Arpious of the Planes

Tup Tup Tup

"Oh, that was fast,"

Four maids came into the throne room, carrying wooden crates filled to the brim with liquidized dye.

"Now strip," I repeat once more but release my bloodlust this time, causing them to follow my orders immediately.

The humans in front of me were pretty beautiful. Hourglass-like figures and all of them had brownish-black hair after I washed the blond coloring away with [Grand Water Magic].

From an outsider, this seemed over the top for a spy, but if they wanted to match all of the other maids in my castle, this was the bare minimum.

They seemed to be in their early twenties, but after I scared them so badly and caused so many injuries all over them, their age seemed to be in their mid-twenties now… Any more, and they'd look ten years older.

"Okay, now hand me some of the dye," I ordered my maids, who immediately followed my orders.

…

Swoosh Splish Swoosh Splish

"Finally," I mutter, slightly exhausted as I didn't know how artistically incapable I am.

What I wanted to do with the dye and the human's naked bodies were turn them into quote-on-quote "animals." I created spots like a leopard with tan and yellow dye, black and white dye to create the zebra's stripes, and some brown dye to make them look like deer.

But they were pretty sloppy and didn't turn precisely how I envisioned it… due to how badly I suck at art.

"Maybe you should've got a real artist," Kumo chuckles but was still slightly impressed at what I had done.

Not the art part but the idea.

"I've never seen these animals before, but they look quite cool… So are you going to make them act like an animal?" Homura asks.

"Nah, that's fucking weird…." I respond with a slight glare directed at my wives.

Of course, they'd chuckle right back.

After I inspected their bodies one last time to make sure I didn't miss a spot besides their hair I left untouched, I went over to my throne.

"Okay, you come here, and then you here. You here. You here… And probably you here… And finally… You here," I say, ordering my newly acquired pets to set themselves in positions around my throne.

One was my footrest, one was to the side of my throne, supporting my head as I leaned back, and the others were either fanning me or providing me with refreshments.

"Nice!" I mutter, excited at a new task completed.

"Okay, well, if you want, I can tell you the plan now if you want?" Kumo asks as she knows I've been curious all this time.

"Please do," I respond with a smile while one of my pets, painted as a zebra, feeds me some fruit.

"Lemme get a throne as well if you're doing this. I want to relax in luxury as well," Kumo adds before sitting down at the now clean lunch table.

"Do whatever you want," I respond before leaning in to listen intently.

…

"Hmmmmm… That's quite a good plan…." I mutter to myself after reviewing over it in my head.

It was currently late in the afternoon, and I was hunting once again in the Waterfall Hills to blow off some of the stress created by the upcoming war.

『Status』

[Name: Arpious]

[Race: Predator of Devils]

[Status: Stressed]

[Servants: 7]

[Subordinates: 7]

[Pets: 9]

[Level: 4/150]

[HP: 1200/1200  MP: 981/1000  SP: 995/1000]

[Strength: 300(+5) (+25) (+25) (+25) (+215)]

[Defense: 250 (+5)]

[Magic: 250 (+25) (+25) (+25) (+115)]

[Speed: 300(+5) (+25) (+25) (+25) (+115)]

[Luck: 5]

[Charisma: 75]

[Skills: [Click to Reveal]

[Body Modification: [Click to Reveal]

[Mastered Weapons: [Scythe]

[Soul Equipment: [Click to Reveal]

[Equipment: [Click to Reveal]

[Titles: [Click to Reveal]

…

"Also, damn, is it hard to level up with this new evolution. I've killed the entire population here, and I've only obtained a level or two," I mutter while punching a slime into oblivion with my newly acquired stats.

"Huh? This one didn't even give me XP…."

Still slightly frustrated, I went hunting for another hour until one of my maids called me for dinner, where I ate with some of my children, such as Flora and Zehar.

Hades was out following Kumo's plan, getting ready to make a big entrance so he could acquire eyes of admiration from the soldiers who seem to have more spirit than him.

He didn't seem so excited about leading the soldiers and instead requested for himself to be on the frontlines, battling with his newly-acquired army of undead.

But, after Kumo said a few words to him, which I am still unaware of, his spirit shot up, and even though he tried to hide it from me whenever I ran into him in the castle, I could tell he was now excited.

He finally realized the importance of this war, not only to the kingdom but also to himself.

…

[Day 90]

I woke up today a bit stiff but heard some great news from my maids, who are always up to date on the information running through my kingdom.

Apparently, with Kumo's plans, the first batch of soldiers, consisting of the first and second army, has already wiped out a few towns on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Fire.

These were crucial to the plan because we needed a place to set up base and make a control tower.

Running information from my kingdom to the battlefield is almost impossible as, by the time the orders get there, the armies would've already been wiped out.

Even if Hades is leading them, that doesn't mean our siege is automatically victorious. We don't know who, how powerful, or how many high-tier humans there are.

Who knows, there might be one double the power that I have right now… And if there is, we'd all be dead, so we can only hope for the best.

"Why can't you use Yin to send orders and back?" Zehar asks.

He was sitting on a lone wooden chair in the throne room, not doing anything besides lazing around.

"I can't use her since all my corps, including her, are helping sweep the mountain of any infiltrators… Also, shouldn't you be training or something?"

"If you get to laze around, I get to laze around," Zehar responds with a smirk.

This kid…

"I'm not lazing around,"

"Seriously, mother… You're the only one not doing anything. Auntie Aika is training her students, Auntie Kumo is on the front lines, ready to change the plan if needed, Auntie Homura is searching for the traitor within the kingdom, and finally, Auntie Treyni is taking care of Flora," Zehar explains.

It almost felt like Zehar's words were a spear stabbing straight through my heart.

"*sigh*... Fine, I guess I'll raise the morale… Not like they need it," I complain, getting up from my comfortable throne and walking out the front door.

…

"Greetings, your highness. Is there a reason for your visit today?" Owen asks, getting on one knee and lowering his head.

"Nah, I have nothing really to do. I can't go on the front lines as we don't want to reveal our most powerful being yet, so raising morale is the only thing I can do right now," I respond.

"Really? Our morale is quite good right now," Owen responds, turning his head to the cheerful warriors as they snacked on rations.

What am I supposed to do then…

"Hey, don't give them any more alcohol," I say as I had nothing else before going back into my kingdom, where I decided to learn a bit more about the nature of my kingdom.

…

(Hades POV)

"ALL SOLDIERS DO NOT FEAR! WE DO NOT FIGHT FOR HONOR BUT BLOOD! WE ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS BEINGS WHO HELP WHOEVER WE SEE! WE WANT TO SEE BLOOD!" I shout at the top of my lungs.

I just shouted whatever came to mind, and it seemed to do wonders as the morale rose through the roof.

"OOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA! ALL HAIL THE PRINCE! ALL HAIL THE KINGDOM OF TWILIGHT!" The soldiers before me shout.

Two massive armies made from a number of soldiers I thought I would never be able to lead stood before me, eyes filled with wonder and respect.

"You did quite good… Now show results," Auntie Kumo says in a cold voice.

She's usually so carefree, and if not, then she's cheery and smiling all the time, but now I know what it's like to have a game face.

Miss Kumo was indifferent to me now that we were close to the battlefield. It wasn't something I was happy about, as it made the built-up nerves in my body rise even more.

"Use your entire skeleton army, and don't hold back. We need the initial force to gain momentum; otherwise, this will be much more complicated. Also, remember to think of not only yourself and the soldiers but also the flow of the war.

It doesn't matter if your favored soldiers die. They were a grand sacrifice for the greater scheme of things… And this is something you must ingrain into your body if you want to become king," Miss Kumo says, sending a shiver down my spine as her eyes glowed a faint purple.