Chapter 287: Exploring

"Okay, that was like the most comfortable sleep I've ever had," Sighed Persia contentedly. 

A day had passed since we teleported to Abyss, it was the next morning and I'd woken up a few minutes ago. Naturally, I claimed the king's quarters in the castle to live in along with Persia and Pero, and it was amazing...well, I'd already experienced it back when I was staying here while preparing myself to kill Shiro the first time...though back then, my emotions were sealed, so I didn't really bother savoring it. 

This time though, my emotions were out in full force, and I have to say...wow, this is amazing! The bed was so incredibly comfortable and the room was really spacious and was a nice, cool temperature thanks to the Cooling Crystals in each corner of the room. 

Anyway, Persia had just woken up and was sinking into the pillows and mattress with a blissful expression on her face. I poked her cheek a couple of times as her ears twitched and her tail swayed slowly. 

"Hey, I'm gonna go roam around a bit, you wanna tag along?" I suggested, as Pero, who was sleeping on the foot of the bed, woke up and sleepily walked up towards the head of the bed, stretching forward and yawning as she plopped herself onto Persia's face. 

"Mpfh-! Oh, wow, that startled me," Said Persia with a bemused, half-asleep expression, as she slowly moved Pero off her face, "Nah, you go ahead, I think I'm gonna roll around here for a bit...for, like, the rest of the day." 

I had to admit, I was tempted to do the same, but I decided against it, as I got up and headed for the bathroom, taking a quick bath before getting dressed. I put on a pair of comfy black trousers and a loose-fitting black collared t-shirt, and then headed out, quietly closing the door as I slipped out, careful not to wake up either of the sleeping kitties on the bed. 

Alright, let's go explore my nation... 

... 

"Yo, dude! This place is lit af!" Greeted Rion, as I strolled out of the castle and looked around at the food stalls.

He was with Azeria, who was munching on a meat-skewer. Come to think of it, I could eat right now too, I'm pretty hungry... 

"Hey, you two, what's up? On a date?" I inquired with a grin.

"Don't even joke about something like that," Frowned Azeria, though it was hard to take her seriously with sauce around her mouth. 

"Damn, that's cold, Azzy! Heh, and also...you look funny with that sauce goatee you've got going on!" Laughed Rion, nudging her playfully. 

"...I can't help it, I slept for hours and I'm starving," She grumbled, averting her gaze in embarrassment and wiping her mouth. 

"So, are you like the king here now?" Inquired Rion curiously, "Or something like emperor or president or-?" 

"Actually, I haven't really thought about it...for now, let's just go with leader instead of a more specific label, it's really not that important," I replied with a shrug, before asking, "By the way, the axe you got from one of those newly summoned enemies, how's it working out for you?" 

After the battle yesterday, while I'd been roaming around in the Rustlands, I ran into him and found out that Rex had been killed by someone who was likely another of Belia's summons, and that Rion had claimed his axe after he, Rai and Az took the guy down. 

"It's so awesome, dude! I've gotten like a crazy power boost from it, and the best part is that it seems to be impossible to steal!" He remarked with a grin. 

"Nice, let's find out later exactly how powerful you are now," I suggested with a sense of intrigue, "The twin blades that I got gave me more of a speed boost than a strength boost." 

"Cool, I'm in! Oh, yeah, so what're the blades you got named? The axe I got is named Labrys, Axe of Hephaestus. Did you also instantly know the name of your weapon the moment you touched it?" 

"Yeah, it just popped into my head out of nowhere. Mine are called the Fangs of the Basilisk," I answered, before adding, "Well, I'm gonna roam around a bit more, see you guys later." 

"Yeah, later, bro!" 

"Bye," Replied Azeria, though she was more focused on her food. 

Right then, let's see how things are going elsewhere... 

...

A few minutes later, I came across Prato and Lusk, who were talking to a couple of Demons and Vampire Minions near one of the arenas that had been built. Oh, yeah, so both the Vampires and the Demons really enjoyed dueling, and therefore, I had them build a bunch of arenas evenly spread out throughout Abyss. It was pretty easy with Earth Magic and Alchemic Magic. 

I did have them follow two rules when dueling though, the first being that they have to use a safety barrier, and the second being that there must be a third person to observe, sort of like a referee or an umpire. 

Anyway, as I walked towards them, I recognized one of the Demons...Ubel, the Demon that had successfully taken over the body of Einn Olbaw, the last S-Rank of Goldway to die. He was the strongest of the Demons that were under me, which might have something to do with the fact that his body was that of a former S-Ranked Adventurer. 

Speaking of which, I now have sixty-one Demons under my rule. That leaves about forty-odd stray Demons roaming throughout the rest of the world. As for the Vampires, besides the two Evil Numbers and four Vampire Knights, there were eleven Vampire Generals and ninety-two Vampire Minions left alive. 

"Hey, good to see you all getting along," I greeted as I approached them.

The Demons and Vampires bowed as I stepped forward, while Prato and Lusk nodded politely. 

"Lord Kuro, it is good to see you," Replied Ubel with a smile, "How may we be of assistance to you?" 

His appearance had changed a bit from back when Einn was still alive...his brown hair looked wilder and was spikier than it used to be, same with the hair on his tail, the whites of his eyes were black, he had a third eye on his forehead which was currently closed, and he had backwards-pointing horns on either side of his head. 

It'd been kinda awkward talking to him at first, since he's taken over the body of someone I knew...though, I may have been friendly with Einn, but we weren't all that close, so I got over it pretty quickly. Maybe that's heartless on my part, but hey, it is what it is.

"Oh, no need for that, I'm just taking a walk," I replied with a wave of my hand, "What are you all upto?" 

"Yes, regarding that...these two requested to duel us, but we are uncertain if that is okay," He answered. 

"Hm? I mean, so long as you use the safety barrier, I don't see a problem with some friendly duels," I replied with a shrug. 

"What about us, my lord?" Inquired one of the Vampire Minions skeptically, "The Royal Decrees prevent us from harming humans from the Rustlands..."

Ohh, right, I almost forgot... 

"You guys play it safe for now, then...but later today, I'll be undoing most of the effects from the Decrees, I came up with a Chaos Magic spell that can negate those effects," I explained, before adding, "After all, it's very possible that the Rustlands may turn out to be our enemies in the future, so it's in my best interest to undo the Decrees." 

"Will we really have to fight the Rustlands someday?" Asked Prato with a conflicted look on his face. 

"Maybe...it depends entirely on them, I don't plan to make any aggressive moves against them, so it's upto them not to provoke us. And in the event that that does happen, if you're unwilling to fight them, I won't force you to do so," I replied...yeah, I may have a lot of good memories of the Rustlands, but if they become a threat to me, I won't hesitate to wipe the nation off the map, even if I have to do it all by myself... 

... 

Later in the day, I was waiting for the Vampires to gather so that I could use the Chaos Magic spell I'd made with Diablo to undo most of the effects of the King's Decrees on them. I mainly wanted to remove the effects of the Decrees that were preventing them from entering the Rustlands or attacking people from there. Anyway, as I was waiting, Diablo suddenly addressed me... 

"Kuro, I did it!" He exclaimed triumphantly, "At least, this should work, assuming that-!" 

Hey, calm down, you're going too fast. 

"Oh, my bad. Anyway, I'm talking about the Chaos Magic spell to subjugate the Water Spirit! I think I've got it!" 

Nice, that's awesome! I mean, I figured that you'd be able to do it, but not this soon. 

"Aw, stop it, you're gonna make me blush!" He replied with a laugh, before adding smugly, "Hah, you hear that, you idiot Vampire? I'm more useful than you!" 

Wait, I didn't say th-. 

"Tch, screw you, asshole Demon!" 

"Huh, screw me!? No, screw you-!"

I'm just gonna tune them out...

Anyway, Az's Water Spirit can wait...right now, it's time to work on the Vampires... 

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