Darius stood atop the balcony of his manor, gazing at the territory before him. Three months had passed since he had assimilated the heart, and the Critterbots had already finished building the core city and set the foundation for the inner city as well.

The core section still mostly followed the same design as the original, with only a few more buildings for recreation and housing than before.

However, the most eyecatching thing was undoubtedly the large mage tower that stood close to the manor, its spire piercing into the sky.

Darius doubted that even the top 10 empires on Fallon might have a mage tower surpassing his. Not only had he decided on one far surpassing the largest one recorded, but the resources he had used were also far more extravagant than what they could have hoped for.

The magical materials he had used in constructing were the very best one could use in Faust, yet his had been further perfected by Transmutation as well as Combine.

He hadn't yet entered or activated it since it had only been completed 3 days ago, coinciding with the completion of the walls of the core section.

They had been the first thing the robots had started to construct, but they had also taken up the most time, even though everything had been made alongside them.

Naturally, Darius had used the best materials for defense on them – once again using Transmutation and Combine – he had also decided to go all out and use their hefty Database to implement the best runic arrays there were.

Anti-Teleport, Kinetic Rebound, Automatic Repair, Auto-Cleansing, Auto-Sentry, Psychic Alarm, Counter Attack, etc. All sorts of high-level runic arrays had been carved onto his walls, maximizing the powers of the materials.

As Darius looked down, he noticed Portia and Jorge chatting together while seated at his artificial park in the center of the core section's residential area.

Darius sighed when he recalled the reaction of the two ladies when he had plainly informed them that a relationship would not be possible in any capacity since his Soulmate had been reincarnated into this world.

Jorge had arguably taken it quite well, pursing her lips in dissatisfaction before boldly claiming that she would challenge Deia to see whether she had the right to claim such a lofty spot.

Truth be told, Darius had been at a loss for words. He had wanted to argue that it wouldn't be necessary, but the determination in her eyes made it clear to him that nothing he could say would convince her.

As such, he had just nodded at Jorge and prayed that Deia would forgive him for making him deal with her.

Portia on the other hand... had taken it terribly. The poor girl had stormed out of the room upon hearing the news and had remained on the abyss of depression ever since.

She had locked herself up for almost 2 months, and things had come to a head when her brother had found her having tried to hang herself. Were it not for Derek having found her in time and Darius' resources, she might have passed on.

It was then that Darius realized that he needed someone to help watch over her, so he had appointed Jorge to keep her company. Fortunately, the two women seemed to have developed a powerful bond.

Darius was sure that this would remain part of his black history...

How a puppy crush from her youthful days could have developed into this obsession was beyond him, for he did not remember ever doing anything of note towards her.

Looking over his territory, Darius saw Shanks and Derek in the training field, the older man instructing and teaching his son the ways of combat. Derek was sweating while following his father's instructions dutifully, his lean stature moving rapidly as he swung his spear.

He was engaged in a mock battle against an elite member that had signed the Soul Paper and was part of Jorge's unit, giving it his all.

Currently, the core section was populated by this lot and was about 5% filled so far.

It was enough to make it slightly lively, but not bustling. However, that was fine as this was exactly what Darius was going for.

He turned to see Gunner and Xela coming up behind him, fully dressed as well. He smiled at them and inquired: "Well, are you ready to go?"

Gunner smiled and Xela nodded. Darius turned back to the city and spoke to his HoloBrace: "Miranda, inform Georgina and Portia that we are heading out. Also, page Foldo and ask for his ETA today."

Miranda appeared from the HoloBrace and acknowledged the commands with an air of chipper glee. Darius smiled softly and then activated Group Teleport, whisking himself and his two Branded Servants away.

After the various buffs and increases, his maximum distance per single jump was now 24 kilometers instead of 4 and his mana cost per single jump had been reduced to 28 MP from the original 50.

With his current mana capacity, Darius could make 161 jumps, meaning that his total traversable distance before he needed to rest was currently 3,864 kilometers!

It would take Darius three jumps to reach the Andrato Kingdom from his territory. The time it would take was less than 10 minutes, 48.3 seconds for 161 jumps, and 150 seconds until his mana completely refilled.

They moved towards the underdog kingdom rapidly, eventually arriving at the gates of Listo with a smile on Darius' face.

Gunner blinked in surprise at how quickly they had arrived. He fondly remembered the times he and Darius would spend hours with their Blink-Leap technique to reach their destination.

This, more than anything, showed Gunner how much they had grown in terms of power over time. Xela was fascinated by the architecture as this was her first time visiting Listo with them.

However, Darius and Gunner frowned when they noticed the tense atmosphere surrounding the town… and that wasn't the only thing. The gates were firmly locked and the magical barrier surrounding the town was activated.

Outside the walls, was an army of 10,000 men and women in green-colored armor bearing the insignia of some foreign kingdoms or empires, all in siege formation as they bombarded the walls steadily.

A few miles out was a large encampment where the soldiers resided, and Darius noted that all the town's escape routes had been thoroughly cut off to the point that not even a rat could squeeze through.

In fact, when the trio appeared, they happened to land in between the army and the town, so they immediately caught the eyes of both parties who stared at them with shock and confusion.