The pull from the vortex was almost totally gone, with just a tiny pull remaining at the spatial rings on my right hand. Despite myself, I grinned. I was right!

  After giving up fifteen years of using combat magic, only to return to it in my darkest hour, no one would accuse me of wasting an opportunity. Walking in a circle around Krark, who appeared to be rooted to the place he’d exposed the [Void Vortex], I produced the brace of a dozen throwing knives I used in tavern games. They were the only non-magical weapons I carried, even the [Obsidian Daggers] had a small enchantment on them to reinforce the material, and their cutting edges left a lot to be desired. What wasn’t lacking was the edge on the first two inches making up the tip of the blades, those were viciously sharp to sink into wooden boards better.

  Treating the [Priest of Devourer] like one of those wooden dagger targets, I began hurling blades at him. He raised his arms to block, but it did him no good as I was hurling them at his back, getting the benefit of [Backstab], despite it evolving, from a range and increasing the attacks penetrating power.

  He slumped over on the tenth dagger, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with playing dead, so I took my last two blades and ran up the staircase until I could easily launch myself over him by a dozen feet, give or take. When I left from the stairs, he sprang his trap, but the blast of void Mana only reached ten feet away from him before slamming back into his chest, cracking the [Void Vortex] crystal there with the sound of a thousand screaming women.

  His eyes were full of hate before my daggers found their targets and sank deep into his skull. He slumped over as I skidded to a stop twenty feet from him. I whirled around with my hands up, ready to cast [Wall of Force], but then I felt the pull on my rings fade. Straightening up, I padded over to where one of my daggers had landed and casually tossed it into the back of his neck. He didn’t move.

  Loud trumpets sounded from nowhere just as the door to the study burst open to reveal Uncle Galloway behind him stood the massive clock built into the wall of the tree, glowing faintly. His face was a mask of horror as he took in the state of his home, but his eyes landed on me and all that was forgotten. Before he could say anything, a System window appeared in the air above Krark’s body, which started to shake violently until a golden barrier snapped into existence around it.

  [Arthur Bajbub Neilson, Chosen of Dominus, has won the contest for control of the Grove of Corruption in the name of his goddess. All followers of Devourer in the Grove of Corruption are now having their souls absorbed by Dominus. Any attempt to contest this process will be seen as a crime against the System.]

  Just as I finished reading the message, Krark’s body imploded. Not to be denied, the golden barrier I inherently knew was Dominus’ flashed and his body stopped the implosion process, but not before his extremities and the bracers he was wearing were totally obliterated. Up above, a young man threw himself from the highest part of the stairs, groaning in ecstasy as the golden light subsumed him before he even hit the ground. Similar sounds poured into the stairwell for a few moments before they faded away like a strange memory.

  Golden light began streaming toward me from the rooms up above as well as through the seams in the closed doors leading outside until I popped them open with [Distant Legerdemain] and the flood from outside poured into me. Every streamer of light that struck me felt like a hug from Dominus and I couldn’t help but smile and run my fingers through the light as it came toward me.

  “Artie, what is going on?” Uncle Galloway’s jaw hung open as he watched me absorb massive quantities of energy on the behalf of my goddess. “What is that about you being the Chosen of someone named Dominus? Is that a demon, are you OK?” He cast his forest green eyes all over me as I watched him in turn.

  “I just announced my position to the world, I guess.” I rubbed my head ruefully. “It’s good to see you, Uncle Galloway. How have you been?”

  He cut an impressive figure despite standing just under six feet tall, with his toned abs on display through his typical stylish robe, which hung open as usual. It was a robe I’d seen him in before, the colors would shift depending on where he was, most often taking on the colors of the forest floor in shades of green and brown.

  Uncle Galloway’s face was a study in tranquil beauty. His forest green eyes, filled with wisdom and kindness, seemed to hold the secrets of the ancient woods. His features were perfectly chiseled, a testament to the grace and harmony of nature. His chestnut skin, weathered by the sun and wind, bore the marks of countless seasons. And his hair, the color of fresh spring leaves, framed his face, flowing freely in a gentle breeze that I knew came from a racial Skill. All of that is to say that the only male Dryad born in the last hundred thousand years on Genovia was always in demand, yet he chose to spend time with me and my family.

  He ground his perfect teeth. “You didn’t really answer my questions. Who is dominus and how are you her Chosen?”

  Rather than explain in words, I disabled [Status Shield] and sent him an abbreviated version of my Status.

  [Name - Arthur Bajbub Neilson

  Class - Suzerain - Unique - Rank ??

  …

  Passive Skills

  Chosen of Dominus (Unique Passive)]

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  While he ogled at my Class, I messaged my party to come into the central tree, now that the danger had passed. Ylsa said she’d go and gather up Gabby, Raiju, and Mindy with Volta’s help and I thanked them as I watched Uncle Galloway’s face shift from confusion to wonder.

  He flipped the window around and pointed at the pair of question marks for the Rank of Suzerain. “What’s this?”

  “The System can only show two characters?” I shrugged. “It’s Triple S-Ranked though, trust me. The mother of the gods treats her Chosen well.”

  “Triple S!?” He practically yelled before locking eyes with me. “W-w-wait. Did you say the mother of the gods?”

  “I did.” I walked over and gave him a big hug. “It’s good to see you, Uncle Galloway.”

  He patted my back reflexively. “It’s good to see you too, Artie. Before we get too much further, why are you standing in my former foyer in just your short clothes?”

  As I got dressed in my armor, though my [Cinder Robes] and [Arlo’s Animated Buckler] were sadly unable to be recovered, I explained what my party and I had discovered when we arrived at his grove. His face darkened as I spoke, but he didn’t interrupt, except to clarify a few times. When I finished getting dressed, he asked for more details about Dominus and how I became her Chosen and, after a bit of internal debate, I gave it to him straight.

  It felt good for someone outside my Party and Grandpa to know what I was dealing with, and Grandpa didn’t even know all of it anymore. I glossed over some of the minutia, but gave him the broad strokes of my journey so far as we waited for my friends to arrive at the door. Ten minutes went by before they made it and Gabby actually passed out when she saw Uncle Galloway for the first time.

  He ushered Ylsa inside and effortlessly took Raiju from her arms. “It’s worse than your mother said it was. We’ll need to work fast.” He took off at a dead sprint through the doorway to the right of the entrance.

  I hesitated and Ylsa waved me off. “Go, I’ll take care of Mindy and Gabrielle!”

  “Thanks!” I yelled over my shoulder.

  I activated [Haste] and caught up with him just as he was entering a secret door just before the kitchen, which was totally destroyed compared to how I knew he liked to keep it. Slowing down, I canceled [Haste] and took in the room he’d stopped for.

  The chamber was about ten feet across, but the most interesting part was the exposed root of the [Celestial Oak] running along the back wall. There were a pair of hollows cut out of it, revealing perfectly healthy insides despite how it looked outside. Each was sized for someone of Uncle Arlo’s size and I realized there was a reason for that, this was likely where my parents’ party had ended up after their adventures, since no one else had a residence I knew of until the rest of them moved to Wyrm’s Rest.

  He gently laid Raiju down in the left hollow and soft green light began to cover her. Despite myself, I moved to defend her. “What’s happening to her?” I surprised myself. “Please?”

  “It’s the [Celestial Oak] working to try and stabilize her soul.” He pulled me against his chest and stroked my hair just like my parents would. “She’s in a bad way, but I’ll do everything I can to save her. I swear it.”

  I fought back tears as I pressed my white-knuckled fists into his chest. “Please, I can’t lose her too. That Tower has already taken two friends from me, I won’t let it take a third.”

  He nodded. “She’s in the best place she could be besides Light’s High Temple in Sunhome, or potentially Wild’s High Temple, if you could even find it.”

  Despite ostensibly being a god for all people, Wild’s High Temple’s location was a closely guarded secret by his priesthood. His temples were places where anyone could take an animal or a monster they wanted healed and have it done for a ‘nominal fee’, but they refused to heal any of the sapient races even if paid. The only people who truly worshiped him were [Beastmasters] and monster ranchers, though even they did it only out of fear of his reprisal if they didn’t pay their tithe of monster parts.

  “She was saved by Dominus as a cub, there’s no way Wild would let her live if he ever got his clutches on her.” I growled.

  He nodded knowingly. “That makes a lot of sense, given what you’ve told me of her. Wild hates Unique monsters he doesn’t have his clutches on. Trust me, I used to know a monster rancher who was a devout follower of Light. He managed to breed an A-ranked Unique monster and, when he refused to surrender her to Wild’s church, they burned his ranch down with him inside.” He shivered at the memory. “I found his body a week later, still wrapped around the body of the [Milk Mink] he gave his life to try and protect.”

  “That’s awful,” I shook my head to try and get the image of Raiju dead in a fire from my head. “What can I do to help you?”

  He laughed. “Unless you can boost my [Wits] or [Divine]? Not much.”

  “What if I could?” I pulled back so I could see his reaction. To his credit, he didn’t look at me with suspicion. Instead, he seemed curious.

  “How so?” He moved to the wall and a System window appeared. He started flicking through it with a growing grimace. “Is it some kind of buff with a nasty debuff afterward? I’m not interested if that’s what it is. This process will likely be far longer than any of those tend to last.”

  For once, I didn’t hesitate. “It’s part of my Class. [Suzerain] gives me access to the Domain portion of the System, something usually reserved for monarchs or large landholders.” I moved to look him in the eye, putting Raiju right beside me as I watched him. “If you swear fealty to me, your top three stats will all be boosted by twenty percent as long as you remain loyal to me.”

  He stopped what he was doing and stared at me. “You’re not joking… are you?”

  “Not in the slightest.” I drafted a similar, yet more flexible contract, modeled after the one I’d offered Gabby, and sent it to him “This is nothing to joke about.”

  [Arthur Bajbub Neilson, Suzerain and Chosen of Dominus has offered you vassalship. Accepting this is usually a permanent commitment, but the Suzerain has offered an exit clause for you with one month of lead time. In return, your three highest Stats will be increased by 20% for as long as you faithfully follow his rule. Do you accept his offer? Y/N]

  “If a boost to your Stats is what you need? This is the best way I have to help you, unless…” I sighed and checked his Status.

  [Name: Galloway Forestchild

  Race: Male Dryad - Unique

  Class: Forest Shaman - Rare - Rank A

  Level: 97

  Emotional Status: Worried/Excited]

  I shook my head. “Nevermind, it would take too long and I don’t know if it would even help you with something like this.” I mentally checked the [Rainbow Elixir] in my spatial ring and confirmed it was still there.

  Uncle Galloway stared at me for a few moments before nodding to himself. “I think I can accept your offer as long as you can agree to three conditions.”

  “Name them.” I stood proudly as I observed him. “A [Suzerain] always keeps his word.”