The 100 Days War - Chapter 2

The Dread Keep - the crown jewel of David’s newly built empire that served as his home.

All remaining traces of Castle Kelsey had been wiped away.

The walls were painted black, with streaks of crimson blood stained upon them. The towers were taller and resembled spikes, the castle had expanded and grown several times over, and it was manned by countless demons and undead.

The castle did still have some humans residing in it, though most of them were slaves freed from the Kelseys and the Sons of Tartarus before David destroyed the Holy Empire.

It was a monument to the type of monster he had become, the type of monster Eris needed him to be - the Demon Emperor, the world’s ultimate evil.

God, it’s so depressing to look at. David sighed internally from his study window as he gazed upon his keep. It’s so edgy and bleak. There’s only one place in this whole world where I can relax and it’s at the top of the tallest, scariest looking tower.

Then again. David smiled thinly. It’s only fitting, isn’t it?

When Eris had taunted him last for becoming the Demon Emperor, David had steeled his resolve to keep walking down this path no matter what, but there were times when he wished he could take a break from it all.

To forget what he had become, what he had done, and what he was going to do.

Even now, as he contemplated this at the window, his generals were all off doing his evil bidding.

Abaddon, accompanied by Fenrir, was leading the bulk of his forces into the north to defeat the remnants of the civil war David had started.

Mímir, accompanied by Jorōgumo and the Vampire Court, were pursuing whatever remaining rebels lay within the empire with brutal force.

Charybdis and Scylla were, for the time being, protecting the Dread Keep and patrolling the coastline, destroying any invaders and refugees without mercy.

Mania, along with the Awoken and the Elves, were protecting the south-western border they shared with the Free People’s Alliance, a name that David laughed at.

It really does cement me as the villain, doesn’t it?

In a way, David was relieved that he had decided to leave all the finer details of the plan to his generals. However, in another way, the notion worried him.

When he had trusted his generals’ judgement before, the results had been mixed, to put it lightly.

That said, in order for them to grow and in order to allow David to focus on other, more important matters, he needed to be able to rely on them more and more.

And to achieve that, he set them their tasks and a strict deadline of one hundred days to complete them.

After that, he’d need to devote all of his time on preparing for the arrival of Eris’s summoned heroes.

The coming hundred days will be a challenging time, but it’ll prove educational too. If we’re able to achieve eighty to ninety percent of my goals in that time, it’ll be a success.

But what worried David more than that was what came after - the summoned heroes.

From David’s previous life, he knew that stories about people summoned to other worlds weren’t uncommon, but what varied greatly was the protagonist’s strength.

In some stories, they were unstoppable beasts, capable of everything and anything.

In others, all they could do was watch on and try to push others in the right direction.

There were some where the protagonists fell in between these two extremes - they were strong, but not all powerful or weak without being hopeless.

Knowing Eris, it’ll probably be either the all-powerful option or the middle ground option, or both. David grunted. Maybe they’ll be like me and just slowly unlock their powers, or maybe they’ll have to train to use them, or level up like an RPG to use their skills.

Whatever the case, I need to be ready to counter and defeat them.

Just then, someone knocked at his door.

“Your majesty, Empress Lilith is here to see you.”

David smiled. It can wait. “Send her in.”

The vampires pushed the doors open and Lilith entered.

Her blood-coloured eyes lit up when she saw her new husband and her cheeks turned a slight shade of red; she was dressed in a fine velvet dress and wearing a silver tiara in her long blonde hair.

“Your majesty, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to-”

Before she could get another word out, David covered her lips with his own. At first, Lilith was startled, but she relaxed and began kissing him back. After a few moments, they parted and she shyly looked away from him.

“Y-your majesty, I-”

“Lily, there’s no one else in here. Just call me by my name.”

“B-but.”

“Lily.”

“…A-a-Allaric.”

Ah, my wife’s too cute! David hugged her tightly and the embarrassed vampiress held him back. You’re the only one I can relax around. I love you!

Love.

The thought made David’s throat close.

There were only three women outside of his family who David had ever had romantic feelings for.

Hailey, Kella and Lilith.

The first, he never confessed to and died in front of her eyes.

The second, he broke her heart, twice, even when the two had found comfort in their shared loneliness.

The third, he fell for at first sight or so David had thought.

Lilith was a beautiful, charming, and adorable young woman, as perfect a bride as any man could ask for, but David didn’t know if what he felt was love or relief when he was with her.

In these more intimate, private moments, the two could forget about everyone else and just focus on each other.

These were the times David treasured the most in his life.

But was it because of whom he spent them with?

I don’t know.

“Allaric, what’s wrong?”

David snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at his wife’s anxious expression. He stroked her hair and said, “It’s nothing. Why did you come and find me?”

The two separated and David went back to his desk. “Is it wrong for a wife to want to spend time with her husband?”

“Of course not, but you always say you don’t want to disturb my work. So, I can only assume you have something you’d want today.”

Lilith smiled. “Yes, your majesty.”

“Allaric.”

“I won’t call you that when we’re discussing official matters, dear husband.”

David chuckled. “Very well. Then, sit and speak, my wife.”

Lilith curtsied and did just that.

Before she could say anything, a maid came in with a tea set and some light snacks. “How did you-?”

“I instructed the maids outside to always bring refreshments whenever you came to visit.”

“But what if I’d left after just a minute?”

David shrugged. Then, he told the maid to leave them, before gesturing Lilith to help herself.

She took a small cake and a cup of tea for herself, then got back to business.

“Your majesty, it’s only been a week since the old empire fell and seven days since the council has moved to fulfil your one hundred days plan. You’ve given instructions to the Awoken, my kin, and to both Lady Rebecca and Hilda, yet I was not given any specifics orders or tasks to fulfil. Might I ask why?”

It’s because I didn’t think about it, David made sure he didn’t say aloud. After their rushed marriage four days ago in a rather glamorous ceremony at the Dread Keep, David wasn’t sure what he wanted his new wife to do.

He knew she was smart and strong, but he didn’t want her fighting on the frontlines with his generals.

He knew she was capable based on Lord Ruthven’s comments, but almost all the tasks in David’s empire were all being handled by the rest of his council.

If he started reassigning people now, he could cause some friction in his council.

On the other hand, if he didn’t appease his new wife and make her feel valued, David could lose Lord Ruthven’s support and, by extension, the Vampire Court’s allegiance.

I’ll admit that I should’ve come up with something for her to do sooner, but I can’t just come up with something on the spot. For now, it’s best to play it safe.

With a sweet smile, David pushed his chair out slightly from his desk and patted his lap. At first, Lilith was confused, but she still got up and sat on his lap. Then, David embraced her softly from behind, making the vampiress embarrassed.

“Lily, I do have a task in mind for you to accomplish-”

“Then-!” She beamed.

“However.” She shrunk. “Now is not the time. For now, all I need you to do is stay by my side, supporting me as you’ve been doing. When the time is right, I shall send for you and give you a task that only you can do.”

“W-when will that be, Allaric?”

“It’s hard to say.”

Lilith pouted. “Oh, I see.”

“What I mean is.” He took her chin and made her look into his eyes. “It’ll depend on how quickly the others finish their tasks. I need the others to advance their plans to a certain stage before you can begin your role.”

“My role...”

“Yes. Your role. The role that only you can fulfil.”

…Actually, I think I already have an idea of what Lily can do but. Upon looking at his wife’s satisfied expression, he smiled and kiss her again. I’ll think it through a bit more first.

Hahahaha!

David’s blood ran cold as he heard a familiar cackle.

Slowly forming before him out of thin air, even when time hadn’t stopped and the world hadn’t turned grey, she appeared.

The Goddess of Chaos and Strife herself - Eris.

With a cruel smile, she mouthed, I know what her real use is for you.

David pulled his wife into a tight hug, burying her face in his shoulder and glared at the goddess.

Eris simply mouthed one more word before disappearing in a cloud of feathers.

Escape.