The Dawn city has more or less been established.
But now, they were faced with a new challenge.
They had nothing to sell.
Why would a merchant ship even come to their city? They had less than 100 people, no special commodity to sell. Heck, they didn't even have much agricultural produce like grains.
For now, there was only one viable option for him to quickly start the city.
Mining.
They needed to find a mine, preferably one with precious and desirable metals.
So, Sukuna went around, overturning the ground here and there to look for a useful cave.
2 days.
After 2 days of effort, he managed to find a silver mine quite a distance away from his city.
'Transportation alone will be a huge pain in the ass, not to mention it will take the villagers forever to mine this place...'
Sukuna grabbed his head and let out a heavy sigh.
It seemed there was only one solution.
'I must be the most miserable city lord in this world...'
Sukuna lamented his sad fate and got to work.
He would personally mine this whole place.
Then, just as he was about to use his slashes, an idea hit him.
'What if I just move the earth...?'
Instead of working like a slave... why not extract the whole f*cking mine?
'I will have to repeatedly change the terrain...'
Even for him, it wasn't an easy task.
But yes, it was very much doable.
And so, under Sukuna's control, the entire silver mine was moved along with the earth.
Tremble
The earth shook, as if a terrifying monster was moving underground.
The animals fled around in panic while the birds flew away at their highest speed.
Half a day later.
The ground in front of Dawn city burst open, revealing the glittering entrance of a silver mine to its dumbfounded citizens.
"Look! I found a silver mine!"
Sukuna waved at his citizens with a proud look on his face.
Everyone looked at each other, then shrugged their shoulders. They were starting to get used to their leader's unconventional ways.
"Alright, come along. I'll chop them up and all of you will help transport them inside."
Sukuna commanded and instantly got to work.
Then, within just 3 hours, he managed to completely empty the mine, which would have taken human workers several years to accomplish.
After all, Sukuna was just built different.
While everyone went to sleep, he quickly made several wooden boards, placed them along the road to help people learn about his city, and cleared an entire path from his city to the main road leading to the nearby cities.
It would make travel a whole lot easier.
Plus, it would help spread awareness with the wooden signs.
With the help of the blacksmith in the city, Sukuna melted the silver ore into silver ingots.
He couldn't convert all of it, of course, since the stock was too large, so he only turned about 500 kilograms into silver ingots before stopping.
The total stock he took from the mine reached about 300,000 kilograms.
He even made an underground storage area inside his castle to keep it all.
Now, all the easy part was done.
From here on, the real challenge would begin.
"Um... Mr. Sukuna... are you sure about this?" Erde asked in a hesitant voice, staring at the guards of Warm city ahead.
"Yup, I will have to meet humans anyway. Might as well get it done and over with."
Sukuna replied, sitting on the back of the wooden carriage while seriously practicing how to do a friendly smile.
Erde saw him making weird facial gestures and quickly fell into doubt about the feasibility of their operation.
"How do I look?" Sukuna asked with a bright smile on his face.
"It... looks okay?" Erde replied in a hesitant tone.
"Well, whatever. I'm sure everything will work out once they see my sincerity."
As a matter of fact, everything did not work out well.
----
His plan of practicing a friendly smile was an utter failure.
"Demon! A demon is approaching the city!"
"Hostages! He has several hostages with him!"
"Notify the mages! Everyone quickly assemble!"
He was judged before he could even come close enough.
Well, shit.
What to do now?
Sukuna fell into contemplation while casually slapping away several metal arrows that were thrown at him.
"M-Mr. Sukuna! T-this is very bad!" Erde shouted in panic while pointing at the approaching army fully equipped in metal armor.
Leading the group was a man in shiny silver-like armor, carrying a longsword in his hands, staring straight at Sukuna through the slit in his helmet.
Sukuna also turned to him, slapped away a random arrow, then smiled brightly and said,
"I have come with a proposition—"
"Attack!"
The captain rushed straight at him at a fast speed, followed by the guards.
Ah, shit.
Sukuna let out a sigh, then gestured for the villagers to back off before blocking the captain's sword with his fingers.
Seeing the confused blue eyes visible through the gaps in the helmet, Sukuna grinned and said in a simple tone,
"Do you understand how f*cked you are?"
The captain's pupils contracted. With a quick motion, he pulled his sword back from Sukuna's fingers and at the same time sent a kick at his chest.
Sukuna grabbed the captain's leg with his hand, then lifted him up and harshly slammed him into the ground, making him cough blood.
At the same time, several weapons—spears, swords, arrows, and daggers—arrived from all around him, ready to turn him into a pincushion.
But before they could get close, the very earth under their feet rose up, blocking most of them.
Sukuna looked at a sword that had pierced through his wall of earth and was about to touch his shoulder.
He had almost forgotten.
To establish a city, one must first prove their strength; otherwise, their friendly neighbors will stop being so friendly.
"Fine, since you want to play, let's play."
A dangerous look passed through Sukuna's eyes as he started using the massive mana pool inside his body.
And the next moment—
Crackle
The very earth was overturned.
Cries
The soldiers cried out as parts of their bodies were pierced through by countless earth spikes.
The ground under their feet wobbled before quickly wrapping around their legs, making them unable to move.
In a matter of seconds,
The entire 500 soldiers became immobile.
"Such powerful mana..."
A mage standing on the city's wall muttered in disbelief.
"No, wait..."
The mage quickly turned his head, seeing two massive waves of earth rushing toward their city.
"M-monster...!"
Had they encountered one of the Seven Sages of Destruction??
The massive land tsunamis, which were about to slam into the barrier, suddenly stopped in place.
Everyone in the city held their breath, looking silently at the shadow that had covered the sun.
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Sukuna took a step forward and shouted in a loud tone toward the city,
"I want to see your city lord. Bring him out!"
It was both a threat and a warning.
The city guards fell into confusion and quickly asked their superiors for instructions.
Seeing that his words had an effect, Sukuna turned back to the guards he had captured.
All of them were pierced by earth spikes in non-lethal places. It would hurt like hell, but it wouldn't kill them.
Erde suddenly rushed out from behind the carriage and came before him, asking in a flustered tone,
"M-Mr. Sukuna! A-are you going to kill them?"
She asked while pointing at the stuck guards, making them flinch in response.
"No, I won't."
Erde sighed in relief.
"I will use them for ransom, though."
Only to be stunned the very next second.
Weren't they here to form friendly ties with the city??
Mr. Sukuna! Is this how you form friendly ties???
Sukuna ignored the look she was giving him and walked up to the captain of the guards he had subdued.
Looking down at the human bound by earth, Sukuna removed his helmet and saw a manly face with a scar running down the middle.
"Demon..."
The guard muttered in a heavy tone, looking at Sukuna with a dignified expression.
"Yes, yes, I know you hate me. The feeling is mutual. Anyway, listen..."
Sukuna paused, then continued with a smile.
"I will let you and your soldiers live, but you must follow my command. Understand?"
"I will never submit to a demon—!"
"Sigh, so it's an idiot?"
Sukuna placed the helmet back on and ignored the captain's curses.
Instead, he grabbed his shiny longsword with a purple gem located at the hilt.
After swinging it around a few times, Sukuna smiled in satisfaction and quickly took all the weapons and armor from the stuck guards with the help of Erde and the others.
"...Sorry," Erde apologized as she took off a metal helmet from a confused soldier's head.
At the same time, Sukuna healed them a little—just enough to prevent any unexpected deaths.
After a bit of waiting, Sukuna saw the figure of a middle-aged man appear near the city gate, inside the barrier.
'Finally here?'
Sukuna smiled, then walked toward the city gate under the guards' vigilant gazes.
Stopping before the barrier, he asked the middle-aged man,
"Are you the city lord?"
"Yes, I am Lord Warmer. And you, demon? Who are you?"
The city lord asked in a calm tone, his eyes gazing at the soldiers in their underwear at the back.
They hadn't been killed.
Although their armor and swords had been taken away...
"My name is Ryomen Sukuna."
Sukuna introduced himself with a calm look on his face.
"I am the ruler of Dawn City, the Lord of Dawn."
"Lord of Dawn?..." Warmer raised an eyebrow.
"It is a city I built, near the east side of the forest..."
Sukuna explained the path to reach his port city, making everyone look at him in confusion.
A demon built a city?
With humans living in it?
What the hell is wrong with the world??
Warmer looked at the citizens of Dawn at the back, wondering if they had been mind-controlled by this powerful demon.
'Poor folks...'
Feeling sad for their fate, he straightened his back and asked,
"Then what does the Lord of Dawn want with my city?"
"I came here to start friendly trade between our cities. Alas, your soldiers attacked me without any warning."
"If I hadn't been strong enough, I would have died, you know?"
Sukuna finished with a smile.
"Start trade between cities?... Sure. As long as you let my guards go and retract your magic, we can begin trading between our cities."
Lord Warmer lied with a straight face.
Sukuna, with the facial reading technique he hadn't used since the Heian Era, easily saw through his lies.
But it didn't matter.
He never expected them to trust him so easily in the first place.
"If only things were that simple, City Lord. You see, these guys are no longer your soldiers, but my prisoners."
Lord Warmer's expression hardened.
"To get them back, you have to pay an appropriate price."
"A price?..."
Lord Warmer fell into doubt.
He felt this demon was quite different from what he had seen before...
"Yes. As a new city, there are a lot of things we require..."
----
He exchanged all 500 guards for many things.
Crop seeds, furniture, clothes, vegetables, pills, horses, a variety of equipment that wasn't present in his city, a guide to magic, etc...
Since he didn't ask for money, the city lord accepted all of the demands except for the magic knowledge.
But after he made their city tremble by manipulating the earth, City Lord Warmer quickly changed his attitude and let him talk with a mage, as well as take many magic books with him.
After getting what he wanted, he returned the guards—but he didn't give back their armor and swords. He would use them himself after gathering his own small guard team in the future.
Looking at the large caravan moving away, City Lord Warmer remained silent before asking the mage,
"Have you informed the capital?"
"Yes, Lord Warmer."
"What did they say?"
"An army led by a hero will arrive soon."
"Hm."
Lord Warmer nodded. This was one of the reasons he had easily agreed to the demon's demands.
It was all to buy time, until help from the capital arrived.
"Tell the guards to get ready. We will reclaim everything after the demon has been slain."
"Yes, sir!"
----
At an intersection,
Sukuna looked calmly at the large army blocking his path forward.
In front stood who seemed to be their leader, wearing impressive armor made of silver and gold, with a giant longsword by his side.
That wasn't all. By his side stood a mage holding a wooden staff, a priest in white clothes, as well as a large burly man holding a battle axe.
"It seems it was inevitable after all..."
Sukuna muttered in a sad tone as he patted the trembling Erde's head and jumped off the carriage.
Calmly walking toward the large army before him, Sukuna stopped, then suddenly gave a bright smile, spread his arms wide open, and said a single word.
"Come!"
Today, He shall carve his name into the annals of mankind's history.