain significantly subsided.

Without stopping, Gerhart and his group rode to the Osora Kingdom until they reached the Port City of Crester, Hope's hometown.

The Osora Kingdom was slightly larger than the Youvamore Kingdom, sporting four cities, including two port cities and two dungeon cities. Although it had one less dungeon, it was wealthier due to the sea trade. Due to distant naval trade relations between the Griqix Mega Continent and the Chaimolix Mega Continent, ocean-reliant nations such as the Osora Kingdom gave their demihuman citizens more rights compared to the more inland Youvamore and Nehan kingdoms.

In the Youvamore Kingdom, a Demihuman could only be a slave or a trading merchant with a special license. But in the Osora Kingdom, while Demihumans were not allowed to own arable land or hold positions of power, they were commonly seen as merchants, laborers, farmhands, teachers, shopowners, and even bankers.

In particular, the Farrington family hailed from the Chaimolix Mega Continent several hundred years ago and was said to belong to a branch of Mouse Kin Royalty. They had a vast fleet of naval vessels and were very influential, being Grand Burghers with a net worth of over 10,000,000 Silver Coins. And that was just the Farrington's share. Many other merchants also invested in the trading company, making it worth over 100,000,000 Silver Coins!

They had a fleet of dozens of merchant ships, ranging from smaller passenger ships to large galleys, able to travel to the other continent and back, weathering harsh storms and sea monsters, having hardy crews of experts and expensive magic cannons against opportunistic pirates or sea folk raiders, trading exotic goods. They also had family connections and were able to leverage them for cross-continental trading.

Arriving at the city, Gerhart saw a clear spike in the demihuman population. From the odd slave here and there, he saw at least 70% demihumans! Almost all demihumans were beastkin, half of which were Mouse Kin. The other half was Seagull and Fish Kin, renowned as maritime races.

Mouse Kin had excellent navigation abilities and were good swimmers, making them a natural seafaring race among the mammalian-type races. They were generally smaller and had poorer strength but were more energetic, intelligent, and agile.

The Seagull Kin had white wings on their back, akin to angels, weighed little, and their bird-like fingers were webbed. Hence, they were both excellent scouts and swimmers. While their bodies held surprising strength and resilience, it was less than other ground-based races.

As for the Fish Kin, they had fish-like scales and gills, able to breathe in salty water. And they could also see underwater. And they were even better swimmers than the Seagull Kin. They were more muscular than others but also slower.

Hence, this composition came as no surprise to Gerhart. There was likely also a connection to the Farrington family, influencing the demographic composition.

Of course, Gerhart didn't care much about these things right now. He looked at Hope, who reverted to a Mouse Kin without the bloodline patterns. Her face was indifferent as she looked at the city, her thoughts known only to herself.

"Hope, what do you plan to do now?" Gerhart asked.

Her half-brother and stepmother seized the family assets by force, murdering her father in the process. Not only that, they sold her to another kingdom as a slave. The grudge Hope had was not a small one. Gerhart wouldn't be surprised if she outright killed or tortured them.

"I will handle some overdue family matters and regain my birthright." Hope narrowed her eyes.

"Need backup?" Gerhart asked.

"I would like to do it on my own... But causing a commotion would be inevitable. Please help me with this." Hope requested.

"Sure. Laverne, you take your men and start converting important people. We will go with Hope." Gerhart said.

"Yes, master. I will convert many with the power you gave my servants." Laverne smiled and headed inside the city, her dark servants, now also Agents and Envoys, following her.

Gerhart felt at ease leaving Laverne to handle such things since she was a Golden Noble Human and a potent Mind Magician, even more than Qold. Her regular talents were all tier 7, and one of her five Compound Talents was also tier 6, making her an advanced SS-rank powerhouse. Unless you had a talent to counter Mind Magic, any regular S-rank expert was a puppet to her. And now, there was a synergetic effect between her ability and Gerhart's Agents, making them almost too powerful as converters.

Speaking of Echos, there were none in the Osora Kingdom. However, there were some Dark Servants lurking here and there. However, Gerhart wouldn't deliberately seek them out. Such small fry were not worth the trouble unless they got in his way. 

Following Hope, Gerhart's group arrived at a mansion with a yard and courtyard, one of the three most prominent in the city. At the gate were two armed black mousekin guards in full armor. When Gerhart analyzed them, they were both D-rank Heavy Soldiers. Looking inside, he could also see four crossbowmen on the roof, patrolling, and several soldiers patrolling the outer garden, all being D-rank professionals with experience.

"Seems like they value their security." Gerhart thought.

These guards likely required 8 to 10 thousand Silver Coins as wages. Including their gear, food, and accommodation, these ten-odd guards cost about 100,000 Silver Coins a year.

To most, this was an intimidating force enough to deter most criminals. But to Gerhart, it was as good as having none.

"It seems like my half-brother replaced some of the staff," Hope said, looking at the guards and servants.

She recognized some, but others were unrecognizable. Even without divination, it was likely that some of the staff disagreed with the new head and got fired during the two-odd months Hope was absent.

"We will know the specifics soon," Gerhart said.

Hope then approached the gate, where the two fierce guards barred the gate. "Halt! Show us your invitation."

"Wait... do I know you from somewhere?" Suddenly, one of the two guards narrowed his eyes as he looked at Hope, an incredulous light in his eyes.

"You know her?" The other guard curiously asked.

"I am not sure. This woman resembles the young miss but is too tall and healthy." The first guard said.

"I am glad you still remember me, Yvon. Has Lise recovered from her recent birth?" Hope smiled.

"Y-You... How?" The gatekeeper named Yvon shook.

"Did you investigate him?" The other guard warily asked.

"No, I am not so bored as to do such a thing. I also don't recognize you. Did Armel replace some of the servants? Or was it Marinette? How is the state of the family now?" Hope curiously asked.

Armel was her half-brother, and Marinette was her stepmother.

"... In the dining room twelve years ago, what did you tell me?" Yvon warily asked.

"I remember telling you - 'Go and propose to her.' - When I saw you ogling Lise," Hope amusedly smiled.

"Young Miss!" Yvon immediately bowed.

"She is the Young Miss? Wasn't she traveling to the other continent to find a cure to her sickness?" The other guard was surprised.

"That was what we got told. As for the truth, I didn't dare question it since I was afraid of being fired. Anyone who questioned it or was a hard-liner with the old master got fired." Yvon said.

"It is as you say. My dear half-brother sold me as a slave to the Youvamore Kingdom to acquire my shares in the company. Luckily, I awakened as a late bloomer and obtained freedom after being taken in by a kind master. That is why I am healthy now." Hope explained.

And then, Hope released an intimidating air brought by her strength and talents. With her Pure Divine Bloodline of the Mouse Kin race, just this bloodline pressure was enough to suppress even an A-rank Mouse Kin, let alone these D-rank guards.

As expected, the two guards shook, looking at Hope with fear and awe in their hearts.

"Well? Are you going to open the gate? Or should I do it?" Hope narrowed her eyes.

"Y-Yes! Of course, Young Miss!" The two guards hurriedly opened the gate as Hope led her group inside.