A month later, with my tithes to the elder fairies paid and more work on cleansing the would at "Old Pekothas", as the ruins were now called, I was ready to start work on fiding the Lich, Kel'Caldor. I didn't bring the pegasus back to life yet as it would be too dangerous and costly. It was better to tie up the loose end before I started to literally play god.
The thought passed through my mind several times. Ascension into godhood was a goal sought by many mortals. But while Snowdrop surely could and would die one day, I would remain. A new "me" would come and inherit all my power and live her (hope one day it's him, but if wishes were winged horses, everyone would ride a pegasus) life.
Death to me wasn't the bitter end to be avoided at any cost, but only a new start. The revolving lantern came to me at birth, not right before I expired.
Did I want to ascend to godhood? I would probably give up a lot of my freedom. Down here, I was free to do whatever I wanted, even screw up. Fight legendary creatures, build a new Kingdom every two hundred years, stare at deities in the eyes, and give up on everything whenever I felt bored.
As a deity, I would have a job. Gods can't live without Faith. Have a church, hear the bickering of the other gods... Yeah, just the last point got me sold on the idea of NOT becoming a deity.
If the devil in all his impish wits and infernal smarts thought it was better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, maybe my position here on the mortal world wasn't so bad.
Where was I? Yes, track down a lich and get his soul to put in a Dungeon Core. I needed something bound to him. I bet I could find something in his sanctum. But I would be a fool to do it anywhere near an important place for me.
The lich didn't come here in all these years. He either didn't want to or didn't think I was here. Given he probably could scry on the location, I would be stupid to not think he knew of the city we had here. And he probably knew I was ruling the place. Therefore, if he didn't attack in all these years, he wouldn't do so unless provoked.
I could probably leave him alone and go after another soul. I bet there was some tyrant out there with a high enough Attribute spread that could be safely deposed and used in the core. But I found the idea of killing to put a soul in the Dungeon abhorrent. The lich was already dead and there was no way to tell that even if left alone he wouldn't come one day.
Who knew how the minds of those undead guys operated?
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If shit was going to fly, it was better to do it right next to the house of the guys you liked the least. I was split between the dragons or the demons, but the latter won. I didn't want to kick that hornet nest that lived in central Pekothas, not when my nation wasn't ready to fight a draconic invasion. Demons it was. I went to the western half of the Scorched Continent.
Demons are akin to Gods in one aspect. They need worship to thrive. While the Gods were comfortable with passive worship, demons were the active kind, with sacrifices and rituals paving their way. It should be no surprise that they had whole settlements with sentient people on their side of the continent.
The cultists became very proficient in kidnapping children from the people on the other side. Those with magical affinities became more cultists if they accepted the mantle, or slaves and sacrifices if not. The mundane ones were put to work or just thrown to the imps as food. With The Master reborn (and now on his fourth incarnation as Cadrel's grandson took the mantle recently) and his assassins hunting their agents on the civilized half of the continent, they devoted themselves to breeding their slaves to keep the population.
They got an A+ for sustainability, then straight F minus grades for decency, human rights, civics, hygiene, morals, and downright disgustingness.
I flew over such a city. Abandoned in the wake of the Second Demon Lord's detonation, it was rebuilt by cultists. I descended on its main building and scouted. At the throne room, I found a cultist king and his court. He was a level 152 Human Cultist-General and had somewhat decent Attributes but too focused on physical stats.
With but a blur, I activated my Perks and introduced him to the Unicorn King's spear. The weapon and cultist King had a heart-to-heart.
> For killing level 152 Cultist-General you gained 77.4 B Exp. (Base 231,040 x625 fast-learner x3,05 Exp boost x3,05 challenge x7,59 favored enemy x7,59 contract)
>
> You reached Winged Unicorn Centaur level 8
>
> You gained the Perk: Wings of Light (ultra-rare): Your wings can emit a fierce light. In this state, any who looks at them is blinded. You cannot interact with solid objects, although you retain the ability to fly. Creatures of Darkness, Undead, and Demons lose 5 points in all Attributes while bathed by this light.
>
> You reached Unicorn Gladiator level 8
>
> You gained the Perk: Feverish Soul (ultra-rare): Add half your rage bonus to Soul.
>
>
>
> The Perks:
>
> * Light Lamia
> * Wings of Light
> * Shining Horn
>
> Combined into:
>
> * Light Elemental (combined): Your entire body and equipment or just parts of it can become Light at your discretion. They cannot interact with physical objects but function normally. You are not harmed or hindered by your Light. Choose a range up to Magic meters and intensity between Dim, Bright, and Searing. You can only have one elemental form active at the same time.
> * * Searing Light: All sighted creatures, Demons, Undead, and Shadow creatures cannot perceive with sight-like abilities in this range. The latter three lose 10 points in all Attributes or [100*(Your Soul)/4*(Their Magic/2)], whichever is higher. Your Light and Spiritual powers are 100% stronger in the searing light radius. Searing light becomes bright light at the end of the range and extends out the same distance.
> * Bright Light: Creatures weak to Light lose 5 in all Attributes. Your Light and Spiritual powers are 50% stronger. Bright light becomes dim light at the end of its range and extends out the same distance. Dim light has no special effect.
>
>
>
> If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Neat!
I tried my new power on the room, along with my auras. To my eyes, the whole place became hypersaturated as all and any shadows were dispelled by the reflection of the searing light. I finished each and every of the assembled courtiers and demons,
From there I went to town in the cultist city, killing every cultist and demon in it. The small fry plus the courtiers gave me a reasonable amount of Exp, enough to push me to level 140.
> You reached Winged Unicorn Centaur level 10
>
> You gained the Perk: Razor Feathers (very rare): Your feathers are razor sharp. They deal 3d10 base damage and can be used as blades if your wings are dexterous enough.
They weren't metal and couldn't be shot, but were mine. Normally I would need a Perk to give my wings a greater range of movement, but I had 76% bonus flexibility from [Physical Mastery] and {Double-Jointed}. My base wing damage, after factoring in my proficiency, was 10d10 + 39.
> You reached Unicorn Gladiator level 10
>
> You gained the Perk: Dual Wielding (very rare): You can wield two weapons at the same time with no penalty.
That would allow me to use the Unicorn spear and a wing or two wings to keep my hands free.
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I sealed the palace with a slab of stone and went to the ballroom to unlock my stone loot-box. The block of stone I cut from the catacombs was still the same way. Now, with time and improved Attributes, I used {A Capella} to double my Dexterity and slipped past the wards one by one, going slowly.
Once inside, I quickly looted the place, sending every object I could to the item box. Kel'Caldor's sanctum was composed of four rooms, a library, a laboratory for alchemy, a chamber for necromantic experiments and torture, and (curiously enough) a bedroom with a four-poster bed.
The bedroom had a portrait of a distinguished King and his family. Two Queens and nine scions among princes and princesses. The Royal family wore clothes made of fur putting them in a more primitive past but the painting was not from the same epoch. It was clearly made recently, in the last five hundred years. A trivial enchantment kept it from the ravages of time. I knew Kel'Caldor was Royalty as my {Royal Aura} didn't affect him, but I had no idea if he was the King or one of the princes.
The painting was obviously important to him but I doubted he didn't have copies. If I had to guess, he conjured an illusion from his memories and had someone paint this. Maybe even himself. What was Kel'Caldor's life story? Could I glimpse something from the books and scrolls he had in here?
After making sure there weren't any hidden compartments, I stored the box with the wards intact. I didn't need to mess with that at the moment. Sorting through the items I obtained, I found nothing soul-bound to him. I had a lot of reading to do, then. Before I left this city, I took the palace with me.
I was a kilometer away when I stopped and thought of the people I was leaving behind. innocent people, weak people, enslaved and tortured. Left behind in there, they would be easy prey for the demons that would surely come sooner or later. Tens of thousands.
Ferrying that many people to safety and finding a place for them was a daunting task. The only way I could take them away from there was if they were dead. And that's what I did to them. I went back and killed every sentient being in the city, then took their souls, bodies, and buildings with me.
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Back in Cymeria, I created a new neighborhood for them and laid the buildings back on the ground. Then I spent a month or two purifying their souls and interviewing them. Those that helped the cultists or the demons oppress and torture their fellow slaves were given to Pandora, the others I brought back with {Second Chance}. To my dismay, almost half of the adult population there had at one point or another committed such heinous crimes. Their HP pools were so small I could easily bring them back all at once. The demons didn't let their slaves grow too strong for obvious reasons.
I was in front of my new people. All of them remembered being killed by me and the interview. It was weird because they were all groveling on the ground of the plaza in their new neighborhood, worshipping me as some sort of deity. None of them had nowhere else to be, being born into captivity from parents that had the same origin as them.
I stood tall and made my tail, mane, horn, and wings glow with bright light as I flared my feathered appendages open. The gloom of the night vanished.
"I am Snowdrop, the [Unicorn Queen]. You are far away from the place you called home and there are no demons or cultists in here. You are no longer slaves or prisoners. I'll take your pledges of allegiance to me and to my Realm and you'll be citizens of Aquilonia. Here, in the plains of Pekothas, you will thrive and live a happy and fulfilling life, if you are willing to work hard for your dreams.
"You will notice that several of your fellows are not among you. Some of you know why as I saw you searching for them among the crowd. Your torturers, traitors, and rapists are no longer among the living. I did not bring them back. Instead, I delivered them the same punishment I gave the demons and cultists that oppressed you.
"You will be given tools, houses, clothes, and adequate rations. Your bodies are free of disease, poison, or parasites. You will learn a trade if you want, become soldiers, Adventurers, or even magicians if you are so inclined. The opportunities here are limitless, for those with the determined hearts and clear minds.
"Here in Aquilonia, we discriminate nobody. You will see goblins, orcs, humans, centaurs, elves, lamias, even mermaids walking my streets. This is by design. In my Kingdom, we value each by their contribution, not by their body shape or outlook. Every person holding an important position here earned it by their own merit. Even me.
"I was born to a roaming herd of centaurs in these plains. At the age of two, I was an outcast, exiled from my own family. My herd was enslaved by mind mages and shipped to a faraway kingdom to fight in the humans' war. Once I grew old enough to travel, I went there with my trusted allies. I defeated the humans and rescued my people. Then I came back here and erected this city, forged this Kingdom with these very hands and hooves you see here.
"Stand tall, citizens of Aquilonia. Look forward to a bright future with eyes wide open and a heart of steel. What you conquer with your own hard work is yours.
"But remember that my justice is swift. Do not fall into crime and corruption."
Dropping the figurative mic, I took to the skies while the roaring crowd shouted cheers at my name and Kingdom. It took all my strength to not get inebriated by it.