It turned out that Veris had left the King - who was now a Goblin - under the watch of a few Assassins in Sanctuary. He was bound, gagged and locked inside a cupboard. Even though Goblins speak, they thought it best to chuck something in his mouth so he couldn't bite through the rope.

I still wasn't pleased Veris hadn't informed me of that information until I caught her in Talia's, but it was my own fault to begin with for keeping him around. I didn't really need to kill him again, and now that the triplets were back, I had no reason too.

I was still going to kill him. If only for the fact that I told him it would be happening.

A crash drew my attention to the bar and it turns out Talia had enough of Light standing on her counter. She swept his legs up, and he ended up laying on his back on the floor of the tavern. Unsurprisingly, he didn't spill a drop of ale.

Noir is laughing his head off and everyone else carries on as though nothing has happened. It's just another day in Varona.

After a few drinks with Anya, I teleport to the sanctuary and locate the Assassins Veris had delegated to watch my Goblin. Torturing would have been a better word to use, though, because when I located them, they were actually talking to him. Not that he could verbally respond, but he could answer back through the dungeon system. He was in the body of one of my monsters after all.

Even if he could, he probably wouldn't be trying to talk, anyways. In fact, Aldus was staying tight-lipped about everything and the only responses he gave were screams, probably for the questions to end. Apparently, the Assassins had been interrogating the Goblin ever since Veris had dumped him on them. I was glad they took the initiative, but a little sad they hadn't gotten anywhere.

Well. It was my turn now.

Upon seeing my face, ex-King Aldus' little green face flashed with fury, making him even uglier than your usual Goblin. Even uglier than Obling, the Goblin Mage and Leader, and that's a hard feat as he's fucking ugly. I can't stand that goblin.

It fills me with delight when he begins screaming incoherent nonsense, and through my will, all I hear are curses. Curse me, curse the little Dragons, curse the beautiful angels of death that won't shut the hell up, curse everybody, was the jist of it.

Not playing around, as my patience is thinner than Veris' garments in my dungeon, I crush the King's skull and watch as he spasms to death. The moment his soul is released from the body, I grab hold of it and summon a new Goblin. Placing him inside, the eyes open and he screams again.

I know I shouldn't be happy about this, but that's just another human trait I'm holding onto. I decide what's right and wrong now. Not the outdated system and laws people follow, putting royalty and nobility above the majority. Screw those pompous guys.

Why!? Aldus isn't happy about dying and being reborn as a Goblin. Not that he has any say in the matter whatsoever, and I listen to him scream inside my mind while smiling. The triplets behind me don't say a word. They just watch as I kill and reincarnate Aldus' soul over and over again. Even the Assassins didn't speak, and I was still in their house. It was only when the walls were covered in Goblin Blood that I stopped and wondered if I took it too far.

No. He definitely deserved that. In the back of my mind, I know what I just did was wrong on some level. I wasn't even questioning him. Still, I don't feel a shred of guilt over what happened even if I know it was wrong. It was a process that needed to happen.

With my frustrations worked though and Aldus placed in the world's weakest Goblin body, wrapped up and safely locked away in the Assassins' closet, I head back to Varona. The sun has set and the true night has almost arrived. Not the illusionary night that Light had created this morning, but the real deal. With it, the streets began to empty and those not already home, slowly staggered their way there.

Some days feel longer than others whereas some can flash by in the blink of an eye. I suppose it's all a matter of perspective. My perspective says that this was an extremely long-ass day. That's how it feels, at least.

Instead of going to the Sentry Tower, I port us to my tower on top of the Academy of Dark Arts. I don't care about size, at least not in the tower way. I care about my city. My family. The DP Farm... Factory? I mean citizens. I care about my citizens. The little people down there that make me my DP... I mean, that live life well. The people that live well. Damn, DP is really stuck in my head.

I only got 85,000 total from all the demons we killed. The amount of xp and DP I earned from them was significantly reduced as well for some reason. The System, or Sis, couldn't specify why either, and I didn't even earn 1% from them. It was crap compared to the usual 10% I get. I would be rolling in points and levels right now if it had been calculated properly. We did kill close to 4000 demons, and those were the ones I absorbed. Who knows how many I disintegrated with my void beam.

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Still, I'm not complaining. It's just that I don't have much DP left. I spent the rest of the reserves on my two bodies and replenishing the Assassins ranks during my fight with the King. I had less than a hundred points left at that moment.

Now, after absorbing the demons, summoning three Oblivion Dragons with specific specifications, creating Bear and making him better than before and creating the outpost for the elves to camp in, I've only got 30,000 DP left. It feels like pittance compared to the million I had been sitting on, but I suppose it's still better than the 20 points I started with.

Being a dungeon and not having to worry about money is cool and all, but worrying over my points is basically the same thing. You can't escape the feeling of wanting more no matter what species you are.

The triplets settle down on their futons and Violet tucks Bear in beside her. I grab an arm full of cuddly monster teddies and lay flat on my back on my own Royal Futon.

Hey, Me?

Yes? What's up?

Do you think I can start calling myself Queen Abi now? I mean, I did kill the king and all.

Did you really just ask me that question? I'm not an expert, but from what I have heard, that's not how it works.

Yeah, I know. I was just messing with you. Night, bud.

Quite. Also, you know I have no need to sleep and neither do-

Yes I do, so goodnight. Don't bother me while I'm sleeping unless it's an emergency.

Cutting Me off before he can state the obvious, I snuggle myself into comfort and drift off like a log. It's been a while since I called him just to joke.

There were no dreams that night and no nightmares either. Just the peaceful nothingness of rest and relaxation. When I awoke the sun had just begun to rise on the horizon, and the streets were still empty. The triplets were still sleeping, so I decided to spend my points before they woke up. That way we could spend the day together doing fun things rather than the same-old boring Land Acquisition.

I was at 133,000 DP after I had made bank last night. Totalling to three cities, the amount is more impressive now that the threat of war isn't looming over us. I can finally start making my way towards Ishda, and then I can spread my territory out to the rest of the cities in our region from there. More cities means more people, and more people means more points.

In honesty, every city is a DP Farm waiting to be harvested by a dungeon. They can then use those points to help better the people of said city. Helping them in levelling, which in turns fuels the dungeon with more points. We're all connected on a fundamental level yet no one sees it. Humans fear dungeons and dungeons kill humans in the masses. That's how it has been for centuries.

Then again, humans kill humans in the masses too but they find it easier to overlook their own misgivings.

I should know.

Before I start spending points on land, I head to the forest to see the elves, just in case they need anything before they leave. Their leader, the elf that had saluted me, was called Edwan. Or that was what Eduine had told me. I didn't know whether or not to believe him because it seemed like there were too many Ed's going around recently. I just wanted to call him something else.

However, that was his name and it's what I had to call him.

Porting into the middle of the outpost, Edwan came to meet me after one of the elves took off to inform him of my arrival.

"We have more than enough rations to last the trip back, and we wouldn't dream of asking for anything from one as powerful as you." I didn't know how to take that sentence. Was Edwan praising me or saying the elves were just too afraid to ask? I couldn't tell.

Regardless, I decided that I would send some Assassins with Edwan and the elven contingency just for some extra protection. I didn't want them dying on their way home. Then they wouldn't be able to spread word of my strength and glory. It's time to push this Core thing to the limit, and when I finally reach Ishda, Lord Aldor's city will be where I make a name for myself.

As the Lord's city is central to our region, all the information that travels through our area either goes to or from Ishda. That means if I'm going to start spreading word of unregulated dungeons that help people level free of charge, our region's capital would be the best spot. The best attainable spot that is. The best location would actually be the Capital City of Imperia, but that's too far away to acquire through points for the time being.

Acquiring Ishda and all the cities in the region should hopefully triple my daily DP amount. That in turn triples how much more land I can purchase on a daily basis. World domination is a long way away, but Ishda? I can easily see myself acquiring the entire region in less than a year.

I've already got Orad and Tune under my wing. Not that they know the extent of how far under they are yet, but they will in time. In time everyone will come to know how great and loveable dungeons are. As long as you take your time and progress at a steady rate, anyone can level up. Everyone can ascend.

"Although, I think at some point in the future our King may wish to speak with you." Edwan informs me.

The last thing I want to hear is how another royal might want to meet me. I suck at talking to people as it is and things just never seem to go my way. Also, the last thing I want to hear about now is more royalty. Queen Abi is about the most I can take and even then it's in a joking capacity.

Maybe I won't send those Assassins with them after all?