After dealing with the corpse tide, Phield ordered the army to clean up the battlefield, preventing any new waves from using the piled bodies outside the walls to climb into the territory.
Returning to his study, Phield took out the plan he had prepared earlier.
"Now that Ashina has advanced to Tier Two, there’s a lot more we can do."
"Are we going to reclaim Starnight City?" Rosalia asked excitedly. "Once we take Starnight City and occupy its towering walls, our defensive strength will increase dramatically."
Because the Northern Province bordered the beastfolk, its cities had walls that were tall and solid—nothing like the decorative walls of Maple Leaf City.
Once Starnight City was taken, the entire Nightfall Domain would essentially fall into their hands. At the very least, the monsters within Nightfall Domain would have no way of breaching a true city.
"Starnight City must be reclaid, and it’s quite urgent," Phield said without hesitation. "But the most pressing matter right now is dealing with my younger brother, Adrian Ross."
"If we don’t act quickly, the Shadow World Sect might beat us to it. We’d lose a potential Divine Chosen."
Phield had been eyeing that "wife" for a long ti.
As his strength grew, his original goal—simply surviving in Nightfall Domain—had already been achieved in its first stage.
Now, ambition began to take root. He found himself wanting to gather more Divine Chosen and reclaim the entire Northern Region. After all, no one else was claiming it.
"We still need to withstand the corpse tides caused by Agnes," Phield continued. "And we also have to deal with certain hidden threats. My brother won’t allow to live."
He understood this perfectly—otherwise Adrian wouldn’t have sent the Blood Hand rcenaries to assassinate him.
Having failed once, Adrian would surely send even stronger assassins next ti.
"I see."
The others nodded in understanding.
"Also, we’ve gained a large amount of food supplies this ti. We can support more people. It’s ti to purchase more slaves—they’ll beco the residents of Starnight City. Nightfall Domain needs explosive growth."
Phield turned to Gogris and Charlotte. "You two stay behind and guard the territory. Once I deal with my brother, I’ll return and reclaim Starnight City."
"Mhm!"
The two nodded repeatedly.
After giving detailed instructions, Phield headed to the industrial area. The salt ore they had gathered earlier was being crushed by slaves wielding heavy hamrs.
"Eighty, eighty..."
After breaking the ore into smaller chunks, it was placed into grinding trays and pulverized into fine powder.
In a wooden barrel nearby, half a barrel of mineral powder had already accumulated.
"My lord, is this the salt we’re making?" Ashina, always interested in anything edible, imdiately leaned in. She dipped a finger into the powder, about to taste it. "Why does it look different from what we usually eat?"
"Don’t eat it. It’s dangerous."
Phield quickly stopped her. Even though Ashina had high resistance, randomly eating things was not a good habit.
"This doesn’t even count as coarse salt yet—it’s just salt ore. It still needs to be dissolved, purified, evaporated, crystallized, and so on." Crossing his arms into a big X, Phield smiled. "It contains impurities like calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Eat it, and you’ll get poisoned."
Ashina drooled slightly, looking blank. "I don’t understand any of that."
"Haha, just have the craftsn grind it into powder for now. When I co back next ti, I’ll make edible salt."
Salt production was a troubleso process. Phield turned to the soldiers overseeing the area. "Keep a close watch. Don’t let anyone take this for consumption—the powder is toxic."
"Yes, my lord."
So people imdiately suppressed their thoughts.
Phield noticed the shift in their expressions and shook his head with a faint smile.
He had deliberately stopped at the crudest stage. If he refined it further into white coarse salt, it would be much harder to stop people from secretly taking it. He had finally trained a decent workforce—he didn’t want anyone dying from eating the wrong thing.
"Ashina, prepare twenty cavalry. We leave tonight!"
Phield felt a growing sense of urgency and gave the order imdiately.
"Yes!"
Wind Orchid City—a large city with a population of thirty thousand.
Adrian sat in the lord’s hall, staring at the doll in his hands. A sudden wave of nausea rose within him.
"Why does my brother always send dolls? Disgusting."
This particular doll felt unusually realistic—smooth and lifelike, almost like a real person.
Adrian had wanted countless tis to burn them, but he never could. It felt as though setting them on fire would bring so unspeakable horror.
The Ross family was far from united—if anything, internal conflict was encouraged.
His father, Count Kote, had told him when he was young:
"The Ross family is cursed. Every sibling is your greatest enemy. If you want to live, the others must die. And you, Adrian, are the child I value the most. I’ve only said this to you—do not disappoint ."
"Heh, as if my brother is that kind," Adrian sneered. "Too bad... they’re just ordinary dolls."
After inspecting every suspicious detail, he shook his head.
"You—take it to the storage room."
He casually pointed at a servant and tossed the doll over.
"Yes, my lord."
The servant took it nervously. The doll’s blue eyes—whatever they were made of—looked disturbingly lifelike.
Opening the storage room, he found it already filled with various dolls. Each one exquisitely crafted—yet deeply unsettling, as if they were all staring straight at him.
"God... this is worse than a graveyard."
The servant shrank back. He had once spent a night in a graveyard and felt no fear—but here, he felt a chill seep into his bones.
There were no windows open, yet he could feel a cold draft slipping into his collar, raising goosebumps across his skin.
"Holy Light Goddess, protect ..."
Muttering prayers under his breath, he quickly placed the doll down and turned to run.
"Hello."
A woman’s voice suddenly ca from behind—cold and ethereal.
"Ah! A ghost!" The servant’s legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. Turning around, he saw a maid dusting nearby. "Oh—it’s you. You scared to death."
"Haha, coward."
The maid scoffed and moved elsewhere to continue cleaning.
After dealing with the doll, Adrian still felt restless. He quickly made his way to the basent—a place even his Divine Chosen had never entered.
The mont he pushed the door open, a woman’s wailing echoed out.
"Heh... this is what truly brings pleasure."
Adrian strode into the underground hall. Soft magical lights dispelled the darkness, while the scent of preservatives filled the air, drawing him into a state of deep intoxication.
At the center of the hall stood a female corpse, propped upright on a fra—completely naked, her skin pale and tinged with gray.
"Heh... my first masterpiece. Mm... also the only one who ever dared to resist ."
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