WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 195: I’m a Sovereign

Chapter 195: I’m a Sovereign

Ben looked at Apophis, his lips curled into a smile. Then… he laughed. It wasn’t warm. It wasn’t amused. It was cold.

Apophis blinked, just slightly thrown off.

She wasn’t expecting that.

“Did it feel good?” Ben asked, his gaze sharp as ice.

“Looking down on me?”

Before she could reply, he stepped forward.

“You’re no different than those guidelines. You’re just trying to manipulate me into doing what you want.”

His voice was calm, but beneath it simmered fury.

“I don’t know about the other daemons. But you, Apophis… you need me right now. You need me to free you. And that’s going to take more than brute force.”

Apophis’s smile faded slightly.

Ben kept going.

“You’re wasting all this effort on seduction, half-truths, and riddles, not because you care, but because you can’t act without me. And don’t pretend otherwise. If you could’ve killed me and waited for the next guy, you would’ve done it already.”

Apophis’s laugh returned, this time richer, deeper.

“You’re interesting. But what makes you think I can’t?”

Ben’s eyes didn’t waver.

“Because you’re running out of time. Otherwise, why would a being as powerful as you try to seduce someone weaker like me?”

Apophis’s smile thinned.

“I could already have others helping me.”

Ben’s voice cut in before she could say more.

“Oh, I’m sure you tried. Some time ago, maybe? A Nephirid, probably from the House of Yhrax?”

He stepped forward, calm but relentless.

“But they couldn’t break the seal… could they?”

Apophis’s eyes narrowed, shadows flickering across her face.

Ben grinned.

“So my guess was right. Your face said it all.”

He took a step forward, voice cool and firm.

“Here’s the situation, Apophis. You need me. I don’t need you. So if you want my help… you follow my orders.”

Apophis scoffed, voice rising.

“Me?! Follow your orders!? Are you dreaming?”

From Ben’s back, appendage burst forth, its end transforming into a sharp jaw. It slammed into the ground, not attacking her, but deep into the earth.

Then another. And another. Four in total, writhing with restrained power.

Apophis’s eyes flicked to the writhing appendages, then back to Ben.

“What are you planning?”

Ben didn’t answer, just grinned wider.

Apophis’s expression shifted. Her gaze sharpened.

Ben tilted his head, voice casual.

“You know, my partner’s a genius mage. Always researching, especially magic. And every time she gets the chance, she gives me a full lecture about it.”

He chuckled.

“I usually tune out, but… I’ve picked up a few things here and there. Like how a seal this big always has multiple cores.”

Apophis’s eyes narrowed.

“So? You plan to destroy the cores for me? Hah! Be my guest. Maybe then I won’t kill you for running your mouth.”

Ben’s grin didn’t fade.

“Are you stupid, or just fooling yourself, Apophis?”

His voice dropped cold.

“You’re able to leak power like this because the seal’s already weak. Just enough for you to reach through the cracks.”

He took a step back, letting the appendages beneath him dig further.

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Apophis’s face darkened. Her smile shattered.

Dark liquid erupted from beneath her, forming into sharp, gleaming black spears that aimed at Ben from all sides.

“Stop what you’re doing!” she roared.

Ben laughed, bold, defiant.

“What’s wrong? Has being sealed so long made you senile?”

He threw out his hand.

“CONSUME!”

The moment the skill activated, something changed.

Energy poured into him, not like anything he’d felt before. It was pure energy, pure aether. The energy pressing against his very soul. A sensation like swallowing a storm.

Ben staggered for a heartbeat, his appendage consumed aphopis leaking energy from the crack. While at the same time sealing it making sure nothing more come out to apophis.

His veins bulged beneath his skin, glowing faintly. Muscles tensed and flexed as if something monstrous stirred beneath the surface.

Apophis’s gaze sharpened, Then she laughed.

“Careful not to overeat, you stupid mortal.”

With a snap of her fingers, crack!

Every black spear around him shot forward.

SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH!

Dozens of dark water projectiles streaked toward Ben, moving faster than thought.

But Ben didn’t run, He turned. One of the appendages whipped out, catching a spear midair, and consumed it.

Another appendage twisted up like a serpent, smashing three more to dust. One spear slipped through,

CLANG!

It slammed into Ben’s side, only to crack and dissolve. His skin had hardened like armor, pulsing with dark energy.

Ben looked up, breathing heavy, but grinning.

“Thanks for the meal.”

A pulse of power erupted from his core. Black and violet energy rippled outward, cracking the ground in a perfect circle.

Apophis’s smile faded. Her hands rose.

“Enough.”

She clapped her palms together, The sky bent. The world tilted.

Gravity turned sideways.

Ben’s feet lifted off the ground, then slammed back down. The pressure crushed the air from his lungs, cracked the stone beneath him.

“Let’s see how you stand… when your bones weigh like mountains.”

Ben dropped to one knee, appendages flailing, fighting to hold him upright.

CRACK!

The ground beneath him shattered again. Not from her pressure.

From him pushing back. His body roared in defiance, muscles rebuilding themselves stronger, denser.

“You’re not the only one who controls gravity now, Apophis.”

Another appendage surged into the ground, deeper than before, and somewhere far below, another crack were sealed.

Apophis’s expression finally twisted into something real: panic.

Her body here wasn’t fake, it was real, but only a small part of her true self. And it wasn’t stable.

It stayed here by pulling in aether, from the cracks in her prison. That energy kept her solid, kept her powerful.

And now, Ben was sealing those cracks. One by one.

If he closed them all, the energy would stop coming. That meant she’d be stuck here with only what she had left.

No backup. No refill. Every second would count.

Every move, every attack, would eat away at her power. And once it ran out…

She’d fade. Her body would fall apart. And she’d be pulled back into the seal.