When everyone inside the hall saw Michael, they became silent. They quickly dropped to their knees to show their respect. Sadie's eyes glistened with shock. She still couldn't believe Ghost was the Dark Lord all this time, and she shared the bed with the Dark Lord himself. Thinking about that, she both felt terrified and funny. Michael made his way to the long table in the center. His throne, made of skull and bones, was located in the front beside Gaya's throne. Michael sat on his throne, putting one leg atop another.
"Take your seats," said Gaya before sitting beside Michael. All of Michael's subordinates took their seats. They looked a bit scared more than usual, seeing Michael almost after a year. Every single one of them heard what had transpired on the Itholan island. Just like the rest of the world, they were scared too. After all, Michael slaughtered Half Immortals and Immortals as though they were nothing. To this date, Michael received badass points whenever someone gets afraid of what Michael did at Itholan. It passively generated Michael with badass points.
In addition to Michael's subordinates, he noticed a few new faces. These new faces were the ministers working for Michael's subordinates. Among these, some familiar faces stared at Michael with shock and awe. For now, Michael ignored them.
"We will initiate the new members into the order after this meeting," said Gaya.
"How is everyone doing?" Michael asked his subordinates.
"Very well,"contemporary romance
"Good,"
"Fine, thanks to you, Dark Lord,"
His subordinates answered him with respect.
"I am glad to hear that. I was gone for a year, so I want to hear what you did in that time," Michael glanced over at his subordinates.
"Let's start with you, Tiberius, King of War," Michael turned his gaze toward Tiberius. Physically, Tiberius looked healthy, glowing, and with more muscles. He wore fancy robes suitable for a king rather than a warrior. The cultivation device made by Michael and Elidyr glimmered around his wrist. The device resembled a silver wristwatch with something glowing in the center. It was built with intricate parts and runes that turned arch energy crystals into pure energy and helped Michael's subordinates cultivate even within the void line. This device was the most precious and powerful thing an order member could have. Only those who swore their loyalty directly to Michael received this device. Each device was equipped with a self-destruction rune. In case, someone else got their hands on the device, it would explode into pieces, leaving nothing behind.
Because of the Cosmic energy coursing through his veins and the device around his wrist, Tiberius managed to reach the Fusion stage level 5. Michael was happy with Tiberius's cultivation progress. In fact, no one disappointed him. Tiberius took a deep breath,
"I've been building an army as I was ordered. Freeland is growing faster than I initially expected. Since we haven't faced a war, our army lacks real battle experience," said Tiberius. Although they had a large army, most soldiers in the army didn't fight in a real battle. Without fighting a real battle, they would still be novices when it comes to war. Unfortunately, no one had the guts to wage war against the Freeland ruled by Tiberius. The biggest reason was Gisel's rapid growth in power. Gaya's leadership and the resources Gisel received from the order made Gisel stronger than any other kingdom ruled by a senate.
On top of that, Maven became a part of Gisel, making Gisel the biggest kingdom in the Southern continent. Among the seven kingdoms in the Southern continent, Maven and Gisel became one. As a result, seven kingdoms became six kingdoms.
"With King of the Night, Saber's help, we managed to broker peace between Prerid and Miral. So we didn't need to send out troops to fight Prerid," said Tiberius. General Quintus worked for Fabia, who was working for Saber, so General Quintus became Michael's subordinate without him knowing. Gaya talked about initiating Quintus into the order as he was a fierce warrior and could be a valuable asset to them. However, Michael needed time to assess everyone's opinion of Quintus. He invaded Aria's homeland and turned them into slaves. Plus, he killed Heinberg, which gained Tiberius's wrath. Therefore, they might not be so welcoming to Quintus. In fact, Michael wouldn't be surprised if Aria or Tiberius wanted Quintus dead. At that time, Michael would have to end Quintus's life not to piss his subordinates off, especially Aria, whose life was turned upside down because of him.
"As for Qiven, Xoral and Netis,"
"If you don't know about these kingdoms, these kingdoms are called Trident of the Southern continent, ruled by kings instead of senates," Gaya explained to the newcomers.
"Continue," said Gaya as Tiberius went on.
"They don't meddle with the senate-ruled kingdoms,"
"If I may, Dark Lord," Sadie raised her hand,
"I heard the three kings had met each other in secret. Also, I've been hearing from my girls each kingdom is bolstering its military and defense," said Sadie. As the Queen of Whispers, she was tasked to learn what was happening in the world as much as she could using the Silvermoon girls. Sadie recruited girls and sent them to every single kingdom in the world, to learn rumors and information from the nobles. The Silvermoon girls were extremely efficient in gathering information and secrets from drunken nobles. Under their charm and beauty, the nobles opened up, and secrets flowed out of their mouths like a river.
"Do you know why they met?" asked Gaya.
"Not yet, Dark Queen. But I put my best girls to work. We will have something soon," said Sadie.
"As I was saying, they don't meddle with the senate-ruled kingdoms. In other words, we do not have anyone to wage war on. An unused blade will eventually go blunt. So I'd like to request the undead to fight, Dark Lord," Tiberius made an unusual request to Michael.
Michael thought about Tiberius's request for a few moments. He certainly couldn't go wage a war against a kingdom just to train his army. Even if the three kingdoms were bolstering their defense and army, it wasn't enough to wage war against them. Sometimes, they might do this because of Michael's existence in the Southern continent.
"Dular," Michael turned his gaze toward the orc at the table.
"I can definitely spare some undead for training, Dark Lord. but where do I send them? We cannot let the world see our undead," said Dular.
"Cover them with armor," Michael simply said.
Michael remembered Gaya's words about getting them a dedicated pocket dimension for their army to enter and train. Unfortunately, creating a pocket dimension was not that easy, even for a 6-star runemaster. Once again, the system could solve this problem if it didn't go offline. But for now, covering the undead with armor had to do.
"That's all for my part, Dark Lord," said Tiberius.
"Give a report about the army to her later," said Michael as Tiberius nodded.
After Tiberius finished his report, Michael turned his gaze toward Corey.
"Unfortunately, we are not lucky as King of War," Corey sighed.
"Our ships are getting attacked often by the Guardians and some unknown ships. They use a hit-and-run tactic," Corey's eyes burned with frustration and anger.
"Unknown ships?" Michael tilted his head. He wasn't surprised by the Guardian ships, unlike these unknown ships. One should fear the unknown the most, Michael recalled Spectre's words in his mind.
"I ordered my men to catch one and interrogate them, but those bastards killed themselves before my men could catch them. The poison they used didn't even spare their bodies. By the time my men reached them, there was nothing but ashes,"
Michael creased his brows hearing about these men.
"Next time you spot one of these ships, contact me immediately," said Michael.
"Yes, Dark Lord," Corey bowed.
"Is there something else?" Gaya asked after seeing the troubled look on Corey's face.
"Sorry to be the bearer of problems, Dark Queen," Corey sighed.
"It's okay. We are here to find solutions to problems. Tell me what's bothering you?" asked Gaya.
"We need a safer port for our ships. I've been thinking if we could anchor our ships in the dark ocean, it'd be better,"
At the moment, the lightning storm and the climate in the dark ocean made it impossible for a ship to sail to the floating mountain. Instead, all the ships Corey had been building were anchored on her island. The more ships she built, the more attention she drew from the Guardian Guild. Hence, Corey wanted a safer place for the ships to anchor. What could be a better place than the place where the Dark Lord is?
"So you want our help with the lightning storm?" asked Gaya as Corey nodded. Gaya turned her head to see Ghost's reaction. He remained as calm as ever. After a while, he opened his mouth.
"For a while, keep the ships on your island. I will tell you when to sail in when the right time comes," said Michael.
Michael had been thinking about shifting his naval army to the dark ocean for a while. However, the dark ocean's weather stopped him from doing so. This was yet another problem that the system could solve. Although he was a god, he didn't have the power to control the weather as much as he liked to.
The lightning storm and the weather made the floating mountain an impenetrable fortress. Disabling them would leave them vulnerable. Hence, Michael wanted to find a way for the ships to be immune to the lightning storm and the weather. Even Michael's Big Bertha was anchored at Corey's island instead of the dark ocean. Ever since Michael went to the Genric family, he didn't have enough time to equip Big Bertha with new weaponry. Now that Michael had acquired the elven rune and the system's offline period would soon come to an end, he could finally give the ship what it truly deserves.
"Yes, Dark Lord," Corey bowed.
"Have you seen the empress's ships?" asked Michael. For some reason, Michael suddenly thought of the elven empress.
"No, Dark Lord," Corey shook her head.
After Corey, Michael looked at a familiar face. He couldn't help smiling.
"How are you Eve?" asked Michael.
done.co