Supreme Monarch

Upon exiting the bathroom, Tyler was surprised to see that Cora had returned from Ragdek's workstation as she knelt before him with a newly forged ring-shaped Magic artifact in her outstretched hand for his approval.

"Ohhh... you returned a lot faster than I expected. Good job Cora."

"I am not worthy of your praise, Lord Ragdek was responsible for completely Master's orders flawlessly."

"Please don't be so stiff when we're alone, even if that's Albert's training I'll appreciate it if you'd act normal at times like this."

"Um? But..."

"No buts."

Cora seemed troubled by Tyler's request as she tried to mutter out a response but Tyler immediately shut her down. Although she was just trying to serve him well as per Albert's instructions, it was still uncomfortable for Tyler if she acted so former all the time.

It would be fine if she did that in front of others but not when they were in a private setting like his chambers where he was trying to unwind.

Having finished addressing that issue, Tyler retired his attention back to the ring on her hand as he examined it.

He hadn't expected the dwarf, Ragdek to already be done with the cursed orb's transmutation to an item as it had only been less than 2 hours since Cora had left. Surely not enough time to make a design for the transmutated orb, or so he thought.

'I suppose I need to stop underestimating the abilities or the dwarven race. I should really make good on my promise to them soon.'

The item Cora had returned with was a pitch-black ring with a red skull adorning the front. The item seems to be faintly absorbing the light from its surroundings but that was misleading as it was actually absorbing faint traces of the Magic essence in the air.

Tyler then proceeded to take the item from the still kneeling confused maid as he quickly inspected the item using divine Appraisal:

♦️♦️♦️♦️

Item Name: Death's Shadow Ring. (Magic Artifact - Divine Tier)

A high-grade magic artifact reforged from the liquified essence of the fused core of an Eldar Lich and the cursed item, the orb of Death by a master Blacksmith. Contains no additional element as the essence had been isolated during the reforging process.

Primary Effect: Negative Energy Siphon. (Passive)

The ring continuously absorbs the negative energy around its user, including negative energy stored within the user's body, mana body, or even the soul.

Secondary Effect: Grand Necromancer. (Passive)

The stored negative energy will be used during the use of negative energy-related spells and skills to improve and boost all necromancy related abilities by more than 20%

Secondary Effect 2: Summon Undead (7th Tier - Daily)

The ability to summon two random 7th tier undead each day without consuming any mana or affecting and restricting the user's own summoning skills or spells. Each undead summoned with this ability can only exist within the physical plane for a period of 24 hours.

♦️♦️♦️♦️

'Huh, besides the third effect, the abilities don't seem as powerful as my other Divine grade artifacts but they're currently very indispensable to me. I suppose usefulness trumps power.'

Tyler thought as he stared at the ominous skull ring in his palm. Still, given as there wasn't much downside to the ring's effects, he decided it was best to immediately equip the artifact as he quickly wore it on his left pinky finger.

He immediately felt the effects of the ring as he could tell it was actively trying to suck out the negative energy out of him. The item didn't have any living properties so there was no chance of it going out of control as that would've been a bad combination with his gloves, Depths of the Abyss.

It was also a bad fit with the gloves so Tyler needed to think of a way to compromise as he was fairly certain that using both items at the same time was a terrible idea.

'Well whatever. I only need the ring when creating undead anyway so there's really no point in constantly having it on as long as I'm careful with using negative energy-induced spells.'

Although Tyler had wanted to test his new summoning skill, he decided to hold off on that as he had responsibilities to attend to for the time being. Besides, he was currently still starving and had a weird craving for sweets and fish. He didn't even like fish.

"Say, how does look."

Tyler asked Cora as he wore the ring and displayed it to her with a smile he thought the design was insanely cool and the child in him was actually excited.

"Anything would look magnificent on you Master but the ring does have an intimidating aura to it that is befitting of a Divine being like you."

"That so... that's good then."

Cora's response had immediately killed off Tyler's excitement as she didn't seem as enthused as he was which made him feel a bit embarrassed for asking that question.

"Moving on. Please have the kitchen prepare me something to eat, I'm starving."

"In that case why don't I make you something darling, I've always wanted to cook for you."

"No way, I want to do that."

Liz and Rain who had magically gotten dressed after exiting the bathroom interrupted Cora's response as they hurried over to him.

"Please forgive my insolence Lady Liz, and Lady Rain but I already had my lord's food be prepared and it is already being set at the 6th-floor dining hall."

"Huh, really? Impressive."

Tyler was happy with Cora's response but he seemed to be the only one.

"Crap, why do you have to be so good at your job, I was really looking forward to my Darling eating something I made."

"My apologies."

"Oh well, it's fine. I can still make this work."

Tyler was completely at a loss for words as he could not understand why Cora had to apologize for doing her duty perfectly but couldn't bring himself to say anything either as Rain had a mischievous smile on her face that made him want to move on.

He had a bad feeling about their enthusiasm to feed him something they made themselves.

'This will not turn out to be one of those troops right?'

Tyler panicked inwardly but didn't let it show that despite what he had said to the girls earlier, he still instinctively hide his emotions. He then moved towards his closest and Cora escorted him to select an outfit.

However, Tyler immediately regretted that decision as the boisterous Rain cheerfully followed along and everything turned into a mess as they argued about what he should wear which hadn't really mattered to him as long as it met his simplistic style.

This had taken an extra hour before they had settled on an outfit of a white shirt, white pants, grey boots, a grey jacket, and a dark grey coat which made him feel like a grim-looking snowman or something.

During that time he had also been contacted by Albert who was highly relieved to hear he was fine and had given him a brief report on the severity of the situation at hand.

This information had forced Tyler to resign himself to his fate as he ordered Albert to assemble every one of importance in the temporary throne hall in an hour and await his arrival.

As things were now, he truly needed to provide a proper structure for his subordinates as they appear to be growing at a rapid pace.

"Well then, let's head out."

With a casual wave of his arm, Tyler used Spatial Teleportation as the four of them instantly disappeared from the room and appeared in front of the large private dining table on the 6th floor of the west wing.

Cora then clapped her hand and the doors to the hall swung open as several pretty maids, compromising of hobgoblins and beast girls walked in carrying various trays of food that soon filled the table completely.

Tyler stood with an expressionless face but his mind was completely numb as he had no idea why they were being out all these foods as though he was organizing a party.

He had wanted to enjoy a private meal before having to face the nerve-racking pressure of being a leader who had foolishly declared war on the five great families and utterly destroyed the possibility of living a quiet life.

He knew the moment he accepted the plan to go public things were going to be different but he didn't know by how much and surely hadn't expected the crippling anxiety that came with such expectations.

'I'm starting to understand how Erin feels all the time.'

From what Albert had explained to him if he didn't take the time to enjoy his food now, he might not get another chance to do so in the near future.

"Alright! Let's eat, Darling, say ahhhhh..."

Tyler's thought process was suddenly interrupted as he was surprised to see that he was already seated at the head chair in front of the dining table and Rain and Liz had, in an unladylike move, shifted their chairs closer to his as they attempted to feed him as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Say ahhhh...."

Tyler tilted his head slightly in puzzlement as he wanted to voice his opposition to this, saying he was not a child and could feed himself but they both looked swept up in their own worlds that it seems his worlds would end up in deft ears, forcing him into resignation.

*Sigh... "Ahhh..."

••••••••••

'That went on longer than I expected.'

Tyler thought as he wiped his mouth while being stared at by not only Liz and Rain but now even Cora. His interest in food and desire not to waste anything had gotten the better of him as he had ended up devouring everything on the table.

Frankly, he was glad he could still enjoy a good meal as he didn't seem like his body needed to eat anymore as even after such a feast he didn't feel full but simply satisfied.

According to Uriel, this was normal as he now survives on mana and his body could covert food to mana which was why he could still eat.

However, the amount of energy gotten was minuscule and thus he could not be filled by mere food. Still, that simply meant he could eat whatever he wanted without getting sick which was a plus, and thus, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"It's already been more than an hour since Albert contacted me so let's go."

"Sure."

Ignoring the awed gazes of everyone here, Tyler stood up gracefully as he walked out of the hall before Rain caught up with him and wouldn't let go until they arrived at their destination.

Of course, he could've easily teleported them inside but he wanted a stroll after such a feast and had already requested the presence of several individuals to be gathered in the hall and could no longer act improperly in front of them.

The simple fact was, with the end of the undead war, he was now officially the sovereign of the Darknar region and at the very least would be considered an equal to the five great families even with his unbelievably limited forces.

Even though those closest to him had always seen him as the rightful ruler of this world up till now, that had only been true in their minds simply because he was strong and had access to the demon king's castle. However, that was no longer the case.

While the battle with the undead king may have just been a display of power to the Great Five, it also served as his ascension to power. His very public claim to the Darknar region for all those that witness his might.

Of course, this didn't mean the Great Five would roll over and just let him do what whatever he wanted from now on as that would be too good to be true. The only difference now was that they could not deny him the title of a Great Demon Lord and would be unable to move openly against him without declaring war.

Naturally, none of them would ever willingly consider him to be the demon king simply because he had claimed the castle for himself as they had not risked everything when they betrayed him just to let a nobody like Tyler take the throne.

What he had just started was a race, a desperate race by the Five Greats to decide who would be the next demon king even without claiming the hidden treasure in the castle.

While they could kit simply let it go, they would all have to focus on creating their own treasures powerful enough to grant them claim to the title of, Demon king.

However, what was surely certain to all who had witnessed his might and that of his vassals was that this was either the birth of a brand new family or the resurgent of an ancient one that clearly rivals the Great Five in might.

Simply put, this was the birth of the Sith Great Family.