Zephyr began to feel that things have slowed down, that he was not conquering new territory as fast as he used to. Between managing the dark domain and pleasing Rose, he hardly conquered anything for a month, but that changed today. He decided to give Amir what he wanted before finishing off the dwarven empire, plus it would be a great test of his warrior's new armor and weapons. The attack proceeded as planned, his black dragons attacking Gilded Bay's walls with siege weapons built by the dwarves and haled there by trolls. At the same time, Zephyr, along with his happy horde of minions, teleported into the city. He had to admire Amir's garden for a moment before continuing. Tropical plants from around the world, most of which were poisonous, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the bandit king knew that. Then, from out of nowhere, it seemed, Amir popped out to say hello.
"Greetings, my lord~. Fantastic day for a hostile takeover, wouldn't you agree?" The slimy man said with a grin that could curdle milk.
"If it weren't, I wouldn't be here. Now, show me which route to take to the palace. And are your assassins ready inside?"
"Yes, they are, sire. Here is the map to the most secret entrance. Would you like an escort through the city? My men could provide such a-"
"That will not be necessary, thank you." Zephyr took the map, then did what he did best. There was nothing subtle about his rampage through the city. Using the legion of terror spell, he made sure his path of destruction made a lasting impression. What forces did decide that blocking his way was a good idea were quickly swept aside by the storm of death that was Zephyr's march to the palace. Soon he came across the sewer that Amir described on his map. Entering it, Zephyr made a beeline for the part that connected to the servant's restroom, giving everyone quite a shock when he burst forth from the sewer.
"AAAHHHHHH! Goblins are jumping up out of the shitting hole! This is exactly what my parents said wouldn't happen when I was toilet trained!" One of the servants screamed as they ran for their lives. If they needed to go before, they certainly didn't now.
"Now that we've let ourselves in, let's find our way to where the sultan is hiding." Zephyr chuckled as he marched through the palace. The guards were more or less useless as they fell before him. He soon burst into the throne room. In the middle, he could see the sultan and his wife sitting on two thrones. The sultan was an overweight man with what looked like a severe case of gout on both legs. His queen, on the other hand, while not being A spring chicken herself, aged much more gracefully than her husband. But what caught Zephyr's attention was the four Ruborian giants that served as their honor guard.
"What the hell is this!? Guards, kill this outlander scum!" The towering brutes lifted their massive hammers and charged at Zephyr. He willed his minions to scatter, having the blues and reds stay on the outskirts of the chamber. At the same time, his browns and greens darted between the gargantuan freaks distracting and taking cheap shots at them. Zephyr could have used the betrayal spell the make the fight even shorter but was offered so few challenges anymore, and he needed to savor this fight. The big guys were even able to get a few hits in. It was an odd feeling to have your bones break and flesh tare, only for it to fix itself in a matter of moments. He was soon dueling the last of the guards, but the big brut was laid low, just like the others.
"The fuck are you people feeding these guys to make them this fucking big!? Honestly, if you give me the secret recipe, I will spare your lives." The two royals quivered in their thrones as Zephyr walked over in front of them, his shadow cast over them like a death shroud.
"You are as every bit as formidable as Amir said you would be, but I dought that you will live through this!"
"What the fuck did you just sa-" Zephyr was cut off by the sultan pressing a button disguised as a jewel on his throne, activating a trap door under Zephyr and his minions. They landed in the bottom hard, the hole they were in screamed execution pit. Chewed human bones lying about, hard rocky floor, bloodstains everywhere. And sure enough, an execution monster. The beast had the body of a lion, a scorpion except barbed all up and down, not just the tip, wings of a bat, and the most fucked up part, a human face.
"A manticore! Watch out for its tail, sire! It can fire its barbs like poison darts!" Gnarl said as the monster jumped back onto the wall, clinging onto it as it whipped its tail at Zephyr and his minion. The beast managed to kill a few minions with its darts before it seemingly ran out and pounced at Zephyr. The wicked overlord met the magical creature head-on, meeting fang and claw with ax and spell. After a few minutes of the two taking turns batting the other around, the flamethrower spell was used to keep the monster at a distance. While his minions charged in, pinning its wings and tail as Zephyr moved in to take the killing blow. After he let lose a roar of victory, a chain descended into the pit, and a familiar voice greeted him.
"Hello, sire. It looks like you could use a hand." Amir stood over the pit wearing a smug grin. Zephyr waited until after he climbed out of it before making his displeasure clear.
"You warned the sultan about me. Explain now, and it better be good!"
"Oh, sire! I gave them misinformation to make it easier for you to kill them. I had no idea that they had an execution pit, honest!" Zephyr knew a lie when he saw it. The fucker was just playing both sides, so no matter who won, he would still come out looking like the big hero.
"I believe you. Now, which way did the sultan and his queen run off to?"
"They went down the hall over there, but no need to rush. My men are waiting for them. They are ours to ki-." Zephyr then shoved Amir into the pit, not even giving him enough time to get up before using the flamethrower spell to turn him into a pile of ashes.
"Let that be a reminder of why your still alive, Gnarl. You still have some use, he did not."
"I will remember that master." Zephyr moved down the hall to find the sultan and his family being held captive by a group of assassins. It would seem that there was a prince. A strong young man, it took more than five people to keep him held down.
"Where is Amir?" One of the assassins asked, her voice sounding almost serpent-like.
"A torch fell off the wall lighting him on fire. In his panicked state, he fell into the execution pit and broke his neck. A tragic fate, truly." He did not put any energy into his lie and did not care if the assassins could see through it or not. The killers looked to one another, a little confused on what to do next, but simply nodded for now.
"What shall we do with these nobles, sire?"
"They will be the ones to decide that. I will give you three only two options. Be executed now, or serve me as middlemen enforcing the new laws of my dark domain, your choice?"
"What kind of choice is that!? Be dead or be slaves, I chose death!" The prince yelled in defiant rage, and if he was a normal man, Zephyr might have recruited him.
"The two of you feel the same?"
"Please, spare my son and wife! He is just a foolish boy who knows nothing abought life!" The older man begged, but Zephyr was unmoved.
"You know what, I'm getting bored of all this. Let's just cut to the fun part!" Zephyr then cast the betrayal spell on the prince and laughed as he took one of the assassin's blades and killed his own parents. But when it was when the spell was deactivated that the real fun began. Watching the abject horror on the prince's face as he realized what he had done was enough to make Zephyr laugh so hard it hurt. But the fun ended when the coward killed himself.
"Wha man! HA! Oh, that was fun, but now onto business. Is the city secure?"
"Yes, sire. No one who opposed us is left alive."
"Fantastic, the local chapter master is in charge now, do as he says or suffer the same fate as prince what's his name here. Now, what are we looking at loot whise?"
"The city vault is filled to the brim with gold. The Gilded Bay has earned its name, sire. There is also a harem of fifty-seven concubines if that is the kinda booty your interested in."
"Ok, well, it gets split like this. I get half of the gold and women, and the rest is evenly split between every black dragon knight involved in the invasion. The concubines will, however, only be divided between the highest-ranking members of the order."
"Yes, sire. We will see your will is done." As Zephyr walked back to the tower portal, Gnarl made his unwanted opinion known.
"Master, we do not currently have the room in your slave kennel for that many concubines."
"Have that chamber where I killed Erebus converted into the new harem chamber, and have everything from the kennel moved into there as well. We needed to find room for the nursery anyway. Let the minions know that only the high-ranking minions, members of my horde, and the succubi are the only ones allowed to use them."
"As you command, sire." Zephyr then returned to his tower, content to have actually conquered something in what felt like a long time.