8 Unclear Future

Artemis sighed deeply as he watched his son suffering.

'There isn't much I can do, at most I can tell him that Gaolun worked for the fake emperor and let him vent his rage there but that is only a temporarily solution at most. In the end he will have to come to terms with reality and accept it.'

As Artemis was lost in his thoughts Lucas had passed out from the emotional stress. Seeing this Artemis once again sighed deeply before lifting his son over his shoulder and waiting for Barthiz to finally catch up. Twenty minutes had passed before he was finally able to see Barthiz out of breath panting barely able to lift her legs moving one tiny step at a time. Artemis shook his head before disappearing from his spot. As Barthiz experienced a moment of happiness finally seeing Artemis knowing she wouldn't have to run anymore, her heart dropped as she watched his figure disappear again.

'Fucking piece of shit asshole, I know I may just be a servant to you but can't you at least show some pity?'

Just as she was having those thoughts she started feeling weightless and realized she had been picked up and was over someone's shoulder.

"I will have to properly train you once we find a new place to settle, with your current stamina and weakness you will be useless even as a spy or assassin which are your race's only specialties."

Barthiz shivered as she heard these words wondering what a monster like him would consider "training". Artemis once again disappeared from his spot with Lucas on one shoulder and Barthiz on the other as headed towards the light, he felt that he was being watched and that he had long overstayed his welcome in the eternally dark Kingdom of Dawn.

'Although the plan is to establish a new empire, I will need to find a suitable location. Under normal circumstances I would return to hell and just force everyone to submit, but there is nothing but scavenging weaklings like Barthiz who aren't strong enough to go through the portal without help. Can I really be expected to lead an army of such weak outcasts?'

Artemis scoffed at the thought.

'Looks like I will need to rebuild on the ruins of one of the human empires that were destroyed in the current invasion.'

As Artemis thought of this a list of fallen kingdoms and empires appeared in his mind.

Fallen Kingdom of Breora

Fallen kingdom of Trurin

Fallen Kingdom of Hebuvaria

Fallen Empire of Stoloria

Fallen Kingdom of Gaineton

Fallen Empire of Trocuria

Fallen Kingdom of Uzaido

Fallen Kingdom of Rivell

Fallen Kingdom of Khucan

Fallen Empire of Phoxorus

'Hmm empires naturally would have more land under them then kingdoms so I would have more room to expand in the future before running into neighbors that would fight back. With a kingdom though logistics would be less of a nightmare in the begging laying a more solid foundation for the future. Agh, this is too much to think about right now I'll talk it over with my son before coming to a decision later, right now I just need to find a good place for us to pass the night.'

As Artemis thought of this he was able to see small town that looked to be abandon, most likely due to it's proximity to the Dawn kingdom which was thought to be cursed because of the darkness. Artemis rushed to the town, arriving ten minutes later. He put Barthiz down but decided to still hold on to Lucas due to the fact that he was still passed out.

"Barthiz scout the area for any living beings and take care of them if you can, if not come to me, besides that also let me know if you find anything suspicious of interesting."

Barthiz nodded before walking to the edge of the town, planning to walk around the perimeter before checking the interior. Artemis found a suitable place to take shelter in as the exterior was still very intact and the interior furnishings had not yet begun rotting. Obviously the person to previously live here was quite wealthy to be able to afford such resilient materials for the house and such high quality furnishings. Artemis quickly found a bed to lie Lucas down before climbing to the top of the house and looking down at the abandon town. As he was looking at the town as he spotted Barthiz checking the buildings, doing her job well. Artemis nodded in satisfaction.

'Perhaps I will give her to Lucas as his first true loyal subject, yes he is destined to rule so he must learn how to handle subjects. I also still need to teach him about the system of ruling and worship along with the in and outs of demonic power.'

Artemis sighed deeply while massaging his temples.

'What a headache.'