abcnovels
Chapter 75: Hard Steel Empire
Chapter 75: Hard Steel Empire
Chapter 75: Hard Steel Empire
Two dungeons disappeared from the map in less than two days.
It was quite a blow to the Majestic Ice Kingdom's economy. Many people speculated their overall strength to plummet in a few incoming years.
No dungeons meant that those dungeon raiders would soon flock to other kingdoms and empires.
Hard Steel Empire was one of the goals for the dungeon raiders escaping the crisis.
The Majestic Ice Kingdom had lost a lot of manpower due to that crisis. Naturally, all dungeon raiders weren't that knowledgeable about the world and universe.
They thought that the dungeon's disappearance was a natural phenomenon.
They went to other lands to quickly gear themselves up and loot treasures before they disappeared from those new lands as well.
That crisis suited Princess Julia's family's book, however.
Other than dungeons, the world had many dangers hiding in the corners of their lands. Mobilizing noble families used to their safety would significantly help their kingdom's growth.
Out of all kingdoms and empires, they secured good contact with the Overlord. They were aware that one man was taking the dungeons, so their vaults increased with hefty treasures due to the deal with him!
On a bigger scale, The Majestic Ice Kingdom was the luckiest, and it soon would turn into a more promising one.
"Alright. This is the border," Minato peeked outside his carriage.
He had already passed through the Ungrail City and found himself at the southern border. A natural river was the border here, and one would have to pass through a vast bridge to get to the Hard Steel Empire's lands.
This bridge was swarmed by many dungeon raiders.
"Are we going to wait in the queue, Master?" Ingrid asked.
She and Aya were the constant companions in Yuna and Bei's absence.
After her question rang out, Minato pondered, "I will use the Cloud Status. Julia warned me about it, though."
"What did she say?" Aya asked.
"Well... You will see soon whether her worries were on the spot," Minato chuckled, then left his carriage together with a cute spirit and compelling elven queen.
He surprised many dungeon raiders, yet no one voiced their opinion.
That was because the Hard Steel Empire's border guards had noticed him.
One of them called him out, "You! Why did you step out of the queue?"
Minato smiled, "Because I have this."
He showed his Cloud Status in written form. That would be quite a meaningful piece a few days ago.
Now, it was just a paper.
"Oh! So you are the last one! Haha! You, Clouds from the Majestic Ice Kingdom, no longer hold the same status as others. Fear not, though. We respect your strength, and our Emperor is willing to take you into our ranks.
Become Steel Cloud, and you will enjoy far more benefits than in the Majestic Ice Kingdom." That guard sneered widely.
Those new Clouds would have many different contracts.
Although Minato wouldn't shift sides that quickly, he was intrigued by the word contract. He asked for one, and the guard presented the royal contact written by the very Emperor.
That contract was like a slave contract.
'What are those people thinking?' Minato inwardly asked.
The only explanation was that the Hard Steel Empire planned to take many kingdoms soon. Otherwise, Minato could just turn around and enjoy benefits in neighboring lands instead of becoming a slave to their country.
Still, that was not something an Overlord would do.
Minato squashed the royal contract written by the very Emperor himself, then threw it to the river, "You have five seconds to step away and let my carriage pass. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire."
The border guard's smirk disappeared in a flash.
He trembled together with all his buddies, then they all made room for Minato's carriage to pass the bridge.
Minato and his beloved returned to their warm transport, then the horses loudly hissed as they went forward, pulling their masters straight to the Hard Steel Empire.
No one, even the dumbest dungeon raider in the queue, let out any voice.
They knew that the guards did a good job.
In fact, most of them felt respect toward those border guards. Those men faced and spoke with the Cloud as if they were equals. The former had the whole empire as a backer, but it still took a lot of courage to talk like that.
The guards remained motionless until Minato's carriage left the bridge.
Once he set for his first target, all of them turned around and passed the news to the closest royalty!
The Emperor's 4th son would take care of that bastardly Cloud!
-
"We will circle around their capital, then take the royal dungeon as our last prize," Minato laughed as he remembered those guards.
They were so haughty, but they all stepped to the side once he threatened them.
He was sure they would call some back-up and deal with him at once soon enough.
"Dungeon raiders have blood on their hands, and so the Empire. But more than anything, once I took the first dungeon for myself, I must continue to do so. That's for myself, but also for this world's stability," Minato said.
He was sure that all dungeon raiders were somewhat evil, so killing them was fine. The same went for guards and other people who served people with strength.
Even if one wanted to just protect their kingdom, their hands spilled the blood, and that was enough for the Overlord.
"Master, I feel their presence," Ingrid said after roughly 30 minutes passed.
Minato nodded, "And our protagonist's work starts now... Not a hero one, but rather closer to a villain."
"Master is the hero in Ingrid and all elves' hearts," The Elven Queen confessed.
"And that's enough for me," Minato brightly smiled, then left the carriage.
Ingrid and Aya followed him, their eyes drawn by the royal presence coming from the 4th royal son, Bartlo.
Bartlo's eyes shone as he found Ingrid's pretty face, those unique ears, and naturally bombastic chest.
"Cloud from the dying kingdom. Leave your carriage and woman behind, then we will forgive you your arrogance and let you work in our Empire," Bartlo said with chin high and arms crossed.
Minato burst out laughing, "Ah! That's right! Women, women, women. How about I take your women instead, you cheap royalty?"
"You dare?" Bartlo asked as he raised his eyebrows.
"On second thought, what would those women be? Your dirty seed surely has debilitated their insides already. Not even gonna bother taking care of them... Who knows what kind of disease they bear due to your dirty pee-pee?" Minato burst out laughing, eyeing Bartlo's expression turning more livid with each of his words.
All guards paled as they couldn't imagine someone bold enough to say such words bluntly to the Empire's royalty!
Their Empire was ranked in the top three!
The top three was also a heavily debated topic in their world.
No one knew who was the top one, two, and three. Many had their arguments, and not a clear line was drawn.
Times have changed, however.
Empires planned massacre!
Clouds no longer had that much freedom due to their plans!
"You will listen how I do your woman," Bartlo threatened as ire contorted his expression, making it look like a demon, "She will then tell you about heaven, not a fucking disease."
"I will sully your women's faces, then. I am going to leave a deep scar on their faces so that their bodies alone will remind everyone of your failure," Minato casually replied, then stomped forward.