The Real Monster 59 Establishing A Village Ix

Clay entered battle mode and shut up as he saw the manifestation of powerful mana leaking out of the elf woman's body. It was familiar to him how frightful a mana that overwhelms you could be. With a very battle oriented person as an opponent, Clay could not get careless as he himself were not a fighter. He lacked severely, fighting experience and thus, could only use techniques that he has copied from his old world.

Clay made a move, the best fighting style he was a master of was Pugilism and thus, that's what he uses all the time. With it, he defeated that Demon Azrael-on, but that wasn't pure Pugilism and so it was not able to satisfy him. Plus, he was angry at that time, so all he could think about is getting rid of the annoying fly, not enjoy the fight.

This time however, Clay aims to enjoy and a.s.sess potential allies. He's sure he already took one into his side, the Lion-haired Regulus Ragnar, Beast King of the Dodecagon Prairie. So he wants to further enjoy his time in this tournament fighting with other powerful personages.

On the other hand, Caltec, Isaac, Jon and Mor were spearheading forces to negotiate surrender from all kingdoms that were inside the human realm.

[I have come here to present to you two paths. First, dissolve your kingdom and come under the banner of our Lord, or second, stand your ground and lose your people, your lifeline. Choose. You have a day before I will need to move on to another kingdom close by. In that time, I will leave my attendant with here to see to it that you have complied or have given your answer. He is not to be harmed for if so, we will take you down and everything you have built for years upon years and burn it to the ground, including your family and all connections you have. I have delivered my Lord's will and shall leave you to decide." Isaac, one of Clay's loyal subordinates stated with authority in his voice towards the king and the rest of the court, Clay's command. This line has already been used many times since their first subjugation of other kingdoms and has by now become something dreadful for those who receive the visit. However…

[P-P-Please wait! Lord Isaac, please wait. We have already deliberated amongst ourselves before you even came here and have heard of your words to be true. So please, hear our answer from our mouths directly.] The king paused for a second before continuing, [We, the kingdom of Kalu surrender to the Lord of Lord Isaac and become va.s.sals of under Lord Clay. This we swear.] After saying such he took his crown off and prostrated on the ground.

Seeing this, Isaac was satisfied and took out a piece of paper from his Dimensional Pouch, which was created by the good people of the Village. It was an va.s.sal treaty that contained all the benefits and punishments for following and violating the rules stated therein.

[I don't need to explain what happens if you break all that is within that paper, that which is forbidden, so read it and enforce it on your people, if they resist, you have all power in your hands to do what you will, as long as again, it does not violate the forbidden. Well then, I shall thank you and goodbye.] Isaac went away and stepped into a flying monster; an A Rank flying beast that was captured to become a mount through taming. Tamers have flourished in the Village as they domesticated a lot of animals for experiments that started with Isaac and Caltec wanting to procure food easily.

[Let's go. The next kingdom is one where I'll probably need to fight. Prepare for aerial attacks as well and keep alert as we go.] Isaac ordered his driver and the beast they rode on flapped its wings to lift off. The beast was like a b.u.t.terfly with slender body with wide wings, its back where the wings are located were broad enough for two to three people to mount it. It was covered in blue and scales and had red eyes. Its beak was sharp as a sword, it was called a wyvern a dragon-like existence with less intelligence and cannot escape the instinctual urge to hunt, eat and sleep to procreate.

Isaac rode on the wyvern and flew to the next kingdom. He was looking towards the direction of the Village, the home they all so cherish wondering what is happening while they were away.

Caltec was standing on a field that looked to be an area for where military personnel train. He was standing without any difficulty in breathing unlike his opposition. The knight that he was facing has his nose blaring to suck in more air, as if the hole is not enough to suck in air to properly breathe.

[This is pitiful. This is the commander of the Knights you're so proud of? This man cannot even last four seconds with my attendants even if he was in his peak condition. And the only reason why I don't let my attendants fight is because they might kill your men because of lacking control over their strength. Have I proven my point now?] Caltec took a lecturing tone and faced the left side where knights were crowding someone who looked to be the king. He was looking emaciated, the king of Garina, from the stress dealt to him by the reality that his knights could not even hold a candle to one of the men of this up and rising ruler, the one they call Lord.

[I, I cannot accept this! You surely cheated! I do not believe that you're so strong that I can't even land a hit on you!] Said the knight who had pride above all else in his system. To which Caltec scoffed and said, [I would have also doubted my eyes and senses if I were you when I first met my Lord, but he trained us to be who we are today without even sweating once. Do you get the difference in power then? If I alone can destroy your kingdom within two to three minutes, imagine what would happen if my Lord made a move personally? We are here to convince you to surrender not to destroy you, but if you resist using force then we will not shy away from using force as well. However, if you refuse and also refuse to fight, then your people will slowly leave you and migrate towards other kingdoms affiliated with us, that way you will no longer be a kingdom as well. You will not be treated unjustly, that's for sure, king.] Caltec a.s.suringly said to the audience and most especially the king, disregarding the wheezing knight commander.

[I'll give you a day to decide on whether you'll surrender completely or resist. I'll leave one of my attendants here to receive your decision, if he is harmed in any way, you and everyone here will pay for your lives and even those of your family and connections. Remember this, our Lord does not waste time thinking about morality when it comes to loyalty.] It was a bluff that they all used to convince a kingdom to surrender without resisting, and it was a very effective one. Since the time when an attendant they sent, one of the four loyal subordinates family, was threatened to be killed and instead killed the king and his subordinates for trying to make a move against him.

The bluff was that Clay would make a move, when in fact; an attendant can't even be trifled with because of the training that they have undergone under Clay's direction. It may not have been as intense as the four loyal subordinates' but their training would still put to shame those who call themselves elite.

[I shall leave then… and please, don't embarra.s.s yourselves any more than what you displayed today, it's pitiful. Let's go. You'll stay here with them, report regularly as per usual.] Caltec commented and commanded his driver who had impeccable timing in soaring to the skies above the training area, before he ordered his attendant to stay and monitor the situation. Unlike Isaac's style, Caltec left without leaving the rest who were there to actually voice something. The wyvern soared high before going in a different direction. It just so happens that the direction he was going towards was close to where Hark is located, the border between the realms. It was probably one of the reasons why he was hurriedly leaving, he wanted to go and take a look at how Clay was doing in his battles.

On the western front, Jon and Mor were together on the same wyvern. Mor was acting as the driver while Jon the emissary. There were tasked by Isaac to stay together to complete the western subjugation even earlier.

The east is where the empire was and that itself is a great task that would need all four of them so subjugating the west, south and north was the most efficient way they could totally cut off the empire's counter measures. Besides, by now after a year or so, the soldiers that have been scattered when they tried to invade the Village must have already arrived at the empire, reported what happened and are probably preparing to march out after blaming each other for the loss of the campaign.

n.o.bles were like that and they knew too well especially Isaac. That's why they planned to take over the entire north, south and west part of the human realm so that defeating the east would be smoother. Besides, with just a visit from Clay, the whole human realm should know who dares to take over the entire human realm and unite it.

[Hey, Jon, I have a question.] Asked Mor towards Jon who was sitting in a very relaxed manner while staring at the army right in front of them.

They were supposed to wait for the king and the notable n.o.bles of this kingdom, but then what came were the armed forces of the combined kingdom army and the n.o.bles' faction. Jon was calmly drinking tea with Mor and he was distracted when Mor spoke.

[Go ahead Mor, it's not like we've been waiting here for long.] Jon had an annoyed expression while looking at the army in front of him while at the forefront of that army stood the king and the n.o.bles that they were waiting for. It fact they have waited for over six hours already and now they are greeted like this. If they actually think about it, it would take that much time to gather this army, from far away so they should be able to understand if they thought about it.

[You see, I was of the impression that they are underestimating us too much with just this many people. It would have been better for them if they just quietly came here without fuss right? ] Mor also had an annoyed expression as he sipped the tea in his hands. He gave a sideways glance at Jon and nodded his head. He was about to stand up and confront the army they brought but Jon stopped him and said, [Sit down. They have not attacked us yet, so we can still talk to them. Remember the last place we visited? They were also reluctant but we talked to them and they listened. I know you want to stretch your arms and legs after a few months of going around, but that's not an excuse to actually perform a carnage here, right?] Jon said that as he released mana similar to how Clay always released his mana to intimidate them, it was a skill that Jon learned after trying so hard to imitate Clay. When finally Clay taught him the intricacies of the skill, he learnt it but it was at only level one and even a mouse did not get scared of him.

A year of training that skill and Jon developed his to the third level which now worked on those weaker than him by 2 tiers. And two tiers below him are the attendants of the Village, so that would still mean that this intimidate would work on most humans, even those who call themselves veterans of the battlefield. Knights and Commanders are no exception to this and so, the people, the army in front of them suddenly felt their bodies wanting to run. Their instincts told them to take steps back, no, not just steps but actually run away right the instant that Jon released his skill.

The king and the rest of them also felt this urge but Jon focused his on them and so it resulted in a pressure so great that the king and the n.o.bles fell to their knees, trembling.

[Jon, you're always using that skill nowadays, you're actually having fun are you? I should probably learn that but Sire told me not to do so and instead focus on my other strengths. Tsk.] Jon released a chuckle and patted Mor's shoulders to comfort him, he then said, [You know, your skill needs a lot of work and mine only needs a wee bit of effort so there's really no comparison. You should go ahead and just practice that skill and ignore my fun.]

While they were talking about something totally unrelated to the situation the rulers of the kingdom were struggling to even lift their heads to look at the two of them.

[P-P-Please! Mercy!]

Then someone shouted from the people who were very quietly just staring at them earlier. As there were so many people, Jon and Mor could not identify easily who said that and broke that silence.

[Uh, could you repeat that, I must have gotten a bug in my ears? I couldn't quite hear you.] Jon said while Mor chuckled he knew who spoke and could point out who made a sound even with his eyes closed, so if he could, then surely Jon would have been able to as well. So he knew that Jon was trying to hoodwink them into surrendering willingly through a show of force; thus, his chuckle.

[Please! We surrender, please just don't kill us!] The king, who had a very plump body and an arrogance that showed earlier, now was begging to be spared. So to that, Jon said, [Who was it that commanded their servants to welcome us and make us wait here only to find an army marching to surround us. To me, that const.i.tute a threat, and a threat, I cannot handle very well. So tell me, why should I spare you when just now you threatened me?]

[P-Please! Mercy!] The king was unable to say anything more than just please and mercy. He was also p.i.s.sing in his gown.

[Let's just kill them Jon, it takes too much resources to have them rebuild the kingdom to how we want it. I think Sire would like that better for some kingdoms right?] Mor was also giving them the cold shoulders and even prompting to actually kill them. This only served to further their fear and dread.

[Please! Please! Please!] All of them actually shouted out loud. The unified pleading sounded quite good to the ears. And finally, as if his heart has been softened by the display just now, lifted his mana emission and sat back down. Then he said, [For your sincerity I will spare you, but show this kind of att.i.tude again even if it's not us, you will suffer the consequences. I will leave now, and you will be supervised by one of our attendants, if any harm comes to him in here, I will destroy you all personally. Do you understand? Whatever he orders you have to follow. Failure to comply will only lead to the deaths of your family and your other connections.] Then he stood up and nodded towards Mor. Mor also stood up and called for the wyvern they rode towards this place. Then when Jon actually tried to leave through the center of the army, he felt a peculiar movement and entered super slow motion. Then he saw a knight trying to stab him with a sword. Some of the knights were trying to grab him but they noticed him too late. Jon took note of this and immediately took the head of the knight.

*Splash*

Blood scattered as the headless knight's body fell to the ground. Gasps and terrified faces were revealed.

[Whose knight was that man from? The Lord of that man deserves equal punishment. Kill him and have their family become commoners to work for the mines until they have rendered 20 years of service there. If not complied, I would know and all of you will suffer the same fate. Let's go!]

The attendant they were talking about was already in the kingdom and appeared just after they left. The wyvern flew high and disappeared without a trace. Jon had killed someone to show them that they were actually not just bluffing in this take over. It was very easy to take a life, but Jon knew this. He did not want to follow Clay's orders of killing their entire line, so he just sent them to the mines and stripped them of their n.o.bility.

[You did well out there. You can relax now. Sire would not blame you.] Mor comforted Jon and flew the wyvern towards the border between the realms, Hark. They all had in mind to visit Clay on his battle in the Battle Royale.