Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 7

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 7

…

The Scholar delegation was interesting. They tinkered with ancient technology and magic to the point that they could effectively augment their fellows with powerful new limbs and organs. The guards that came with the delegation had fully-replaced limbs and I would bet behind their chest armor; they’ll mostly be clockwork. It was more of a soul guiding a metal and machine body. The guards were strong despite being so small, and them surrounding a Goblin wearing a Victorian-style dress was interesting as well.

They leader of the delegation curtsied at me, and I gave a gesture her way.

Rita spoke for me, since she’d practically been attached to me by the hip after I created her with the Shroud.

“The King of Citadels bids you to speak. He shall decide whether your words are air or worthy of being heard.” I kinda hated the fact that I wasn’t enthused by Rita. Too much control over my own libido. I had to focus and lower my guard, in order to enjoy her looks. There’s a goth elf in fishnets and a high-waisted leotard and I don’t even have the urge to stare? Am I still the person that I used to be? “Be honored.”

The presented leader of the delegation opened her mouth to speak, and I acted.

“I respect cunning and knowledge, so I shall allow this disrespect to pass for this singular moment. Leader of the Scholars, I see you there dressed as a servant girl. Come forth and speak true.” I analyzed the whole delegation the moment they came in. I didn’t even have to sit up. I just stayed on my throne and leaning my face against my fist. The body-double was decent, but the real leader couldn’t control her features. Her disgust was barely concealed, and her heart rate was elevated in anger, and she carried herself like she was better than us… despite being dressed as an assistant merely pushing along carts with gifts and tribute. “And, I see your disgust at us. At our lowly selves reaching for the skies you lay claim to. Control yourself, or I will remove the need for you to do so.”

My words alone had their guards going from rest to near-ready to fight, while the goblin lady in pure white froze and barely stopped herself from glancing over her shoulder.

The stalemate lasted all of a second, thanks to a simple trick of mine.

“1.”

“You are more perceptive and intelligent that the rumors say, King of Citadels.” It was a simple intimidation tactic that was usually used on children. However, when you’ve got talent and knowledge out of the wazoo, it tends to work out more often than not. No one’s nerves ever lasted up to three, even though I haven’t once given an ultimatum. “Then, you must understand that raising the Citadels will invite turmoil to these lands.”

Right, these guys had their whole holier-than-thou attitude thanks to knowing more than the rest of us about the enemies at the gate.

“I intend to take them all, use their mechanisms, take the continent, and hold the line until the rest of the planet can be eradicated. The Ancients defenses around our lands have kept us here, but kept everything out. But they will fail. In fact, they are already failing. I saw it when I climbed the westernmost mountain ranges. The storm walls have receded past their prime.”

That information made the Scholar’s true representative go still.

“…You are certain of this?”

“Go in your flying city above the mountain tops and observe the lands past the storm wall. You will see stone weathered and newly grown forests. Where the protections of the Ancients once stretched across vast lands, now there are gaps for us to leave through, and for the foes to enter. Rita.” I held out my hand, and Rita handed me the box. I opened it and let its contents fall. The head of a Demon fell out onto the floor and before the Goblins. I’d ventured out there to investigate and noticed a patrol a few days away from one of their cities. I’d gone wondering how much I could destroy and take on my Gryphon in a blitz, but it was too fortified and too strong for me to take alone, at least with my current equipment. Anyway, the head of the Demon was useful for the lie I was about to make. “The foes that you fear will notice us are already at the gates. This one was a day away from the newest passage into our lands.”

The Scholar leader stared at the head for a long while, before looking back at me.

“What exactly do you plan to do, if you have all eight of the Citadels?”

One of her assistants looked shocked at her words, but she stopped her from speaking with a raised hand.

“I know your kind. Your intentions are to flee and rise above the planet entire in your massive ship. In your hands, the Citadels would be used to fix the vessel and you would escape… and I consider that a fair price in exchange for your allegiance.” The Scholar’s representative’s eyes widened at my words. I knew their endgame, and I could play off how I knew it by just playing the genius card. They’re so far up their intellectualism that they assume being smart allows you to do anything, so I went ahead and used that against them. I’m smart, so I’ve got you figured out completely. No, I don’t have knowledge of the entire setting somehow. I’m just smart. Therefore, I’m good enough to listen to. Idiots. “I prize your knowledge and your tactics and your industry. Work with me as allies, and I shall see your people’s wishes to leave this planet achieved, so long as you assist me in my own.”

“…And, what is your dream, King of the Citadels?”

Since the proclamation in question required gravitas, I made sure to stand and plant the sword beside by throne before me. Man, I was glad that the armor I wore was fine to wear for formal occasions, so long as had it cleaned and put a cape over it with fur on the shoulders.

“Those beyond this continent have a singular intention: to take these lands and take these Citadels with all their miracles and return to their previous heights. To do this, they will kill or enslave the people here, and elevate themselves off the deaths of all the peoples here. I reject their desire.” I made a mental command and a Guardian arose from the floor of the Citadel, constructed the very instant I demanded it. Living weapons, they were capable replacements for frontline infantry in the endgame. They faced off even against the finest of the Demons and other crises and matched them, while also being cheaper to produce. In-game, once you had eight Citadels and won through conquering all the nations and didn’t meet any of the other victory conditions, the text was simple: your armies of Guardians win the day through sheer mass and the world is now yours. That was my intentions. “When I first took a Citadel, a Guardian could not leave its walls. After I took my second and third, they can now patrol all my lands. The growth of their range is exponential. Do you understand, Scholars?”

The Scholar’s leader nodded after a moment, what I was insinuating leading to her doing calculations I didn’t bother doing, and in response she bowed.

And, so did the rest of the court.

Guess the ball is in my court.

“This planet is not theirs. It is ours. They are the enemies of our ancestors and creators. They broke apart utopia for their own desires and wishes. I will remake it from the ashes of their own destruction.” The only one I could emulate in a way was a certain individual from a ridiculous franchise involving far too much testosterone and a broken sense of scale. Said individual failed to conquer the galaxy due to being a bad father, but he still managed to take all of Earth. I wasn’t as strong, but I could follow in his footsteps, and I didn’t have to contend with magic being poisoned by insanity and demons. Besides, what could I realistically do?  Just bunker up and wait for the rest of the planet to industrialize and roll me over? Hah. “Our Ancestors have given us strong fortresses, and now we have the weapons they intended to finish the war with. All that needs to be done is to conquer all the Citadels, and thereafter remake the paradise that all peoples once enjoyed. My dream, representative of the Scholars, is to return all our peoples to greatness and to see our ancient enemies dead.”

I conveyed my point, and within a few seconds, there was clapping followed by resounding applause throughout the entire court.

Damn, it’s still embarrassing to be applauded.

…

Interlude: Justinia

…

“I want scouts validating the information we just heard regarding the defenses failing. I want them yesterday.” I stormed through the halls while undoing the tight bun I forced my hair into. My assistants hurried after me, catching what I threw aside, as I went straight to my office. “Call all the directors. We need to have a council right now. We have been misinformed, completely, by the Academy.”

“My lady!?” Pepper cried out in shock, following close after me whilst dressed to impress, but already divesting herself of finery. “You mean the Academy—

“Yes. Keep up! They told us that we were facing a barbarian. But it’s an Ancient reborn! Completely reborn and who is now working to reconquer the planet. Those damn fools have forgotten their own logics and decided to pursue their policies of domination and subjugation!” I reached my office. Thankfully, my retinue was already present. They had grim looks on their faces for a second, like they were ready to give me bad news, until they saw my furious features. They probably believed that they’d have to convince me that they Academy was lying. “Report. What is the true state of the city that we just entered? Did you see slavery? Barbarians running amok? Industry born of sweatshops? A complete lack of intellect?”

Baldwin came forward first, after looking at the others and receiving a nod.

I calmed down, as I took my seat, because I knew that they’d argued and created a case to present to me together.

“None to any of the above, my lady. All we’ve found is the start of a thriving civilization. One working off fiat currency, with established trade routes, and codified laws.” Balwin came forward, his steps making steam hiss from his right leg, as he ignored maintenance procedures to reach me as early as possible. He placed a white coin on my desk, followed by a simple box filled with utensils and plates, and finally a book. A freshly printed book. Not an old manuscript from a tome found long ago carefully transcribed by hand by elder scribes. “That book is the laws of the land. A section every day is read aloud within a neighborhood hall. Questions are taken by the officials entrusted with it, and they are closely monitored as well. My lady, all signs point to the Academy having—

“Yes. I know. I met the Barbarian King that they spoke of. He’s not. It’s an Ancient reborn, and one that intends to unify the lands, destroy all that is wrong, including the enemies that cover the rest of the world.” His eyes widened at my words, while I looked to my shelves. I pointed at a specific shelf and gave a gesture of the fifth book from the right with my hands. Pepper was quick to find it and I opened the worn tome. Compiled information on the physical and mental abilities of the Ancients lay within, along with former limits and abilities of all other races. I opened it to confirm my suspicions and the moment I laid eyes on the description hundreds of experts agreed upon, I knew I had the right of it. “Physically ideal, mentally improved beyond the normal descendant, and with immense control over magics. A Champion amongst Champions, the apex of sentient life prior to great collapse. That is what the King of the Citadels is in its entirety.”

My retinue stared at one another for a moment, before Baldwin spoke up.

“What’s next, my lady?”

“What’s next is that we confirm his assertions, and when we find out they’re true, we bloody ally with him and help him take all the Citadels! There’s nothing else to be done, especially when he can fly up here in his gryphon and armor and slaughter us wholesale if he wished!” My words had Baldwin balk, and he turned to my guards who entered the court with me. A single nod confirmed my words, while I slumped into my chair. Relief was filling me. We nearly caused our downfall. We went forward to validate the Academy’s words, just before launching aerial assaults and assassinating the Barbarian King, as we thought simply killing him and his standing army would collapse the building empire. Instead, we were faced with the truth that we were sent in to die by an ally we trusted. “Call the leader of the Settlement faction. He wanted lands to settle and to innovate in? He has it now. We’re invited as allies to restart their industry and help them take the rest. In exchange, our ship will get the parts it needs to be space-worthy once more.”

That information made Baldwin’s eyes widen. His family came from a whole lineage supporting settlements to be found on the ground, if only for the purposes of having more resources at hand. The Settlement faction argued relentlessly with the Exodus faction, which I believed in and still believed in. Now, there is no need for argument any longer. Those who wish to stay can stay and entrust themselves to the Ancient Reborn. Meanwhile, those who wished to leave would be able to leave by working with him as well.

“The resistance will be pitiful in the council. They’ll haw and hem, say that I’ve overstepped by boundaries, but we’ll have them meet the King of the Citadels tomorrow as honored guests.” I chuckled and so did those who followed me into the court. That court where a legend from the past was now reclaiming the future was seared into my brain. I will never forget it. “Those old farts will need to be watched so that they don’t embarrass us.”

Tomorrow, it’ll be their turn to face that man head on.