Chapter 252: I Need More

Axel rubbed his eyes, reading the quest window once more, trying to determine if he was interpreting it correctly or if he was experiencing double vision.

[

Quest: To the Next Stage!

Requirements:

– Claim Land under your Name (0 / 1,000 sq. kilometers)

– Increase your Harem (1 / 5)

– Govern People under a Banner (0 / 50,000)

– Create a Bulwark in any Frontline Against Demons, Connected to Your Base (0 / 1)

– Gather Recipes (1,855 / 100 ✅)

– Combined Stats Requirement (269,371 / 20,000 ✅)

Rewards:

– System upgrade from Version 1.02a to Version 2.86b

– Unlock Metallurgy System

– Unlock Mana Manufacturing

]

However, the contents didn’t change no matter how many times he reread them.

He felt grateful that two of the items were already complete and that some of the others were easily achievable—simply unmarked due to a lack of “formality.”

The land area requirement was straightforward; Axel had already boxed in 100 square kilometers. To fulfill that part of the requirement, he simply needed to expand it tenfold. While this task wasn’t overly difficult, it wasn’t exactly easy either.

Next, in terms of population, he needed 50,000 inhabitants. Currently, just over 30,000 were with him, so he was close but still needed a few more to complete this goal.

The real challenge lay in the last two requirements.

“Five Harem Members?”

With one already counted, Axel understood that this number referred to the women “married” to him. Currently, that number included Ria, who had exchanged a Witch’s Kiss with him—a symbol of marriage among witches.

’In short, I need to marry five before I can complete this…’

he thought.

The issue was that, including Eve and Fenrir, he only had three. This left him two short. A few potential candidates crossed his mind, but…

The most daunting requirement was definitely the bulwark.

It essentially asked Axel to construct a frontline base, akin to the witches’ fortresses, to defend against the Demon Invasion. Naturally, this led to the pressing question.

“Where should I even build it?”

He could choose to run to Witcheria to establish a fortress there, but the frontlines in Witcheria were already stable after he had reclaimed their lost major fortresses. If he built it there, he would need to place it deeper into the Red Zone, significantly increasing the danger level.

Navi reassured Axel after he whispered his concerns. [Don’t worry, Master. The location for the bulwark is pre-decided. You don’t need to rack your brains about it!]

He then displayed a new window filled with a rapid stream of numbers and letters. They moved so quickly that Axel couldn’t even read the first character before the thousandth appeared.

“What the hell was that?” Axel asked, bewildered.

[It’s the absolute coordinate of the target dimension, referenced to the 0th dimension. Since not all dimensions are static, the coordinate is presented as a function to predict the exact location during transport.]

Noticing Axel’s furrowed brows, Mimir sighed and offered clarification.

“It means that’s the information you enter into an Interdimensional Teleporter to reach the other side, similar to the one in Witcheria.”

“Oh…”

[Yes. And, by the way, reaching that world will trigger a mission as well. I can’t disclose details without actually being there first, but I recommend you complete your harem count task as a starting point. The others can wait.]

“I see.” Axel nodded. “Then we should finish our preparations in the meantime.”

Their previously relaxed schedule had abruptly turned tight due to a single piece of bad news. They had only a month before things started to look bad. Furthermore, Axel realized he couldn’t possibly gather enough money to repay what was stolen in such a short time, leaving only one choice for their course of action.

“In a month’s time… No, even sooner than that. We will need to fight.”

He turned to the three girls and declared, “And for that, we first need weapons to maximize our strengths.”

…

The rest of their itinerary was postponed as Axel returned to call for an Emergency Meeting.

In the castle’s main hall, everyone gathered together.

Not only the main group but also the first batch members of the Valkyrie Knight Order were present. These were the individuals Beatrix had been training to manage the initial stages of bureaucratic work for the guilds and shops that were set to be established soon.

They were invited as well since they were familiar faces to both Axel and the girls.

With over 40 individuals in attendance, the room felt a bit cramped, but that did not diminish the gravity of the news Axel was about to deliver.

“In a month or less, we’ll be raided,” he announced, phrasing it a bit differently. “The enemy is strong—more powerful than us, not in physical strength, but in technology.”

Nobody dared to interrupt; they listened intently, their expressions serious.

“Thus, we need to power up in a short time… For that, I actually need to have five wives first. I can’t explain it to most, but that’s how it is,” he continued.

“I volunteer to be Lord Axel’s wife!”

“No, I’m better suited than you! Sir Axel, please choose me!”

“Sir Axel, I might already be a mother, but… I’m sure I can still satisfy you!”

At that point, chaos erupted.

Almost all the girls of the Valkyrie Knight Order started raising their hands, eager to volunteer for the role. Among them, Angela, Theresa, and Hercy were the most enthusiastic.

Axel smiled, not anticipating such a “pick me” competition to unfold.

“Sorry, girls, but I’ve already got someone in mind. I’m just here to report the situation, not to look for candidates,” he clarified.

“Aww…”

The heated air quickly deflated as the girls visibly looked down, as if they had missed their one and only chance to stand by Axel’s side. Little Karen, for one, patted her sister’s back, whispering words of consolation.

“Anyway,” Axel continued, “the real reason I called you all over is to decide on weapons.”

With a wave of his hand, he pulled out a minigun from his inventory. Despite the weapon and its attached ammo weighing about 200 kg together, Axel held it effortlessly, as if it were a regular rifle.

“As you all know, this is a gun—a weapon powerful enough to kill someone with a single bullet.”

He spun the barrel, checking its functionality before getting to the point.

“The enemies who will come here will definitely have similar weapons, but more advanced and powerful,” he said. “Thus, we need to arm ourselves with comparable weaponry.”

He glanced at the shop panel to review the weapon he was talking about.

The price was 10 trillion for a single weapon, with ammo priced at roughly 50 billion per clip, sold separately. If he planned to equip everyone with it, he would undoubtedly spend over a quadrillion just for that.

Axel purchased one as a sample, placed the minigun back into his inventory, and took out the “new” weapon.

With a glint in his eyes, he introduced the weapon.

“This is…”

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