《His Lordship》 Grim Algorithms "His will commenceth, all hail our Lord" These were the last words of the holy army. In the age of Lords, nothing was certain. Lands were for the taking; feuds were plenty. For no Lord had absolute power, and no sane man would dare to grasp for it. But one would eventually emerge from the depths, a man of godly power and foresight. He who ruled the seven kingdoms, the supreme being: his Lordship. The age of Lords has passed, wars were fought and the fire has all but vanquished. His Lordship is nowhere to be found, lost in the abyss. Oh heavens, what was his name? Who knows? Only folktales remain and they are far from the truth. Only I know of his legacy, I would never cease to obey his Lordship; for I am cursed. He will come back one day, I''m sure of that and when he sees this sinful world, he shall cleanse it. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Huh, is it morning already? Sigh... Lev woke up, like every other day. He sometimes fantasizes about not waking up, just eternal silence would be enough for him. Everyday life was harsh for him. The long projects had broken him down. Lev could''ve gone for better, of course; but he wasn''t ambitious and to be honest, he was very lazy. A normal job would''ve never worked well for him. This day began like every other day and will probably end in the same pattern: wake up, work on his project, eat, sleep and repeat. At least, that''s what Lev expected. A loud noise emitted from Lev''s desktop. His desktop was like his child; he would spend all of his free time on it. Programming was his main activity all day long. But this was different, this was a very specific noise for a notification. Lev looked at his monitor and a wide grin appeared on his face. "YES, YES, YES! Finally!" Lev was enthusiastic, almost too happy. He felt like his brain was about to be overflown by dopamine. ''Had the simulation finally reached its conclusion? It''s end-state?'' Lev thought as he checked the algorithms¡­ The A.I. had successfully simulated a world for thousands of years. Well, it was only mere days for Lev, but digital time showed that over 10.000 years had passed, The first being, a human-like A.I. that Lev created a few weeks ago was to serve as the foundation of his artificial civilization experiment. Lev wanted to see if one being could start the chains of civilization. The being was given general knowledge about the ancient world, similar to our history. It knew how to grow crops, build houses and so forth. Lev was glad about his project, turning out a success. Lev decided to let the simulation run for a couple of days and terminate it afterwards. He added the ability for the being to multiply itself. Lev was intrigued by this world. How could he not? He had made it and studied it for weeks. Lev felt as like this world was getting more and more familiar to his own. Lev didn''t like his world, but something from that world he created attracted him. Was it the power to change the simulation? He was like a God to those beings, wasn''t he? What if he could... Integrate himself into the system? "Nooo... That can''t be, I don''t have the knowledge or materials to import my soul into that simulation." He said as he brushed off the idea. After a long day of work and study, Lev went back to his bed and dreamt about his world; a world of endless possibilities, a world where he would finally be the center of everything. Lev woke up the next morning, a new anomaly awaited him. The being had created 100.000 similar beings and villages emerged all over the world. The beings were teaching others about the knowledge that they had acquired. Lev would sometimes give other beings more knowledge, see it as a starter kit upgrade. Lev was satisfied with this progress. He became more and more addicted to his world. He couldn''t stop thinking about it, every day was different. The beings would constantly build more and more and advance their civilization. *BEEP* *BEEP* The final day had emerged. Lev''s clock was beeping, but Lev had slept on his desk that night. He opened his eyes and saw something that he had never considered possible. The beings he created were intelligent, yes. But they had their limits¡­ "A statue??? Are they praying to some God?"This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The beings had gathered around a tall statue. The statue itself was simple and looked like one of the male beings but in stone. Lev should''ve expected this when he created "human-like" behaviour algorithms. But he was still surprised by it. This fueled his curiosity even more. "Am I.. Going to end this? I mean, I have all the necessary data." Lev finally went to his own bed that night, he hadn''t slept much this past week. He couldn''t stop thinking about the beings and their statue, their beliefs. After countless thoughts, he eventually succeeded in falling asleep. His dream was cloudy and unclear. "Hello Sir, can I help you?" Lev woke up on a bed of cold wet grass. A little girl stood right beside him. "Sir?" Lev shook his head in disbelief. How could this be? He was in his bed just a mere hour ago. The girl ran away, Lev didn''t know where to. He stood up and looked around; a beautiful view engulfed him. A giant plain field of grass welcomed him. He saw the girl again, this time she was accompanied by another man, her father? "Hey? Where am I?" "Aren''t you silly? You''re in Mora, land of Lord Morath." "Errr, you really should get off my property" "Lords like Morath don''t like trespassers." Lev ran away in distress. "What is that fella doing? Did I say something wrong?" Lev stood up and walked away, he was still not believing this new reality. Those two looked like standard assets from his project. A male asset and a female asset model. Is he... Inside his own world? The world he always dreamt about visiting? Lev roamed the plains for an unknown amount of time, he never felt hungry or tired. He had pure silence accompany him, he didn''t know what to do. Shouldn''t he have answered the man? I mean, he only looked at him with a weird and dumbfound expression. He must''ve looked like a poor wanderer and who''s this Lord Morath? The simulation never showed any hierarchy in society. Lev saw something in the distance, was it a city? He saw huge walls surrounding some kind of settlement. With no other way of knowing more about this world that was so similar to his simulation, he travelled down the path that leads to the settlement. He approached the gate and the settlement was clearly bigger than he had expected. It looked like a city, a big one. The language that had been written on the front gate was unknown the Lev; he still wonders if this world uses the same language that he speaks. He could understand those two, right? "Come and see, magic from the outer lands!" A market square could be seen when Lev had entered the gate. Lev walked to the man displaying this "magic". "Yes you there lad, come here and admire this exotic magic!" Lev didn''t see any magic that day, the man was holding some kind of metal ball. "What kind of magic is this? You''re just holding a ball..." "Hey Hey, don''t be soo ignorant young lad. This is a magic ball, it gets attracted to this other E X O T I C piece haha!" The ball got attracted to another flat looking piece. "A magnet? Do you call that magic?" "What''s a magnet? Haha you aren''t from here, are you? Now, tell me more about that magnet of yours!" Lev told the man everything about magnets. He explained to him the inner workings of magnetism and how it applies to that metal ball. "Ah, I see, haha! I''m still sure that this is magic though." "Well, it''s a magnet, don''t call it magic." Lev walked away from the market square until he found a silent street. He had enough time to realize his situation on those plains. But now, he can study their society. So they do have a market? They surely have larger cities compared to the ones in my simulation... Lords? Religion? Lev did see a statue similar to the one he saw back at his desktop. Lev walked to a man wearing a long black robe. "What does this statue represent? I can''t read the engravings..." "Oh young man, are you a true follower of the Supreme Being?" "No, I am not? Is this supposed to be the Supreme Being?" "Yes yes, you better bow before him after doubting him!" "Sigh..." Lev knew enough. This looks like a society similar to the early middle ages. A society like this is easy to manipulate he had thought. The Supreme Being? Are they talking about me? Lev had a wide grin when he thought about that. Being a God isn''t that bad I suppose. They would never believe him to be a God though, how could he rise to glory? A LORD! Yes, I will become a Lord of my own. I mean I do have powers right? I made this world and got transported to it! So... Where are my powers? Lev tried to summon a fireball by thinking about it. He concentrated very hard. *FSSSHTTTT* A fireball had appeared on top of Lev''s left hand. "Haha! I knew it! I do have powers!" Lev''s smile was dark, almost evil. He knew where his place was in this world. On top of everyone else. He has long dreamt about dominating this world and now was his time. His powers were similar to the ones he created for the simulation. Powers that he made to troll the beings when he got bored with them. I will come back to this place, not as a poor wanderer. I will come back as¡­ "A Lord?, An old raspy voice said." Lev was shocked when he heard this. He looked behind him and there he was. That same man, dressed in a long robe. "My Lordship, the Supreme Being, I have awaited thee. I saw the truth when I looked within your soul. I felt the creator, you!" The man smiled as wide as Lev did. He saw the power within Lev. "I''m sorry my Lordship, I shall bow to thee. I do have plans for you if you would allow me to speak, my Lordship?" Lev waited for a second¡­ "Of course, you may call me Lev." "Aaahh and the Lord''s name shalt be Lev then! I admire thy name! Bring forth glory to thy realm, I will!" "His will commenceth, all hail our Lord" Deus Vult "You may call me Zero-One oh grateful lord" "Th-this can''t be!" Zero-One was the equivalent to Adam in our world! Lev''s twisted mind and desire to play God whilst simultaneously running the CIV project had played the better part of him. Yes, that''s right, the first being was called Zero-One and was given that extra starter kit, extra knowledge. Zero-One was given the knowledge to start the chains of civilization. "So, how old are you exactly?" "Hmmm, I lost track a long time ago, excuse me for my lack of knowledge my Lordship. If I had to bet, I think about 30,000 years old." Had the simulation been running for that long? It was only a couple of weeks for Lev and thousands of years for Zero-One? "Hey, Zero-One, why don''t I give you a better name" "A better name? But how can this name, given by you, the supreme one, be faulty in any way?" "Sigh, let''s call you, erhmm, Theta" "Theta? Sounds, like MY LORD HAS UNLIMITED KNOWLEDGE!" "How come? Err, leave it, I can guess your thoughts by now, I guess" "I knew you had great powers, my lord, but being able to read the minds of lesser beings like myself, is, is WONDERFUL!" Although Lev didn''t mind being called a Lord or the ''Supreme One'', he still hadn''t achieved much in his new world. A first step would be to conquer this little city. How could Lev achieve this? "L-lord Morath" "Yes, my lord? He owns pretty much this counties'' land" "Do you want me to assassinate him? I would be glad to murder in thy name haha!" An assassination? It didn''t sound bad at all, but Lev still had something better in store. It would be better if Lev won against Morath in a duel! Yes, a duel would suffice and guarantee a name and place for him in this world''s hierarchy! "What about a duel, ahem, Theta?" "A duel? Are you sure my lord? Morath is pretty strong! Couldn''t we better execut-" "Do you doubt my abilities, Theta?" "Oohoh! No, my Lord, forgive me for my ignorance! Punish me! Pleeeease!" Theta did seem to be genuine about that last statement. He really did admire his new Lord. He had been living in this world for over 30,000 years after all. Lev was certain about one thing though: if he''d win this duel, he would easily earn the respect of the other lords, if there were any. "Where does this Lord Morath live Theta?" "Well, it seems that every Lord here lives on the highest point located in the city!'' "So you mean that huge mansion up that hill, right?" "You can put it in that way as well my Lord!" Lev walked up to the mansion''s main entrance and aggressively banged the front door. "HEY! Does Morath, ehm, LORD MORATH live here?" A tall man dressed in regalia answered the door. "What can I do for you? Peasant." "HOW DARE YOU CALL MY LORDS-" "I want to speak to Lord Morath, as soon as possible." "Hmm, Lord Morath is currently busy counting his regional tax. I''m sure an illiterate peasant like yourself has no business accompanying him whilst he performs his excellent counting abilities." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version."Well, then I have to force my way in, I guess" A wide smile appeared on Lev''s face. *BANNG* "Oh my, I must''ve used too much power!" "My Lord is this truly, your maximum amount of power?" "I was making a joke Theta..." "I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I''m s-" "WELL! Let''s find Morath, shall we?" "Of course, my Lordship!" Lev searched every hall, every corner and every chamber until he finally found the counting room where Morath had taken the pleasure to count his abundance of regional tax. "Hello there, Morath, may I speak to you now?" "Erhm? And who are you? How can a peasant even attempt to ent-" "I''m here to challenge you to a duel!" "Don''t let me laugh, plebeians like you should know their place." "Well, I guess my counting is over, I will enjoy myself with breaking your fragile mind!" "No Lord Morath, we are not playing a game of wits today! It''s time for an actual duel. We shall see who stands as the victor after this duel of strength." Lev knew that his powers would overthrow Morath in mere seconds. At this point, Lev was just preparing to humiliate Morath in the best possible way. Duel him in front of all his so-called peasants. "We''ll duel in front of all this city''s population!" "Well well, aren''t we a little bit full of ourselves, erhmm-" "Call me Lev." "Lev! Yes I will remember this name when I defeat you" *Smirk* Lev was trying to get hold of his laughter, he couldn''t jeopardize this perfect plan! Once this Lord was dealt with, all of the town folk would instantly respect him, right? "Let the duel start! Our grateful Lord Morath shall duel this outsider! All hail Morath, our beloved Lord!" "ALL HAIL MORATH! ALL HAIL MORATH!" A duel in this world meant certain death to one of the opponents. In this world, a duel was fought till death. If one were to challenge a lord in such a duel, he could, in theory, earn all the land of that Lord regardless of the Lord''s relatives and heir. Lev knew this, he had studied this during history class in 11th grade. Every simple society such as this worked this way. Ancient Lords had fought duels for land and glory in Lev''s world. And Morath got his fame from duelling the previous Lord. "Let''s start the duel then! May glory engulf the victor! "I''ll show you true strength, peasant, any last words?" "No, do you?" "Heh?" "I guess not then." *FSSSSSSSSSSSSST* A powerful plasma had pierced through Morath''s torso, his vital organs were non-existent. The man was coughing up blood and screaming in agony. "HOW!" COUGH "How, could you amass such power? Who are you?" "I''m just a Lord like yourself, Morath, from another world that is, but still a Lord." "What?" COUGH "What kind of Godly being could gift you such strength" The crowd was silent, no one spoke. Intense silence had silenced the mouths of thousands of local peasants. "Two words Morath, two words.." "What?" COUGH "Deus Vult" "What do you mean? What kind of language is this?" "God wills it, Morath, I am God." "Impossible!!!" "I will save your life, of course, don''t worry, I can easily replace your damaged asset - I mean body.." "I mean, how could a Lord like myself, live without his loyal servants?" "You have to be kidding me! I, lord Morath wi-" "Will either die or become my loyal dog..." "AH!" COUGH "I..." COUGH Morath paused for a minute, collecting his breath and thoughts. Would he really die? A being as powerful as Lev, serving him would result in glory. Morath would rather be God''s dog than dying in front of so many people. He would eventually gain respect again by serving Lev in his every desire. "I accept..." "Aaaahh how delightful! A new servant for my Lordship!" "Now Theta, you should take care of our pets." "Oh, I''m sure butler Morath will deliver!" "A BUTLER? A-ARE YOU SURE?" "Well a butler doesn''t sound that bad, I need my daily refreshments." Lev knew that he never had hunger. He still liked the idea of Morath feeding him steak and wine. Isn''t it great to be a Lord? This county now belongs to Lev and soon the other lords will hear of his powers. It wouldn''t take long to take over this duchy if there was a duchy. "Well shouldn''t my people, applaud me?" Out of nowhere, the crowd started to laugh and applaud. Not out of free will, of course, Lev had the power to manipulate everything, even assets/bodies. "PRAISE OUR NEW LORD, LEV! PRAISE HIS LORDSHIP!" "D E U S V U L T" And thus God''s will commenceth. True Evil What makes a person evil? Is it the will to annihilate everything at first sight without remorse? Is it strive to perfection that goes with a perfect plan? Absolute power or benefiting from others to help not only yourself but also your accomplices? Lev had thought about this for a while now. He knew that his power was limited as in the games he had invested so much of his time in. His power originates from his Dev Kit. A Dev kit doesn''t include a button to kill all the lords or become one. If it had been that easy, Lev would''ve been sitting on the corpses of thousands by now. No, there has to be something more to his life in this world. Being evil doesn''t include making mistakes. Lev knew that if he had shown all of his powers in that duel, he would''ve destroyed his only chance of reaching ultimate omnipotence. The other Lords may consider him a worthy opponent, but if they knew of Lev''s true power, they would''ve instantly created a worldwide revolt against Lev and his road to glory. No, now is not the time to be reckless. He had to do it all by himself. Theta was a nice gadget to have but was only fixated on Lev, his beloved Lordship. Morath wasn''t even worthy of being a butler and his advisors were ignorant of the world and the knowledge it possessed. Asserting your dominance by claiming to be God was not the way Lev would go about this. Being a Lord would be his goal. Not just a Lord, the Lord. "Lord Herald, I have a message from Count Klavius!" "Give it to me." "A meeting between the Lords? Haha don''t let me laugh, those incompetent wine drinkers would never dear to waste my time with something as silly as a meeting." "L-L-lord Morath??? Defeated!?!? Such lies! How dare they speak of these lies! Lord Morath claimed the lands of Lord Darius, a respected general in the King''s army!" "Still, it would be wise to hold a meeting in this case. Those damned wine drinkers finally did something sensible!" Lord Herald was rather curious as to why Morath had been defeated. He had one of the largest duchies in the kingdom. He fought many wars for easy land grabs. His chest was filled with gold and his counts were loyal. Herald was the only respected Lord in the kingdom, the people loved him for his leadership and progressive laws. Yes, he did fight wars for land but the lands he had won over were better off with him than the previous Lord. He would rebuild the infrastructure and install a new government in each new county he conquered. "O-oppose Lord Herald? Are you sure my lordship? I do not doubt thy strength but attacking the land of the most powerful and respected Lord after only defeating Morath?! Wouldn''t it be wiser to-" "Silence Theta, like you said: don''t doubt my strength, or I will show you my potential right now." Theta went silent, sweat dripping from his aged and balded head. "I''m sorry my lordship! Let''s recruit an army straightaway! I know some good Generals that can-"This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "No army and no generals." Lev''s throne room was yet again engulfed with silence. A dark aura arose from Lev''s body. Everybody, even the servants, felt it. Lev was serious about this. "I know enough Theta, thanks for informing me about the other Lords, I can now be sure that there''s a King out there." "A king is nothing without his lords, the lords possess most of the duchies and thus a great deal of the kings land." Lev knew that this was a risk he had to take. If he were to solo Herald''s whole army with limited power, he would not only destroy the morale of the other armies and their lords but also cripple the king''s ability to strike back and not reveal his true powers. A King''s land is split in duchies, each duchy has a lord/duke and each duchy consists of different counties with their respected counts. If a count falls, the system would just continue its loop of transferring power. If an incompetent duke with a small duchy would fall, the system would interrupt but eventually continue. It''s clear that targeting the king wouldn''t be wise at all. The people respected their king because he had the most power and wealth. The king claimed to be blessed by God. Ironic isn''t it? Claimed by God? Hehe... Killing the highest ranking lord would avoid a mass mobilization of the king''s army and instantly cripple their defensive response. "Lord Herald I have another message for thy!" "From Lord Lev? Who''s this pretender? I have never heard of any lord going by that name." - Lord Herald, I have seen your potential and considered you a worthy opponent. You may have the privilege to share your soldiers'' meaningless lives in this war in my glory. Their lives will finally be worth something after I have ripped their souls straight out of their weak vessels. Fret not, for I have a seat at my holy table. A seat as general of his Lordships'' holy army, my creation! It would be a shame to decline this offer; I would have to leave the seat empty and toy with your soul as well. "Is he boasting? No one has the power or right to ask this of me and my army!" "Messenger, send this lord to my domain immediately!" A few days passed and Lev heard of Herald''s response. That same dark aura had returned. Lev had grown a wide grin on his face. "Lev, how dare he defy thee! I will personally slaughter him and his family." "No Theta, he''s already done with. His response showed me his ignorance and actual worth." "He has no place in at my table..." Lev travelled to Herald''s domain and entered his gardens. Lev had equipped himself with black armour and an enclosed helmet to hide his face. "So this is ''Lord'' Lev? Haha!" "Silence, Klavius; there''s something about this Lev." Herald felt it as well, a dark aura, the same that had mortified all of Lev''s servants for months. The same aura that forced the citizens to applaud after Lev''s duel with Morath. "I sense something unholy in him. Something that I would''ve never considered possible." Lev walked up to where Herald was seated. Herald felt sweat dropping from his lousy clothes. An inhuman smile appeared on Herald''s face as he realised something. "This isn''t a Lord or a Godlike being that defeats its opponents with ease, this is.." "The devil." Herald began crying with laughter. He knew of his mistake, that aura had made it very clear to him. Lev''s plan had worked. No armies were needed, a simple low-level tier of power had shown Herald enough. "Do you understand now? Herald?" Herald stopped laughing. He bowed down immediately with no hesitation. "Forgive me, my Lordship." "Good, very good." Dies Irae Lev''s conquest was going smoothly. The lands of Lord Morath and Lord Herald were his. Herald''s vassals would soon follow. Klavius had already begged for his life when Lev made a joke about throwing him in the dungeons. Lev''s shining black armour had a reflection of evil, true evil. A new kingdom was made in Lev''s name: Dies Irae. The name and language were unknown to this world but Lev knew. Dies Irae, the song of the death. A song about the limited time a mortal has before meeting his creator. In this world though, they already saw their creator. Lev''s kingdom grew stronger and stronger. Volunteers were joining his holy crusade. A crusade against king Avent, king of The Seven Duchies. Lev couldn''t take Aven alone, he needs a strong army to even think about sitting on Avent''s throne. The citizens of Dies Irae were possessed with the thought of overthrowing king Avent. Avent was a slow and greedy king who had not only abandoned his family, he had also ignored the countless problems within The Seven Duchies. One of them, Lev. King Avent was nonchalant and wouldn''t take any action, even when Lev''s armies were growing stronger. "My lordship, your generals need thy commands." "I see Theta, I will greet them." "Was it wise to wait so long before meeting your own generals, my lordship?" "It has to be this way Theta" Lev stepped outside of his throne room. The room itself was decorated with gold and statues of Lev holding countless greatswords. The holy oath of the Holy Army had been embedded into each statue: God''s will commenceth. The people had grown to respect Lev. Lev had brought prosperity to the duchies he conquered. Lev''s goal was not to rule through fair, he wanted a utopia for everyone. He had nothing to gain from ruling with his powers. His devkit didn''t have anything that would help either. Killing his own citizens would lead to rebellions and rebellions would mean the end of his Lordship. Lev stepped saw the generals standing in line, each of them was trying to not shiver in his Lordship''s presence. You could see the fear in their eyes. The generals introduced themselves. "Jigd Von Loden, my Lordship, I will control your navy and make sure to achieve victory at any cost." Lev nodded and proceeded to the next general. "Alm L''almace, my Lordship, I will rally more men under thy name. Strong brave men fighting for your glory will join me in battle. I will throw my life away at any cost should this deliver victory to Dies Irae, ALL HAIL HIS LORDSHIP!"The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Lev smirked, he like the enthusiasm of this general. He was an older man but still had a fire burning fiercely in his eyes. "I am Mikkel Vandersteen, if you would allow me, I will take care of military infrastructure and resources. I will make sure to bend every metal to your will and feed every soldier." "Great generals, my generals. May glory be upon you. Fight with my power flowing through your blood. Be wise generals, power does not mean victory. A strategy is needed at forehand." Lev proceeded to give a portion of his power to each of the generals. A burning feeling went through their body. Each of them still stood, they fell their new power. "When Utopia has been achieved, my Generals will respect me. Not for my powers but for my leadership.", Lev thought. Lev walked further to inspect his troops. "Fine man", is all he said. The Dies Iraen flags waved upon the nation. Blood red with a white cross representing the holy army and his lordship. Theta had designed it with war in mind. When the enemy saw Lev''s armies and the flags they held, their moral would instantly reduce. A marching song had also been made in his Lordships name. - We march for thy, our Lord and God, we march. - - Long live our kingdom, DIES IRAE! DIES IRAE! - - Soldiers we are, blood red flasks will feed us now - - From the ash we came, for his Lordship, we''ll squander - - Deus Vult, his lord wills it, kill the heathen, as he wills - Lev was proud of what he had achieved. His armies were booming with moral and his generals were afraid, but through their fear, they saw Lev''s potential. They were loyal and great strategists. Lev had trusted a small amount of power to them. Their fragile bodies would never support more power. "Shouldn''t we call you God Emperor Lev from now on?" "Haha, no Theta, his Lordship is perfect." "Hmmm, well if thou wants it.." After some more time, Lev''s armies were ready to march towards Avent''s kingdom. Flags waving tall, songs were sung in full, instruments cried their chords. Lev was walking up front. His black shining armour and ultra greatsword were otherworldly. His men saw him as a true Lord, a strong Lord. Lev had done a lot since his arrival. His time here wasn''t always as easy though. Lev knew he had to be patient, he had already brought a lot of distress on the system by oppressing lord Morath and Herald so swiftly. If the system would fall before conquering Avent, a revolution could take place and overthrow Avent before Lev''s armies had arrived. Oh isn''t it beautiful, the splendour of war? Thousands marching through the mud and rain. Their equipment heavy, their spirits high. Young man and old alike, fighting for his Lordship. They were marching for ultimate victory. Lev hadn''t shown his face to his men yet. He didn''t want to, it would decrease moral as they would realise that he looked more like them than a God. His identity was a mystery to the common folk. They only knew of his powers through the various duels with lower counts and Morath/Herald. "Com''on men, do you want Avent to eat another swine before we arrive there?" The men laughed, "No we don''t!" "And why is that so? My men why does Avent have to miss his dinner?" The men answered as one, "DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT!" "That''s right old hags, let''s teach this swine that his Lordships eats before anyone else!" - We march for thy, our Lord and God, we march. - - Deus Vult, his will commenceth - Summa Victoria Lev''s armies had finally arrived at the gates of Avent''s castle. Avent''s army had already surrounded the walls with archers and reinforced the main gate. Lev had installed trebuchets behind his main force. Stone balls loaded with greek oil were to be thrown at the gate. Greek fire would arise once the oil touches fire. Lev''s main force consisted of 20 squads, each squad had 10,000 light infantry and 1,000 support archers. Each squad had black leather armour with his Lordships'' holy crusade insignia burned into it. Lev''s troops were proudly waving the Iraen flag. Lev''s generals were ready to commence the attack. The plan was to distract the archers with reinforced barriers, supported by archers and light infantry. Then once the archers were distracted, the trebuchets would fire everything at the main gate. This would lead to minimal loss of troops and equipment of his Lordships'' armies. After the gate''s destruction, Lev''s generals would commence the attack. Every squad would pour their way through the gate and swarm straight to Avent''s castle. They were not allowed to kill any citizens; Lev needs a workforce to rebuild the city. He didn''t want to kill potential slaves for his Dies Iraen megapolis project. Someone has to carve his statues and write literature about his Lordship right? "Send in the reinforced squad!" The first section of the plan is being executed. Avent''s archers were directing their attention to the nearing squad of reinforced light infantry, supported by archers. The archers had poison bolts and heavy iron infused bows. Avent''s archers were falling for Lev''s trap. The trebuchets rained greek fire upon the walls. Avent''s armies screamed in agony whilst being burned alive. "Send in the main assault force!" The main assault force poured in as planned. They ran straight for Avent''s castle. Some citizens were unfortunately trampled but his Lordship doesn''t care about the loss of weak workers. Lev''s forces banged on the front doors of Avent''s castle. Nobles were fleeing the complex and were instantly executed if caught. "Filthy heathens, slaughter them, they have no place in our empire." Lev''s kingdom had grown to an empire over the months. At first, he only ruled over 2 of Avent''s duchies. Now he had all of the duchies, Avent''s county was all that there was left. Lev''s assault force breached the castle''s door. There he was, king Avent, shaking on his throne. His expensive clothes drenched in sweat. "We got him my Lordship. What shall we do with him?"The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Execute him after this siege has settled down." After a few hours had passed, the city had been taken. Lev''s personal orchestra squad was marching through the streets. Trumpets were exhaling his Lordship''s magnificence. Soldiers were singing and flags were waving. The holy cross struck fair amongst this county''s folk. A wooden structure had been build for king Avent''s execution. Avent will hang for his crimes against the Holy Order. A heathen must die whilst kissing his Lordship''s ring in forgiveness. "Is he positioned right? He needs to kiss the ring when his neck breaks!" "Yes, we are ready, his Lordship will be pleased." The citizens that had survived the assault watched how their King was going to die. The noose around his neck and Lev''s standing below him with his red gem ring positioned perfectly were Avent''s neck would break. "Bring him down! HAIL HIS LORDSHIP" That same dark aura expanded itself. The citizens were laughing and applauding their new master. They didn''t know what to do. The fear of being executed themselves was overtaking them. *CCRRRRKKKK* Avent''s neck was no more, his lips fell upon Lev''s ring. "King Avent has released himself of his sins, our Lordship has forgiven him!" A few months passed after the siege and Lev was ready to look for new prey. "My Lordship, this world consists of 4 continents." "Eropus is ruled by humans, we have pretty much conquered all of it when we killed King Avent." "The other 3 continents are shredded in mystery. We presume similar civilizations have settled there some 10,000 years ago." "Good Theta, I will visit them now." "Now? My lordship you must be joking! It''s far away! We have never even set foot on its shores." "Theta it is time that you stop underestimating me." Lev shoot up in the air, a blazing trail following him. Theta was shocked. "Beings like you will never understand my power, Lev said." Lev was bluffing but this way the only way to ensure Theta''s obedience. Lev flew straight towards the other continents. It took some days to get there, but he eventually found small villages and cities. This civilization wasn''t that advanced yet. Lev landed near one of the settlements. He walked straight to the village''s gate, smashing it upon and throwing the guards away. "This land now belongs to me. All who don''t obey my rule shall be killed." The villagers were shocked and ran away. They had never seen a tall man in full black armour with fierce red eyes. The beings all spoke the same language. Lev had programmed it that way, to give civilization a head start. The village elder came outside. "What is thy will?" "To rule." The elder saw the power in Lev''s eyes and instantly obeyed Lev''s orders. The villagers that didn''t obey were slaughtered at the spot. Lev needed to show his power in order to secure eternal peace. "I will come back with an army and settlers. We will clean this continent of heathens and build a grand city in my name." Lev threw a heavy book with a red cross on it to the elder. "What is this?" "Study it before I''m back, I will test your knowledge and if you fail, replace you with someone more competent." The Dies Iraen bible reflected in the moonlight, the Elder started reading straight after Lev''s words. Lev flew straight up with a bang following. "How was your trip my Lordship?" "Quite nice, the people are obedient." "What did you do to them, if I may ask?" "Just some literature exchange Theta, you''ll understand it later." New Iraen Bible Loading "recap.txt".... Done! [CIV Project Entities log loaded...]
Lev a 24-year-old college student. He was working on a CIV AI world project until he got transported to that very same world. His devkit was still active and recognised his name when he entered this world. His powers may be limited but his knowledge of the outside world and history play a big part in his goal to conquer the virtual world. Lev is also known as ''His Lordship''.
Theta Lev''s first self-aware creation. Its goal was to start the chains of civilization. This being was given a basic understanding of agriculture, tools and pottery. It''s estimated that Theta has been in the simulation for over 30.000 years. Theta was also known as Zero-One, referring to simple bytes.
Morath previous Lord of Mora. A greedy and unpopular Lord. Was defeated by Lev in a duel and saved after being mortally wounded. Is now Lev''s personal butler and throne duster. Age is unknown.
Dies Irae previously known as Mora. Lev''s kingdom goes by this name. A blood-red flag with a white cross represents this kingdom.
Herald a respected and intelligent lord. Was defeated by a low-level power called "Dark Aura". Is now a loyal vassal under Lev''s rule. Age is unknown
Jigd Von Loden a navy general in Lev''s Holy Army. Is always dressed in black with a white cross emblem reflecting his loyalty to Lev.
Alm L''almace not much is known. He is a so-called recruiter in Lev''s Holy Army.
Mikkel Vandersteen a military resources and infrastructure strategist in the Holy Army. Has lost his left arm in an unknown incident. Is never seen outside of his pure white regalia.
(King) Avent a slow and lazy king. Currently, in power. The Lords despise him and his worldly desires cripple an already fragile vassal system. Was defeated by Lev in the Holy Crusade for Enlightenment. Was beheaded by Lev after hearing his crimes.
Avian Avent''s kingdom. A system of Lords/Dukes and Count divide and rule its land.
[Redacted Loaded...]This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
The Holy Army his lordship''s holy army. Its goal is to cleanse this world of heathens that do not believe in Lev, the supreme being. The holy crusade refers to this cause.
New Iraen Bible a holy text describing Lev''s life and followers.
Age of Lords the age where this story takes place in, not much is known about the other powerful Lords.