King Boleslaw hurriedly donned the Artificer Power Armor that Magos Kivior had gifted to the first king. The multi-barreled laser mounted on his arm restored his courage.
He still remembered testing its power on the training grounds when he was eighteen. A single volley had destroyed a Miguel Steel Training Dummy.
King Boleslaw shouted to his personal guards, "Attack with me! Kill the rebels!"
Then he strode toward the palace gates.
He had taken only three steps when the gates were smashed open with a tremendous crash.
The king's guards charged at Nimrod.
King Boleslaw raised both arms. He had finally found an opportunity and ruthlessly pulled the trigger, sending dozens of beams in rapid succession toward the gates.
The beams, powerful enough to pierce armored vehicles, bored through the backs of several loyal guards' heads. He felt no sorrow. As long as he could kill that daemon-like enemy, everything was worth it.
King Boleslaw saw two beams strike the giant and punch through his armor.
His eyes widened. The giant did not fall, nor had the lasers even pierced through him. Once the dazzling light faded, all he could see through the two holes was that the giant's lustrous skin had dimmed slightly.
Monster!
The next moment, Nimrod used Flash Step to appear before King Boleslaw and sent him flying more than ten meters with a single punch.
When Howard and the others climbed into the palace at the top level, they saw only King Boleslaw embedded in the wall, transformed into a living sculpture.
The blond noble stood stunned for several seconds before coming to his senses. A new era had arrived. As one of the first to surrender, he needed to show the new king his value.
"My lord, if you wish to control Tezwork Hive, you must win the support of the Adeptus Mechanicus."
Seeing that Howard was not nervous, Nimrod made a guess and activated Spirit Sight.
After practicing, he had tried integrating Spirit Sight into his superhuman senses following his genetic awakening.
Rather than tapping lightly at his brow as usual, he successfully activated Spirit Sight a second later through Psychological Suggestion.
"You seem to have a plan. Let's hear it."
"My lord, what the Adeptus Mechanicus truly cares about is Tezwork Hive's industrial output, as well as the share of resources and products they can collect."
"House Finde has always maintained close ties with the Adeptus Mechanicus. I am willing to represent you in negotiations with Kaminski."
Nimrod saw Howard's aura colored with red passion and excitement, along with white light and positivity. It suited the emotions of someone who had just pledged allegiance to him and was eager to prove himself.
"Very well. You will represent me in negotiations with the Adeptus Mechanicus."
Nimrod and Howard quickly established the basic principles. Howard would negotiate the terms, while Nimrod himself would make the final decision.
He deactivated Spirit Sight, accepted the communicator Howard handed him, confirmed the communication channel, and spoke.
"Order your men to enter the defensive positions around the Hive Spire and establish a defensive line."
Thanks to Howard's surrender and the collapse of morale, several turrets remained operational.
His confidants currently lacked the ability to operate such sophisticated weapons, and House Finde's loyalty still needed to be tested. Nimrod decided to have them handle the outer defenses.
"Yes, my lord."
After accepting the order, Howard immediately led the family guards out of the Hive Spire and used the defensive positions to establish a defense.
Bukayo and Rawlslev came before him. The short blade in the young man's hand was soaked in blood. Having completed his revenge, he spoke.
"My lord, I have slain all the remnants of House Boleslaw."
"Only House Boleslaw's prince, Robert, is not in Vostonia."
"I interrogated his wife. Oceanic Movement, which supplies food to Vostonia, was invaded by xenos. Kaminski came in person, and Robert ultimately led the family's armed forces there."
By the time that prince returned, Nimrod would already have the overall situation under control. What concerned him more was the xenos threat.
"Xenos pirates?"
"My lord, she does not know the details. She only knows that Magos Kaminski requested it, which was why Robert personally led the team there."
Nimrod nodded. If he wanted to learn about the xenos, he could only ask later.
Rawlslev then said, "My lord, the Hive Spire has been sealed off. The purge is underway."
Nimrod ordered Rawlslev to establish defenses and clear out the remaining enemies within the Hive Spire, then said to Bukayo.
"Act alone and scout the situation in the Upper Hive."
"Yes, my lord."
The two had also found communicators on the corpses. After exchanging communication channels, Nimrod dismissed them and returned to the Kingdom of Disorder from the empty palace.
Nimrod suddenly felt that his body had also gained that light, floating sensation.
Could it be? After advancing to Sequence 8, my body can enter the Kingdom of Disorder as well.
The next moment, his body vanished from the palace.
After arriving in the Kingdom of Disorder, Nimrod immediately discovered that the entire Realm of Black Mist had changed once more.
On the other side of the black bricks beneath his feet, thirty-three layers of space seemed to be hidden deep within the swirling mist.
Many buildings could be vaguely seen in every layer. In the highest layer stood a majestic and magnificent palace.
He tried going to the space on the other side, and his body immediately arrived in the lowest layer there.
He tried going higher, but his body did not move. Clearly, he had not gained authority over the other areas.
Nimrod came before a stone house and compared the other side where he had been before with this space.
This place is more real. Time passes here, space has meaning, and even the buildings truly exist.
The other side seems to be this place's shadow. It is more illusory, unaffected by physical laws, boundless and infinite.
With a thought, he returned to the real world.
The changes in the Kingdom of Disorder can be treated as a refuge.
Hmm? My physical body entered a real kingdom.
Nimrod's black eyes gleamed as countless strange ideas surged through his mind. He decided to test them later and determine whether those ideas were feasible.
With another thought, he arrived before the Blasphemy Slate on the shadow side and indeed found that it had changed again.
The Sequence 9 potion formulas for all twenty-two paths had been unlocked, except for two: Abyss and Prisoner.
As for the Sequence 8 potion formulas, none were described except Barbarian. He turned his attention to the Sequence 7 potion formula for his own path.
Sequence 7 Briber potion formula: Main ingredients: 1 Night Fragment, 1 Umbra Beast. Supplementary ingredients: 1,100 milliliters of Helas Volt, 1 Space Ape Light Sculpture. Extraordinary abilities: ...
Seeing this, Nimrod could not help frowning. He realized that advancing to Sequence 7 would be impossible in the short term.
This was not only because the three materials other than Las-Vault were dim on the slate, but also because of what he knew about those materials.
In a sense, the Umbra Beast was the easiest to find. They lived in the void and were drawn to areas that resonated with the Warp.
If a ship made a Warp voyage, it would certainly attract Umbra Beasts. Yet the Tech-Priests and mechanics responsible for the Warp engine and engine vents rarely noticed them, as they were only eighty millimeters in diameter.
Space Apes were creations of the Old Ones. They lived in large family groups of a dozen or so individuals and wandered randomly through the Milky Way. Their only goal was survival.
Night Fragments were psionic substances possessed by the Flao. In the future, Imperial diviners would use them as focuses for divination.
The Flao had established a nomadic empire in Segmentum Obscurus. Like the Space Apes, finding them required a little luck.
Nimrod felt slightly disappointed as he thought to himself.
After conquering Vostonia, I'll cooperate with the Adeptus Mechanicus, leave the planet, expand into the surrounding regions, and gather potion materials along the way.
He left the Kingdom of Disorder and returned to the real world, then walked to the wall.
When Nimrod removed the ring from King Boleslaw, he still could not fully control his suddenly increased strength, so he tore off the king's hand along with it, like pulling a carrot from the ground with the dirt still clinging to it.
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