I opened my eyes, feeling surprisingly well rested despite the nightmare. I shook my head as I tried to recall the dream but found that it was all foggy with only the feeling of calmness at the end to remember. Strange, I don’t think that’s ever happened before…

  Oh well, I’m just glad to be able to get through a decent sleep. I stretched and yawned as I stirred myself up only to be shocked to see Paimoth standing near the bed in front of me!

  “Paimoth! How long were you standing over there?!” I asked loudly in surprise.

  The Shadow Moth bowed with one arm while his wings unfurled and fluttered in joy. “For a while Master Vladimir.”

  “I-I see…” Something with the way he said that felt a bit weird.

  Okay maybe he’s more enthusiastic about serving me than even Mordred is. No harm to that, I guess.

  “So does that mean you finished with the ritual cleansing?” I asked with a bit of hopeful tone in my voice.

  The Daemon lowered his misty head. “Yes, my master. The foreign Mana has been eliminated. They should be back to their old selves once they wake up.”

  I leaped out of my bed and rushed to Paimoth and grabbed his jacket tightly. “Really?!”

  Paimoth took it in stride with his eyes glowing more brightly. “Of course, Master. This was an important task you have given me, and I dared not disappoint.”

  “Let’s go then! Best to greet them as soon as possible!”

  “Understood Master Vladimir. But first let’s get dressed up. A ruler like you must be presentable after all.”

  The Shadow Daemon got to work, to speed up the process he used his shadow tendrils. In a matter of seconds all of my gear has been properly equipped. Thinking back to before on how they reacted I gave one of the dark tentacles a pat which responded by shuddering. I could swear that the Paimoth flinched at the same time as well.

  They started to sway in place as if to show how happy it was before it stopped and suddenly grabbed me!

  “Just something else to help give a strong impression.”

  The shadows start to slither and reshape themselves around me before settling on a different form.

  My eyes lit up when I got a good look at it. They transformed into a hazy throne of darkness! It….it……looks so awesome!!!

  Paimoth chuckled to himself as he continued. “Now let us go meet them shall we master?”

  “Yes lets!! Time to meet your new ruler Veehahahahaha! ~” I enthusiastically yelled and laughed.

  We returned to the holding cells to check up on my fellow monsters. All while I was riding on my amazing Shadow throne which moved on its own with my Daemon butler right behind me. When we came in, we saw that they were all still asleep, already it looked like they had more emotions in their faces. They seemed more relaxed and not at all empty like before.

  I decided to wait for them to wake up on their own rather than forcing them awake. We didn’t have to wait for long thankfully as some of them started to stir with more following along. Some rubbed their eyes while others rubbed their head. All of them looked confused and tried to remember what happened.

  Finally, one of them started to speak. It was one of my fellow kobolds. “What…wait… were am I?!” He started to panic, remembering his last moments aware and checked his body for any damage.

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  The rest of the monsters respond in turn, checking their surroundings while trying to recall the last thing they could remember.

  It took some time before they realized we were there, waiting for them to get their senses together. At the surface, they seemed to be mentally well. No signs of the lifelessness that disgusted me.

  “Who are you?” a harpy asked.

  I smiled as I did my best introduction. “Welcome back everyone! You’re now free from the magical influence that the previous fat bastard of a human king of the Mivtic Kingdom has put you through”

  Hearing my description of him, the smaller species of monsters flinched and nearly scurried to the corner in fear. The rest though were raging mad, they definitely had something they wanted to say personally to him, and I don’t blame them.

  “Where is he!? I’ll squash him like a bug!!” The orc screamed, stamping so hard on the ground that he was shaking the room.

  “He’s dead” I flatly said silencing everyone as I continued. Talking with some smug confidence for extra measure. “I Personally did the deed myself. No one would miss him.”

  Right on cue some of them started to laugh over the idea of a ‘Weak Kobold’ being strong. I quickly dispel their skepticism by using my [Material Forge] and break apart the bars with more ease than last time I did it. I was getting better at handling Mithril that was laced inside the bars though it does still take more out of my Mana.

  They looked on with shock, but I kept my confident smile as I explained. “Now that you all are cured, it’s time to bring you back to your brethren. They waited long enough so you should return soon. They’ll explain further the details when you get there. ~”

  They were confused, unsure how to take all the news given to them but agreed, nonetheless. They wanted to return to their people and reassure them that they’re okay.

  I sent them off outside of the borders, trusting that they would get back safely. Soon enough, they will all join back to serve me. I’m quite confident in that. ~

  With that lingering mess that was looming over me lifted I could better focus on my empire’s development. I’ll come by in a few days to each of their settlements to see if they have an answer. With the rooms cleaned out I could finally renovate them to something more appealing to me. But then I remembered there was still one thing to deal with in there.

  I still need to figure out what to do with the Golem! We still haven’t figured out how to activate it!

  As if on cue, Paimoth got my attention. “Excuse me, Master Vladimir. I couldn’t help but notice the inactive Golem. I’d like to ask if you wish to activate it.”

  “Wait you know how to activate the Golem too?!” I asked, getting further excited over a potential new henchman. ~

  “Yes, back in my country there had been a few successes with reviving deactivated Golems. I managed to take a quick look at it after I had finished my task, and it seems that its Mana Core was the only thing missing. Everything else seemed to be functional. I suspect that someone had forcibly taken its core for other means.”

  I clicked my tongue, suspecting that it was probably the old king’s doing. I wouldn’t put it past him to waste such a valuable item. Never mind that now, what matters is waking up the big rocky monster. “Right then, I’ll get Mordred and Damian to help carry them out while I make sure they can fit the Golem through. There’s a good chance that the [Mana Core] is still somewhere around the castle. Paimoth I’ll need you to-”

  Paimoth had already had a shadow tendril appearing while holding out a gray colored orb. It looked like there was a crack on it. “I have already procured the core for you Master Vladimir, I suspected you would want it. Or at the very least find some use for it.”

  He held it in his hand, inspecting the crack on it. “Unfortunately, it seems to be a bit damaged. I would need to take the time to repair it. As well, it would need to be recharged with new Mana. I would request that you recharge it with your own Mana after repairs Master Vladimir.”

  I agreed to my butler’s request as I called over my two strongest henchmen to do some heavy lifting.

  “You got it boss! Carrying that should prove easy for me! I won’t even need that Bear’s help! ~” Mordred mentally pronounced.

  “Don’t be shy Mordred, Vladdy wanted us both to help him with this. Don’t worry Vladdy, we got this! And once we do this for you, I’m going to give you the best hu-”

  I immediately cut the call off, my body trembling from the inevitable. Soon after I got a message from Mordred.

  {“Please don’t leave me with this affectionate freak!!!”}

  I ignored the message, wanting to not think about that for a moment. “Alright Paimoth, time to wake up my new Golem Henchman! I think I can wait for them here, I’m sure they can bring the Golem here no problem. ~”

  The Shadow Moth chuckled and bowed as he summoned my shadowy throne for me as I sat comfortably and waited with impatient excitement.

  {“BOSS BOSS HELP!! HE’S HUGGING ME SO TIGHTLY!!!”}