"My lord, are you seeing it?!" Ravik's voice sounded from below, reaching Azel who was almost reaching the clouds.

Azel hovered midair, his golden wings spread wide and the crimson sunlight glinting off their radiant feathers.

The wind tugged at his hair, and the black-bone crown on his head glowed.

From this height, Lycas stretched out beneath him like a map.

"Yes, I am!" Azel shouted back, cupping a hand to his mouth.

His voice carried through the vast sky, and Ravik gave a proud nod from the ground below. He noticed that the sky was a lot closer to the ground than on Earth.

The crown of black bones sat neatly on Azel's head.

He ran his fingers along the edge of it… he couldn't get enough of it.

'It does make me look rather handsome,' he admitted with a small grin.

But his smile faded when his eyes drifted to the world below.

From here, the entirety of Lycas was laid bare and what he saw made his chest tighten.

The town, once home to howling warriors and ancient honor, was in ruins.

Streets cracked like old scars. Roofs collapsed in half, and what few structures still stood were patched with mud and straw.

Some of the buildings leaned dangerously, held up by what looked like faith alone.

Beyond the town, the forests stretched endlessly… yet there was no green.

The trees stood black and dry, like the charred skeletons of giants. Not a bird sang, not a beast stirred.

Even from above, he could feel the emptiness…

It looked like the world itself had stopped breathing, it was only the arena that was at least fine.

"How the hell did these creatures manage to wipe out every other race around them," Azel murmured.

'Still… this is mine now,' he thought with a sigh. 'And I can't exactly leave it like this.'

He exhaled and lifted a hand, summoning a light in front of him.

"Territory," he muttered.

A new tab materialized before him, the familiar chime of the System ringing in his ears.

[Welcome to Territory]

[From here, you can]

[Control, regulate, and repair your domain.]

[Add new buildings and infrastructure automatically.]

[Spend Fate Points to upgrade or restore your land.]

Azel smirked

'Well, that solves one problem.'

How would he have been able to get building materials and other stuff?

But still… Did this mean he could actually restore the whole town… and rebuild Lycas from the ground up?

'As long as the price isn't ridiculous,' he thought as he looked at the screen.

[Territory: Lycas]

[Lord: Azel Winters]

[Territory Level: Lv. 0]

(The lowest level possible. The average human town is Lv. 1.)

"Zero?" Azel blinked. "So… this place is worse than the average human village?"

That said a lot.

[Would you like to perform a territory analysis?]

[Y / N]

"Sure," Azel muttered, tapping Y.

The moment his finger touched the interface, the screen brightened.

Beams of light shot down from the sky, scanning the entire region in an expanding circle.

For a second, it looked beautiful like Lycas was being blessed by blue sunlight.

Then the report appeared.

[Territory Analysis Complete]

[The following problems have been detected:]

[Lack of proper housing conditions.]

[Severe food shortage.]

[High disease and infection rate.]

[Forest life extinction.]

[Soil infertility.]

[Population morale: critical low.]

[Average combat capability: degraded.]

Azel blinked.

Then blinked again.

He scrolled down… there was more.

After reading the rest, he rubbed his forehead with a sigh.

'The hell was the last lord doing? Did Vargan spend all day flexing instead of leading?'

He sighed.

It explained a lot, though.

He raised his voice. "I saw that there's an option for repair. Can I repair the entire territory at once?"

A moment later, the System responded.

[Processing request…]

[Confirming available Fate Points…]

Azel checked his reserves. He still had quite a sum… about 70,000 Fate Points.

Enough to last him through a few serious upgrades. He never really had to worry about Fate points before but now he was wondering if it would be enough.

Surely, fixing a single town couldn't cost that much.

Right?

[Calculating cost…]

[Repair and upgrade the realm.]

[Restoring structural foundations.]

[Rebuilding forests and revitalizing ecosystem.]

Azel's eyes narrowed. "Wait, it's doing what now?"

[Total cost for all repairs and upgrades: 150,000 Fate Points]

He froze.

"WHAT?!"

He nearly dropped from the sky.

That was more than what he had!

'That's highway robbery! How is restoring some trees and roofs equal to a full upgrade?!' he thought.

He was about to shout again when another notification popped up.

[Since you are a first-time Lord, you qualify for a special discount.]

[Repair and Upgrade of Territory: 150,000 50,000 Fate Points]

[Would you like to proceed?]

[Y / N]

Azel blinked.

Then exhaled deeply.

"Of course. The System gives you a heart attack first and comfort later," he muttered.

He hovered quietly, watching his Fate Points flash on the corner of his vision.

Watching them go would still hurt but it wasn't the end of the world.

'Fine. Let's get this over with.'

He tapped Y.

At once, the counter at the top of his screen began to drop… rapidly.

60,000→ 30,000 → 25,000 → 20,000.

Azel felt his heart sink but he sighed.

He waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened.

He blinked, crossed his arms, and frowned.

"Did the damn System just scam me?"

He glanced down… the town was still the same. The same broken houses, the same lifeless trees, the same dusty streets.

But then… something happened.

A light shimmered at the edge of his vision.

A sphere of glowing energy appeared in the air right in front of him… it was small at first, it really looked no bigger than a fist.

But it pulsed violently, expanding outward, brighter and brighter until the light stung his eyes.

And then it shattered.

BOOM!

The sphere exploded, unleashing a shockwave of blinding white energy that rippled through the sky like a tidal wave.

Azel barely had time to react.

The force slammed into him, the air crackling with energy as his golden wings folded involuntarily.

"Wha… what the hell?!"

The shockwave swept through the entire territory below, flooding the forests, the town, even the barren mountains on the horizon.

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