Dark Fate, Chapter 215

Chapter 215 – Adjustment

After setting the administrative stuff in order, my next task was military. Thankfully, a full invasion of someplace wasn’t necessary, but there were still logistical concerns to be addressed, and garrisons to be set up. Recruitment and training also needed to be jumpstarted, to minimize the look of being a colonizer coming in and taking over the place.

Sure, something like that wouldn’t actually stop me, not with my having advanced to being a Timestruck Demon Lord, but that was entirely besides the point. I had the personal power to overwhelm anyone through force of arms alone. Literally, I could walk into the capital of any country on Earth and make myself king, and there wasn’t anything that anyone could do about it. Directly, at least.

Seizing control was easy. Even before the System, any two-bit dictator wannabe that could get enough money and/or guns together could do that, even in countries that were regarded as superpowers. Sure, it took a lot more money and guns to do that in the US than in, say, Uzbekistan, but the principle remained the same.

The issue was in maintaining control. Yes, I could waltz into Moscow and crush the city, and the nation’s government, single-handedly, without even calling on my navy or troops. However, I wouldn’t be able to maintain that level of control afterwards, because there would be too much ground to cover, and too many people invested in ensuring I failed.

Guerilla forces and terrorist groups lived and died by the will of the people. Specifically, they lived and died by the will of the people to support them, or at least turn their head and look the other way. To actually root out organizations like that, you needed to eliminate their financial and logistical support. Fail at that, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a superpower, you’re going to end up on the losing side of things, just as both Russia and the US found out in Afghanistan.

Of course, that was a lot easier to say than it was to actually do. In the end, there were only two ways to achieve that goal. For the first way, you did as I did in the Middle East, and respond with such overwhelming violence that there literally is not enough of a population left to support the guerillas, and any resources they might need are blasted into dust, before tracking and killing any remaining groups, until there are none left. Killing one person, or one hundred? That made them martyrs to the cause. Killing millions in a single instant? There were not enough people left behind to raise up the dead as martyrs. As a famous dictator once said, “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.”

If you weren’t willing to bloody your hands with mass murder and wanton slaughter, however, the only option for ridding yourself of guerillas and terrorists was the soft approach, or ‘hearts and minds’. That didn’t mean you went all rainbows and sunshine and puppies or whatever, though. It was as I’d told Sun, bread and circuses. Give people food, shelter, and assurance that they and their families would be safe and cared for, and the idea of throwing that all away became a lot less enticing.

The Black Zones, and freedom of movement within the Empire, were core parts of that philosophy. There were always going to be malcontents that wanted to do their own thing, without anyone being able to tell them what to do. There were always going to be people who had violent tendencies. In the Ceresan Empire, those types could go to the Black Zones, and live as they pleased. Elements that otherwise would be focused towards crime or stoking rebellion were able to bleed off their restless energy in a way that didn’t threaten the society as a whole.

Of course, my skills also came into play, here. [Inspiration] and [Leadership] had been helping me draw people in and inspire them since the beginning. [Rulership] and [Heroic Leader] increased the efficiency and morale of my domain, while [Tyrannical Leader] made any seditious movements less effective. Most of those skills scaled with my CHA, except for [Rulership], which used WIS. However, even my WIS was just barely over 1000, when I included my items, meaning the skill was very effective indeed.

Those were General Skills, but being a Demon King had given me other skills, as well, which improved my domain, like [Improved Governance], [Bountiful Kingdom], and [Fruitful Kingdom]. [Improved Governance] stacked with [Rulership], further increasing the efficiency of my kingdom, while [Bountiful Kingdom] and [Fruitful Kingdom] increased the yields of all resources in my realm and ensured that there were more children, and they were born stronger than those in other lands. So, my lands were better run, more productive, and produced stronger people than other lands.

My military gained power from me, as well. Not just with [Mutual Might] giving everyone an XP boost when they acted on my orders, but [King’s Brand] gave everyone who bore my mark, whether it was a [Slave Brand], a tattoo, or my symbol on their uniform, a 10% boost to attributes and 25% reduction to damage taken while acting in my name, before [Kingdom’s Might] added on another 25% reduction in damage taken while acting in my name. [Empowered Warriors] also gave those who served me a permanent 10% boost to all their abilities, while [Empowered Healers] gave all my realm’s healers a 25% boost to their healing abilities and skills, with a 25% reduction in cost.

Things got even crazier when I took the field, myself. The [Warlord] general skill gave my allies an ability boost that scaled with my CHA when I led the battle. According to the System, it even applied to fleet combat, when I was in charge! Then, there was [Demon King’s Aura], which gave all my forces a 50% boost to abilities while they were in line of sight to me. [Demon King’s Might] would increase my own abilities based on how many of my followers were nearby, while [Terrifying Visage] caused a Fear effect in any enemy who saw me attack or witnessed me in an enraged state, while my racial skill [Aura of Might] gave all living allies within line of sight a morale effect that boosted their abilities by a further 100%, and caused them to regain HP and MP at ten times the normal rate.

Let’s not forget my equipment, either. Kurokishi, my unique, scaling armor set, had some impressive abilities on it. [Commander’s Aura] gave a further 10% boost to all those under my command while they were in line of sight. [Overwhelming Aura] took any enemies within (my CHA) meters that had a level equal to or below mine, and reduced all their abilities by at least 50%. If the level gap was large enough, it could reduce all their attributes to a minimum of 1, which would be effectively a death sentence. And if someone even managed to hit me in melee? [Bladeshatter] would destroy their weapon unless their highest attribute was equal to or greater than my CHA.

That all played into my [Enhanced Reputation] skill, as well as the [Fanatic Loyalty] skill, causing my people to become incredibly loyal, and possibly shaking the morale of anyone who stood against me, before I even took the field. Which only added to [Demonic Diplomacy]’s effect, which was already strong since it allowed [Diplomacy] and [Intimidation] to stack, and both were boosted by my CHA, which was already over 2300.

But the kicker was [Promotion], and how it applied all of that to not just the Kingdom of Ceres, but the entire Ceresan Empire. While it was too early to know for sure, I expected that everyone in Panama, Costa Rica, and Columbia was experiencing a sudden power surge. When I became a Demon King, and got skills like [Mutual Might] my people were informed about it through the System. Now that I had [Promotion], and a bunch of new skills, I expected that all the warriors and healers in my realm were getting notifications.

My assumption proved correct, as I entered the Military Administration Center. A bland name for what was, essentially, the logistics heart of the Ceres Royal Navy, Marines, and Army, but anything more flowery sounded too pretentious for my tastes. I wasn’t going to have any buildings that sounded like they awarded themselves medals in my domain.

“Master,” Slave-Commissar-General Monique Stratton sighed as I entered the building, “perhaps you could tell me just what you’ve done? I can see that you are different, and everyone here got at least a couple System notifications. More importantly, we’ve been getting word from people on the ground in the new territories that a lot of people have been getting the same notifications, even though they are not part of the Kingdom. Care to explain?”

I chuckled, and said, “You know that one of my skills increases the XP people under my command get, and transfers a portion of that XP to me, yes? Well, Operation Slaughterhouse is proceeding apace, which bumped me up into Tier 3. With it came some ‘upgrades’, including a skill that allows me to apply some of the bonuses to everyone in the Empire.”

“Fine, not like I can do anything about it,” she sighed again. Couldn’t really blame her, since this had a rather large impact on how the military would work. Oh, sure, it would make some things easier, but that still meant a whole lot of change, all at once, which was never good for a planner.

“What is the status of the delegation to the Ouran?”

Stratton straightened her shoulders, and said, “CRM Tripoli is ready to start trials. The System classes it as an Assault Carrier. Able to engage in space, in atmosphere, and land on any planet capable of supporting its weight. It has the same basic stealth systems and as the Hellspawn class corvettes, and the shields and engines to match. Weaponry has plenty of point defense, as well as ion cannons, grav-lances, and pulse torpedo launchers. It lacks some of the other weapons and other systems that the Hellspawn class has, but carries four assault shuttles, two Renegades, six of the new Warthogs, and ten dropships, each one of which can drop half a company of Marines and their gear.”

“I see, crew for the ship and the attached craft ready?”

“Yes, Master, and the two squads of Marines and the Special Forces team have been picked, and are ready to go. While that will leave the Tripoli with less troops than it would normally deploy with, we thought it best to ensure that our people had their own support structure in place, rather than completely relying on the Ouran for logistics.”

“Any communication from the Ouran themselves?”

“Indeed. The Iscand clan sent word that the Huntship Truescent will be coming with a group of their Hunters. A mix of some of their younger stock, not so old as to be set in their ways, and some of the older hunters, who know the value of learning new techniques. Looks like the closest thing they have to misfits and radicals. There are a couple of their crafters coming, as well, and a representative of their merchants.”

“Very good. We’ll set them up at the base in Panama, with some of the troops there. That will give them a chance to train with the Army, and learn the difference between warriors and soldiers. And we’ll also be able to send them out into the jungles with the second Special Forces team, so they can go hunting the more powerful monsters.”

“I’ll see to the preparations, Master.”

“While getting the preparations in order, put in an order with one of the crafting houses. I want a series of blades made. Combat knives, with the [Molecule Edge] enchantment that the Enchanters Guild just worked out. One for the leader of the hunters coming here, one for the local ruler they ‘away team’ is going to be working with, one for the Great Hunter of the Iscand, and one for Hasluh Shadowstalker. As well as equipping every Special Forces member with them, of course.”

“Of course, Master. For a warrior culture, that should be taken as a sign of great respect, I believe. You’re thinking about making them into a more formal ally?”

“They have their own issues, of course. From what I’ve read in the System Shop, the Iscand clan is one of several Ouran clans, and not the strongest. With their having lost a significant portion of their fleet and many veteran warriors, they’ve been weakened. Perhaps to the point where other clans might try and take pieces of them. A defensive alliance isn’t a terrible idea, for us. Especially once Third Fleet returns from Operation Slaughterhouse.”