The next morning brought no cheers, only the bitter smell of resentment, unwashed bodies, and dried blood from the previous night's battle.
Kai Ren stood in the square like a king who had already conquered a graveyard.
Ten dark summons stood motionless behind him, red eyes glowing faintly in the violet dawn.
Five hundred villagers gathered in front of him, faces a mixture of exhaustion, fear, and barely contained hatred.
"Stone from the northeast quarry. Timber from the western forest. Two hundred carts by sunset."
Kai Ren ordered, voice cold as winter steel.
"Anyone who refuses to work gets no clean water when it finally comes. Simple."
Nobody moved.
Then Finn Harlan stepped forward, jaw locked, and picked up a rusted pickaxe.
His broad shoulders were tense, but he started walking.
That broke the spell.
Work began under the watchful eyes of the dark summons.
The Weak Evil Warriors carried boulders three times their size with terrifying ease.
One accidentally dropped a massive rock; the boom sent a dozen villagers flying backward like bowling pins.
Dust rose in a cloud.
Old Man Renn sat up, completely covered in dirt, and shouted,
"Even your demons have butter fingers! At least they're consistent — useless and scary!"
Little Mira, the fearless seven-year-old, clapped her hands and laughed.
"Do it again!"
Kai Ren watched everything in silence, his new Minor Soul-Linked Watchtower already active in his mind.
Through it he could feel faint emotional pulses from every person — red for fear and hatred, green for emerging loyalty.
Most were red.
But a few were different.
Finn's pulse was deep red rage mixed with a thin thread of cold determination.
Little Mira's was bright blue — pure, fearless curiosity.
Old Man Renn's flickered between yellow amusement and surprising green acceptance.
Interesting. Not everyone is broken.
To test them, he gave a silent order.
A Weak Evil Warrior "tripped" and dropped a heavy crate of tools directly in front of Finn.
The crate would have crushed a normal man's foot.
Finn didn't flinch.
He caught it with both hands, muscles straining, set it down safely, and glared at the summon.
"Tell your master I'm not impressed by cheap tricks."
Kai Ren smirked from afar.
Good.
He's strong and not easily scared.
Potential.
Later the same warrior blocked Lira's path.
She screamed curses and tried to push the summon with her bare hands.
But Little Mira ran forward, tugged the warrior's bony finger and said sweetly,
"Excuse me, big scary man, my aunty needs to pass. Please?"
The summon actually stepped aside.
Fearless and kind even to monsters.
That's rare.
Kai Ren made a mental note: Mira and Finn were the only two showing green loyalty threads so far.
As the sun began to set, he moved to the broken eastern wall.
He placed his palm on the largest crack and activated
[Blackroot Reinforced Wall].
Black energy flowed out.
Dark roots snaked through the stones like living veins, fusing them stronger than any mortal mason could achieve.
The wall grew visibly taller and darker in front of everyone's eyes.
A few villagers stopped working and stared in awe.
One whispered, "That… that's not normal magic."
Kai Ren ignored them, but the mana drain was brutal.
His vision blurred for a moment and he had to lean against the new wall.
If I push too hard, I'll collapse before the real fight begins.
Late that night he stood alone at the poisoned well, the sickly green water shimmering below.
Finn appeared from the shadows, lantern in hand.
"My father knew the hidden silver veins,"
Finn said quietly.
"I'll take you there tomorrow. But I want to be the one to kill Garrick. No summons. No system tricks. Just me and him."
Kai Ren studied the man's face.
The loyalty thread had grown slightly thicker.
"You could have let that crate crush your foot and blamed me,"
Kai Ren said.
"But you didn't. Why?"
"Because I'm not stupid,"
Finn replied, eyes burning.
"And because this village needs to survive… even if the new lord is a bastard."
Kai Ren allowed a small, cold smile.
"Bring me the silver by tomorrow night. Then your father is yours. And Finn… keep proving yourself. I reward useful weapons."
Finn nodded once and disappeared into the night.
Kai Ren looked back at the well and whispered,
"One more day…"
But the quiet voice in his head refused to die: How many 'one more days' until you become the same monster you once were?
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Dark Origin Blueprint System Updated!
New Blueprint Unlocked at Level 10: [Minor Soul-Linked Watchtower]
(Detects enemies up to 10 km)
Loyalty Pulse Scan Active — 2 potential subordinates detected.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Kai Ren
Level: 10
Title: Lord of Deadhollow
Souls: 962
Active Summons: 10
The watchtower pulsed once inside his mind exactly at midnight.
[ALERT: 32 hostile signatures approaching from the northeast.
Estimated arrival: 4 hours.
Leader – Plague Warlock Valthor,
Level 28.]
Something far worse than Boryn was already coming.