Chapter 65.5

(Duke Martin's POV)

Every man is born with a mission. I believed so from the moment I was born. Because I saw a god.

It was divine. As the god blessed me with an oracle, I understood the gravity of that.

"Be a great man and offer your all to me."

The god ordered me. And from that very moment, I devoted myself. I must become a great man with accomplishments.

I was born into a Ducal house and was given the name, Martin. I started with my studies. I became the best at studies and then sports. I mastered every type of art. Including the combat arts and weapon arts.

I became the best. There was no one in the kingdom who could best me at those. But, I lacked one thing.

A crucial thing. I lacked magic. I had mana but I couldn't control it to create super natural phenomenons but I had an alternative way.

I always had a stand in. That stand in was almost identical to me but he wasn't me.

And we both took our turns playing the role of Martin. He would use magic and I would demonstrate it as my own.

We both were one and he was just a shadow of me. Then on my 20th birthday, I got a present.

My father who is the current Duke named me to be his successor. I was thrilled but that wasn't enough.

I should be the Duke, not in the line of succession. So I had to resort to some tricks and it paid of. I became the Duke and the king took a liking to me.

The king is known for his lavish life. He stops at nothing from getting his favorite thing. If he takes a liking, he will get it. Nothing can stop him and it goes for everything.

From clothes to women, if he likes it, that's his. And I took advantage of that.

Then I got another oracle from the god. There is a planet which is similar to ours. He wants that planet.

It was an unknown term but he gave me a good explanation. And I understood. There is a portal which was created by the gods which is currently abandoned.

If I take the state of the art battleships, I can easily invade that planet. I was thrilled. I can now finally be recognized by the god. This is probably the final trial.

I proposed this plan to the king to which he agreed. He didn't even bat an eye. He assigned the latest battleship and elite soldiers to me.

We went to conquer that planet. And we did so. Easily, it was under our control. But we didn't land immediately.

We came back and proposed a survey of that planet. After confirming the total annihilation of the people living on that planet, I was promoted to army general.

After becoming the general, I started frequenting the Royal Palace more. And I stumbled upon her. The 17th Princess, Fay Adams.

Our kingdom has a lot of successors. So, she is out of the line of succession anyway but as an individual, she isn't bad.

Her mother is a spirit who is unique. The spirit race has unique traits and though they have human bodies, they are not completely human.

She is a half human and half spirit. Her mother is the Royal chef and she is rather popular with the common people.

If I could get her under me, I can further my control over the population. So I gave the king an idea.

It was to send Princess Fay on an expedition and have her claim the new territory. If a Princess directly claims it, it will be a bit more convenient for us.

And as planned, she left to claim the new land. I have assigned my best crew to monitor her. They wouldn't leave her side even for a moment. But since then, no word has come.

I can't contact them and the ship is missing. This situation went on for three days.

"Martin…"

I heard a call. I was asleep but I woke up and found the god. He is standing before me.

"You have performed splendidly. I am pleased. But something outside our expectations have taken place."

I couldn't speak. Because his divine figure is prohibiting me from doing so.

"One has survived the attack. That one is truly strong."

What? One survived? How can that be? We scorched the whole planet? How can one survive?

"It was fate. We didn't see this coming but we have to nip this situation in the bud. Do not fret for I shall personally accompany you.

My lord is accompanying me…that's such a great honor but who is that vermin who survived?

I will personally see to his death. I swore that. But it would take four days at the very least to reach there.

And we embarked on that journey.

After one day, we reached the teleport point and started crossing.

I have brought my entire fleet. Which is big, I don't actually know how many people are there. And my shadow is here as well.

Now, we are out. I can already see that pesky planet.

"Ahhh…..how long has it been, mother Gaia?"

My lord was ecstatic and he was reaching out to that planet. Mother Gaia? Who is she?

But seeing my lord like this, I definitely have to get there.

But then my lord became stiff.

"Martin, be sharp. Our enemy is watching us."

"How can that be? We are a good two days away from that planet."

"Commander….."

One of the crew shouted.

"What is it?"

"We are detecting a spatial fluctuation from behind. A warp has opened."

"A warp? Who can do that?"

"Martin, the enemy will not show any mercy. He has already become too powerful. He has attacked us."

And with that I saw a flash engulfing us.

◇◇◇◇

Where am I? I tried opening my eyes but I couldn't. What happened?

"A new soul has joined us."

"Yeah. What should we do with it?"

"What else? Eat it and turn it into <Spirit >. Our master needs <Spirit > to deal with pests like him."

A conversation was on going but I couldn't intervene.

"Martin.."

I hear my lord's voice.

But I can't call out to him.

"Don't worry. We will both be eaten. The harbinger of death has been chosen. We are his first offerings. It doesn't feel bad. I hope we will be reincarnated in the next life."

My lord's voice disappeared but what is the harbinger of death? I was confused but I couldn't finish it.