2nd day of the month of the gray dragon (March) 10:13 AM

  The sun was shining brightly, the village was silent, and Almodeus had just opened his eyes. It was strange for him not to wake up with his wife, after nearly half a century of marriage.

  I'm not used to sleeping alone anymore. It's quite an experience...

  The Absolute Lord rose from the bed and scratched his forehead. It was in these moments of solitude where he could step out of his persona—not so far from his true nature—of Absolute Lord of the Fear Tower. He could relax and let go a little, without the obligation of always having to be this omniscient monarch, incapable of making mistakes or being surprised.

  His mind flashed back to Fiora's death and the devastation it had thrown on Almodea. He'd found the culprit, but still couldn't get his daughter's tears out of his head. He felt anger, regret, and disappointment, but especially the first one of the three. He'd told his daughter that Fiora's body had been drained of the minimum life energy needed for the resurrection spell, which was true, but it wasn't the whole story. There was a way to actually bring her back to life—more than one, to be honest. Of the hundreds of thousands of skills and spells Almodeus possessed, two stood out in this case: Absolute Dealer and Absolute Resurrection.

  The first was a skill that could be activated at any time: it granted theoretical omnipotence to Almodeus whenever he performed a soul-binding pact, where the person making the deal with him voluntarily gave up their soul as payment. In theory, he could have brought Fiora back to life with this ability, but who in their right mind would ever give him their soul to resurrect someone they didn't even know? If Almodea had a soul, he could have reclaimed it and then given it back to her afterward, but his daughter lacked that, and the same was true for Hirashi, Nikusa, all the A.L. Bots, and the Terror Trio. Only his wife possessed a soul, but he would never take it from her—it was a matter of principle.

  Excluding the Absolute Dealer ability, Almodeus could had used the Absolute Resurrection spell, which, as its name implied, could resurrect anyone without limitations, regenerating any damage the body had suffered. However, that spell came with two huge drawbacks for the caster: the first one was the energy consumption; it always required half of the caster's mana, regardless of how many dead needed to be brought back to life. For someone like Almodeus, who possessed an absurd amount of magical power or mana, spending half of it wouldn't have made much of a difference, but the real problem laid in the second drawback: the cost in souls. To resurrect someone with Absolute Resurrection, a huge amount of souls had to be paid for. The ratio wasn't 1:1, but 100:1. One hundred souls were required to resurrect a single person—and that wasn't all, as the cost of sacrificing souls was added to the energy used to cast the spell itself. Simply put, to use Absolute Resurrection, the caster would have had to spend between 60% and 80% of their mana, and all of that to bring a single individual back to life.

  Almodeus would have been paid that heavy price for his daughter willingly... So why hadn't he brought Fiora back to life? The reason was simple: there were drawbacks even for those who were resurrected. Absolute Resurrection brought targets back to life, regenerating any damage, but it didn't compensate for the loss of any levels or items happened after the death. Not to mention that, in this specific case, they were trying to revive humans- who could very well died the next day for who knows what reason.

  Even a single loss had been devastating for Almodea —she didn't need countless of them. C also agreed with the decision not to resurrect Fiora and her group. Their daughter had to learn that suffering is a part of everyone life, no matter how powerful one is.

  Did I do well? Did I make the right choice?

  What troubled him most was that he hadn't told Almodea about this possibility at all. He had always hidden the existence of Absolute Resurrection from his daughter, fearing that her impulsiveness would lead her to use the spell thoughtlessly and harm herself as a result. Almodea was extremely powerful, but she hadn't yet reached a high enough level of maturity to use magic that hard and dangerous. To illustrate better the gravity of the situation, if Almodea used Absolute Resurrection recklessly, she could be left unconscious for days, perhaps weeks, and Almodeus could never allow that.

  "At least she's training with Anxy. She's improved a lot, but still has a long way to go before she becomes a master of Absolute Magic."

  Almodeus muttered under his breath, scratching the back of his neck. Anxy was helping Almodea greatly with her magical training, and the girl had improved exponentially in basic magic. However, she was still far from being on par with her sister Hirashi, despite both being level 100.

  She definitely has great potential, maybe I could...hm? What's going on?

  As Almodeus pondered, screams came from outside his hut, quickly followed by the sound of something large crashing to the ground. Intrigued, he stepped outside his borrowed home and observed what appeared to be trolls at the village entrance. The small wooden bow laid on the ground, knocked down by a monstrous force. One of the three giants had a terrified and crying Gobua in its hand. The one who appeared to be the gang's leader was arguing with Gurd nearby, shouting at him so that the entire village could hear.

  "What do you mean you don't have food for King Yeddu?!"

  The troll bellowed in fury, waving his club as if it were an extension of his arm.

  "Y-You came here five days ago! We don't have any more food! Except what we need to survive..."

  Gurd retorted terrified, glancing at the captive goblin. He was trying to keep the situation from escalating, out of feat that the girl could lose her life. He had lost too many companions to the monsters he was facing in that moment.

  "Then give us everything you have!"

  Shouted the leader.

  "B-But then we wouldn't have any food left for ourselves!"

  "Do you prefer that we take your females away instead? For us trolls, there's not much difference between goblins and food!"

  The colossus concluded, laughing maliciously. He knew he was the strongest, and so he could do whatever he wanted. It was the law of the Dark Jade Forest: the strong eat the weak.

  "You're so pathetic. All brawn and no brains."

  A huge swath of ink was hurled at the troll holding the girl captive. She fell to the ground slowly, as if the fall had been slowed by some magic. A single wave of Almodeus's hand was enough to reverse the situation. All the goblins hid in their homes, while Gurd grabbed the girl by the arm and carried her to safety. After that, Almodeus advanced on the three trolls.

  "W-What is this crap?!"

  The gang leader asked as he brushed off the sticky black slime. He was clearly confused by what had happened- and for a troll- confusion equals anger.

  "Uh Uh! Should I be offended?"

  Almodeus retorted, laughing heartily. The leader didn't take this well and roared furiously, as if to draw the attention to himself. He waved the mace in his hand aggressively, glaring at the demon with his blood-red eyes.

  Red eyes? Is it possible...?

  "Who are you?! What's a slime doing here and why do you look like a human?!"

  Why do they mistake me for slime?

  Once again, Almodeus had been mistaken for a slime, likely due to the attack it used. That race used aquatic skills and were capable of changing their shape, allowing them to blend in with other species if they were a high enough level.

  "I'm not a slime, but I don't think you care..."

  The demon replied, raising his right arm towards the troll leader, pointing the index finger accusingly.

  "I am Almodeus! Lord Almodeus, to you! New master of this village! I give you the chance to leave this place in one piece...if you bow to me."

  "Bhawahahaha! Do you really think you can scare us? We'll eat you and then all the pathetic goblins in this place!"

  The leader raised his club towards Almodeus, glaring at him.

  "Kill him!"

  As soon as the order was heard, the other two brute charged with their clubs and hurled themselves at the demon with terrifying force. Being mountain trolls, they were larger and more robust than normal trolls. These ones in particular stood approximately ten feet tall, with arms strong enough to use pine trees as toothpicks. A single blow from one of these two-legged tractors would have overturned a train.

  However, the attacks of the two trolls had no effect whatsoever.

  "It's true that you trolls have brains the size of an acorn..."

  Those words were followed by a swift movement—and a fountain of blood began to gush. With a swift, clean blow, Almodeus had slit the throat of one of the two trolls. The demi-human immediately raised his hands to his chin to staunch the bleeding, while the other watched in disgust and shock. It had all happened so quickly that they hadn't even noticed.

  "Disgusting."

  The demon groaned, taking of the monster's skin from beneath his claws. Almodeus's body began to boil, transforming into his base form—the containment one. Both trolls and goblins recoiled at the sight of such monstrosity. Even the one clutching his regenerating throat took a few labored steps back, visibly intimidated by the metamorphosis.

  "Don't be afraid! Slimes can change shape! He's big, but we're stronger!"

  "Didn't you hear me when I said I was not a slime?"

  "Shut up! You're clever, I'll give you that! But we trolls don't stay down for too long!"

  The leader was referring to their regenerative ability, which had allowed his comrade- wounded by Almodeus- to survive and be ready to return to the fray. Despite this, it was clear they now considered him more dangerous than a simple goblin.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Oh right, your race skill...sorry! I often forget about it!"

  In his home world, only ice trolls had the so-called regenerative ability. In the new one, it seemed every type of that species had it. This was one of the differences that made Almodeus interested in that new world.

  "Now we'll make you remember it...With a lot of beatings!"

  "Wasn't the previous lesson enough for you?"

  "Who are you even trying to scare? We're trolls! We're immortal!"

  "Immortals?"

  Almodeus raised an eyebrow, smiling wickedly at that haughty statement.

  “Really?”

  In a provocative tone, Almodeus motioned the trolls forward, urging them on defiantly. Being proud creatures who believed themselves invincible, the three immediately succumbed to the provocation, charging at the demon with guns drawn.

  "We will devour you!"

  "Absolute Death."

  Finding himself under attack, Almodeus simply raised his arm, casting the Absolute Death spell, capable of instantly killing anything, regardless of level difference or immunity to instant death magic. Once activated, the two closest trolls fell to the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.

  No moans, no last words; nothing at all...just death.

  "W-What?! Get up, you idiots!"

  "They're already gone."

  "Impossible! A troll would never fall! You didn't use fire! I'm sure of it! What kind of trick is that?!"

  Almodeus's hearty laughter echoed at those words, robbing the leader, the sole survivor of that miniature massacre, of any last glimmer of hope. Despite his instincts sending him endless warning signals, the troll tried to maintain a confident facade.

  "W-What are you laughing about!?"

  "I didn't use any tricks, but an instant death spell."

  "Instant death?!"

  "Exactly. It's called Absolute Death. You trolls are extraordinary creatures! You can adapt to every and any environment! Aside from fire, acid and specific enchantments, there's nothing that can block your regenerative ability."

  Almodeus declared, looking at the other with a toothy grin.

  “That's why I decided to circumvent it using a spell that kills you directly, without even going through the Go! It's also true that you trolls have an innate resistance to this type of spell, but the level difference between me and your colleagues was too great for such natural resistance to really count for anything!”

  Realizing that the person in front of him was beyond his capabilities, the troll began to retreat, but was stopped by black, slimy tentacles, like those of squid, which held him in place and disarmed him.

  "Don't be afraid, I won't kill you! I have a message for your King!"

  "F-For my King? King Yeddu?"

  Almodeus approached the immobilized troll and looked him straight in the eye, before smiling mischievously.

  "Yes. Shut up and listen to me now!"

  The troll nodded quickly, terrified as he had never been before in his life.

  "Tell your lord this: the Dark Jade Forest is not yours to conquer! I give you trolls the option of surrendering to me and not standing in my way, or else..."

  The demon moved closer, so close that the monster could have counted the number of its sharp, yellowish teeth that stained its mouth. The troll was sure that Almodeus could have bitten off its head with a single bite, if he had wanted.

  "...I will show you the true meaning of the word fear!"

  At that statement, the troll began to cry. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't, as if something were choking him from inside his throat. If he'd had his hands free, he would have instinctively torn his head off just to save himself from that torment. He was so terrified that he would have preferred to commit temporary suicide rather than spend another second like that.

  I can just slightly increase the level of my Terror Aura and still have this kind effect? Remarkable...

  Almodeus noted with satisfaction, before freeing the troll from his tentacles. It had taken so little to terrorize one of the most powerful races in that world. It was almost...disappointing.

  "Very good, now go!"

  "Y-Yes!"

  The demon turned his back on him and began walking toward the village. It was then that he heard movement; the troll had grabbed his club and was attempting a rear attack. Almodeus didn't even have to turn to understand it—he simply tilted his head slightly to the right, maintaining a macabre smile on his face.

  "You had better be very sure..."

  The calm tone hid the true meaning of the threat. This, combined with the fact that the demon's right arm had begun to glow red, growing thicker and sharper, caused the troll to instantly change his mind. He quickly turned and began running in the opposite direction, as far away from the demon as possible.

  So, they have a brain, after all...

  "L-Lord Almodeus?"

  "Mh?"

  Old Gurd, who had witnessed everything along with the rest of the village, stepped forward, bracing himself with a stick.

  "If I'm not mistaken, you still had to give me your answer, Chief Gurd."

  "We submit to you. Oh, mighty lord!"

  The old man bowed, and so did everyone else. Some regarded Almodeus with admiration, others with terror. Now that the goblins had proof that the demon could easily defend them from the trolls, they were more than happy to submit to anyone who wouldn't kill or mistreat them.

  "Very well, then. From now on, you are under the protection of Almodeus Fearterror!"

  The demon turned towards the two corpses of the trolls and raised his right hand, making it shine like a beacon in the starry night.

  "Absolute Puppetry!"

  As soon as those words were spoken, the two deceased stood up. Their gazes were dull and seemed devoid of willpower. Their red-white eyes were now as white as a sheet of paper waiting for a pen to write on them.

  "These zombie-trolls will defend you."

  "D-Did you say z-zombie-troll?!"

  The goblins didn't seem too pleased to have undead, trolls at that, as their guards. In their eyes, it was like being placed under the tutelage of an enemy. But they couldn't voice their fears openly, lest they anger Almodeus, their new ruler. If such a being could easily dispatch two trolls, what atrocities could he inflict on them, weak goblins?

  "Don't worry, you can use them in construction too! For defense, I actually have a better idea..."

  Almodeus's right eye lit up, emitting a faint flame.

  “Summon: Summoned Skull!"

  A red A inside a red circle appeared on the ground in front of Almodeus, then duplicated until there were five in total. From each A emerged a large, sturdy skeleton, with bat-like wings, two devil horns, and powerful, sharp claws. These were the Summoned Skulls, level 46 monsters. Contrary to their appearance, they were actually demons, or living undead. Despite this, they still possessed immunity to status ailments such as poison or enchantment.

  "This monster should be enough to defend you. They know both electric and fire attacks, and have good physical strength. The trolls won't be a problem."

  "W-We thank you for your infinite generosity, Lord Almodeus!"

  Gurd thanked him for the hundredth time, watching in amazement as the skeletons began patrolling the village. They had never seen anything so robust and imposing, let alone winged ones. It was further proof of Almodeus's astonishing power.

  "Changing the subject- have you already sent messengers to the other villages?"

  The old goblin shook his head fearfully.

  "Unfortunately, we were blocked by the trolls you just killed. But we'll prepare an expedition right away! Please forgive us."

  “It’s not a problem– let’s try to hurry, though.”

  Almodeus muttered . He wanted to get this situation over with quickly so he could find out how the others' expeditions had gone, not to mention that he could go visit his wife as he had promised the day before.

  “I'll stay in the village until the answers arrive, in the meantime..."

  The Absolute Lord raised his right hand, and a massive portal opened before him. Several mechanical beings emerged, carrying several wooden crates containing mysterious objects. Almodeus had decided to turn the small village into a base of operations, to divert any enemy spies.

  "...I say we renovate this place. Do you agree, Chief Gurd?"

  "Do you want to help us with the construction? -That's great! We're incredibly grateful!"

  "Very well. I'll be in my hut - one of my subordinates will supervise the work. Call me if anything serious happens."

  "C-Certainly! Rest well, Lord Almodeus!"

  The old goblin nodded quickly and returned to observing the mechanical beings. Aided by the zombie trolls, they had immediately begun preparing some construction sites to renovate the villagers' huts. One of the mechanical beings, dressed in a shimmering white robe—so much so that it immediately caught the eye—approached the village chief, offering him a friendly handshake.

  “You are Chief Gurd, right?”

  “Exactly! You are one of the servants of the Lord Almodeus, right?”

  "Correct! My name is Morello, and I'll be in charge of security here during the renovations. If there's any trouble, you can come to me instead of disturbing the Absolute. I'll provide armed escorts for your messengers."

  “You are very kind, Mr. Morello.”

  Gurd was genuinely surprised by the other's calm and respectful tone. Being a goblin, he expected to be looked down upon, especially by a subordinate of a being as powerful as Almodeus.

  "Just Morello is fine. We are all allies, illuminated by the light of the glorious A of the Absolute."

  Morello replied candidly, sounding almost fanatical. Gurd simply nodded, surprisingly finding himself in agreement with the robot. The Absolute Lord had accomplished such impressive feats that everyone in the village had begun to see him as a veritable deity. In essence, the two shared a similar vision of their master.

  Meanwhile, Almodeus reverted to mimesis form and entered his hut, sitting on the bed and letting out a loud sigh. Leaving everything to Morello would allow him to return to his wife sooner than expected, but he didn't feel like exploiting a trusted subordinate. This wasn't a monster created out of thin air—Morello had earned the respect he enjoyed.

  That's done, I think we should think about the next move...

  “Lord Almodeus, sorry to disturb you.”

  The demon heard Anxy's voice in his mind. He immediately realized he'd been contacted by the Call spell an cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice strong and confident, despite the dozens of thoughts racing through his head.

  “Go ahead, Anxy.”

  "Well...We have a predicament."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Whaaaaaaat?! What do you mean: the Dark Jade Forest isn't ours to conquer?! How dare this insolent microbe!"

  Yeddu- the Troll King- roared, slamming his great sword on the ground. Being a weapon as large as a small tree, it caused quite the noise.

  "I-I don't know, Sire! I only know that the person who told me this is called Almodeus, and he is very powerful! He eliminated two of our people in one fell swoop!"

  The leader of the failed expedition raised his right arm, making a few noises as if mimicking Almodeus's movements. The king frown immediately silenced his subordinate, who realized he was being taken for a fool.

  “If they were as weak as you, then I'm not surprised!”

  The King shouted at him, utterly devoid of pity or regret for the fate of those beneath him.

  "A rebel goblin village is against my plans! Go back there with more trolls and kill them all! I want this Almodeus's head on a golden platter, surrounded by delicious goblin guts!"

  The King's voice shook the cavern with its rage. However, the fear of facing Almodeus again led the subordinate to decline the order and beg his ruler to reconsider.

  "You useless coward!"

  With a single blow of his sword, the Troll King cut the subordinate in two, knocking him to the ground. Yeddu was colossal, even for mountain trolls, and his strength was far beyond the average of his species. The troll expression changed to an amused grimace as he heard his subordinate's cries, intent on healing his wound. While tough to take down, trolls were not immune to pain.

  It must hurt like hell, he deserves it!

  "Don't you dare cross me! Or I'll—"

  "Lord Yeddu! It seems excessive to me!"

  The colossus was interrupted by a short figure, dressed in elegant white robes and wearing a plague doctor's mask. He approached the sovereign with a casual air, almost as if he weren't facing a monster over 20 feet tall.

  "I decide what's excessive! Rather...do you know how much longer I have to wait until I finally evolve into a Doom Troll?"

  "It's almost time, Your Majesty! Trust your faithful servant Gerud!"

  The “doctor” declared, bowing in front of the king.

  "The seed I fed you is absorbing all the dark energy of the victims through your subordinates! All this thanks to the ability I gifted you!"

  He was referring to the Ruthless Devourer ability. That skill allowed a troll to absorb the negative energy produced by selected underlings. If used correctly, it allowed for the evolution into a Doom Troll, a demonic variant of the troll specie.

  "Yes! You were useful to me, you nullity! But what did you come here for? Weren't you experimenting in your slaughterhouse?"

  "Correct, but when I heard about the rebel village, I knew you wouldn't take it well, so I came here to prevent you from making hasty decisions! Almodeus is certainly a problem, but I wouldn't deal with it right away."

  "What?! But he openly challenged me! He must be eliminated!!!"

  "You will do so, but not now! What's the point of wasting resources in this very moment? You already lost two trolls to him! Let's not give that guy any more lives for free! Uh Uh! Remember! The fewer trolls you have, the slower you'll become a Doom Troll!"

  Gerud's giggles brought blood to Yeddu's ears, but his own pride forced him to obey. Once he became a Doom Troll, he would reign supreme not only as the King of Trolls, but as King of All. He already imagined himself as ruler of the entire Dark Jade Forest. At that vision, a sinister, evil smile spread across his face.

  "All right, I'll turn a blind eye this time. But at the end of the war, I will be the one to win! The great and mighty Yeddu!"

  With a triumphant roar, the troll shook the entire cave, causing all the other servants to join him in chorus, in a huge triumphal chant.