Villain in a Fantasy World; I Level Up by Conquering Villainesses-Chapter 82: Subjugating a Kingdom
BZZZT!
Julian’s blood-red qi flared like a tsunami around him even as the Centaurs in the battlefield were forced to bow their heads before him.
They bowed before the Lord of Demons.
While all the changes went on in his body, levitating in the sky, Sir Alfred watched his Lord with an unsurprised look on his face.
’The Lord has recovered further,’ he thought.
CLANG! CLANG!
Beating their weapons against their shields or their chests, the surviving Demons and Harpies of Dreadmoor’s Army began chanting their Lord’s name.
"LORD ZARATUL!"
"LORD ZARATUL!"
"LORD ZARATUL!"
Their voices echoed from land and sky, forming a symphony in a city of Centaurs that was now quiet and tamed.
From the POV of the Centaurs who were forced to surrender despite the raid on their Central Bank and the destruction on their home, amid the chants of the victorious Demons, they saw a Demon Lord standing in the backdrop of a pile of Centaur corpses with rivers of blood flowing behind him, dying the streets red.
They saw a Demon Lord that was untouchable by mere mortals like them.
They saw a Villain, an Archvillain who would not hesitate to massacre them all. They were tamed.
In that moment, the myth of Zaratul reconciled with the Demon Lord that they were currently facing.
The Villain of Dreadmoor was back.
And in that moment, they realized that none of the stories tied to the Demon of Debauchery were exaggerated.
He was just as strong, sinister, cold and ruthless as the stories portrayed.
Julian’s level up was finally complete. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
DING!
~----~
[You have leveled up to Level 30!]
[EXP to Level 31: 10,880,619,000/24,123,232,000]
...
[Current DP: 63,802]
...
[System Shop detected!]
[The conversion rate of DP to EXP at the EXP Open Market has increased: 1,000 DP is now equivalent to 100,000,000 EXP!]
~----~
Once again, the requirements to level up ballooned.
Staring at the figures currently being displayed in the Debauchery System interface, Julian winced slightly but he did not let his thoughts linger on it.
Instead, he focused on the new conversion rate.
He smirked. ’Thankfully, my avenues to get EXP points are also increasing’.
When the more powerful and perceptive Centaurs saw his smirk, they shuddered in fear as they misunderstood it. ’Monster!’
’He truly is a monster that revels in war and slaughter!’
’He smirks even in the face of such slaughter!’
Oblivious to what the Centaurs were thinking about him, standing as the focal point after the war ended, Julian thought of how he already achieved everything that brought him to the Kingdom of Falaniondor.
At first, when the raid deviated from his plan as Falaniondor retaliated, revealing their plot, Julian was annoyed and angry as his Dragon bloodline took over, heightening his emotions with an uncontrollable rage and pride.
But now that the battle was over and his subordinates didn’t suffer any casualties, instead gaining so much from the escalation, Julian was no longer angry.
Lilith gained from this, Elena gained from this, and he also gained from it.
He was satisfied.
Afterall, if the Elven Queen didn’t come, singlehandedly scaling the difficulty of the mission, there would have never been a hidden system requirement to amplify his rewards from tonight’s mission.
From a mission paying 1 billion EXP, he ended up getting over 34 billion EXP.
In hindsight, Julian felt grateful for the actions that were taken by the Councilors of the Kingdom of Centaurs but this did not mean he had intentions of forgiving them though.
Even back in his past life, Julian had never been big on forgiving wrongs.
He believed in the philosophy of ’an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’, especially when the wrong is targeted at something he cherished.
The mere fact that his subordinates’ lives were threatened by what happened tonight meant Julian would never forgive Falaniondor.
He wouldn’t forgive himself if anyone of his subordinates died tonight, so for that, this Kingdom had to pay the price.
The death of their strongest Councilor was a big punishment already, but to Julian that was too weak. He intended to double down and teach them a lesson that’ll make them incapable of defying him and Dreadmoor ever again.
If it was the old Zaratul, he would have vented his anger, killing all the Councilors and leaving a scene of destruction and devastation in his wake but to Julian that was foolish.
Killing the Councilors wouldn’t solve the problem.
New Centaurs would rise anytime tomorrow and become the new Councilors, and they’ll continue the circle of hate against him.
Julian didn’t want that, he wanted to cull the problem at the roots.
The moment his level up stabilized, Sir Alfred knowing what would follow next immediately directed his gaze at the distant Councilor Warren and Ben.
The 2 Councilors shuddered as their heartbeat accelerated.
They wanted to escape out of the city and abandon their kingdom, they wanted to run but they knew that in the range of an S Rank Sovereign, they had no hopes of escaping successfully except another S Rank Sovereign intervened.
The 2 Centaurs only hesitated for a few seconds before they made their decision as they rushed towards Zaratul’s position before going on their knees.
They accepted their fate.
They both knew that based on Zaratul’s style and his past history, they were likely going to die tonight, but there was a tiny chance that luck would shine on their faces tonight and he would feel benevolent.
Afterall, none of his main subordinates died during the assault.
Compared to the certainty of dying to the S Rank Conceptual Sovereign if they tried to escape, at least, they could survive at Zaratul’s whim.
The moment they knelt down, instead of swinging his sword at them to behead them, Julian instead looked at them and declared.
"From tonight, Falaniondor is no longer a Sovereign Kingdom".
"..." The 2 Councilors froze.
Julian continued, not caring about how they felt. "The Kingdom of Falaniondor is now subordinated to me as a vassal".
"Every year, you’re obligated to pay tributes and tax to Dreadmoor".
"During war period, when I summon you, you’re obligated to respond as my vassal and follow me to war".
Sir Alfred looked at Lord Zaratul in surprise but he didn’t say a word, he only thought. ’He’s changed’.
"Your army is now my army, Falaniondor is mine".
His eyes narrowed, turning cold as he willingly let his Dominion Aura seep out. "Do you object?"
The 2 Councilors froze, but with the S Rank Conceptual Sovereign there, they dared not object as they nodded frantically.
"Good," Julian nodded, then he looked at Sir Alfred. "Soul Pact". He ordered.
Sir Alfred’s eyes glinted.
Julian’s plan was simple. Instead of killing to vent his emotions and leaving a baggage of problems behind, instead, he wanted to create a big advantage from this situation.
It was also a form of punishment, but he was guaranteed to gain from it.
Having read about all the bloodline traits of Demons already, he knew that at Level 75, Demons unlock a racial trait called Soul Pact.
With Soul Pact, a high-ranking Demon can form different kinds of contract at the cost of a part of their soul.
With Soul Pact, Julian intended to bind the agreement of the 2 Councilors and ensure that they would never be able to break their promise tonight.
Sir Alfred’s grayish white ADE flared.
BZZZ!
Then he pulled at the air and dragged out a white paper- a contract.
Words quickly filled the contract, showing all the clauses that Julian just demanded of the 2 Councilors, then Sir Alfred handed the contract to them.
Julian stared at both Centaurs with a chilling gaze. "Sign it with your blood".
The 2 Councilors hesitated slightly, but unwilling to die they cut their skin slightly and with their blood, they signed the contract with their True Names.
Their blood instantly ignited with infernal flames, binding with the contract, then the contract paper disappeared.
"It’s done". Sir Alfred said reverently.
Julian nodded. "Good".
He stood with a short blade on his right hand, his predatory eyes gleaming like crimson jewels, with his long white hair billowing in the night wind as he raised his chin high with pride, then he declared.
"The war is over".
END OF VOLUME 1: REBIRTH OF A VILLAIN.
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