Back to Seth… well, Chu Yin grounded him like a parent would ground a child. After all, it was all Seth's fault that all of that nonsense had happened in the first place. She had warned him not to go there, but he had been so sure of himself and his abilities, and they had almost gotten killed as a result of his arrogance.
Luckily for them both, her getting her Ur tier talent had caused someone far away to be alerted to their presence, which saved them both from certain death, and didn't force her to have to use the trump card that she had been holding in reserve.
Part of Seth's punishment was taking up the role of king for his land and actually governing it properly. After all, with how things were going and the threat they now faced, he would need a strong and well-organized empire if he wished to face the Dwarven Empire in the future.
"Nonsense, my lord, he speaks lies. It was he who ran in front of my son, leading to all of this." A man cried out desperately, his voice pleading as he looked at the poor, talentless man who was glaring at him with an unwilling look of defiance.
Then the accuser looked towards Seth, who sat on his throne with a blank and completely uninterested look on his face. Seth was missing a hand, which was not growing back since… well, of course, that sword that had taken it possessed some kind of anti-healing power built into it.
"What's the report?" Seth asked with a bored sigh, his voice flat and tired. Looks like problems had happened within his territory, and it had exploded into such a huge event that it had to be addressed by him personally.
Pretty much, from what he had been told, a spoiled young master had been being reckless and careless, showing off his magic to impress people, and ended up badly injuring an F-tier talent in the process.
The father of the kid, being an SS-tier talent with significant power and influence, had been able to quickly cover things up not to get his son in trouble with the authorities. But the father didn't do a good enough job hiding the evidence, and people quickly began to call for justice loudly, for they were all against the idea of someone with a higher talent abusing those with lower talent or without any talent at all.
"Is your son guilty?" Seth asked blankly, his tone giving nothing away about his thoughts. This matter was being broadcast all over the world on every screen since Seth wanted to set an example for everyone watching about how justice worked in his empire.
"N-no… even if he was, my son has an A-tier talent, how could that be compared to the D-tier talent he had harmed?" The man said in a shaky voice, still trying to defend his son despite the evidence. He even made a mistake on purpose, saying D tier instead of F tier.
"Are you saying a person's talent justifies their worth?" Seth asked with a raised eyebrow, his interest finally showing at this statement. The man hesitated for a second, clearly realizing he might be digging himself into a hole, before nodding in affirmation anyway.
"So, because I have a higher talent than you, I can do to you as I wish because your existence, compared to mine, is simply… well, worth less?" Seth asked calmly, his voice carrying an edge. This made the man freeze in horror, his face going pale as he realized what he had just implied. He wanted to say something to defend himself, but couldn't find the words to get himself out of the hole he had dug for himself.
"You're mute now? I asked you a question, since your worth compared to mine is so little, by your logic, I could skin you alive and have your skinless body be carried all over earth just to send a message that I can do anything… can I?" Seth asked, his voice dangerously calm. This left the man shaking in horror, his entire body trembling as the implications of his own words came crashing down on him.
"So, let's have your name go down in the history book. The fool who thought of talking to me to justify his son's crime. Your son and your existence, I don't want both of you in my empire. I want you put to death along with everyone else who had supported this nonsense. Again, since my worth is greater than yours, you should not cry about it." Seth said calmly, his tone carrying finality. The man immediately fell to his knees and began begging desperately for his life, tears streaming down his face. But as Seth stood up from his throne to leave the room, the man's head suddenly exploded without warning, blood and brain matter splattering across the floor.
"Have his wealth given to the people he had troubled, and next time don't bother me with such nonsense when you already knew right from wrong," Seth said, turning his gaze towards Golden Lion with clear disappointment. This entire nonsense situation had taken place in the land under his direct control, and to be careful and avoid making the wrong decision, he had brought this matter before Seth for judgment.
"Understood." Golden Lion said with a light smile,
Seth said nothing more and turned to head downstairs without another word… by the way, all of this took place in a massive castle that dominated the landscape. Chu Yin, since she was a dragon by nature and proud of her heritage, had decided to go with a dragon theme for the place where she would place her throne and rule from.
Seth headed downstairs through the winding corridors, going deeper and deeper to the deepest part of the castle dungeon that existed far below ground level. There, he found many people locked away behind cells made of reinforced materials.
These were people who had enraged Chu Yin to the point where she had decided death was too good for them, and they deserved worse. Seth didn't know if it was because she was Chinese or something else, but Chu Yin seemed to take the concept of a fate worse than death and throw it around far too freely for his comfort.
"Wow, you must have enraged her," Seth said, looking at his elder brother Stephen, who lay rolled up into a ball on the cold floor. He was naked, skinny to the point his ribs were showing clearly through his skin. Stephen weakly looked up at Seth with effort, all life in his eyes gone and replaced with the empty gaze of someone who had realized death was a friend rather than an enemy.
"Kill me." He begged weakly, his voice barely audible. But Seth simply shrugged in response, unmoved by the plea. He had gone through everything Stephen was currently experiencing and worse in his own training to increase his willpower, and it had reached a point where pain and torture no longer affected him emotionally or mentally… ignoring Chu Yin, who had used a forbidden skill that had drawn out his potential, leaving him in a weakened state for some time.
"You're overreacting. You would soon reach a point where the pain, although it would be coming, you would be numb to it all. Picture someone punching you, the fist would be raining, but the pain would not be felt." Seth said lazily, his tone completely casual as if discussing the weather.
"Anyways, I'm about to turn a SS tier ability into SSS tier, it would put me through hell, so I decided to come see you to clear my mind first," Seth said lightly, his voice carrying no concern about the ordeal he was about to face. This made Stephen hatefully glare at him with what little strength he had left in his body.
"Why? Why wouldn't you do this one small favor? All I'm asking for is for you to kill me? Why are you so cruel?" He cried, his voice breaking with desperation and pain. But Seth simply ignored him and his pleas completely.
"I was thinking of whether I should have you give birth to a child or not. I don't want to lose that SSS tier talent. But rape isn't my thing, so I will give you two options." Seth said with a thoughtful look spreading across his face as he looked down at his broken brother.
"Give me 1,000 nephews and nieces, and I will give you freedom. If at that point you want death or to live, it's up to you. In the meantime, you shall become a loyal dog of the empire without free will of any shape or form. That means you can't even think of going against my wishes. The second option is I leave you alone with my wife… that sounded sus," Seth said calmly, laying out the choices… although that last part with Chu Yin sounded off.
Plus, he wasn't sure if this was still rape, so he didn't give Stephen a time limit, allowing him to take as much time as he wanted with the matter. Then again, he was throwing the same thing at Stephen that he had thrown at his ex years ago. What goes around comes back around.
Stephen's eyes widened in fear at the mention of Chu Yin, and he quickly nodded in acceptance of the first option.
"I will do it." He said quickly without hesitation, signing his soul away for what seemed like an impossible task to complete… after all, was it really so easy for an SSS-tier talent holder to have offspring, even more so when said offspring would need to inherit his talent from him?
Of course not, it was incredibly difficult. Stephen was going to live the rest of his life having sex constantly to try and reach that number. Of course, many people would line up eagerly for the chance to have his children and potentially gain an SSS-tier talent in their family.
After all, who wouldn't want to have an SSS-tier talent as a son or daughter in their bloodline? So he wouldn't struggle to find people willing to sleep with him for that purpose. He could even push an advertisement online, and he would have thousands of people lining up and volunteering within hours.
"Good," Seth said with a smile of satisfaction, pleased with the arrangement. Seth was, of course, pushing for everyone in his empire to have children and increase their population, even though he himself was going to try and have a child with Chu Yin in the near future.
Yes, she couldn't have children, and yes, he was human... but he was willing to put aside his hatred for humanity. He would admit it, he would simp for his wife. What better way to simp for her than to heal whatever condition she had so they could have children?
After all, 1 Ur tier talent wasn't going to be enough if they wished to deal with the trouble of tomorrow and the threats coming their way. He wanted a mighty clan, overflowing with countless children.
As for the clan name, they would use? He would go with Nexus as the family name. He would even change his own name to Seth Nexus to establish the dynasty. He could just have people call him Nexus instead of Seth from now on.