Chapter 249: Lord Of Birds

Seren stood at the edge of the clearing, her bow lowered, her eyes scanning the scene.

The battle had been brutal, the air still thick with the smell of blood and feathers.

She took a moment to catch her breath, her chest rising and falling, her hands steady despite the chaos that had just unfolded.

In her life, he hadn’t seen a battlefield this thick with bodies and action.

With this intensity and pressure! The closest that came in mind was the Yuimons battle when she had Darion had hunted together.

She looked at Darion now. Her face was calm, but her eyes were bright with something that might have been awe.

"That’s... that’s crazy!" she said.

Darion nodded with a smile. "Yes, it was. For some moments there I was overwhelmed."

He wasn’t lying. The sheer number of birds, the intensity of their attack, the way they had coordinated their assault, it had been unlike anything he had faced before.

At that moment, he had been very much overwhelmed.

His heart thudded as the birds came, their shrieks filling the air, their bodies diving from every direction.

He was even out of breath at some point, thinking he was faint from the too much feathers at his face.

They had been everywhere, a storm of wings and talons that seemed impossible to stop. He had summoned, directed, fought, and for a brief moment, he had wondered if it would be enough.

Now, his heart was still pounding, his hands still trembling slightly from the adrenaline. But he had done it. He had survived.

The archers, who might have been scared to talk to Darion, Baron of Percvale, too casually, actually broke character.

They began to tell him how that was super cool, how powerful he was, and damn, how angry were these birds and stuff.

One of them stepped forward, his face flushed with excitement. "I’ve never seen anything like that, m’lord! You controlled the sky itself!"

Another archer nodded vigorously. "The way those undead birds moved, it was like they knew exactly what to do. Like they were reading your mind."

A third archer, younger than the others, added, "I was sure we were done for when they started diving. But then you just... summoned more. And more. And they just kept coming!"

Darion replied the way he could, smiling with them.

He was kind of getting used to this kind of attention, people looking at him with such admiration. But he appreciated it.

It reminded him why he was doing all this, for Percvale, for his people, for the future he was building.

Even Pannett seemed surprised by how he had done it.

She stood at the edge of the group, her bow still in her hand, her eyes fixed on Darion.

She looked at him for some moment, ’impressed’ clearly in her eyes, then she came closer and thanked him for saving their lives and how cool that had been.

Her voice was quiet, but sincere. "Thank you, m’lord. That was... incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it."

Darion nodded. "You did well too. Your shots made a difference."

The battle was over. The hunt was done. And Darion had gained more than he had ever imagined.

But as the excitement faded, a new problem emerged.

Darion looked at the fifty-plus bird bodies on the ground and did the math immediately.

His animal inventory before today was at capacity. The Horned Yuimons from the earlier fight had filled the expansion. He didn’t have room for fifty birds.

There was room for maybe ten or so, he wasn’t that sure.

The system had expanded his inventory to one hundred slots, but he had already filled many of them with the Horned Yuimons, the Blade Forest Snakes, and the birds he had already revived.

He stared at the corpses, his mind racing. Over fifty birds.

Over fifty potential undead soldiers. Over fifty creatures that could serve him, fight for him, and protect Percvale. And he couldn’t take them all.

This was too much to lose. Imagine what this could do for him.

All these birds on the floor, imagine how helpful they would be. Aerial scouts. Attackers. Messengers. Each one was a weapon, a tool, an asset. And he could only take a fraction of them.

Damn. Fuck this system. Why couldn’t he have it like be expanded to a thousand, or maybe he got infinite space?

Infinite space would mean no limits, no restrictions, no need to choose.

He could take every creature he ever killed, build an army of endless size, and never have to leave a single body behind.

Every battle would be a gain, every victory a permanent addition to his forces.

He would never have to make the painful decision of what to keep and what to leave. But infinite space was a fantasy, for now at least.

The system had rules, boundaries, limits. And he had to work within them.

Why did he have to choose? Why couldn’t he just take everything?

He just stared at the bird corpses, processing this all in his mind, trying not to show his frustration.

His jaw was tight, his hands clenched at his sides. He wanted to shout, to rage against the unfairness of it all. But he knew it wouldn’t help. The system was what it was. He had to work within its limits.

Seren was talking to the archers now. "You all did a wonderful job," she said, her voice carrying across the clearing.

"The purpose of this training has been fulfilled. You faced a real threat, under real pressure, and you came out on top. Be proud of yourselves."

The archers nodded, their faces bright with pride. They had done well. They had survived. They had grown.

But Darion just kept staring at the corpses, not knowing what to say.

His mind was racing, trying to find a solution, trying to figure out how to make this work. He needed more room. He needed more space. He needed the system to give him what he needed.

Then the notification came.