Chapter 161: Ghoul Army

The royal palace of Mara was built in the south of Babus on the shore of a lake. It was not as majestic as the palace of the Crete Empire, nor was it a holy sanctuary, like the Temple of Light in St. Sarl City. It did not carry the bearing of a millennium of history, like the orc lands in the St. Seville Empire.

Though it wasn’t a large palace, its luxury was unrivaled. The entire Kingdom of Mara was built in layers, with many cascading gardens, which were filled with exotic flowers and grasses and rare animals.

Waterways were built in-between the gardens, and an artificial lake had also been created. The decorative stones within the rock garden had all been painstakingly hauled in by hand.

The intricate design made the entire palace seem like a water garden. The stones, flowers, and gardens were like lovely paintings among the waterfalls and fountains. Small and exquisite buildings were interspersed in the greenery.

Inside the palace, the artwork that the Monar family had collected over many generations were displayed. Each of the murals and paintings had an illustrious history.

Adonis was the third prince of Mara. Currently, there were six people with inheritance rights to the throne. He ranked sixth, making him the last in the line of succession. From the very day Adonis was born, his father had no intention of giving him the throne.

Currently, the luxurious palace was completely silent. The armored guards had their heads bowed as they watched over the palace. All of them were deathly silent, without a whisper of movement. They were scarcely even breathing!

An old man with graying hair was lying on a large bed. His mouth trembled, as he looked at Adonis, who was sitting beside him. Fear filled his eyes.

Adonis stared straight into the old king’s eyes. He had watched the man for two days already, observing as his eyes went from initial disbelief to anger, then finally to fear and panic.

Adonis looked at the hourglass on the wall. “It’s almost time,” he said.

The old king trembled and mumbled incoherently. He then managed to whimper, “Why… are… you… doing this?”

Adonis poured a glass of wine and sat down with a faint smile. “I want you to feel the fear and despair my mother felt when she died.”

The old king struggled to support himself, his face twisted in pain. He screamed at Adonis in a hoarse voice, “But, what does that have to do with your older sister and brother, your two younger brothers, and Aisha? They are all your siblings! Don’t you feel the slightest bit of remorse? How could you bear to do this? Do you hate me that much? No matter what, I am your father!”

Adonis looked into the eyes of the old king and scoffed. “It is exactly as you told me! The Monars do not feel familial affection. Yes! At first, I thought this was only hatred talking. Hatred was the cornerstone of my world, my cage. Hatred was my food and sleep.”

Adonis continued. “People often hide their devilish hearts under a sincere and devout facade. I am different. I never hide or pretend, like a hypocrite. By now, it has become more than just hatred. A part of my heart is missing, and I want to get it back.”

“Maniac! You’re mad! You are crazy and insane! This is madness!” The old king was horrified.

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Finally, he laid down and surrendered to helpless laughter. Two lines of tears leaked from his eyes. There was no more panic, fear, or anger. There was only a mocking sneer, directed not at Adonis, but at himself.

“This really is, haha, hahaha, retribution…”

Cough! Cough!

The old king coughed fiercely. He spat blood from his mouth, then stiffened on the bed and died. Soon after that, the old king’s body slowly crawled out of the bed.

He had become much paler, and the luster from his eyes was gone. Yet, his body had become visibly stronger, as the blood under his skin squirmed. The originally thin body had become well-muscled as it had awoken the ability of a Blood Knight!

After returning from his trip, Adonis immediately began to combine Li Weisi’s notes with the Mortuus Magna bloodline and his own research in order to create ghouls. Through the deified cells and curses of the ghouls, he was able to control the ghouls that he created.

Adonis then combined Li Weisi’s research on the Plague with the powers of the ghoul to develop the zombie virus. Once a target was infected with this virus, it would slowly morph into a ghoul!

Ordinary ghouls were easy to make. That process didn’t even require deified cells. But, in turn, they would have no intelligence nor bloodline powers.

Although they would retain their memories, their combat abilities would be extremely low. Thus, they could only really be useful as cannon fodder.

The higher-classed ghouls that Adonis had personally crafted were equipped with the Mind of the Undead. These ghouls had a strengthened body and the ability of Blood Knights.

The Mind of the Undead ensured that, even after their awarenesses were gone, they retained highly efficient mechanical minds and learning abilities, as well as all of their combat potential and experiences from their lifetimes. As such, these soldiers were the optimal warriors!

Above that, there were also king-class ghouls, which Adonis had crafted with a significant amount of his own deified cells, which were combined with the Mind of the Undead. Each of these ghouls had inherited some of Adonis’ power and also possessed their own special abilities.

However, such a transformation required an extremely high compatibility rate with his blood. Adonis discovered that his immediate kin were the most suitable candidates to retrieve this from.

After their original awareness dissipated, the ghouls became mere tools. Surprisingly, the ghouls that only had instincts gradually developed a new sort of awareness, due to a combination of their deified cells and the Mind of the Undead. It was precisely this trait that made Lu Zhiyu identify Adonis’ ghouls as a new race, since he was able to create a life form with its own awareness, which qualified it as a brand new species.

By now, all 1,000 of the King’s Guards of the Kingdom of Mara had been turned into high-class ghouls. The Kingdom of Mara had a smaller army than most of the other kingdoms.

Its unity was loose, as the king was actually the most influential noble. As such, having an army of a thousand people was already considered to be the greatest strength of the king.

Adonis knew that governance required wisdom and order. Yet, he was only interested in ruling, not governing. For that, he would only need raw strength. In light of this fact, from the moment that he gained control over the army and created his high-class ghoul troops, he had seized most of the power within the Kingdom of Mara.