"My Lord! My Lord! You've finally come back!"
"Why the hell did he use a territory transfer? And look where we are, Morgana. You know where this is, right? The shadowed region, where the sun never rises and the night never falls."
"Shut up and help me lift him. I'm going to use healing on him — the first time is always the hardest."
My mind wanted to explode.
I felt as though all the weight of the world were on my back — and as though my eyes had been dipped in something burning and then simply forgotten there. Even so, I didn't scream. Because, unconsciously, I knew. It was here.
It was the first time I returned to the Oasis.
It was a pain everyone felt the first time — and reading about it, I now discovered, was very different from feeling it in the flesh. However much I knew I would need to be strong, the pain was still too great for me to manage to move or open my eyes. And yet, even drowned in that suffering, there was something inside me that was pure joy.
Because I would recognize those two voices anywhere in the universe.
"Morgana… Livina…"
"Yes, my Lord."
The two answered at the same time.
I could hear their voices, and the worry that carried them. From what I understood, the territory had already been transported completely. I hated myself for being inert, useless, wherever we were — so, even with the pain tearing through every nerve, I forced my eyes open. And then, finally, I saw them.
"Hello, girls… I'm back."
My words were enough for Morgana to throw herself into my arms.
And, while she hugged me, I saw something run down Livina's eyes. Maybe the two really believed I wouldn't return — after all, returning home and then going back to the Oasis was considered by many one of the hardest things to do. Many left to see their family again and never found the strength to cross the portal once more.
"Help me up."
✦ ✦ ✦
Livina lifted me, and I finally could observe the environment around me.
For the first time, I saw how the transport I had built worked. Its advantage was being open — which allowed me to see exactly where I was. And, as Livina had said, there was nothing but dark clouds in every direction. It was clearly daytime, but even the day seemed tearful, heavy, like a cloudy afternoon that promised rain without ever keeping the promise.
That was the famous place.
"I think I owe you an explanation."
I knew that dragging the girls to that place without warning made no sense at all in their eyes.
That was a place where only death and challenge existed — and there we were, all in the same boat.
"Well, I think it would be the least you could do, my Lord. You know… many of my kind perished in these lands."
Livina, even while compliant, couldn't hide her irritation at being in such a hostile place.
Morgana, on the other hand, seemed to simply not care — the kind of serenity of someone who trusted me to the point of heading into hell without asking for explanations.
"Don't worry. There's a reaso—"
Before I could finish the sentence, the Prince descended from the skies, kneeling quickly at my feet.
"My Lord. Welcome back."
Before Livina could complain about the interruption, the great Griffin got ahead of her.
"My Lord. We have visitors."
Of course we would.
I knew that wasn't a place for outings, but for a mission — and, very probably, my contractor already knew of my arrival.
"Zeus, disable the towers. Everyone, I'll explain later. Prince, take me to the visitors."
There was no time for conversations.
Or rather, we would have plenty of time — but not now. Now was the moment to understand what, exactly, I would need to do to survive that place.
✦ ✦ ✦
I advanced through my territory to the gate. And when I climbed up to see who the visitors were, what I found surprised me.
"Well… I couldn't expect less from someone with that wealth."
Near my territory, a cavalry of nearly four hundred mounted approached — mounted on gigantic horses, of nearly three meters in height, with manes that seemed to burn in living crimson fire.
I knew those horses could only come from a rare max-level stable — at an exorbitant cost not only to create those creatures, but even to maintain them.
They were divided between mounted archers and light and heavy infantry soldiers, organized with the discipline of those who have already survived much more than it seems. Leading all of them, a woman with blonde hair and eyes of a deep blue. She was visibly younger than me — but carried a maturity that clashed with her age. Honestly, it was what I expected. That wasn't a place where someone innocent and gentle would survive for long.
Beside her, a second figure who would go unnoticed — were it not for the enormous deer antler rising from her head, and the entire lower half of her body being that of a horse.
"So she had the luck to summon a centaur. That explains a lot."
The centaurs, as they were called, had other names — but, with time, no one bothered to use them anymore.
They were an extremely strong race, but also extremely social and nature-loving. That mix of characteristics made them unpredictable when a war announced itself — but what everyone knew was that they possessed an uncommon capacity for strength and speed. Like many other powerful races, they were extremely reserved. Eris's heroine wore armor as gleaming as that of the summoner herself, and her black, curly, and voluminous hair gave a singular beauty to that imposing figure.
But I didn't have much time to pay attention to her. Because my name was called.
"Leonidas Aquiles. My father brought you here. Open the gate. We need to talk."
It was clear, from the tone, that there was no possibility of refusal.
"How dare a tramp like that talk that way to my Lord?"
"Easy, Livina. I believe that, being at my side, you'll understand everything that happened… I'M OPENING IT NOW!"
The pompous girl simply advanced into the tower's range, without minding in the slightest whether it was active or not.
That demonstrated one of two things: she was extremely arrogant, or extremely naive. And, by the tone of voice, I bet firmly on the first. Either way, as soon as the gate opened, she entered accompanied by the heroine, while the four hundred riders waited outside.
"You must be the next incompetent idiot my father found."
I won't lie — hearing her talk that way created creases on my forehead.
But what most caught my attention wasn't the arrogant and overbearing tone. It was the content.
"So I'm not the first… interesting."
While I murmured that to myself, the centaur heroine advanced in my direction.
"How dare you not kneel before my Lord?"
But, before she reached me, Livina appeared — jumping from the top of the wall and startling the two of them.
"Holy shit, that's a—"
"Aqrabuamelu. Yes. But you can call her Livina. Well, I think we've already reached the same page — I'm the contractor. So, could you just tell me what I need to do."
Seeing Livina seemed to calm the girl's temper.
The reasons could be many, but I didn't care. What I wanted to know was what needed to be done — and how much time I would have to prepare.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Is there somewhere we can talk?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't have a specific place for conversations. All my constructions are offensive."
I knew there were other construction options that Lords raised over time. Constructions geared toward entertainment, comfort, even rest — halls, gardens, spaces made for a life that wasn't only war. But, honestly, since I arrived at the Oasis, raising any of them never came anywhere near my mind. Every resource, every space, every stone had been invested in surviving. Comfort was a luxury I had never been able to afford.
"If you don't mind, we can talk right here."
The woman seemed taken aback by my attitude. But I didn't mind. She had hired someone to replace her, not to be her friend — and that was exactly what I was willing to be. I just needed to understand the rules.
"Well then. I'll tell you my problem, and what you'll have to do. But know that it's quite difficult. Actually, I dare say it's impossible."
The woman settled herself, sitting down on the ground, and I did the same.
And after nearly an hour of conversation, I finally had a general view of what was happening.
And I was completely screwed.
✦ ✦ ✦
"So, according to what you said, we're at the entrance of the Gargantua?"
"Yes. You were transported directly to the outer wall, three kilometers from here."
And it was then that it finally became clear how she had survived. Not just her, but all the rookies of the other races present.
The reason was simple: we were in a deep, gigantic valley, which prevented the enemy from attacking from anywhere except a single entrance — to the north of where my kingdom had been transported. Honestly, I hadn't noticed before. But, while I looked at the horizon, it became clear she wasn't lying. Everything around me was surrounded by an enormous wall of stone, at a distance one could barely see — but that was there. A natural wall over a kilometer in height.
But there was a detail. Someone needed to protect the entrance.
And that someone was always the weakest. Because the creatures seemed to content themselves with little food — just the wall's protector was already enough to satiate them.
"How long did the last one hold out?"
"A week. The one before held out nearly a month."
That was where the term sacrifice came from.
Protecting the wall meant living in an eternal conflict with the enemy — a conflict that ended always, invariably, with the death of the protector.
"So, if I hold out a year, I'm swapped out?"
"Yes. I mean… that's the rule. But it has never been put into practice. After all, no one has ever survived an entire year protecting the wall of Gargantua."
"But why don't they just invade after killing the protector?"
By the girl's expression, not even she was sure of the answer.
And, however much I tried, the dynamic didn't make sense to me either. They went to all the trouble of killing the wall's protector — only to wait for another to take their place, and then start everything over again. It was a cycle with no apparent purpose. It made no sense at all.
"The truth is that no one knows. The suppositions are many. They range from the idea that maybe this valley is protected by something, to the one that they use the fight against the protectors merely as a form of training. But you must already know… no one has any idea what those creatures think."
You could see the disgust in her eyes. Probably, she herself had already witnessed what happened there.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Anyway… how am I going to manage to get there?"
"That's simple. You'll understand when we arrive."
Without further delay, Morgana, Livina, and I headed toward the location with the Prince's help — while, by land, the woman indicated the way.
I must admit she was quite surprised by my Griffin. But, very probably, she still thought he was just some kind of animal I had captured and tamed. She didn't seem interested in analyzing my power for real — and maybe many had passed through there before me, with powers she found promising, only to become food. I didn't blame her for having given up on creating expectations.
Either way, in less than an hour, we arrived at the location.
And I had never, in all my life, seen a wall so tall — and so surprisingly technological. Even the wall that surrounded the Infernals seemed smaller.
"Do you know who built this?"
It was the first question I asked Eris upon descending in front of that colossus. And, to my shock, she didn't know.
In fact, no one knew. The oldest theory was that maybe it had been raised by the Travellers — but there wasn't any of them nearby to ask. The fact is that the wall was something extraordinarily complex, of an appearance that bordered on the supernatural. I took the opportunity to take Eris to the top, since she wanted to show me something.
"Normally, it takes us hours to get up here. You're lucky to have found and tamed a wild Griffin."
"Of course… but what do we have to do here?"
Eris didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she approached the edge and pointed down. Down below, at the foot of the enormous wall, there was an empty kingdom — with walls and towers destroyed by something I couldn't identify. It was in ruins. And, even so, it was still twice the size of mine.
"What does that mean?"
"Your base."
My confusion soon gave way to Eris's explanation — and it was then that the pieces began to fit together.
Inside the destroyed castle of that kingdom there was a kind of construction, which allowed any Lord to arrive and take possession of the territory — doing what she called a kind of substitution.
"You're trying to say that kingdom down there belonged to the last one who died?"
"Yes. Exactly."
My blood ran cold.
Because, even being a kingdom visibly more geared toward defense than mine, while I observed the ruins down there, it became clear that base was structurally several levels superior to mine. It had towers that were clearly more powerful than the ones I possessed. And, even so — for some reason I still didn't understand — they hadn't held out even a week.
Something was wrong.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Did you happen to see any attack? To understand what the creatures were like, how they managed to win?"
"This time, no. But of the others I saw, it was always the same way. An endless flood of enemies, who appear out of nowhere — and who leave no body behind. I'm sorry."
Her words sounded as though she were already certain of my death.
But I didn't think the same way. If the battle was, as she said, a question of quantity — and if there was no other secret I still needed to discover — then I wouldn't fail. At least, not in theory. I had built my entire kingdom thinking precisely about that kind of scenario: many enemies, little space, absolute defense.
"And what about supplies? I mean… how am I going to manage to sus—"
"Don't worry. Every day, someone will come to bring the supplies you need. If it's not too much, just ask."
Of course coming every day wasn't a gesture of goodwill.
Probably, it was just a way to check whether I had already died. But I didn't mind — if I could worry only about defense, things would become considerably easier.
"All right. After I migrate my kingdom, how much time do I have?"
"Five days."
I stopped.
"You said the other kingdom survived seven…"
Eris looked at me. And there was something definitive in the way she answered.
"Yes. It was destroyed in two. Shall we go?"