"I want her as one of my wives."
Words tore through the hall like arrows, sharp and unrelenting.
Aexl's voice still echoed in the rafters, heavier than the torches' smoke.
If I have her, I have the villagers, he thought coldly. If I have the villagers… I rule this land.
The words detonated.
No hesitation. No apology. Spoken like law.
For the villagers, it was blasphemy. Their chief's hand wasn't just flesh — it was authority, bloodline, the last thread of Eldenthyr's legacy. To give her to a foreigner… was to hand him the village itself.
Chairs clattered as women surged to their feet.
"Arrogant whelp!"
"Cut him down!"
"Better no general than a tyrant!"
As lyssa is frozen, shock her mind is asking is this one of his tricks? To convince us? No no no his mind keeps in a loop of different thoughts as steel hissed free. Roderick's sword gleamed as he stepped forward, eyes blazing with fury. The guards shifted, spears raised, panic flaring like wildfire as they are confused if they are to follow their old commander or the newly appointed one.
Aexl didn't flinch. He scanned the storm of hostility, then tapped the Ephone.
The board flared blue, then vanished.
With a swipe, Aexl opened Videos, scrolling until he found one of his favorites—King of … Rings. He adjusted the playback, dragging to a specific scene, then pressed play.
[ Holographic Viewing? ]
(Yes) / (No)
what's this new feature he muttered
As He tapped Yes.
The scene burst alive as a 3D projection ignited above the phone.
"What the…" Aexl muttered, setting the device back on the table. From its surface, a holographic vision spilled out—like cinema, but in three dimensions. Earlier, he had noticed that some of his saved videos and images from Earth remained intact. Now, he wielded them as premonition, and the villagers froze, dumbfounded.
On the projection, orc-like creatures marched in endless ranks, torches flaring, banners rising. An old man with white hair and a long beard, standing atop a tower and robed in white eerily like Roderick, raised his staff to command them. The scene shifted—villagers burning alive as orc sigils pulsed like crawling fire. Thousands strong. Already moving. Already coming.
Another frame cut in—dwarves rallying in the dark—but Aexl tapped the phone again, freezing the image on the burning village.
The villagers staggered back, fear choking their outrage.
"It's a spell!" someone cried.
"No—it's a vision!" another shouted.
"Goddess preserve us…"
The hall trembled with their fear.
"You have three days. Maybe less. To turn your villagers as what you saw now" His voice carried over the chaos, cold and steady. "Without me, that thing will happen here and worst you die. Children, mothers, all of you—slaughtered. Under me, you live. Even if as pawns, you live. So make a choice?"
Silence fell like a hammer. Torches crackled, parchment rustled in the draft, but no one spoke.
Lyssa stood frozen. Her lips parted, but no sound came.
Conquer… pawns… wife…
The words looped in her skull, heavy and dangerous, each one a chain pulling tighter around her chest.
Around her, villagers murmured, blades still half-drawn. Roderick's knuckles whitened around his sword. Yet all eyes, every breath, turned to her.
Aexl's gaze locked on hers, steady, unyielding. The blue glow of the Ephone painted his face like a war mask.
"So, Lyssa…" His voice cut through the silence. "What's it gonna be?"
Then, like venom sliding through lyssa's skull, Maevra's whisper coiled around her will:
"The scroll demands obsession. Lust, greed, hunger. Offer yourself, if you must."
Her nails bit into her palm. She almost spoke. Almost—
"I'll do it."
The voice wasn't hers. It came from Selene.
Every head turned as the black-haired warrior stepped forward, hips rolling with deliberate grace. Moonlight from the high window traced her form in silver.
"You can have me," she said, her tone rich with both promise and threat. Eyes locked on Aexl's, sharp as a blade, soft as a lover's touch. "Take me. Do whatever you like… if it means you'll fight."
Gasps erupted. Some cursed, some prayed, some turned away blushing. Even Aexl's eyes flickered, betraying the faintest shock.
Lyssa's oath had bound him with law.
Selene's words tried to bind him with flesh.
One of the older women hissed from the crowd, voice sharp as a knife.
"Don't think losing your husband means you can just throw yourself at a stranger! We don't even know what he hides under that coat—or the sword tucked away at his side!"
Selene didn't flinch. Her silver eyes flashed, chin rising proudly.
"If my body's what it takes to end those orcs, then I won't hesitate," she said, voice unwavering, clear enough to cut through the hall.
The fire crackled between them, throwing sparks into the silence.
Aexl's expression twisted—half a smirk, half something like disbelief. Amusement and bafflement warred in his eyes.
Lyssa said nothing. Her mouth opened, but the words caught in her throat. The moment had been hers, and Selene had seized it. For the first time since the summoning, Lyssa was silent—lost.
Aexl exhaled through his nose, shifting against the chair, rope biting into his wrists. His gaze lingered on Selene.
"…You've got guts," he said at last, his tone stripped of mockery. "Most wouldn't offer their own body for others. That's not desperation. That's… noble. Selfless, even. But don't mistake me. I need an army. I can't conquer this world with just the two of us."
The words hung heavy. Villagers glanced at each other, shame tugging at their faces. Some looked away.
Selene broke the silence.
"I have a bloodline," she said, eyes never leaving his. She stepped forward, raising a hand toward the glowing projection. "Survive this attack. Take me north—" her finger pressed against the map, the name Lunavark burning bright "—and I'll give you what you need."
Lunavark… Aexl's brow furrowed. The name rattled something loose in his mind. Familiar. Dangerous.
Ephone buzz and there he saw it the mission
[ Mission Accepted: Bloodline of the Wolf ]
Condition of Completion:
Kill the Worg rider scout (0/5)
Break the incoming expeditionary Orc Force (0/500)
Capture Orc fortress (brokeshield)
Bring Selene and her mom to Lunavark to claim the buried birth rights
Reward:
Gain the Lunavark as your territory
Gain 5 Ability Points
Gain the Ability Commodore of the Sea
Aexl gave a slow nod, eyes narrowing, the smirk draining into something harder, sharper. His tone dropped heavy across the hall, commanding without needing to shout. As he verifies that the app accepted it is real what selene has offered
He swept his gaze over the crowd—at the spears trembling in calloused hands, the guards standing still as if they are waiting for his orders "good he muttered" while Roderick clutching his wound and telling the guards to raise their spears
"Here's the truth. You're outnumbered. Underequipped. Five hundred against twenty.
The words struck like hammer blows, but Aexl didn't flinch. He leaned forward, ropes biting into his wrists, his voice carrying like a drill sergeant's bark.
"But that doesn't mean we don't have a chance, In my world numbers don't win war"
The hall was still. Only the torches hissed, the crackle of fire licking at silence. Every villager—angry, doubtful, afraid—found themselves listening.
"You think I called you pawns as an insult?" He shook his head. "Pawns decide wars. Pawns are the backbone and when a pawn survives long enough, it crosses the board and becomes the most dangerous piece of all. A queen. That's the truth of war. That's the truth of survival."
Murmurs rippled—confusion, shame, and a flicker of something else. Curiosity.
Aexl raised the glowing Ephone. The projection map shimmered, revealing ridges, forests, valleys. He traced lines across it with his finger, the movements crisp, practiced.
"You want to live? Then you'll fight smart. Terrain is your weapon. Fear is your ally. Traps, chokepoints, ambushes—we don't meet five hundred head-on. We bleed them in the trees, at the cliffs, at the narrow gates. We make them think they're walking into prey, and then we break them."
He let the words hang, the projection burning blue across the stunned faces.
"Follow me, and you'll live to see dawn. Defy me, and you'll feed the orcs."
A heavy pause. The weight of choice pressed on every soul in the hall.
"…So here's the plan."