Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

The air was still around Alaric. Specks of dust settled in the air, as the keep inside hadn't been thoroughly cleaned yet. He was sitting inside the throne room, on a large metal throne, thinking about the events that had passed.

He had spent all day putting together large buildings for the thousands of people to lodge inside. They were by no means luxurious, but they would make due for now.

His heartbeat steadily inside his c.h.e.s.t. The reality of defeating Inian, and losing Ethan had settled in his mind, but he knew that his work was far from over.

The immediate threat had been eliminated, and Irigia was still his enemy, but the danger of Weton attacking them if they attack Alaric has stopped them for now. The Empire would most likely join forces with Irigia if war broke out.

Alaric sighed; they were looking at another full-blown world war, like the one many years ago. With Trostan and Ranid joining together into his new Reark Kingdom, the threat has increased to their surrounding neighbors.

Luckily, the monsters all now served him, with Mornbeast helping to control and guide them. Alaric had asked Mornbeast whether Duskhood would become a threat or not, and Mornbeast assured him that he would not be a threat. Duskhood is a wild spirit of death, but he did not seek out to kill. He sought out places where the dead already lingered. Duskhood would stay to himself, and wouldn't fight others. This gave Alaric's mind some peace.

Suddenly, the doors to the throne room opened, and Eli walked through. Alaric asked him, "any news?"

Eli nodded, "Heros's efforts have born fruit, as he's found thousands of citizens in hiding. He explained to them what was going on, and they were all more than happy to join the Reark Kingdom. The bad news is that maybe 5% of them are soldiers, and the rest of the workers, women, or children. So our military might hasn't grown that much."

Alaric nodded, "that's okay. With my power increase, I've been able to create many more automatons, in much less time. I tested it out, and I'm able to make at least 60 automatons within 5 minutes if I focus."

Eli's eyes widened, "damn...that's quite some firepower. Why aren't you making more now?"

Alaric smiled, "being honest, I wanted to rest for a moment. A lot happened, and I needed to take a moment to feel and understand everything. I lost my closest supporter, Ethan, and I lost hundreds of lives fighting against Inian, who is also my father. Now, to top it all off, Ethan and Inian are trapped together in Ethan's world, to exist and suffer there for eternity. Now, I command the size of two nations, and somehow I'm trying to take over the world. I needed to take a moment and remind myself why I'm doing all this."

Eli tried to reassure him, "you're doing this so that there won't be any more war. You're doing this for all monsters and people now. There are a lot of people counting on you now.

Alaric nodded, "I know...you don't need to remind me. Anyway, what are our funds like right now?"

Eli answered, "we have a bit of a surplus since many of the mercenary groups we were paying have sadly died. Some of that surplus has gone to medical supplies and food for the flow of people coming in."

"Use any extra income to start furnishing the homes around here. Especially this keep. We want people to get comfortable when they get here. Also, start putting people to work. We are opening up trade with Rudor and Weton. Seyukha is refusing to trade with us now that they've received word that we are a legitimate nation. Haha, they hate us for taking a bunch of their mercenaries."

Eli cringed at Alaric's empty laughter. Alaric stood up and began walking outside with Eli following, "I want farmland to be started in the North, along the old border between Ranid and Trostan. Get people to start cleaning up the area around here as well; I don't want anyone getting sick due to uncleanliness. Find jobs for people to do. Having the citizens sit around being bored is helpful to no one. "

Eli nodded, "okay, anything else?"

Alaric said, "You're going to be handling logistics from now on. You, Barry and Sarah. Heros too once he gets back. I used to have Ethan handle most of that, but now I need you all. Especially for the day to day stuff. I won't be able to take care of it once this Kingdom grows more. Find more ways to get income for the Kingdom aside from Mercenary guarding. We can't rely on any other nation for resources if we want to become self-sufficient."

"Okay, I'll take care of all of that."

Alaric looked outside, and he saw many people working, and many people sitting around. The sun beat down on the metal structures, heating the already hot area around them.

"How are we doing on water?" Alaric asked Eli.

Eli answered, "I believe we're fine for now. There's an oasis that we've been transporting water from not too far from here."

"That's good for a temporary measure, but I want you to create a more permanent solution. Create a canal from the rivers up north, so that we can have a constant stream of water flowing to the city."

"Yes, sir."

Alaric sprouted his wings and jumped into the air. The people pointed and gasped when they saw him flapping overhead.

Alaric strengthened his voice to echo throughout the city, between the hundreds of buildings that were now constructed, "people of the Reark Kingdom! My logistics coordinator, Eli, will be coming through, providing jobs to all. This is strictly volunteer; I'm not making anyone do anything they are not willing to do. However, I would ask for your help. This is a critical time for the Kingdom, and I need your help to create the foundation for your children and your children's children. Please, help me make a Kingdom for the world!"

The people stood up and cheered, "King Alaric! King Alaric! King Alaric!"

Alaric nodded and flew back down to the ground. Eli raised his eyebrows, "you have changed Alaric. You aren't the friend I once knew who struggled to make decisions. You also seem sadder."

"I'm afraid that's how things need to be right now. There will be time for happiness once everything else has settled down. Where's Sarah and Barry now?"

Eli pondered, "I think they are on the Southern edge of the city; they are gathering more soldiers to strengthen the Southern and Eastern edge of our borders."

"Good, I'm going to give them some help."

Alaric flew back into the air and flew about a mile to the West. He got there within a minute and landed on the ground.

He looked around the area, at a sight that would frighten even the bravest of Generals.

Thousands of automatons were standing at attention, waiting for an order to be given. Alaric had transmuted the area so much to make these automatons, that a large crater had formed around the machines.

"Automatons! Follow me!" Alaric yelled.

Alaric lept into the air, and the roar of the machines followed, as thousands of automatons lept into the air.

Alaric flew South, a little bit past the city where Sarah and Barry were. A few sh.i.p.s were on the ground, and they were being loaded up to transport men over to the behemoth level ship that was currently on the Reark Kingdom's Southern border.

Alaric landed first and was followed by the thousands of automatons. The machines shook the earth when they landed.

Sarah walked up to him with her mouth wide open, "when did you do all this?!" She asked excitedly.

"Oh, it's been hard to sleep at night, so I would go and spend time making automatons every once in a while."

Sarah clicked her tongue, "every once in a while, my broken bones! That's a whole freaking army!"

"Yes, and I'm giving them over to you and Barry. I want you to command them and help defend our borders. I'm going to create more automatons to have in reserve, in case a massive army comes marching in."

Sarah raised an eyebrow, "how are you even powering these things? I know monster cores aren't in great supply."

Alaric said, "solar power. I can only make model one automatons, as anything higher would require another powering method, but they are highly cost-effective with solar power."

Sarah whistled, "that's quite the army then. Alright, we'll take them to the Eastern border. With the size of the two nations combined, we have a lot of ground to cover now."

"Good."

Alaric went back into the air and observed everything around him. For a brief moment, he felt free, as if the whole world had loosened its pressure on him. Elden City was being built one building at a time, and his army was growing with every passing moment. Soon, he would accomplish what he set out to do, which was to build a Kingdom that the whole world would finally have peace with. Soon..."