Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 13

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 13

…

There’s a limit on how much fervor can get you.

I was more than aware of the willingness of my troops to do as I say. It was a consequence of my own actions. They were a bunch of warbands, nomadic tribes, and villages living in obscurity, then I came in, gave them better living conditions, and proceeded to beat any threat to death. Keeping my word, ensuring the safety of my subjects, and not losing a single battle basically made me this world’s equivalent of a messiah.

Yeah, there are people who can resurrect the dead, heal the sick, and help crops grow faster, but in this fucked up world?

A raging barbarian who keeps his word and kills monsters without getting winded is preferable.

 Anyway, back to the situation at hand.

If I told my troops to attack the Academy’s capital, they would. However, they’d all get slaughtered for multiple reasons.

The first being that a while ago, I culled the core of the officer corps along with my father in this world, when they tried to take the Citadel from me. They were a bunch of tribal chieftains and lieutenant-equivalents, but they were still officers that kept my army of light cavalry coordinated and powerful enough to seize my first Citadel. If I kept them around, if they weren’t looking to seize everything that I had, I would have field officers and maybe a general or two to keep everything going smoothly.

Right now, my army was patchwork, without a centralized structure, because I had all the peoples I captured or allied with tending to their own needs. The military caste that I set aside from the barbarian tribes that stayed with me will take a few more years to cultivate into leaders and officers. Khanrow, Crusher, and Riegert were all trustworthy enough, but the three of them couldn’t lead an army twenty-thousand strong. They’d need to rely on their own officers, and I’ve seen those guys, so I knew that they wouldn’t make the cut.

So, though I could have my armies rush in and fight, it was smarter to do things myself. Revamping the army, creating a solid command structure, and generally making an effective military would just need to wait until after the Academy is put down. Sending them in against mercenary warbands, even with their numbers advantage, would just lead to a lot a casualty that is better off avoided.

Did it suck to stay and wait in a container in a water-carrying wagon?

Yeah.

But it was the best way to get into the Academy’s lands without being noticed.

…

The sound of water leaving the outside container alerted me that I was soon going to be extracted.

There were a few grunts from the outside, then three knocks exactly one second in between.

All clear and good to go while also in a secluded area.

I turned the wheel mechanism inside the door, and opened it with weapon in hand.

Just in case.

I needn’t have bothered.

“My master, we have arrived.”

I got up and for the first time in this life, stepped on actual streets with gutters. Cobblestone and not pavement, but still familiar. The buildings were tall and narrow, stacked against each other, with windows with potted flowers. There were trash cans and lampposts on the streets, and some buildings were municipal in nature, not just private residences or businesses. A quick glance across the street, into a random home, and I saw wood furniture with cushions and a shelf full of books.

Everyone else past the mountains were living in a dog-eat-dog world with everything in short supply, while they were basically an empire.

I would’ve respected them, if they turned all this power and ability towards conquering the rest of the continent, instead of growing fat and rich.

And, the Ancient Administrator was here because having a shapeshifter during an infiltration was useful.

“I will head to the rooftops, you make your way towards the central keep.” The driver of the wagon was already trundling away with a tank full of water. I filled it up along with the inner chamber inside. If someone found the inner chamber, he’d simply say that he bought it for cheap, and that it might’ve been used for smuggling before. With it open and filled with water, they’d investigate how he got it. That’s the worst case scenario, of course. The best was that he just gets away without being noticed. “Give the signal, if you’re in danger.”

The plan was to get the Golem through security, then have it open a window or other point of entry after it gets inside.

“Your will shall be done, my master.” Wearing a simple clerk’s outfit, along with an identification plate, the Ancient Administrator transformed into the clerk who we’d smuggled out with her family in exchange for her things. Now a blonde matronly woman, the Ancient Administrator started walking on the same route that the woman we flipped took.

Meanwhile, I ascended to the rooftops. They were slanted and tiled, but magic made it easy to lighten my weight, and there were more than a few rooftops that had gardens or service areas where water tanks were kept. Looking around, the city sprawled in every direction, a testament to the wealth and the power carefully hoarded for centuries and centuries by the superpower. They were able to hold so much fertile land, sustain such a massive population, by undercutting the rest of the continent and exploiting it.

Again, if only they were smart and didn’t rest on their laurels, they’d have all eight Citadels, and they would be able to beat the rest of the world back.

But that time, their time, was over now.

I followed the Ancient Administrator as the city awoke, as even in wartime, people went off to work, children to school, and people tried to live. Their fear was palpable. Hushed whispers passed between people walking on the street. Just regular words of concern, asking for each other’s status, and what to do if the city is put to siege. There was a lot of good press about the walls being raised around the city, of the work of the mercenaries in surrounding regions, and just a few passing words confirmed that the Academy was doing its best to keep knowledge of me a secret.

And, perhaps, even knowledge that they were hilariously behind in terms of industrial capacity.

Information didn’t travel that well, and I didn’t have a propaganda machine to make use of my influence and infamy yet.

Anyway, I made my way through the skyline of the city and in a few minutes reached the gatehouse.

The gatekeepers barely looked over the golem’s identification plate before letting her in. They were completely used to the woman’s presence, and they had no idea that a shapeshifter was in play.

I kept tracking the Golem, and after breaking the line of sight of the guards, the Ancient Administrator went to the nearest guard tower surrounding the palatial keep where the headmaster of the Academy stayed.

A castle that has never been surmounted by an enemy force.

Brought low after a month of careful planning and a single infiltrator that they could’ve never prepared for.

…

Interlude: Khanrow

…

There was no grand moment.

No change in the air.

No declaration of the start of either myth or legend.

The Academy died quickly, quietly and with barely any notice with Crusher and his Conquerors barely having to draw blood.

For our king spilled all that was necessary.

The Academy Council room was a place where the powerful of the Academy lands governed the land. The Academy told the entire continent that it was a beacon of equality. Those who rose up the ranks of society were invited into the Academy Council by its members or even a petition by the common people. There they would be able to vote with their peers on laws and the budgets of the nation. The Academy used the room as a symbol over their superiority over the rest of the continent, ruled by tribal leaders, petty kings, and warlords.

Never mind the fact that they only allowed males of Descendants born in Academy lands onto the Council.

And, that the seat of the father went to the closest male relative.

Finally, of course, there was the fact that they could only vote on laws and budgets that went through the headmaster of the Academy.

A title that was held by blood, or through apprentices personally raised by the headmaster.

It was a farce of a system meant the only spread the idea of their superiority. Those within it were merely stewards of keys to power that the headmaster had the master copies of. They were given concessions and benefits because it made them easier to control as they quarreled with one another within the council room. They guarded their hereditary rights zealously, looked at each other as potential foes, and none worked to usurp the Academy Headmaster who was the true ruler of the land.

It was the Academy’s tactic on ruling the continent, but in miniature.

And, today, that tactic had perished.

The council room was a bereft of blood. The heat and sharpness of my lord’s new artifact allowed him to cut through the council and the headmaster without spilling a single drop. The long room where so many aspiring Champions found their dreams crushed, or sold their souls to the Academy, was now bereft of life. The pictures of the previous Academy heads, so stern and dominant, seemed small and tiresome. None of the messengers that conveyed the Academy’s will to their guests were present, most likely spared by my king.

My king who now sat in full armor at the end of the grand table that spanned the room.

Headmaster Alistair’s head was set on the table before him, where a plate would be, if he were dining.

I knelt immediately in his presence after walking past the other dead bodies.

“Yourself and Riegert know this place.” I nodded at his statement. There was no faint scent of fresh death on the bodies. Magic was probably at play. He tolerated such things in battle, but in his presence outside of it, he maintained his appearance. “Call upon the lesser nobility that they have suborned. Have them brought to me. They will swear fealty or perish.”

“By your will, your majesty.” I dipped my head with the words, then felt his gaze settle on me. A shiver went down my spine. I hadn’t wished to even consider the possibility.

“You will rule this land from the shadows, while Riegert rules it as steward. It will be the breadbasket of our people, and the center of our lines of supply. Our administration and military will remain with the Citadels.” His words rang in my head. I could see it. A fortress the size of a continent. Citadels surrounding a heartland also ringed by mountains. The thought of it was intoxicating, especially with the threats of the outside world looming over us all. “If we can ensure its security, we will make our research facility as well.”

His words gave me pause.

“Security, my lord?”

He nodded.

“The lands beneath this place are tenebrous. Filled with vast, hidden tunnels of Ancient construction. They have been mapping it carefully.” He looked to his left and from the shadows came forth the Ancient Golem. Clad like a servant, she offered him a large scroll, which he unfurled and held in the air with magic. I found myself looking at the familiar map of the Academy’s lands, but with a system of tunnels beneath the landmarks that resembled a spider web. “If there are any mercenary warbands missing, they will have escaped through these tunnels, and through them they can appear anywhere. Even near a Citadel.”

He pointed at clear locations in the map, and I recognized them.

“The tunnels lead to the Citadels and centralized here.” I understood. The Citadels were fortresses that could produce endless amounts of supplies and soldiers. They were meant to protect this region held by the Academy, which could support the forces manning the Citadels from real factories and output from these resource-rich lands. Not only that, but wounded and fresh reinforcements can travel from Citadels to the heartland. The whole continent was designed to be a fortress for the Ancients’ descendants. But only now have the fortresses been raised, and the heartland opened to all instead of the Academy. The Academy knew this and did nothing. No. Worse. They let the outer walls be ruined and cast down all others. “The plan from the beginning was to have these lands house the peoples of the realm, while the Citadels and outlying regions acted as massive fortresses.”

The Ancient Golem nodded at my words, and that damned the Academy in my eyes.

Judging from the lack of pain on the headmaster’s face, he died without a struggle, not even knowing a moment of terror.

A death too merciful for him.

The young Ancient reborn into this world tapped his finger once against the table and re-took all my attention.

“I have raided his office and found a secret room. An Ancient Transport. A mighty vehicle that flies farther and faster than my own steed, which can also carry a dozen people. I want it studied by our most trusted scholars and alchemists. Its secrecy is paramount.” I bowed my head at his words. My mind raced with possibilities. Flight at night has proven to be a good method of maintaining secrecy. Our many supply depots and wagons traveling in the dark provided a bridge of lights that a well-taught pilot can follow. “I will entrust this matter to you, and place you in contact with the Scholars. This is while you maintain and see to the Academy’s lands.”

In the back of my mind, I realized that this was more than I ever dreamed of having even as a warlord.

Riegert and I had yearned for a nation to call our own, with a Citadel at our disposal, we could create a nation and not fall to the Academy.

Now?

Now, we practically ruled over the Academy and all its lands.

“Your will shall be done, your excellency.” I stayed kneeling, until he bid me to rise with his hand. When I stayed for a moment, his gaze turned to me. Implacable and filled with thoughts that I could not hope to decipher. Clearing my throat, I spoke carefully. “Your excellency, may I ask if you’ve considered taking a consort? I have a granddaughter I would like to entrust to you.”

Silence greeted me for a moment, before his voice reached me as a low rumble.

“Her name?”

“Morgan of House Ghor.”

For a split second, I felt as though my neck were separated from my shoulders, then the next I was fine.

Had I been too impertinent with my request—

“Bring her to me. I shall judge the matter by my own will.”

“Yes, my lord!”

It seemed he simply tested me for any hidden plans or schemes.

Thankfully, I only had the genuine desire to see my granddaughter’s safety assured.