Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 18

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 18

…

I had very little need for sleep or rest. If I closed my eyes for five minutes, that was enough for my brain to get the clarity that I needed from a full night with my previous night.

It would’ve been great if I had things to do with all the time that gave me. There were no games to play, no books for fun, or three-hour-long videos on topics that vaguely interest me.

That five-minute rest period just gave me the ability to work or to train.

Now, for some reason, I wasn’t averse to working or training in my new body. I didn’t know that discipline could just be ingrained into the body, but such was the case. Basically, if work or training needed to be done, I just told my mind and body to do it, and it’ll get done. If I wanted to change, I’m perfectly capable of changing, as a matter of fact.

If this was the standard individual back before everything went to shit, it was no wonder things went topsy-turvy. Giving a regular person this much power and ability looked good on paper, but what about the psychos or the sociopaths? All signs pointed towards this world’s equivalent to super soldier serums and the like being purposefully limited and having off switches, but I was sure that certain things would be considered basic, universal things to keep things equal.

Give everyone perfect memory, the ability to change themselves, and the ability to work hard.

It’s honestly no wonder that a large chunk of the population went and tried to usurp control over the planet, believing that everyone not part of their clique is just meat and blood for them to use. Hell, it wasn’t surprising that some of them became undersea monsters with mind-controlling magic or cannibal hedonists living only for pleasure and the hunt. I was pretty sure that the Ascendant tried to turn themselves into gods before the Divine Engines were created so that they wouldn’t have any rivals.

All this power and potential in everyone’s hands was just ridiculous.

I’m all for giving people eternal youth and keeping them from being sick, but literal superpowers that allow them to basically do anything with enough time?

Yeah, no.

Anyway, knowing that I could end up being some super-crazy self-supremacist, I decided that I needed days off that would allow me to know the people that I was protecting.

As much as I liked to sometimes pretend to be the crisis, and some policies and edicts were fun to use, it always felt better to play as the hero faction.

What’s that?

Playing the hero is harder?

My guy, that’s why heroes are heroes and you’re not.

…

Entertainment in this world was hard to find, but when you had time, money, and a safe haven, you could rapidly get access to everything that the continent had to offer. Cultist circuses, previously hidden monasteries with safeguarded literature, and troupes dedicated to plays made and coordinated by some passionate individual traveling through war-torn lands. Musicians, actors, playwrights, acrobats, and more just needed to hear of a place where they’ll be safe and secure, and they’ll arrive all by themselves.

The Academy used this to their advantage to prop themselves up.

They hoarded art, had theaters that glorified them, and most bards sang their praises.

After years of running, having to go from place to place, or submitting to the Academy, most people were interested in my promise.

“Bring culture to my lands and be rewarded. Your only judgment will be by the masses.”

Those who actually lived for their art would rush over first, naturally.

From a strategic perspective, entertainment and art districts increased either happiness or influence. Bread and circuses kept people from mounting rebellions, but if you were making happiness, you weren’t making more influence. Influence was needed for passing laws, dealing with other nations, and setting up good deals. With the right policies and technology research, you can use influence to ‘buy’ your units instantly.

Having enough influence to call a lot of people to arms, giving them supplies, arms, and armor as well, probably wouldn’t fly in this world.

But I was hoping that the entertainment and arts district could make people happy and generate influence at the same time.

But that’s enough worrying.

It was time to rest and recuperate.

Apparently with Khalai wrapped around my arm.

“Ooh, look at that. Let’s go watch.” If there was any noticeable difference from Khalai making the change to ‘better serve the future,’ most people would say no. She was already pretty before, which was the main reason a lot of people would’ve been thrown off. My super-advanced senses could tell that there was no longer a small bump hidden by a necklace and that her hips were a bit wider. If she weren’t so lithe and toned, there’d probably be some difference in fat distribution in the chest and rear, too. “Ooh, do you like what you see, your majesty?”

“I see the works of the ancients’s machines and am impressed. You remain yourself. Only changed for the sake of your goals.” I told her bluntly.

“Of course, honey. I love myself. A little change like this is to remain true to my desires. Everything else is already my true self.” Khalai’s words would probably have a lot of people tripping over themselves back in my previous world. Here? People can get strong enough to throw around boulders, slice through solid rock, and throw tornadoes at armies. They can change their bodies however they like with little effort. Like putting on a different pair of shoes. “Now, what do you think of this little dancing troupe?”

It was a Warden dancing troupe, so it resembled a cabaret club, but all the lingerie was replaced by jewels on silver threads. There were a lot of people in line from all the peoples under my control. Warden promiscuity allowed them to easily ingratiate themselves into society. It wasn’t just for men either. Warden men set up host clubs and their own strip clubs on the opposite side of the district. Wardens were working hard to culturally make the case that they didn’t count as cheating and that they’ll take in fathered or mothered children by their antics without question.

It’s really no wonder that their second and best victory was a cultural victory.

A Star of Vice and Faith, if I recalled the name correctly.

Everyone gets along, the planet becomes a utopia, and no one bothers checking on it forever.

It’s too bad the AI for Wardens never tries for the victory above medium difficulty.

“I’ll consider it once I am assured of you.” I told Khalai simply. We just met in the last couple of days. The High Justiciar was adamant about her role to ‘have my babies and ensure the future,’ along with the goal of sharing the truth that Paradise needed to be protected. I didn’t know a thing about her, except for the fact that she’d go through with murdering the entire continent to get people into paradise and that I managed to unravel that thread before it became a problem. “I find your company only amusing at the moment.”

Khalai tried to pout, but a smile formed on her face.

“But I’m adorable and willing. Isn’t that all you need?” Khalai tried to tease, but her grip on my arm lowered until she went on to intertwining her fingers betwixt mine. What a lewd minx. She’s trying to get romantic with me. If I weren’t a superhuman, I’d probably have crumbled. What if she was still a he? Honestly, it would’ve been a bit easier to resist, but just a little. “Well, I can wait. I’m sure that with you guiding these lands, we will have many, many years to ensure the Ancients will once more become the rulers of this world.”

Woah, I’m getting hit with handholding, patient understanding, and a cute head lean against my arm at the same time?

Thank goodness for superhuman willpower!

Khalai gave a hum, while motion ahead gave away Red’s approach.

The scarlet-haired barbarian warrior stood a whole head taller than everyone else on the crowded street. She was clad in armor with a sword at her back, as well as my crest on the clasp of her coat to denote that she worked with me.

“Chieftain, the path ahead is of being clear!” Red declared with a face smeared with food and a hand holding grilled skewers of meat in the other. While her talent for combat was easily trained, her mind didn’t take very well to language or writing. Putting her in a medical pod showed no problems with her head. She just had to overcome her inability with language on her own, but at the same time she was training hard to reach her full potential as a frontline champion. “No threats to anyone! Not even the littlest of children!”

“Thank you, Red. Keep watch and stay within your stipend.” I spoke, and Red nodded eagerly. She may be messy and have lacking language skills, but her senses were razor-sharp, and I knew all her tells. She couldn’t lie to me if she tried. So, if she said that everything was clear, then everything was clear. “Do you want anything from the pastry shop?”

“Cake!”

“Only if you promise to eat it with a knife and fork. Not with your hands. And, respond properly.”

“I promise to eat the cake with a knife and a fork, your majesty!” Red’s brow furrowed, and it took her effort, but she managed to get the words out. I nodded at the sentence to confirm that it was good, and she gave a megawatt smile. “I will be in attendance to my duties now!”

Red gave a wave before cheerily fading into the crowd, despite her height, armor, and weapons.

“A very bodacious body on that one, but all the curves are new. She has no idea how to use it.” Khalia gave a hum as she analyzed Red’s body. “Was she lacking in food as a child?”

“She was of the many barbarian tribes that I gathered to assail the first Citadel. One of the few who also stayed loyal when I told them my intention to rule, rather than reap and ravage the world. She was an emaciated husk before.” I told Khalai simply, and she nodded at my words with a faraway gaze and slightly furrowed brow. "Pensive" was the best word for it, though "melancholy" could’ve fit. “I had hoped to keep them all, but these have been long cultivated for war.”

“It is good, then, that Paradise is open to all.” Khalai stated it simply and succinctly. She searched me for a sign of hesitation, but I anticipated that probing question hours ago. The nod to answer her was ready, but that wasn’t all. I looked her way, and she let out a light laugh. “Was I that obvious?”

“I saw that question hours ago.” I admitted it freely, and Khalai just giggled again. “I also know you intend to test it yourself and to see if another besides a Warden can be summoned. Bring me to your ritual. I will see what needs to be done to prevent schism amongst your people.”

The Wardens were an exceptional light infantry force with an incredible amount of sustainability, near-unbreakable morale, and high damage output. Even until the endgame, blobs of their regular infantry could be upgraded to fight toe-to-toe with the craziest armies out there. The only real answer to them was to bring enough people to die against their charges while killing their resurrectors and smashing their formations with infantry. Not only that, but win or lose, with the proper infrastructure, that army is coming back with full experience, and they just need to be re-equipped.

There’s a reason why they’re fully capable of killing the entire continent and sending everyone off to Paradise.

The main problem was that if everyone was in Paradise, then no one would keep the crisis factions from taking the Citadels.

“You’ve only met my people for so long, yet you already know the weaknesses that we wish to hide from all. Can’t a girl have some secrets?” Khalai questioned and teased with the same breath. A truly dangerous foe. “What’ll happen if I can’t intrigue you anymore? I’ll have to rely entirely on my body, dear.”

If there was anything in this world that almost made me hesitate to move onward, it was those words.

But I moved onward anyway with my analysis of the Wardens.

“Your people are bound tightly by dogma and belief. Much of it is in worship of the works of my people. This is because of the great calamity that ruined the world and forced your people into the darkness against horrible foes. Knowledge became faith to rally the people as millennia passed.” Part of this was analysis of the current situation, but most of it was wiki knowledge. Knowledge that the Wardens should only know about themselves only thanks to research on their own past. But I was unveiling it here and now without hesitation to build up my reputation. “Your people have endured much only thanks to this faith, High Justiciar. I do not intend to break it. I wish to validate it and help it move onward back to knowledge with time.”

Khalai gave a hum in response to my words but nuzzled against my arm as well.

A real superhuman threat, this one.

“I will do my best to keep our people together. I fear that there may be schisms that must be put down. There will be less if you aid me, honored one.” Khalai spoke this time with the authority of the High Justiciar. But it wasn’t to give me an order. It was to state that this was a request from one head of state to another. The fact that she was wearing a white sundress and was just entreating me minutes ago didn’t matter. This was the head of a faith asking me for aid in putting down an upcoming uprising. “I understand if you wish for us to prove our loyalty—”

There’s no better way for me to ensure their loyalty than by having them owe me.

“To ensure the prosperity of the peoples of this world, and to overcome the foes that my people were unable to defeat, I am willing to be a tyrant hated by all.” I made sure Khalai heard every word. Her heart quickened at my statement. Not out of lust or desire, but anxiety. The way she held onto me was less like a woman and more like someone wishing to drag someone else out of danger. A real danger to my sensibilities. “I shall aid you, High Justiciar, in keeping your people together. I will secure their future, and I will ensure their prosperity.”

I halfway expected her to tease me, but instead I got a smile and a bow.

Looks like I’ve got the Wardens on my side.