The storm was gone.
Liam stood at the highest spire of the Sky Fortress, wind pulling at his coat, ash drifting from the ruins below. Zone Twelve lay quiet beneath him... no longer contested, no longer wild. He'd taken it. Claimed it.
Bonded it.
Behind him, Sylvara moved with feline grace, her golden fur catching the last light of the storm. She said nothing... she didn't need to. Her submission had been earned, not gifted.
Her hand brushed his chest now, claws trailing lightly over the fabric.
"I run no more," she murmured. "You own me. So use me."
Liam didn't answer. His eyes were on the horizon... on what came next.
Stone ruins stretched as far as he could see, broken roads, dead cities, a world half-buried beneath time and rot. Somewhere out there, the next zone pulsed red on his system map. But he couldn't reach it... not alone.
Not anymore.
The others arrived moments later.
Rena first, armor scuffed, eyes locked on Sylvara with quiet fury.
"You took her fast," she said.
Kaelithra dropped from the tower edge next, landing lightly, blades sheathed but ready.
"She wanted to be caught. I'd have made her work harder."
Vexa followed, arms crossed, muscles tense. "So what now? You going to chase the next one, or finally hold what you've taken?"
Sarya moved in close, crossbow swinging at her hip.
"I miss the fortress. At least there, I could breathe."
Elyra appeared last, her silver eyes glowing, one finger trailing down Liam's arm.
"You need more than storm-chasers and blades, Liam. You need order."
Ice Queen said nothing. She stood in the shadow, frost curling around her feet, watching them all.
The system pulsed... hard.
---
> [System Alert]
Bond Count: 10 / 99
Loyalty Sync: 84% – Stable
Mall Fortress – Status: Vulnerable
Collapse Threat: High
Directive: Deploy Bonded to Zone Control Posts
Effect: Territory Defense, Resource Growth, Skill Unlock
Warning: Delay = Bond Instability + Territory Risk
Reward: Overlord Advancement Pathway Unlocked
[System Update]
Bond Threshold Reached – 10 Wives Secured
Mall Fortress Upgrade Unlocked: Overlord's Stronghold
Status: Visual Reconstruction Initiated – Territory Core Advancing
---
Liam's fist clenched.
It wasn't a request. It was a command. From the system... from the world.
If he wanted to hold his kingdom, he'd have to let them go.
Behind him, silence.
Rena stepped closer.
"You want us to leave?"
Kaelyn spoke softly. "Or rule."
Kaelithra's smirk faded.
"This isn't a harem anymore. It's an empire."
Liam turned to face them.
"You're mine. Every one of you. But if I don't hold this world... I lose you."
The wind picked up.
Elyra's voice was soft.
"Then send us. But know this... we'll come back."
Sylvara bared her teeth.
"Or we'll drag you to us."
Ice Queen stepped forward.
"The world burns. Choose."
Liam raised his hand.
"I send you now. Not as bonds. As queens."
---
> [System Activation]
Harem Deployment: Engaged
Zone Assignments:
• Rena – Mall Fortress Defense Commander
• Kaelith – Sky Fortress Combat Lead
• Elyra – Siren's Court Control
• Vexa – Warpath Ridge
• Ice Queen – Frosthold (New Unlock)
• Sylvara – Stormlands Patrol
• Sarya – Resource Hunt Team Alpha
• Kaelithra – Scout Division Lead
• Kaelyn – Assassin Guard
• ??? – Awaiting Target (Bond Slot Open)
Reward: Bond Loyalty Boost Pending Return
---
They stepped forward one by one.
Each gave something... a look, a touch, a promise.
Sylvara kissed him like a storm. Rena gripped his hand like steel. Elyra whispered of thrones. Ice Queen said nothing... but her eyes burned.
And then they were gone.
Liam stood alone on the ruined tower.
The war had changed.
Now he wasn't just claiming wives.
He was building an empire.
He stopped in his tracks. The ruins ahead were no longer the same. Crumbling walls had reshaped into defensive barriers. The shattered food court dome now shimmered with faint energy, and strange sigils glowed across the old stone. The mall was changing evolving with his power. What had once been a shelter was becoming something more. A kingdom. His.
Mall Fortress should've felt like victory.
It didn't.
Liam stepped into the repaired atrium alone, his coat heavy with storm dust, his boots dragging prints through the frost that hadn't melted since Ice Queen last stood here. The sky above was cracked open, stormlight bleeding through broken glass. Somewhere in the distance, a girder groaned under its own weight.
Empty.
Not of people.
Of them.
His wives were gone.
Scattered across the zones like empresses of a fractured realm, each one dangerous, untouchable... his.
And now, so very far away.
The silence wasn't peaceful. It was deafening. A fortress built to hold a harem of power... and now it held only him.
Liam passed the war table without stopping, his hand brushing the carved edge... the same place Rena had once slammed her fist in anger, where Elyra had once sat, legs crossed, challenging him with every breath.
Gone.
He climbed the stairs slowly, each one creaking like it might shatter beneath him.
The throne room loomed... cold, cracked, dimly lit by the flickering system core. The throne itself stood at the far end, scorched from battle, etched with the weight of power.
Atop it?
A single item.
A silk ribbon.
Elyra's.
Still warm.
Liam reached for it slowly, fingers brushing the soft fabric. Her scent lingered... jasmine, silk, temptation.
And a note.
Written in a looping, elegant hand.
Miss us yet?
Come chase us.
Or summon us.
Either way…
You'll have to earn it.
... All ten.
Liam exhaled sharply, the tension in his chest rising instead of fading.
Of course they wouldn't make this easy.
Another pulse hit.
---
> [System Alert]
Overlord Status: Ascendant
Bond Count: 10 / 99
Loyalty Sync: 82% – Stable, but strained
Mall Fortress: Upgrade Unlocked – Summoning Chamber / Throne Core Enhancement
Warning: Zone Thirteen Awakening – Crimson Sands
Feral Healer Detected – Unbonded, Watching
Time Remaining to Engage: 11 Hours
---
The world didn't rest. And neither could he.
His hand clenched around the ribbon, and the scent of them... of her... filled the room again.
Ten bonds. Ten flames.
But this throne wasn't meant to be cold.
And he wasn't meant to sit here alone.
Liam turned.
No more waiting.
Zone Thirteen called.
And the next bond?
She wouldn't come easy.
But she would come.