Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 42

Creating a Human Empire with Subordinates 44

The Trumpet Calling the End

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“Sit down.”

Dragon Lord, Ayletreone, pointed to a chair.

I sat down at the table in the reception room with my two subordinates.

A space large enough to host a banquet for a hundred people.

Only four people in that space.

The chill of winter lingered.

“Are you cold?”

“Not really.”

The Lord snapped his fingers, and the fire in the fireplace flared up.

The chandelier also shone brightly, and steam rose from the teapot.

The Lord lifted the teapot and poured tea into a teacup.

His appearance was not that of an old dog, but of an old elf. He had changed his body while leading us to the reception room.

“You’re not surprised.”

“About what?”

“Everything. Me changing bodies, calling you here, talking to me like this—aren’t all of these new experiences for you?”

I took the teacup he offered and took a sip.

A bitter taste that naturally made me frown.

I had tasted it many times in my past life, although it was a fake sensation given by data.

“I don’t know.”

The Lord chuckled.

“All of this seems familiar to you, human Edar.”

“Does it look that way?”

“It does.”

I put down the teacup and took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, placing one in my mouth.

*Tak.*

As Pasimeah was about to light it, the Lord snapped his fingers, and it lit.

“······.”

Pasimeah’s frowning eyes turned to the Lord.

The Lord nodded his head slightly diagonally at her frown.

Reading the swirling thoughts, I gave a light smile.

“What do you want to say? Why did you call me?”

“I just wanted to see a curious human.”

Sitting back in his chair, the Lord let out a long breath.

It sounded like wind leaking from a hole in his neck.

“In my life, I have never seen a human like you. No, any being like you.”

“Like me? What do you mean?”

The Lord replied that I was a being who had lived longer than himself.

“I’ve lived a long time?”

“Maybe not. But at least in my eyes, the caliber of your soul looks too splendid. Human.”

“The caliber of my soul looks splendid.”

I thought of the Iron Man effect.

————————————

[Iron Man]

You have become the weakest to achieve the final achievement.

Your great will has a higher caliber than any being on this earth.

————————————

“I thought caliber was just an atmosphere like momentum.”

“It’s different from momentum. It’s also different from magic. Caliber is spiritual. The weak can’t feel it, the ordinary feel it faintly, and the strong feel it clearly.”

“The strong.”

Does the Lord see it, not just feel it?

Intrigued, I straightened my slouched posture.

“Are you different?”

“I’m not just strong.”

He let out an old, weak laugh.

“Do you know that the closer you get to death, the more you transcend the senses given by the body?”

“The process of the soul breaking away from the body and the senses that were bound to the body blossoming, you mean.”

“You know it well too.”

The Lord spread his palm in front of him.

Thin smoke rose above his outstretched palm.

The smoke flickered like a mirage and writhed like a snake.

I knew that the end of the smoke resembled a human skull.

It was a human soul.

“At that point, it’s possible to manipulate souls. If it’s possible to manipulate souls, how can it be impossible to see them?”

I smoked my cigarette and quietly watched the movement of the soul.

The soul wandered over the Lord’s palm, and as his hand tilted slightly forward, it approached me like a water snake swimming.

*Kkii——*

A scream that was not heard by the ears but heard in the mind.

I frowned and took the cigarette out of my mouth.

I opened my mouth and blew on the approaching soul.

As the smoke touched the soul, it lowered its scream and melted.

“Interesting as always.”

The Lord made a sound at the sight.

“You can even see souls.”

“I guess so.”

“I guess so? No. You can be a little more confident. You have never shown me a feeling of novelty. At this point, I’m getting more curious. Human Edar, is there anything you don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

There are things I don’t know, but not many.

Because I was immersed in this once virtual world and devoted my past life to it.

‘In my past life, that is, before I settled in this world, the only person who knew *Deus Ex* [likely referring to the game or system the character is familiar with] better than me would have been the developer.’

I let out a long puff of smoke and smiled insipidly.

The Lord tilted his head and blinked.

“It reminded me of the past.”

“The past?”

His expression changed subtly.

My appearance is only twenty years old.

What experiences would I have to say the past.

It’s completely incomprehensible.

“I really can’t understand.”

“Doesn’t that happen often in life?”

“That’s true, but you’re beyond that.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“So, does my appearance look so different to your eyes that see souls? How does the caliber of my soul look?”

The Lord was about to answer right away, but he coughed several times.

His complexion suddenly turned white, and his body trembled.

“···If you can see souls, do you know what changes?”

“······.”

“The evaluation changes. The soul is the essence; no matter how much you decorate the body, you can’t decorate the soul. Those with insignificant souls live insignificant lives, and those with great souls live great lives.”

He pointed at me with a trembling hand.

“You, human Edar, you are too bright. And it’s getting bigger. Do you know why?”

“······.”

“I know why. There are countless reasons why the soul grows, but the most amazing reason is that it can grow by eating the faith of others.”

I took the cigarette out of my mouth and met his gaze in the air.

The only thing that had not lost its strength in his old, weakened face was his bright yellow eyes.

The vitality in his eyes shone more intensely than anyone else.

At least the Lord’s mind is clear.

“Edar, do you want to become the god of humans?”

Flinch.

Calliope and Pasimeah trembled.

Bewilderment flowed from their thoughts.

But I didn’t.

“Why do you think so?”

“Looking at your actions, I can’t help but think so. You, who know everything, using the name Lundringen [an old pseudonym of the Lord], isn’t that too obvious?”

I smiled instead of answering.

Lundringen was the Lord’s old pseudonym.

The pseudonym he used when spreading civilization to elves and dwarves.

In my past life, it was Prometheus in Greek and Roman mythology.

My using this name as my surname is obviously intentional.

That’s why the Deliberative Assembly reacted strangely.

“I’ll ask again, human Edar. Do you want to become the god of humans?”

He looked at me with a more intense gaze than before.

I didn’t ask back and answered firmly.

“If necessary.”

“I see.”

The Lord leaned on the table with his skinny arms and stood up.

Then he stood in front of the frame hanging on the wall.

When he pushed the frame to the side, a gap barely large enough for one hand appeared.

A box the same size as my pack of cigarettes was hidden in the gap.

A plain wooden box with no carvings.

It was an object I had never seen in any of my playthroughs.

The Lord let out a cough-filled laugh.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t know.”

Is it so good that there are things I don’t know?

He coughed and laughed as he handed me the box.

“Take it. I’ll give it to you.”

“What is this?”

“The soul of Tiamar.”

Tiamar?

Are you talking about the Four Dragon, Tiamar?

I blinked and opened the box.

There was a jewel in the box.

A teardrop-shaped jewel emitting a blue light.

A sapphire only the size of a thumbnail.

“In the process of fighting the crazy Tiamar, I tore off a part of her soul. And I barely sealed her, who had become an incomplete being with her soul torn off.”

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“I’m dying soon. Who will have her soul when I die?”

“Elves or dwarves. Maybe vampires.”

Looking at the jewel in my hand, I felt nothing.

Only a dragon was drawn inside with gold thread.

It was just a jewel that didn’t feel a pinch of magic.

“That’s right. One of those three. Especially one of the elves or dwarves. Do you know why those two didn’t attend this time?”

Both?

Are you talking about Raeragon and Gotava?

The Lord nodded.

“It’s because the two races damaged Tiamar’s seal. They are arguing with each other, passing on the responsibility.”

“I see.”

I smiled.

Has the suspicion I threw at Raeragon grown this big?

A conflict that should have erupted much later.

It’s an opportunity for me to detonate it more than ten years earlier.

The two races, which are the biggest pillars of the Deliberative Assembly, will not have the *yoyu* [余裕, Japanese for leeway or room] to check me, so there will be no force to check me except for Vlad.

‘This is very good news.’

“The reason for damaging the seal is also a masterpiece. They believed they could control Tiamar. Pathetic guys.”

“Aren’t they inherently arrogant people? It’s understandable.”

“The dragon is not controlled by anyone. They control, if anything.”

The Lord bared his teeth and spat out hatred.

“Imagine handing it over to such people.”

“It’s like entrusting a fish to a cat.”

“That’s right. They will try to awaken her with a perfect soul, going beyond breaking Tiamar’s seal. Then this world is over. No one can stop the end.”

“······.”

I put the jewel on the table and picked up the cigarette again and put it in my mouth.

“In the process of sealing that crazy thing, I was seriously injured and became a mortal. Just as her soul was damaged, I also suffered an irreversible injury.”

I checked the Lord’s level.

【Lv. 96】

In the setting, the Dragon Lord’s level is not 96 but 100.

It is said that it was higher than that when wearing various legendary weapons.

However, while facing Tiamar, his body suffered injuries that could not be healed, and his weapons suffered damage that could not be repaired, so his level dropped to 96, which was not much higher compared to Calliope.

‘The weapon that the twins had was one of the few safe weapons.’

It was a weapon that raised the user’s level by as much as 2.

To me, who knows the level of the twins, it was like pearls on a pig’s neck [a waste of something valuable on someone who doesn’t appreciate it].

“I don’t care who will rule the world after me. Anyway, my race has only me and Tiamar left. When I die, it’s as good as extinct. I don’t care if a race that doesn’t share blood or soul succeeds me.”

I smoked my cigarette and quietly listened to the story.

“But it was difficult to watch the achievements I had made while falling as a mortal disappear in vain.”

“Won’t the Deliberative Assembly remain?”

“Do you really think so?”

Of course not.

I laughed lowly.

When the Lord dies, the Deliberative Assembly is over.

A mediation organization without a mediator is over.

The Lord’s voice trembled weakly.

“My death is inevitable. Death is approaching every moment. Now I have to make a decision. Do I pass on what I have and die, or do I leave it as it is and die?”

“And you chose me.”

“Yes. You, human Edar. You are my successor.”

“Why me?”

“At least you don’t seem to be doing anything stupid.”

I nodded my head.

The Lord’s guess was accurate.

In countless playthroughs, Tiamar always woke up.

Not by breaking the seal herself, but with someone’s help.

A race that believed they could control Tiamar but were controlled in reverse breaks her seal and brings about the destruction of the world.

‘This soul was the last key to breaking the seal.’

“If you use it, there must be a good reason.”

“Don’t you think you trust me too much?”

“I don’t know. I’m not trusting you, but your soul.”

The soul.

I recalled the playthroughs I had gone through so far.

Has the Lord ever said this to me?

No, no, the Lord always died in silence.

But why is he doing this to me now?

Is the caliber of my soul different from when I was a player?

‘Whether the caliber of my soul is different, or the duty I have is different.’

The Lord took a deep breath and continued.

“It’s up to you now how to use it. Destroy it and let the soul return to her, or protect the seal forever.”

“It’s like having a trumpet calling the end.”

“You can see it that way.”

Silence fell for a moment to gather breath and thoughts.

Only the sound of firewood burning in the fireplace was heard.

Soon, the Lord raised his head and looked at me.

His bright yellow eyes stared at me as if glaring.

“Human Edar, I appoint you as my successor and hand over the soul of Tiamar to you. Protecting the soul is the duty I have given you, but you can destroy it if necessary.”

The jewel containing Tiamar’s soul shone faintly for a moment.

As if tempting me to destroy it and liberate myself.

But the temptation did not give me any resonance.

“When this world is no longer considered valuable, destroy the jewel and call the end.”