The two emperors were sitting facing each other with one towering over the other.
“I didn’t expect you to be from another world! Did you die and come back like me, or were you transmigrated?”
“Technically I am from another world and technically I am not. And also, technically it was both transmigration and reincarnation, however that works…”
“So how exactly does that work? You know, with two minds in one body?”
Kain shrugged and sipped the tea that the former Over-Emperor, now just a Dungeon Master had gotten for him.
“Like all things, you just kinda get used to it. At first it was a pain having to constantly fight to retain control, but once we got things figured out it all just sort of came together. We expect that sooner or later we both will cease to be and will completely fuse into something entirely new. It’s an ongoing procedure that we started and the more we work towards it the less we notice when we work together.”
The Dungeon Master sat nearby, watching with anxiety as the one who had conquered most of the Dungeon sat just a few meters away. Kain sipped the last of the tea in his cup and looked up and the white and gold golem that looked down on him.
“Now then, I appreciate the drink and pleasantries…” Kain stood up and tossed the tea cup to the side.
With visible fear, the Dungeon Master tried to think up a way to avoid a second death.
“Wait, wait, wait! Can’t you just keep the other floors and rooms and leave me in peace? I swear I won’t hurt anyone at all! No more dreams of conquest, destruction and rape for me, I swear! Please for the love of god, I don’t want to die again! It was scary enough the first time, don’t make me deal with that shit another time! I can barely even recollect any real details about the world I came from anyway, its mostly just a jumble of random things that I can’t really understand! Don’t kill me, I can’t have my mind be any more fractured than it already is!”
Kain did a few stretches before opening the Governance Menu and trying something out. Silently he tried to talk to the Core about his plan and all the while the towering man of metal blubbered on about this and that.
“Oi! Listen up!”
Kain shouted at the colossal crybaby as he wept oil-based tears.
“I can let you survive, but there is only one way that can happen!”
Grasping at straws, the giant metal man felt that if he refused whatever offer was made next, he would certainly be destroyed.
“Here’s the deal, you submit everything here, including yourself to me and in exchange you can become my vassal. You get to keep this dungeon, but you follow my rules. Aside from certain select circumstances you can just keep this place to yourself and do whatever it is you want down here. As my vassal you will be forced to aid me in war if I want you to and you will be forced to acquiesce to my demands, whatever they may be. Aside from any unforeseen events taking place, I fully intend to leave dungeon management up to you and to listen to your desires and try to accommodate them.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The 55-meter-tall metal giant was stuck in place, not believing what he had heard.
“Yes?”
Kain knew that the metal man didn’t fully grasp what had been said, so he made his point clear.
“The tl;dr is, you agree to serve me and I basically let you dick around in this dungeon all you want and we help each other out with shit, but I have more commanding power than you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
“Yes.”
“Do you agree to the terms of service?”
“Will it result in me being a mindless slave?”
“No.”
“Will I have my gender swapped and become a sexy female golem?”
“No…”
“Will you let me open more dungeon entrances elsewhere in the world?”
“Depending on what you will do with them and if you intend to treat my people different than others, then sure. Are you going to be a vassal of mine or do I need to get physical?”
The golem took a pose before thrusting his finger towards the ground.
“YES! I AM!”
Kain watched the display and replied in kind to a fellow man of culture.
“Verrry nice, Caesar-chan!”
It was at that moment that someone walked in through the door behind them. It would seem that the DM forgot to close the portal, and thus allowed someone else to walk through.
“Ho-ly Mother of God, you are ssssssssssssssmokin’!”
Kain knew who was behind him and hoped his cringy display of JoJo knowledge hadn’t been seen. There was a pop as Alexis flew from the ground and her fist slammed into the giant golem’s face. As the golem toppled to the floor, Alexis floated down towards Kain like a feather.
“What. Took. You. So. Long?”
“Just making sure everything was taken care of.”
Alexis looked over at the golem who had begun rubbing the point of impact while saying “Totally worth it!” over and over.
“And why isn’t that one destroyed?”
Kain put his hand on Alexis’ shoulder and looked her in the eyes.
“Because, he was going to swear loyalty to us and rule the dungeon as our vassal.”
Alexis paused and then let a sadistic smile cross her face.
“That could work. We already have our hands full with management of all the places under our control, so it would be a decent benefit to us if we were to gain another territory but have it be run by its own controller that would be our puppet. Yes, this could work well indeed! And…”
Alexis began to go off on her own little tangent as she went into full villainess noblewoman mode. During that time, the unnamed golem Dungeon Master sat up and looked at Kain.
“So. Is she your bae?”
“My wife and the mother of our kids, actually.”
The golem gave a thumbs up and his photoreceptor eyes changed into smiley face emotes.
“Nice. Too bad I’ll never be able to bone anyone with this body.”
Kain facepalmed while groaning and asked the most important question.
“So, will you kneel and swear fealty to me?”
The colossus of white-painted metal with gold trim knelt in front of Kain who looked up and saw the massive crater that had exposed the electronics underneath the metal chassis of his head.
“I, Zero Noir, offer my undying loyalty to you, my eternal sovereign. So please don’t kill me or send me on suicide missions, I really don’t want to die again, in case you didn’t know that already.”
Kain nodded and the giant golem named Zero Noir began to writhe in what appeared to be pain.
“Why?! I told you I would serve you!”
Kain was the only one of the two who realized what was happening. Zero’s white paint job began to turn black and the gold trim turned metallic red. From his back grew two more mechanical arms and his overall design became more sinister as his two legs became twelve machine-like tentacles, each tipped with a six-fingered claw-like hand. His waist and his head also began to change with his waist spreading out to form more thrusters and his head reshaping to be more intimidating. The rather agonizing transformation continued until the former ‘white knight’ golem became a terrifying giant that would be seen more as a villain than a hero.
Lifting up into the air, the reincarnated man now known as Zero Noir explored his new form while Kain and Alexis merely walked off. They would let their new pawn screw about, so long as it served their interests, but if he ever started anything then he would become a molten pile of slag. Noir didn’t have to know this, and remained blissfully ignorant as to how little faith was put into him by his new masters, but how he would gain that trust is a story for another day.