[Note: Sorry for the next few Chapters being a little heavy on system screens, this will only be during the initial integration.]
It was noon when the people of the Darkwall settlement began to gather in the small town square.
There were just under sixty people, mostly unarmed farmers.
There were about five armed guards in leather armor, with another five who were more poorly equipped.
These didn’t even have swords, just rusty axes that were probably more suited for cutting trees than for battle.
Next to the guards stood an old man, the same one who had been guarding the village gate when Ethan arrived.
The village elder and, beside him, his son, the current captain of the guard.
The captain was a burly man in his thirties, with an unmemorable face and a gaze that did not leave Alice for even a single moment.
She stood in front of them all, watching them hesitantly for a brief moment before turning and striding quickly toward the lord’s hall, the administrative building responsible for controlling the settlement.
After entering, she closed the door behind her. Her breathing was rapid as she brought her hand to her chest.
The hall had been deactivated a few months ago when the last chief of the settlement died.
The population had become so small that they didn’t even bother to choose a new chief.
The person in charge of guarding the city became the new leader alongside his father, who was primarily responsible for managing the village and who, obviously, was not happy to lose that power.
As the two most powerful awakened beings in the settlement, no one really questioned that dynamic.
But that would change now.
In the main hall, Alice walked up to a golden platform and knelt in front of it, her eyes closed as she waited patiently.
Ethan was hiding, not far away. His sword in hand, he watched anxiously as a counter displayed by the system appeared in front of him.
[Starting integration with the Gaia system in 30 seconds.]
...
...
[Starting integration with the Gaia system in 10 seconds.]
...
...
[3]
[2]
[1]
The moment the count reached zero, an intense glow filled the hall.
The golden platform sank into the floor like molten magma, the heat around it rapidly increasing.
Alice took a step back, startled as she watched a figure emerge in front of her.
A man whose body seemed to be made of pure gold, his robes indistinguishable from his form, his arms opening wide.
The figure’s eyes focused on her, shining intensely as pristine white teeth revealed themselves in a lustful smile.
His skin began to take on a human color, and the features of his face could finally be distinguished.
He was young, no more than twenty years old, with black hair and a look that made Alice uncomfortable.
"It seems I have been blessed..." the figure whispered, his feet touching the ground as the smile widened even further. "Beauty, bow before your new,"
The man’s words were suddenly cut off.
His heart seemed to explode as a sharp pain shot from his back to his left chest.
His vision darkened as blood rose to his throat and his brain began to shut down immediately.
He barely had time to see the beautiful blade piercing his chest before his body fell to the floor.
Alice, on the other side of the room, just turned her face away, trembling.
It was horrible.
"Ugh... shit." Ethan grunted and, with some difficulty, pulled the sword out of the young man’s body, taking care not to get blood on himself.
Of course, a few drops always splattered, and soon he found himself covered in stains.
Fortunately, they didn’t stay there for long.
They began to dissolve into the air like tiny strands of light that immediately turned into crystals, in a chain reaction that consumed the entire body.
All that remained was a small, shiny gold ring.
The moment Ethan crouched down and touched the ring, a myriad of system notifications flooded his mind.
[Gaia system fully integrated!]
[You have acquired: Ring of the Golden Lord!]
[Integrating the Great Pervert’s summoning system into the Gaia system...]
[Integration complete.]
[Welcome to the world of Eldrya, host. May luck be on your side.]
[You have completed a mission: "The Golden Lords"!]
[Warning, you have 134 completed missions with pending rewards, do you wish to redeem them all?]
Ethan gulped as he read all those notifications, his body trembling with anticipation.
The fact that he had just killed someone didn’t even cross his mind as his fingers moved up to the system prompt, clicking yes.
[Your rewards have been moved to the system storage; 7x premium gacha tickets, 35 common gacha tickets, 92 free gacha tickets.]
[Unable to calculate XP rewards, reward denied.]
"Ethan... are you okay?" Alice asked, approaching him cautiously.
"Yes, honey." Ethan smiled, pulling her into a hug and giving her butt a firm slap.
"Come on, it’s time for these people to meet their new lord." He laughed, giving those perfect buttocks one last squeeze and reveling in the sweet, high-pitched moan that escaped Alice’s lips.
Without hesitation, he slipped the ring onto his finger and stepped forward, sheathing his sword.
There was still much to understand about the system, but now was not the time for that.
***
Countless thousands of miles away, there was a small chapel of the Church of the Nine Gods, one of the main religions in the world of Eldrya.
At this very moment, it was teeming with hundreds of people who were talking and moving strangely.
Nuns, guards, and priests struggled to control them.
Among them, a figure emerged.
Arms open and eyes filled with lust and anticipation.
"Uh?" A confused grunt escaped his lips, his face going through a myriad of emotions before settling on just one.
Pure shock.
What the hell had just happened?
The young man’s eyes fell on a system notification and his heart sank.
[You have died, a level penalty will be applied.
[You have lost control of ’Darkwall Settlement’, golden lord status revoked.
[You have received a new mission: "Reclaim what is rightfully yours..."]
"No fucking way..." He fell to his knees, covering his mouth.
If his father found out...
He would lose his position as heir, no.
He would most certainly be dead!