Izanami was a yandere. Izzy hinted and Konrad believes it is her flaw. Though he wouldn't trust it hundred percent. But she has that vibe, that obsessive glint in her eyes. Sometimes Konrad really feels the chills.
***
Konrad was welcomed to his chamber by Izzy. He dismissed his [Mantle of Night] and [Red Mane], leaving him naked. He sat on a stoll while Izzy washed him with warm water.
Then he entered the warm bath prepared by Izzy. He rested his back against the wall of the wall and closed his eyes.
Few moments later, Izzy also entered the bath. Konrad opened his eyes and saw Izanami in all her glory. He must admit Izzy is the best stock for investment, in the history of investment, maybe ever.
She looks hundred times more alluring then the first time he had seen her. Her malnourishment is gone, she is older, more mature and gained a certain charm.
"Izzy, are you using your ability?" Konrad asked knowing the answer.
"No, my prince! It is just my natural charm." Izanami giggled.
Konrad's certainly not shield was raising, but he wasn't in the mood. He opened his arms, inviting. Izzy complied. They snuggled in each other's embrace and stayed liked that.
"Ah! This life. This I live for. These fleeting moments of joy, connection and happiness... Just mere moments"
Konrad felt immense self loathing. Then he sighed,
"I will enjoy this as much as possible. As in time, this will disappear."
"Then what? oblivion? Death? I don't know."
Konrad sighed again as he buried his face in her hair.
***
Next day, Konrad issued a verdict that Effie has killed a group sleepers. She must be brought to the bright castle and get her punishment.
***
In the last six years, many things had changed in the dark city. What was once a crumbling outpost of desperation had become an iron bastion of discipline and strength. Under Konrad's rule, the city now maintained a stable population of around twelve hundred Sleepers.
While Konrad had initially tried to push for more, but maintaining a higher number of population is impossible.
At it's peak the Dark City nearly had two thousand sleepers for few weeks.
He quickly learned that quantity came at the cost of control. Bastards gathered up and conspired. They were emboldened by the flames of ambition.
The streets ran red with blood for an entire week during the infamous coup attempt. A failed bloody coup d'etat.
More than five hundred Sleepers died in less than seven days.
It was meant to be a rebellion, a rising of voices against his iron will. But Konrad had foreseen it. Before the conspirators could strike, he, his echo and the seventh legion descended upon them with burning fury and bloodlust.
The Seventh Legion, led by Harus, became legend in that week, killing more than a hundred sleepers.
The war cry of the night lord legion "Ave Dominus Nox" meaning We have come for you, became infamous and sonoraus with death, during that week.
Konrad himself killed more than two hundred rebels, his echo leaving ruin in its wake. The coup was crushed utterly, and with it, any notion that the Night Lord's grip on the Forgotten Shore could be challenged. Their skulls still hangs around the bright castle.
Rest of the legion killed around a hundred sleepers.
Since then, his reputation was no longer just respected— it was feared.
After this, Konrad learnt only way to control humans is through fear as it truest expression of the soul.
Thankfully, sleeper population didn't increase that much anymore. As each solstice less and less sleepers arrived at the Forgotten Shore, the dark struggled to replenish its population. This year only seven sleepers arrived at the Forgotten Shore which would be the last batch of sleepers that would ever arrive in the Forgotten Shore by the nightmare spell.
***
The Night Lord's Legions had grown. From the original ten companies, they now numbered twelve. Each company was composed of five cohorts, with each cohort made of five handpicked Sleepers—specialists, warriors, tacticians, killers. Four of these companies were Konrad's elite, his personal cultivated war hounds. They were loyal beyond question, forged in fire and held together by respect and blood.
The Fourth Company was led by Sevatar, a veteran of countless hunts, whose Supreme Aspect made him nearly untouchable. His instincts were so sharp they bordered on premonition.
The Fifth Company was led by Talos, another Nightwalker like Konrad, whose foresight-based aspect gave him a form of controlled clairvoyance. Each cohort leader of fifth is a Nightwalker.
Talos had arrived in the same year as Seishan and Marvin. Konrad harbored a dark suspicion that in the original timeline, Seishan might have orchestrated both Talos' and Marvin's deaths. Not this time though.
The Sixth Company belonged to Izanami, whose enthralling ability and eerie beauty had made her one of the most feared figures in the dark city. She was his right hand in more ways than one.
And the Seventh Company was Harus' domain—the Bloody Hand of the Night Lord. These were the monsters among men, those too dangerous, too unpredictable for any other command. Under Harus, they became Konrad's executioners, the enforcers of his law.
Then there were the traditional companies:
Tessai led the First Company, the oldest and most disciplined and elite unit of the castle guard.
Gemma still commanded the Second, a company of skilled pathfinders and hunters.
Gunlaug, ever the wild card, headed the Third. Though not as tightly bound to Konrad as others, Gunlaug was loyal in his own way. He could be called the warden of the bright castle as he takes command of the bright castle in Konrad's absence.
Seishan led the Eighth, a calculated and dangerous faction named handmaidens. They took care of the chores around the bright castle. They are all female and falls under song faction.
The Ninth was commanded by Marvin, scion of House Valor and the youngest son of Saint Madoc. Marvin's presence had, ironically, saved Seishan from an early death—Konrad had planned to remove her until Marvin arrived. Konrad watched him carefully. He had been seen in contact with Caster.
The Tenth was the castle guard, now organized under the castle's Librarian. The library, established by Konrad himself, was no mere archivements. It housed records, information, insights, theories, and secrets of the dark city, the Forgotten Shore—knowledge that could tip the balance of survival.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Companies were logistics-focused. Kido led the Eleventh, composed of apothecaries, alchemists, and cultivators. They grew crops, brewed poisons, and distilled rare alcohols.
The Twelfth handled infrastructure—repairing buildings, crafting armor, weapons, purifying water. They were the lifeblood of bright castle.
As for combat roles, the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth companies were assigned to regular hunting missions into the dark city and its outskirts, in the crimson labyrinth. They maintained a forward base along the outer wall served as rally point and supply station.
The Seventh maintained internal order within the castle, acting swiftly and without mercy when laws were broken.
---
A week later, in the morning, Konrad summoned his inner circle to his private chamber. The room was quiet, the walls lined with weapons and mementos from battles long past. A rudimentary map of the Forgotten Shore and a smaller map of the dark city was spread across the central table, pinned down by metal clasps. Morning sunlight cast long shadows over the room.
Talos, Sevatar, Harus, and Izanami sat around him—his war council, his most trusted commanders.
Sevatar was the first to speak.
"So... is it beginning, my lord?"
Konrad's eyes were fixed on the map. He didn't look up as he answered.
"Yes."
They all understood what that meant.
Konrad had long spoken of a vision—a dream in which the Crimson Spire fell, and with it, the chains that bound them to the Forgotten Shore to eternal torment. He had never shared every detail, but he had shared enough.
"Should we clean up the legacy factions?" Harus asked, his voice quiet, dangerous.
"No," Konrad said, shaking his head. "We don't need bloodshed now. And besides, it would offend the both Domains."
Talos leaned forward. "Then what's the plan?"
Konrad finally looked up.
"We prepare. These next few months are our final window. After that, the storm breaks. The siege of the Crimson Spire begins."
The room was silent for a moment.
Then Izanami spoke. "We'll need more supplies. More potions, refined weapons, memories and echoes. We have been preparing our companies for this siege for years, but more is needed."
"You'll have them," Konrad said. "Kido's people have been told to double production."
"It will be our last chance to enhance our forces."
Sevatar smirked. "And what about the Librarian? Will he help us prepare?"
Konrad nodded. "He already is. The fool knows more about this place than any of us. He's found references to a ritual buried beneath the Spire. If we decipher it, we might find a way to bring it down without losing half the Legion."
Konrad knew about the ritual better, but he didn't tell them.
Harus grunted. "We won't lose anyone. We'll break it piece by piece."
"That's the spirit," Sevatar said with a grin.
"Harus go scare Changing Star's cohort. Sevatar go scout and make sure they are out of catacombs."
"Understood."
Talos remained silent, his eyes on the map. Then he pointed to a set of jagged marks around the Spire.
"These routes... They've been shifting. The creatures are moving in patterns I don't like."
Konrad's brows narrowed. "You're certain?"
"Yes. They're not random. Something is organizing them."
"Could be the Spire itself," Izanami offered. "Or the terror inside it."
"Doesn't matter," Konrad said. "We prepare. We strike when the time is right. This will also be our final and last chance to get out of this hellscape."
They all nodded.
And thus began the final phase of the Night Lord's plan.
The Crimson Spire would fall.
Or they would die trying.