Unsurprisingly, Zaric had already anticipated what I needed.
I found him in one of the fortress's newer command rooms, standing over a large stone table covered in maps, small carved markers, and several floating magical projections. Thin red lines showed the major roads running between our territory and the surrounding Kingdoms, while black dots marked settlements, military fortresses, and places where Zaric had stationed spies.
The fact that my fortress now had an actual intelligence room still felt slightly strange.
Five months ago, this place had been an empty collection of stone hallways and summoning chambers. Now I had a functioning city, three towns, trade routes, military outposts, spies, merchants, and enough paperwork to kill a normal person through sheer boredom.
Thankfully, most of that paperwork was Vera's problem; unfortunately, she was basically a brain-dead living sex toy most of the time. So I just handed it to another Observer so they could handle it. I sure as shit wasn't going to.
Zaric looked up from the map the moment I entered.
"Mistress," he greeted, inclining his head respectfully. "I assume the spear has been completed?"
"It is, and it turned out even better than I expected. I need a soul frequency or magical signature connected to one of the nearby Kingdoms. Preferably something tied directly into its capital's ward network."
A small smile appeared on Zaric's face.
"Then I am pleased to report that I have already prepared several possibilities."
'Of course he has.'
Zaric was an amazing summon and probably the closest thing I currently had to a friend. He was also very helpful whenever I needed to bounce ideas off someone, mostly because he could understand my more complicated plans without staring at me like I had suddenly started speaking in demonic whale noises.
One of my parallel minds briefly wondered what demonic whale noises would sound like.
I told it to investigate later.
"When you first mentioned using Soul Magic on the spear, I reasoned that you would eventually require something for it to identify," Zaric continued. "I therefore sent several Ash Rats to locate and infiltrate the nearest Kingdoms."
He waved one hand over the table, and two sections of the map enlarged.
"The nearest is the Kingdom of Vask. Its capital is approximately seventy-two miles east of our outermost town. The second Kingdom is more than two hundred miles to the southwest and possesses significantly stronger border defenses."
Several floating images appeared above the map. One showed a sprawling city surrounded by three stone walls, while the other displayed a much larger fortress built into the side of a mountain.
"The Ash Rats have entered both capitals," Zaric explained. "Although they were created primarily to consume ash, rotting material, and battlefield debris, they are remarkably clever when given specific instructions. Their small size also makes them excellent infiltrators. Few people pay attention to a gray rat crawling beneath a building."
"Especially when that rat is intelligent enough to avoid traps and can chew through stone," I said.
"Precisely."
Zaric changed the image above the table. Four giant floating eyeballs appeared, each one displaying a different section of Vask's capital.
"I also tasked four Floating Eyes with monitoring the cities. Each has been concealed with invisibility and magical suppression spells. Two are observing the royal palace, one is watching the military district, and the fourth is monitoring the capital's central temple."
"Damn, Zaric. How long have you been preparing this?"
"Since you began constructing the spear."
"Have I mentioned recently that you're incredibly useful?"
"Not within the past three days, Mistress."
His tone was completely serious, but I could see the faint amusement in his eyes.
"Well, consider it mentioned."
Zaric bowed again, although his expression became slightly embarrassed as he looked back toward the map.
"Unfortunately, I do not possess Soul Magic. I was therefore unable to scan or copy a suitable frequency for you. Otherwise, I would have prepared that as well. Forgive me, Mistress."
"Don't be embarrassed. This is already more than I expected."
I leaned over the map and studied the magical projection of Vask's capital.
"I could create a tool that would allow you or one of the Floating Eyes to copy a soul frequency, but that might take several days. It would also only give me the frequency of a single person unless we found someone directly connected to the Kingdom's wards."
My parallel minds immediately began exploring several possibilities.
One started designing a handheld Soul Scanner.
Another examined the ward structures visible through the Floating Eyes.
A third began considering how the Ash Rats could be modified to carry a magical beacon.
The answer became obvious a few seconds later.
"Actually, we don't need to copy anyone's soul."
Zaric waited patiently while I enlarged the projection of the royal palace.
"Most magical Kingdoms anchor their large defensive wards into something physical. A royal artifact, a large Mana Crystal, an altar, or even the bloodline of the ruling family. Whatever Vask uses should be somewhere inside its palace."
"The royal Heartstone," Zaric said immediately. "Our spies have heard it mentioned several times. It supposedly maintains the palace wards and reinforces the magical barriers surrounding the capital."
"Perfect."
I traced a finger through the floating projection until I reached the center of the palace.
"If we get an Ash Rat close enough to the Heartstone, I can use it as a connection point. I'll link the spear's Tracking Runes to the rat, and the rat can transmit the Heartstone's magical signature back to the weapon."
"The spear would then recognize the Kingdom's own ward network as its target."
"Exactly. Once it strikes the Heartstone, the Necrotic Magic and Phantom Fire should spread through every connected ward, barrier, magical building, and defensive structure in the capital."
Zaric looked at the projection for several seconds.
"And possibly beyond the capital, depending on how much of the Kingdom's infrastructure is connected to the Heartstone."
I smiled.
"Now you're getting it."
Theoretically, I could have targeted a random citizen and still killed a great many people when the spear detonated. However, using the Heartstone would turn the Kingdom's defenses against it. Every ward designed to distribute power would instead distribute Necrotic Magic and Phantom Fire.
It was almost poetic.
Mostly, it was efficient.
"Evacuate all of our subjects from Vask," I ordered. "Merchants, spies, servants, informants, and anyone else officially under our protection. I don't care whether they believe the attack is coming. Get them across the border."
"We currently have thirty-seven merchants, twelve spies, six permanent informants, and approximately eighty hired laborers within the Kingdom," Zaric reported. "There are also several families who have applied for citizenship but have not yet reached our territory."
"Evacuate them, too. If they have already sworn themselves to us, they count as ours."
"What about the Floating Eyes and Ash Rats?" Zaric asked.
"They can remain. If they're destroyed, I'll summon more."
"Understood. You can expect everyone else to be safely outside the Kingdom within one or two days."
He placed one hand against his chest and bowed before turning toward the command room's doors. Several shadows detached themselves from the walls and followed him, each one carrying orders to different parts of the city.
I watched him leave with a smile.
Finally, this goddamn challenge was almost over.
All I had to do was destroy one Kingdom, and then I could return to the Harry Potter world where I belonged. I had enjoyed building the city more than I expected, and the abilities I gained from becoming a Lich Queen were fucking incredible, but this place still wasn't my world.
My original body was waiting for me.
Most importantly, I had already spent five hundred years in the Abyss. I didn't feel like wasting another few centuries trapped inside an Empire Building Challenge because I forgot to complete one stupid requirement.
With that thought, I opened the challenge window.
|SS-Ranked Challenge: Empire Building|
|Requirements:|
|Bind five additional Thralls of Lord Class or higher: Uncompleted.|
|Develop the territory into a bustling city with three separate towns surrounding it: Completed.|
|Kill 10,000 sentient beings and destroy an entire Kingdom using only magic: Uncompleted.|
I stared at the first requirement.
Then I stared at it some more.
"I knew I forgot something."
The city requirement had consumed most of Vera and Zaric's attention, while I had spent the past month creating a weapon capable of annihilating an entire Kingdom. Somewhere between rebuilding my Mind Palace, leveling, studying Necromancy, and occasionally using Vera as stress relief, I had completely forgotten that I needed five more Thralls.
Thankfully, that requirement would be easy to fix.
My first thought was to convert five of my existing summons into Thralls, but the System rejected the idea before I even attempted it.
|Notice: Beings already permanently bound through Infernal Command, Necromantic Authority, or Summoning Contracts cannot be reclassified as Thralls for the purpose of this challenge.|
"Of course not. That would be too simple."
I could find five powerful people from one of the surrounding Kingdoms, but that would require locating them, capturing them, and determining whether they were actually Lord Class.
Summoning five suitable beings would be much faster.
I left the command room and made my way toward one of the reinforced summoning fields outside the fortress. The field had originally been created to contain the hostile monsters Vera and I used for leveling, but it would work perfectly well for this.
The moment I entered the center of the field, I spread my hands and focused on exactly what I wanted.
One parallel mind began searching through the thousands of runic structures I had learned or created. Another arranged the selected runes into the most efficient pattern possible, while a third monitored the barriers surrounding the field in case something went wrong.
I had learned within my first month in this world that manually designing and layering my summoning arrays was considerably more efficient than relying on the System-provided skill.
The System's version worked, but it was wasteful.
It was like using an entire lake to fill a bathtub. The result was technically correct, but a ridiculous amount of water went everywhere except where it was supposed to.
My runic matrices created controlled pathways that guided every drop of Mana toward the summoning.
That discovery was also what originally granted me Parallel Minds. Attempting to construct a multidimensional summoning array while simultaneously monitoring five runic languages had apparently convinced the System that a single thought process wasn't enough for me anymore.
It was correct.
A gust of wind swept across the field as I pushed my hands outward.
Black runes etched themselves into the earth around me, carving deep glowing lines through the stone. Silvery-gold symbols appeared in the air, slowly rotating around the primary summoning circle while smaller runes connected them together.
The ground trembled.
Loose stones bounced several inches into the air before shattering under the pressure leaking from the array.
|Notice: You are attempting to summon five beings of Lord Class or higher from the Nether, Ether, and Spirit Worlds.|
|Calculating required Mana…|
|Notice: Attempt Failed. Insufficient Mana is available to activate this spell.|
I smirked.
The System always did this whenever I ignored its established skill and built something myself. It calculated the Mana cost as if I were using the most wasteful summoning method possible, declared the spell impossible, and then became confused when my runes proved otherwise.
I waited.
|Error…|
|Error…|
|Error…|
|Notice: Master Runesmith has utilized five separate runic languages to optimize the magical pathways.|
|Recalculating…|
|Notice: The supplied Mana exceeds the revised activation requirement.|
"There it is."
Seven large silvery-gold rune circles floated around me, each one containing a different requirement for the summon.
Female.
Busty.
Lord Class or higher.
That particular requirement needed two connected runes because apparently magical rank and social or evolutionary class were separate concepts.
Dumb.
Anthropomorphic.
Magical.
The seventh rune connected the other six together and prevented the summoning from selecting a being that only fulfilled some of the requirements.
I carefully inspected the array.
"Female, busty, powerful, dumb, furry, and magical. Yep. Looks good to me."
One of my parallel minds pointed out that anthropomorphic did not necessarily mean furry.
'Close enough.'
Adding several beast women to my harem sounded fun, and their lower intelligence would make the thralling process easier. I didn't need five powerful beings appearing and immediately trying to negotiate contracts or challenge me for control of my fortress.
I already had enough administrative problems.
"ⵞⴱↈ."
The word left my mouth in an ancient, reverberating voice that made the air vibrate.
The magical language was one I had created specifically for activating complicated runic structures. It compressed entire sentences of instructions into only a few sounds, which was incredibly useful.
It was also an absolutey murder on my throat.
The instant the activation word was spoken, every rune tripled in size.
The circles multiplied faster than I could physically follow, surrounding the entire field in layers of black and silvery-gold symbols. The primary array folded inward before expanding upward like an enormous pillar stretching into the blood-red sky.
For several seconds, I could see through the summoning pathways.
One opened into a silver forest filled with floating islands and rivers that flowed through the air.
Another revealed an endless black desert beneath a purple sun.
The largest portal showed a storm-filled void where things with enormous wings moved between the clouds.
Then the entire structure crashed back down.
The ground split beneath my feet as an ocean of Mana surged out of me. Dust and broken stone were thrown hundreds of feet into the air before the field's barriers caught them.
Five enormous pillars of light struck the summoning circle.
Two were silver.
One was pale blue.
One was crimson.
The final pillar was so large and dark that it temporarily blotted out the sky.
|Congratulations! You have successfully summoned five beings of Lord Class or higher.|
|Two Lord-Class Gemini Spirit Foxes: Erica and Jasmine.|
|One Matriarch-Class Giantess Nether Owl: Helena.|
|One Lord-Class Ether Rabbit: Lola.|
|One Lord-Class Hell Mouse: Hannah.|
I barely read the notification.
My attention was focused entirely on the five women now standing, or, in one case, crouching, inside the summoning field.
Erica and Jasmine stood side by side and looked almost identical. Both possessed long fox ears, thick tails, and curvy humanoid bodies, although Erica's fur was silver while Jasmine's was a deep golden color. Their eyes glowed with matching blue spirit flames, and faint wisps of energy drifted from the tips of their tails.
Lola was a white-furred rabbit woman with long ears that extended almost two feet above her head. Pale blue energy surrounded her body, causing pieces of stone to float around her as if gravity had partially forgotten she existed.
Hannah was the shortest of the group. The Hell Mouse barely reached my shoulders, but crimson flames burned along her tail, and enough infernal power radiated from her small body to cook a normal human alive.
Then there was Helena.
"Holy fucking shit."
The giant owl woman was crouching because the barrier surrounding the summoning field wasn't tall enough for her to stand properly. Even then, her head towered above the fortress walls.
She had to be at least forty-three feet tall.
Dark feathers covered her massive wings and most of her limbs, while softer silver feathers framed her face and ran down the front of her body. Her eyes resembled enormous pools of molten gold, and each talon on her feet was longer than my forearm.
The magical pressure radiating from her made the other four feel almost insignificant.
|Notice: Helena possesses a higher Class than the summoner.|
|Caution is advised.|
"Note to self: Add a height limitation to future summoning arrays."
I felt one of my parallel minds acknowledge the order before adding it to the appropriate section of my Mind Palace.
Another mind was already attempting to estimate Helena's measurements.
I told it to focus.
The five summoned women looked around the field in confusion. Erica and Jasmine clung to one another, Lola's nose twitched rapidly, and Hannah stared down at the burning end of her own tail as if she had only just realized it was on fire.
Helena was the first to notice me.
Her enormous golden eyes focused in my direction, and the air pressure shifted as her wings began to spread.
I activated Puppet of Lust immediately.
A wave of blue fire rushed outward from my body, striking all five of them before they could react. At the same time, I loosened the control surrounding my Seductive Aura and allowed it to flood the summoning field.
Erica and Jasmine's glowing eyes became unfocused.
Lola swayed unsteadily as the stones floating around her dropped to the ground.
Hannah released a quiet squeak before lowering herself to her knees.
Helena resisted for almost three full seconds.
The golden light inside her eyes flared, and her wings spread far enough to strike both sides of the barrier. Dark magical energy gathered around her body as she attempted to force my influence out of her mind.
Then Puppet of Lust tightened.
A blue flame appeared against her throat, spreading into the shape of my personal rune.
Her wings went still.
One by one, matching marks appeared on the other four women.
|Notice: Congratulations! You have gained five new Thralls.|
|Challenge Requirement Completed: Bind five additional Thralls of Lord Class or higher.|
|Notice: You have successfully gained a Thrall of a higher Class than yourself.|
|Bonus Rewards:|
|One S-Ranked Flask of Neverending Spirit Water.|
|Five A-Ranked Books: How to Please Your Harem.|
|Twelve Drops of SS-Ranked Glacial Drakon Blood.|
The rewards disappeared into my inventory, but I barely noticed.
All I could do was stare upward.
Helena slowly lowered herself onto one knee, but even while kneeling, she was almost five times my height. Her enormous wings folded behind her while her golden eyes remained fixed on me, waiting for an order.
The other four gathered around her feet in a dazed but obedient group.
One of my parallel minds started calculating how much reinforced furniture I would need for Helena.
Another began designing a space-expanded bedroom.
The newest mind ignored both of them and focused on a much more immediate problem.
'How the fuck am I going to have sex with a pussy that I can probably fit into?'