Chapter 389: This Kingdom is mine now

After their group hug, Valdel could no longer hold out and fainted. Once he was out of commission, Ren lifted him and tossed him towards Lara.

"Bring this guy back to his room."

"What about you?"

"I'll follow a bit later. I have something else to do at the moment. Oh right, tell Henrietta I want to talk to her later so she should meet me at my dorm room." When Lara heard Ren say the name of the other woman, she gritted her teeth before nodding her head.

"Understood." After replying Lara left with Valdel in tow. Once the two were gone, Ren looked at one of the pillars and spoke.

"I know you're there, so you better come out now. If you don't come out immediately I might accidentally kill you." Ren then emitted a tiny bit of his bloodlust, and a few seconds later a woman walked out from behind the pillar. It was someone Ren already knew.

"Hmph, what do you think you're doing here holy maiden of the Goddess of Justice?" Ren then emitted the full might of his bloodlust and mana which was now directed at Natasha.

When Natasha felt the overwhelming force that could suffocate even the bravest of warriors, she didn't notice it but she was already down on her knees. Ren then slowly approached her. His footsteps echoed throughout the arena and it was the only thing Natasha could hear.

As Ren got closer and closer to her, she felt her body trembling in fear as the suffocating feeling got stronger and stronger. She couldn't help herself as a bit of pee leaked out of her. She was a dignified Holy Maiden of one of the most powerful Temples, but in front of Ren, she was nothing.

Natasha was not in control of her body as she started crying and puking. She couldn't even lift her head to look at Ren, who stood before her like a God. The steps could no longer be heard, and Natasha saw Ren's feet were right in front of her. It was at that moment the heavy pressure dispersed.

Once the pressure was gone, it was like she who was drowning could suddenly breathe again. Natasha took in a lot of air and started hyperventilating. As she was trying to regain her calm, she heard Ren's voice.

"So tell me, what is a holy maiden doing sneaking around like a rat?" Natasha was finally able to move her body and respond, but it took her a few seconds to do so. She stood up before she gave her answer.

"I was just worried about Valdel." Ren looked at Natasha's face and saw that even though she was trembling in fear, her eyes were still full of resolve. It would seem that her will was stronger than her body.

'It doesn't seem like she's lying.'

"So you were worried about Val, so then why did you continue to hide for two days straight? You were there since the beginning and you never showed yourself, why?"

"I couldn't find the right timing to come out."

"... I see... So you heard everything did you?"

"..." Natasha couldn't help but shiver as she heard ask that question.

"It's alright, I won't harm you since it does seem Val actually cares about you. Still, you better promise me that you won't tell another living soul unless I allow you to."

"I promise." Natasha nodded and replied without any hesitation. She knew that if she hesitated for even half a second she might be tortured.

"Very well, I will believe in you for now... You can leave now, do you better head to Val's inn and wait for him to wake up. Surely the two of you have a lot to talk about." Ren turned around and waved his hand as he left.

Seeing the fading back of Ren's silhouette, Natasha sighed in relief. All the tension in her body was gone and she once again fell to the floor butt first. Her whole body smelled of sweat as she breathed in and out, trying to calm her nerves.

'So he's the Strongest Mortal Soul.' Once when she was younger Natasha had snuck into the deepest part of the library where only the high priest could enter. Seeing as the Goddess of Justice Tiddette didn't stop her from entering, she felt that doing so was alright. In there she had read the records in regards to the Strongest Mortal Soul. So she knew about as much as Valdel.

She had always thought that the accounts of that being were grossly exaggerated. Yet now that she was able to meet an incarnation of that being, she could finally understand that the accounts were all real.

...

It was nighttime, Ren has just done the deed with Lara, who was now sleeping soundly on his bed. The two were currently in his dorm room in the school. As Ren was meditating on the floor someone knocked on his door. Ren opened his eyes and spoke.

"Come on in Henrietta." The door opened and a surprised Henrietta entered.

"How did you know it was me? Was it by smell, by the sound of my footsteps, or the way I knocked so what was it?"

"It was your mana signature. I could sense your distinct mana fluctuations."

"That sounds incredible, can you teach me how to do that?" Henrietta excitedly approached Ren.

"I will, but not now. There's something I want to talk to you about." Hearing what Ren said Henrietta pouted as she really wanted to learn the trick right away. Still, it looks like Ren was about to talk about something important so she immediately stopped pouting.

"What is it?"

"How's the current situation of the Serbek Kingdom." Henrietta shrugged her shoulders before responding.

"Truthfully it's not good. It wasn't just the capital that was attacked by a wave of monsters. It would seem that the Primordial Demon Nyarlom's plan was wider than we thought. The fortresses, cities, towns, and villages within the Kingdom have been attacked by waves of monsters. Our allied kingdoms are also having their own problems, so they're unable to give a helping hand. Only a few cities were able to survive the monster wave, and a lot of refugees are all heading to the Capital. Overall it's safe to say that this kingdom is pretty much finished. All we have left are land and a few people. Once the other kingdoms are done dealing with their problems they would surely attack and try getting their share of our land. Even our former allies would join in this fiasco claiming to come to our aid."

Henrietta sighed as she shook her head.

"Even if we somehow win with your aid, with this much land and so little people we won't be able to utilize it properly."

"I see... So what are your plans now?"

"Honestly there's nothing much I can do. I didn't even want this job as a leader, I just want to continue researching. Yet there's no one alive that I could pass the position to."

"Then how about you give it to me?" Ren spoke as he showed his signature vicious smile.

"Huh?" Henrietta looked at Ren confused. She wasn't expecting Ren to ask such a thing. Based on her understanding of Ren, from the limited amount of time, she has known him. She was pretty sure that he was like her. In her case, she was deeply in love with research and creating, and wouldn't want troublesome things to get in her way of doing the things she loves. For Ren it was fighting, so she was sure that he too didn't like to deal with such a troublesome thing as governing a kingdom.

"You seem confused, why?"

"Well, it's rather surprising, since I thought you would actively avoid troublesome things that get in the way of you fighting."

"This isn't really troublesome for me, since I already have some experience in doing something like this, but more than that I really want this. Based on what Nyarlom said more Primordial Demons will be coming out. Remembering that guy's ramblings, Primordial Demons feed out of other beings Malice and they love to spread chaos. So what is more chaotic than war? Nothing, war is the most chaotic thing of all, it is both logical and illogical. Primordial Demons seem to be adept in manipulation so they should be able to easily control a kingdom or two. So we should be expecting a large-scale war between kingdoms at our hands. We should also expect all the other races to join in as well. This is going to be a world war."

While Ren was explaining his predictions of the future his smile grew wider and wider. He needed these kinds of conflicts to strengthen not only himself but the others as well.

"Even though I myself can deal with an army or two, I can't be in all places at once. Based on how strong Nyarlom was, I could sense that he was not even at full power back then. It's just a theory for now, but I feel that Nyarlom's full power would be tenth of my own. So in that sense fighting ten Primordial Demons in my current state would be a bit troublesome. Also, it won't just be the Primordial Demons that would be a problem, like you said the other Kingdoms will surely attack. Since I need more manpower I'll get the most I can from this. So are you willing to hand over the Serbek Kingdom to me?"

"I wasn't really going to say no. If you want it, it's yours. It's not like anyone can stop you from taking it, even if the royals were still alive you could have just taken everything by force."

When Henrietta said those words she noticed that Ren suddenly showed a melancholic expression. This was the first time she had seen such an expression on his face.

"Power is not enough to lead. Using force on something like this usually leads to disaster and regrets." Henrietta was shocked, it was as if Ren was speaking like he had experienced something like that before. It was as if he was an old king, but based on his age that shouldn't be possible.

'Oh Ren, you're getting more interesting by the second.'