Chapter 931: End of Lanitol

Chapter 931: End of Lanitol

Emptiness resonated in the air, despite the giant crowds. Seen from the outside, Lanitol seemed better than ever. The city had seen a lot of calm as of late, despite the ongoing war. The surrounding fields and orchards produced food in great quantity and variety. There was plenty to go around and even use on luxuries such as exotic drinks and decorations. All that was fake.

Everyone with an awakened level of over eighty would feel that something was not right. Those above a hundred would even see everything that was wrong. Beneath the superficial glitter lay a core of nothing. Dallion couldnt see people interacting. From his perspective, he was surrounded by sleepwalkers whose actions were constantly directed through hundreds of invisible threads created by the domain itself. Even the awakened were letting themselves go with the flowprobably aware of the consequences if they didnt.

This place has changed, Euryale said.

There was a time when she had left Nerosaland Dallionto focus on her hunter training at Weties provincial capital. Now there was no hint of what had happened to the hunting den or its occupants. There was a time when Dallion believed them to have scattered to other countries and provinces, but the likelihood seemed low.

Cocoon of the chrysalis, Dallion said. At least one might hope.

A blond overseer emerged from the ground a few steps away. He was probably the only thing that remained elegant and calm just as Dallion remembered him.

Archduke, the overseer said with a low bow. The way he did it left it open to interpretation whether he was bowing to Dallion, Euryale, or both. A pleasure to have you visit again.

Normally, that would be a lie, but this time Dallion felt sincerity stream from within.

You seem a bit late, Dallion said. A bit longer and wed have reached the second platform.

We expected you would. The blond agreed. Since you didnt, I came to officially welcome you to the city.

This, in contrast, was a lie. Even at his current level, Dallion knew the importance of etiquette. Archdukes, even weak ones, were petty and could start a losing battle just to prevent losing face. It would have been easy to land directly on the top city platform and proceed to the archdukes palace. However, the pair had chosen to enter the normal way by walking through the main gate. What was more, Dallion had even placed Dark within his personal realm to avoid displaying overt hostility. At the end of the day, he was aiming for a peaceful transfer of power. It would be bad if his first major battle was against a potential ally.

My mistake. Next time Ill inform you of my visit. Dallion paused a bit.

It would be most appreciated, but there really is no need. As second after the emperor, you have the right to drop by whenever you wish.

That was only a semi-lie. What the overseer meant to say was that Dallion had the strength to drop by. That much had been apparent even before Dallion and Eury had set foot in the domain. For one thing, the magic barriers that had been so vital during the days of the poison plague were nowhere to be seen. The guards also were virtually non-existent, rushing to open the gates before Dallion could say a word. They were able to feel the power coming from Dallion and his wife all too well and had no intention of giving any pretext for discontent.

Any reason that the magic veil is gone? Dallion asked out of curiosity.

The archduke has had trouble finding a suitable mage, the overseer explained. Translated, that meant that Archduke Lanitol didnt trust any magescoming from the Academy or not. Ive had to take on the role, which is only natural. Im the citys overseer, after all.

Well need an audience with the archduke, Euryale tactfully reminded.

But of course, my lady. It will be my pleasure to take you to his private chamber.

This was in stark contrast to all the previous visits. When March had led the two in pursuit of the plague sword, they were only allowed to talk to servants of the archdukes family. An audience was absolutely out of the question. Now, they were doing the broken ruler a favor by visiting him.

Creating a sphere of reality around them, the overseer slid through the city to the massive pillar holding the upper platforms. From there, they went straight up like a bubble in water all the way to the top structure and further into the archdukes palace. Rooms passed by one after the other. To Dallions surprise, the throne room was also skipped, taking them to a relatively small chamber in which Archduke Lanitol was having dinner.

How the mighty have fallen, Adzorg couldnt help himself. Dallion had to agree.

The once mighty lion was now a shadow of his former self. His high body trait still maintained a strong faade, but neither it, nor the expensive clothes and rare heirlooms could fool anyone into thinking that things were the same as five years ago.

Sensing he was not alone, the provincial ruler paused briefly, then looked up.

Youre hurting his pride, Adzorg warned.

Beggars are not choosers, Dallion replied. Lanitol isnt an idiot. My guess is that hes been waiting for this to happen ever since the failed coup against him.

That doesnt mean you should rub it in.

It doesnt have to be public, Dallion added.

Thats your concession?

Yes. Euryale joined in the conversation. Dals an empath, so Ill spell out your choices. Either you get on with this, or Ill take the city by force and trust me, I can get the top two platforms before anyone figures out whats going on.

LANITOL has been added to your domain.

The CITY is Level 14

ARLERA has been added to your domain.

The CITY is Level 10

GORBOM has been added to your domain.

The CITY is Level 10

Three rectangles flashed in front of Dallion. They were followed by a series of others of lesser settlements: towns, villages, and even a few outposts. With this action, the province was effectively part of his domain. Yet, despite the territorial gains, Dallions awakened level didnt increase. As he suspected, it was going to take a bit more to achieve that goal.

Leaving Euryale to keep Lanitol company, Dallion used his domain ruler ability to go directly to the old nobles treasury. The place was massive, built beneath the palace. There were enough guards and artifacts to give anyone a hard time getting through. None of those had an effect on the owner, however.

Choosing to save time, Dallion made sure there were no guards within the vault structure itself, then ripped it out of the real world, placing it into the training stiletto his old Icepicker instructor had given him.

TREASURE VAULT has been removed from your domain.

TREASURE VAULT has been added to TRAINING STILETTO

Once that was done, there was time to go through the whole trove of treasures without wasting a moment.

The space was filled with thousands of valuable artifacts excavated from the Nerosal ruins. A great majority werent even leveled up. In better times, awakened guilds would have a field day exploring and leveling up every single one of them. Right now, though, Dallion was only there for the aura swords and, surely enough, he soon found them.

The old man had understated the size of his collection. Based on the way he behaved, one could be led to believe that he had half a dozen at most. In truth, there were dozens. Most were covered in black rust and mold, with some being in such a bad condition that they were only held together by the stand they were placed on.

Regardless of condition, Dallion went through every last one, purging all cracklings and rustlings within. With his current powers, such a feat was no more difficult than stretching. Sadly, the gains were a lot less plentiful than he had hoped. Of the fifty-seven aura swords, forty-nine were completely deprived of life. In five more, the dryads had gone entirely feral to the point that even the guardians werent able to do anything about it. Just in the remaining three, the populations were comparable to the dryads he had already freed, although their awakened levels were considerably less.

Even when Dallion brought them into the real world along with the minotaursthat also were an almost permanent presence in many of the aura swordshe had only managed to double his existing forces, increasing his awakening level to a hundred and twenty-nine.

These had gained him the western forests and the southern part of the Tamin empire, but the real fallen south, not to mention the forbidden north, remained out of reach.

A few hours later, the capital of Jio Province was turned to glass by fire from the sky. The end-game battle had begun.