Hero of Darkness

After making his claims about how he only saw the top figureheads of his fiefdom as nothing but expendable chess pieces, Kahn walked towards the bearkin semi-saint with a fierce expression. 

"Don't worry.. Although I don't have a semi-saint to replace you…" spoke Kahn and let out a wide grin. 

"I have them!" 

BOOM!! 

BOOM!! 

CRACKLE!! 

The next moment, the six subordinates Kahn brought with him who stood silently on both sides of the hall till this point suddenly released all their auras and shook the entire room in an instant. 

Omega and 5 of the generals revealed their full aura of peak grandmasters all at once! 

A deathly and terrifying killing intent was directed at the bearkin semi-saint who had a shocked expression. 

"How… Six peak grandmasters all at once?!" spoke one of the ministers. 

"Wait.. Didn't he come back from no powerful background? How does he have six peak grandmasters with him? None of them belong to any faction or clan either. Who the hell is backing him?" spoke some of the officials among themselves. 

"Just two of them are enough to fill your place. And I have six who serve me loyally. 

So do you think I'm without options?" asked Kahn in a mocking tone. 

"You… don't think you can control everything just because you have the authority. I have spent more than a decade here. 

I know my area better than anyone else. If you try to replace me.. Do you think people will be happy? 

Even my soldiers in the army will start riots themselves!" exclaimed the bearkin as he was on full alert mode. 

"You mean the people you've brought from the capital and mixed in the army? And the people whom you have created ties with behind the curtains by using your authority to make deals under the name of commissions and provisions for the military?" asked Kahn and suddenly activated War Dominance. 

"What?!" 

Speechless! The bearkin was rooted on the spot. 

[This bastard.. How does he know?] asked the bearkin to himself. 

The next moment, Kahn took out a leather-ish parchment made from monster hide and started reading the content on it loudly… 

"Commander Aswala Bhaloo, leader of the Igi army and the personnel in charge of the south-east borders of the Verlassen mountain range. 

47 cases of assaults, 13 charges of bribery, 5 cases of illegally selling military provisions to the powerful business organization and also one case of a homicide of an officer who tried to expose you 7 years ago." spoke Kahn as he listed out the wrongdoings of this bearkin semi-saint right in front of all the other semi-saints and ministers of government. 

"Anyway.. None of the cases were filed or there was any prosecution by the court either. So you're safe… for now." spoke Kahn with his wrathful eyes as if he barely resisted the urge to kill this commander. 

"You also have quite a knack for gambling, am I right?" asked Kahn with a light grin. 

Flabbergasted! The bearkin semi-saint was completely flabbergasted. 

[How.. How does he know all of this?!] he exclaimed in his mind. 

"You know what.. I'm feeling generous today since it's my first day. However…" spoke Kahn and the next second, something horrifying happened. 

Everyone.. Even the other semi-saints dressed in regal clothes and wearing their armors felt like a mountain descended on their heads. 

The bearkin had his face convoluted and his 3 meters tall figure faltered. Even though both of them were semi-saint, the bearkin who became a semi-saint more than a decade ago… was still forced to bow in front of the source aka Kahn. 

[Hey, human! I no longer have to hold back, right?] asked Rudra in Kahn's mind. 

[Yes. There are no saints here and my own aura is stronger than all of them so no one can sense you. 

So you can finally reveal it. Let's do it together.] replied Kahn. 

Throughout the whole Emperor's Chosen competition, Rudra had completely hidden his own aura and presence so no saint or a mage was able to sense him inside Kahn's shadow. 

Plus revealing a Basilisk.. One of the five Godbeasts even under a pretense of being his familiar would've been an extremely stupid move on their side. 

Because both of them weren't foolish enough to let others detect Rudra like how Solomon once detected him when Kahn was weak… Which ultimately led to Kahn being trapped inside a barrier where Rudra was forced out of his body.

Their lives were in jeopardy back then so both of them had learned their lessons. 

BOOM!! 

SHRILL!! 

Before everyone could grasp the new information at hand.. Kahn activated War Dominance and released his full oppressive and deathly black and red aura in the meeting hall. 

BOOM!! 

Another loud burst of energy was revealed from Kahn's body and this time.. A black fog instantly filled the entire 500 meter long hall. 

A dense and visible murderous aura which was many times stronger than before suddenly filled the surroundings as it forced everyone except his subordinates and two of the commanders to kneel in front of the new sovereign. 

"What's this.. Isn't he just a semi-saint like us.. Why is his aura as strong as a legitimate saint?" wondered the semi-saint saint from the neutral faction. 

"That's right.. And he's so young unlike us. Imagine what will happen if he becomes a saint one day." replied the other semi-saint.

Little did they know that it was Kahn and Rudra's mixed aura that was equivalent to a saint's aura. 

But unbeknownst to them all, hundreds of dark shadows exited Kahn's body and using this dark fog as a cover, they mixed in the shadows of all the people, let it be the ministers or the other commanders… all of them had these black shadows mixed with them without being able to sense anything. 

Kahn already knew that these people wouldn't serve him loyally and report back everything to their respective forces. 

How he was running the fiefdom or how he was managing the economy or taking measures to protect the people.. 

None of them had any form of loyalty to him. So Kahn decided to intentionally create a beef with them from the get-go. 

But amidst all of this display of power.. Two semi-saints were untouched by Kahn's murderous aura. 

Kahn had already investigated all of these people before he came to assume command. 

Out of the 6 semi-saints, 3 of whom belonged to noble factions.. And the rest were natives of Verlassen.. But only 2 of the commanders had the history of fighting with their lives on the line to serve and protect the people. 

Both the old men looked at Kahn and they too understood why he hadn't targeted them like the rest. 

[Commander Stark and Commander Mormont.

Both of their Houses are military clans that protect the North of the mountain range. 

The only two commanders worth keeping around.] spoke Kahn to himself. 

On the very first day, Kahn had already achieved one of his primary goals. 

To provoke and see who was on his side while leaving his assassins in their shadows who would alert and inform him if any of them tried to conspire against him or create problems in the future. 

There were no exceptions. 

Kahn then walked towards the bearkin and spoke in a deathly tone. 

"I will give you one week before you leave the position under the pretext of old age or some other reason. This is my last warning. 

And if you decide to refuse… Know that there will be a public execution where my sword will cut down your head. Understood?" declared Kahn to the now kneeling semi-saint officer. 

"From this day forth in this fiefdom…" 

His gaze then shifted to all of them and he spoke in a tyrannical voice that resounded in the entire hall. 

"I stand at the pinnacle of hierarchy!"