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Monarch Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The news spread like a forest fire.

An hour after the declaration of the blood duel by Fredrick, whispers were already running across the fort. By the evening, everyone seemed to know of it, and once the sun was down, the betting market had opened.

Soldiers talked about it everywhere. In the training grounds, in the mess hall, and even during patrols. In just a matter of hours, the rankings in the bouts had been forgotten, and Fort Algar was buzzing with the excit...

Monarch Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Captain Edran didn't look to be in a good mood. He swept his cold, calculating eyes over the group while fiddling with the pouch of gold coins, a twitch at the corner of his lips as if he was greatly annoyed. Rayne could guess the reason for his annoyance on his desk.

Besides the maps and rosters, there were several ledgers stacked together with documents lined around. He glanced at the top of one of them, and realised what they were. Records of the fallen.

In the...

Monarch Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Fredrick's words rang across the training ground, every single chatter dying for a couple of seconds before every soldier started whispering among themselves. A hundred gold coins was a lord's sum. No ordinary man would see so much money in a single lifetime.

In response, Rayne simply looked down at his person, raising his hands as if showing that he had no coin on him. “Do you see anything on me other than my sword and shield? If I had that much coin on me, the whol...

Monarch Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The ranking bouts continued throughout the day. The circle buzzed with excitement, shouts, sneers, and everything else as names were called out one after another. Soldiers walked in with confident expressions, but only some left with the glee of winning.

The defeated were left with sneers and bloodied faces. One man even got his leg crushed and went back with a limp. The bouts ended when the victor drew blood three times. But it was easy to see that some soldiers were g...

Monarch Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Rayne smelled smoke, melting iron, and the pungent smell of sweat as he entered Master Lander's workshop, the only blacksmith travelling with Captain Edran's warband. Kesh walked in next to him, looking around in wonder.

Weapons lined the walls—swords, spears, axes, halberds, shields. The standard of the army, but he even saw a trident sticking on the far wall, looking more like a display piece than an actual weapon. A few soldiers occupying the shop looked up at it ...

Monarch Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Casper wiped soot from her eyes, smoke burning her throat as another spell matrix pulsed in her hands. The battlefield had quieted down compared to before; the soldiers had managed to kill the other trolls and the goblins were nothing more than stragglers.

But none of that mattered until the warlord was dead.

“It's losing its breath, men!” Edran barked, blood dripping down from a wound on his shoulder. One of his bracers lay broken. “We finish it and celebra...

Monarch Chapter 24

Chapter 24

A roar split the sky.

Rayne jumped out of the reach of a troll's club and snapped his head towards the forest, just as the warlord stepped into the battlefield. It looked as terrifying as the last time he had seen it, if not more, with flames harmlessly licking its hide.

His heart thundered with dread at the sight.

In a matter of seconds, the battlefield stilled, the trolls and goblins letting out roars and shrieks at the arrival of their master.

The w...

Monarch Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Rayne felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer. His lungs burned. His muscles screamed and his legs wobbled as he tried to stand.

Up ahead, the troll stood, knocking away the formation like they were dolls. Soldiers circled around it, striking with their weapons, but each wave of its massive hand threw them backwards.

Its eyes burned with hatred and bloodlust as it crushed through their ranks.

“Are you okay?” Rayne saw Kesh offering a hand.

He...

Monarch Chapter 22

Chapter 22

What Rayne expected soon turned to reality.

Edran gave them marching orders alongside the other squads as the threat of the trolls kept making everyone nervous. Day by day, more trolls attacked, and more of them died.

Bran told him that a few squads sent more scouts down in the caves, but none of them returned. But with the trolls behaving so strangely, they had to accept Edran's orders and the existence of the warlord.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be m...

Monarch Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The cool morning mist clung to Rayne's troll armour as he stood in the training grounds right behind the tower. Pale sunlight filtered through the clouds and a group of soldiers sat on the side, some drinking milk from the barrel and others chewing tobacco.

Other than the usual suspects that were his party members, he recognized Hobbs and Andar among them, both of them whispering to each other while smoking.

The troll armour sat on his shoulder like heavy metal an...

Monarch Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Captain Edran stayed seated long after the other squad leaders had left. Hours had passed since he had heard the report of the troll warlord sighting, and the meeting that came after it had been one of the worst of his life.

He'd only been in the position of a warband captain for a year and a half, and not every squad leader took his every word as a command.

Despite the reports, it had been hard to convince the squad leaders to prepare their men for what was comin...

Monarch Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Rayne's breath caught in his throat as the massive foot emerged out of the hole, then slowly the whole body revealed itself. The goblins that had grown quiet began chattering unanimously.

He briefly saw a few of them bowing before focusing on the creature that had emerged.

Just a glance at it made every instinct in his body tell him to run, to not look at it, to simply lower his head so he could ignore its presence. But he kept looking.

He knew what it was a...

Monarch Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The troll's eyes squinted at him. Rayne's heartbeat quickened and his senses rang out in warning, telling him to run. To not become flesh for the troll to feed on.

Rayne ignored them, gripping his sword with a steady hand and pushing the status screen to the back of his head so it couldn't interfere at all.

The troll slowly got up. The body fell from its legs, and for a heartbeat, they simply stared at each other before a thunderous roar shook the cavern walls. 2025-11-29 04:18:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Monarch Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The arcspider slammed into his shield with the weight of a cannonball. Rayne groaned, and this close to it, he was able to get a good look at it. Dread filled him as he stared at the multiple crimson eyes of the spider.

It let out a shriek, a sticky black substance flowing out of its mandibles, and raised its hairy black legs to puncture through his shield.

Rayne didn't give it a chance, rolling just as the spider attacked. Its legs only touched the wall as he sto...

Monarch Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Rayne's feet sank into the muddy bottom of the river and he almost cursed at the cold water, even under the sun. It rushed past him in roaring waves, threatening to make him lose his balance, and the gear he carried overhead in the river.

The water had been calmer near the bank, but the current had grown stronger the deeper they got.

If not for the ford Bran knew of, they wouldn't have been able to cross it.

“Holy mother of Henrexa, I can't feel my legs. T...

Monarch Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Edran Sinclair, second in line of House Sinclair, stood by the tall window of his office, arms folded as his gaze caught the smoke trails in the distance coming out from the forests. Another nest burned.

How many casualties would it have taken? One, a few, or a lot more than that.

He had no way of knowing until the report sat on his desk, but he had a feeling it wouldn't have been without some bloodshed of his soldiers. The campaign in Pascar Plains had never been...

Monarch Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It turned out Rayne had to wait more for his new armour, and unfortunately, he had orders to follow.

“Rayne, to your left!”

Bran's voice alerted him and he turned to see a goblin charging right at him. He didn't panic and put his shield forward.

The goblin hit it with all its strength, but it barely pushed him back. Giving it a scowl, Rayne swung his sword in an overhead strike.

The monster shrieked as steel tore through his shoulder. Rayne slamme...

Monarch Chapter 13

Chapter 13

As Rayne had realised early on, rest was apparently not a part of the army. At least not with Bran standing over their heads.

The sun glared down over Fort Algar, and Rayne’s feet pounded against the dirt roads, running with all his might. They were already on their ninth lap of the fort, and Bran seemed to have no intention of giving them a break.

On top of it, the weight of his armour bore down on his shoulders. Bran had ensured that they ran with it. Rayne co...

Monarch Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Edran dropped from the fort like thunder on the ground. His blade glowed red-hot as he charged at the troll. It shrieked, swinging its massive fist, and Rayne almost shouted, seeing the captain continue on his path.

But at the last moment, he shifted, his body a blur and appeared right at the side of the troll. His sword moved in an arc, stabbing deep into its side.

The troll let out a painful cry and hammered its hands on the ground. Dirt and mud sprayed everywhe...

Monarch Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Rayne's leg ached as he walked. The crude cloth he'd wrapped around it had soaked through with blood long ago, but the wound was far from healing. It sent a dull pain up through his ankle with every step. His pain tolerance skill could only help so much, after all.

Kesh only had a bit of potion left, which Rayne didn't want to ask for, and his injury hadn't looked as bad before. He simply pushed forward, hoping that Fort Algar’s healers would do their job regardless ...

Monarch Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Fire crackled low in the center of the camp, casting flickering shadows over Rayne's face. He couldn't believe their luck—or bad luck, in this case.

Not every injured person had health potions in the end. It turned out two of them were also forsaken like him and Nate, and others had refused to share. Bran hadn’t brought any, which Rayne found strange, while Kesh had none left.

It had slowed them down a lot to carry the injured, and the sun had set before they ...

Monarch Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Boots crunched against mulch and fallen twigs. Rayne cast his eyes on the thick trees all around them as they headed deeper into the never-ending forest. He saw no birds on the branches, and everything felt quiet. Too quiet for his own good.

Until Kesh spoke the same words for the third time.

“How did I end up offending Axel for him to send me to die here?”

Nate adjusted the fit of his cloak before shrugging. “Maybe you drank his beer.”

“I hav...

Monarch Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rayne stood near the door in Axel's office, still caked in dried goblin ichor and sweat, as the lantern hanging at the back of the room cast a golden light upon everyone. He felt disgusted and reeked foul, but even then, only one thought turned in his mind.

Fredrick was an asshole.

“Sir, the scouting mission was a success. We managed to kill a pack of six goblins and find a nest near the redwoods deeper in the forest,” Fredrick said, shoulders straight and voic...

Monarch Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rayne eyed the trees as they moved. They were thicker, with branches growing at odd angles, trying to cover every part of the forest. Light wafted through the canopies, and he saw squirrels and birds on the treetops. Animals, not monsters.

They were as normal as they were on Earth, not twisted by mana in any way or form to give them instinctual abilities of destruction.

They were walking in the opposite direction to where they had hunted the trolls. He guessed that...

Monarch Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rayne thought that the worst was over when they had gotten back to Algar after killing the troll, but it had yet to come.

“Look me straight in the eye, trollface. See the sword coming for your neck!” Hobbs shouted over the cheering of the spectating soldiers.

Rayne brought his shield for the blow just in time and felt a jolt that numbed his arm. Hobbs followed it with another strike and he put his sword forward, ducking low to take on the attack.

Sword...

Monarch Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The sparse trees thickened the deeper they moved. Bark changed color to a slightly reddish hue here. The squad marched quietly, and Rayne kept his eyes on the ground, careful not to step on dry leaves and branches.

The excitement of leveling up and gaining a new skill had faded after an hour of following troll tracks. Each time he looked down at a new imprint, he realized what they were going to be dealing with.

Splayed toes, each as thick as a forearm and four inc...

Monarch Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Form up! Perk up your ears, and if I see anyone yawning again, you'll get lashes before you even get close to becoming monster meat!”

Hobbs shouted over the wind, and Rayne felt the man beside him stiffen, shutting his mouth before anyone could catch his yawn.

All around him, men stood in a loose formation, with more stepping out of the tower to join them.

Half of them wore armor that looked like it had been hanging behind Kiyan’s desk until yesterday,...

Monarch Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The hard, impatient, and thunderous knock almost made Rayne trip over the stool as he made his way toward the door. He picked up a rusty dagger he had found thrown on the floor and hoped it would be enough to keep the angry man at bay.

Another rap on the door made him frown. “Who’s there?” he asked, still feeling odd at how Valerian felt on his tongue.

“Open the door, forsaken, or you will get my wrath.”

“Identify yourself.”

Rayne heard th...

Monarch Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In that brief moment, Edran's urging made countless thoughts race through Rayne's mind. Should he run away? Should he admit he was an amnesiac? Should he reveal the truth about who he was and how he had no idea what was going on?

Each option felt like a deathtrap given the sparse memories he had. But as he thought harder about a way out, he realized the best answer lay in the memories themselves.

"A healing potion," Rayne blurted out, making Edran raise an eyebrow....

Monarch Chapter 1

Chapter 1

He gasped as a greasy, terrible scent flooded his nostrils and felt like he was living his worst nightmare.

It twisted his stomach into a knot, and he tasted copper in his mouth.

He gagged and rolled over, coughing saliva mixed with blood onto black dirt. Only, it wasn’t dirt after a second of watching it. It was soil caked with blood, scrambling footprints all over it as if a stampede had occurred here.

What was going on? Where was he?

Before...