Inside the palace, Nareth extended his palm towards Maria and said:
"You performed well. This is the power I bestow upon you."
Maria took the purple potion from his large hand without hesitation and drank it in one go.
She, like the other girls, had been trained as an assassin from a young age and instilled with absolute loyalty to the family.
After Yelena offered them to Nareth, their allegiance shifted to the giant himself.
Having witnessed the godlike combat power of his multiple times, she had long since cemented her devotion to Nareth.
Half a standard hour later, the "Assassin," under Nareth's guidance, had learned to meditate and restrain her own power.
Maria knelt on one knee, hand over chest.
"Thank you for your gift, my lord. I will use this power to bring death to your enemies."
Nareth nodded. "I already have a mission for you. This will also serve as a test for Tsvetana and Dementieva."
The abilities and potential of the two were significantly inferior to Maria's. Based on their performance, Nareth would decide whether they were worth training into Beyonders.
"Your orders, my lord."
Nareth's deep gaze passed through the palace windows as he looked outside, his tone mysterious.
"You will infiltrate the nest cities and assassinate key figures. You may still choose your targets depending on the situation. This time, I expect even better results."
"As you wish. I will offer you the head of a false king."
Maria understood what Nareth meant. The "Assassin" pledged her vow.
Nareth watched her leave. The better the assassins performed, the smoother the path to unification would be, and the stronger the forces of the new Vostroya could be preserved.
He immediately sent a message to Rogninho to gather the troops.
He had scoured the palace, specifically the royal treasury of the Kaputska, who ruled the largest nest city in Vostroya, and it had not disappointed.
He had found 29 kinds, totaling 54 potion materials.
Aside from completing another full set of "warrior" potion materials, he also found ten horns of the Crowned Pegasus, which were used for life-prolonging elixers.
And also the primary material for the Moon pathway's Sequence 9: Apothecary.
Nareth sent all potion ingredients back to the "Kingdom of Disorder," then returned to the real world.
Stepping out of the spire tower, the waiting Rogninho approached him.
After crash-learning Vostraya's Low Gothic on the ship, he could now speak and understand fluently and could even read and write some of it.
"My king, I have reorganized Kaputska's private army and garrison forces. After screening, there are now 1,503 men."
"From now on, you are the commander of the Sixth Regiment of Vostroya. Gather your troops. We march for Kemerovo Hive City."
"By your will."
Rogninho responded excitedly. In a short time, he had risen from a mere voidguard to platoon leader, and now, a regimental commander.
Though the Sixth Regiment was still short of full strength, that was just a matter of time.
Nareth then issued another command to Wojciech behind him: "Contact Thierry. Have him begin recruitment at Lukevo. No limit on numbers."
The "Savant" immediately obeyed, pulling out the communicator to contact the commander of Vostroya's Second Regiment.
At the same time, in the underhive of Szczecin:
Temporarily serving as Second Company Commander, Mikaeli walked up to Bukayo, looking at the regimental commander, his eyes filled with reverence.
"Commander, the recruitment is complete. Everyone is now equipped with the superior weapons you distributed."
"Form up. We depart immediately. Our target is the 33rd Altar in the Naryanmar Hive City."
Bukayo had already received a message from Roslov: Howard had suppressed a mutant uprising and executed heretic cultists. Bukayo realized that true turmoil had begun in Vostroya. This was the Third Regiment's chance to make a name for itself.
Roslov was too conservative; after suppressing minor uprisings in Mazoz and Szczecin, he only wanted to hold two cities.
But Bukayo wouldn't miss the opportunity. He set his sights on Vostroya's most remote and isolated nest city: Naryanmar.
Nareth led the Sixth Regiment to Kemerovo Nest City. At the Uzhinsk dome in the lower hive, he encountered a routed noble army.
A brown-haired noble in a red robe and frameless gold glasses stepped forward.
"I am Count Zaleski Witeska. Please state your identity."
Rosicky stepped up and introduced them.
"This is King Nareth. Magos Kivior-2 has already recognized him as the sole ruler of Vostroya. Pay your respects."
"King Nareth, I, Zaleski Witeska, offer you my loyalty and shall serve as your devoted servant."
"I accept your allegiance," Nareth said calmly, his jet-black eyes locking onto Zaleski. 'Something about the noble felt… off.'
Through warp insight, Zaleski's initial emotion was terror after surviving the chaos. Upon hearing Rosicky's words, he reacted with just the right amount of shock and contemplation.
But Nareth's instincts told him something was strange about Zaleski.
'My instincts never fail. Zaleski is hiding something.'
Nareth took note but kept his expression neutral. He led the team onto the train heading to the upper hive.
The rail train was far slower than a maglev train. Four standard hours later, they arrived.
'After unifying Vostroya, I must install maglev trains in all Hives and on future flagships to drastically improve logistics.'
As Nareth stepped into the upper hive, he found madness.
On the streets, mutants with weapons burst into shops, killing every citizen they saw.
Their mouths were stuffed with blood-soaked food, and they laughed hysterically.
"Attack!"
Nareth gave the order and led the charge himself.
Like a galloping cavalryman, he slashed through the mutant horde repeatedly before his troops could even catch up.
Seeing that Rogninho was commanding well, Nareth turned his attention to the Witeska family's private army.
He noticed every soldier wore bulletproof armor and wielded finely crafted lasguns, chainswords, and other weapons.
Despite his scholarly look with frameless glasses, Zaleski fought like a savage.
Shield in his left hand, he barreled directly into a cluster of mutants.
Even when surrounded, he didn't panic. He let their weapons bounce off his power armor while he focused on swinging his power sword and cutting them down.
Zaleski's advance was faster than even the Sixth Regiment's; he was fighting harder, more aggressively than Rogninho.
Nareth shifted his gaze forward again.
Accompanied by a shrill birdsong, a creature covered in colorful feathers and with a sharp, bird-like beak flew down from the sky.