Josh gritted his teeth and forced himself up. He groaned as he moved to his feet, every movement dragging pain across his body like a blade across raw skin. He gritted his teeth, his breath shallow, trembling under the weight of his wounds.
On the outside, his physique was holding strong—but inside, it felt like his organs had been bruised, twisted… and on the verge of collapse.
His vision blurred for a second. He blinked it away.
No time to rest. No time to break.
He summoned the System Interface with a shaky breath and tapped on System Rewards.
The screen unfolded before him like a scroll of divine promises:
--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--::--
1. Recruit Jerusha.....pending
2. Raised the level of subordinates to Major 1 (Corporal)
(REWARD: Six Gold-grade, High-Level Weapons) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
3. Won war against the Manticore
(REWARD: 6 Healing Potions + 1 Power Boost) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
4. Recruited 2000 Subordinates
(REWARD: Gold-Grade, High-Level Magical Flute) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
5. Recruited 3000 Subordinates
(REWARD: +2 Power Boosts) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
6. Killed the Manticore King
(REWARD: +1 Rank-Up Potion) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
7. Recruited 4000 Subordinates
(REWARD: +1 Gold-Grade, High-Level Black Mask) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
8. Recruited 5000 Subordinates
(REWARD: +1 Rank-Up Potion) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
9. Recruited 6000 Subordinates
(REWARD: 1KG Sand of Aphrota) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
10. Recruited 7000 Subordinates
(REWARD: 1KG Vanishing Powder) [°§° (OPEN TO VIEW)]
< CLOSE PANEL >
--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--'--:--:--:---:--:--:--:--:--:--
Josh blinked. For a second, he just… stared. This was a massive windfall.
Although David Stormborn—the system avatar—had remained silent and unresponsive, this changed everything. For the first time in a long while, Josh saw a flicker of hope. A fighting chance. The tides were no longer completely against him. And in that moment, as the interface glowed before him like a divine script, he finally felt it—the Kingly System wasn't just a tool. It was a blessing. A lifeline.
Six gold-grade, high-level weapons. His breath caught. Weapons were ranked from Bronze to Spirit—in the manner; Bronze, Silver, Human, Earth, Gold… then Spirit. And each came in low, mid, or high tiers.
The best weapon he'd ever held—apart from his Kingly Staff—had been an Earth-grade sword. And even the Kingly Staff, for all its mythical power, although it was an above Spirit grade weapon that came with the kingly system interphase, it had one draw back, it wouldn't manifest its true capabilities in the hand of any wielder, but rather, it only grew in proportion to his own strength. Now, suddenly, he had six Gold-grade weapons in his grasp.
A fortune in power. A treasure trove of possibilities.
He spotted the six healing potions, clicked Open to View, and they appeared instantly—lined on an ethereal shelf, each one glowing faintly. He picked one.
It shimmered.
Then manifested in his hand.
He uncorked it with trembling fingers and drank. Cool, electric warmth flooded his insides, mending tissue, dulling pain, knitting broken edges. His breath deepened.
Then he saw it—the gold-grade magical flute. A weapon? No. A relic. With it, he could enhance his subordinates' levels rapidly. One song—Rise of the Blade—and his army would soar.
His eyes darted to the Black Mask.
A gasp escaped his lips.
This wasn't just armor—it was freedom. A mask that would never fall off mid-battle, never shatter, never betray his identity. He selected it. Instantly, it floated in the void, glowing like midnight fire. He reached out and touched it.
It melted onto his skin.
Not just a mask now—a part of him.
It fused seamlessly with his face, blending with his features like liquid steel, forming a smooth, skin-like surface. If someone didn't look closely, they'd never guess it wasn't his real face. It was a mask, a helmet, and a shield—all in one. Josh smiled beneath it.
Perfect.
Then his eyes caught the Sand of Aphrota—a rare, cursed sand capable of draining the blood of anything it touched. A weapon of ancient cruelty.
He paused. Thought.
A plan began to form in his mind.
Step one: Use the Sand of Aphrota. Lure the beast, blindside it with the cursed grains.
Step two: Consume the Power Boosts—amplify his Kingly Awareness and unlock a higher level of the I Am King protocol.
Step three: When the Kraken least expects it—vanish. The Vanishing Powder would render him unseen, giving him the edge of stealth.
At last, he had a fighting chance.
The plan crystallized in his mind—finally, something solid to work with. The tide was no longer entirely against him.
But the ground quaked beneath him before the thought could settle.
A deep, wet thud echoed across the battlefield as the Kraken's massive limbs slammed against the earth, dragging its grotesque bulk forward. Its massive shadow loomed like a curse, tentacles rising high, writhing in the air with terrifying grace.
It was rearing up again, preparing for its third strike—one that promised to finish what the first two had started.
Josh's breath caught in his throat. The battlefield, now torn and soaked from the earlier assault, offered little footing. And yet, despite the trembling of his arms, the ache in his chest, and the weight of mental exhaustion from hyper vigilance, he stood his ground.
The war wasn't over yet.
The Kraken paused, its gleaming eyes narrowing. Something about this human had changed.
Josh stood more composed now, none of the aftermath of the internal injuries he suffered from being hit twice could be seen, his stance calm, assured—unnervingly so. The mask was gone… or was it? His face still bore an otherworldly darkness, a mystic sheen that shimmered like living shadow. Whatever magic cloaked him, it made the air around him ripple subtly, like heat rising off scorched stone.
The Kraken sensed something was off, but it didn't care.
It wasn't built to care.
It just wanted this defiant insect crushed, shattered, erased—so it could return to lounging in peace, basking in the quiet rot of the wastelands, and continue draining magic from the land… until the fields cracked, the rivers choked, and the people starved in silence.
This interruption needed to end.
Now.