BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 48 – Sovereign Lord

Chapter 48 – Sovereign Lord

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"Alright... it’s time."

I whispered this as I sat atop my bed.

I could sit on the sofa in the lounge, yes.

But I don’t feel comfortable, and my thoughts don’t flow, unless I am on the bed.

A matter of comfort, nothing more.

In my previous world, when the knots and complexities of stories would pile up in my head,

My destination was always the bathroom...

A warm shower,

And with every drop of water, ideas would pour down,

As if they were born from the ceiling, then fell directly into my mind.

But here...

For there is no shower here... or anything like it... perhaps I could invent something similar later and sell it, haha. That would be truly profitable.

Returning to our subject... the absence of a shower wasn’t the primary obstacle, as there is a large Jacuzzi here, and I cannot say that I don’t enjoy it to the fullest.

Hot water is always available; even if my bath lasts for more than an hour, there’s no problem.

In my previous world, the water heater I had wouldn’t last for more than 10 minutes in temperatures below 13°C, and maybe 15 minutes in slightly warmer temperatures.

Here, the situation is different... hot water is available in abundance and at any time. It makes my body relax completely, and sometimes I even drift into a nap.

In the end, after several weeks, my places of comfort have changed: a warm shower in my previous life, but now—

The bed has become my sanctuary for contemplation.

Perhaps because it is large enough for three people instead of just one... or because its linens and sheets are all so comfortable that they treat my body in the best possible way...

And let’s not forget that it overlooks a beautiful natural landscape and a wonderful spring sun..

I believe that all these factors contribute, one way or another, to crystallizing the act of lying in this bed as the right place for me.. to gather my thoughts and analyze everything.

I breathed slowly, then shook my head.

This isn’t the time to trouble myself with the past.

"Come on, System... give me my notifications."

"Let me begin transforming this town... turning it from a small settlement into a mid-sized city."

"The next goal... making it a city that accommodates one thousand citizens."

{ DING... DING... DING }

{ Reward for Record Time in Rank Advancement achieved }

My eyes widened, then I laughed softly.

"I actually forgot about it..."

I had earned it when I reached the Second Rank so quickly,

But back then, it was locked due to the ongoing mission.

"Alright... let’s see."

{ Reward }

{ Global Market }

I paused.

"What is this?"

{ The Global Market opens in the village center.

Allows villagers to buy and sell with the outside world without the ability to communicate. }

A gasp of admiration escaped me.

"Ooh... this is brilliant. Truly brilliant."

This will solve many matters indeed.. what a great reward.. I hope the subsequent rewards are just as good.

{ DING.. DING.. DING }

{ Secret Mission: The Man Known to Shadows vs. The Nightmare of Shadows }

{ Completed Successfully }

{ Reward }

{ Linker Harbinger }

"Harbinger?"

So it’s from the same category...

But "Linker"?

It sounds different.

{ The Linker Harbinger binds the Lord’s fate with his followers,

And grants the attribute [Linked Evolution].

The Linked Evolution attribute causes all warriors to increase in strength as the Lord’s own strength increases. }

My breath hitched.

"Ha... are you joking? This—"

{ Do you wish to activate the Linker Harbinger? }

"Of course!"

Why are you even asking?!

Suddenly..

The room vanished.

My vision became blurred,

As if the world had slipped away from around me.

Is this another dimension? Perhaps.

I was no longer in my place.

Faint threads of light.. barely visible,

Began to sprout from my body.. like tentacles of yellow light.

I could feel them. Emerging successively. Then,

My eyes.. began to behold all the warriors in the village.. the children of the Forgotten Moon

.

In that moment.. the tentacles began to stretch toward them.. for every warrior.. there was a tentacle of yellow light reaching out.

Then.. it linked to them...

Suddenly,

My eyes.. opened.

I returned to my room.. my bed.

{ Linker Harbinger activated }

{ All warriors.. have increased in strength }

This reward.. it is entirely worth what I suffered with Radian.

It can be said now that the village has become truly strong.

Perhaps now.. there is no difference between our strengths. Yes, I was weaker before the Second Rank, but now I am stronger.. perhaps I have become equal to the strength of the rest.

For now, the others won’t feel this attribute or its advantage.. but.. the future surely belongs to the Lords.. and I am a Lord, haha.

{ DING... DING... DING }

{ Acquired: The Pentagram Circle }

What is this...?

Before I could grasp it.

Suddenly..

The sound vanished.

No...

It didn’t vanish.

It was the world that retreated.

The ground, the walls, the air, and even the sense of my own weight... all of it slipped away as if a giant hand had pulled reality from beneath me.

I didn’t fall.

But I wasn’t standing either.

I was... suspended in nowhere.

The cold preceded the vision.

It crawled inside my bones, heavy, ancient, as if it were older than time itself.

Something was there.

I didn’t see it.

But I felt its weight. A sensation of grand ruins, a temple older than history, buried behind a veil I am not permitted to lift.

Its presence pressed upon my soul, forcing my head to bow, and my heart to tremble without permission.

Then..

Suddenly..

From nothingness, amidst those ruins, a magic circle formed in a deep brown color,

A color resembling clay mixed with ancient blood.

The ground beneath it did not touch it,

It was suspended, rotating slowly,

Emitting a low hum like whispers coming from a deep grave.

Around the circle, towering pillars rose,

Stretching out like the ruins of a forgotten temple,

Covered in twisted engravings,

Letters that resembled no language I had ever known.

Whenever I tried to read them...

I felt as though my eyes were being denied understanding.

"What is this...?"

I whispered, my eyelids narrowing in awe.

In the center of the great circle...

Five smaller circles formed.

Four of them ignited with a faint light,

As for the fifth...

It remained empty.

Its emptiness was not ordinary.

It was waiting.

Breathing.

I looked at the glowing circles.

And felt my heart sink.

These...

Were not strange to me.

They were my attributes.

The first whispered my name:

General Harbinger.

The second followed it, deeper, heavier:

Special Harbinger.

The third sent a shiver through my soul:

Unique Harbinger.

As for the fourth...

It was the darkest.

Linker Harbinger.

The symbols around the pillars began to glow,

And the humming increased.

And the fifth circle...

Remained empty. As if it were drowning in a bottomless abyss.

But...

That wasn’t all.

Above the magic circle,

Away from the pillars,

Higher than the engravings surrounding it...

An inscription emerged.

It was different.

My eyes locked onto it immediately,

As if something inside me forced me to look.

"What color is this...?"

I whispered unconsciously.

I couldn’t define it.

It wasn’t black.

Nor white.

Nor any color I had ever known before.

It was... colorless.

As if the void itself had taken the form of letters.

A cold shiver crawled inside my chest.

A mysterious, primitive feeling,

Whispering to me that this inscription...

Is waiting.

Waiting to be given a color.

Around the circle, the rest of the inscriptions had suddenly shrunk.

Retreated.

Diminished.

Until they appeared to me like grains of sand lost in an endless desert.

As for that inscription.

It was monumental.

Larger than any scale the mind could contain.

If I were to compare it...

I would say it was the size of a mountain.

No...

A mountain range.

It was so massive that it made me feel that I was the one who had shrunk,

That my entire existence was nothing more than a speck of dust before it.

Then...

I read it.

I didn’t know how,

But I read it.

{ Sovereign Title }

In the next moment.

The pain exploded.

A horrific headache swept through my head,

As if thousands of nails were driven into my mind all at once.

My body froze.

I was no longer able to move.

My breath faltered.

My heart began to beat at a maddening speed,

Faster... faster... faster...

Until I feared my chest would tear open.

Then...

I understood.

It wasn’t an understanding through words,

But an awareness forced upon me.

The magic circle was not displaying power.

It wasn’t granting me a gift.

It was... demanding.

It wanted me to obtain the fifth attribute.

The missing part of the Harbinger sequence.

The void waiting to be filled.

And when that happens. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The inscription will transform.

It will acquire a color.

But not just any color.

The color of Sovereignty.

And the Lord will possess a Sovereign Title..