Chapter 12: 11. Change of Plans

Victor metaphorically closed his eyes and spread out his influence. He found himself in an endless void floating above a black ocean. Ripples went out in all directions like sonar waves and made small skulls rise to the surface; these nodes were members of his undead army. Some were tiny, while others were blazing suns of power, such as his henchmen. Despite Terry's unassuming appearance, within the black ocean, he was a rock of pure light, "Terry." Victor sent a voice message. It hopped across the sea like a skipping rock before impacting the back of Terry's skull, "Yes, boss?" he replied in a cheerful tone.

"Stick with Alice; you are her immortal guardian, okay? So long as you are with her, I can help through our connection. Just let me know if your life is in danger." 

"Alright, boss, I got it covered!" 

The connection between the two fizzled out. If Victor focused hard in a particular direction, he could hear the chatter of his various undead between themselves. But, alas, it sounded more mechanical than two computers talking, so he quickly got bored. 'I will check up on Terry every now and then... should be fine. That area is totally safe.' 

Feeling content with his decision to leave Alice in Terry's capable hands, Victor's mind retracted from the black ocean, returning his focus to his current mission. "Henry, tell me all you know about these humans."

Victor looked down at the Horseman below him, that closely resembled a bulldozer. To keep up with his speed, the Horseman didn't bother to evade around the trees and prefered the more direct approach of causing mass deforestation. 

Henry looked up toward Victor as his long black hair flowed in the wind. "My lord. You said these humans wore fancy gear, had a green metal around their necks and came from the north? Are you sure?"

Victor reused his communication ability and hijacked the sight of his undead minion hiding in a bush near the human camp. Unfortunately, his vision warped and became narrow; he had gotten used to near-perfect vision in all directions, so being restricted to a mere 180 degrees was disorientating. He cancelled the spell only a few seconds after confirming his findings. "They appear closer to the northeast side of the forest, but other than that, the information I provided is accurate."

In the vision, he saw four humanoids resting around a campfire and cooking lunch. One was busy with the cooking pot while the others lounged around and chatted under the midday sun. 'I assume they are some kind of adventuring team; if novels are anything to go by, they are too equipped to be simple campers.'

"As I suspected, my lord." Henry swirled his spear around his head like a helicopter as he obliterated an oak tree in his path, "To the far north is the frostlands. They are a wealthy mining town but not famous for their Delvers; it wouldn't make sense for an adamantite Delving team to originate from such a place."

"Delvers?" Victor questioned, 'Is that what they call adventurers in this world?'

"Delvers are a loose group of people that dive into dungeons. Legend says that if a Delver reaches the lowest floor of a Grand Dungeon, they can request anything from the system. But, unfortunately, so many fools every year throw their lives away in a vain attempt at having their greatest dreams come true." Henry spat to the side in disgust. Clearly, he had little respect for them.

"Is there a Grand Dungeon nearby?" Going into a dungeon had crossed Victor's mind, but he hadn't bumped into anything that looked like a dungeon after months of searching, so he assumed they didn't exist in this world.

"Yes. There is one far to the north. However, no other dungeons can appear for many miles due to the amount of mana it consumes from the surroundings."

"So are these Delvers heading towards the Grand Dungeon?" Victor remembered their gear. They looked underequipped for such a grand quest unless they had a spatial storage artefact. 

"Unlikely, the Grand Dungeon is under control of the dragons and has been for centuries. They built a fortress city above the Grand Dungeons entrance before the city-states to the east became the Empire."

"The Empire?" Victor was excited to learn about the citizens of this world; despite the Goddess's likely intentions, he didn't plan for mass extinction. Instead, he wished to use his strength to somehow rule over these puny humans until they provided him with entertainment on the level of Earth.

If he had become an immortal creature, you best believe he doesn't plan to endlessly roam this planet in search of food. 'I would rather die again than continue to live like this in this forest, although creating new undead and interacting with my new henchmen has been exciting. However, I need much more stimulus as this will get stale soon...'

Henry cleared his throat and answered, "Yes, my lord, the cursed forest where we are now is vast and bordered by four separate civilizations. The Empire to the east is the largest and most prosperous in the land, but gruesome politics bring them down as hidden wars rage between the various noble families, so they have never managed to assemble an army big enough to conquer anything else..."

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Victor was very interested in this supposed Empire. How much havoc could he cause in such a place? 'Toying with them could bring years of entertainment! I could send undead assassins to kill heirs and manipulate their politics from the shadows. Maybe I could put a puppet inside their court and sow even more discord amongst the noble families?' Victor had read thousands of novels, and noble drama was one of his favourite genres. Couldn't he assume the role of the author and control the narrative himself?

Broken from his trail of thought, Victor saw Henry pointing his spear in the opposite direction to the rising sun, "Eshnar lies on the western plains. It is a small kingdom ruled by the Eshnar Royal Family; they are ruthless dictators who control the vast farmland surrounding their domain." Henry then pointed his spear towards a mountain range in the direction they were heading, "The Frostlands to the north heavily rely on food imports from Eshnar, so they are their closest ally."

Victor followed his henchman's spear and gazed at the enormous mountain range that dominated the skyline, "You said the Frostlands were a mining city in the northern mountains. Do dwarves live there?" 

"Some do. The dwarves, like most mystical races, have somewhat integrated themselves into the human-dominated lands over the last few centuries."

"Mystical races?" Victor tilted his head in confusion, 'Are dwarves mystical?'

Henry shrugged as he smashed another tree with his spear and passed through the shower of splinters, "A place known as the Mystical Realm dominates the southern lands; non-human races control it. The mana is abundant, but so are the monsters. War happens daily, which causes a lot of refugees like Bob to flee north. He kept most of the details secret, but I heard he fled the southern lands when Vampires raided his home."

Victor remained silent for a while as the duo rampaged toward their target. 'As expected, this world must contain many fantasy races; perhaps there are even elves somewhere? But that isn't important right now; I need to focus on how to deal with these Delvers...' Learning about how vast and exciting the world was had changed Victor's plans slightly. 'If the cursed forest lies in the centre of all these wonderful places, shouldn't I create the trade hub between all? That way, I will get entertainment from all corners of the continent at my doorstep...'

"Okay, slow down; we are close," Victor commanded, and Henry slowed to a casual trot. "Now listen. I want to form ties with these people, not kill them. Although devouring their stats or stealing their gear would be nice, I assume adamantite adventurers are highly valued?"

Henry seemed shocked by Victor's statement, "T-they are valuable; higher nobles often sponsor them to Delve into the cursed forest to obtain rare materials. Sometimes even the king employs their services."

Victor nodded; it was just as he suspected. "Perfect. Then this is what we will do. First, you approach the Delvers; if they refuse a friendly discussion, beat them into submission. After that, we will take them back to the ice sculptures and offer them the chance to purchase only one of the frozen creatures."

"Why only one?"

Victor chuckled, "There is nothing more greedy than the human heart. If one group returns with such a treasure, won't others be intrigued? Where did they get it? Maybe there is more?"

Henry's expression became dark, 'My overlord is far too cunning...'

"Now go. I will observe from the shadows."

Henry readied his spear and slowly entered the clearing where the Devlers were happily feasting away. Victor watched from the side with anticipation as this would be the first contact between an adamantite team and the Apocalypse Horseman. He was curious how they would react and wanted to know how his henchman compared to a group of strong citizens from this world.

"This will be interesting..." Victor chuckled as he faded into the background.