Chapter 63: You are now Level 9!

Chapter 63: You are now Level 9! Ragnar Vhagar, Demon King and chief architect of the city’s rising headache levels, watched the two separate feeds on his phone with the focused intensity of a chess grandmaster playing two games at once while also trying to balance his checkbook. It was beautiful. It was chaotic. It was working. A soft chime echoed in his mind, a pleasant little melody that was quickly becoming his favorite sound in the world. [You have gained 350 Experience Points!] [You have accumulated enough experience!] [You have Leveled Up!] [You are now Level 9!] [You have gained 5 Bonus Points!] "Level nine," Ragnar breathed, a slow, deeply satisfied smile spreading across his pale face. He felt a familiar, pleasant warmth spread through him, a subtle but definite increase in his connection to his Domain. The power felt good. The five Bonus Points felt even better. He immediately opened his status screen, his gamer instincts kicking into overdrive. "Let’s see, let’s see," he muttered, tapping through the menus. "Creation from C to B costs ten points. I only have five. Still can’t afford the big upgrade. Alchemy is still at B... Knowledge is still a pathetic E, but Pixia is my living search engine, so that’s fine." He briefly considered boosting his personal combat stats, but shook his head. "No, better to save them. An emergency fund for a rainy day. Or for a day when I feel like punching another hero into low orbit." He leaned back in his throne, the familiar sharp point digging into his spine like a disapproving finger. The grind was working, but it was slow. His two-front war was a masterpiece of strategy, but it was a war of a thousand cuts. He needed to find a way to escalate, to land a decisive blow. He was starting to get that old, familiar itch, the one that screamed at him to do something reckless, like pump his entire life savings into a gacha game for a 0.1% chance at a cool-looking jpeg. As if summoned by his thoughts, Pixia zipped into the Throne Room, her tiny wings a blur of academic panic. "My Lord! Urgent intelligence!" she squeaked, her oversized glasses askew as she performed a frantic mid-air stop just inches from his nose. "I’ve been monitoring the human information networks, specifically the hero forums and their internal news feeds! There is a development!" "Find any good cat videos?" Ragnar asked dryly, not looking up from his phone. "Better, my Lord! Far better! I’ve found a weakness!" Pixia projected a holographic news article into the air in front of the throne. The headline was bold and triumphant, written in a font that screamed ’We’re heroes and we’re very proud of ourselves’: "HEROIC VICTORY! LIBERATORS JR. SQUAD CLEANSES CRYSTAL SPIRE SECTOR!" The article, accompanied by a blurry photo of some tired-looking kids in ill-fitting armor planting a flag, detailed how a plucky, mid-level hero team had, against all odds, successfully fought their way through one of Queen Alyssa’s territories and "liberated" it. Ragnar stared at the article, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place with a resounding, beautiful clarity. "The attacks... they’ve stopped," he whispered. He pulled up Chloe’s combat logs. For the past twelve hours, her team had reported a complete cessation of patrols and counter-attacks from Alyssa’s forces. He had assumed she was regrouping, maybe having a strategic nap. He was wrong. "She wasn’t regrouping," he said, a slow, predatory grin stretching his lips. His voice dropped to a purr of dawning realization. "She was distracted. The heroes weren’t just a nuisance to her; they were a real threat. They actually took a piece of her kingdom. A bunch of kids with store-bought swords just walked in and stole one of her living room chairs." He began to laugh, a low, cold sound that echoed in the vast chamber. This was perfect. This was the opening he had been waiting for. His rival, the brilliant and untouchable Queen Alyssa, had been wounded not by him, but by a bunch of under-leveled kids who probably still had a curfew. "She’s bleeding, Pixia," he purred. "Her attention is divided. She’s fighting a war on two fronts, and one of them just bit her back, hard. She’ll be pulling her forces to reinforce her border with the human-controlled sectors, trying to prevent another loss. She’s worried about them, which means she isn’t worried enough about me." "My analysis concurs, my Lord," Pixia said, her own excitement growing. "Her internal defenses will be at their weakest. This is a critical window of opportunity! The statistical probability of a successful, rapid conquest has just increased by over 40%!" Ragnar stood up from his throne, his boredom and frustration gone, replaced by a surge of pure, predatory opportunism. The time for harassment and psychological warfare was over. The time for conquest had arrived. He opened a direct mental channel to his two commanders, his voice a cold, clear wave of absolute authority that cut across the city. "Isabelle. Chloe. New orders. The war of attrition is over. All covert operations are now overt. All harassment campaigns are now invasions." He pointed a long, pale finger at the glowing map on his table, jabbing it at the sectors bordering Alyssa’s last known stronghold. "I want a full-scale, lightning-fast assault. I want you to advance as quickly as possible, seize every sector you can, and crush any resistance you meet. Do not stop. Do not slow down. We are going to take her kingdom from under her nose while she’s busy worrying about the heroes. I want to own everything up to her front door by sunrise." There was a moment of silence on the mental link, then two distinct, perfectly synchronized acknowledgments. "Understood, my Lord." Isabelle’s voice was a blade being drawn from its sheath. "It will be done." Chloe’s was the whisper of a promise of death. Ragnar watched on his phone as the green icons of his two elite teams, which had been cautiously probing the edges of enemy territory. The game had just changed. The three-way war was still a chaotic mess, but now, he was the one controlling the chaos.