Chapter 39: Festival Announcement

The morning sun had barely crested the eastern peaks when official royal criers assembled at every major town square, crossroads, and marketplace across the Myrain Viscounty.

Clad in the crimson-and-gold tabards of House Darkstar, they unrolled thick parchment scrolls stamped with the Seventh Viscount’s personal wax seal.

As their loud voices echoed through the crowds, three major decrees shook the administrative and common sectors alike:

First, an official declaration confirmed that all twenty former civil administrators had tendered their resignations to the Viscount’s office, with former Master Sebas executed on the spot for high insubordination against the throne.

Second, the grand seven-day festival celebrating Lord Craig’s ascension would officially commence at sunrise tomorrow.

In conjunction with the festivities, a sweeping ten percent tax reduction was immediately granted to all seven baronies.

To further bolster the realm’s economy, the government announced a landmark agrarian program.

Local farmers would be loaned state-owned fertile lands to cultivate for themselves, keeping seventy percent of all harvested yield while surrendering only thirty percent to the royal granaries.

However, the third and final announcement was by far the most shocking to the noble houses and military commanders.

During the upcoming seven-day festival, the garrison knights of Heaven’s Net Castle would not be resting—they would be launching a massive, coordinated Abomination Hunt.

Shortly after taking the throne, Craig had analyzed the territorial surveys and learned that the Myrain Viscounty was severely infested with Abominations.

Four massive, ancient woodlands bordered his domain: the Morix Forest to the east, the Jeju Forest to the west, the Dodoria Forest to the south and the Misaka Forest to the dark north.

These dense forests were teeming with nightmarish beasts—most notably giant lupine predators and mutated wildlife violently corrupted by ancient, subterranean mana radiation.

They were designated as C-level danger zones.

This meant that vast majority of these beasts were categorized as 1st-Tier Abominations.

With only one or two 2nd-tier Abominations existing there.

The only reason the Myrain Viscounty had managed to survive alongside these three monster-ridden territories for decades was due to a massive, spiritual magic barrier erected around the perimeter of the forests.

The barrier subtly warped the Abominations’ senses, forcing them to remain within the deep woodlands rather than roaming out to slaughter human settlements.

For decades, the four forests had been treated as absolute danger zones by the common folk and local military.

To launch a major raid into all four danger zones just days after taking office seemed reckless to the outside world.

Craig had publicly given a vague, diplomatic explanation—citing the need to clear trade routes, expand border security, and assert the Darkstar Duchy’s martial dominance over the frontier.

In truth, the raid was organized for a single, critical purpose: Food supply.

Not for himself, and certainly not for his people—but for his three bound dragons.

In his past life, it had taken Craig nearly forty agonizing years of war and survival to uncover a massive, forgotten secret regarding draconic evolution.

The fundamental reason why wild dragons and abominations grew exponentially more powerful than tamed ones.

The truth was terrifyingly simple: wild abominations devoured other corrupted abominations.

That was the sole reason why Chaosbringer, who had fled the Temple of Dragons a decade later in his past life as a modest 5th-Tier dragon, had eventually returned to the realm as a terrifying, apex 8th-Tier calamity.

He had actively hunted, slaughtered, and feasted upon top-tier Abominations in the wild places of the world, absorbing their dense, radiation-rich mana cores to fuel his rapid evolution.

Conversely, the dragons kept within the sacred Temple of Dragons were coddled on a passive diet of normal livestock—cows, sheep, and horses.

While wholesome, plain meat lacked the violent, unrefined mana energy required to push a dragon past its biological limits.

With the imperial architects currently constructing his massive Dragon’s Pit on the valley which neighbors the Heaven’s Net Castle, Craig needed to prepare an absolute feast of corrupted beast flesh to nourish Chaosbringer, Dreamer, and Dark Sister.

The upcoming hunt was the vital first harvest to fuel their growth—a secret known only to him.

**

Later that afternoon, deep within the subterranean levels of Heaven’s Net Castle, Craig walked down the wide marble hallway, a calm, relaxed smile gracing his features.

He had shed his royal crimson cloak in favor of lightweight, dark leather training gear designed for high-velocity combat.

A finely forged steel broadsword rested inside a black leather scabbard at his waist.

Walking right beside him was Ser Hughway, fully clad in his heavy, silver-and-black Guardian Knight plate armor, his heavy iron boots echoing rhythmically down the hall.

The two were engaged in a serious discussion regarding the economic infrastructure of their new domain as they headed toward the castle’s central training facility.

"The financial ledgers are surprisingly intact, my Lord," Ser Hughway reported, holding a small leather notebook. "The Myrain Viscounty operates on an official annual budget of roughly fifty thousand gold coins.

Under normal conditions, the realm generates around thirty thousand gold coins per year through agricultural harvests, regional trade tariffs, and local mining deals."

Hughway paused, glancing at his lord. "With the sudden execution of Sebas and the suspension of the civil council, our treasury operations are currently frozen.

I strongly advise your Lordship to appoint a competent Finance Minister as quickly as possible to manage the cash flow."

Craig chuckled softly, adjusting the leather straps of his armguards.

"There is no rush, Hughway. Let the bureaucrats sweat for a few days. Once the seven-day festival concludes and the weak minds are purged, I will personally select a Finance Minister who understands how to manage an empire, not just a small budget."

"Understood, my Lord," Hughway bowed his head.

Moments later, they arrived before two gigantic, steel-reinforced oak doors at the end of the corridor.

CREAK...

With a heavy groan, the guards pulled the massive doors open, revealing the sprawling, sunlit expanse of the castle’s grand underground training arena.

High vaulted ceilings were reinforced with heavy stone arches, while the chalk-dusted floors were equipped with weapon racks, heavy archery targets, and protective barrier arrays.

**

Earlier that morning, Craig had issued a direct military order requiring all thirty garrison knights of the Viscounty to gather in the training hall.

As Craig walked into the training facility, the sharp sound of clashing steel and heavy grunts filled the air.

The knights were divided into pairs, aggressively sparring with broadswords, spears, and warhammers to hone their martial edge.

Craig stopped at the edge of the arena floor, his golden eyes resting quietly on the thirty Superhumans.

Ever since he had executed the Demon of Speed months ago during his silent escape from the poisonous plot, Craig had not engaged in a true, physical battle.

His mana core and dragon’s heart are awakened, his draconic bloodline was humming, and his physical physique had transformed into the legendary Divine Draconic Physique.

He didn’t just come down here to inspect his garrison.

He came here to personally test the true limits of his current strength against the strongest martial warriors of his new class.

How strong he was even as a Sword Apprentice..