Brann waited in the forge for his new equipment to be finished, looking back at the last few weeks. The empire forces that tried to retake his lands were decimated. Only a handful of survivors were given mercy and allowed to join him as instructors for the army. The fleet was tripled in size, using superior weapons and ambush tactics to slowly dismantle the imperial supply chain. The factories of Nordberg were expanded, a siege works being added as well as new weapon emplacements. Trade with the elves was going quite smoothly as well, so well that some of the more nasty magical creaturs decided to leave Luna's kingdom and join Brann. Giblet then came hurrying out, a wide smile under his mask, though only a trained eye could see it.

"Armor ready for master. Finest set Giblit ever forge!"

"Excellent, let's try it on." The new armor was a marvel to behold. It was made of many hoops of segmented plates of armor. As a result, it was not only more easy to move in than standard plate mail, but distributed impact from attacks more efficiently. But what made it a true masterpiece was the enchantments. A third of the segmented plates were dedicated to elemental protection and flame shield. Thus, not only protecting him from most magical attacks but lighting anyone who manages to land a hit on him aflame. The rest of the armor was imbued with the standard minion enhancements. The stronger alloy of Arcainium and Infernium held much more minion sacrifices than either metal alone. His new helm, crowned with Dark Crystals, doubled his horde size, and his armor was tested against the most potent explosives they had, and still did not break. And his new ax was nothing to laugh at either. The Wrath Of Hell is what the weapon was dubbed, and it was a well-deserved name. The ax held more minion sacrifices in it than any had before. As well as a Dark Crystal encrusted between the two ax-heads to give it an extra dark magic kick.

"You are making me one of those too, I hope you know." Brann turned over to see Sindra looking him over in his new armor. He could not tell if the arousal on her face was for him of the destructive potential of his new gear. In the end, that was why he loved her.

"All the knights are getting armor of this model. Of course, of far less caliber than the ones worn by us naturally, but it should be far superior to anything the empire has to throw at us."

"Indeed, Gnarl and the others are waiting for you in the throne room. We better not keep them too long." Brann followed Sindra up to the throne room. His entire council was waiting around the map of the world. Most gave his new appearance a shock-filled glance. Luna looked even paler than usual the moment her eyes locked on his new armor.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, as you can see, I was having an image makeover. What news from my advisors?"

"Our insurgents inside the empire have the most beautiful news. Alliances are beginning to form among generals and senators in the highest echelons of imperial power. All it will take is someone to act first to set off the powder keg, and both our succubi agents have the means to do it! Demona is puppeting a rebel faction that wants democracy, and Infernia is controlling a faction that believes in giving rights to non-humans. Both radicalized forces, that need little prompting to cause mayhem and destruction!"

"This is terrific news, Gnarl. Luna, I suspect your forces could work with Infernia's faction relatively smoothly. You should be able to get a foothold in the Heartland quickly."

"That I have no doubts, Lord Brann. Many of my forces are refugees from there and would be more than ready to reclaim what was their's."

"Good to hear. Admiral, how goes the naval operations?" Brann looked to his newest advisor, who had an answer ready for him.

"We are making headway in our pirating operations, sire. Resources that would have gone to imperial war-fronts or to reinforce their infrastructure are now flowing into our vaults. We have lost two ships to arrogance, captains that overestimating their ship's firepower, but that is at a minimum."

"Any survivors from those incidences?"

"Non, sire. The sea claimed them all."

"Good, I would have executed the command staff if they made it out of those failers alive. What other news do you all have for me?" Will tapped his warlock staff on the ground. Brann noticed his stepbrother had a goatee now, so that was new.

"Speak."

"With blue minions in our roster, we have been able to explore and gather resources from the old tower. Most interestingly, we have found what we think are shards of spells." Will then held out a little bit of rock that crackled with magical power. Gnarl went wide-eyed at seeing it.

"By my claws, that is the ear from the inferno spell!"

"Is it possible to reforge the spells of the old Overlords?" Will shook his head in response to Brann's question.

"Sorry, boss, it's impossible. But, we can use the shards to make rods and staves. Of course, they will not be nearly as potent as the spells were before, but they will at least be useful for our priests and warlocks to use."

"Then see it done. How is the harvesting of magical energy from the Wasteland going?"

"Slowly, it is clear now why the empire was not doing it. Harvesting magic from living things is much easier than from the ground, air, and water. But we are harvesting a good amount. It's just a bitch to do."

"Well, keep at it. Anyone else has anything I need to know about?" Jill raised her hand like she was in a classroom.

"Yes, Jill, you may speak."

"Thanks, sweetie. Why is Sindra and Kelda not pregnant yet?" The entire room became awkwardly silent until Luna coughed.

"Well, I should be returning to my kingdom. Have a good... Or a bad day? I'm not sure what evil people strive for." Luna then vanished in a flash of blue, leaving everyone else to suffer.

"Jill... Your as close to a mother as I've ever known... But I can't help but feel that is a very inappropriate question."

"The Dark Domain needs hairs to the throne, Brann. This isn't about me wanting grandchildren. I really do, by the way, but the future of your realm depends on this." Brann couldn't deny Jill had a good point, but this forced Brann to have conversations that he really didn't want to have.

"She has a point master, better get to it. Perhaps there is a spell in the library that could increase the chances of pregnancy? I will have to investigate, of course, but-"

"Gnarl. I appreciate the enthusiasm, really I do. But I think this is something that I am going to talk about with the girls." Gnarl nodded and wandered off, as did the other advisors. He was then alone with his mistresses, no one talked for what felt like forever. Untile Kelda asked what was on all their minds.

"Who... Who's child will be your hair?"

"I... I don't... I couldn't..."

"Brann, you have to make a choice. Me or her, who's birthing your hairs?" Sindra said sternly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she moved her hands to her hips.

"Why do I have to choose right away? Why not watch the kids develop and pick which one would make a better ruler when they are older?"

"We need a clear line of succession. Anything less would invite civil war, I know that this is a hard choice for you, but you must make it." Very few people ever saw Brann so meek. Despite his massive and imposing size, he never looked smaller.

"God fucking damn it, Brann. Just... Fuck do you have to look so pitiful while we're trying to have a serious conversation with you!"

"I think he needs time... We should come back later." Kelda said as she led Sindra away. Leaving Brann on his throne, as he needed to think long and hard about what he would do next.

(( Hello, my little goblins! It's your one true king, MRGOBLINKING7! Well, it seems that Brann has a tough choice ahead of him. We are getting close to the end, I think, maybe five or ten more chapters left before I finish this series. So any suggestions that you guys want to see in the last chapters make them known in the comment section. It has been quite a fun ride, and it has been an honor to entertain you all. Have a wonderful life, my little goblins!))