novelraw Chapter 223 - 222 - Overlord vs Backwater
Chapter 223 - 222 - Overlord vs Backwater
Lind's quarters had been changed in the castle. There were no ornate decorations nor luxurious food and drink present at all. There were practical areas for cooking, bathing, and a rather large bed in the bedroom.
The reason was simple. In the evening after Lind emerged from the Relic, 2 major powers had arrived with a 3rd on the way. The Divine Sword Sect had arrived with the Heavenly Maiden Sect. The Stardust Emporium had sent a party as well but even they could not easily cross the open waters quickly.
Teleportation arrays were not set up anywhere convenient to Altair either as the capital of the Lotus Empire was quite far from the Kingdom of Altair. They also were bringing some gifts so those could not be easily gathered on short notice.
Dan had a large chunk of resources for Lind but he was only Starfire House's representative. The Demon Empire also put forth an envoy and Lind did not deny them. The nobles of Altair were pale as ghosts while the various once great power houses in their Kingdom were revealed for the children they were in the cultivation world.
Lind had specifically sent Qing and her best sisters to the villages immediately. Once he relayed why, she had kissed him deeply before dragging Shoti away to take some support with her. Supposedly, Senior Tyr had giggled like a little girl seeing Qing assert herself but she stayed near Lind.
Solon was strangely missing but Bord came who had made it to the Stone Tier but he was feeling an impassable wall in his cultivation. Other powerful members of the Divine Sword Sect came with him of higher cultivations, but he was put in charge for that mission.
Lind smiled as Bord tried very hard to get him to start drinking on the morning of his arrival but he promised to see him soon in private. Lind had Annabelle pick apart the arrays in the castle and she had quickly confirmed the array was profound that identified him as royalty.
It was something his father had imprinted into him and Lind would need to go through the process if his children would be acknowledged. It kept the main branch in charge of the arrays and proof of their bloodline for the nobles to chase after.
Annabelle had disabled it after only being with him at dawn when she arrived with the others from the Frey Clan. Fey was still with his mother being trained but also he did not want her there for what was likely to come.
"Lind, he is here." Cyntilla's voice made him look away from the vista of the city. A long table and wooden chairs had been brought along to bring more warmth to the main floor of his quarters. A luxury in Altair was simply passable everywhere else.
"How are Reya and the others handling your training?" Lind had not been able to get an answer out of them on that front, at least not an answer he believed. The many platitudes on Cyntilla's prowess and great wisdom did not quite ring true from what he had seen of her.
Her smile was amused but she simply brushed her hands against the hilts at her waist which made him confirm the weapons now in the other women's possession was due to her. He smirked back and nodded for her to join him.
Annabelle was busy examining the arrays to make sure there were no surprises or he would have her with him too. It was not a visit between friends after all but a King that was subservient to another power had thus far made no motion to accept their sovereignty. Darkmoor had been in touch with Ryu to find out Lind's intentions.
Reya opened the stone door and Ryu entered in resplendent black robes. His handsome features were only further enhanced with his lavender skin. His deep crimson eyes and green hair were accentuated by the dark robe.
Lind stood up and bowed but he did not act like a lower power. His platinum badge glinted in the sunlight coming in the windows. Although he was only a low grade 4, he was still a grade 4 master. Gold Tiers and he were on equal footing despite his mid Iron Tier cultivation.
"Master Frey, I see you have stabilized." Ryu chose to use the title that made Lind an equal rather than his current status as a backwater King. Lind looked solemn but nodded as he offered the seat across from him and Cyntilla at the table.
Reya and some of the other women swiftly brought out an ale and food. Ryu was surprised as his drink was demonic in nature but raised the stone goblet in toast while they ate and had small talk.
Once the meal was over, the plates were removed and only the drinks were refilled. Lind glanced at the women and they all bowed before politely heading off to their servant's quarters.
"So, are you going to ask the question everyone is wanting to ask me aside from senior Bord?" Ryu smirked as he too had met the irreverent sword master from the Divine Sword Sect. Despite his relatively low World Realm cultivation, the respect the Iron and Gold Tiers gave him was obvious.
His own fiance loved the old man, thus Ryu made a point of respecting him as well.
"You have become more confident than the last time we met. Darkmoor Kingdom would like to know your intentions as the new king of this fractious member of our own Kingdom." Normally only a low level noble would be sent to greet the new King and accept his fealty but Lind's status was a bit unique.
"I am tired of my loved ones being threatened and I finally have some power to protect them. Rather than taking massive risks, I have more options to try." Lind did not hide his different position compared to nearly 8 years ago.
Ryu smirked and bowed slightly as Lind's status as a Forger alone would make even Darkmoor take a more delicate approach. The fact he was a 6 elemental that had changed the Soul Realm beyond recognition and successfully broke through to the World Realm gave even more pause to even the Queen of Darkmoor.
"Indeed, I can accept that, but you understand where Altair stands in Darkmoor Kingdom?" Ryu was not there as a friend but as the representative of the overlord of the region. Lind did not seem perturbed at all but he did not dismiss that status either.
"You claim to be an overlord but aside from the disruption of resources, your power takes no action to regulate how the subservient powers work. The Stardust Emporium has laws they enforce on their smaller powers while the Divine Sword Sect and Heavenly Maiden Sect regulate the cities under their purview as well." Lind was not going to sugarcoat his grief with Darkmoor now that he had a voice. "You think survival is a way to promote strength but I am a living example of your failure to enforce a unified will in your kingdom."
Lind was only alive because the higher officials in 2 kingdoms made some backroom deals and had allowed a hostage to be passed off to a clan that could not say no on its own. It took the courage of a woman to avenge her dead sister and 2 treasured senior members by pulling in a guild no one could defy as well.
The convoluted treaties and various points of view led to slaughter that was entirely unnecessary in Lind's view. It also resulted in promising power houses being sacrificed for reasons that could be avoided if Darkmoor took more active interest in the powers that followed them.
Ryu frowned but of all people alive, Lind had legitimate grounds to speak to Darkmoor's failings than anyone currently alive. They had spurned a grade 4 elixir master and peak grade 2 Forger. They had separated him from not only his family but also any support even a commoner would normally find in Lotus Academy. If not for the Heavenly Maiden Sect, it was unknown what fate Lind Frey would have suffered.
All of it could be laid at the feet of Darkmoor and Ryu knew it. The fact Lind kept such a severe critique private told Ryu that Lind was not unaware of his limits of angering one of the great powers of Sarth.
"You have the right, Master Frey but it does not change you are responsible for swearing fealty to Darkmoor as the new King of Altair." Ryu acknowledged his right to vent but it did not change Lind's position in the hierarchy. Lind's ability to secure resources would drastically change Altair so Ryu had to certify how things would proceed with an eye to the future.
"Fealty?! You think I will be ruling Altair long enough to swear fealty?" Ryu looked confused completely now. Lind was in a unique position to completely change Altair and still get plenty of resources to continue his cultivation while ruling a low power on its rise. It would, in fact, make that part of the world far more stable and useful than it had ever been before.
"Do you intend to have your revenge on the people of this land then?" Ryu now frowned as he took a dim view of intentionally harming members of his own kingdom. Darkmoor may take a remote stance for those lower powers but it did not mean they did not pay attention. Battle was unavoidable in a cultivator's life but massacre was not something they would tolerate.
Cyntilla actually giggled and Ryu was stunned how much happier she seemed compared to when he had known her. Her slightly lower cultivation was only due to her harsh lifestyle until that moment or he had no doubt she would be equal to or above him in cultivation by now.
"Crown Prince Ryu, you may not know him that well but has Lind ever seemed the kind of man to wantonly start a one sided killing?" Ryu paused and really thought over all the knowledge his intelligence network had gathered.
While Lind had been at the center of heavy casualty events, the man himself was why those events usually ended. Ryu nodded that he understood while Lind summoned a jade slip. It was a grade 4 level item which made Ryu raise an eyebrow.
Why would Lind need such a high capacity slip?
Ryu sunk his senses into it and nearly stumbled out of his chair. The more he read, the more shocked he seemed but he also realized there was very little Darkmoor could do to stop him. It was clear Lind had done extensive research on how the lowest power related to its parent power.
Darkmoor had ruled for millions of years in that part of Sarth but it had not always been the current roster of powers that now existed. Unlike many of the others in the world, empires or kingdoms had been allowed to die so long as resources continued to flow.
The Golden Dynasty was a good example of a mid-tier power that had absorbed its adversaries when it was a backwater power. Since there was no drop in resources, Darkmoor did not exact any punishment.
A power rose and no issue was found with its rulers. Altair was poised to do the same under Lind with much more beneficial routes open to him, but Ryu saw Lind's plans and knew his mother would be shocked.
"Are you serious about this?" Ryu was not sure how he should feel. He was far more comfortable in battle than in politics, but Lind seemed to be the reverse. A smile that made Ryu's spine shiver in fear stretched over his face.
"Sure? I have seen just how depraved this country is. I thought it was simply the powerful abusing the commoners but it is far worse than I imagined. More, the approach they have taken to stay in power is a waste of resources in ways you cannot even begin to imagine." Lind had already sent Maidens to make drastic changes to more than the care at the villages.
They were using the herbs he had proven could work in the single village he had changed already. The Dancing Flame Sect had also agreed to help on the herb front and worked with the Maidens to speed up the process.
The outlying functionaries were not the only ones ousted, but the peak Iron Tiers in the regulation cities were all recalled and were awaiting Lind's evaluation. They were agents of the ruling family of Altair that kept the various levels of government in line with the Regent's goals in the current set up.
Lind had already yanked all of them back to the capital and let the Maidens set up shop. It was far over stretching his authority as a guest elder but Vice-Sect Leader Min was happily giving him acolytes and disciples to work with healing Elders to start the process Lind envisioned.
Reya's group was proof a vast untapped vein of cultivators was present in Altair so Lind happily allowed them to actively recruit anyone willing to go.
Ryu saw Lind was serious and technically there was nothing he could do so far as Heavenly Maiden Sect recruitment as they ran such events in various powers that allowed them to.
"How will you get the nobles to go along with all of this?" Ryu knew if Lind could overcome that obstacle, there was no power in the whole Kingdom that could stop him. Lind's smile was almost evil as Cyntilla joined him.
"Go along? You think I will allow them a choice? Did they allow a choice for all that have suffered here?! Once I am done, Altair will not even exist!" Ryu swallowed as he could see Lind was not giving in to his anger but was calmly sitting in his chair as he outlined the end of a power that had been aggravating in many ways since its inception.
"What of the obligations Altair has to Darkmoor?" It was the only thing not addressed in the jade slip but a storage bag was tossed over to Ryu. The Crown Prince sunk his senses into the bracelet and was stunned.
"I have far more resources alone than this entire Kingdom has had for millions of years. I take it the Queen will accept that as severance?" A shaking hand showed how surprised Ryu was. Cyntilla was curious but did not pry until a vial appeared.
Peak grade 3 elixir was clear but what shocked her was that it was not normal Qi but demonic Qi! It was a peak grade 3 demonic elixir!
"You are the one that has put demonic elixirs up for sale in the auction houses?" There had been a slow trickle but no one could confirm where they came from as no demon took credit. Further, they were not coming from Sapphire Auction House but other minor auction houses throughout the world.
"I took some time to be consistent and I am close to matching grade 4 as well. I am not sitting here as simply an elixir master of the soul cultivators but demon soul cultivators as well. I am willing to test and teach Darkmoor demons if they accept my conditions outlined in that slip." Ryu had lost. His smile was chagrined as he knew how his mother would choose.
"Lord Frey, I thank you for your offer and accept on behalf of Queen Darkmoor." Ryu bowed low and the tension finally left the table. Altair's fate was now completely in Lind's hands and Darkmoor would not interfere. The greatest obstacle was removed while the work would begin tomorrow during and after the banquet.
"I will give you your duel later, but I have a lot of work to do." Ryu nearly choked on his ale while Cyntilla smiled wide at Lind's words. He was much more relaxed and Ryu could only wave it off as he clearly had to relay the results to his mother.
The 2 were still friendly which Lind valued greatly and now he could proceed with his plans unimpeded.