The familiar upside-down illusory dome stretched across the sky, its distorted reflection casting a twisting, fragmented landscape beneath.
Mize blinked at the sight.
"I wonder how big the secret realm is…"
"80 kilometers in diameter"
"10km for tier 1, 20 for tier 2, 40 for tier 3, and 80 for tier 4. That is normal sizes according to their tier... Except for ours that is" Liam answered smoothly, eyes never leaving the shifting projection. "And inside? A massive maze like usual "
Mize's gaze snapped toward him. "The goal is the main treasure chest, right?"
"Indeed," Liam hummed.
"Hopefully, a golden chest this time… The last one I raided took too long. Wasted hours searching for the hidden place thanks to the maze structure"
"And let's just hope there's nothing too crazy inside for us to handle"
"Like what?" Mize asked...
"A horde of tier 4 dragon" Liam casually responded.
"Ah…"
Mize's gaze dropped toward the sea of soldiers below.
A thought struck him.
"Sea tactics?"
Liam's smile deepened. "It's faster this way. Mistakes in tactics and judgment can't be repeated"
"Numbers can overwhelm everything "
His golden eyes gleamed as they locked onto the swirling illusory dome.
Beneath its shifting reflection, a broken-down castle loomed, its jagged towers jutting against sky.
But any lord worth their salt knew.
The outside projection was a lie.
An illusion or what most Lords called it, a sum of what was inside.
Do not be deceived.
Or you will never make it out.
"So, what's the plan?" Mize asked, his gaze flickering across the vague hints of the realm's interior, just barely visible beyond the illusory film.
"We go in first," Liam murmured, his fingers absently twirling a few strands of Mize's hair between them. "Then we begin the purge of the Dark Sea."
Mize blinked, before tilting his head slightly. "Is that seriously what you're calling this strategy?"
Liam barely reacted to the disbelief in the tone.
Instead, he adjusted Mize's position against him, shifting him higher in his embrace, hands settling firmly over his waist, and just a bit lower.
"My choice of names is beyond your comprehension," he declared with the confidence of a man who named his battle plans like a dungeon master on a power trip.
"Sure, sure," Mize deadpanned, sticking his tongue out before quickly retreating into Liam's chest.
No signals. No horns. No grand war cries.
Yet, with a mere thought from Liam, the army moved as one.
Boots struck the cracked earth, a thunderous rhythm that resonated through the barren wasteland.
Armoured figures of shadow and steel swept forward, a relentless tide of darkness marching across an already despairing land.
And then.
Swoosh.
The film engulfed them, cool and weightless like passing through mist.
Mize shut his eyes instinctively, the sensation lingering only for a breath before vanishing.
When he opened them again, the world had changed.
The sky, if it could still be called that, was swallowed by a swirling, inky abyss, thunder roiling within its depths.
Lightning struck indiscriminately, cracking against the few skeletal trees that still stood, reducing them to smoldering ashes.
The land itself…
Mize felt his breath hitch.
"This is…"
"If the apocalypse from before was despair," Liam said, eyes scanning the terrain, "then this is hell."
His words weren't an exaggeration.
The ground was soaked in red, pools, rivers, entire ponds of it.
Bones, broken and splintered, lay scattered across the battlefield, some still clinging to half-eaten flesh. And under the soldiers' boots, the remains of the fallen cracked like brittle twigs.
Mize swallowed hard, forcing himself to breathe through the mounting nausea.
"The game never portrayed it like this…" His voice wavered.
The visuals in the game had been harsh, sure.
Pixelated corpses.
Generic battlefield gore.
But this…
This was something else.
Mize's gaze flickered from one gruesome sight to the next.
Severed heads mounted on rusted poles.
Dismembered limbs floating in stagnant crimson pools.
Piles of bodies, some twisted unnaturally, others barely more than ragged husks.
It was too much.
'Points time,' he thought grimly, before allowing his body to tremble.
Liam sighed, feeling the subtle shivers pressing against his chest.
His arms tightened instinctively, one hand slipping up to cradle Mize's head, his voice dropping into that deep, reassuring tone.
"Don't be scared," he murmured, his breath warm against Mize's ear. "You'll have to face sights like this sooner or later. This world is a game of war, and war is built on death. I need you to be brave."
Mize barely nodded, his fingers gripping onto Liam's chest, face buried in the comfort of his warmth.
But he still flinched at every crunch beneath the soldiers' boots, every slosh of movement through the crimson terrain.
Sigh…
Liam didn't press him further. Instead, his focus returned to the realm, eyes sweeping over the land in careful analysis.
The terrain was a twisted nightmare, jagged hills, uneven slopes, deep trenches that could easily hinder movement.
And beneath it all, countless tunnels and caverns that likely held the key to their goal.
"The treasure is down there," Liam murmured, golden eyes gleaming.
"Down…?" Mize peeked out, his voice barely above a whisper.
"If the first path is wrong, we take the second. If the second is wrong, we take the third. And if that fails" Liam's smile was sharp. "We take them all simultaneously."
Mize blinked. "Won't that… I don't know, cause unnecessary losses?"
Liam glanced down at him, amusement flickering beneath the golden light of his eyes.
Unnecessary losses?
Oh, Mimi…
He almost wanted to tell him outright, that numbers meant nothing to him.
That his army didn't dwindle, it multiplied.
'If only she knows that these soldiers existed because of her'
That even if he lost every soldier here, he would replace them within the hour.
But instead, he simply smiled.
"Don't worry," he said, voice rich with something unreadable. "Summoning the same size army again won't cost much."
"Really?" Mize pressed, brows furrowing.
Liam only reached out, gently tapping the tip of his nose.
"The shadows never die," he whispered.
Mize stilled, the words sinking deep into his bones. And for the first time since entering this forsaken place, he wondered.
The soldiers fanned out in waves, moving across the terrain.
Liam had split them up, sending group after group across the cracked plains, each one scouring the uneven landscape for entrances into the underground maze.
"Are we going down too?" Mize asked suddenly, his tone laced with something that wasn't quite fear but wasn't exactly excitement either.
Liam shook his head, settling comfortably onto his throne as he idly watched his army swarm the land like a living tide. "No need to trouble ourselves. Think of it like a passive income strategy"
Mize blinked, not entirely convinced. "And if something goes wrong?"
Liam chuckled, a low, amused sound. "Then we break through by force. Simple as that."
It was a strategy that suited him, bold, reckless, and completely merciless.
Why bother playing by the rules when you could just overwhelm it with sheer numbers?
Not enough troops? Just summon more.
Mize sighed, shaking his head. "Tyrannical bastard."
"I heard that," Liam smirked.
Time ticked by. The two of them opened their maps, scanning for targets while the soldiers continued their work.
Then.
A deep, guttural roar rumbled through the hills.
Mize's ears perked up as the sound of battle erupted in the distance.
Liam's expression sharpened. With a flick of his fingers, the remaining ten thousand troops surged toward the disturbance.
Meanwhile, the other groups were recalled to regroup at the source.
The throne moved with them, gliding over the hills until the battlefield finally came into view.
Mize leaned forward, his eyes narrowing.
"What the hell is that?"
Liam grinned. "Ah… trolls."
And sure enough, there they were.
Towering figures, grotesque and hulking, their skin dark and mottled like bruised flesh. Thick, ropey veins bulged beneath their hide.
Saliva dripped from their jagged teeth as they roared, swinging their massive limbs like battering rams into the soldiers below.
They were huge, easily twice or tripled the size of a normal man.
But compared to Liam's Dark Knights?
Just barely equal.
BOOM.
The earth trembled as a troll charged forward, slamming its meaty fist into the ground.
The impact sent several tier-one soldiers flying like ragdolls, their bodies crashing down in broken heaps.
Another troll lifted a soldier high into the air and bit down with a sickening crunch.
Mize wrinkled his nose. "Ew."
Liam, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed. "They're undead," he mused. "Pain doesn't matter to them"
"An undead can talk?"
"Well... They are undead and yet able to talk. Just accept them the way this is"
"Ah..."
Mize pulled up the enemy's information panel.
[Mountain Trolls] [Tier 4]
[Description: Loves eating human flesh]
"Typical," he muttered, unimpressed.
Brutish strength. Tough skin like iron.
But low intelligence.
A fatal flaw.
And just as he expected.
The Dark Knights swarmed them like locusts.
One climbed up a troll's back, blade flashing as it plunged straight into the eye socket.
The monster howled, thrashing wildly, but another knight was already scaling its arm, sword burying itself into its throat.
More followed, stabbing relentlessly. One. Two.
Dozens.
Blood sprayed like a geyser, and with a final, agonized roar.
THUD.
The first troll collapsed, its body riddled with wounds like a pincushion.
Then another fell.
And another.
The remaining trolls hesitated, their dull eyes flickering with something almost alien.
Fear.
Mize arched a brow. "Wait… these idiots actually feel fear?"
A handful of trolls tried to flee.
Too late.
The hills, the open plains, every possible escape route.
All swallowed by the encroaching darkness of the army.
A sea of armored shadows marched forward.
And finally, the last troll's scream was cut short as a sword cleaved through its skull. Surrounded by a sea of dark ocean around them.
Silence followed.
Mize exhaled, chin resting on Liam's shoulder. "That was… anticlimactic."
Liam chuckled. "Efficient, though."
"I mean, yeah, but still." Mize rolled his eyes, arms crossed. "Just numbers, huh?"
Despite himself, he felt a flicker of envy. If only he could summon troops like Liam.
Then again…
His system was different.
With a sigh, he let the thought go.
Liam rose from his seat, still carrying Mize effortlessly in his arms as he floated down toward the battlefield.
His cloak billowed behind him, the two of them descending before a massive opening carved into the hillside.
Mize's eyes flicked toward the entrance, its gaping maw looking far less inviting up close.
"Is this it?" Liam asked lazily.
A Tier 3 Dark Knight stepped forward, kneeling with a fist over his chest. "Yes, my lord. We located the true maze. However, we were forced out by the trolls guarding it."
"I see…" Liam nodded, gaze sweeping over the field of corpses.
Then he turned to Mize, smirking.
"You're oddly quiet."
Mize wrinkled his nose, pinching it shut. "Blood stinks, that's why."
Liam chuckled, his grip tightening ever so slightly.
"Shall we?"
Mize sighed. "Let's just get this over with"
"As you wish, my queen."