Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 196: Something unnatural

Atrox froze. He wasn’t the only one—Tiber and Slya looked as if they’d swallowed something bigger than their throats could handle. That, at least, confirmed that Atrox hadn’t heard wrong.

Unleash the Rift? What’s he talking about?

It was a well-known fact that uncleared Rifts couldn’t bring out enough monsters to truly threaten the world. Their danger lay in accumulation—but that was why the Borderlands existed, to keep the Rift from spilling over.

A chill ran down his spine, and his gut tightened.

’...can this be made possible by my Mark Order? Is this why Vorgaelor wanted me here? It must be true... Steelclaw wouldn’t be here otherwise... So he wants to use the monster armies for himself...’

Atrox shook his head as he turned to Steelclaw. He thought he had nothing to say to the man—but that was before he learned what he did.

"You know there’s still life after destroying the Soryu Clan, right? You’ll be wiped away soon enough. No way you think a monster like this will pose a threat to the Eternal Skies."

Something flickered in Steelclaw’s eyes, but it was gone the next moment.

"That won’t be my problem to deal with. Lord Vorgaelor, we should begin."

This time, when Vorgaelor gestured, Atrox took a step back—but something slammed into him from behind, lifted him forward, and yanked him.

He crashed onto the stone platform where the altar stood with a groan. Flipping himself upright, he glared at Vorgaelor. That was the only thing he could do for now. Being this close to the monster made the air around him feel dry, like it was being stolen from his lungs.

He forced his mouth to work again.

"Will you let them go? Tiber and Slya?"

Vorgaelor shrugged. "They can do what they want. They’re useless to me. But if they stand in my way—if any human stands in my way—then I’ll simply kill them. Besides, you might just be shifting their death date. Sooner or later, all humans in this world will die, and only monsters will remain."

Atrox stared at him in shock.

’...is that the grand mission of the monsters? To wipe out everyone...?...’

His eyes lit up as he latched onto something.

"The other Clans will come together and kill you. The Clans might be fighting each other now, but they can put that aside temporarily—come together to fight you."

"No doubt about that. But why do you care? You’ll be long dead by then."

Vorgaelor frowned. He reached out and gripped Atrox’s shoulder.

"No."

Slya whispered and took a step forward, but she was slammed back by Vorgaelor’s aura. It hit her like a physical force. She stiffened—then collapsed unconscious, just like Tiber.

Neither of them had the Crimson Moon power like Atrox.

"Why would my Mark Order be able to do whatever you’re talking about?"

"Because it was responsible for the sealing in the first place," Vorgaelor said.

The force that had lifted Atrox earlier gathered behind him again, flipping him over and pinning him onto the altar.

Then, the energy—tainted with green—settled above him, covering him firmly. Atrox strained beneath it, but it was as if his entire body had been wrapped in enchanted steel.

He swallowed and wet his lips. For all his bravado about accepting his fate, his heart was pounding in his chest, and his muscles burned as he struggled against the force holding him down.

"The Arcane Wizard?" Atrox asked, his voice strained as if being forced through a rusty old pipe.

Vorgaelor laughed as he gripped Atrox’s right hand, forcing the palm to face down, revealing the Crimson Mark Order.

"Yes. The Arcane Wizard. They not only created the Rift, you know—they sealed us in. That’s why we can’t leave here as we wish.

"We can’t leave as one mass and rampage across as we want. We can only send few at a time and you lot are always waiting on the other side with your hungry steel."

Atrox’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened.

’...the Forbidden Mark Order was that of an Arcane Wizard? I have the inheritance of an Arcane Wizard?... No wonder I can use more than one sub-essence!.....’

Vorgaelor straightened, his claws poised over Atrox’s right hand, hovering above the Mark Order like a waiting viper. His eyes darkened from green to black, and then—he began to speak.

Each word tightened the air around them. Every syllable was a hammer striking Atrox’s skull, prying it open with invisible force.

The words soaked into the room, gnawing away at something unseen. The air trembled and grew heavy.

The Crimson Moon squirmed, flickering and flaring so brightly that it stung Atrox’s eyes. But he didn’t close them, he opened it to see what was going to happen even as his eyes stung and watered.

He would watch his death come to him.

The image on the wall beside the altar shone with an illusory light, then, it moved. The man in the cloak that covered his face turned to Atrox.

Atrox’s breathing stopped.The weight of that stare was crushing.

Vorgaelor’s voice swelled, filling the room like a living force. Shapes flickered in and out of existence around him.

Then. He stopped. Not gradually. Not with hesitation.

He just stopped chanting.And the silence was worse than the words.Something filled that silence. Something wrong. Something unnatural.

Even by Knight standards.

Atrox’s ears were bleeding now, but he wanted Vorgaelor to continue—because the silence came with a power that did not belong in their world.

Then—without ceremony, without warning—Vorgaelor’s claws, dripping with green energy, stabbed down, piercing the center of the Crimson Moon.

For a moment, Atrox felt nothing.

Then— 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

His body shuddered.

His spine arched against the force holding him.

His mouth opened.

And he screamed.

Because it felt as if every drop of blood in his veins had turned to liquid fire.

As if a hand, drenched in acid, was massaging his heart—trying to rip it from his chest.