Dark Sovereign

Chapter 1 The Lost Invader

"People fear the darkness, dread the unknown, and are terrified of death. The Demon Lord, embodying all their fears, must teach everyone how to fear and respect him, finding a perfect balance between forceful threats and sweet talk—like when you force a human to nibble on a piece of bread, then smile and tell them it contained half a cockroach.

The three hundred and thirty-third Demon Lord, Sepulras."

The flickering candlelight gently illuminated the dim study, revealing a young man hunched over a desk, flipping through a thick book by the weak glow.

He appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen, his handsome face pale and thin from lack of sunlight, wearing a black mage's robe that trailed on the floor. At first glance, he seemed no different from an ordinary person, but the faint horns emerging from his forehead and his crimson eyes betrayed his true identity.

He was a demon.

"Sigh..."

After a moment, Janen finally closed the book in front of him, took off his glasses, and rubbed his sore eyes. Unlike magical tomes, the standard of historical records among demons was laughably poor, filled with dry, chronological entries that seemed concocted by a child to complete holiday homework.

In some ways, the web novels Janen used to read on Earth were infinitely more interesting.

"Perhaps when I become the Demon Lord, the first thing I should do is find a reliable chronicler."

Muttering to himself, Janen stood up and stretched.

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【*******】

【*：Janen】

【**：1】

【**：355/1200】

【**：** （50）、** （20）、** （15）、** （70）、** （1520）】

【**：6*】

【**：****（**************，*********，**********，*************）——****+100】

【**：***（**********、*****、《****》********，********）——****+3，****+10】

【**：**（************，***，*********，***************）——****+10，****+10】

【**：**（********，*****************，*************）——**+1】

【****（LV1）：*****】

【****（LV1）：***】

“*************”

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".................."

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Janen came to understand this deeply after being transported to this world.

In the game, he didn't need to worry about anything other than carving out enough space for those goblins to dig holes, and then he could just spend money to build various rooms. But in reality, he didn't have such luxury. Here, digging required consideration of space, load-bearing, windproofing, dust removal, and other troublesome issues.

Although Janen had read many books in the demon library, unfortunately, the demons clearly didn't bother to document the kind of work that lower races would do, so Janen couldn't become a master architect.

At first, Janen did think about just digging out a place for himself, but after nearly getting buried alive three times, he temporarily gave up the idea of expanding his territory and instead relied on natural caves to build his dungeon.

As for the rest, he left those goblins to their own devices.

Unfortunately, it now seems that letting them do as they please hasn't resulted in anything good.

"Ding——"

Just then, a light sound rang next to Janen's ear, followed by a line of system text appearing before him.

【You have finally realized that without a qualified architect, your end will be getting completely buried by a collapsing cave one day in the future. To ensure you don't die an obscure death, you need a strong assistant —— Task: Recruit an Architect has begun (Reward: 100 XP, Summoning Crystal can be crafted)】

Is this system really not here to trick me?

Although Janen was already aware of the system's sense of humor, he still frowned and stared at the task before him.

This wasn't the first time Janen had received such a task. In fact, nearly every day, the system would randomly assign him a task. And these tasks were often bizarre and varied.

For example, 【You gaze into the dark abyss, feeling a call from within, an impulse driving you to break free from your bonds and experience the joy of free flight —— Jump off the cliff and enjoy the thrill of courting death】and the like.

Strictly speaking, the system wouldn't give Janen tasks beyond his capabilities —— jumping off a cliff seems dangerous, but below is the demon world's abyss. Aside from falling into subspace and joyfully picking up soap among countless demons, there's no real danger.

And expressing love is also simple, the only problem is that the recipient is his sister, and also a dragon hybrid... well, it could be accomplished if one doesn't consider the consequences.

If one doesn't consider the consequences.

"Master, do you have any thoughts?"

The girl's soft and pleasant voice brought Janen back to reality. He turned his head to look at his adjutant, then nonchalantly pushed up his glasses.

"It seems, we indeed need a talent in architecture."

Janen paused for a moment.

"If it really comes down to it, I'll make a trip to Brandon Stone City."

Hearing Janen's words, the girl's expression didn't change; she simply nodded.

"Dwarves are indeed good master architects underground, and I have heard they are often hired by dark elves or other subterranean races to build cities. But..." As she spoke, the girl's crimson eyes quietly and intently watched Janen. "...dwarves are also known for being cunning and deceitful. Although you are a demon, they probably wouldn't dare to do anything to you, but it's better to be cautious."

"I understand."

Hearing the girl's words, Janen nodded. His gaze lingered on the girl, and quickly, a character information panel appeared beside her.

【Enoa Arkunis (Silver)】

【Race: Necromancer】

【Combat Power: ★☆ (Necromancers know neither fatigue nor pain; she will fight for you until the end of time.)】

【Management: ★★☆ (She possesses outstanding knowledge and managerial abilities, making her a trustworthy right-hand.)】

【Influence: ★★ (Few dare to openly oppose her suggestions, whether due to her beauty or her race is unknown.)】

【Loyalty: ★★★★★ (Your souls are intertwined, nothing in this world can separate you.)】

【Traits】

【Necromancy — Fragile souls are nothing before her (Skill Enhancement +3)】

【Intelligence Gathering — No whisper can escape her notice (Information gathering speed +5)】

【Special Skills】

【Soul Reading: The ability to manipulate and read information from others' souls.】

【Lightning Manipulation: Possesses the ability to wield lightning spells (LV1+1).】

Janen withdrew his gaze, then reached out to gently stroke the girl's hair. Beneath the silky touch was the coldness of death. She was neither alive nor a creature of flesh. But to Janen, the girl before him was his only subordinate, family, and comrade in arms.

Feeling Janen's touch, Enoa squinted her eyes like a kitten, but her ears twitched slightly soon after. In the next moment, the girl who had been lazily like a kitten returned to her usual calm demeanor.

"Master, I think we have visitors."

Just like the surface, the dark and deep underground is home to many races. Including bear goblins, dwarves, soul suckers, and dark elves, but here is more dangerous than the surface. No matter which path you take, you might encounter deadly dangers. Even demons must be careful here — after all, there is nothing more humiliating than capsizing in a gutter.

Although the location of Janen's dungeon is considered a godforsaken remote area by demons, it also harbors crises. Around Janen's dungeon, there are nests of fire lizards, bear goblin pits, and packs of terror claw beasts, all of which are terrifying monsters. Not to mention the cities of dwarves and bear goblins are also nearby. If discovered, Janen's dungeon could face an unprecedented catastrophe.

Fortunately, it is far from the cities of dark elves. Although in the demon world, dark elves are generally the most trustworthy slaves and subordinates for demons, for a demon with insufficient strength like Janen, they are the perfect prey.

The underground is dangerous.

Now, Bix could feel the meaning of this phrase more than ever.

At this moment, she was walking with a sullen face among a group of fully armed mercenaries. As a gnome, she was not unaware of the dangers of the dark underground. But the damn curiosity of gnomes still got the best of her. If it wasn't for seeking the so-called "legendary crystal," she wouldn't have left the city alone to go to the Crystal Valley. Unfortunately, she was caught red-handed by this group of mercenaries.

Underground mercenaries are not good folk; most are half-orcs and bear goblins, crude, greedy, but powerful. A gnome has no chance of resisting them. Bix already knew her fate; she would be sold as a slave. Although she didn't know who the buyer would be, Bix was sure her days would not be easy.

I'd rather die here...

While the group of mercenaries was enthusiastically discussing how much money they could make from selling the gnome, suddenly, there was an explosion.

"Boom!!"

With a loud explosion, the ground began to tremble. Everyone turned in surprise to find that the passage behind them had been completely blocked by thick boulders, leaving no way back.

"What's happening? What's going on?"

*******，***********，**************。**********，****，*****************。

Strange patterns and reliefs emerged from the stone walls, and the smooth passage extended in all directions. In the corners of the walls, sinister statues posed menacingly at the intruders, as if they would come to life in the next moment and tear their enemies to shreds.

"Dungeon——!!"

A piercing scream came from the leading half-orc mercenary, throwing the rest into chaos.

Any creature living underground knows of dungeons, the abodes of evil overlords, demon kings' cities, filled with deadly traps, terrifying monsters, and immensely powerful demons. Any rational underground creature would absolutely not want to encounter these dreadful beings!

"Run for it!!"

With their escape route sealed, the half-orcs and bear goblins instantly panicked. Several half-orcs, in a frenzy, waved their arms and ran blindly towards a side passage.

"c***k!"

As these half-orcs entered the passage, a soft sound was heard, and the next moment, dozens of sharp steel spikes suddenly shot up from the ground. In the blink of an eye, the tall half-orcs were completely impaled from below, turning into a pile of b****y flesh.

Seeing this, the other mercenaries panicked, avoiding that passage as if it were the plague. A few quick-witted ones even turned to run back, trying to open the originally sealed exit.

Unfortunately, they still made a wrong choice.

"Pfft..."

As several bear goblins screamed and rushed towards the entrance sealed by a stone door, accompanied by a soft sound, a dark green poison gas erupted out of nowhere, forming a dense and deadly fog that completely enveloped the bear goblins. The bear goblins engulfed by the poison gas didn't even have time to struggle before they painfully clutched their throats, staggered, and fell to the ground, breathless.

From an original group of more than a dozen mercenaries, now less than five remained. This sudden turn of events shocked the leading half-orc warrior. However, with the fate of the two groups before them, he dared not act rashly anymore. He could only hold his battle axe, standing back to back with the few remaining companions, vigilantly watching the surroundings.

As for Bix, she had long been forgotten by them.

"Tap... tap..."

Footsteps sounded.

Hearing these footsteps, the half-orc mercenaries gripped their weapons tighter, their eyes wide as they looked in the direction of the sound. Under the gaze of the half-orc mercenaries, it wasn't long before a slender figure in a black robe slowly emerged.