City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread By Thomas F

Tamal Wraithhearth

“In half an hour, we will reach it,” I said, and my staff lit up. Sending a loud but melodic sound across the horde.

It is to wake up the people. Most of them are resting in bone carriages. I wouldn’t march them here; it would have been tiring, and I want them in the best condition.

Thus, the bone carriages.

It’s the disciplined horde. It didn’t take more than a minute before all of them got out of the carriages.

“Do you think he will surrender?” asked Liorian. “We should not accept surrender. It is now beyond that, we should teach these bastards a lesson to warn all of them.”

“They should understand the fate they will suffer if they dare to oppose us,” replied Yark, before I could say anything.

He is burning with the rage of revenge. He is no longer the calm warrior he used to be.

Which is not good, and I hope that after taking his revenge, the flame of vengeance will be quenched.

“I will accept if he does,” I replied, and he nodded, understanding the reason, while Yark fumed.

It is the last thing I want to do. This bastard had created a lot of trouble for us, but it’s an order from above.

Till a few days ago, I had complete autonomy to deal with Silver as long as I did not cause any physical or psychological harm to him.

Now, his legacy had advanced. He had become the Lord of a Throne.

That is a very valuable asset. Most importantly, they believe he has a high chance of taking his legacy even further, which is what they want, after they acquire him.

Velvet Garden is massive; it is bigger than all the other legacies we have in our control.

It had become crucial that we gain control over it. It’s the last chance I have. If I fail this time, I won’t have another chance.

I will be recalled to the island, sent to fight those battles against those bastards that sent shudders through my soul.

There is no way in hell that Silver would be able to do anything against this horde. Still, I will be careful, not because I am scared, but because I don’t want to lose any undead.

Silver is not the real threat. Grimvale is, and I want to crush him with absolute force.

…

“Fifteen minutes,” I said, and put the binoculars down.

I am still shaken by what I saw, even fifteen minutes later, and I witnessed the tide growing bigger with every second.

I could see the great fear in the eyes of many people, looking at the undead.

They didn’t even need to look through the binoculars to look at the undead. The tide is visible under the afternoon sky of the vast wasteland.

“We are prepared. We are ready to deal with them,” said Stone, and I nodded.

In about five minutes, they will enter the second circle of the range.

It is fortunate that I didn’t build anything, especially on this side of the river, or the destruction of the battle would have been unimaginable.

I don’t know if the city would be spared, but I am clear about one thing.

I will give everything to destroy the undead. So even if I needed to blast the legacy once more, I will do it, and the preparations are made for that as well.

“General Cardin, I will leave the wall to you,” I said to the man. “Thank you for the responsibility, my lord,” he replied and bowed faintly.

I could detect the faint sarcasm in his tone.

The man wanted to fight with us outside the gate, but I need him on the wall to support us and cover our retreat, if we fail.

I climbed off the wall and walked toward the large army gathered by the gate.

They are standing nearby, with powerful shamanic magic swirling around them.

I couldn’t help but feel pride, seeing them standing ready to fight. They are the ones who stayed when everyone had escaped.

I looked at them, wanting to remember the faces of all of them. All one hundred and seventeen thousand men and women were standing in front of me.

Of them, nine thousand are volunteers.

Most volunteers are staying inside the city, but like veterans in the police, some with experience will fight with us outside.

I stopped in front of them with Stone, on my right, while Azalia and Hiren were to my left.

They are looking at me as well, with almost all having amazement in their eyes. They could see the artifacts on all of us.

Even the one they know has changed. Only General Azalia’s Saber had remained the same.

Though her control over the weapon had improved drastically from the last time she had used it in the battle. The glittering sabre with a diamond blade hangs by her waist, for all to see.

Though people are barely looking at it.

They are examining Stone’s Halberd, which has shed its rusty exterior. It is now a gleaming, dark violet blade with a blue metal shaft adorned with a golden vine-like design.

The moment Stone had entered the city after the legacy advanced, I pulled it from him and sent it to my core.

I tried the core essence of the thrones, which I had harvested, but that was not enough to heal it.

Now, it is fully healed, with all its abilities unlocked.

They already knew about the Halbert, but they didn’t know about the Belt that General Hiren was wearing. It was the first time he had revealed it publicly.

I gave it to him.

It’s a very suitable artifact for him, or it will be in the future when he can harness that ability from it.

Vandal is more suitable with current abilities, but Hiren needs it for the enemy he will have to face with Azalia. The two will fight together.

They have known each other for a long time and could fight together very well; it’s the main reason he got the artifact.

Some even had recognition flashing in their eyes, which shocked them even more.

Then it is me; most of them seemed to be focused on me, or rather, the blood-red crystalline ring floating above my hand.

Many could tell it’s an artifact, but none could recognise it, which is obvious.

I saw hope light up in the eyes of many as they saw the artifacts. I could have revealed them in the battle, but I did it now to boost morale.

“The enemies are coming, with numbers tens of times greater than ours,” I said, looking into their eyes.

From Trask to Axseer to Vandal to Glass to Wells.

She is fighting the battle. I didn’t ask her to; she volunteered on her own. She had given up her citizenship of the merchant state yesterday to join the fight.

She didn’t owe me anything, and I had told her that much, but she said she wanted to.

I didn’t press her anymore. The truth is, I need mages, and she is a powerful one, with significant experience.

“But we will fight them and we will defeat them, like we did every time we fought.”

“The numbers they have brought have never mattered!”

It wouldn’t have mattered, even if they had brought a hundred times our numbers, we would have fought them, with the same zeal that we are going to fight them now!” I said, roaring at the end.

“Silver, Silver, Silver…!”

There was absolute silence for a moment before they began to stomp their feet on the ground and chant my name.

The chant surprised me. I thought they would chant the name of the city. It is what soldiers do. Instead, they are chanting my name.

“Let’s show the enemy what we are made of,” I said, and the monster appeared behind me, with the lightning crackling under its feet.

I mounted it and led my army toward the gate.

As I did, I felt the weight on my shoulders, which got heavier with every step my horse made. I am responsible for their lives, and many of them are going to die.

…

Myrathra Dawnstar

I looked at the floor, and it was filled with people, with every seat being occupied.

Servers moved around, taking the orders and serving them quickly and efficiently.

The emotions are thick in the hall, and I taste them. There is hopelessness and dread, but also hope as they looked at the giant screen.

Every floor has a giant screen active, and they will be showing the battle here.

I didn’t think Silver would do this. He will keep the legacy open and even show the battle, which he might not be able to survive.

The undead are coming with such force that Silver won’t be able to stop them.

I came here to the legacy because the college environment became too depressing, but here it is even worse.

Legacy harvests emotions, and if a particular kind of emotion is projected in high density, it could affect the things in the legacy.

‘Where is Carla?’ I asked.

She is an heir; she could deal with it, but I cannot see her. Nor could I see Caena. Even Margaux is missing. Even Grade II madams have disappeared.

“Look at that, we are fucking dead!” cursed one man, seeing the endless tide of undead coming on the screen.

He is scared, but he is still glued to the screen with his spouse and friends, chugging down drink after drink.

In the floors below in the casino, and velvet red, it’s even worse. People are gambling madly and fucking the whores, so that not even a single room is available.

I shook my head, seeing it, and walked toward the elevator. I thought about returning to college, but tapped on the roof rune.

I am one of the few people, aside from madams, who have access to the roof.

The elevator stopped and I got out. I was surprised to find that there was a person there.

She looked toward the wasteland through the big crystalline lenses floating in front of her.

“It’s quite a way to use your control over gems,” I praised as I walked toward her. She is Eva Charles, the jeweller; I had spoken to her a few times.

“Carabas gems are good in peering through the interference,” she replied. Since she is not using ocular skills, there will be even less resistance.

“Can you?” I asked. “Sure,” she replied, and three pale, white crystals appeared in front of her and stretched themselves to the lenses.

It took barely a minute for her to finish. When I looked, I saw the undead clearer than I could imagine.

I could see their faces.

“They have arrived,” I stated, and she nodded, without looking away from her senses. I looked for a few seconds before opening my mouth.

“Why have you returned? Many people had left, even the store owners, but you had come back,” I asked.

It is a blunt question, and we do not know each other well enough to ask it, but I want to know.

I had stayed because there was only a slight risk to me. I am a citizen of Archmage City. Not a regular citizen either; the undead would not dare to do anything to me.

Hell, they will not even stop me from leaving for long.

For further guarantee of safety, I had contacted a few friends with influence, including a Great Mage. They will ask about me if the undead have captured the city.

It is not entirely safe, but I know I will not die. She is not; she is an artist, and the undead don’t kill them, but she was on the undead’s list.

“I don’t know, my children were opposed to it, but I had a feeling that this is a decisive moment for Greltheaven and I shouldn’t miss it,” she replied.

I didn’t dare to believe it, but when I looked at her, I saw the truth.

“Also, I trust Remus. If he says he has something, that could give him a chance, then I believe it,” she added with a smile, which is not for friends.

I opened my mouth to ask if she knew something, when both of us focused on the lenses.

Something happened on the battlefield. Something big.

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