King's Rule: Creating the Strongest Kingdom With My Broken Talent-Chapter 30: Takeover

Two unknown voices, inhuman-sounding yet cute, echoed somewhere.

"Oi, B.B, there’s something strange going on in Sideland number three. A dark horse is rising."

"Let me see... Oh, so we are getting a fifth contender for this era’s champion title, Z.Z."

"Indeed, B.B. Not to mention that one monster who got a crazy notion of what a kingdom is. So it’s six contenders, not five. This era is becoming quite uncertain."

"Enemies and allies, betrayal and trust. With the power these six individuals are capable of amassing, this won’t end without some clever scheming between them, Z.Z."

"It’ll be very fun, B.B."

...

King Crosshawk was sitting in the garden, as it was ten in the morning, thinking about what to do to solve the problems.

But deep down, he had already made a decision. He was just waiting for the time to arrive. For the bald man to come here at noon.

However, he suddenly sensed some unmasked aura heading his way from above and looked up.

’I’ve never seen armor like that. It looks quite advanced.’ King Crosshawk frowned.

Vesh landed in front of the King, and an obsidian-golden throne formed behind him from Nanites as he took a seat.

"You have two options."

King Crosshawk’s frown deepened. "Who are you?"

The garden was soon flooded by people as they rushed out of the doors.

A few princes of peak Sprout-rank came flying, baring their swords and spears at Vesh.

In just several seconds, Vesh was surrounded by forty-something people.

But Vesh continued as if unbothered and completely unafraid.

"First option. Become a Governor under me and put this Kingdom under our king’s banner of Ananta Kingdom."

"Humph, what nonsense are you spouting?!" The spear-wielding prince loudly harrumphed as a water-blue spiral formed around his spear tip, spinning as he drove it toward Vesh’s head.

Vesh’s hand blurred. In the next moment, the spear stopped just before touching Vesh, its tip tightly grasped between his glowing index and middle fingers.

"Urgh." The prince’s face turned red as he exerted his full strength, but couldn’t move it even a little, nor take the spear back from the grip of those two fingers.

"Second option." Vesh continued speaking while the spear tip between his fingers was crushed into powder.

A swirl of force shot straight toward the prince, so powerful that it sent him flying straight into the sky like a bullet.

"I kill everyone in different ways, like the one that just died, because I honestly have no desire to keep you alive."

King Crosshawk looked up, his eyes narrowing as his son disappeared from his sight and sense.

"You have three seconds to make your decision. Afterward, it will be me making the decision on your behalf."

"One."

Everyone looked at each other, confused, uncertain, and a terrible feeling welling up in their stomachs.

"Two."

"O-Option one." King Crosshawk spoke, and uttering those words lifted a heavy weight off his chest.

He felt liberated.

’Hmm? Why is the sky upside down?’

Thud!

His head landed and rolled forward slightly before stopping, his eyes wide and staring, completely dead.

Vesh stood up as he snapped his Slime Sword downward, flicking the blood off its blade.

"Some will die. Most will live."

"Y-Y-You..." The blue-haired prince stammered as the sword in his hand trembled.

To be able to kill his father instantly made it clear there was no one else capable of stopping this unknown man.

Vesh turned around and faced him. "Would you sacrifice commoners and random people to gain power for yourself?"

The prince blinked twice in panic and opened his mouth. "N-No, I—"

A blue light flashed in the air before being stained with crimson as the prince was cleanly split into two.

"Just know." Vesh turned his head to the others. "I have a technique that can tell me if you are lying or not."

The others trembled.

"WHO?!"

A powerful aura arrived. The commander of Crosshawk Kingdom, a Root-rank powerhouse.

Combat Power: 3,293,400

Bulky, thick-bearded, and fully armored, he landed right next to Vesh, his heavy sword flashing once before striking Vesh’s waist, intending to split him in two.

CLANG! BOOOM!

The ground beneath shattered with a blast, and a shockwave spread as those who couldn’t fly fell while others were flung away.

Only two remained in place.

Vesh and the commander.

"Wha—" The commander felt numbness in his entire arm as he saw that there wasn’t a single scratch where his sword had struck.

In fact, Vesh hadn’t even moved an inch despite such a destructive attack.

Vesh’s Combat Power with the A-rank energy-powered suit on: 17,849,300.

Crack! Khrahhr!

Half of the palace crumbled to the side as the power that couldn’t harm the suit instead deflected outward in shockwaves, destroying nearby structures.

"You." Vesh turned to the commander. "I suppose I don’t need to ask you the question of the day. But I want to be sure I don’t kill those I shouldn’t, so tell me. Did you know about the King sacrificing his people and family?"

Half a second.

That was all Vesh needed to confirm by scanning his target’s mind.

The commander opened his mouth to ask what the hell Vesh was talking about to buy time.

But before he could utter a single word, he saw a thin purple flash.

Vesh used a slightly advanced technique for this one, as he could feel the strong defense around this person’s body.

The technique he employed was an advanced version of the good old Death Trick Slash. And wee bit five times stronger in terms of technical output.

Death Star Extinguish Slash.

’Pretty cool name I came up with, heh.’

The purple flash expanded into a five-pointed star with razor-thin edges and cut the man into geometric pieces.

’A bit too bloody, though.’

Vesh looked up and conjured an orb as his eyes flashed with the Wheel of Elements.

A second later, the orb shot into the sky and stopped after fifty meters before expanding into a large barrier that covered the entire capital.

Afterward, Vesh turned to the remaining palace and scanned it briefly. There were no people left there, as everyone had evacuated. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Vesh made a clawing motion toward it as wide, slapping waves of Nanites devoured the palace and transformed it into a low-height platform, merely ten meters off the ground but far wider than before.

The people of the city were shocked at the commotion as the largest building in the empire was reduced.

In the Adventurer’s Guild branch, a woman with half-braided, half-spread wavy sapphire-colored hair blinked.

A bona fide Stem-rank powerhouse.

Wearing large round glasses and a layered robe, her dark blue eyes showed no disturbance, only a faint glint of amusement.

Behind her, a blond-haired knight appeared. "It looks like someone overtook the kingdom quite forcefully. It’s been happening more often. Just now, I got a report that Tuskrock Kingdom surrendered to a new king who herds beasts and wields an army of coordinated monsters. The main army of Tuskrock suffered a brutal defeat at their port city."

The woman nodded. "This one seems a bit different."

She looked up, her eyes lifting slightly as a flicker of surprise appeared.

An impossibly large black cat descended gracefully, running down as if there were invisible stairs in the sky, its large blue eyes leaving bright trails behind.

"W-What the hell is that, Guild Master Risha?" The knight’s eyes widened in shock. "Such a large beast."

"It’s not a beast." Guild Master Risha’s lips curved into an amused smile. "It’s a machine."

"A very dreadful machine, if I may say so."

Skylord Behemoth K settled onto the platform, its tail swaying playfully as it lay down.

"Meow~"

Its voice echoed across the city, sending a strange vibration through everyone who heard it.

"People of Crosshawk Kingdom!"

Vesh sat on his throne in front of the enormous and oddly cute face of Skylord Behemoth K and began speaking.

A small magi-tech eye appeared in front of Vesh, while lights spread from his fingers and formed four massive holograms facing all directions of the capital.

"You are no longer citizens of Crosshawk! From now on, all of Crosshawk Kingdom is part of the Ananta Kingdom!"

"From now on, you shall prosper like never before!"

Vesh grinned behind his helmet, the white eyes of his jet-black suit glowing brightly as his voice continued to spread over the city.

"In five minutes, I want everyone who is one rank above a common citizen in front of me."

’With this many people, I can properly test and build the first core foundations that will shape my kingdom’s unique identity.’

It was time to test some serious ideas.