Battle of All Races: Lord of Fertile Lands! (Kingdom Building)

Kaiden reread the system alerts over and over — and with each reading, his anger deepened.

He was not foolish. He grasped immediately that the creatures below were not monsters but an intelligent race belonging to another Lord — one his repeated expeditions had failed to locate.

He was certain of his conclusion. After all, monsters were not capable of devising a cunning ambush and a treacherous plot like this. And from the looks of it, the plan had nearly succeeded. They had reached the depths of his land without him noticing their presence at all.

His expression remained composed as always — but inside, he was boiling. It was fortunate he had discovered it before it was too late. Had he not, after the protective barrier's disappearance, he wouldn't have dared to even imagine the outcome.

True, the walls would protect him from enemies approaching from the outside — but what about an enemy that appeared from within?

He imagined himself fighting another race at the territory's walls, and then suddenly this mysterious race erupting from beneath the earth in the middle of his land. There would be no real battle — it would be a massacre. His forces would be ground between two jaws of attack, and everything would be over before he had a chance to respond.

And there was an even worse possibility. What if they appeared at night while he was asleep? What if they slipped directly into the Lord's Hall? Given this enemy's cunning, that scenario was the more likely one.

A single strike would have been enough.

A clean decapitation… game over.

Kaiden raised his hand without thinking and touched his neck, feeling his back drenched in cold sweat.

But why me?

He sank into thought, trying to make sense of the situation.

Why are they targeting me specifically? And when did they start planning this?

The more he thought, the more questions arose that he had no answers to.

Even if this alien race possessed a racial talent tied to burrowing, it was nearly impossible for them to carve a tunnel this wide and long in just one or two days.

In other words — while he had been living in complete ignorance, unaware of their existence or location, the other party had known about him for a long time and had been quietly plotting against him.

And that was what made it all the more terrifying.

Everyone had arrived in this world only five days ago. During that time, most Lords had been focused on internal development and upgrading their territories. Even Kaiden himself — who considered himself a powerful Lord — hadn't begun serious scouting operations until two or three days in.

Which made what that alien Lord had done entirely abnormal.

But in the end, the reason no longer mattered.

It didn't matter when it had started.

Or how they had done it.

Or why they had chosen him as the target.

What mattered was one fact and one fact alone.

That enemy was currently beneath his land — and had to be dealt with. Yes, it was as simple as that.

Kaiden sent a command to Ibla through the spiritual link between them, ordering her to return immediately.

Evening had already fallen. He raised his eyes toward the territory as tendrils of darkness began to creep through it — and a small flame appeared in one corner, followed by another, then a third, until dozens of torches had ignited across the territory's various points.

And all of them were moving.

Kaiden smiled faintly.

His soldiers were already preparing.

But he was not the type to sit waiting for his forces while doing nothing. The last time, he had only caught a brief glimpse of that mysterious race before the system notifications had interrupted him.

So he reactivated the skill.

And his vision plunged once again into the depths of the underground world.

---

The same scene reappeared.

A raised mound of earth, and dark creatures clinging to the tunnel walls.

But the thick darkness caused their black bodies to blend into the surrounding environment, and the limited field of vision made distinguishing their details difficult.

Kaiden swallowed dryly, then pushed his perspective forward, passing beyond the earthen mound to get a clearer view.

And directly behind the mound, he saw one of those creatures standing upright — as though overseeing the digging operation.

So… these creatures stand on two legs.

Previously he had only seen their bodies clinging to the walls and ceiling, which had led him to assume they were spider-like creatures. But it seemed he had been wrong.

He focused his gaze on the strange being.

Perhaps a squad leader or something similar.

But what caught his attention wasn't its rank — it was its form.

It was tall, standing close to three meters, with a slender body and unnaturally long, thin limbs.

Its head was cylindrical and disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body.

Kaiden noted that what should have been its hands were nothing more than three long, sharp claws — and its feet were the same: long triple claws.

It wore no clothing, though it appeared to have no visible reproductive organs either.

Only about a meter now separated his vision from the creature, allowing him to observe its details with far greater clarity.

Even after calming himself repeatedly, he still felt his stomach tighten in revulsion.

In short — this wretched thing looked exactly like a Licker from the games and films he had known in his previous world.

The same blank white eyes devoid of pupils. The same long claws.

But this version was far more terrifying than any Licker he had ever seen.

Its body was entirely hairless, and its mouth occupied most of the surface area of its cylindrical face.

At this moment the creature was speaking to the similar beings clinging to the wall.

Unfortunately, the Subterranean Vision skill provided no ability to hear — so Kaiden could only watch its mouth move in silence.

With a mouth like that it could swallow a basketball without effort, Kaiden thought — and he wasn't exaggerating. The creature's mouth was genuinely enormous.

By comparison, the Twin-Headed race seemed downright pleasant.

Then something else caught his attention.

Some of the creatures were crawling upward.

He raised his viewing angle slightly and watched them move across the tunnel ceiling at breathtaking speed. They were anything but slow — their sharp claws granted them remarkable freedom of movement.

They quickly reached the top of the earthen mound.

Then tilted their heads downward.

And opened their wide mouths.

And in the next instant, large quantities of soil and gravel poured out from within them before they crawled back the way they had come.

Kaiden's eyes went wide.

What the hell… do these creatures eat dirt?!

He had never anticipated this method of excavation.

He pushed his perspective further forward until he reached the work site itself — and only then did he understand what was happening.

The creatures weren't literally chewing the soil. They were using their enormous mouths to scrape away layers of earth and rock, drawing them inward, then carrying the material away and emptying it elsewhere.

The sheer size of their mouths gave them considerable storage capacity, and their sharp teeth could break through rock. Dozens of them were cooperating, and their working speed was genuinely fast.

At that moment, a familiar voice rang inside his mind.

"Master! I've arrived… ah, master! This is strange… I can hear movement in the ground below!"

It was Ibla.

Kaiden deactivated the skill and opened his eyes to find his pet above the surface before him.

"I know, Ibla. Why else would I have summoned you?" Kaiden replied with a dry tone, looking at her with mild exasperation.

But he also felt a wave of reassurance. With this pet by his side, he would never have to worry about threats coming from underground again — at least not in the future.

At that moment Golan arrived as well, kneeling on one knee before him.

"My lord, everyone has assembled."

Behind him stood Laura, Josh, and all the elite soldiers.

"Good."

Kaiden nodded with satisfaction and looked over his forces.

Every element of his strike force was present.

A Rare-tier pet.

Two Nascent Champions.

Twenty-five fully equipped elite soldiers armed to the teeth.

And everyone carried lit torches that illuminated the makeshift assembly ground against the darkness of the night.

Kaiden's gaze moved between his pet, his heroes, and his soldiers — and he felt his confidence soar to the heavens.

That alien race was clearly very fond of ambushes.

Well then…

They wouldn't mind if he returned the favor in kind, would they?

A gentle smile settled on Kaiden's face.

But anyone who looked at it closely would realize one thing.

There was not a single trace of warmth in that smile.

---

— End of Chapter Forty-Nine —

Author’s note: There are ten additional chapters on Patreon for those who’d like to support me by subscribing (for a small fee).