"Ah... it’s so good to be back!"

A broad smile spread across Ron’s face as his ship cut through the wide channels of the Solene River, the sails snapping taut in the warm breeze.

The confluence where the waterway opened into Lake Azur shimmered in the distance, already visible a few miles ahead.

His clothes were far more luxurious than before, tailored from fine silk with embroidered cuffs and collar.

The vessel itself had also undergone notable improvements, now sporting gleaming cannons along its flanks that glinted proudly in the sun.

His personal guard had shifted slightly as well, the ranks now including a third-stage veteran whose mere presence was enough to ward off any trouble along the river.

Just a few months ago, Ron would have thought it impossible to reach this level. Yet here he was, and he could only puff out his chest with pride.

His father would be in tears if he could see the wealth his son had attained.

Shaking his head at the thought, Ron turned his gaze back toward their destination as it drew ever closer.

Today, his ship rode noticeably lower in the water than usual, laden with about fifty tons of merchandise. He planned to peddle the surplus among the many city-states after leaving Goldenveil, securing some extra resources beyond the Green Fairy wine.

Ron whistled cheerfully, and soon his vessel moored along the docks of Goldenveil.

Climbing into a small support boat, he set off toward the shore, ordering his men to unload the just over twenty-five tons of various goods he had brought to fully stock his shop’s warehouse.

As for his wealth, all of it rested safely inside a spatial ring on his finger, the greatest symbol of prosperity a merchant could possess, an item normally restricted to nobles and, of course, great experts.

Ron had received it in exchange for a priority supply of wine to a grand duke of the Kingdom of Burning Ice, and he had not hesitated to accept the offer.

With the third-stage expert clad in gleaming silver armor walking at his side, and a few other employees trailing close behind, Ron made his way toward the town proper.

At the gates, already known to the guards, he was waved through without a pause, receiving crisp nods of respect as he passed.

The mansion rising on the horizon almost filled his entire field of vision, until suddenly he noticed his guard’s eyes widen, the man’s focus snapping sharply toward the guard barracks.

There, two men were locked in fierce battle.

One of them carried a flaming aura, waves of heat shimmering the air around him.

The other wielded an aura like molten pure gold, crisscrossed by fragments of a crimson blood aura, tiny threads of murderous intent weaving around him like living serpents.

Their blades clashed between their bodies with an ear-splitting screech of steel on steel.

The ground cracked beneath them under the pressure, and the power exploded outward in a shockwave that sent the watching guards tumbling backward into the dirt.

Doran held his ground for a moment, jaw clenched tight, but even with an S-Rank talent, his stats were lower than Ethan’s, and he was slowly being pushed back.

His feet tore deep furrows into the ground as his eyes burned with determination, sparks leaping ceaselessly from the clash of the swords in a brilliant, blinding cascade.

Gritting his teeth harder, Doran broke his stance. He didn’t dare go easy on his lord now, pouring everything he had into his next assault.

Activating the fourth form of imperial fencing, he slashed forward, and strangely, that single strike forced Ethan to defend twice.

The second cut demanded three parries, and the third, four, as though each swing birthed more phantom strikes than the last, the ringing of colliding steel rising into a frenzied, metallic symphony.

Ethan smiled as Doran reached the final move of the technique, pulling his blade back before thrusting forward with terrifying speed.

Metal scraped against metal with deadly force, and with sheer strength, Ethan knocked Doran’s sword aside.

Deflecting the attack in one fluid motion, he guided his own blade smoothly toward the captain’s throat.

Doran froze like that for a long moment, the cold edge kissing the skin of his neck.

Soon he realized that Ethan hadn’t even drawn on his full strength during the entire exchange.

He wasn’t discouraged by the defeat, not in the slightest, though a small flicker of shock still lingered in his chest.

His master had improved drastically in just a few months.

Smiling, Ethan turned to the guards, who were watching him with reverent expressions, and then to Ron, who was equally stunned by the raw power he had just witnessed.

What shocked the merchant most was the fact that both Ethan and Doran had already reached the third stage.

They hadn’t seemed anywhere close to that level before. How could they have climbed so high already?

"Should we get down to business? I hope you brought plenty of gold today, hahaha!" Ethan laughed, gesturing toward his mansion.

Ron, completely absorbed in the battle until that very moment, finally noticed that enormous, luxurious, opulent structure rising in the distance, and he could scarcely believe his own eyes.

***

While Ethan was preparing to send Ron home with empty pockets, in a large, remote village whose population was already nearing five thousand souls, cries filled with despair echoed through the air.

If Ethan had been there and had known that this was the settlement of another Golden Lord, one who had already received a massive starting population of four thousand five hundred people, he would have cursed his own luck to the heavens.

Had his beginning truly been the most wretched of all?

The screams did not last long, quickly silenced by a blade slicing clean through a neck.

The wet, gurgling sound mingled with the spatter of blood that painted the nearby walls in dripping streaks.

[You have killed your second Golden Lord! Complete three Golden Lord kills to ensure the completion of your mission: "The Scourge of the Black Lords"

You have received all the abilities from the enemy Golden Lord’s golden ring; you may take control of his settlement.

Golden Lords cannot be resurrected when killed by other Golden Lords without possessing a resurrection slot. Permanent death applied!]

The Golden Lord who had just executed the wailing wretch flashed a broad grin.

He was a tall, burly man in his twenties, but with the face of someone who had pumped himself full of steroids and now looked well past forty.

Thick veins snaked down his neck, and his eyes held dull cruelty.

Turning his face and scratching his black beard with a cruel smirk, he looked toward the voluptuous woman approaching him, his expression softening ever so slightly at the sight of her.

"Honey, don’t do those things in the living room! You’ll get the carpet dirty," she complained, carefully averting her eyes from the corpse sprawled across the floor.

It was his mother, a gentle smile gracing her beautiful face.

Her large, heavy breasts bounced softly with every step, the ripe flesh jiggling beneath the thin fabric of her dress as she carried a glass of juice over to her son.

Her full hips rolled in a slow, hypnotic rhythm and the plush curves of her ass quivering with each unhurried stride, the cloth clinging to every generous line of her body like a second skin.

Since Golden Lords weren’t allowed to meet their relatives,not yet, at least, she had been forced to integrate fully into this world, plucked from Earth so she could remain by his side.

She didn’t mind in the slightest. As long as she could stay close to her son, she was happy.

Draining the glass of juice in a single long gulp, the Lord activated his ability to detect nearby Golden Lords, and a wide smile stretched across his face.

"Goldenveil, huh? I hope this one is less disappointing," he said, never suspecting that his careless words would spark a quest related to his mother for Ethan.