[Time Limited Shop]
Lord Talent Upgrade Ticket (Usable up to SSS Rank Lord Talent) – 100,000 AP
City AI Advisor Upgrade Ticket – 50,000 AP
Large Distance Teleporters (Pair) x3 – 600,000 AP
He let out a quiet breath.
’Hmmm. These items....’
Up until now, each item that appeared in Time Limited Shop had been those that could help his wives grow tremendously.
It made sense. The system was called the Bonded Blessing System, so it would give items for his wives.
’As expected, these items are a hint.’
Since he could share them later, these items were meant for his wives, not for himself.
This meant the Bonded Blessing System was giving him a ’hint’ of how to make his wives stronger.
Isaac had been thinking of using this ’method’ too, but he had been unsure until he saw these items in the Time Limited Shop.
Of course, this was a big decision. So he couldn’t immediately make a choice.
First, he purchased all items in the Time Limited Shop. They appeared inside his mind, and he could summon them to reality as soon as he wanted.
Now...
"How do you guys think we should deal with the Eltari race?" Isaac asked as they kept moving.
"We should make them our citizen and use their resources. We already conquered them after all," Celia answered.
He nodded and turned his attention to Emily. "What do you think?"
She took a moment before answering. "I also think we should put them under our rule. We’ve used quite a bit of manpower to conquer them already, and if we let them go, it might bring trouble for us in the future, but..."
"But?" Isaac prompted.
"Adding them to our city is dangerous," Emily continued. "The citizens of the Eltari race won’t have any good feelings for us since we conquered them with force. Even if we treat them nicely, there is a high chance someone among them will use this opportunity for their own growth, build a political force, and try to rebel later for their own agenda."
Celia’s eyes widened for a moment.
"I didn’t think of that...." She murmured.
"So you’re saying the Eltari can become poison for our city if we mix them in?" Isaac asked.
"Yes, we can use forceful methods to make sure nothing bad happens, but...." A sigh left Emily’s lips. "Forceful methods will hold the city together for only so long."
"And you still conquered them despite knowing all this?" Isaac asked.
"We didn’t really have a choice," Emily replied. "Eltari race didn’t bother warning us about the Sinkhole Worms. Now that they know we’re strong, they’ll start worrying we might take revenge. Paranoia will push them to act sooner or later. Conquering them now was like cutting off the problem before it had time to grow."
Celia was opening and closing her mouth as she saw Emily spoke sagely.
She seemed to be in disbelief of how Emily, who seemed airhead, could think of so many things.
Isaac chuckled. "She’s royalty too, remember. She was taught this kind of thing."
Celia nodded slowly, still looking a bit defeated. Her expression practically said, W asn’t she only taught about these things when she was a child? How come she remembers so many things when I’ve forgotten mostly everything?
Emily smiled at her reaction, and said, "To be honest, I think the people of the Eltari race are a bit pitiful."
Isaac tilted his head. "How so?"
"The leaders are the ones who didn’t warn us about the Sinkhole Worms. But now that we’re clashing with the Eltari because of their leaders, it’s the citizens who will suffer," she said.
"It’s not our fault though," Celia replied. "If the Eltari race had warned us like a good neighbor should, we wouldn’t be here. Since they chose to ignore us, we have no reason not to plunder them. Why should we care about people who are not our citizen?"
Celia wasn’t wrong.
In this world, one either plundered or got plundered.
Since Isaac had defeated Eltari race, he had no reason to not use their resources for growth of his own city.
Emily wasn’t wrong either.
Even if he treated the Eltari citizens well, some of them would always see him as an invader.
These people would stir up trouble in his city in the future.
"Alright," Isaac said, lifting a hand. "We’re here."
They reached the edge of the fortified city.
A massive four-legged beast stood on the wall. Its dark blue hide was marked with yellow stripes that ran along its body like carved lines.
Its eyes glowed faintly as it turned its head toward them. On its back sat a female ogre, tall and broad-shouldered, with a heavy weapon strapped across her back.
The warbeast moved first. It leapt down from the wall in a single, smooth motion and landed in front of Isaac, the ground trembling slightly under its weight. The ogre followed, dropping down and bowing deeply.
"I greet the Great Carus, the Benefactor, and Mrs. Celia. I’m Misadra Bonecleaver, wife of the War Chief, Grathok Bonecleaver. This is the War Beast of our tribe, Selipuk."
"I’m Isaac Hargraves. It’s my pleasure to meet you."
They exchanged a few short greetings before Misadra straightened and got to the point.
"The leaders of the Eltari race have surrendered. They had five Overlords. One escaped. The other four are inside the city. Five warriors from the Ashfang Tribe are here right now. Two of us, including me, are guarding the walls and watching for trouble. The other three are inside, making sure the awakeners of the Eltari don’t get any funny ideas."
Isaac nodded as Misadra finished her report.
This was the power of Monster Tribes.
Even though both sides had the same number of Overlords, the Eltari race’s chances of victory had been so low that surrender had been the only real option.
At the same rank, Overlords from Monster Tribes were simply stronger.
It wasn’t something people liked to admit, but it was a pattern that had repeated itself across too many wars to ignore.
Some might think that Overlords from Mid-rank or High-rank Player species should be superior.
But the truth was uglier than imagination.
Just like Player species were divided into Low, Mid, High, and Apex, Monster Tribes had their own species hierarchy.
Their races followed the same ladder of strength of Low, Mid, High, and Apex.
Ogres and Crawling Serpents, for example, were both considered Low-rank Monster Tribes, but even among the low ranks, they stood near the top.
They could’ve destroyed human cities with ease if they wanted to.
On top of strength, the long lives of Monsters allowed them to learn a lot skills than a normal Player could.
"Are there any signs of rebellion?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. Most of the Eltari are staying inside their homes after sensing the presence of our warriors. But some are gathering in the roads and open areas, saying they’ll help their awakeners fight us, even if it means dying," Misadra replied.
"I see," Isaac said.
He started flying toward the inner city where the Eltari leaders had gathered. The streets below felt tense, like a rope pulled too tight. Eyes followed him. Some faces held anger. Most held fear.
As they moved, Isaac sent a quiet command through the bond in his mind.
’Morbus. Start spreading a dormant plague.’
His parasitic plague Abyss Monster answered immediately.
[Understood, master.]
He didn’t plan on using it. Not unless he had to. But having a countermeasure in place was necessary. If they the Eltari did not cause trouble, he would call Morbus back.
No one seemed to notice the Abyss Monster.
Except one.
Emily slowed for half a second, her eyes flicking to the side as if she had sensed something out of place.
She frowned, scanned the air, then shook her head when she found nothing and continued flying alongside Isaac and Celia.
They reached the meeting hall a short while later.
Inside, two ogres from the Ashfang Tribe stood against the wall, arms crossed, watching everything with calm, heavy-lidded eyes.
One of them had a savage grin, as if he was hoping the Eltari Overlord would fight him.
The four Overlords of the Eltari race sat at a long table.
Their expressions varied. One looked strained, another angry, and the other two seemed caught somewhere between the two, their tension visible in the way their fingers tapped against the table.
Isaac walked in without rushing and took the chair opposite them.
The first Overlord roared immediately.
"What is the meaning of this? Just because we didn’t warn you about—"
"Silence."
Isaac’s voice cut through the room.
"I’ll be the one doing the talking."
All four Overlords frowned.
They had heard the rumors about him. A young human. An SSS-rank farmer. Someone who had awakened not long ago.
This drew a simple conclusion. He might be ’resourceful’ but he was not ’strong’, unlike the ogres and the Ghost Tamer lady.
To be spoken to like this by someone they saw as beneath them was more than insulting. It felt humiliating.
Isaac wasn’t bothered by their reaction.
He simply punched above—
And the roof above them vanished. The upper floors of the building went with it, pulverized by the force of the strike.
Stone and metal were reduced to fragments that scattered outward, leaving open sky where there had been a ceiling just moments before.
The shockwave rolled through the hall and rattled the walls.
Everyone froze.
The four Overlords stared upward, eyes wide. Even the two ogres straightened slightly, their usual relaxed posture broken for the first time since Isaac had entered.
Of course, destroying a building wasn’t something beyond them. Any person in the room could have done something similar.
But Isaac hadn’t activated a skill. He hadn’t taken a stance.
He had just punched with no prior preparation, and this was the result of his half-baked strike.
"So," Isaac said, lowering his hand, "I’m guessing you’re going to listen to me now."
The Overlords looked at each other, then nodded quickly.
Their faces had lost most of their color.
"I’m going to take over the Eltari city and make it a sub-city of mine. My wife—"
He gestured toward Emily.
"She’ll serve as the Lord of this city, and a Sub-Lord under me. You have two choices. Pledge your allegiance to her and to me, or die here."
There was a beat of silence.
"W-We will serve you!" one Overlord blurted out.
"Yes, we agree to your demands!" another said, standing halfway from his chair and bowing.
They had seen enough. Isaac had shown overwhelming strength. His wife commanded Overlord rank Monsters. The Ashfang Tribe, a Monster Tribe, served him openly.
There was no room left for resistance.
The other two Overlords didn’t move.
Isaac glanced at them, then at Emily.
She was staring at him, eyes wide. He hadn’t told her about making her a Lord. This was the first time she was hearing it.
Isaac gave a small smirk, wondering if she liked his gift.
He had always felt bad about becoming a Lord in Emily’s place. This was the cleanest way to fix that. More than that, if Emily became a Lord, he could share her Lord Talent. That meant either gaining a new one Lord Talent or strengthening his own.
From a practical standpoint, it was perfect.
Of course, it meant more work. Two cities instead of one needed more logistics, more politics, and more things that could go wrong.
But Emily could defend this city. She had Abyss Monsters and a Catastrophe under her command. Strength wasn’t the problem.
Resources weren’t either. Between his farming talent and his own Lord Talent, Isaac had more income than he could reasonably spend.
As for politics? Isaac would slowly spread his religion, so that he could use Alice’s skill to control and crush all troublemakers.
He looked back at the two silent Overlords.
"What’s your decision?" he asked.
One of them finally spoke. "What about the Eltarees?"
Isaac frowned slightly. "What exactly are you asking?"
"Will you treat our people as slaves?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Because if that’s your plan, then I’ll fight you to the death," the Overlord said, standing up.
"Anant!"
One of the other Overlords, who had bowed to Isaac, shot to his feet.
The man didn’t back down.
"Didn’t you already surrender?" Isaac asked.
"I surrendered because fighting would’ve caused civilian casualties. The ogres and the Lady here didn’t seem like they were going to slaughter our people if we laid down our arms. But if you’re planning to turn our citizens into slaves, then I’ll fight you, even if it costs me my life."
"Anant!"
"Shut up! What if you make him angry and he decides to kill us all?"
Anant turned on them, his glare sharp.
"Shut your mouths. I’ll do what I want. Unlike you, I can’t just sit here and pretend everything is fine while my people might end up under a tyrant."
The three Overlords looked like they were about to start a fight, but Isaac raised his hand.
The room went quiet.
"We will treat the Eltari race fairly. I’ve said it before. I want my wife to become the Lord of this city. With that goal, it’s better for everyone if the citizens serve her willingly, not because they’re forced to," Isaac said.
Anant studied him. "Can I trust your words?"
"That’s your choice. If you want to believe I’ll become a tyrant, then you’re free to attack me. I’m not afraid to fight you. The only reason I’m sitting here talking instead of killing all of you is because I prefer a peaceful solution. Otherwise, this would already be over."
The Overlords flinched.
The words stung, and scrapped at their pride, but they swallowed their anger.
Anant finally let out a slow breath.
"...Understood. I’ll serve you as long as you treat the citizens of the Eltari race fairly."
Isaac nodded once, then turned to the last Overlord, who had been silent until now.
"And you? What’s your decision?"
The fourth Overlord hesitated. "Can I leave? I won’t seek revenge against you for conquering this city. I never cared about this city. I was here only because I was strong enough that I didn’t have to serve anyone. Let me go, and I won’t plot against you. If you don’t trust my word, we can use a contract—"
"Serve me or die. Those were my words," Isaac replied, cutting her off. "There isn’t a third option where you walk away."
She frowned. "Why do you even want me to serve you? You can see I don’t want to. It will never be good if you have a close confidant who hates you. Besides, my strength won’t make much difference to you. You already have Overlords who are stronger than me."
"I have no intention of allowing my enemies to leave with their life. We already ’come to blows’ so unless you serve me, you are dying here."
She glared at him, but he just looked back at her calmly.