Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 146

“Edar?”

I opened my eyes.

Calliope’s face was visible.

A look of worry filled her usually emotionless face.

“Are you alright?”

I unconsciously reached for my forehead, then lowered my hand.

I expected a headache as usual, but I was fine.

“How much time has passed?”

“Just a moment. Only a very short moment.”

A very short moment, huh.

I looked at the window on the side wall.

The sunset was almost gone just before I sat on the throne.

Now the sunset had completely disappeared, and darkness had fallen.

And Rod’s pigeon, which had been sitting on the windowsill, was gone too.

‘Was he just watching?’

I tilted my head, wondering about his intentions, when a strange noise was heard.

“What’s going on?”

“The monsters have lost control and are rampaging.”

“Monsters?”

At my questioning gaze, Calliope gestured instead of answering.

A guard dragged Kiriyan and knelt him before me.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”

Kiriyan’s eyes widened when he saw me, and he gritted his teeth.

“What happened to him?”

He had become an elf.

He was originally an elf but had turned into a vampire.

But now he’s an elf again? Why?

“I don’t know. He became like that when Edar’s magic touched him.”

“When I accepted the soul of the throne, you mean?”

“Yes.”

Redness returned to his pale skin, and his fangs became blunt.

The elements that would suggest he was a vampire had disappeared.

If he were a blood relative, it would be possible to hide such elements.

But I had Vlad’s ring, so he couldn’t hide it.

‘The ring.’

Suddenly, I checked the ring.

The ring where Vlad’s soul resided.

The guy who always spouted nonsense to me was quiet.

‘Was I absorbed?’

The soul had disappeared from the ring.

“Don’t come! Don’t come near me!”

Kiriyan twisted his body violently.

Even though I could hear cracking sounds, he didn’t seem to have the leeway to recognize the pain. He only flailed around with the single thought of getting away from me.

I knew the reason.

The magic emanating from me was oppressing him.

The dignity and light of the soul were frightening him.

– Don’t you know? What kind of impact you had on the world when you accepted the soul of the throne. You are still only in a dream. Thanks to the chaos you caused, the chains that bound me have disappeared.

I recalled Tiamar’s words.

The chaos and impact I caused.

“Rachel is leading the Familiars to deal with the monsters. It seems that the reason the monsters are rampaging is related to Kiriyan turning back into an elf.”

“Kiriyan won’t be the only one who has returned to his original race.”

“Yes. It applies to all vampires in the city.”

“······.”

I sat on the throne and pondered.

‘I didn’t kill the vampires, but turned them back to their original forms?’

If I had decomposed the vampires into crystals, it would have made sense.

I could have just thought that I couldn’t control the overflowing power and caused an accident.

But I had never experienced or thought about the ability to change a race.

Once a being becomes a vampire, they can never return to their original race.

That was an immutable truth. That’s why it’s unforgivable.

‘Is this, my power?’

Even though I had achieved such a feat, I felt nothing.

Not even the slightest headache that should have occurred if I drew even a little magic from my soul.

There was no headache, no blurred vision, and not even a hint of dizziness.

‘Just how much immense power has been given to me?’

Mersephone approached me as I clenched and unclenched my fist.

“Edar.”

Mersephone tugged at my sleeve and stretched out her hand.

Mersephone gestured as if telling me to take her hand.

“Do it.”

I took her hand and let the magic flow through her.

Soon, Mersephone took on the form of an adult.

【Lv. 95】

A level surpassing even Calliope.

Seeing this, I put my hand on my forehead.

Not because it hurt, but because I wondered if I was mistaken.

Because the magic was still full and overflowing.

Remnants of the Old God

“Edar, are you okay?”

Mersephone asked, bringing her face close to mine.

She was worried that I was consuming too much magic.

That was because her level was too high right now.

It had increased by 4 compared to when I faced the Lizardman’s Avatar.

It was 2 higher than Calliope.

‘Magic consumption is significant.’

I felt the flow of magic flowing out of my body.

A consumption rate that I would never have been able to withstand before sitting on the throne.

But now I was fine.

“I’m okay. This much is nothing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I stroked Mersephone’s hair.

She closed her eyes and accepted my touch, but soon she stood up.

Not relieved by my words, she returned to her child form.

“Don’t overdo it.”

It wasn’t overdoing it.

The magic was really overflowing.

As if it would explode like an explosion if I didn’t suppress it.

‘I knew the magic of the throne was enormous, but it’s more than that.’

It was magic that Tiamar coveted.

It was the magic that Vlad had gathered to become a god.

I had also seen the throne going out of control and causing disaster.

But seeing it and handling it are completely different feelings.

‘Until now, I only destroyed the throne. Because I couldn’t control it. But now that it’s like this, I can see why Tiamar and Vlad were so obsessed with it.’

I closed my eyes for a moment and examined the magic flowing within me.

The control that had become difficult after the magic had increased enormously.

It wasn’t just because the amount of magic had increased.

‘What the throne contained was a soul.’

In order to absorb the magic contained in the soul, the throne had been holding countless souls.

‘I have become one with the soul of the throne. This has given me immense magic, but along with it, all sorts of souls are rampaging within me without harmonizing.’

The soul that had become one with me had lost its ego.

The memories they had in life were not passed on to me either.

Only the magic contained in the soul was fully passed on to me.

The magic contained in each soul had slightly different properties.

Because of this, they could not mix with each other and were colliding.

‘It feels like all sorts of impurities are mixed inside me.’

A different unpleasantness from when I used magic excessively.

There was no pain, but should I call it *jjipjjipham* [a Korean word describing a feeling of being unsettled or uncomfortable], it was unsettling.

I took a deep breath and suppressed the magic that was trying to leak out.

‘It will take time to find stability.’

Only a portion of the magic could be used completely.

But even that portion was immense magic to me.

————————————

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————————————

What changed after accepting the soul of the throne was not only magic.

The letters in the status window were completely broken and unrecognizable.

Originally, there should have been my name, level, and traits.

————————————

Transmitter

Mersephone

Lv. 1

Grade: SSS

Traits: [Familiar], [Apostle]

————————————

On the other hand, Mersephone was fine.

Only the letters in my status window were broken.

‘At least the line breaks and sentence structure are the same.’

Thanks to that, it was possible to assume that only the letters were broken, but the content was the same.

‘I don’t know what will happen if even this is broken. Maybe even the skills and traits given by the status window will disappear.’

Would my level limit and Familiar creation ability disappear if that happened?

Well, you never know. But I intuitively thought.

That it wouldn’t.

‘The breaking of the status window is exceeding the limit.’

The restrictions given to me are disappearing.

Not losing the abilities I have.

The reason is based on intuition, but it seemed like it.

“Calliope. Exclude the squad members with high magical aptitude and accompany me.”

“Understood.”

The number of Imperial Guard members increased to sixteen.

Four of them were Familiars with high magical aptitude or belonging to magicians.

With them removed and Mersephone joining, thirteen people accompanied me.

I headed to the secret warehouse in the basement of the Imperial Palace.

“Your Majesty, this place is···?”

Guard Raimondo asked.

“It is the repository of artifacts collected by Vlad.”

The underground warehouse was unusual from the entrance.

The door was made of Orichalcum [a mythical metal] and had been granted all sorts of magic.

If you reached out your hand without thinking, your whole body would melt.

“Indeed··· it seems so. Even the door is at the level of an artifact.”

I reached out my hand to the door.

“Be careful.”

“It’s okay.”

As my hand touched the door, magic enveloped my hand.

The magic, which should have only been shimmering like a mirage.

Enveloped me in the same color as the purple light emitted by Orichalcum.

Dr, drdr···

A subtle vibration.

Followed by complex schematics rising.

I arranged the schematics according to the rules, like putting together a puzzle.

The arranged schematics soon emitted light and then faded.

Clang.

And the door opened.

“Heh.”

The inside of the warehouse was brighter than the outside.

The stone spheres hanging from the ceiling emitted light made of magic.

A huge space like a bomb shelter revealed its appearance clearly.

Countless artifacts were on display.

“There are so many. How many are there?”

“Even if your brothers and sisters in this city took one each, there would still be some left over.”

The number of Familiars I mobilized for the expedition was 560.

The number of artifacts in the warehouse was even greater than that.

“Are there that many?”

“It’s an obsession. The result of an obsession to become a god.”

I ridiculed Vlad’s foolishness and scanned the display case.

Mersephone held my left hand and stayed by my side, Calliope was on my right, and Raimondo walked a few steps ahead of me, chattering.

Calliope gave him several glances, but he paid no attention and examined the artifacts.

“Perhaps because there are so many, there are many that are below standard.”

Vlad would have taken what he could take.

The remaining items were either of low value or, even if they were of high value, could not be taken.

“Your Majesty.”

Raimondo fixed his gaze on one of them.

“May I pick it up?”

It was a crude spear.

A throwing spear with only the blade and body, without any decorations.

Raimondo was the type to feel the magic flowing within the spear.

“Pick it up.”

As soon as he received permission, Raimondo grabbed the spear.

Then, stems sprouted from the spear shaft, which was the body of the spear.

“Uh, huh···?”

It was instantaneous.

The stem wrapped around the hand holding the spear shaft.

Before he could even react, the stem had completely covered his hand.

When he tried to let go of the spear in panic, the stem was already climbing up his arm.

Sreung···

Calliope drew her sword.

She felt the magic flowing through the spear.

The magic she had seen at the Germania Grand Temple.

It was the same nature as the magic that had turned corpses into monsters.

“S, Sister, w, wait a minute!”

Raimondo was more panicked by her actions than by the spear.

Given her personality, she would cut off his arm without hesitation.

I grabbed him as he backed away and tried to run away.

“It’s okay. Step back.”

I stopped Calliope and pulled on the stem.

Fussuck

The sound of dry leaves crumbling.

The stem that had stretched to Raimondo’s waist and legs was released.

The spear retreated the stem as if trying to escape from me with its will.

I grabbed the spear shaft and poured magic into it.

“Nir, find your true form.”

The spear trembled.

The stems that had been extended fell to the floor with a snap.

The shell of the spear shaft peeled off like shedding skin, revealing the flesh inside.

The handle showed its white self and flowed the magic I had injected.

“···What happened?”

Raimondo wiped his body, sweating coldly.

“This spear, Nir, is made from the roots of the World Tree.”

“The roots of the World Tree··· you mean the tree that gives birth to elves?”

“Yes. Nir is originally an elf weapon. It was made by cutting off the roots that grew by using the old gods as nourishment, and the spearhead was forged with Orichalcum, so it contains mysterious skill.”

“Skill?”

I threw the spear Nir towards the wall.

Thwack!

Even though I didn’t give it much force, it flew at an incredible speed and was embedded in the wall.

“Come back. Nir.”

As I reached out my hand and commanded, Nir trembled and returned to my hand as it had flown.

“Thus, the throwing spear Nir has the skill to return to the user. Also, it has the property of flying towards the target that the user has set, so it is impossible for most opponents to avoid Nir.”

“Oh···.”

Raimondo received Nir and admired it.

It was too early to be surprised. There were many weapons in the repository.

“That is Durang. It contains the curse of the god because it cut off the neck of the old god and drank its blood. It sucks the user’s magic, and if there is no magic, it even squeezes the life out of them, but the user becomes an excellent warrior.”

“Mogtein’s blade lengthens like a whip. There is a legend that a giant used it as a whip.”

“Balnoram is a hammer that calls thunder. Do you remember the hammer that shattered the ogre in today’s siege? It is a replica of Balnoram. Balnoram is a powerful weapon, but it contains more of the power of the old god than Durang, so it corrupts the user.”

I inspected the artifacts one by one and handed them over to the Familiars.

As mentioned earlier, they only had problems that were almost curses.

There was a reason why Vlad and the Council couldn’t take them carelessly. But now, those petty curses were no problem for me.

It was enough to crush the curses and cover the remnants of the old gods with my own.

The place that was like a white elephant to the two forces was a bonanza to me.

“Everything that seems somewhat decent is related to the old gods. If Your Majesty hadn’t been here, we would have just looked around and left.”

“That’s inevitable. Even you would find it difficult to shake off the influence of the old gods.”

“What is an old god?”

“It is a word that refers to a race that is no longer a god.”

A race that was once revered as a god but has fallen.

Either the race that believed in them went extinct, or no one believed in them.

The characteristic of the old gods was that there were no beings to be called kin.

The Lizardman’s Avatar is a Lizardman when it comes to race.

The same goes for the Dwarven Ancestor God and the Naga’s Mother God.

As an exception, the Elven World Tree is just a tree that gives birth to elves.

“Most of the old gods are beings who achieved feats that were called gods in the distant past. They were defeated by the Lords, killed, driven out, or enslaved.”

Some had the roots of the World Tree embedded in them and were used as nutrients, some were enslaved by the dwarves and dug the underground of the Great Mountain Range, and some could not be killed or used and were imprisoned in a place called the Abyss.

They could not live properly even if they lived, and they could not die properly even if they died.

“Vlad wanted to become a god. So he sought out things containing the power of god even more. The reason why there are many things containing the power of the old gods is because of that.”

When I reached the end of the warehouse, a huge cauldron was placed alone.

“This is··· I know what it is. It’s Tiamar’s sacred object.”

“That’s right. It is the sacred object containing the souls of Tiamar and Akakosk.”

I placed my hand on the cauldron.

Unlike other artifacts, there was no reaction.

Magic was flowing inside, but there was no substance.

The soul fragments that should have been inside would be with Vlad.

‘Or maybe I absorbed it like the ring.’

– That’s not it.

At that time, the pendant spoke to me.

The soul of Tiamar residing in the pendant.

She opened her mouth to me for the first time.

‘You can talk.’

– There’s no need to hide it anymore.

A light laugh echoed in my mind.

‘Is Tiamar watching?’

– I’m also Tiamar.

‘Not the main body.’

Tiamar snorted.

– That child is watching. But she won’t know what we’re talking about. Because I won’t tell her. I can’t help her watching.

I narrowed my eyes.

She had been telling me everything up until now, but now she wasn’t?

– Minds can change. And the word main body is not a suitable word to establish our relationship. Do you think that everyone who has fallen apart from one has the same mind?

I felt a strangely jealous emotion in her voice.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but that was the feeling.

– I choose what I will convey to that child. Even if she has become able to interfere with me, the guy in that cauldron and I are on a different level?

That’s right. Wasn’t it the soul that the Lord had directly separated?

It was said that if I released the Tiamar in the pendant, the main body would awaken.

– More than anything. I don’t agree with that child’s words.

‘You don’t agree?’

– I don’t think Father was wrong.

‘So you’re going to help me?’

Because I’m the Lord’s successor?

– If you want.

I chuckled silently.

The Tiamar I met in my dream were three.

But there were more Tiamar in the world.

It should be assumed that at least dozens of Tiamar were scattered.

Most of them would have the same thoughts as the main body.

What if I could hold hands like the Tiamar in the pendant?

‘It’s not bad to prepare for the future.’

Rachel was waiting when I came out of the underground warehouse.

Her nun’s habit was soaked in blood because she had finished hunting monsters.

“Father.”

Rachel trembled violently as she approached me when she saw me.

Her pupils were dilated and her mouth was open, as if she were on drugs.

It was the same appearance that Tiamar had shown me.

– That child is not even at that level.

I took a step back and avoided her.

“Are you hurt?”

“Yes··· I’m okay, Father.”

I placed my hand on the shoulder of the Familiar priest standing behind her.

Light emitted and enveloped him, healing his wounds.

“Oh, oh···.”

The priest raised his hand and groped his eye socket.

The left eye he had lost in the Germania conquest war years ago.

It was growing again inside the sunken eye socket.

Soon, half of the vision he had lost returned, and he saw me with both eyes.

“Now you have really become a god··· Father.”

– Did you ever think it wasn’t?

I ignored Tiamar’s grumbling.

Her voice was only heard to me if she didn’t want it.

– To be surprised at this level, you’ve been hiding it too well.

‘There was no need to reveal it.’

– No. You still haven’t realized your position. To become the same being as my father, you have to be more confident. Does a lion become a rabbit because it shrinks in a group of rabbits?

“······.”

– You could have excused yourself for being weak until now, but not anymore. You know it too, right? That you’ve risen more than just one or two levels. Right?

In the past, I had emitted light with the magic of my soul and healed the sick in the city center. But that did not create what was lost anew. It only sealed the open wounds.

Even that gave me an immense burden and knocked me down, but now it was nothing. Now, the burden I received from performing miracles was the same as the burden I received from breathing.

– It’s something you have to get used to. Edar.

The Tiamar in the pendant whispered.

– Show a *moseup* [Korean word for “appearance” or “demeanor”] that befits your position.

I gathered the Familiars and took care of their wounds.

To restore the same perfection as when I created them.