Chapter 91: The Right Choice? (2 – End)

Patrick felt even more embarrassed hearing the other party's biting questions. He wasn't convinced, but the next words silenced him completely.

"Do you not realize the situation you're in? See that nearby hill? Behind it is a den housing hundreds of goblins. When I arrived, they were gearing up to head out."

Patrick didn't doubt the other party's words — he'd lost several soldiers days ago during scouting at the goblins' hands, and ever since then he hadn't dared send out any more scouting parties. But he hadn't expected the goblins' territory to be this close.

"You're practically the closest living thing to them. Ten minutes' walk and they'll be at your door. Do you think when they arrive, they'll help you carry stones out of neighborly kindness?"

Patrick didn't care about the mocking edge in Kaiden's tone — he was drenched in cold sweat. Even though he was an optimist by nature, he wasn't stupid. He understood that against hundreds of goblins, his territory wouldn't get more than a single scream out before he and his forces were wiped out.

"Besides the goblins, there's also a large army of spiders active in this area. Even the smallest spider is the size of a calf, with sharp limbs and a fighting style built around surprise ambush attacks. Do you know why you haven't seen them yet?"

"Spiders?!" Patrick was caught off guard — he hadn't even known this race existed nearby to begin with.

Kaiden didn't wait for him to guess, answering his own question without bothering to hide the contempt in his tone: "Because they're only active at night! Even assuming you could patch up those flimsy defensive walls of yours, spiders can climb up easily from any direction. You know exactly what happens next."

Patrick pictured hundreds of black spiders pouring into his territory under cover of darkness, and a cold shiver ran through his entire being. If there had been even a one-in-a-thousand chance of surviving the goblins through sheer luck, it vanished completely the moment the spiders were mentioned. Once again, that lord had no reason to lie to him — it was obvious he was far stronger than him.

Seeing the chubby man's expression, so terrified his hair had nearly turned white, Kaiden smiled and delivered the final blow: "Do you know the connection — or rather, the secret — behind why the goblin and spider numbers are growing at such an unnatural rate?"

Seeing the silence on the other end, Kaiden grew bored and gave the answer himself: "It's because they multiply by eating other creatures! The only reason you survived yesterday is that they were busy with the Beast Tide. Today's different — because of the Tide, beasts have become nearly impossible to find. What do you think they'll be doing now?"

Kaiden looked at him with something that wasn't quite a smile, and he didn't need to explain any further. If the chubby man had even a shred of sense, he'd understand exactly what situation he was in.

Sure enough, hearing the young lord's words, Patrick felt terror — but also a moment of clarity. He fully grasped his current situation now, and understood why the other party had laughed at his earlier words. The other party hadn't been bullying him — this was, in truth, his only chance at survival.

Patrick had only three Emerging Heroes. At that moment, one of them gathered his courage and raised his bow. From his perspective, the enemy lord had been mocking their lord over and over, and more importantly, he wasn't carrying any weapon or armor at all. He had no intention of firing without orders — he just wanted to be ready in case the ongoing talk broke down.

"You've got guts!" Kaiden smiled a cold smile. He didn't even need to use any skill — just through his astonishing mana control, without moving a single part of his body, two stones from atop the pile exploded with a single thought!

BOOM! CRACK!

"AAAAH!"

Along with the sound of a muffled explosion and the crack of bone snapping, followed by an agonized scream — it all happened in less than a second.

Patrick was stunned by the sudden turn of events. When he saw the soldier raise his bow, he'd wanted to order him to lower it, but before he got the chance, the two stones exploded. He looked at his soldier writhing on the ground and saw that his face had been shredded, and his bow arm had been snapped in a single second.

"I surrender! I surrender! Please, my lord, show mercy!" Patrick screamed at the top of his lungs. The other party's power had become utterly incomprehensible — even the pile of stones in front of him had turned into a weapon in his hands. There was no point resisting.

The instant he uttered those words, every system panel that had ever appeared before him vanished with a single thought from the enemy, including his right to hold the Lord's Crown and his Regional Talent.

People's sorrows and joys differ. In this moment, unlike Patrick, system notifications began appearing one after another in Kaiden's field of view.

[System Alert: Congratulations! Lord Patrick, of the "Human" race, Lord of "Great Rock City" Territory, has surrendered to you. Rewards sent to the Lord's inventory: ×1 Black Iron-tier Crown Shard]

[System Alert: You have defeated another lord's territory. Displaying victory options...]

[System Alert: Please select one of the three victory options: Destruction, Enslavement, Occupation]

Kaiden was pleased to see the system notifications appear before him. It seemed the other party's surrender had been formally recognized by the system, which saved him a great deal of trouble. He'd already had an option in mind before arriving, so without a second thought, he immediately selected Enslavement.

[System Alert: "Enslavement" selected. Sealing the defeated target...]

Patrick and the forces beside him felt chains wrap around their hearts. The sensation wasn't painful, but it was deeply unsettling. They felt a wave of distress and instinctively understood, through the system's influence, that the lord standing before them could burst their hearts with a single thought. In truth, the binding extended to every resident of Patrick's territory.

On the other side, Kaiden felt that he could end 86 lives with a single thought. It wasn't just a feeling — it was a fact that needed no testing.

[System Alert: All seals have been placed on the defeated targets. You may now display the enslaved units' status window through a thought. Note: All of the defeated lord's buildings will be destroyed within ten minutes.]

[9:59]

Seeing the countdown ticking away before him, Kaiden told Patrick to get all his territory's residents out immediately. Fortunately, his territory was small, and with three minutes left before the deadline, Patrick and every resident of his territory were outside.

Once they'd moved a safe distance away, Kaiden, his soldiers, and the large crowd all turned to wait for time to run out.

[0:03]

[0:02]

[0:01]

The moment the counter hit zero, the ground shook, and an astonishing sight unfolded.

CRACK! SHATTER!

As though some giant, invisible hand were crushing down on it, the walls, the Lord's Hall, and every building standing on the land were destroyed.

Patrick watched his territory being torn apart, a storm of complicated emotions washing over him. He too had once carried great ambitions, which was why he'd worked so hard every single day. But now, everything had vanished — forget ambitions and dreams, he'd even become a slave, his future entirely unknown.

While Patrick was drowning in his own grief, a young hand patted his shoulder, jolting him back. He turned and saw it was the lord who'd taken everything from him, then heard the other party's words:

"You'll come to realize, someday, that you made the right choice."

End of Chapter 91.