Chapter 22

The next day, Kaito was watching the news before logging into Gaia, frowning immediately.

"All schedules return to normal."

They were completely ignoring the twelve mandatory hours Gaia required, and the players below level 10 who couldn't even control their own access to Gaia, among other things.

Even if someone could sleep inside the game to meet that schedule, many simply couldn't because of the constant danger. And even if they did manage to sleep, the real issue was how that would affect their development within the world. Maybe some still saw it as just a game, but most Lords took it seriously: a real world, with real rewards.

And the worst part wasn't even that.

They had declared that "it was for the best," claiming that Lords could take care of their own problems, among other ridiculous excuses. It was strange... as if they were trying to provoke them on purpose.

Something weird was going on, and it didn't take a genius to notice it.

---

Kaito sat on his stone throne in a massive hall that took up nearly half the entire Lord's mansion.

Despite its rustic appearance, the throne was surprisingly comfortable.

Behind him stood Koneko in silence.

In front of him were Korran—the same one who had once stood against him when he approached the goblin village, now captain of his combat forces—and Silver, who used to be a silver wolf, but had become an entirely different creature.

Kaito had used the summoning, extraction, and mutation tower on his race. Thanks to that, what were once simple wolves had become Hellhounds.

Two-meter-tall dogs—previously a size only the leader had—covered in pitch-black fur, with flames running across their bodies. Their presence alone made the atmosphere hotter and more oppressive.

After their mutation, they not only regenerated from any wound—even death—but also gained fire-based attacks. Their bites caused internal burns, their claws left flames in their wake, and they could even envelop their entire bodies in fire without using mana, since it was part of their bloodline, not magic.

Their intelligence was now similar to that of a human, except for one thing: they couldn't speak the language. The only exception was Silver, who could communicate perfectly.

In fact, his current form was more imposing than the others. He had two heads instead of one. Apparently, when Hellhounds reached a certain level of power, they evolved into Cerberi. Silver had shrunk his size with an ability so he could be present in the throne room.

The reason both of them stood before Kaito was simple: the day before, he had ordered them to scout the surrounding areas.

With permission, Korran spoke.

"There are no intelligent races nearby. Just goblins, orcs, and other wild beasts and creatures. At first, we found it odd, but soon understood why."

Kaito nodded, inviting him to continue.

"About fifty kilometers east, we found a large settlement. It doesn't seem to belong to a single race; the leader is a dark elf. And seventy kilometers west, there's another similar place. The entire area between both settlements is just wild land."

Kaito nodded thoughtfully. He'd heard this area belonged to the dark elves, so it didn't surprise him. What was strange was that he hadn't encountered any until now. But with this new information, the reason became clear.

"Do we know anything else about those towns?" he asked.

"Nothing" Korran replied, shaking his head. "We didn't dare enter without your permission."

"That's fine. Gather as much information as you can, but discreetly."

Korran nodded, stood, and left the room.

Then it was Silver's turn.

"What's the situation?" Kaito asked.

"Easy. Most of the tribes are small. Even the more civilized ones, like orcs or goblins, barely have basic defenses. With our forces, we could conquer the whole area."

"Perfect," said Kaito with a firm nod. "Still, let's not get overconfident. I'll assign you more units for backup and to allow operations in multiple locations at once."

Silver nodded seriously, though his wagging tail betrayed his excitement. Then he left as well.

Alone now, Kaito let out a long sigh.

"Ugh… this is exhausting. I'd rather talk to them in my normal tone."

"That's not possible," Koneko commented beside him.

"Your territory is still small, but it will grow. If you don't start forming your image as a leader now, it'll be impossible later."

"Yeah, I know… but it's still annoying," Kaito grumbled before looking at her. "By the way, how are you doing here?"

"Well, it lacks entertainment."

"True, we're just getting started..."

As they talked, Kaito stepped out of the throne room and observed his territory.

There were already enough basic houses for everyone. Soon, they'd finish individual homes. Once those were ready, everyone would have their own place, and the basic houses would become temporary shelters for new units.

Besides that, the only other completed building was a communal bath. For now, the territory was quite monotonous.

But it was progressing.

Just as he'd promised, Kaito went to the summoning tower and summoned more Hellhounds, each costing 500 gold.

According to the system, their real value should've been 5,000 gold, but by adding the phoenix gene manually, the costs had dropped significantly.

He summoned enough to reach a total of 150 Hellhounds, nearly draining his gold and leaving him with less than 1,000.

Until now, he hadn't summoned any demons. They were too expensive and, for the moment, unnecessary. His current stats were comparable to a mid-class demon, with speed rivaling an almost supreme-class one—or at least a high-class demon specialized in speed. Koneko, too, was a high-class demon in her basic form.

For now, they didn't need more power. The Hellhounds would begin expanding across the area and generating gold regularly, which could later be used to summon demons if needed.

With not much else to do, Kaito spent time with Koneko until he logged out.

---

Back in his room, something felt off.

Even with his enhanced senses, the atmosphere was unusually silent, except for the sound of the TV.

He went downstairs immediately and found his sister silently watching the news.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Upon hearing his voice, Sora turned toward him with a worried expression.

"Big brother! Mom… she…"

"What happened?" Kaito pressed, concerned.

Sora pointed at the TV. They were broadcasting a live protest. Lords were demonstrating in the city center… they had taken over several stores.

Kaito understood instantly. One of those places was where his mother usually did her shopping. Given the time, she should've already returned, so she was probably still inside.

Without thinking, he rushed out. Near the area, he changed his appearance to look like an ordinary guy: brown hair, brown eyes, no distinguishing features.

Thanks to his speed, he arrived in no time. The central plaza was surrounded by shops, all taken over by the protestors. The police had encircled them.

Kaito ignored everyone and went straight for the supermarket. In the back, he found many people sitting on the floor. He spotted his mother immediately.

One of the men guarding them raised his voice.

"Something's coming!"

His companions looked at him in confusion, but knowing his abilities, they got ready.

Still, it was useless.

They only saw a blur, then felt a hit that knocked them out instantly.

In the real world, most people could only use 10% of their Gaia stats. That meant twice the strength of a normal human. Some exceptional individuals could manage more, thanks to special abilities. But against Kaito—whose physical power was more than ten times stronger—they stood no chance.

He could've escaped with his mother right away, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid being seen. And if discovered, they might attack others.

Kaito wasn't a hero… but he also wouldn't let someone get hurt because of him.

So he took out all the guards before getting his mother out of there.

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