Kael Dragone woke up to the scent of sulfur and with a severe headache. His whole body ached, sprawled across cracked stones under a sky bleeding violet and black.
Tall, sharp towers rose in the distance. Floating castles hung in the sky — some broken, some still shining. This wasn't Earth. This was Aetherion.
His last memory was of betrayal, his team sold him out, bullets tearing through the night, He shouted, but it didn't matter. Then a void appeared and sucked him in, just to be thrown god knows where?
A translucent panel flared before his eyes, its text sharp as a blade.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: WELCOME, LORD KAEL DRAGONE, TO AETHERION. YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED LORDSHIP IN THE OUTER ZONE.]
[YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED THE CLASS: SHADOW MONARCH.]
[YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED THE TALENT: SOUL EXTRACTION PROTOCOL (S-RANK)]
{EXTRACT SOUL ESSENCES FROM DEFEATED ENEMIES TO CRAFT UNITS, RELICS, OR STRUCTURES.}
[YOUR ASSIGNED STARTER UNIT: SOULBOUND KNIGHTS X(3)]
[MISSION: ESTABLISH YOUR TERRITORY CORE AND SURVIVE.]
Kael's lips curled into a cold smirk. "A battlefield? No, it's a game!! A game that ill play on my own accord, in this chessboard i am not a mere pawn or any piece but a PLAYER".
His mind, honed by years of outwitting crisis, churned. Soul Extraction Protocol. Not loot, but souls. Power through control, not chaos.
He stood up, finding a longsword at his side. Completely black, etched with faint runes, heavier than it looked. "Damn, system has a good fashion sense for weapons huh."
'' GHRRRRR''
A guttural roar shattered his train of thoughts. Four shapes emerged from the shadows of his territory which is a barren, mile-wide plateau ringed by jagged Cliffs.
They were beasts, scaled and clawed, with eyes like molten slag. The system flashed.
[SYSTEM ALERT: OUTER ZONE BEASTS DETECTED.]
[TYPE: WRETCHED FANGCLAWS.]
[THREAT LEVEL: TIER 1.]
[DEFEAT TO CLAIM SOUL ESSENCE AND SECURE TERRITORY CORE.]
"Oh, Perfect dummies to test my troops" Kael Smirked. He snapped his fingers, and three figures materialized—Soulbound Knights, clad in obsidian armor, faces hidden behind featureless helms. Silent but Loyal. Their swords gleamed, tethered to his will.
"They growl a lot, silence them" he commanded, voice deep.
The knights moved as one, blades flashing. The first Fangclaw lunged, claws raking air. A knight parried, severing its limb, while another drove its sword through the beast's flank. Kael watched, analyzing. The knights were extensions of him—unbreakable, unbribable, Perfect.
Soon, He joined the fray, slashing a second Fangclaw's throat with precise brutality. The third and fourth fell under the knights' coordinated strikes, their bodies dissolving into wisps of gray light.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: WRETCHED FANGCLAWS DEFEATED (4)]
[SOUL ESSENCE GAINED: 4 WRETCHED ESSENCES.]
[CHOOSE EXTRACTION PATH]
--> Raise Units
--> Forge Relics
--> Construct Structures
Kael's eyes narrowed. Units for army, relics for power, structures for defense and other necessity. "I don't really need relic right now, so its between defense and army, Hmm. Right now i need military might to hunt more monsters and collect more soul essences. As they say best defense is the best offense or whatever who cares, lol."
He selected Raise Units.
The essences swirled, drawn into his palm, cold as death. Pain lanced through his chest—a price, perhaps but four new Soulbound Knights formed, kneeling before him. Their armor bore faint claw marks, a echo of the Fangclaws' ferocity.
[SYSTEM: SOUL EXTRACTION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.]
[CRAFTED: SOULBOUND KNIGHTS (4).]
[TOTAL UNITS: 7.]
[TERRITORY CORE READY TO CLAIM.]
{PROCEED?}
[YES/NO]
He tapped "Yes". The ground shook, and a black obelisk rose from the center of the plateau. Its surface glowed faintly, like shadows moving under the stone. And a new panel appeared.
[SYSTEM: TERRITORY CORE ESTABLISHED.]
[OUTER ZONE TERRITORY CLAIMED.]
[NAME: NOCTARION.]
[UNLOCK BUILDING OPTIONS?]
[YES/NO]
Kael paused, scanning the plateau. Barren, but good for defense. Cliffs for chokepoints, open ground for traps. His empire would start here, carved from the souls of his enemies. He tapped "Yes," and a list appeared: Barracks, Forge, Wall, etc. Basic, but an important foundation. While he was browsing, a sudden scream broke his focus.
From a shimmering rift at the plateau's edge, a figure stumbled—a young man in tattered robes, clutching a staff, pursued by a massive Fangclaw, its scales glinting with menace.
The man's eyes met Kael's, pleading. "PLEASE, I BEG U. HELPPP MEEEEEEE!"
Kael's mind raced. An ally? A pawn? He signaled his knights, who surged forward. The Fangclaw roared, swiping a knight aside, but the others struck in unison, blades piercing its hide. Kael darted in, his sword finding the beast's heart. It collapsed, essence swirling.
"Well, Not that difficult when u have such... daring soldiers? Whatever who cares, anyway. Let me see my rewards hehe. Tch I sound crazy"
[SYSTEM: WRETCHED FANGCLAW ALPHA DEFEATED.]
[SOUL ESSENCE GAINED: x(1)]
[HEROIC ESSENCE.]
[CHOOSE EXTRACTION PATH]
--> Raise Units
--> Forge Relics
--> Construct Structures
The man gasped, scrambling to his feet. "I'm Elias, a Mage Lord. Thank you-"
"No one Cares, So shut up for now. I am busy, getting rich"
Kael cut him off, studying the essence. It felt Heroic, something Rare."If those normal fangclaws can help me create Soul Knights, What would..... an Alpha create?" The question and curiosity burned inside his heart asking him to see, WANTING him to see. His chest ached from the earlier extraction, he could here a call as if his soul was whispering to him, a deep call .
"If it bleeds, it serves,"
"Let's see what type of unit your essence would creat?" He pressed Raise Units.
The essence flared, and pain seared his ribs, sharper this time. A figure formed—a towering knight, wreathed in shadow, wielding a blade that hummed with power. The system chimed.
[SYSTEM: SOUL EXTRACTION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.]
[CRAFTED: WRAITH BLADE COMMANDER x(1).]
[TOTAL UNITS: 8.]
[HEALTH PENALTY: -2% VITALITY.]
Elias stared, fear mixing with awe.
"What… are you?"
Kael's gaze was cold. "Your Lord, if you swear loyalty. OR your angel of death if u don't" Elias hesitated, then nodded, trembling.
Kael turned to noctarion's obelisk, its pulse quickening. Across Aetherion, other Lords were rising, their Castles glowing in the distance. One loomed closer, its spires crackling with light. A rival, A Prey.
Kael smirked. Let them come. Their souls would build his throne.
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[END OF CHAPTER 1]
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