Chapter 4 – A Thousand Years Later

“Hermos.”

Mark said, his voice cutting through the silence that had settled after the commanders’ arrival. “Report. What happened in the Ziggurat while I… was absent?”

The bat-butler hesitated at that.

His ears twitched sharply, and he tilted his head, looking genuinely confused by the scope of the question. The gleam of intelligence in his black eyes wavered for a moment.

“Everything remained in order. Following your final directives, the Ziggurat operated at minimum capacity for resource preservation.” Hermos replied, regaining his composure.

He looked at the other four kneeling commanders, as if asking for confirmation.

Karkinos was the first to respond, the sound of his chitin scraping against the floor echoing through the hall.

“The Vanguard of the First Ring remained immobile, Master. No living creature crossed the defenses.”

“The crypts… the crypts as well.” Malphas stammered, without lifting his head. “The bodies of the former invaders remain preserved. Nothing decayed, nothing… nothing awakened without your will.”

“The banquet halls also remain ready for Your return, my Lord.” Carmilla suddenly said, breaking the silence with her velvety voice.

Right after, the little girl Elizabeth squeezed the cloth doll against her chest, her voice coming out in a timid whisper. “The fourth ring… is silent. Everything stopped to wait for the Lord to awaken.”

Mark listened to the reports in silence, keeping Vaelin’s expression like a mask of ice.

He was testing the ground and trying to gather more information.

In the game, those figures were extensions of his will, tools he pointed in a direction. But now… his commanders were no longer code.

Each of them was an entity of level 400 or higher.

Even though Mark was max level, would the resurrection rules of his race — something he used casually in the game — still work? He didn’t know whether his abilities retained the same effects.

The risk that not all of them functioned like in the game was high.

Besides, if one of those commanders decided Vaelin was weak or harbored second intentions, it would be troublesome. Mark wouldn’t have trouble fighting one or two of his commanders, but in this world, dying could be definitive.

Even for him.

His gaze wandered between Carmilla, who kept her gentle smile while observing him, then Malphas and Elizabeth, who seemed too intimidated to look at him directly, and Karkinos… well, who was acting like an insect.

Then there was Hermos.

Looking into those large eyes, Mark shook his head.

Could he be overthinking?

Still, a sense of dissonance began to crawl up his spine.

Something was out of place.

Minimum capacity for resource preservation.

Immobile vanguard.

Bodies of former invaders preserved.

His brain processed each report.

‘Former invaders?’

Mark frowned inwardly.

Were they referring to the last attack of the Army of Light? For him, the Fourth Division of the Army of Light had struck his gates only a few hours ago, just before he closed the game.

Sensing something didn’t add up, he changed the direction of his questions.

“The Army of Light.” Mark began, looking at each of them. “The Fourth Division that dared to invade this land… do you remember it?”

The commanders went still, exchanging confused looks.

Malphas began trembling more visibly, the threads in his scars writhing like worms.

Carmilla lost her gentle smile for a second, her lips pressing into a straight line.

Elizabeth squeezed her cloth doll so tightly that the seams of the toy looked ready to burst.

Hermos stepped forward, his bat-like expression turning somber and melancholic.

“Sovereign… that was ten centuries ago.” He whispered.

Mark froze.

‘Ten… what?’

“The invasion happened ten centuries ago. Since then, the Ziggurat has been hibernating, waiting for the Sovereign to awaken.” Hermos explained carefully, watching Vaelin’s reaction.

Ten centuries.

A thousand years had passed since the Army of Light attacked?

Hadn’t he only slept for a few hours?

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Mark tried to steady his breathing.

The Ziggurat had been hibernating for a millennium.

That meant that the moment he was reborn inside the game, time had already devoured the outside world he thought he knew.

“Hermos.” Mark called, his voice sounding distant. “The three absent commanders… they still haven’t awakened because of that prolonged rest?”

The butler tilted his head, nodding quickly. “Yes, Sovereign. Following the preservation plan, the Ziggurat shut down almost all its vital functions to conserve mana and resources during Your sacred sleep.”

Hermos clenched his gloved hands, looking anxious. “As Your butler, my essence is directly linked to the vital flow of this hall. I was the first to be reactivated the moment Your Majesty opened your eyes. When I felt the power and heard the disturbance coming from the hall… I feared you were in danger after so long and intruded, ignoring all protocols.”

Mark processed the information.

The “power” must have been when he tested his explosive abilities.

He had flipped the main switch of that fortress without realizing it.

Those level 400 cards had spent a thousand years waiting for him in dreamless darkness, but for him only a few hours had passed from the moment he logged out to being reborn.

‘A thousand years…’ Mark thought, feeling strange.

If the Army of Light and the enemies that used to invade the Ziggurat were gone, who ruled the world now?

He needed to see it with his own eyes.

Mark suddenly rose from the throne.

“Karkinos.” He called to the giant mantis, who immediately clicked his mandibles in attention. “Take us to your area, the outer wall.”

The mantis’s body seemed to vibrate with excitement. “Yes, Sovereign! It would be an unprecedented honor to guide Your Majesty.”

The metallic tone of his voice betrayed his enthusiasm. Karkinos lowered his red chitinous torso, bringing his serrated forelimbs down to the level of the marble.

“Climb, my Lord. I will carry you through the rings with my speed.” He offered his wide, armored back as a mount.

Mark evaluated the proposal for a brief second.

Karkinos was, without a doubt, the fastest unit under his command.

In the game, Mark had meticulously built him to be a vanguard reaper, a war machine whose entire focus was movement speed and chain attacks.