"Paradise? Hahaha...." King Talzon started laughing.

After a few seconds, he stopped and stood up. "This, your army..."

"If you go to the mainland with it and start speaking like this, you’ll be erased in seconds." King Talzon shook his head. "But don’t worry. You don’t need to go there."

"I’ve brought precious guests from there myself." King Talzon grinned, his eyes glinting coldly.

’What?’ Vesh frowned behind the helmet. ’People from the mainland? Stronger than Bloom-rank?’ 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Just five of them will overturn your entire army," King Talzon spoke, his voice spreading far and wide.

"They are from the great Windfury Eagle Kingdom!"

King Talzon looked around. ’Where are they? I am shouting pretty far and wide, and they said they’d appear.’

Vesh glanced around while his eyes glinted, connecting with all the big eyes in the surroundings and scanning them.

’Kaeli, can you find anyone strong?’

’Nyaa!’

Vesh tilted his head slightly and asked, "Where are they?"

"They are here!" King Talzon shouted, his voice spreading even farther and wider.

"..."

"..."

"..."

King Talzon’s face turned red.

Harven and others were also looking at each other, confused.

"Where the heck are they?" Harven muttered. It was because of him that they managed to reach the mainland fast.

By riding on a Bloom-rank aquatic beast.

They managed to contact a rather powerful kingdom and asked for aid in exchange for resource transportation and some other deals once the Talzon Kingdom conquered this sideland.

They sent five people with them, all five at Fruit-rank.

Everyone starts at Seed-rank.

Breaking through to Sprout-rank gives an overall boost.

Then Sprout-rank to Root-rank gives an overall boost plus a title that grants power.

Vesh got a title called Conquerer of People & Magic (S).

The effect of this title was straightforward. He gains +1% reserve of energy in his Life Nexus per 1,000 people in his kingdom loyal to him.

Since he had an 87,000% boost in energy reserve, he had 87 million people in his kingdom loyal to him.

And that 87,000% boost in energy reserve was entirely filled by S-rank R.M.E.

At every rank, people had the same reserve of energy: 10,000. Only its quality and recovery would change depending on the lifeform rank.

Vesh had an 87,000% boost in energy reserve, which meant 87,000% of 10,000.

That meant 8,700,000, and that too S-rank R.M.E.

Even Vesh didn’t know what would happen if he went all out. Of course, he had tested the limit of the amount of energy he could control, and he naturally couldn’t control all of his current S-rank energy reserve. It was simply too big.

But he could control 144,000 S-rank R.M.E at once. As in, he could unleash a fireball made with 144,000 S-rank R.M.E, and it could lay waste to an entire mountain and another one next to it with ease.

If an S-rank title was like that, then other people on the mainland must have crazy titles and talents as well, which was why Vesh wanted to be cautious.

Then, Root-rank to Stem-rank granted an overall boost in power again, nothing else.

But then, once someone at Stem-rank breaks through to Bloom-rank, they awaken a second natural talent. The quality and rank of this talent is considered to be random, but one’s experience and actions inevitably play a hand in it.

And then, when one breaks through to Fruit-rank, a process starts.

A process that would bear fruit in one’s life nexus. A fruit that, once ripened and then eaten, would evolve one’s life form entirely and grant a significant boost. Eating the fruit would also break one through to Tree-rank.

The five people that King Talzon brought back were at Fruit-rank.

And yet, none of them came forward.

"Where are they?" Vesh asked, his head tilting slightly.

Talzon’s lips twitched. "One second."

He quickly contacted those people using the comm crystal.

[King Talzon: Where are you all?]

[Raffian: Where are we? Are you dumb?]

[King Talzon: W-What do you mean?]

Everyone heard the stammer in King Talzon’s voice.

Vesh was amused.

[Jobel: We are halfway back to the mainland.]

[King Talzon: What? Why?]

[Korian: This guy is dumb. You really expect us to win against that hundred-thousand army of Bloom-rank robots, and that too made with SS-rank material that even takes some real exertion for us to destroy.]

[Urral: Not to mention those ten behemoths. They have an insane amount of energy reserve and pulses of magic that even made us palpitate. The five of us don’t have the energy, power, or resources here to fight against that army.]

King Talzon blanked out.

T-They ran away?!

"Looking at your face... it seems they are not coming here." Queen Lyra chuckled.

"You brought them, but they are not coming here..." the Asterisk Patriarch frowned. "They ran away after seeing Ananta Kingdom’s army?"

He got chills as he finished speaking.

Powerful people from the mainland ran away after seeing Ananta Kingdom’s army.

King Talzon took a deep breath.

"They ran away," he said, face flat. "According to them, they don’t have the power to fight your army."

Vesh nodded. "Wise fellows."

"So, what will you do?" Vesh asked.

King Talzon let out a cold chuckle. "If I surrender, I will die."

He looked at the other kings and queens. "Many of you will also die under the laws of the Ananta Kingdom. After all, he can see your memories and will judge you based on your actions."

"There will be no escaping the consequences once you become part of the Ananta Kingdom."

The kings and queens looked at each other, fear clearly surging in their eyes.

Vesh frowned.

"Isn’t that right?" King Talzon looked at Vesh.

"That’s right. For a progressive, peaceful, and ever-growing empire that Ananta Kingdom wishes to be, there will be no escaping the consequences. However—"

"You will be judged thoroughly. If you are someone who disregards the lives of others for selfish benefits, if you are not capable of seeing all intelligent lives as equal, and cannot follow the laws and order of the Ananta Kingdom, you will be punished. But if you have something in the past and regret it, you will get a chance at redemption."

"Regret and realization. Reform is something I believe in, but it is not something everyone deserves."

Vesh’s voice rose.

"Whether you become part of Ananta Kingdom or not, you will be judged because Ananta Kingdom will win this war, and it will unify this sideland, which means all people within will be under the laws of Ananta Kingdom."

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Vesh looked at King Talzon, who was clapping.

"Wonderful." King Talzon grinned. "Then what if we escape from this sideland?"

"You can’t attack us until the countdown reaches zero. You have no personal enmity towards us. You don’t know us."

"What if we want to escape from this sideland?" King Talzon narrowed his eyes, his voice grating. "Will you stop us? And judge us? Will you do the same to everyone everywhere you go?"

"And you’ve never shown us your face even once!"

Everyone looked at the black-armored individual embodying pure domination with that appearance.

Nobody could see the eyes or face behind that sleek helmet and black glassy visor that glowed blue.

[Arga: The fuck is his problem? Lord Vesh has the best in his heart for everyone, and yet this vile moron dares to—]

[Rovina: Just watch.]

Vesh began walking slowly toward King Talzon.

King Talzon flinched a bit when he saw Vesh taking a step forward, but then composed himself.

What he wanted was an escape. He had tried his best for it.

"So..." Vesh stopped a meter away from King Talzon and nodded. "You see three waves in the world."

"One wave of people wants domination, control over the majority, disregard for other lives, and to acquire a clear superior hierarchy where they can do whatever they please. Rape, kill, enslave whoever they want. You are the king who likes such a world, right?" Vesh’s eyes whirled. "I’ve seen your kingdom. It’s the worst kingdom in this sideland. 0.2% of people have enslaved the remaining 99.98%. It is hell there for them."

King Talzon could feel his heart filling with terror because of an intent that was drowning him, coming from eyes he couldn’t see.

"And then there’s another wave that wants peace, harmony, and development. This wave doesn’t invade. They conquer the hearts of other people, share knowledge, and seek harmonious development. They integrate and bloom multicultural relationships."

"That is the Athena nanta Kingdom."

"These two waves of people are minorities. The third wave is the majority. The majority of people just want to live, but due to life, influences, and choices, they either dangle between the two waves or join one of them. The weak ones."

Vesh sighed. "Your kingdom is dominated by the first wave. 0.2% of the first wave has enslaved the 99.98% of my second wave."

"And you want me to let you escape from the things you have done?" Vesh’s head hung down.

"Okay..." Vesh nodded and looked back at King Talzon.

"Everyone who wants to escape, go." Vesh looked at the countdown. "You have a lot of time."

"But listen very carefully. Even if you survive till the end of time, the last thing you will see will still be the Ananta Kingdom. Whenever there’s a wave one dominating, Ananta Kingdom will be there. It will come prepared. And at that time, no one will escape."

"And the reason why I haven’t shown my face or my name, and all other powerhouses of Ananta Kingdom wears combat suits that hides their identity..." Vesh continued. "It’s for protection. After all, who knows what else is possible if I can do this?"

Colorful whirls of energy shot upward before turning into a huge storm, sucking in surrounding energies and refining it.

"I can make something equivalent to magic veins like this. The magic veins form when concentrated magic is crystallized over a period of long time, but i can gather scattered magic energy from sources or atmosphere, and concentrate it, and crystallize it all in one with a wave of my hand."

Everyone’s eyes were widend in horror and bewilderment.

"If i can do something like that, then i have to assume there are people in mainland who may be able to hunt and kill people via means i may not be able to imagine. This is why all powerhouses of Ananta Kingdom will be in our custom combat suits. Their identity will be protected."

Vesh swept his glance across the board.

"Ananta Kingdom will enter the mainland slowly, steadily, and secretly. We will move and expand cautiously as we have no interest in our self-destruction."

"That’s all. Now those who wants to escape. Do it fast. Because when that countdown turns zero, I’ll destroy all Kingdom Pillars, and whatever army that Abyssal Lord Yorual from the ocean brings here."

Vesh sat down back on his throne, his eyes flickering as he sent a group of 20 troops to each Kingdom’s territory, ready to destroy their Kingdom Towers once the countdown hit zero.

Arga and other Executive Commanders arrived on the platform.

Time passed.

Vesh busied himself doing other stuff, like improving some spells, and utilizing some ideas regarding magic.

King Talzon, and many other escaped.

When Vesh saw them leaving, he felt like he was letting go of criminals who had killed thousands and ruined even more lives, and it made him feel dejected a bit, so he made sure to destroy all of their transportation.

It didn’t break the rules because he wasn’t attacking them, but the ships. Seeing the Bloom-rank units behind them, they were scared shitless and flew away without taking their treasures, which were basically just a bunch of items, magic stones, and so on of A-rank and below.

Time passed quietly after that until the countdown finally hit zero.

Abyssal Lord Yorual arrived. He turned out ot be a fifty meter giant humanoid with giant squids, various aquatic monsters, and fish people.

They were stubborn and directly headed towards Ananta Kingdom’s Kingdom Tower, which was situated in Rising Light City.

But Vesh intercepted their army with his ten behemoths and 50,000 units.

Seeing that, Abyssal Lord Yorual seemed to glitch and surrendered due to sheer difference in power as he only had eleven Bloom-rank monsters and powerhouses combined.

Vesh proposed an alliance, telling them to become a part of Ananta Kingdom as Vesh decided to build some cool underwater territories.

In the end, all Kingdom Towers were destroyed and Ananta Kingdom became the winner.

From then on, the entire Sideland began transforming.

After one month of constant development, something happened.

...

"B.B! B.B! Something happened!"

"Why are you shouting Z.Z?"

"S-Something crazy is happening. What should we do? This has never happened before."

"What is happening, Z.Z?"

"Here, look."

In a vast map showing the first realm.

One was a huge continent with small splits where oceans and rivers flowed. The Main land.

Below it were five small rounds circles. Compared to the mainland, the difference was between a football field, and a ball in it.

The balls were the Sidelands. The football field was the mainland.

But now, one of the five balls...was moving.

Not just moving, but flying!

It was ball in the map, but in reality, it was a huge land spanning 9 thousand kilometers from east to west, and 11 thousand kilometers from south to north!

"W-What?!"

"It’s that Ananta Kingdom. Tsunamis and storms are occurring everywhere."

"Does he want to bring that continent to mainland?!"

"I was watching him, and he had sent his machines to explore the Mainland. You know that forbidden zone in the southwest, near the ocean? His machines are gathered there, far away from nearest populated settlements....I think he is going there."

"With the continent?!"

"Seems like it...He’s already broken through to Fruit-rank in a month. Now he just need to gather experience to ripen the fruit."

"Well, that’s not surprising considering those two SSS-rank talents, but this...this is getting fun. It’s clear now. He will contest with the other five for the position of this first realm’s ruler and rename this world."

---- Fin ----

A/N: I won’t be writing more of this book. Hope you enjoyed however much you read of this.