Chapter 255   - 254 - The Dark Nation

"So, um...where are we going?" Inquired Selesa curiously, "You gonna take me behind a bush and split my ass open with your big, fat c-?"

"No, shut up, this isn't about you...just keeping an overdue promise I made," I sighed in exasperation, before stopping by a grove of trees.

I decided against doing this inside the Rustlands, since that might cause some problems, and also because it probably wouldn't work in the first place. It was the 10th of March today, a little over a week after the attack. I was currently in the forest area with Selesa, I'd teleported here using a Devilmonkey.

I finally remembered that I promised Nezera Autumn, one of the Vampire Knights, that I'd let her meet Selesa. The Vampires aren't allowed in the Rustlands thanks to my King's Decrees, and even if they were, they probably wouldn't be welcome by most...I mean, they did kill a lot of people when the Rustlands was attacked by them.

Okay, time to summon the Snow Serpent that was attached to her...and one other as well...I then summoned the corresponding Snow Serpents to bring forth the two Vampires I wanted to speak to. The day after the attack, I sent Fuo to Platinberg to talk to the Vampires and give them some instructions, specifically...

...I wanted them to properly take control of Platinberg, so I sent Fuo with several Spell Cards to help them do so...they can't use General Magic themselves, but they can use their human cattle to activate the spells for them. I sent them spells that included various barrier spells, teleportation spells, as well as other convenient spells like Call and Store/Extract.

Additionally, I also instructed them to ally themselves with as many of the Demons that were running wild right now...not only to stop them from causing problems, but also to increase the power of Platinberg...which was basically my nation now, since the Vampires were ruling it and I ruled above them.

"Hey, long time no see," I greeted the two Vampires as I summoned them.

"Lord Kuro, it is good to see you again," Replied Zero, with a bow, before wryly adding, "I hope this doesn't mean more that I will be assigned more work."

"You're the same as ever, I see," I replied with a wistful smile, "And even if I was going to give you more work, you'd probably dump it onto someone else, am I right?"

"Well...I suppose so," He admitted sheepishly.

"What took so long, you were supposed to summon me over two months ago!" Exclaimed Nezera indignantly.

"Yeah, my bad...but better late than never, right?" I responded with a grin, nodding at Selesa, who was looking kinda horrified.

"Ohh...heyyyy, I missed you, Selesa!" She replied with a hungry gleam in her eyes.

"Kuro, you asshole...!" Yelled Selesa in alarm, as Nezera chased after her.

What's the matter, don't like the taste of your own medicine?

"So, how are things going on in Platinberg?" I asked Zero, "You doing alright?"

"Things are going smoothly, though it was a lot of work to get to that point," He sighed, before adding, "I am doing fine, my lord, I am humbled by your concern."

"Uh...sure, don't worry about it. Has anything happened lately?" I inquired.

"No, there have been no incidents. We were approached by a trio that threatened to attack, but they left after we mentioned that you're the ruler of Platinberg," He answered.

Okay, there's a couple of things to unpack there...

"Wait, what? Just three people? Who were they?"

"Let me see...they called themselves Chaos. A man with white hair, a woman with black wings and another woman with feathers on her head. The younger two seemed to be humans that had resisted Demonic possession."

Those sound like...Shiro, Belia and...Gela. So that's where she disappeared off to. So, she's with Belia now, huh? That bitch. Hm, but still, I can't believe that they just retreated...

"They really left without a fuss?" I asked with a frown.

"Well, the two younger humans seemed unwilling, but the woman with the wings appeared to be in charge, and she teleported all three of them away."

"I see. Hold on, back up a sec, you told them I'm the ruler of Platinberg?"

"Well...yes. Technically speaking, that is true, is it not?"

"Huh...I did consider that, but yeah, I guess so."

"On that subject, perhaps we should rename the nation?" He proposed in reply.

Hey, that's not a bad suggestion.

"Yeah, I like that idea...let me think...," I replied, mulling it over, "Oh, how about Abyss, The Dark Nation? The underground cavern fits the Abyss part, and Dark because it's ruled by monsters and on top of that, it fits the theme of my name and fashion sense."

So maybe it was kinda excessively edgy, but hey, a little edginess is fine.

"Abyss, The Dark Nation...understood."

"Oh, yeah, how many Demons have we gained as allies?" I asked him.

"Fifty-three so far. I think that we would be able to command their loyalty better if you were to visit and display your power."

"Hm, good point...how about right now?" I suggested, after thinking about whether I had any plans for today...no, I don't think so, I'm free today.

"That would be ideal."

"Great, let's go then. I'll undo the summon," I replied, placing a hand on his shoulder.

In the next instant, I found myself in the Platinberg, or rather, Abyss castle, and...it looked in way better shape than I remember.

"I shall go gather-...or rather, on second thought, I shall ask the others to go gather the Demons."

I can appreciate his honesty regarding his dislike for extra work.

"Wow, you've really cleaned up this castle nicely," I remarked with a grin, "Nice work."

"Well, this is our nation now, so we should maintain it. We used the human resources as labor, of course."

"Mhm, make good use of them. Hey, do Vampires and Demons eat and drink like humans do?" I inquired, as we walked through the castle.

"Well, Demons have to or their host bodies will weaken, as for us Vampires, we do not need to, but many of us do enjoy food and drink, just because do not require it as sustenance does not mean that we are physically incapable of tasting and injesting food."

"Interesting...then do this, gather up some humans that can cook, and set up food stalls and whatnot...and if enough of you are interested in fashion, you can do the same with humans that can tailor. You can also have friendly fighting tournaments or games and stuff. I can give you more specific suggestions if you want. To put it simply, I want you to really bring life to this place, that should keep morale high. Plus, you don't want to completely crush the spirits of the humans here, if they completely give up to the point where they stop breeding, then you'll lose your source of sustenance. But by giving them tasks, they'll at least have something to live for."

"Er...could you repeat all that, I had better write it down," He remarked with frazzled look on his face.

"Heh, chill out, it's no big deal...for now, let's deal with the more immediate matter at hand, 'kay? Gather up the Demons, time for me to show them what I'm capable of..."

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Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus

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"Hey, why the hell did we just leave without even putting up a fight, huh!?" Exclaimed Shiro indignantly.

"I thought I was going to get to kill some people," Sighed Gela with a look of immense disappointment.

"Now, now, calm down, you two. We certainly could have broken down the barriers that the Vampires had put in place and forced our way in, but...I think we can take a more chaotic, long-term approach. If Kuro really is ruling over Platinberg now...then he no longer needs to be in the Rustlands, does he? And on that note, I have a plan...," I remarked with a grin, before explaining to the both of them what I had come up with.

After I finished with my explanation, the two of them were quiet, looking like they were thinking it over...

"I'd prefer to get some killing done right away, but I have to admit, I would like to see how this plan pans out," Relented Gela with a reluctant expression.

"Oh, don't worry, after the Goldlands was thrown into chaos by the Demons, the people all scattered, most were killed by Demons or preyed upon by Vampires, but there are still thousands of them around, living in their own little groups...I can teleport you to one of those groups and you can run wild."

"Okay, I like the sound of that...can you take me now?" She requested eagerly.

Hm, this is a good chance to gain some loyalty from her...

"Sure, no problem! What about you, Shiro, what do you think of my plan?" I asked him expectantly.

"Well...it's not bad, if I'm being honest. But is it really enough for us to just have the pawns of Silvland for our army? I mean, no matter how strong we make them, we can't do anything about their lack of technical skill," He pointed out with a sigh.

"True, they were really easy to kill, it got a little boring after a while," Agreed Gela.

"Don't worry, I have a plan to make the next attack especially impactful...a certain spell I came up with. It'll almost definitely cost me some Divine Magic, but it will be worth it," I informed them with a smirk, "Oh, and we'll continue to power up more pawns and increase our numbers, of course."

"Speaking of that, isn't there any way for you to replenish your Divine Magic? You get weaker each time it decreases, right?" Pointed out Shiro...though he was a bit inaccurate.

"Oh, not anymore...after I lost a certain amount of Divine Magic, from that point onwards, my power level remained the same...in other words, I stopped growing weaker in proportion to the decrease in my Divine Magic a while ago, I think it was about four hundred years ago, more or less. And no, I can't replenish my Divine Magic, the only way would be if Samsara decided to give me some more, which he definitely won't do," I explained with a wry smile.

"How much Divine Magic do you have left anyway?"

"Hm, I don't really know how I would measure that, but...I have about ten percent less than I did before we attacked the Rustlands, and my current total amount is about five percent of the amount of Divine Magic I had when I was first created...heh, creating the monsters cost me over eighty percent of my divinity, creating even a single artificial life costs a significant amount of Divine Magic, and I created thousands upon thousands. Totally worth it, though."

"So, what's this spell you came up with? And how much Divine Magic will it cost?" He inquired curiously.

"Hm, let's see...it will partially involve the use of my Dimensional Magic, so it shouldn't be too much...at most, about thirty percent of my remaining Divine Magic, maybe? Probably a minimum of twenty percent."

"It'll use Dimensional Magic? Just what kind of spell is this, anyway?" Chimed in Gela, her interest piqued as well.

"Well...," I replied with a smirk, "You'll just have to wait and find out..."

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