Chapter 15: In His Highness' Service (4) | The Hundred Reigns
True to his word, Dassein provided Simon with all the equipment he needed, including reports on the bounties, fast horses, soldiers' rations, and even an enchanted flaming sword. Simon didn't particularly need the latter, considering he already had his energy-sucking morning star, but he accepted the gift anyway.
He had received very few in his life and appreciated it all the more for it.
More importantly, no group of inquisitors nor soldiers had entered his room this morning to drag him out to his execution, which meant neither Meredith nor Leonard had betrayed his secret, something which pleased Simon greatly.
He didn't lower his guard just yet, though. In the end, Simon had decided to bring his entire retinue with him for the hunt to ensure he could keep an eye on everyone for now. He figured this would be a good occasion to bond with them and see how they could perform as a unit. Agnes had also confirmed that she could slightly alter Eole and Lorimor's slave crests so that they would trigger the 'death' mechanism should they spill the beans about the Overlord Class' true owner, so that covered his last source of concern.
The hellhound's territory was a five-hour ride from Beleth, covering a grassland pass set between two hills. The army had known of its location for a while and escorted important caravans through the area, but the beast constantly managed to elude their hunting expeditions. Monsters were often smart enough to avoid picking fights they couldn't win.
So Simon brought an expert along.
"Have you found a trail?" he asked Cassandra.
"I have, Your Majesty," Cassandra confirmed. She had put on her Witch Class outfit for the task, causing a dark hat to materialize over her veil, a ghostly lantern to adorn her waist, and a black twisted staff to appear in her hand. "The beast lurks to the east."
"I concur," Agnes Firewand confirmed. "I sense the presence of the Dark nearby."
Most monsters were the result of miasma mutating living creatures, so Simon assumed having someone like Cassandra come along would help. The young witch had accepted the offer with rare enthusiasm, since she wished to learn how a hellhound appeared so close to a populated area.
Simon had also found another use for Eole: namely, as a flying lookout. The kish didn't particularly relish the task, but obeyed it nonetheless. She was flying in circles above them since her crest prevented her from moving too far away from Simon without inflicting pain unless he gave her an explicit order. He was pretty sure she would use any opportunity to run away and thus didn't take the risk.
"We should stay against the wind so the beasts do not smell our approach," Leonard wisely suggested. "Wolves tend to be more active at dusk, and the sun will not set for a few hours yet. We should be able to get the drop on the creature while it sleeps with some luck."
Cassandra smiled thinly. "Hellhounds do not sleep, Ser Leonard; they simply wait."
"What can you tell us about this creature?" Simon asked.
"Hellhounds are canines who have been infused with miasma, gaining greater size, strength, and the power of fire itself," Cassandra said, her voice betraying her enthusiasm for the subject. "Their blood and breath carry flames. They can grow larger than draft horses, and often gain additional heads as they age."
"The one we are hunting only has one, according to reports, Your Highness," Meredith added. "It should be no match for us, though we will gain little experience from it."
Which bothered Simon. He had picked the hellhound as their first target since it was the closest and weakest one, but he hoped to at least gain one or two more levels from it.
"I still do not quite understand how this 'experience' is attributed," he admitted. "I've heard it's usually split between a group. Is that true?"
"While it is generally true that an individual's experience share tends to become diluted the more people participate in a battle, there are nonetheless countless exceptions," Leonard replied. "There is no universal formula for 'experience' because its rate of attribution depends on countless factors, the first of which is the Class itself. A Tactician may gain much experience from a battle without drawing their blade, so long as they guide their allies to victory through sound stratagems; while a Gladiator and a Wizard fighting in that same battle will earn experience at different rates depending on their actions."
"You mean how much they contribute to the fight?" Simon inquired.
"Yes and no. Experience represents how much in tune a given person is with their Crestone and Class, which is why an individual can level-up in more than one along separate tracks. A Knight who fights from afar is not in tune with his Class, no more than a Thief who fights fair. I would assume that a Gladiator would gain the most experience from fighting in an arena and with an audience than they would when assassinating someone in a back alley."
"Though that Gladiator will gain experience in either case," Meredith noted. "The one who lands the killing blow usually receives the largest share of available experience, but someone who did not participate until the last stretch and lands the coup de grace will not earn much."
That would explain why Simon only received two levels from slaying Lorimor in a previous loop, although he had already been a level 8 Scholar back then. Simon had landed the killing blow, but did none of the heavy lifting in capturing him. An execution was no glorious victory in battle.
"So gaining experience is not only about what we kill, but how we kill it," Simon summarized. This raised even more questions. Which of his Classes would gain more experience from this hunt? Should he focus on strengthening Gladiator rather than Overlord so the latter could eventually consume one of the former's abilities? "Agnes, how did the previous Overlords usually gain levels?"
Her answer was straight and to the point. "Through conquest."
Figures. Simon guessed that explained why his father had been so relentless in his wars. Expanding the empire might very well have been the only reliable way for him to level-up the Overlord Class after a certain point. Killing a monster and taking its territory isn't as glamorous as conquering Telluria, but it should fit the Overlord's desires.
Simon should summon the Keeper of the Throne and ask if it had any information on his predecessors' Class choices the next time he visited Castle Frightwall. He had tried to call the shade to his side in Beleth, but it failed to appear. The distance from the Crimson Throne was probably too great.
Lorimor, who had been silently riding at the back of the group with a bag filled with documents he would have to decode during the trip, squinted. "The previous Overlords?"
"All will become clear in time," Simon replied before looking up. "Do you see anything, Eole?"
Simon could see her scowl of annoyance at receiving orders all the way from the ground, but she answered his query all the same. "I see wolves near a cave."
"The hellhound must be inside," Simon said before delivering orders. "Meredith, Leonard, ensure we are not disturbed and protect everyone else. Firewand and I will take care of the hellhound."
Cassandra chuckled. "Your Highness is gallant, but I can defend myself. I am a level 30 Witch."
"Is that so?" Simon asked. Damn it, everyone in his party except Lorimor was higher-level than him! "Very well, good hunt to you then."
It didn't take them long to find the cave at the base of a hill, with the entrance slightly hidden behind groves of overgrown strawberry bushes. Half a dozen wolves kept watch close to the threshold and immediately began to growl at them. Leonard and Meredith dismounted, then quickly transformed into their Class outfits.
Leonard's Dreadnought Class quickly covered him in a bulky, knightly white and blue plate armor covering every inch of his skin. The helmet boasted a yellow crest and a face mask with only a vertical slit to let his eyes see through. The left hand carried a heavy pavise shield, and the right a longsword. Meredith's Valkyrie transformation was subtler, with her armor gaining metal wings at the heels and waist, a feathered hairband appearing on top of her head, and a white spear forming in her hands.
They lunged forward in a blur and sent wolf heads flying.
They moved so quickly that Simon struggled to follow their movements. He had heard Dreadnought was a relatively slow Class that focused on strength and defense, yet Leonard proved frighteningly fast with it anyway. He moved with a grace that belied his bulky armor and swung his sword with casual dexterity as if it were an extension of his own arm. Meredith was even swifter, her spear dancing between her fingers. Every thrust sent blood staining the grass, yet none stained her hair or clothes.
I have a lot of catching up to do, Simon thought as he and Firewand dismounted, then walked into the cave while their allies secured the area. Either of his retainers could kill him in the blink of an eye if they wanted to. A lord shouldn't be weaker than his followers.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Simon didn't know why that bothered him so much. He craved a life of obscurity away from politics, and he had no intention of ever being in a position of leadership. He only intended to level-up the Overlord and Gladiator Classes so he could protect himself from the conspiracy targeting his family and grow strong enough to take revenge on the likes of Thalas. He shouldn't care that his retainers were stronger than he was.
But it annoyed him nonetheless.
The cave was rather narrow, with moss-covered boulders and piles of leaves obstructing part of the footpath. Fragments of cracked and broken bones littered the ground. Most seemed to belong to horses or cockatrices, but a few were clearly humanoid skulls pounded and gnashed to pieces. A faint green glow illuminated the back of the cavern, like the light of a torch. He could smell the stench of dried blood in the air.
Simon put on the Overlord Class outfit, having decided to focus on leveling up the Overlord Class rather than Gladiator whenever possible. Overlord was the only Class whose levels he knew for a fact would carry on from reign to reign. He didn't want to invest too much time in Gladiator until he had confirmed the same would apply to secondary Classes.
They found the creature at the back of the cave, feasting on a dead man's corpse in the company of two she-wolves.
The beast was indeed a huge, ghoulish ebon-furred dog the size of a horse. Its eyes burned with greenish flames, and its jaws oozed acid. Its paws were wreathed in smoke that left burning prints on the ground. It raised its gaze at the newcomers without showing any fear.
Oh, and it had a rune-carved collar around its neck.
That surprised Simon. Had this beast been someone's pet before it escaped? He somehow doubted it, considering the magic emanating from the device. Very strange indeed.
The hellhound growled at Simon and Agnes with a jaw full of fangs, each the length of daggers, imitated by the two she-wolves.
"Manling chose death by coming to Nessian's den," the hellhound said with a low, rasping voice. It took Simon aback until he recalled that his All-Seeing I Perk allowed him to understand all spoken languages; he guessed that it included even animal growls. "Manling should flee. It will make the hunt more amusing."
Simon wasn't impressed. "Who put that collar on your neck, beast?"
"Nessian does not speak back to food."
"Good then, for I am no food of yours." Simon responded by activating his Dreadful Aura Perk and began to radiate fear itself. The air grew heavy with malevolence, rattling the hellhound and frightening the she-wolves. The latter's growls turned to whines as they cowered away to the back of the cave.
"Cowards!" the hellhound growled at them, but they wouldn't budge. "Unworthy to bear Nessian's pups!"
"Your girlfriends are more afraid of me than you," Simon taunted the creature. "Do you think I can win on my own at level eleven, Agnes?"
"Yes, but it might be a close call."
"Good. Then stay in the back, and do not intervene unless my life is in danger." Simon raised his morning star. "Dark Saber."
Swirling shadows wreathed his morning star in darkness, and he marched forward to put the dog down.
"Nessian runs from no fight!" the hellhound roared while fearlessly charging ahead.
The cornered beast immediately responded by lunging at him from across the cave, its jaws wide open for the bite. It was fast, but Simon had trained often enough in Duchar's maze for his reflexes to kick in. He moved to the left just as the beast's fangs attempted to close in on him, then struck it in the head. The morning star hit with enough power to kill a man outright, and while it did bloody the animal's eye, it mostly only enraged it further.
Simon raised his morning star for a follow-up strike, but the hellhound swiped at him with his smoky paw. The blow hit Simon in the chest with more strength than any of Duchar's undead. Although his Overlord armor absorbed most of the blow, he was still flung against the nearest cave wall.
Simon grunted and prepared to attack again when the hellhound opened its mouth. It let out a fearsome howl that echoed across the cave, with the whines of the she-wolves echoing in the background. Simon could feel the noise sink into his soul and chill him to the core. His strength was leaving him, his armor and morning star alike suddenly growing heavier.
All physical stats down. Terror negated by Indomitable Crown.
A debuff?
Simon barely had time to blink before the hellhound followed up the howl with a deep inhalation. Green light built up in the beast's throat, and emerald fire poured out of its maw.
It was Simon's third time being burned alive, and it never stopped hurting.
Green fire licked his armor and heated it up in an attempt to boil him alive within the miasmic metal, burning his skin and hurting him. The pain was intense, but thankfully nowhere near as terrible as Casval's breath.
A debuff followed by a killing strike. The creature was smart.
A pity for it that Simon had learned his lesson.
"Shadow Chain!" Simon cast in response. A chain of miasma arose from the ground and then coiled around the monster's jaws, snapping its maw shut and keeping its fiery breath trapped in the gullet.
Simon quickly exploited the opportunity to rise from the smoke surrounding him and smash the beast in the face with all of his might. His blow was weaker due to his drained strength, but his weapon's enchantments more than made up for it. His blow snapped bones and sent fangs flying across the cave.
The hellhound grunted through the barbed chain keeping its maw shut, and rose on its hind legs. It tried to slam Simon to the ground, but that proved a mistake. Simon swiftly summoned a second set of shadow chains, had them encircle the monster's feet, and then punched it in the stomach. The beast was thrown off balance and collapsed onto its back.
Simon smashed it again in the face, and this time his morning star's spikes reached all the way to the brain. Burning caustic blood stained his armor, followed by the sweet feeling of the hellhound's lifeforce flowing into Simon. His Deathmastery I Perk fed on its death and healed his burns.
Soon, only the noise of his morning star hitting a corpse echoed throughout the cave, followed by a sigh of satisfaction as Simon sensed the debuff fade away. It was a pleasant feeling, yet incomparable to the surge of experience and the thrill of two new level-ups.
Level 12 Perk: Warmonger II (Passive): All of the Overlord's weapons are treated as magical for the purpose of overcoming damage reductions when they wear the Class Outfit.
Level 13 Perk: Unquestionable Ruler I (Passive): Lower-level animals, sentient plants, and mindless monsters instinctively see you as a figure of authority to be obeyed.
Simon couldn't put words on the satisfaction he felt right now. It had been one thing to kill undead critters specifically designed to be destroyed at his hand; it was another to win a real fight through his own strength, without help nor guidance. It was so refreshing to revel in his own power after spending years cowering to avoid the ire of more powerful people.
He could get used to it.
Simon glanced at the two she-wolves at the back of the cave and quickly noticed that their attitude had changed due to his new Perk. They crouched and showed their bellies in submission, begging him to spare them with their big black eyes.
Agnes Firewand, who had observed the scene without a word, finally spoke up. "Does Your Majesty need healing?"
"No need," Simon replied, his gaze settled on the terrified she-wolves at the back of the cave. "Do you understand me?"
"Yes, master," one of them replied, whining. "Please don't eat us."
"That depends on your answer." Simon pointed at the hellhound's collar. "Who put this device on the dead hellhound's neck?"
"We… we don't know," one of the wolves replied uneasily. "Packleader Nessian had it when he arrived. Said it was the 'mistress'' gift."
"Packleader Nessian said to kill all the manlings crossing his territory," the other said. "When our sister told Packleader Nessian that manlings don't bring much meat and that their metal fangs bite harder than ours, he devoured her."
A mistress? This intrigued Simon, on top of the hellhound's targeting of humans in the area. Did someone put it up to this?
A pity he hadn't unlocked the Perk before confronting the hellhound and forcing it to submit to him. This would have spared him a fight and gotten him more information.
Realizing he wouldn't learn much else from the wolves, Simon decided to let them go with a warning. A silver coin per fur seemed cheap for the lives of animals forced into obedience by an overgrown bully.
"Find the rest of your pack and tell them to find a better hunting ground," he said. "Any of them that stay in the area past the next sunrise will be slain."
"Y-yes, master." The two animals wisely fled through another part of the cave than where they entered from without further complaint or looking back.
"Can you identify where the collar came from?" Simon asked Agnes, who had been observing the entire scene from afar without intervening.
"I lack divination spells to track down the owner, Your Majesty, but I can confirm this device is a variant of the slave collars authorities usually put on shifters," Agnes replied. "Those are designed to inflict pain should the wearer walk away from a designated area."
"So someone intentionally set this monster loose on the region?" Simon inquired. This must have been an act of sabotage, since the hellhound disrupted the flow of trade and the army's supply routes. "Sever the head and collar for safekeeping. Dassein should be interested."
"Your Highness!" Meredith called from outside the cave. "You should come out with haste!"
Simon frowned, then canceled the Overlord Class and left Agnes to extract the hound's head. He walked outside the cave to find his retainers surrounded with blood and wolf corpses. All of them still wore their Class outfits, even though Simon sensed no danger, and looked at the horizon with small concern. He squinted in that direction, but he didn't see–
There. A small point beneath the clouds, so far away he could hardly see it.
"What's that?" Simon inquired.
"Some sort of winged beastman, Your Highness," Meredith replied, her eyes narrowed at the clouds. "I mistook them for a wyvern at first, but those animals are not native to Telluria."
"You can see them from here?"
"I can, Your Highness. My Valkyrie Class boasts both a high Perception stat and accuracy-improving Perks."
It was quite the impressive feat, but a