Spellcasting Gods

This means that even if Baron Calanster killed Melroth, there would be no legal issues, and it would fall within the scope of what is reasonable and legal.

Clearly, from the moment he met the beautiful and charming Mrs. Melissa, he had already fallen into a trap carefully set by others, and then, in the midst of the surge of desire, he was silently forced to drink poison.

“That’s right! It’s us! As for the reason, it’s because you’re too much of a hindrance and could cause unexpected problems in our future plans, so we have to get rid of you first.” Kerwin calmly raised his glass, took a small sip of the dark red wine.

"Get in the way? What exactly are you plotting?!" Melrot asked through gritted teeth.

Kerwin shook his head slightly: "I'm sorry, I can't tell you, because my master forbids it. Alright, let's end this boring conversation here, Baron, kill him."

"As you wish, sir."

Baron Kelanster stepped forward abruptly, bracing himself against the flames spewed from the enemy as he sheathed his sword. His head rolled to the ground with a thud.

The glaring blood sprayed several meters high before the headless corpse collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“It’s simpler than expected, isn’t it?” Kerwin’s eyes gleamed with an unusual light.

Without a doubt, he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of wielding the power of life and death, especially since the other party was a guild leader of the spellcasters' guild who had once made him wary.

Isolt retorted sarcastically, "Of course you're simple! But do you know how hard it is to get a bottle of sludge worm venom glands? I spent a full 25,000 gold coins to buy it from the black market. Now that Melrot is dead, let's begin to fulfill the agreement we reached earlier. From today onwards, you will command the army and the territory, while we will command the power of magic, and we will not interfere with each other."

“No problem! This is my master’s arrangement, and I will naturally not disobey his orders. But there is one condition: you must provide magical assistance to my army. After all, waging war against a country is no easy task, and without magic, those monsters alone certainly cannot withstand the berserk power of the court spellcasters.” Kerwin quickly proposed the terms of the exchange.

“Sure! But let’s not make any big moves at the beginning. Let’s set a small target first, which is a whole western province. It’s sparsely populated, and the lords are mostly relatively independent. If we act quickly, we can bring it under complete control before the royal family can even react,” Isolte suggested.

“A good suggestion! I will consider it.” With that, Kerwin turned and looked at Kelanster, who was gazing at the vast green grassland above. “Baron, thank you and your wife for your assistance. I guarantee that once the formal invasion begins, you will get what you want. At that time, I will give you an army to personally kill your old enemies and wash away the shame of your family with their blood.”

boom!

Baron Kelanster slapped his armor hard and knelt down solemnly on one knee: "I swear! As long as you can help me complete my revenge, I am willing to be loyal to you for life and will never betray you."

"I accept your allegiance! Go, take your wife home. There may be some bloodshed in the city in the next few days, so don't get involved for now."

"understand!"

……

Melroth's death meant many things, most notably that after his death, the Spellcasters' Guild fell directly into the hands of Isolt and his cronies.

In addition, Kerwin finally took action and began to eliminate those who refused to submit to him wholeheartedly.

In less than a week, more than 500 people were publicly executed in the city, and 2,000 people disappeared without a trace.

He used the most ruthless methods to integrate all the resources and power within his territory, and with the continuous stream of monsters departing from the magic tower and arriving at the city walls, an army powerful enough to sweep across the western provinces was ready to go.

As the seasons changed, this city, which had been completely transformed into a war machine, finally reached out its claws to its nearest neighbor.

Under the cover of night, more than five thousand monsters bypassed the main road and advanced along the dense forest. Then, taking advantage of their opponents' momentary lapse in attention, they launched a surprise attack and won their first victory with blood and death.

Slaughter!

Ruthless slaughter!

To ensure effective rule, Kerwin left no noble prisoners, slaughtering his uncle's entire family and keeping only the young noblewomen as spoils for himself and his important vassals.

Chapter 1054 Dominance

"It seems the plan is going very well, isn't it?"

Staring at the image transmitted back by the magic mirror, Zhang Cheng rested his chin on his hand, a faint smile appearing on his face.

With Kerwin officially declaring war on the surrounding lords, he had already occupied the entire western province in less than a month and a half.

Due to their incredible speed, most opponents didn't even have time to react before the sturdy castles and walls were overrun by endless monsters, leaving no time to call for help.

To be precise, given the relatively primitive communication methods on this planet, the kingdom probably doesn't even know what's happening here yet.

By the time they realized what was happening, there would be no resistance left. They would either obediently submit and become mere tools, or be executed along with their entire families.

It is important to understand that overthrowing the existing ruling class through riots or other means is never an easy task in any era. Putting aside the astonishing disparity in equipment, the sheer difference in quality between mobs and professional armies is enough to create an absolute crushing defeat.

Many so-called large-scale uprisings in history were actually initially ignored by the ruling class, which gave the enemy time and opportunity to grow stronger and gradually transform from a rabble into a professional army.

Otherwise, as long as the ruling class takes it seriously, any uprising launched by ordinary people will not be able to truly shake the foundation of their rule, even if it is a complete tyranny.

Allens placed one hand on his chest and bowed deeply in response, "Of course, Master. You gave them so many monsters; if they can't even wage war against a rabble, they're utterly useless."

“Don’t be so harsh. You must understand that conquering, occupying, and ruling are three completely different states. The first only requires destroying the existing ruling class, the second requires destroying the vast majority of the resistance forces, and the third requires getting the civilians in the occupied territory to accept the new ruler and eliminate both psychological and physiological resistance. Our Lord Kerwin is clearly not satisfied with the first two; he wants to become a king in the truest sense.” Zhang Cheng explained meaningfully.

After all, conquest has never been a difficult thing. Just like those famous conquerors on Earth, whether it is Alexander the Great, who is praised by the Western world, Genghis Khan, who is known as the strongest butcher, or Napoleon, the greatest commander of France, their achievements seem to be brilliant, and they brought large areas of land under their control in one fell swoop.

But actually?

They merely occupied the land superficially, without purging the existing vested interest groups. Instead, they granted them benefits and privileges, turning them into their supporters.

The advantage of doing so is that it allows for the maintenance of rule at minimal cost, the restoration of order in occupied territories, and the continuous supply of various resources and taxes.

As for the downside, it is that after the person dies, the vast empire he built will collapse and split into countless forces that each govern themselves.

Undoubtedly, this was the easiest form of conquest, a political and military opportunism that failed to achieve either political integration or cultural assimilation.

But Kerwin was different. He knew how to use his power to destroy the original ruling class in the occupied territories, win over those who were frustrated or suppressed, and then rebuild the ruling structure to ensure that he would always be the core of the rule.

Zhang Cheng sensed an ever-growing ambition in this guy.

"King? I don't think so! Besides, what does a mere king who rules over mortals mean to you? Without your support, he would soon be devoured by countless enemies." Allens pursed his lips, making no attempt to hide his contempt for Kerwin.

"A mortal?" Zhang Cheng glanced at the young man out of the corner of his eye, then quickly shook his head. "Don't underestimate mortals! You must understand that when a mortal's power reaches a certain level, they too can slay gods. What truly determines victory or defeat is never some lofty position, nor some worthless reputation, but power—absolute power. If you are strong enough, you can kill all your opponents, and even evil can become justice. But if you don't have enough power, even if you occupy the moral and legal high ground, you cannot make a strong person pay the price. Power is truth, power is justice, power can give you everything."

"Understood! Rest assured, I will not let anyone surpass me. I will always be your most capable assistant." The young man bowed again.

"I hope so! You know I'm not a very patient person, and I don't have time to wait for you to grow slowly. So, take my gift to Kerwin's side and help him defeat the powerful enemy that is about to come. This is a dangerous trial, go and prove yourself."

After saying that, Zhang Cheng waved his hand gently, indicating that the other party could leave.

"As you wish!"

Without saying a word, Allens turned around and disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Judging from the fire blazing in his eyes, he yearns for a stage to prove his strength more than anyone else.

However, the young man was completely unaware that no sooner had he left than Zhang Cheng stood up, smiled slightly at the balcony of the top-floor room of the tower, and took the initiative to greet him: "Hello, unknown ruler, may I ask what business you have with me?"

"Ah! You found me! What a pleasant surprise!"

Accompanied by a sharp, piercing sound, an unidentified creature, less than half a meter tall and emaciated, slowly emerged from the darkness.

It looks like an insect, with a thick carapace covering its body, a semi-circular head, twelve eyes evenly distributed on both sides, and a mouth-like mouth in the middle.

"Who are you?" Zhang Cheng frowned subconsciously, immediately raising his alertness to the highest level.

“You can call me Gru! As you wish, I am a ruler of the Chaos faction. I happened to be passing by and noticed some string-like fluctuations, so I came to check it out. I didn’t expect you to be playing an interesting game here,” the strange ruler who called himself Gru explained.

Zhang Cheng clearly didn't understand the other party's intentions, and cautiously continued to probe, "So?"

“So I think… maybe I can join this game too. After all, the best way to hone your skills isn’t to figure it out alone; you need an equally matched opponent. Of course, I won’t attack you directly. Instead, I’ll follow what you’re doing and choose a faction to create creatures using the power of the rules. Let’s see who has a more thorough grasp of the power of the rules,” Gru suggested, waving his bent limbs.

"That sounds pretty good! But I think since it's a game, there should naturally be some rules."

“That’s right! Since you’re a newbie, you’ll go first with the first rule.”

……

Chapter 1055 Gru

Without a doubt, the Dominator is the supreme life form in the entire universe, holding ultimate authority. Its terrifying power can even create star clusters, intervene in a species to rapidly evolve from its most primitive state, and then establish a magnificent space civilization.

However, the vast majority of rulers are not like those depicted in many science fiction works, who enjoy creating and interfering with the process of civilization.

On the contrary, they prefer to observe from the shadows and occasionally conduct a few unknown experiments and games.

As a member of the Chaos faction, Gru doesn't like to have too much contact with his own kind.

Although he believed that chaos was the norm in the universe, he was not particularly keen on disrupting and destroying order.

In his view, no matter what form of order it takes, it will inevitably collapse when it develops to a certain point and merge into endless chaos and disorder. Therefore, there is no need to waste time and energy fighting with the order or neutral factions. As long as we wait patiently, the universe will inevitably return to its original state.

Of course, as a ruler who has lived for an unknown amount of time, he is very happy to see new people joining his faction.

After learning that Zhang Cheng had become the ruler, he scattered his eggs to every corner of the universe in an attempt to find his trace.

As it turned out, perseverance paid off. After traversing the higher-dimensional universe for a long time, they finally discovered that there were actually string-like vibrations on this remote and isolated planet.

Without any hesitation, he went straight there and discovered the small experiment Zhang Cheng was conducting.

How interesting!

How novel!

So much so that Gru couldn't resist joining in, wanting to play a game with this mysterious new Overlord, a game where the entire planet's life was at stake.

Whether the life on this planet will undergo significant changes or become permanently extinct is of no importance.

In the eyes of the rulers, all intelligent life, including humans, is essentially no different from how humans view ants. When they are in a good mood, they throw some things as a reward; when they are in a bad mood, they stomp on them and crush them into mincemeat. In more extreme cases, they can pour insecticide and boiling liquid metal into the ant hole to clean it up once and for all.

There's no moral burden involved!

It will not generate false sympathy!

After several hours of discussion, they finally finalized the specific rules for the entire game.

Gazing at the other party's strange appearance, Zhang Cheng asked with great interest, "Can you tell me about the Overlord? I'm very curious about what you usually do, that you can tolerate several organizations launching superstring wars and watch them continuously destroy and devour star clusters."

“Heh, you’re still young, you can’t understand us old folks stuck in eternity. Curiosity has long since vanished from our minds and souls, the entire universe holds no secrets for us. Of course, the appearance of you and another of your kind has brought new brilliance to the once-silent universe. That’s why I left my dwelling and aimlessly searched for the two of you,” Gru replied, waving his bent limbs.

"No secrets?" Zhang Cheng raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Gru nodded without hesitation: "That's right! There are no secrets! You see, although the universe is vast, almost boundless, the rules and forces that maintain its operation are indeed fixed and have not changed since the beginning. When you begin to deeply understand the meaning and power of your own existence, you will find that the rules of the universe are actually very simple, so simple that they are completely open to life like you and me, without any secrets."

"I see!" A hint of understanding flashed in Zhang Cheng's eyes.

From the conversation just now, he has deduced that the ruler who is merged with the main string has actually become one with the entire universe. As long as he finds the key within himself, he may be able to open the treasure vault and obtain endless knowledge and power from it.

"Don't rush, my young friend. You are still a newly hatched egg, and it takes time to incubate. Trust me, this process is incomparably wonderful. Don't think too much, just immerse yourself in it. No other ruler will attack you at this time, not even an enemy." Gru seemed to sense something and took the initiative to comfort him.

"Why? Wouldn't it be better to nip the enemy in the bud?" Zhang Cheng clearly couldn't understand this way of thinking that allowed the opponent to grow.

Gru shook his round head and explained, “Don’t use your mortal mind to imagine how the Overlords behave. We are the supreme life form in this universe, representing the will of the entire universe to some extent. Nothing can truly kill us. The so-called factional struggle is not essentially about eliminating the other side, but about forcibly changing their ideology. You know, in the Chaos faction, three members defected from the Order faction, and the Order faction also has members who defected from Chaos. It’s not the faction that determines our behavior, but your heart and soul.”

"Sorry, I still don't quite understand!" Zhang Cheng frowned, feeling his brain in a state of logical confusion.

It's not surprising that the Overlord cannot be killed.

What truly surprised him was that the factions of the rulers could be changed, and it seemed that they could be switched at any time without fear of being purged.