There were a few things to sort out if I ever wanted to make this a viable and working home.

First of all, defending it would be crucial. It was bound to receive expeditions at some point. Not any time near, as the last news anyone had was that the dungeon had been cleared. Lebil, the only other person aside from us two who knew, could no longer tell anyone.

Second, attacking and taking over the city required planning. I despised the Church and I wanted to see it gone, but my conscience wouldn't let me wipe out the entire city, innocent citizens included.

Third, if I wanted to bring Claudia over, we needed a functioning summoning site. We had the place itself, but not the equipment needed.

My third point had an easy solution, though. When attacking the city, we had to take all the equipment from the Church's summoning site here.

I had been thinking about Claudia, and ultimately I had decided to help her. I didn't feel pity or any obligation to do so, but I was hoping to make her useful. She had been experimenting with corruption, and I was just about to set base in a corrupted area.

I was perfectly fine with that. Yasmin, not as much. She could probably survive here for a few days, and as long as I could monitor her, I could tell if she was close to the line between normal and corrupted.

Ideally, Claudia would help me understand more about corruption and about the fine line between corrupted—like me—and dust—like the many things I had experimented with. If we got it right, Yasmin and Claudia would be the first ones to join my wonderful corrupted world.

If we wanted Claudia in one piece, though, we had to act quickly. If Yasmin's faction, which I learned was called The Congregation, were the reason that Yasmin was captured, by extrapolation, Claudia was going to meet a similar fate.

Yasmin was still processing everything that had happened. Her being rescued, my outburst and declaration of war, and now my whole plan for our next steps. It was a lot, but I could not afford to give her that time.

“Yasmin,“ I caught her attention, “what exactly is your class?”

I had to put her to use, which was next to impossible without knowing what she was good at.

“I'm an [Administrator].” When I didn't say anything, she got the hint that I needed more explanation. “I make cities function by ensuring everything is as efficient and effective as possible. People, projects, tasks, whatever. And I'll be clear,” she added, “to take this and make it anything close to habitable, we’ll need more people.”

She started pacing around the room, still the former summoning site, while rubbing her head and thinking aloud, which only came across as making weird noises.

“We might be able to cut it down to one, if you can convince him to join us.” The last part she said in a whisper. “He's an [Architect], a rare evolution of the [Earth Mage] class.”

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She started talking about how the building had to be torn down and reconstructed from scratch. About defensive walls. About a better position and layout for the summoning site. It was honestly overwhelming.

“Yasmin!” I interrupted her when her rambling no longer made any sense to my ears. “Where do I find him? And how do I convince him to come?”

“Ah, uh. Pol. He is, or was, I guess, under contract for me. We go way back, when the city was barely a establishment. I don't think we'll be able to just find him unless you can enter the city without being seen.” I shook my head. “In that case… there should still be some people loyal to me. I can spread the word and set a meeting point for them, Pol, and us.”

I tapped my fingers on the wall. It sounded nice and I could not look down on an opportunity to increase our numbers. However…

“Isn't it too easy to set a trap for us? If word comes out that we are just meeting a bunch of people… I might be able to tell who has ill intentions,” I thought, reflecting on my what Enemy sense used to do and was now covered by [Third Eye].

“You know what? Arrange it.” I ended up deciding. “But keep in mind, I'll have the last word, and if I think anyone is an enemy, I will act without asking.”

“Give me two days, one to spread the news and one for them to mobilize. I suppose you don't want to meet here directly?”

“No. Let's go for the woods west of the city.”

She nodded and already walked away. I was sure she had many questions burning in her mind, so I was grateful that she immediately took action.

I had set my goal. To see this world burning. And the first step toward that was the city next to us.

I had to strike while the Church was in disarray and the city ungoverned. If we captured the summoning site before they manned it again, reinforcements would take more time to get there. And by the time they did, I better had a fortress set up.

I only had one regret: my class. I summoned my [Corrupted Class Book] and skipped pages until I found the one I was looking for. And when I did, I could only sigh.

[Herald of Corruption]

In gray, the page had no option to take it. If I could, that would be my choice now. My current class had allowed me to create more complex attacks, and made me more adept at manipulating my own energy. It was good, but good was not enough.

What I wanted, and what my plans really aimed for, was to swallow the whole city in corruption and to free everyone from the System. Essentially, creating my own domain.

A domain where only those I chose would survive. Only those who were free of any influence, including the System could thrive. And, above all of them, I would be the most powerful.

Perhaps my class lacked behind right now, but if this world had shown me anything, it was that with my own work and effort, I could create my own path. And I would do whatever it took, carving it in blood and death if I had to.

This was now my destiny.