"Holy crap...this is amazing!" Exclaimed Rai in awe.
"Damn straight, I was expecting something a lot more...run-down, I guess?" Added Rion with a grin.
We were no longer in the Rustlands, having just arrived on the castle grounds of Abyss, after I reversed my summoning. And the others were currently taking in the sights with surprised and taken aback expressions on their faces. Monsters everywhere, not just the Vampires and Demons, but all of the other monster types under my command as well.
Most of the shops were up and running, and there were food stalls set up here and there, with Vampires and Demons roaming about casually. After a few initial glances in our direction and a bunch of respectful nods and bows towards me, they carried on as they were. I'd already informed them a few days ago that this was likely to happen, after like, the third or fourth time that the King of the Rustlands threatened to exile me.
There were also some humans roaming about, helping the Demons and Vampires run the stalls and shops. As for the other monsters, they don't really have wills of their own, they pretty much follow the will of whoever commands them, which is now me.
And I was having them either help the Demons and Vampires, or to maintain the buildings and streets, they were a pretty ideal labor force. I mean, I don't need all my monsters to surveil the world, so I might as well make use of the ones that I had sitting on the sidelines doing nothing, right?
Oh, and regarding the humans, the ones who were currently roaming about freely and helping out with the shops and stalls were all former slum residents and some former middle class citizens. They were now living in the area where the nobles and middle-class used to live. As for the rest, all the remaining nobles and the upper middle-class, they were now in the slums, as livestock for the Vampires.
The dinosaurs had mostly been returned underground, while some had been kept above ground, though restricted to the slum area with barriers.
So, yeah, the nation looked in pretty good shape. And unsurprisingly, excluding Fuo and myself, everyone else was completely blown away by the state of the nation. And I can't exactly blame them, I was pretty surprised when I first saw the progress that had been made in rejuvenating the nation.
As the others stared around awestruck, I turned around as I heard footsteps approaching from the castle, to see Zero, Thirteen and three of the remaining four Vampire Knights, the only one missing was Nezera Autumn. They bowed as they got close, before Zero addressed me...
"It is good to see you, Lord Kuro. We have all but implemented all the specifications you wanted to see for the nation," He remarked, before adding, "It was a lot of work, but we got it done."
"Right...so, how much of your share of the work did you dump on the others?" I inquired with a grin.
"Well, er...not that much," He replied with a wry smile.
"I'll take your word for it...so, the castle and all the nobles' mansions have been cleaned up?" I asked him.
"Yes, my lord, they are all ready."
He's pretty lazy when it comes to doing work, but he still gets it done...actually, it might be thanks to his laziness that it was all done with such apparent efficiency.
"Nice work, Zero, and the rest of you too," I stated with a nod of approval, before turning back to the others, "Alright, everyone, you can pick wherever you want to live. There's plenty of vacant mansions ripe for the picking, or you could live in the castle, there's a ton of rooms in there."
"Would you like for us to vacate the castle, my lord?" Inquired Cleon Radomir, one of the Vampire Knights.
He had neatly cropped medium-length black hair with three red streaks and a short, thick beard and mustache with a few red flecks. He was kinda serious and formal, even for a Vampire, though that made him pretty easy to deal with. His Cross is called Intangibility, which is self-explanatory.
"Hm? No, that's fine, there's more than enough space, you guys can live wherever you want."
"And your next commands for us?" Asked Lucia Ianthe, another of the Knights.
She had longish curly black hair with a red curl falling over her forehead, and she was kinda hard to read. And I mean that literally, the expression on her face rarely ever changed, even a little. Her Cross was called Invisibility, also self-explanatory.
"Well, there's nothing major...just maintain the status quo, other than that, you're all free to do as you please," I replied, before adding, "Alright, then, you're all dismissed, go relax or take it easy."
"That sounds good. Well, then if you will excuse us," Responded Zero gratefully, before he and others headed off, wandering in different directions with a carefree sense about them.
"I'm gonna say it, you're ruling the Vampires way better than this idiot Vampire ever did," Remarked Diablo with a laugh.
"Tch, shut up, you stupid Demon, I was simply following Belia's orders, just like you did," Snapped Lazarus in response.
Guys, could you argue without me having to hear it? Great, thanks.
"Hey, dude, this is all pretty surreal...," Said Rai, looking around with wide eyes.
"Yeah, this is way beyond my expectations," Chimed in Az.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me, Az...the protective anti-intruder barrier spell that the Rustlands is working on, the one that kills anyone whose Mana signature isn't registered with it, do you think you could make one of those here, and have it include the Vampires, Demons and other monsters too?" I requested.
"Sure, the spell itself shouldn't take too long, since I already know how to construct it. Registering everyone's Mana signatures will take some time, but there's a lot less people here than in the Rustlands, so it might take about a couple of weeks. I can put up some other protective barriers in place in the meantime though, in addition to the ones that are already active," He replied with a nod.
"Perfect, that'd be great, thanks, man."
"Sure, don't mention it."
I then looked around at everyone...they've all been pretty quiet, looks like a mix of awe and exhaustion...well, the battle had only been yesterday, and with all the search and rescue efforts that carried on till early this morning, they've not gotten much sleep in the last twenty-four hours.
I suppose we might as well take the rest of the day easy, kick back and just relax. Yeah, that honestly sounds great right about now, I'm pretty tired myself right now. I mean, yeah it's more mental exhaustion than physical, considering how high my stamina reserves are now, but still...I could use a nap.
"Alright, everyone, go ahead and decide on where you want to stay, or explore if you like...don't worry, the monsters won't attack you or anything, I can assure you that much. Anyway, just take it easy for the rest of the day," I remarked with a smile, before adding, "Oh, and one more thing...welcome to Abyss, The Dark Nation!"
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Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus
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"So, you guys excited or what?" I inquired with a grin.
About three weeks had passed since the attack on the Rustlands, it was the 1st of May, 1676, and I'd decided that we should all take it easy for a while, give the new nation of Abyss some time to get on its feet, because otherwise, it'd be boring. Who wants to attack a nation when it's still vulnerable? That would just be anticlimactic and one-sided.
"I am, I got careless during the Rustlands attack and couldn't cut loose as much as I wanted...I can't wait to make up for that right now," Replied Gela in a bloodthirsty tone.
"I shall carry out your orders as specified, my lady," Said Druj, with a slight bow.
"Uh...well, there aren't any specific orders for today, just make sure you don't kill too many of their S-Ranks...other than that, just tear up the place and have some fun!" I responded, before turning to the remaining two sidekicks, "What about you guys, excited?"
"I am tired," Sighed Hacte in reply, dark circles under his eyes.
"I'm an average amount of excited, I guess," Shrugged Shiro, sounded completely disinterested.
He's the most useful and by a distance the most powerful of my sidekicks, but he's the only one who I have trouble dealing with, especially because he constantly antagonizes me...on purpose. I can't let him see that he's getting to me though, it's a matter of pride...
"Come on, you should be more excited! Think about it, it's the five of us against an entire nation, with no back up whatsoever! How can you not be excited!?" I exclaimed enthusiastically.
"And you're way too excited, tone it down a notch, Boobs," He scoffed condescendingly.
...see what I mean!?
You know what, fine...I'll give him something that he can't react with disinterest too! Wait, should I really do it here? Hm, actually...why not? I have been meaning to do so, since now, Kuro is stronger than I am in my current state, having gained one of the killed summons' weapons...yeah, now's a good time as any...
"Actually, instead of toning it down...I'm going to take it up a level," I remarked with a smirk, before glancing at Shiro and adding as I began...began to release the seal on my full power, breaking one of the taboos set by Samsara, "You might want to watch this carefully...this is a level of power that hasn't been seen in this world before, it's been under wraps this whole time, and now...it's finally time to unleash it all..."
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