As long as the stone I am targeting is wrapped in my mana, if I connect that mana to the ring, it should transfer it. It is partially based on the enchantments of the ring and partly on my knowledge of gates. However, if it doesn’t work out I do have another plan ready, just in case.

  Originally, I just planned to take as much stone as possible, but the presence of beastman slaves changes that. I target the stone around the gate and then the walls on either side of where the slaves are. If it works, the gate will collapse and sections of the wall will vanish as well.

  Once all of the stone that I can fit into the ring is covered by my mana, I take a look behind me. Leonarr signals me that the army is ready, so I connect the mana to my ring and hope for the best. The wooden gates and the metal portcullis behind it are left standing alone as all the stone vanishes.

  Where the beastmen are standing, the wall on either side disappears leaving them standing on pillars. In all, one large breach and four smaller breaches are created in the wall. Of course, the humans who were standing on those sections get to find out how merciless gravity can be.

  With a roar, the army behind me charges forwards, not giving the humans any chance to get over their shock. As for me, I gather up all of my remaining mana and send a pulse of it into the city. Just like I did once in one of the hallway worlds, the pulse is targeted at the slave collars.

  Due to having already used most of my mana, it may not cover the entire city. It should however cover most of the city and free all of the slaves within that range. I have had more than enough experience with the slave collars that humans use to target them specifically.

  The beastmen left isolated on the sections of the wall have their collars fall apart. Before the humans near them even realize what happened, the beastmen grab them and throw them off the wall. Luckily, they throw them into the city and don’t hit the charging members of my army.

  With the wall breached, I actually don’t need to do anything else, the army will handle it. They rush in and quickly overwhelm the human defenders, but they don’t attack the civilians. In fact, any of the defenders who surrender are spared and taken prisoner.

  That is a good thing because a lot of them surrender when they see the army charging through the city. Those who continue to resist are dealt with quickly and efficiently, it is completely one sided. Without being able to use the wall to defend, the humans cannot match up to my army at all.

  The city falls within the hour and my army suffers very few casualties. There are quite a few wounded, but we have healers so it won’t be long before they are back in action. I don’t really need to stick around to watch, but I am waiting for my mana to recover enough to gate away.

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  As I am waiting, I watch the reactions of the civilians, some are happy and others obviously aren’t. They might have been happy to see the nobles fall, but they didn’t want their nation to fall. It looks like Lin was right, I am going to need someone to tie these people to me.

  Fear can only keep them in line for so long and then it will turn them against me and my people. They might not even wait for me to die before the revolts start, I need to avoid that. It looks like the emperor’s daughter is going to be an important person after all.

  I am just going to have to hope that she has a decent personality and can get along with the others. I really don’t want to have to take more wives, but it might just be the best option. Thinking of that, I take out my medallion and contact Muyaun to check on the situation.

  Muyaun says “My people have managed to delay the wedding and the loss of their forces has further delayed it. Right now, the wedding is on hold until the situation becomes clearer.”

  “That will do for now, but let me know if that changes. Also, if you can, get someone close to the princess and observe her.”

  Muyaun says “As you command!”

  By the time I am done talking to Muyaun I have enough mana to gate back to the trade city. Of course, doing so drains my mana completely again, but I have things I can do here. First on the list is seeing how Haab and Gruu are doing and if they have made a decision.

  It turns out to be easy to find them since they are here in the palace with Sarah. I shapeshift into my beastman form and then make my way to the meeting room they are in. I quickly get the greetings out of the way and then take a seat at the table with them.

  Haab says “You don’t need to say anything. Everything you told us has proven to be true and we are willing to swear loyalty to you on behalf of ourselves and our tribes.”

  “That is good to hear! Three new tribes will go a long way to helping to stabilize this city and a lot of our plans.”

  Gruu says “Three?!”

  “Oh? Didn’t Sarah tell you? The ogre tribe has also joined us.”

  Haab says “The ogres! They really joined you?! How did you talk them into it? They normally don’t listen to anyone!”

  “I defeated their five strongest warriors at once. That was all it took.”

  Gruu says “Strong!”

  Haab says “You defeated them?! Yeah, that would do it! It looks like we made the right choice!”

  “They have already moved their entire tribe to the military base. They are obsessed with getting stronger.”

  Haab says “The apes are similar. Most of them are going to want to join the military. A few of my people will also want to, but most of them will want other kinds of jobs.”

  “That is fine. We need people in all areas. Do you want me to help you move your tribes to the area around the city? Or would you prefer to move on your own?”

  Haab says “I think it would be better to move on our own. It will give our people a chance to get used to all the new ideas before we arrive. Besides, it will take a few days before they will be ready to move and I don’t want to waste your time.”

  Sarah says “I will have everything ready by the time your tribes arrive.”

  Haab says “Thank you.”

  “Would you like me to return you to your tribes? Or do you still have things that you want to do in the city?”

  Haab says “Yes, please. The sooner we return, the sooner we can explain all of this to our people.”

  “Alright.”

  I quickly draw some mana from one of the crystals and use it to open a gate to near the tribes. However, before they go through, Haab and Gruu kneel down and swear their allegiance. Only after I have accepted their vow do they get up and head through the gate.