V12: Chapter 14

  …

  Interlude: Conquest

  …

  The message arrived with little fanfare, yet everything became a blur as I rushed to my father’s side.

  When I arrived, I was thankful for all the King of Wisdom’s efforts to quicken the speed with which armies traversed the continent.

  It was only thanks to him that I was able to reach my father.

  When I entered the room, he was awake, but he was wasting away already.

  “Why is he here and not in a medical pod?” I heard a voice between a roar and snarl before I realized it was my own. I stood in one of the new hospitals adjacent to the Citadels. Places where people were cared for with ready access to the greatest gifts of the Ancients mere minutes away. “He should be—

  “I am where I am, my daughter.” His voice was still strong and I felt a semblance of relief push through the haze. “I suffered from a grievous blow, but I still yet live.”

  I gathered my thoughts as I looked upon him. He was skinnier than I lost saw him. No more fat clung to his face. Gaunt and with sunken eyes, with lessened muscle all over his form, I knew all his clothes would no longer fit at a singular glance.

  Ilych’s father returning to life suddenly came to the forefront of my mind.

  But I knew father would not agree to it.

  “It is a miracle that you are alive. Those who suffer as you have typically perished.” His heart had seized out of nowhere according to the doctors. It was a symptom of advanced age. He was Champion who regenerated from many wounds, who endured multiple centuries, and survived horrific corruption and had his magic stripped from him. Lesser mortals would’ve died mere months after what he survived. Most Conquerors did not survive their heart stalling for even a moment, because of our large bodies. But he was with me still now. Even though his hand felt so small in my own. “They could not find a cure for you, despite the Citadel reaching the epitome of its strength?”

  “There are some things that even the Ancients can’t defeat. At least, not with the tools that we currently have. These Citadels are meant for reclaiming the world. Not for saving all. It is my misfortune that my life was unpredictable to even the Ancients.” He laughed lowly at his jest, while I held onto his hand. “Fret not. I go in peace knowing the continent is unified and will face the entire world together. You will need to take my place and lead our people in the long shadow cast by the King of Wisdom.”

  Again, I wanted to ask if he wished to return, but I knew that our people would not stand for it.

  If I was to represent my people, if the Conquerors were to truly remain ourselves, I could not do as I wish.

  Nor could I allow the King of Wisdom to raise him up in my stead.

  “I will ask his majesty for your posting, then fulfill all that is required of me.” I promised him with my grip on his hand firm. A smile formed on his face and he nodded. For my entire life, he had been there. A pillar in the back of my mind whenever I had any concern. All this time, I did not fear for my people, because he remained. The greatest student of the Deliverer and a Champion of the Conquerors farther than most could remember. Today I do not just lose a father. My people lose a pillar upon which our civilization has been built. “Rest easy and return to our ancestors. Watch over me with them. I will do you proud until the time comes when I meet you again.”

  He gave a low rumble of approval at my promise and I stayed with him for an hour after speaking only of ourselves and our family.

  He did not pass until he spoke one last time with his majesty.

  …

  “What odds do you give the continent, Jack?”

  “Nice to see you too, Crusher.” I greeted him with a raised hand and put a fruit basket on the table. Ayah followed me, but I gestured for her to give us some privacy. The adjacent rooms were already clear. I reached my hand out to him, but he kept his gaze steady even as he raised his hand to shake it. It felt like shaking leather wrapped around sticks, and his hands were cold. “Victory, I think is three to one odds. Not favoring us. A draw is about fifty percent likely. If I went crazy with Red Mist, we can win, but the planet will be lost. There are a few similar weapons, but I’ve already told you about the message that might send.”

  I took a seat and helped myself to an orange, which earned me a raised eyebrow.

  I made sure to leave half the segments to him, while I ate it and he just gave a dismissive snort.

  Oi, a king peeled that for you.

  “Would those odds change favorably if the Conquerors followed you rather than my daughter?” Ah, that was where he was going with this.

  Thankfully, I didn’t have to disappoint him.

  “Not at all. Might worsen. Your people are strong, compliant, and bring your own advantages to the table.” I told him freely while sitting in one of the wood chairs of the hospital. I just cribbed off the designs that I knew back home. Central area for physicians and nurses with supplies easily accessed surrounded by rooms for patients. It was mostly hospice care and keeping people comfortable for when the med-pods or magic can’t handle them. Most of my hospitals just focused on prevention. Keeping people from getting sick in the first place saved money and time. Also, a hospital in every town and city meant I didn’t get a stupid event that killed ten percent of my population and army stationed there. An event that can recur and didn’t have a limit that just wipes out whole population units fucking sucks. “Don’t worry about it.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Crusher gave a single, decisive nod before looking at the halved fruit and with effort ate it in one go.

  I’m almost sixty mentally and it’s still tough to see someone so strong get so… reduced.

  Still, I knew better than to pity him.

  Also, I added elder abuse to the list of wrongs my opponents should be destroyed for.

  “Reports are coming in regarding the armies. They’re doing far better than expected. The line will hold. What matters is that we find a way to force them to accept a ceasefire for a decade or two, then we can bury them. We need time and a generation and a half most of all.” The numbers for a literal worldwide campaign were just brutal no matter how I thought about it. The technological edge that I had needed to be honed to perfection. The Iterants could serve as an incredible force multiplier and a sudden, massive force in the enemy’s own nation, but they couldn’t do it alone. Red Mist and atomic weapons were both last resorts, if Citadels were on the line. I shook my head. “But that’s the ideal situation. It won’t happen. I’ll keep searching for something. A silver bullet that can give us what we need to take the planet for ourselves… before I retire.”

  “Retire? You?” Despite everything else that I said, Crusher seemed the most surprised by my retirement plans. “You would yield all that you have created to others?”

  I was tempted to tell him about Khanrow, but decided against it.

  He wouldn’t believe me.

  “The Iterants will provide the backbone for governance. They can be trusted. They love this world and the Ancient’s children as their own. I’ll search for a successor before I abdicate and train them. Then, as the Ancients did, they will choose who will lead them while having a senate of their own peers. This land has had its fill of tyrannic bloodlines.” Khanrow will probably set something up. Morgan’s my personal choice. She has the chops to take over the entire world. In all the Demon Lord endings, she conquers the rest of the world. What happens after isn’t elaborated upon, but with the right training and without the need to commit atrocities, I could see her ruling just fine. “The Iterants can be entrusted with the law and upholding the terms of governance the people shall agree to.”

  Crusher stared at me in silence for a long time, before speaking.

  “You never planned on remaining in power your entire life.”

  “No. Even now, I wear it because I must. Before, I believed that I merely needed to ensure that the Citadels do not fill the continent with bloodshed. Now, it is mine to bear because of the calamities to come.” If I had it my way, and if the rest of the world wasn’t covered in monsters, I’d be on some beach drinking the day away while surrounded by hot ladies in tiny bikinis. If that ever got old, then I’ll switch over to bunny girl outfits, gothic dresses, etc. Even without internet, with money and power I can live a pleasure-filled second life. Going that route now, though will just my brains eaten, if I’m lucky. “I will see this coming age of calamity end, hopefully securing the future of our people, and then I will abdicate to a life of plenty by the seaside.”

  Crusher considered my words before huffing and shaking his head.

  “You should inform the Guardians of the Moon.”

  “If I told her the sky is blue, she’d look out the window to check.” I told him bluntly. He snorted but let the accusation linger. The Guardians of the Moon are filled with national pride and zeal. More importantly, I knew that they hated giving up and being peers or being under anyone. They treated those weaker than them with mercy. Those equal to them with unrelenting caution and suspicion. Those who were stronger? They were enemies waiting to strike. Protagonist syndrome for an entire people, basically. “I wish that you won your war with them, then the Deliverer would’ve faced my Champion, and everything would’ve been settled. With our combined strength, the others would have all fallen.”

  “If only.” Crusher agreed tiredly before sitting up. He was forcing himself to stay awake. At my inquisitive stare, he waved off my concerns before making a statement. “Riegert arose from the grave. I do not recall Riegert being of the Warden’s faith. Nor do I know of any method you could’ve used to raise him perfectly without their aid.”

  I considered the statement for a moment, before deciding to speak.

  “If you share what I tell you, I’ll find out who you told and have them all killed.” I informed him and he assented with a grunt after a pause. He never broke a promise with me before, but I made sure to clarify. “Conquest already knows how I did it. If she knows, do you need to know?”

  Mentioning his daughter proved to be the right choice as he let loose a breath.

  “I do not. If she knows, then it is in her hands, and she has earned my trust a hundred times over. In fact, since she did not ask me if I wished to return, she is wiser than me.” Crusher leaned back on his raised bed and glanced outside. The Conqueror’s capital was rebuilt from the siege years ago and has been growing since. I gave it my usual build order and just kept my hands off it, since I wanted the population to grow for Conqueror divisions later. Overall, their capital and the lands around it were flush with wealth, science, culture, industry, and people. All the things that I wanted it to have for the coming years. “Thank you, your majesty, for keeping your word and keeping my people whole and hale. I would stand, but I am incapable.”

  “There’s no need.” I told him and stood up after brushing my hands on my coat. I went over to him and took hold of his raised hand. He was just skin and bones. Holding on through sheer will, probably. Conquerors usually just died when their hearts were compromised. Still, I didn’t take his hand. That would be pretty gay. Pfft. Fellas, is it gay to hold your dying friend’s hand? Nah. He’d just hate it if I didn’t give him the chance to meet me halfway. Crusher, despite everything about his body failing, grasped my hand with all his strength and my bones creaked. “Farewell, my friend. Paradise awaits. I will not allow it to fall to the rotten meat that pervades the world. If I cannot take and secure this world from them, I will annihilate it to safeguard the spirits of those who came before. This I swear.”

  His eyes widened before a warrior’s smile spread across his face.

  A smile of a warrior filled with the satisfaction that he wasn’t leaving his post unattended even in his passing.

  After our farewell and my oath, I made sure to call his family to meet with him today, because I knew he’d pass soon.

  But as soon as the messenger left, Ayah spoke to me with a whisper.

  “You would entrust the Iterants with the entire world?” I knew that she had hangups with them, but when I looked at her, I couldn’t see any hate. Only a desire for an answer. “After their failure?”

  Angela, Cristina, and Ellen were a few paces away, but I knew they overheard.

  I meant for them to. It wasn’t like I told them to not listen.

  “They have not failed me. Nor have they failed the people of our nation. If they fall once again, I will choose others. But they have not.” I made sure to make that clear and I was thankful to find Ayah nod, but she stayed concerned. I just motioned for her to keep speaking, but when she decided against that, I pressured her a little. “Tell me your concerns, Ayah.”

  “Do you truly not intend to rule after the crises have passed? You won’t have a lineage for us to look after and aid in ruling the world?”

  Huh, simpler question than I thought.

  “I’ll have children and I’ll appreciate your help and others in caring for whatever household I have. If they’re worthy of ruling and are chosen by the people, they can lead.” I told Ayah and looked over the Iterants. The downcast looks on their faces since I left the room faded. Guess they were worried I planned to just be a nobody after all this. Fuck no. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to earn enough as a merchant or noble to hire you all.”

  That earned me some smiles from the Iterants and even Ayah seemed satisfied.

  Jeez, they had me worried for a second.