Chapter 29: Prepare for War

Chapter 29: Prepare for War Ragnar Vhagar, Demon King of a territory that had recently and violently smashed into another, sat on his spiky throne and stared. His home was now a place of beautiful chaos. Grim, dark stone hallways, perfect for ambushes, would suddenly open into a bright, cozy reading room with comfortable chairs. A hallway that should have led to a torture chamber now led to the children’s picture book section. It was like a death metal castle had eaten a public library and was having trouble digesting it. His monsters were just as confused. "This is an organizational nightmare," Ragnar announced to the room. He pulled out his phone, his one true friend in this crazy new world. Like any good gamer after a big update, the first thing he did was check his status page. A wave of pure, greedy happiness washed over him when he saw the new numbers. [Domain Unification Complete!] [New True Core Acquired: The Seed of Knowledge (F-Rank)] [Your Maximum Creation Points (CP) have increased by +100!] [Current Max CP: 300/300] [CP Debt: 100. Natural CP Regeneration is Halted.] [Time Remaining to Repay Debt: 29 Days] His CP cap was now 300! The cost of making Chloe his Bloodkin had left him in debt, but now he had the potential to pay it off easily, once he started earning points again. His eyes narrowed. He now owned a second dungeon, the library, but it was three sectors away and completely empty of monsters. It was a huge, open weakness. "We need a strategy meeting," Ragnar said. He looked at the two smartest people in the room. Chloe, his Dark Elf Bloodkin, stood like a beautiful, deadly shadow next to his throne. Floating nervously near a shelf of romance novels was Pixia, the tiny pixie librarian who used to be a Demon King herself. "Pixia," Ragnar began, putting his long, pale fingers together like a classic movie villain. "Give me the facts. What are the good and bad things about keeping your old library?" Pixia flew closer, her tiny glasses almost falling off her nose. "My Lord, keeping the second Domain gives you a permanent +100 to your CP cap. It also gives us a second spot on the world map to start attacks from. But, it is completely undefended. It is a very tempting target for other Demon Kings. The smartest short-term plan would be to abandon it and put all our monsters here." Ragnar nodded. It was what he was thinking. "One castle is easier to defend than two. We cut our losses and build this place into a single, giant meat grinder. It’s the smart play." "If I may, my Lord?" Chloe spoke, her voice cool and sharp like ice. "To abandon land feels... like a retreat." "It’s a tactical repositioning," Ragnar corrected her, sounding like a boss explaining why the company was firing people. "There is one other thing, my Lord," Pixia added, her voice quiet. "A Domain that is abandoned, with its True Core moved, can be ’Liberated’ by the human heroes. Once they do that, the land can never be used to make a dungeon again. It is a permanent loss for all of Chaos." Ragnar stopped. He stared at the tiny pixie. "It’s lost forever? You can never get it back?" "That is what the System rules say, my Lord. The world is like a big chessboard. The humans are not just taking our pieces; they are taking the squares off the board." A cold, hard understanding settled in Ragnar’s mind. He had been thinking like a player in a single game. But this was a long war. And in a war, land was everything. Every piece of land he gave up was one less piece he could use to build his empire. "This changes everything," he said slowly. He started walking back and forth again, his mind racing. "I’ve been looking at this all wrong. We’re not just trying to live; we’re competing. This is the early game of a planet-sized deathmatch. All the weak Demon Kings, the ones who build their armies out of folded paper, are getting killed. The strong are eating the weak. Soon, it’ll just be a few of us left, ruling huge territories. If I give up land now, I’ll always be behind. I’ll be a small fish, waiting for a bigger fish to eat me." He stopped and looked at his two advisors, a new, hungry light in his red vampire eyes. "We’re not abandoning anything. We are keeping the library. We will defend both places. We will grow. We will be the ones who eat the others." Pixia looked a little scared, but also very impressed. Chloe just nodded, a sharp, happy smile on her lips. "I will follow your command, my Lord. We will make them choke on every inch of land they try to take." "Good," Ragnar said. But his mind was already on the next problem. "Defending a territory this big is going to need a huge army. And my CP regeneration is turned off until I pay my debt. We need a new way to get monsters. We need to become self-sufficient." He looked at Pixia, whose big eyes got even wider behind her glasses. She knew what he was thinking. "My Lord... are you thinking about... a residential area?" "I’m not just thinking it," Ragnar said with a wicked, fanged smile. "It is now our number one mission. This isn’t just a dungeon anymore. It’s going to be a city. A city of monsters. And I am going to be its king." He felt a sudden rush of energy. The fear was still there, a cold rock in his stomach, but something bigger was taking its place. It was a bold new idea. A dream. And for the first time, it felt like it could really happen. Just then, a familiar chime echoed in his head. [Invaders have entered the Domain. Invader Count: 12.] Ragnar glanced at the map on his phone. Another party of students had just walked into the "Goblin Playground" on the first floor. He felt a flash of annoyance. "Grunt," he commanded his elite kobold captain with his mind. "Take your squad. Get rid of them. And please try not to get blood on the rare books." He dismissed the invasion from his thoughts. It was just another day at the office. He had bigger things to do. "Now, Pixia," he said, turning back to his new advisor. "Let’s get to work. We have a city to build." The 24-hour peace he got from the dungeon merger was ticking down. They had a lot to do, and not a lot of time. The source of this content is freewe(b)novel