Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 236: New devil bloodlines

Chapter 236: New devil bloodlines

Of course, this endeavor would require thousands of demon souls, but demonic beasts were as numerous as stars in the sky. While Inkmetal City was clean, Trigun City, Canvas City, and Knight City had more than enough to provide a demon soul to every man, woman, and child in Xaos City, much less five thousand soldiers.

"If we redirect the full power of the rune laboratory and increase the number of workers by reallocating them from other areas, it is possible to create enough runes to give birth to the desired number of Demon Soul Masters." Overlord’s voice emerged after the calculations, delivering news that made a broad smile appear on Vlad’s face.

Five thousand Mortal Tier Warriors and Mages would not have been enough to breach the Azarin Empire’s capital and give Vlad and the elite troops a chance against Goddess Lucia, the Pope, and the Emperor. However, five thousand Demon Soul Masters were an entirely different matter. These individuals would improve throughout their journey, easily reaching Level 4 by the time the final encounter occurred. They could use the demon summons as trump cards to protect their lives, drastically diminishing future casualties.

It was a massive project, and Vlad wouldn’t have had the confidence to achieve it alone, but he had seen just how monstrously efficient Overlord was.

"Good. Start with the training, creation of the runic formations, and distribution among the Mortal Tier soldiers. I will also send you all the data I have collected during my time inside the Azarin Empire so you can prepare our soldiers for what they might face," Vlad commanded Overlord, sending a new stream of information.

Of course, Vlad wasn’t going to let the A.I. Chip Clone handled everything, as there was one more aspect he could improve to enhance the power of his forces. "Overlord, how many death row criminals do we currently have in the dungeon?"

While the main goal of the large deployment that started half a year ago was the destruction of demonic hordes in nearby cities and rescuing survivors, one of the missions was the detention of criminals.

Normally, in post-apocalypse times, all types of criminals were put to death, and normal forces wouldn’t waste resources to bring them to the main stronghold. Yet, the Xaos Kingdom did it. Many found the command odd and thought it a waste of time and resources, but they accepted it.

What no one in the population or most of the army knew was that the real reason those detained were brought back to Xaos City was because they were of use as currency. More specifically, their souls were useful as they could be exchanged for devil bloodlines.

Whenever they encountered resistance or large human forces, Overlord conducted exhaustive interrogations. All the people whose crimes were considered worthy of the death penalty were brought to Xaos City, while the rest were put to forced labor, helping the military forces of the Xaos Kingdom in their rescue efforts.

"We currently have 529 death row criminals, Prime Master. Do you wish to bring them to the underground level?" Overlord knew very well what would happen to those people, but there was no mercy. To be more accurate, he was incapable of showing mercy or any other emotion, and the only thing he considered was the future rise in battle power of the forces through the devil bloodlines.

"Yes, bring twenty." Vlad showed no pity for those criminals. They liked to abuse the weak and committed all sorts of crimes. They were already on the path to hell, so why not speed things up and, in the process, obtain some bloodlines?

Overlord did not delay, immediately communicating with the guards in the dungeons of Xaos City. As soon as the soldiers heard the command, they obeyed without hesitation. Their devotion to the Xaos King was so immense that they would do anything he commanded, and none of them cared what would happen to the criminals.

It was broad daylight, and while trained and seasoned soldiers wouldn’t think twice about the death of these criminals, parading them through the streets was not exactly wise. Luckily, Overlord had already thought of that, and there was a secret underground passage that led from the dungeon to the Xaos Tower.

The guards were able to bring the twenty death row criminals, moving through the underground level away from prying eyes. Once they reached the Xaos Tower, they simply rose to the surface and silently moved the criminals into the underground level.

"Knock them unconscious." That was the only thing Vlad said as he saw the guards entering the underground level with the criminals. He was not interested in hearing their pleas for help, and it was better to just speed things up.

Immediately, the soldiers obeyed the command, hitting the back of the criminals’ heads, and leaving them unconscious before bowing to Vlad and leaving the underground level.

Vlad glanced at the criminals for a moment before turning around and taking out his runic pen. He went to the Soulbinder’s Claim Runic Formation and Vengeful Runic Formation and began to improve them.

It took less than an hour for the power and capabilities of the runic formations to rise, making them much faster.

Vlad then took all twenty criminals and placed them in the Soulbinder’s Claim Runic Formation, aiming their bodies and souls so they would reach Hell, before throwing them into the Vengeful Runic Formation.

Less than five seconds after Vlad activated the Vengeful Runic Formation, flames emerged. Just as they were about to consume the criminals, the young man spoke, "I only want Champion Tier Devil Bloodlines."

The flames that represented the Legendary Devil’s soul force froze for a second as it heard the demand. Vlad felt the gaze of the devil on him but remained resolute, showing nothing and simply waiting.

Luckily, it seemed that the Legendary Devil did not have a problem with the change, and the next second, the flames consumed all twenty criminals, leaving behind two glass orbs with radiant drops of blood inside.