The giant flesh colored pig slammed down into the ground where I had just been. Acid Shot x2. I aimed up in the air, since the pig was already leaping. My attacks struck it and I dodged out of the way as it the dirt of the darklands. It splattered open, its organs beginning to transform into smaller pigs. Acid Shot x2.

Its organs began to melt before I could be besieged by lots of little piglets. I had gotten used to the monsters now. Leaping pigs that exploded into smaller piglets. It was incredibly nasty and reminded me of the golems leaping to crush me. Only these Leaping Pigs didn’t have ranged attacks, just little piglets that would come out after death.

At least they didn’t swarm me like the Fox Clan. Leaping Pigs were apparently solitary monsters. Which was nice. I kept making my way West and I shuddered thinking about the monsters just to my South. Unlike the Leaping Pigs, the Phase Worms had almost got me.

Near invisible, they could move in and out of the ground without disturbing it. They only became solid right before they attacked. They were just as annoying as the Fox Clan, but in a different way. I did not like letting monsters attacking me first. Unfortunately, while I could damage them with Acid Shot while they were phased, they hid in the ground and tried to bite my feet.

Stealth monsters were officially the worst. I had enough of them after dealing with the Donkey in the tower. It was still the most annoying monster ever, but the Phase Worms were up there on the list as well.

I cleared the darklands and left the Leaping Pigs behind and made my way through mistlands. The green crabs with their poison claws were easily ignored as I kept rushing West. I outraced the level 3 monsters without worry. Now that the zone had gone from level 4 to level 3, I knew there were cities up ahead somewhere.

The mistlands transitioned to frostlands. I kept rushing West, since I wanted to get this over with. In my mind this was going to be neither fun or pleasant. I reached the corner of four zones and a level 2 zone with shadowlands was to my Northwest.

That meant a city was directly to my Northwest. I kicked off the ground and began making my way in that direction, glad there were no swamps in my path. I really didn’t want to get my boots wet. Wet boots were incredibly annoying.

I reached a level 1 forest just as it was getting dark. I had passed several people grinding away at the monsters, but I didn’t care about them. I was to get to the city and find the other city and their overall defensive state. From there an invasion could be planned. Once both plazas were taken under control along with a road, everyone could be starved to death.

That way all resistance could well and truly be purged. I reached the city, and made my way to the East gate. There were soldiers at the entrance. They said something in a foreign language. I didn’t care what language it was. I came to a stop in front of the six men as they looked at me nervously. It was night, which would explain the lack of traffic. I really didn’t care. I was getting this task done with and moving on.

“I am Emperor Michael of the Empire of Purgatory. Who speaks for you?” I asked. One guard stepped forward.

“You stand in the Fifth Caliphate under the rule of the High Priestess. The city of New Jakarta will resist any attack. We have no quarrel with you,” the guard said. I shook my head as I could see their combat level was only around high 2 or low 3 based on the amount of energy within them from stats. Weaker than my regular soldiers and nothing compared to my elites.

“I see,” I replied. Acid Shot x5. I killed all the soldiers expect the one who I had spoken to. He quickly ran away, and I let him go as I walked into the city. I then calmly walked through the tunnel under the wall. No towers by the gate. They really were poor and underdeveloped.

I made my way towards the plaza at a walking pace. There was no need to rush. I wanted them to organize. If they ran, that would also be information. I reached the plaza and twenty people, mostly men were lined up with shields and weapons. Dawn was finally arriving. Well time to see if they put up a good fight.

Before I even rushed at the group of soldiers a beam attack was launched at me from a nearby building. I easily dodged it. Kicking off the ground I found the person who used that skill and slammed my palm into their chest. It caved in and they died instantly as their body went flying off the building.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I leapt back down and raced for the group of soldiers who had gathered to confront me. Acid Shot x10. I aimed up in the air and the acid came raining down. They didn’t have the stats to resist and screamed as their flesh melted. I made my way over to the store pillars. A level 4 city. That was slightly interesting. I purchased a restoration.

The only thing left was trash. The Avatar had clearly pulled all the resources she could out of her cities leaving them struggling. The Divine Empress attacking probably hadn’t helped either. There really was no resistance left to these people. They had been crushed and were poor, trying to come back.

We would have to move quickly to ensure they didn’t build up a large resistance in time. But these people could be crushed by my soldiers and didn’t need my help. Kicking off the ground, I made my way to the West gate.

Luck was with me, and I found a road there. I killed anyone I came across without hesitation without a second thought. I considered it a kindness since they were all going to starve to death in the near future. I followed the road out of the city due West.

It was nice to be on a road again. I liked how level the roads were. It took all the thinking out of traveling. I ran into the occasional person or group on the road and killed them as well. Each death would make the eventual invasion that much easier in the future. Also, this road was great. My soldiers could take New Jakarta and then easily move onto the other city to secure the plaza.

General Abdullah had taken inspiration from how Clarissa had organized Purgatory and it had become standard in several takeovers of cities that used to belong to the Dragon Empire. The idea was simple, rearrange the buildings around the plaza to form a wall, with a wide gap, no windows, no doors, and only a single opening.

Purgatory had four openings, North, South, East, and West, but for other cities having control over the plaza was far more important. Trying to secure the gates meant splitting up one’s forces. Control over the plaza was key. Everything else would come later as the governors consolidated their power and brought the surrounding zones to heel.

It took a large investment of points to purchase the buildings and rearrange them, but it also created immediate housing around the plaza for soldiers and the bureaucracy. Once things settled down and the city had been purged, the gates secured, things would be opened up.

Or they might not be. Each governor could handle the layout of their city however they wanted, but gripping too tightly onto the plaza would make taxation difficult. Since crystals needed to be turned in and supplies purchased.

Still, that was the great part about the governor system Clarissa had created. They each got to do their own thing and take the best ideas from the others or go down their own path and prove that it worked. The main thing was that the governors were responsible, and success or failure was a measurable metric by their tax rate.

The road made a sharp turn North. I followed the road. There were no split offs, so I figured it was simpler and less headache inducing to follow the road, than try and cut across the zone diagonally. If there was swamp, then I wanted the road, since it was way faster than trying to slog through the swamp water.

As I continued to travel along the road, I began to relax. The level 4 zone crossing had put me on edge. But now things were much simpler. Check out the other city and then return. I considered trying to find any kind of leadership to get maps or other information, but in the end I decided it was pointless. My people would check the dungeons and zones up to level 3. If there was a tower I would be told.

My time was better spent getting this task done. Taking back the city of First Seoul and then fixing myself. At least the road made it easy to focus on the curse damage. The road turned West again, and I made that turn. The second city should be just ahead.

There could be more cities, but that would come out once we took over two and the people didn’t die to starvation. If people lived past a hundred days of no food, then it would only be a few cannibals. If there was a city, there would be loads of people who managed to survive by getting supplies from somewhere else.

Then it was simply a matter of tracking down the city that was supplying them. If there was a third city, I would probably be needed to take it without too much fuss. But I didn’t mind handling something like that.

There would be no other nations, but mine. I was done with petty politics and trying to work with people who didn’t understand what the word cooperation actually meant. No wonder why Earth politics were such a mess, everyone always looking out for their own interests. I understood why, it was just frustrating that I had to wipe out every bit of resistance.

I had been hoping to leave a small nation intact to act as a foil for my empire. But it clearly wasn’t meant to be. That tension would have kept my people focused and engaged, but I figured that complacency would only set in after a decade or so. Maybe five years.

But in the end, I after the Avatar’s betrayal, it just wasn’t worth the headache. Anyone who objected would just get melted. That was the benefit of being the strongest. I could just bludgeon everyone into acceptance. It was like having the biggest stack of chips at the poker table, I could push other people around and they just had to accept it.

That was something the Divine Empress had taught me. She really had imparted a lot of lessons, even with her evil nature, about how to wield power. Just crush threats and be done with them. It was as simple as that. No need for complicated headaches or plots. If you are strong, just crush the opposition. It was brutish but effective.