Kidak of Pharontia was brought to you by Mahmoud Dadikhy, Bennett Ross, and Paul Vanderburg. Check our “Build-a-Prince” contest! I did a few changes to their suggestions.
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We arrived at the hunting grounds, a large forest roughly the size of Delaware where hunting ad extraction rights belonged only to the Imperial Family.
Like everything the Empire touched, it had lost its innocence. Despite being mostly left alone, it wasn’t a primeval forest and no fairies spawned here. It was tainted by all the death and despair that happened in this wicked place over the dozens of centuries it had been used for its nefarious purposes.
Hunting stock of all kinds was brought in from outside and released here. From the mostly innocuous al-Mi’raj a barbarian child fought for sport to actual barbarian children, and all the gamut of animals, monsters, and people in between were brought from outside and released here to be hunted.
Today it was no different. The hunt today included no actual people unless one considered the Nobility and Royalty preying on each other as hunting. I didn’t. To me, they were cannibal maggots festering on each other. Thousands of would-be hunters crowded the colorful tent city. With the Imperial family in the middle and spreading out in three-quarters of a circle, the nobles arranged themselves by rank in rings going outward from there. The lesser nobles would not see the green of the trees yet they had to come for one important job.
Making the not-so-lesser nobles feel like they were important because they had someone beneath them. I had to take a moment to ponder why they clung so desperately to these minor titles. They had to stand in line all night long at balls and other social functions. They had to come and camp for a week under torrential Spring rains.
Yet the answer was obvious. If being a minor noble was that shitty, imagine how much worse it was to be a commoner. The reason they stayed as minor nobles were twofold. They might get lucky and get promoted or marry their children upward, and they had someone else underneath them to levy taxes upon and skim a bit for themselves.
They had to attend to do the legwork and brown-nosing to guarantee alliances and lower the chances of being invaded. They would be miserable for a week in Spring, a few days here and there over the year, and vent their grief on the peasantry of their decadent fiefs. Like Ena’s parents.
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As we approached the site after a week of traveling, we were stopped right before the start of the camp by the Imperial Guard who inspected the carriage. I had Madge and Mona wearing their veils, which had leveled up and improved the distortion and {Appraise} masking abilities.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” the guard addressed us politely. “The road is in bad conditions from now on. We ask you to allow an earth mage to ride with your driver to smooth it out in front of you.”
“Granted,” Rhiannon answered.
Our carriage moved past these tents and like peddlers in a market, these lesser nobles brought their youth to the fore. Young Ladies and Gents lined up on both sides of the dirt road kept together by the Earth mage on the driver’s seat.
The reason for the bad road conditions was the drainage of rainwater. The nobles’ mages kept the water from falling around their designated tents and the ground around them, turning the road into a muddy river bed. The ground on both sides was raised to waist-height by small levees and I could sense signs of moisture on the whole mound of packed dirt.
The area for the Imperials was paved with shaped stone. We stopped briefly for the Earth mage to disembark and entered the circus. Colorful tents and sparkly banners floating in the wind over the tents. Each Prince had his own tent and they fanned around the central tent, dedicated to the [Emperor] in order of priority. Mine was the furthest one, away from the center and from the entrance, far to the left. The entrance was a prestigious place as the noble guests would have to pass near them in their way to the others, forcing them to pay the [Prince] their respects.
We finally reached my tent. The girls’ armor gained a Perk that allowed them to don it with no assistance as the living silk stretched to fit them. It was only slightly harder than putting on clothes. They moved out first, their Adamantite-laced blue armor shining under the sun.
I went out next and helped Rhiannon disembark. Already a few nobles waited to talk to us but they knew better than to ambush us as we got down from our carriage. Flanked by the girls in their armor and shrouded by the dual-obfuscation effects, we went into the tent.
While the women explored our new home for two weeks, I removed gold-plated rods from my inventory and started placing them around the tent. The Force panels sprung to life as I activated the enchantments and fixed the rods in place. The fields actually went around the rods, giving them a dual-layer of protection. I could move through the barriers with {Force Phasing} and I had to touch the rods to turn them off. After the rods were all in place, the barriers rose to meet in the middle, sealing the tent. It was porous and allowed oxygen, water, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide to pass in small quantities while letting all other airborne substances move out only.
I changed into my armor but left the helmet off. “Ladies, I think it is time to go out and mingle. Meet my brothers, the nobles trying to get some benefit from us, all that marvelous things that come with being part of the Imperial family.”
We went outside. The girls were actually relieved that Mona wasn’t the [Emperor]’s daughter. Outside of that, not much changed. Madge couldn’t have it as Marion entered the Palace already pregnant.
We were accosted by nobles soliciting all sorts of things. From offers of troops to conquer the Sunset Range, to alliances by marriage, going even so far as to just pledge their allegiance with us.
Count Seyham was in a pinch. Four of his neighbors had teamed up to attack and pillage his castle. The hunting season halted all wars across the Empire so he would be safe for these two weeks. But the moment the [Emperor] got on his carriage, all bets were off. The armies were camped outside his borders, doing R&R as they waited for the signal to attack. The population was trapped, unable to flee the incoming massacre.
Nobody else offered to throw their hat in the game. He was alone, without any allies. He brought all of his extended family to the hunting grounds and the best move for him was to renounce his fief and settle in the capital. They would be shunned by society and soon fall prey to thieves and hired burglars. No matter how much of his treasury he managed to bring here, everything would go to naught without support.
“Your Highness Percival, please! If you ally yourself to me, you can have my two daughters, Lisa and Leona. They will serve you in any capacity you wish.”
The two girls were eight and eleven years old. Leona, the oldest, was level twelve. She had the System for less than a few months and wasn’t present at my debutante.
“I need to talk to them before anything. But I’ll state my terms right now. I’ll take a hundred kingmetal coins from your treasury as tithe. I’ll also take half your population, my choice of whom, with me to the Sunset Range. You’ll erect a mighty cathedral to the Matriarch and make that the official religion of your fief. I expect all your family to convert to that faith too. Finally, I demand the right of retribution.”
Right of retribution meant the attacked one could counterattack and invade the offending fiefs, basically an Uno reverse card. Usually, the skirmishes ended when the invaders were repealed. It wasn’t often invoked because the attackers would now have to worry about more than just raiding and would usually throw larger armies at the defender to leave them no strength to fight back. It was an all-or-nothing proposition.
“Milord, they will leave no stone unturned,” the Count begged.
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“Stop this nonsense,” A haughty man in flamboyant clothes with too many colors which were oddly well-coordinated and pleasant to the eye approached.
“Duke Cunningward,” I said and waved my hand, allowing him to approach. “What have you to say about this?”
“Right of Retribution will drag you into a fight with forces you cannot withstand, Your Highness. It is a fool’s endeavor to try to save this wretched excuse for a noble,” He scoffed at Seyham, causing the girls to flinch in fear. “They are doomed, living on borrowed time. Had my fellow nobles not felt honor-bound to respect the hunting grounds tradition, you wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
It was obvious this guy was behind the four fiefs that were poised to attack. Such predatory and destructive raids were usually backed by some higher-up. I focused on the memorized Imperial map and recalled that Cunningward was five fiefs away from Seyham. He could be pulling the strings on this raid.
“You are indeed the warden of cunning, my ominous Duke,” I replied with mockery. “I do like to fight for the underdog, as the other way around yields less Exp. You say as if this little regional skirmish wouldn’t end with just the five fiefs involved.” I grinned with greed as I stared at him, “you say there are more involved in this, more targets to attack as I show them I am not one to be trifled with? I must say, I’m disappointed. These four fiefs should tremble in fear at the idea I could be involved in their little game of pillage.
“And mind your words when talking to your betters, my surly Duke. The snake may be cunning but it is vulnerable to flanking attacks. You have nothing to fear from me, as I always go for the frontal attack.”
I was taunting him into taking offense. No better way to start on this peacock fighting ring than crushing someone in a duel.
“You should know your place, second-lowest Prince,” He stared me down. Now it was I who could claim offense and challenge him but if I did, he could assign a champion. If he challenged me, he would have to fight himself.
Second-lowest was because a young brother was born during early winter. They held back the announcement until Spring to see if the baby would survive. His mother didn’t.
“I know my place. At the right side of my father’s throne. Now, you must be dreadfully afraid of my involvement if you need to come here personally to bully me into leaving your lackeys alone. I admire your dedication to rolling in the mud for them. You even dress like this to glare at everyone’s eyes and make sure anyone can notice you coming from miles. No wonder you reached this far tent unimpeded. A true cox-comb if I ever saw one.”
> > Contested Charisma test won. Reaction shifted down by 57 steps. Current reaction -84 “Mortal Enemy”.
Duke Cunningward removed his gauntlet and tossed it on me. I held it and sent it to the item box.
“Offense has been given!” The Duke shouted.
“A challenge has been issued. As the challenged one, I declare it a duel to the death.”
The Duke froze for a moment. He knew my track record. “No magic. Standard knight swords, chosen at random from a pool of ten.”
I already knew he would sabotage the blades. His mind was screaming that as he schemed to rig this duel to his favor.
“Halt!” An imposing voice shouted from behind the crowd. The bystanders parted immediately to show my “brother” [Prince] Kidak of Pharontia, eighty in the line of succession and close to a hundred years old. His impressive codpiece was said to compensate for something but it was the other way around. This guy would give Mandingo [1] a run for his money. “Duke, cease this insanity!”
“But my liege! Your stupid brother offended me,” Duke Cunningward gesticulated with his naked hand.
“Percival, yield this challenge, Or I’ll fight you before you fight the Duke.”
> > [Imperial Prince] Level 93 male human [Imperial Duelist]
I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s stupid. Are you really going to fight me here? Or are you going to champion for the Duke? Give your life away for his?”
He bellowed a chortle, “You would allow that? I’m a [Duelist], little brother. I killed more man than you’ve bedded women.”
“Maybe you bedded more men than I killed women.”
“That’s it,” he shoved the Duke out of his way. “Prepare yourself! We fight right here and now.”
Kidak drew his rapier, a fine steel weapon, and lunged without giving me time to react. Aiming for my heart, I let him strike as I shifted my body just enough so he would puncture through my shoulder muscle and miss my chest cavity. I avoided his critical hit but he had Perks and Abilities to ignore my armor entirely.
The rapier pierced me through a weak point under the pauldron to the hilt and I pretended to gasp. The attack shaved off twenty million HP even after mitigation. I grabbed his forearms next to the elbows and vomited a large amount of clotted blood on his face. Red tendrils of blood masked my pseudopods as they invaded his mouth and nose as the blood crawled over his head.
The girls squeaked in surprise and fear.
He tried to move his arms but my steel grip coupled with {Eldritch Aura} sapping his physical Attributes held him in place. The pseudopods pierced through the back of his throat and poised to strike. He couldn’t even speak, only gurgle and choke as he bled straight into his throat and windpipe.
> > Death Contract
Then I severed his spinal cord next to the first vertebra.
> For killing level 93 [Imperial Duelist], you gained 84.9 Trillion Exp (Base 9168669 x 100,000 fast-learner x3.05 favored enemy x7.59 death contract x4 Class rank)
>
> ---> 15% of the total Exp to the next level. I rose to thirty-fifth in the line of succession.
I cut the pseudopods and let them whither. Kidak slid down to the ground lifeless as I removed his unattended rapier from my shoulder by sending it to the item box. Putting my hand behind my back, I bound his soul to a silk doll and stored that too. Then I waved a hand over the body and made it vanish, leaving his storage ring behind. I picked the trinket and put it in a belt pouch.
“I believe we have a duel, my cunning Duke,” I said as I loomed over the man on the ground. It all happened so fast he hadn’t the time to get back on his feet and by the looks of it he hadn’t the will to do it either. Kidak was his ally and backer. The Duke and his faction had just lost a lot of prestige and power.
“No! No! I yield! I yield! You win! We won’t attack Seyham!”
“Do you yield in a duel to the death which you had accepted?” I asked. It basically meant he gave up on living as I now had the right to terminate him any way I chose. “I’ll drag you before my father, you honorless curr! He’ll dissolve your House!”
These internal raids were terrible for the economy. They generated nothing of value and caused tremendous loss of life, productivity, and property damage. Not to mention the money lost paying these sellswords. The Empire grew weaker with each raid. Seyham would take decades to rebuild themselves and even if it was annexed by some other fief, it would be taxed to starvation as the annexer would not waste any effort redeveloping the place.
“No! Have mercy, Your Highness,” he groveled. “I am a Duke of the Empire! I can be useful!”
I could see several nobles shaking their heads at the pitiful display. “You said, ‘we won’t attack Seyham’. So you confess being behind this ploy. Count Seyham, I accept your pledge if you agree to my terms. Ladies, would you pledge yourselves to serve me for life?”
The two young girls cracked a genuine smile. I could feel a wave of pity, joy, and hope from the armored women behind me. Rhiannon nodded, signaling she greenlighted the alliance. They knelt on the grass.
“We pledge our allegiance and our House to Prince Percival. Let all know the rumors about him are just slander. He is fair and just as much as he’s brave.”
“My daughters spoke better than I could hope to, Your Highness. We accept the terms of your alliance. Praise the Matriarch.” The Count beamed with hope. The girls empathized with their father and appeared like little rays of sunshine dressed in finely dyed cashmere goat wool.
“Good. Once the hunting festival is over, I’ll go straight to Seyham. Ladies, you shall obey the two knights behind me. A servant will get your personal possessions back at your father’s tent. Your mother is free to visit.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” the two curtsied and went to stand next to Madge.
“What shall be done of you, Duke?” I asked as he got back on his feet, finally.
Cunningham had time to think of a way to escape. His initial scramble and the outrage at being tossed around by two Princes wore off.
“Would you allow me a champion?”
I grew a few inches in front of him as I moved to face him from inches away.
“So eager to throw someone else’s life away to save your own ass, aren’t we now? Where is the bravery that made you throw your gauntlet at me?”
Some nobles snickered behind his back.
“You yielded the duel, Duke. Your life is mine. How much is your life worth for you?”
“I’ll help fund your expedition to conquer the Sunset Range.”
“I’m going to invade and pillage your fief. You admitted to being the backer of the attackers at Seyham.”
“The attack won’t happen. You will not be granted rights of retribution if no attack takes place.”
He lost upward support. Now he was cutting his tail so the main body could survive. His vassals would be pissed at him as they now had a mercenary army’s wages to pay. Unless…
Damn. They would default on the mercenaries and use their regular armies to push them into Seyham. Since they were no longer employed, it wasn’t an attack, just a bandit raid. Cunningward made good by his namesake.
Killing the Duke would mean his son would inherit the title. Not much would change in the grand scheme of things. Seyham would still be raided and I would be forced to defend a territory with no visible benefit for me.
This is how the walls around one’s convictions eroded. I had one solution that would give me a clear victory, at the cost of one of my values. I could brainwash the Duke and make him my puppet. I knew the spells, I had the magical power and Affinity to make it covertly even right here.
Fuck that. He wasn't worth my principles. And he was too low level to be worth any Exp.
“{Exsanguinate}. {Crystallize Essence}. {Disintegrate}.”
The Duke became a red crystal in my hand and a pile of dust. He would be disavowed by his son and struck down from the family registry as a madman. House Cunningward would suffer a terrible accident leaving the hunting grounds in two weeks, leaving no survivor. They would then be prayed upon by their neighbors, who would take advantage of the power vacuum to raid the Duchy during the start of the summer raiding season.
Too big to fail, the Empire nonetheless lost one of its many pillars, becoming weaker. Yet the nobility kept partying and enjoying their stolen wealth, oblivious to the incoming disaster.
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[1] A porn actor from Carson, Mississippi.