The silence was so deep you could hear the dust settling. The only sounds were the dry wind and the terrified, shaky breaths of the two Ursine minions who had been dumb enough to try and attack me. Everyone else was a statue, eyes glued to their dead leader on the ground, then flicking back to me.
I kept my face neutral. The message had been delivered.
"Now," I said, my voice calm but slicing right through the tension. "Would someone polite like to tell me the name of this island?"
The bear-folk looked at each other, lost. Naming things wasn't really their specialty. Fighting was.
Finally, the crowd shuffled and made way for an old-timer. This Ursine was ancient, his fur gone completely white, leaning hard on a knotted wooden staff. He had a long white beard braided with simple clay beads. He looked like he'd seen it all, and right now, he looked scared but determined.
He stopped in front of me and managed a slow, deep bow. "Great One," he rasped, his voice like two rocks grinding together. "This land... it has no name. It is a lawless place. It only knows strength." He hesitated, then lifted a shaky claw to point east. "But... to the east, past the Serpent's Spine mountains and the great river... there is a named land. The Kingdom of Elmeria. A kingdom of humans."
I felt a flicker of real surprise. Elmeria? That definitely wasn't in the original script. A slow grin spread across my face. Oh, you lazy cheapskate. That god hadn't just dropped me into the existing world. He'd kitbashed a whole new landmass and tacked it on because it was less paperwork. A full human kingdom on a monster island? That changed everything.
"My name is Hades Azrathor," I announced, my voice carrying over the silent village. "Call me Hades." I looked back at the elder. "You're strong. Your people are strong. So why are you living like this?" I waved a hand at their rundown huts.
The old Ursine's shoulders slumped in pure weariness. "Hades-sama... it is the eternal conflict. With the Shungmo tribe."
Angry grumbles came from the crowd.
"The Shungmo are... bear-folk, like us, but different. A rare kind. They are strong and stubborn as the mountain stone itself. You can't miss them—their fur is white with strange black patches. Our feud over hunting grounds, over old insults... it has lasted for generations. We cannot hunt properly, we cannot build, we cannot grow... we can only fight. And they are in the same condition as us. We make each other weak.""
An endless, stupid war. What a total waste. My brain, running on god-mode now, processed it all instantly. A organized human kingdom next door. Two powerful warrior tribes stuck beating each other into the dirt, making themselves easy pickings for a future invasion.
'A perfect workforce,' I thought. 'If I can get them to stop being idiots. I could just wipe out the Shungmo. It'd be easy. I could wipe out that human kingdom, too. Right now. Turn the whole place to dust with a thought and be done with it.'
I almost chuckled. But where was the fun in that? The easy path was boring. And honestly, I glanced at the author writing this very novel—he wouldn't like it either. No drama. No story. Just a boring curbstomp. Lame.
'No. I'm not here for the easy path. I'm here to build something. And for that, I need these idiots unified.'
"First," I declared, my voice leaving zero room for argument. "This pointless fight ends today. No more Ursine or Shungmo blood gets spilled. Unless I say so."
I looked at the corpse of their leader. The lesson was learned. Now he was more useful to me alive.
I didn't need to shout. I just willed it. "Unique Skill [Resurrection]."
No flashy light. No big explosion. The horrible hole in the bear's chest just... zipped itself shut. The blood vanished. Color flooded back into his fur. His massive chest rose with a huge, gasping breath.
His eyes snapped open, wide with the memory of unbelievable pain and the emptiness of death. He scrambled onto his knees, his eyes locking onto me. He didn't see a man. He saw the guy who owned life and death itself. All his old arrogance was gone, replaced by pure, terrified worship. He smashed his forehead into the dirt.
"My Lord! Your will is my life! Your breath is my own!" he choked out, his voice trembling.
The reaction from the tribe was even bigger this time. Killing him scared them. This? This blew their minds. They were seeing something impossible. Something divine.
I looked down at him. "You're their captain now. You lead them to better times, not more fighting. You answer to me. Got it?"
"Yes, my Lord! Absolutely, my Lord!" he said, face still in the dirt.
I then looked back at the stunned elder and the amazed tribe.
"Now," I said, my tone making it clear this wasn't a request. "Take me to the Shungmo. It's time they heard my offer."
----
Author's Note:
---Auxiliary---
--Skills--
Unique Skill [Grasp Heart]
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Concept: A curse-type skill that directly targets the spiritual life-force core of a target, manifesting its physical representation.
Effect:
«Heart Extraction»: Upon fulfilling the condition of eye contact or clear line-of-sight with the target, the user can manifest a grip on the target's spiritual core. This forcibly materializes the target's heart outside their body without causing physical damage to the chest cavity. The heart remains connected to the target via a spiritual tether until the user severs it.
«Spiritual Crush»: The user can then choose to crush the manifested heart. This instantly and completely severs the spiritual tether, resulting in the immediate cessation of all biological and spiritual functions for the target. This effect bypasses most forms of physical durability and mid-level regeneration.
Condition: The target must be within the user's field of vision, and the user must possess a higher existence value and spiritual potency than the target for the skill to take immediate effect.
Unique Skill [Resurrection]
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Concept: An ultimate restoration skill that governs the cycle of life and death for targets under the user's authority.
Effect:
«Sovereign's Recall» (Primary Effect): Can perfectly resurrect any being whose existence was ended directly by the user's own actions. This restoration fully repairs the body to its peak condition and recalls the original soul, restoring the target with all memories, skills, and personality intact. No cost is incurred for this act.
«Soul Barrier» (Secondary Effect): The user can enact a barrier that prevents the dissipation of a soul upon death, even if the user did not cause the death. This requires the barrier to be cast pre-emptively or within moments of death.
«Perfect Resurrection»: If a soul is preserved by the «Soul Barrier», the user can perform a full resurrection as with «Sovereign's Recall», restoring the being completely.
«Soul Forge» (Tertiary Effect): If a soul has fully dissipated and cannot be recalled, the user can utilize energy from [Khaos] to forge a new, blank soul based on the template of the deceased body.
This creates a new being with the same racial skills and potential, but devoid of all previous memories and personality.
The newly created being possesses instinctive, absolute loyalty to the user.
Limitation: «Sovereign's Recall» is only applicable to targets killed by the user. «Soul Forge» cannot replicate the exact original personality and is considered the creation of a new, distinct life form.
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-- Monsters--
*Ursine*
Race: Ursine (A subspecies of Bear-type Beastmen)
Appearance: The Ursine are a large, powerfully built race of beastmen. They are covered in thick, coarse fur that ranges in color from dark brown and black to lighter tawny hues. They possess sharp claws on their hands and feet, designed for digging and combat. Their faces have a distinct muzzle with a black nose and sharp, prominent teeth. They are typically tall and heavily muscled, built for raw strength and endurance. Their society values physical power above all else.
*Shungmo*
Race: Shungmo (A distinct, rare subspecies of Bear-type Beastmen)
Appearance: The Shungmo are also a race of bear-type beastmen, but are immediately recognizable as different from the Ursine. They are slightly shorter and stockier in build, built for stability and powerful, close-quarters grappling. Their most distinguishing feature is their unique fur pattern: while their fur is primarily a stark, snowy white, it is broken by distinctive patches of jet-black fur around their eyes, on their ears, and across their shoulders and limbs. Their eyes are often a dark, deep brown. Unlike the more aggressive Ursine, the Shungmo are known for their stoic, stubborn, and defensive nature. They are incredibly resilient and tenacious, refusing to yield once they've dug in.