Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Zach's eyes widened as he grasped the meaning behind Justin's words. A conquest war to unite all the domains. He had known that such a thing would have to happen eventually, but he hadn't expected it to begin so soon.

"…Isn't it too early?" Zachary asked, voicing the concern Justin had anticipated.

"If I understand correctly, you're not just planning to merge a few nearby domains but to conquer everything you can," Zachary continued.

"Exactly. They're not far away, after all."

Though Justin didn't know their exact locations, he could make an educated guess from the newly arrived civilians. At least twenty domains were close enough that even with the physical capabilities of civilians, they could be reached within half a day. That meant, in theory, they could conquer one domain each day and return.

"If we conquer one domain a day, we can swallow them all up within a month. There's no point in dragging it out for months—better to finish it swiftly," Justin explained.

"But won't continuous battles tire out the pioneers? Even if it takes longer, it might be better to proceed slowly," Zachary suggested.

"That's something you'd say in a 'real war,' but this isn't that kind of battle. Most of the pioneers will be standing behind me, doing nothing."

"...?"

Zachary blinked, clearly confused by Justin's words. It was then that Justin realized they weren't quite on the same page. The key difference in their understanding was in recognizing the true gap in power.

"Think about it. Why did all those civilians risk their lives to flee to our city?" Justin asked.

"Because the pioneers in their domains massacred them to survive the wave, right?"

"Exactly. Most of those domains barely survived the wave, meaning they didn't get much experience from it."

"...!"

"Here's a question: Among the pioneers who couldn't survive the second wave on their own, do you think any of them gathered enough experience to reach their second class change?"

"They wouldn't have, no."

Now that they were on the same page, Zachary's expression darkened. The power of a second-class pioneer was immense. Depending on their skills and equipment, their combat ability varied, but under similar conditions, a second-class pioneer could defeat ten first-class pioneers.

In other words, a domain filled with only first-class pioneers could easily be wiped out by just two or three second-class pioneers. And their domain had five second-class pioneers, including Justin.

'It's a battle we can't lose, even if we tried.'

Even excluding Nathan, who lacked direct combat abilities, their group still had four second-class pioneers. Among them, Justin and Derek possessed particularly powerful combat-oriented classes. Even if the enemy had one or two second-class pioneers, it wouldn't be enough to pose a significant threat.

Zachary, now feeling a mix of anticipation and concern, spoke again.

"There's no doubt that we're guaranteed victory. But we should prepare for more than just the battles themselves, right?"

"What kind of preparation?" Justin asked.

"We need policies for the civilians we'll be incorporating, and we need to decide how to treat the pioneers from those domains. If we don't have those plans in place, there might be issues even after they surrender."

"There's no need to worry about that."

Justin's response was firm. In the past, they might have had to carefully consider every detail like that—when they were a small and fragile group. But now, they had grown far beyond that point.

"We're not the ones who need to be concerned. They're the ones at a disadvantage. If any external pioneers try to act tough, we'll crush them. We only need to raise the civilians who are willing to become pioneers in our domain. We've finally built an environment where we can do that."

"...!"

"If they want to survive, they'll have to adapt to us. If they can't, I'll deal with them myself."

Zachary closed his eyes in quiet acceptance. He seemed moved by the realization that their once-small domain had grown powerful enough that they no longer needed to care about anyone else's opinion. When he opened his eyes again, he bowed deeply to Justin.

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

"...That's a bit too fast, Chancellor," Justin responded, laughing.

They shared a smile, both feeling the weight of how far they'd come.

-Three days from now, we will embark on a conquest war. Rest well in preparation for the war.

Justin's command spread across the entire domain. Both civilians and pioneers alike were startled by the sudden declaration of war. However, their reactions quickly diverged.

"Isn't it too soon? The wave just ended, and now we're going to war?"

"Too soon? We've been resting with nothing to do. There's been more than enough time."

"Exactly. We have nothing here."

"If we rest too long, we'll just get bored and start looking for something to do."

The pioneers were only briefly surprised before regaining their composure. Thanks to their experiences so far, they knew that their lord never made plans without careful consideration.

"If the lord is calling for war, it means he's sure we'll win."

This quiet trust was shared only by those who had fought side by side with Justin, risking their lives together.

It wasn't the veteran pioneers or those used to combat who were panicking—it was the newly promoted pioneers and civilians who had never fought a day in their lives.

"War? We just became pioneers, and now we're going to war?"

"Son, you're not going to this war, are you?"

"I don't know! No one's told me anything!"

"Well, go and ask! You're a pioneer now, so go introduce yourself to your seniors and find out!"

These new pioneers were civilians who had lived their entire lives protected from war. To them, war had always been someone else's problem. But now, with either themselves or their family members promoted to pioneers, it had become their concern as well. Naturally, they were overreacting.

The civilians who were experiencing a war between pioneers for the first time felt the same.

"Conquest war? Are we the ones attacking?"

"That's what they say. Apparently, we're going to attack every domain."

"But why leave the safety of these walls to go fight?"

"How should I know? Why don't you ask the lord?"

"What happens if we lose? We won't be taken as slaves, will we?"

For them, war between pioneers was a vague and frightening concept. They didn't know how it worked, what happened when they won, or what would happen if they lost. All they had was an undefined sense of anxiety. This fear was worsened by a comment made by an early election NPC, Nox, who had once mentioned the existence of war slaves.

Aware of the growing unrest in the civilian district, Justin had Dylan post detailed notices in the plaza.

Only veteran pioneers who were pioneers before the wave will participate in the war.Newly promoted pioneers will not participate in the war.Ten pioneers will remain as a defense force.We can win without needing an all-out assault, so these forces will be left behind.

The tone of the notice, which was so relaxed it was almost irritating, quickly calmed everyone's fears. With that minor disruption dealt with, three peaceful days passed.

"Wait, what? One hundred fifty pioneers came to negotiate? What's that about?"

Justin frowned at the report as he was about to begin organizing the war effort.

To be honest, he hadn't expected the enemy to make the first move. He had assumed they'd be too busy trying to stabilize things after the chaos to even think about negotiations. He had expected that by the time he marched his army, they wouldn't know what hit them.

'But instead, they got together and came to me for talks?'

It was completely unexpected. He supposed it was fair to say they had caught him off guard.

The problem was, their move was only a superficial surprise.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Justin chuckled bitterly and looked at Emily.

"So, they want to surrender and join me, but they don't want me to take their domains?"

"Yes. To be precise, they're asking you to be their leader but let them manage their own lands. They claim that, as the leader, you'll have the authority to expel them at any time if they disobey."

"What a load of nonsense."

Even hearing it again, Justin couldn't believe they were serious.

They didn't want to hand over their civilians. They didn't want to abandon their lands and move into his city. Yet they claimed they were willing to give up their leadership positions and follow his orders. And if they disobeyed, he could simply punish them as their leader.

'Whoever came up with this plan thinks they're being clever.'

At first glance, it seemed like they were handing over a powerful tool of control—the authority to expel them. But if you looked closer, the proposal was filled with traps.

Sure, if Justin became the leader of all the domains, he could easily expel them and ban them from ever setting foot on his land again. But the moment they rebelled, all that authority would lose its power.

'Once I expel them, all they have to do is rebel and reclaim their domain. It's not like anyone else is the real leader there.'

If they rebelled, they could claim the domain as their own in a matter of seconds with no resistance. And after that, what good would banning them from his shops or city do? The only way to truly punish them would be to march over there with an army and beat them into submission.

'They made this ridiculous proposal for one of two reasons.'

Either they thought Justin was too foolish to see through their trap, or they believed their value was so great that he'd accept their terms regardless.

"Did they say anything else?" Justin asked.

"Anything else?" Emily echoed.

"Hints about making a wise decision? Or maybe some veiled threats about the future?"

Emily thought for a moment before responding.

"They didn't say much else. But they did keep emphasizing their numbers, saying that if you accepted, all of them would follow you. They even made a big show of spreading their arms wide."

"...Those bastards."

In other words, they were trying to tempt Justin with the prospect of gaining an army of 150 pioneers. And if he refused, they were subtly threatening that all of them could become his enemies.

The fact that Emily hadn't even registered it as a threat meant that the intimidation had been subtle.

'This is more annoying than I thought.'

It wasn't that they thought Justin was stupid—they simply overestimated their own worth. They had made the offer thinking that Justin was desperate enough to accept it, even knowing it was a trap.

"What a bunch of fools."

They probably thought they had caught him by surprise. No doubt they were patting themselves on the back, thinking he would be scared stiff at the sight of 150 pioneers.

'Sure, you surprised me. This is a completely unexpected situation.'

But the key difference was that they were poking at him with cotton balls. No matter how much they prodded, soft cotton wouldn't hurt him. Meanwhile, Justin held a sharp sword—sharp enough to tear apart anyone who tried to challenge him.

"Tell those idiots this," Justin said coldly, turning to Emily.

"If they don't kneel and submit to me immediately, they'll all be dead by the end of today."