Hero of Darkness

In the central region of Aesir where the welcome ceremony was held and their new ruler had finally introduced himself to the masses and given his reassuring and heartwarming speech.. The common folks finally felt like there was indeed someone who cared for them.

Many had feared that Kahn would be no different than those people sent by the government and noble factions who ruled over them but treated their lives as nothing but mere assets needed to work in hunting and harvesting monsters and cores.

Nonetheless, their new sovereign straight up announced that no one will be treated differently and he even went as far as directly mentioning the crisis related to corruption, malpractice, nepotism, elitism as well as abuse of power and authority that was exercised heavily in this region.

This made them let go of their worries and all of them welcomed this man who was born amongst them and returned to serve their home.

However… Kahn's provocative speech had already left a bad taste in the mouths of the ruling class. Let it be powerful clans, factions, government officials, heads of business organizations and military officers.

He had openly declared that he won't be sharing the same table as them or become their ally just through his speech.

But there was nothing they could do here because he was now the legitimate sovereign of this region. He was the one who had the authority to change rules and punish people.

The so-called government branch that ran this region of the empire from the past hundred years no longer had any authority left as the man in front of them was now the personification of the Law itself.

While millions of people loudly cheered for Kahn happily, some shedding tears of joy… the rich and powerful had eyes full of worries and fear for their future.

Just because of one damn competition.. All the power they held over a century was now only existing on paper. As soon as Kahn willed it.. He could rightfully take it away.

Their new sovereign who spoke about implementing laws to treat all the people fairly was actually detrimental to their existence.

Because if they tried to riot or target him in any way.. He'd be justified to wipe them out because he was literally the strongest person in the Verlassen mountain range that spanned over 8000 kilometers.

The man in the center of attention had already declared his stand through this speech without directly speaking a word against them.

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When the speech ended and Kahn was led to his new castle where he would hold meetings and rule the whole region from..

Kahn folded his arms behind the back and walked like a true lord of this place while being surrounded by the six humans who seemed to be his followers and the royal guards.

As per his orders, all the important government officials, military officers and the six semi-saints who ruled the different regions and commanded an army of their own had also come to attend the ceremony.

Inside the main hall of this massive 400 meters tall and 3 kilometer wide castle that could easily house 5 to 8 thousand people on its 4 floors. Kahn walked towards the end of this hall that was befitting to be the court hall of a king.

[[Author : Reference Art for Kahn's new castle in chapter comments. Check it out.]]

He sat upon a black and golden throne which was situated two levels of platforms above the rest of the seats and had two armrests with heads of lions carved in them.

Kahn sat down and signaled all the people to take their respective seats. He looked towards all of them and spoke in his kingly voice.

"All of you have heard me. So tell me.. What is your stand? Will you keep serving me and the people of Verlassen or will you oppose the new laws I'm going to implement?

And if you're going to report everything I do here to the noble factions who control the parliament and military… then you best relinquish your positions when I'm being nice."

He spoke and gazed at all the 18 figureheads of the management of this region. Apart from the six semi-saints, the rest were normal people with no fighting class job.

"What's this?! We were officially appointed by the government. We have performed our duties properly till now. Just because you won this region as your reward doesn't mean you can run it without our help or the infrastructure the government and military has already established." spoke a bearkin semi-saint commander who had the sigil of the demi-human faction on his armor.

"Is that so? Aren't you forgetting something?

I'm the government and law here now." spoke Kahn with lifeless eyes.

"As for the infrastructure.. It is indeed necessary to run the whole fiefdom. But you're forgetting something.." spoke Kahn and clasped his hands together and folded his legs as he spoke in a carefree tone.

"A system to rule is necessary.. But people running it are replaceable."

To his response, everyone present here had an aghast expression. All of them were top officials of their respective departments of the government and military.. All their power, influence and authority came from their respective positions.

All of them were sent here because they didn't have enough influence to stay at the capital as part of the ministry or held big positions in their respective faction. Here, they were the top sharks.. But compared to the people from capital Rathna, they were just the errand boys.

But if Kahn took away their positions… they'd be nothing more than just decoration pieces. And now... most of them felt a sense of dread but no one spoke a word.

The bearkin semi-saint however, had a haughty expression on his face as if he didn't fear Kahn in the slightest.

"And do what?! Without us.. You can't even protect the six major cities that basically run the economy here. Who are you going to replace us with?" he asked with a condescending tone.

"Ah… so cliche and stupid." murmured Kahn to himself.

[He's talking down on the strongest guy in the room because I'm asking politely..] he thought.

"Let me be very clear about something.

To someone like me…" he spoke.

Kahn then stood out from his throne and walked towards the bearkin semi-saint as if looking at a dead man. He spoke in a grim and tyrannical voice that sent shivers in their spines..

"All of you are expendable."