BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 66 – A Lord and His Companion

Atop one of the hills...

The wind was bitterly cold, though it was not winter.

The green mountain pierced through the clouds, rising high into the sky.

Below it, the peaks were scattered apart in some places and clustered closely in others.

On one hill that barely rose more than ten meters above the ground...

A massive man stood.

His long, curly hair flared like the mane of a black lion.

His loose black garments lifted over his broad shoulders like a raised tent.

Several tattoos marked his bare arms—

all of them black, like the clothes he wore.

In his right hand, a majestic crimson-red axe gleamed.

On his left wrist rested a massive spiral bracelet of the same color.

His eyes lit up with excitement.

He leapt—

Crossing one hill after another.

Ascending, descending, climbing again.

The green mountain and its child hills were clothed in grassy emerald.

But—

At the summit of one hill, the color changed.

Milky white.

Cold winds roared around it.

The axe-wielding warrior hurled himself toward that pale-white patch.

Closer... and closer.

The cold radiating from that place did not spread outward.

It felt imprisoned within the center of that hill.

He arrived.

His eyes turned toward the center.

There—

A Second-Rank Lord sat with his eyes closed, as if meditating.

The seated Lord’s body was twice the size of the axe warrior’s.

Beside him rested a massive golden axe.

Joe did not move. He simply observed.

Watching his opponent, who had yet to open his eyes.

"Is my opponent some kind of priest?" Joe snorted angrily.

"I don’t like attacking someone who doesn’t attack me. Could you attack me, please?"

His voice rose, addressing the seated Lord.

Cold winds continued to flow from the Lord’s body, swirling around him like a white sphere.

Behind him stood a tall blue pillar.

Within it, a glowing blue cube.

Joe narrowed his gaze.

"I don’t know what that pillar is..." he muttered.

"But it feels like something bad."

He lifted his axe.

"It needs to be destroyed quickly."

He drew his arm back—

Swoooosh—

Like a supersonic projectile, the indestructible axe spun toward the cube.

Swoooosh—

The wind roared.

From its frozen depths, an ice wall rose.

BOOOOM—

The axe struck the wall and embedded deep within it.

"I’m sorry," a calm voice whispered from beyond the wind.

Clear brown eyes opened at last.

The Second-Rank Lord looked at Joe.

"I’m sorry..."

He tilted his head slightly upward toward the axe lodged in the ice.

"I’m sorry... because you will never retrieve your unbreakable axe again."

"No need to apologize." Joe smiled.

"I’m happy you finally decided to move."

The Lord remained seated.

His expression faded into something unreadable. A strange calm filled his eyes.

"Everyone must die," he murmured.

"But I will not be the one to do it. I will never allow that."

Joe’s smile disappeared.

A different calm replaced it.

"My excitement is gone," he said quietly.

He raised his hand—

BOOM—

The ice wall shattered into fragments.

The indestructible axe flew back into Joe’s grasp.

"Hypocrites like you..." Joe muttered,

"don’t excite me."

He turned.

Took several steps as if to leave, then glanced back.

"Stay here. When we’re done with the others, the leader will decide what to do with you."

...

A Second-Rank Lord descended into a wide plain.

He wore a tattered white cloak, its edges torn and trailing down to fully cover his feet.

Mysterious symbols and runes were engraved upon it.

"Ooooh..." he exclaimed.

He found himself in a vast field filled with beautiful white daisies.

"This is truly a splendid space," he murmured.

He had light, messy hair and half-lidded eyes that suggested calm and excessive confidence.

Above his head hovered a faint circular halo of energy.

"Who is this beautiful woman?" the Second-Rank Lord asked.

Before him stood a woman who showed no reaction to his exaggerated movements.

"Don’t you recognize her? The beautiful Princess Monali."

A dominant feminine voice whispered from behind him.

A girl with long black hair tied in layered brown threads approached and stood beside him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"She is the Princess of Shadows who rejected her Lord," the girl murmured mockingly.

She wore a dark robe draped over her shoulders, adorned with a black scarf and engraved golden shoulder armor.

A tight black jacket with a high collar covered her torso.

A black leather corset cinched her waist, decorated with straps and metal chains.

Lace stockings and fitted leather trousers completed her knightly appearance.

Before them, Princess Monali still stood unmoving.

Her hair cascaded like polished silver, pure white strands interwoven in controlled chaos.

Among them, thin braids wound carefully around a vivid green accent—

like a young branch sprouting amidst winter snow.

"Galja..." the princess whispered.

Her calm silver eyes turned toward the pointed-eared girl.

She brushed her hair back.

Removed the black cloak covering her combat attire and cast it aside.

Her slender figure stood revealed, like a young gazelle.

She wore a light black linen shirt with an open collar and rolled sleeves,

a yellow horizontal stripe decorating the chest.

Long brown gloves protected her forearms to the elbows.

Dark trousers designed for agility completed her attire.

"Are you alone?" the princess asked, glancing around.

The girl still clung to the Second-Rank Lord as he raised his right hand and produced a blue cube.

Monali narrowed her eyes.

The cube ascended and transformed into a pillar of light, beginning to spread its network.

From beneath his cloak, the Lord revealed his weapons—

In his right hand, a book adorned with a blue gem.

In his left, a long wooden spear with a silver tip.

"If you sit quietly like a tame cat..." the Lord smiled,

"you won’t be harmed. Our target is your Lord alone."

In the sky—

Clouds began gathering.

"Then..." the princess whispered,

"I only need to keep you here."

A calm smile appeared on her face.

The Lord’s laughter faltered.

Her confidence irritated him.

Another quick kiss landed on his cheek.

The black-haired girl released him and rose into the air.

"Leave her to me... the princess raised in luxury."

She lifted both hands.

The earth trembled.

"Steel Masses!" she shouted.

Dozens of chunks of earth tore from the ground and rose upward.

One mass after another—until over thirty massive rocks hovered above.

"Let’s see..." a sharp mocking grin appeared on her face,

"How will the princess of ten arrows deal with twenty stones?"

She waved her hands.

The rocks surged downward.

Guided by force and gravity, they carried immense weight.

BOOM—

"Hah?!" the girl turned sharply.

A blue energy disc intercepted a yellow arrow.

Then—

BOOM—

Another blue disc blocked an arrow from the opposite direction.

The black-haired girl’s movements faltered.

Her eyes locked onto the princess.

Monali stood—

No bow.

No visible motion.

The rocks continued descending toward her.

"So that’s it..." Monali murmured. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Her control over the rocks cannot be disrupted easily."

She stepped back.

BOOM.

BOOM.

The rocks struck the ground—

And she avoided them effortlessly.

They were powerful and fast.

But not precisely guided.

Within moments, she found the flaw.

After several rocks fell, she thought:

"When a rock comes within ten meters, Galja loses control of it. It becomes nothing more than a falling object governed by gravity."

She evaded the rest smoothly.

Above, the girl was unsettled.

Those two arrows had nearly knocked her down—

the Lord had saved her at the last second.

"Is someone else here?" she snapped angrily.

"Calm down," the Lord cut in.

"She’s trying to unbalance you. When dealing with someone you think you understand and they surprise you—treat them as if you know nothing about them."

His eyes rose to the sky.

The bright sun had become dark, heavy clouds.

He analyzed quickly.

"Is this your doing?" he gestured toward the clouds.

"Are you using lightning from the storm to fire arrows like those?"

His deduction was accurate.

Monali did not delay her answer as she landed gracefully, Galja’s assault finished.

"I wasn’t hiding it. Spring and sunlight... then clouds pierced by an arrow that strikes you. Of course you would assume that explanation."

"Is it?" he pressed.

"Who knows... perhaps."

"Heh." The Lord laughed.

"A good idea. Let’s see the truth."

He suddenly opened the book.

Several blue points emerged from within.

"Formation..." the Second-Rank Lord whispered.

The points shot into the sky.

Dozens of blue lights transformed into one-meter-wide circular discs.

They began spinning.

Dozens of rotating fans churned the air violently—

And from their centers, countless wind blades launched toward the princess.

The princess pressed against the ground with her feet—

swiftly retreating several meters.

"Running won’t help," the Lord’s voice echoed from afar.

One step after another...

Monali finally steadied herself at a distance.

Her eyes fixed on the wind blades rushing toward her.

Suddenly—

BOOOOM—

A massive arrow of yellow light—

Three meters long—

Struck the ground before the princess, piercing through it and standing upright like a towering wall.

Then—

Another came.

And another.

BOOOOM—

BOOOOM—

The enormous arrows slammed into the earth, carving deep into it around the princess.

A wall of light, three meters high, formed and enclosed her.

Then—

Hundreds of wind blades arrived.

BOOOOM—

BOOOOOM—

BOOOOOOOM—

They crashed violently against the barrier.

The sound thundered, fierce and deafening.