Chapter 24: Accept Me, My King

Should I accept? Hmm.

...

I stare at her blank mask. "Did you even think that I desire to be someone so powerful as you have described? Make no mistake, Juha. All that I've ever done till now is for my survival. There was never an end goal where I would try be something that is basically from your delusions of granduer. All that I have done is for me to see another day. Nothing else." I lay down my statement. It was true. All this time, all I ever wanted was to live. To experience more on what life can offer and if I have to kill those monstrous abominations then so be it.

"...is it really, my king?"

I raised my eyebrow at her question.

"If I may be blunt, but I don't think your saying the truth. If all you ever wanted was to survive, you could have just avoid fighting those monsters you see in your way, you didn't even have to take over Labak's territory."

"You think that I have a choice? Every day, there are groups of Undead that tries to kill me. You have no idea how many times I have felt powerless and times I was close to death. I have no choice but to adapt."

"Now isn't that a bit ironic?"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What do you mean?"

Despite her mask, I could tell that she's grinning underneath.

"You say that you don't want to be stronger, that all you ever want is survival but here's the thing, my naive king. One must have the strength to see another day. I'll tell you right now, if you try to live your life in stagnation just like the rest? You will die."

She starts to encircle me like that of a shark. Her hands are gently caressing my shoulders, back, chest.

"Did you really think that what you've built from here won't fall one day? No, no. I admit that what you created here is impressive. It may be able to hold back a lot of sentients. But that's the key word, my king.

'Hold back'

They will soon penetrate your walls, lay waste to all you have worked so far then end your life. Just look at what happened to Labak."

What is she getting at?

"He lived his undead life in mediocrity. He let himself be content, creating a nest that is so devoid of order. I was there when you fought him, remember? He told you that he took years to build his nest. Talking as if he is some hardworking hanni, talking as if what he created could even be considered a nest. Labak is lazy. He did not work that much at all in the past few years. All he ever did is sit on his lovely little chair and make his minions do his bidding. He did not even help gather most of his servants and he dare call himself a sentient. Ahahahahaha!"

Her laugh has every trace of madness in it. Her voice echoed through the area like a roar of a wild beast. Whity from behind me, can't help but be a little apprehensive of her laugh. However, I remain calm at her presence. Only staring at her as she finished her laugh.

"He has strength, he has might but he let his ego overshadow his potential. He must have thought that once he became a sentient, he would have the power to crush all who oppose him. Tough luck for him. He is the weakest of us. So weak that some of them had considered to kill him already. Alas you already did so they might gave their gratitude to you."

"Hmm."

"Anyway, please do not be like him. I know you can be great. Be someone that is leagues above everybody. You want survival? You want to see another day? Be stronger. Become something that even with just your name, your enemies will quake in fear. Be the one to reach that mountain peak..."

She cupped my face in a strange gesture of affection as she stared at me with her white blank mask.

"..."

Sigh...she's unfortunately right. Even if I remain here and continue to train, I could tell that the progress is still slow. It took me months just to prepare my battle to seize this town but I didn't know that a sentient was residing here. Labak made my best created battle drone useless and beat me up all over the place. All those months of preparation proved useless against him until I became a sentient myself. However, I'm not gonna discredit my work entirely for that. I was not prepared for a fight with a sentient but I was prepared for the undead occupying that town so its not entirely useless at all. Haa...

"I see your point but I fail to see any connection here regarding your desire to mate with me. Can an undead be able to reproduce? We are technically dead, Juha. What use is there for us to mate if their is a possibility that you can't sire a child."

"...Well, honestly I don't know about that..."

Really? Are you kidding me?

"A long time ago, I saw two hannis going at each other like a pair of animals. Their expression are those of pure pleasure that I can't help but be interested."

This lunatic is such a voyeur.

"A few months later and I notice that the stomach of the female one has started to bloat. A couple more months later and a child came out of her. That moment gave me a revelation."

"...how?"

"You see, I've always been curious if we can reproduce like they did so I asked a fellow sentient but sadly, they don't have any desire like I did. Moreover, they find that making such an act as beneath them."

"And you have planned and waited for years. All this years, just to experience being laid?"

That is some weird motivation.

"Moreover, if what you wanted is to reach that mountain peak, why bother serving another sentient. As a matter in fact, why would you want to serve me? You know you are more powerful than me so why do you have to debase yourself?"

She was silent for a moment. Probably contemplating on what I said.

"...my king, when you reach the highest level of power, you tend to contemplate the feeling of being the strongest all alone. Take it from me. Being someone at the top of the food chain is just not for me. I can't keep up with new breed of sentients popping up at every corner. Being a servant to 'him' actually gave me closure on what I truly want...and that is not being a king.

As for why I chose you? Like I said, I saw potential in you and some other reason is I want to give you a chance. You have all of this potential and I just can't bare to see you waste it all. So you know..."

Damn it. Talk about pulling my heartstrings a little there.

...what to do? What to do? Hmm...

Haah.

"Assuming that I will accept your proposal, what can you offer in return?" I asked.

"Oh? Well a lot of things. First off, knowledge. I have been wandering this land for so many years. I have discovered things that you can only dream off. I'm also a powerful sentient myself. Labak's prowess fail in comparison to mine, you know?"

"That remains to be seen..."

"Understandable but I assure you, my king. What I said is not a lie...if you want a demonstration, I can give it to you but I will only do so if you accept me as your servant."

Tsk.

"If you accept me, you will have all access to all I have learn from past to present times. If you want information regarding the other sentients, I can give it to you. I can also train you to improve your prowess. All this benefits and all I ask of you is to be strong and make me your woman. Not a bad deal, right? So what do you say?"

Hmm. Accept her proposal or not. I can't help but be perked up by her offer. With her help, there is no doubt that I would be stronger than ever. Add to her experience and vast amount of knowledge, she is can mold me into someone fearsome. She has more than enough good arguments to make me consider her proposal...however, what if it was all a lie? What if she had another goal in mind? There is a possibility of her betrayal. I can't even see her eyes to determine if what she said was the truth due to her damn mask. No matter what she said, it still sounds a little suspicious...

"I know that you think that I'm not trustworthy, my king. I can respect that."

I held my surprise in favor of being calmly looking at her.

"That's one of the reasons why I like you. A cautious king. Someone of your caliber would maintain their position at the top. Ah~

You are just so insatiable~"

She hugs me from behind as she leaned her face right next to my left ear.

"Please accept me, my king."

...

...

"...I...accept."