Chapter 190 - Central Powers (4)

“A child? What do you mean,

a child

?”

Herarion was taken aback by Hela's condition. However, Hela didn’t even bother to look at him. She instead had her eyes locked on Henry and elaborated on her condition.

"What do you think? Taking the seeds of life from a strong man and raising them into strong female warriors is the dream of every woman in Amaris.”

The women of Amaris established relationships with the men they kidnapped from the outside world or with strong men they had sought for themselves. They received the seeds of life from those men for the sole purpose of getting more strong female warriors. Aside from the purpose of reproduction, they completely refused to have any form of physical contact with men.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Hela was no exception when it came to that tradition.

At her suggestion, Henry smiled wryly and thought to himself,

‘Just as I expected, she’s asking for the same thing again.’

A couple of years ago when Henry had formed an alliance with this Amaris, Hela had accepted his offer on the condition that she spend a night with Golden. To Hela, Golden and Henry were men who were attractive enough to have children with. However, back then, she had chosen Golden over Henry.

At the time, Henry hadn't honed his swordsmanship skills and was smaller than Golden in size, and given that Hela wanted a man with a strong, sturdy physique, she had ultimately picked Golden.

‘And she failed to get pregnant.’

Long story short, she had spent a night with Golden, but failed to get pregnant. According to Golden, they had sex seven times during that night.

As if the Goddess of Strife and Discord had been by her side, the whole affair had ended up fruitless. Despite having sex with Golden seven times over the course of one night, she hadn’t been able to become pregnant.

Evidently, no one had found out the truth. There had been rumors that she actually had become pregnant, but ended up killing her child because it turned out to be a boy, not a girl.

However, at that time, Golden and Henry hadn’t paid much attention to the later stories about her. After all, becoming allies with Amaris by spending a single night with Hela had been a huge win for them.

After Hela finished explaining her condition, Henry responded with a grin, "Alright, I’ll help you have a child."

“I knew you would agree. Well, let’s go make a baby right now. Let’s go to my bedroom right now...”

“No, I also have a condition in return.”

"What condition?”

“I will cooperate so that you’ll get a child, but I’ll only do so after the war is over.”

"What?"

“The war might be for a long haul, and if you happen to become pregnant in the middle of it, the Allied Powers will lose a great power, which is you, Queen Amaris.”

“Hmm...”

The queen contemplated it, but it didn’t take her long to respond.

“You do have a point. I like how you’re certain about things. You didn’t say

one night

, but

until I get

a baby.”

“Once the war is over and we get the peace I hope for, wouldn’t you say we can spend all the time to make a child?”

“I like that. A fantastic mindset you have. I very much like it.”

Hela was extremely satisfied with Henry’s reliable answers. She could feel that he was determined to fulfill her request, so she couldn’t help but clap.

Henry continued speaking, “Oh, I did want to tell you this just in case. Of course, I really doubt that will be the case, but...”

“Hmm?”

“If you change your mind and side with Arthus in the future... You’ll have to prepare for the consequences to come.”

Henry was warning her not to betray him. Although Hela was a great ally, Henry knew that he couldn't meet all of her needs, since his end goal was to become the commander-in-chief of the Allied Powers

Hela burst into laughter and replied, "Haha! You don't have to worry about that. I’ve seen Arthus before and I didn’t consider him attractive.

Unappetizing

would be the perfect word to describe him.”

“Then I’m glad,” responded Henry as he handed her a small piece of paper. “This is a summoning note. Whenever you tear off a part of the note, I will appear in front of you.”

“Then I guess I’ll summon you whenever I’m bored.”

“Haha, you’re good at joking.”

“What if I’m not joking?”

The two of them were making flirtatious jokes regarding the summoning notes. As Hela took the note from Henry, she held out a small pendant from her armor.

“May I ask what this is?”

“It’s one of the treasures of the Amaris royal family. It’s called the Blood Moon. I’ll entrust it to you as it is a token of my joining the Allied Powers. It’ll come in handy in many different ways.”

“Thank you, Queen Amaris.”

The last thing Henry expected Hela to give him was a treasure of the Amaris royal family as a token for forming an alliance. Henry slightly bowed his head at the unexpected gesture and tried to use teleportation to get back.

However, before he could do so, Hela squeezed his buttocks with one hand and said, “Henry, was it?”

“Y-yes, Queen Amaris...?”

“This body of yours will be mine right after the war is over, so you better take good care of it until then. If you die or become a eunuch without my permission, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Haha... Of course, Queen Amaris.”

It was a somewhat sweet but ultimately terrifying warning.

With that, Henry took Herarion and used teleportation while chuckling awkwardly. Even though her last words were chilling, Henry had managed to lay the foundation for the Allied Powers by getting Shahatra and Amaris, two of the five allies, to be on his side.

* * *

"This can’t be...”

Thud!

Dracan's strength was overwhelming. The guards who monitored the prisoners of Killive were at least high-level Sword Experts, but Dracan’s tentacles effortlessly penetrated their Auras, as if their powers were insignificant against him.

Arthus asked again, “Where is the Punishment King?”

The terrified guards were trembling as they tried to back off.

“W-what in the world...!”

“I’ve never seen such a monster...!”

Only the worst criminals were sent to Killive, those who were at least felons. Because of that, the soldiers working at this prison were more desensitized to fear than regular soldiers. However, even these guards were retreating, completely overwhelmed by the horror that was unfolding before their eyes.

"Ha...”

As the guards still weren’t answering him, Arthus sighed in exasperation.

The Punishment King.

He was an imperial administrator who ruled the tributary states. His overwhelming presence in Killive made the prisoners tremble in fear.

Arthus had to meet this man no matter what. He knew that the people in Killive hadn’t yet found out what had happened with the Eurasia Empire, so he planned to deliver the news personally and make the Punishment King side with him. However, despite having already massacred a handful of guards, the Punishment King was nowhere to be seen.

“Dracan, I guess we have no other choice.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Arthus had thought that this much havoc would be enough to make the Punishment King show up already. However, for some reason, the Punishment King still hadn’t made an appearance, so Arthus had no other choice but to go directly to his office in the lowest level of the underground, even if that meant going through all of the prison guards in the way.

...But just then, a heavy piece of iron struck Dracan with a sickening thud that echoed throughout the room.

Crack, crack!

With that, Dracan’s tentacles were completely destroyed.

Instead of being worried about Draken, Arthus smirked.

‘Finally!’

Arthus could tell that it had been the attack of the Punishment King. After the thick dust cleared partially, the leader of the tributary states, the Punishment King, emerged in the middle of the guards.

“May I ask what this fuss is about, Grand Duke Arthus?”

The Punishment King had finally appeared in front of him. His real name was

Balak the Onir,

and one thing that stood out about him was his huge stature, which was reminiscent of an ogre. Despite that, it was a big mistake to assume that he was chubby just because he was as tall as an ogre.

Although he was literally as tall as an ogre, Balak boasted a solid, muscular physique like that of a well-trained knight. Balak was wearing dark purple armor that one would associate with a cold-blooded warrior, with two horns sprouting from each shoulder. He also wore a large full-face helmet with grooves in the shape of crosses and three horns viciously protruding on the top.

Swoosh.

Balak raised his hand, which caused the black morning star he had thrown at Dracan to rattle on the ground before quickly returning to his hand.

Arthus had his eyes locked on it and asked the Punishment King about his weapon, “Is that the famous mace that serves its master?”

"Yes, it is. It’s called the Black Punishment, and I’m the one and only person in this world that can wield it.”

Everything Balak said was true. The enormous morning star he was wielding went by the terrifying name of ‘Black Punishment,’ and he was the only one in the entire continent who could freely wield it.

“Anyway, you have to answer my questions now, Grand Duke. Why are you attacking my men?”

Balak’s red eyes were glowing through the cross-shaped grooves. Judging from his gaze, it was clear that he wasn’t expecting any ordinary answer. Balak’s murderous stare suggested that he would consider Arthus a criminal the moment he sensed something fishy about his answer.

Looking at his eyes, Arthus chuckled and said, “I have come to get you, Punishment King.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Are you aware of the fact that the Eurasia Empire has collapsed and that the emperor is dead?”

“...!”

Balak’s eyes widened and twitched slightly. Arthus had indeed delivered shocking news, so he wasn’t surprised by his reaction.

“The Imperial Palace collapsed, and the empire broke off into separate states. So, I have founded a new empire called ‘Aenia’ to carry on the will of the Eurasia Empire.”

“Have you really founded a new empire, Grand Duke?”

“Yes, and as proof, most of the nobles that were part of the Eurasia Empire are now on my side. That’s why I’m traveling from east to west to recruit those who are loyal like you, those who haven’t heard the news yet. I want to make people like you the ministers of my new empire.”

Arthus cleverly cherry-picked only the pieces of the truth that would work in his favor.

Once Arthus finished talking, Balak stood silent for a while.

‘I bet this is all very overwhelming.’

Balak was the Punishment King. He was a symbol of fear. However, he was at heart a righteous man who gave out sentences and punished sinners, and being the righteous man he was, he was extremely loyal to the empire.

Arthus raised his voice and continued talking.

“Balak, be my ally! Be on my side and be the new Punishment King of the empire I founded. Help me create a more righteous empire!”

Balak was a man that Arthus deemed highly enough to pay him a visit in order to make him his ally. In fact, he was so skilled that he could’ve effortlessly defeated Mordred if he had still been alive. Balak was a powerful monster indeed.

Balak pondered on Arthus’ offer.

If the Eurasia Empire had actually collapsed like Arthus was saying, that meant that the prisoners of Killive captured during the Eurasia Empire would be free from their sins, which in turn meant that all of them would be released into the world.

Just thinking about it gave Balak the chills.

“Balak! I will give you a new Killive, and as of today, I will execute all the prisoners from the previous empire and assign you a new duty.”

With this, Arthus had said everything he had prepared in order to persuade him. The only thing left was to wait for Balak’s decision.

Balak kept pondering on it, and after a while, he got down on one knee and answered softly,

“I, Balak the Onir, will serve you as my new master.”

“Yes, and I, Arthus Highlander, will appoint you as the new justice of my empire.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

That was the moment when Killive's cruel Punishment King sided with Arthus.

Afterward, Arthus ordered Balak to take his men and relocate to the Highlander region, the new capital.

“I will take care of the remaining prisoners. I want you to go to the new empire I have built and prepare to be the new justice that the empire will follow.”

“As you wish, your Majesty.”

Killive, the once symbol of justice for the empire, slowly became vacant. As the guardians that were in charge of the prison of Killive left, the prisoners in the cells started banging and shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Take me! Take me too!”

“Hey! Where the fuck are you going?! Hey!”

“You damn bastards! Look at us!”

In a matter of minutes, every single prison guard had left the facility. There were only two people left outside the prison cells, Arthus and Dracan. The former spoke up while looking at the wide, high ceiling of the facility.

“Dracan.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I bestow to you all the prisoners in Killive. Can I trust that you won’t let me down?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. Leave it to me.”

Killive was a tributary state that had thousands, or even tens of thousands of prisoners.

Thanks to Arthus, Dracan had just acquired a tremendous amount of test subjects he could experiment on.