Just as he declared, Axel didn’t mind the locals at all. Instead, he began building the walls that would form the periter of the area.
First was marking the boundaries. He divided the area into four quadrants, marked four points along the periter, and planted "flags" to define his target area.
With his speed, he visited all four cardinal directions, clearing up a small space at each, before coming back to bring Rosaria and Mimika to the three other points.
From there, they were able to use their curses without worrying about dragging civilians into the range.
With their help, clearing the cockroaches that literally blanketed the entire ground beca much faster and easier.
"Alright, next..."
After that, it was ti for terraforming.
First, he touched the ground and recognized that the entire planet was made of rock. Completely unfit for agriculture. Almost as if it were a "mining" planet of sorts.
As a mining planet, that also ant there were tons of resources buried underground... ones that Axel had quickly noticed upon arrival.
With a grin, he declared. "I’ll be using free materials as building materials!"
The next mont, he targeted the entire ground and everything below it—contiguously—with his Housing Modification.
With a single thought, the ground began to morph like clay.
A section about three ters thick shifted, carving out a roughly 20-ter deep moat and raising a 10-ter tall circular wall. It was only half as tall as it could’ve been because Axel had compacted the minerals, making them denser and harder.
"Phew...!"
Of course, a modification of that scale consud a massive amount of mana.
Even with his current mana pool exceeding 100 thousand, and with 10x that as a buffer thanks to the Ultimate Mana Potion, he burned through 95% of all of it!
That was basically a million points worth of mana in one go!
An amount that Axel could recover with a single potion. Still, the fatigue from burning through so much mana at once lingered.
"I’ll rest for a few minutes." He said. "In the anti, please set up cursed traps along the wall to keep the cockroaches from going over it."
"Leave it to us!"
The two, who had watched Axel pull off such a godly feat, felt proud to be able to contribute. Without another word, they got to work, drawing runes along the inside of the wall at even intervals.
Of course, with their stats, finishing the runes across the entire wall would take a few hours at least. Ti that Axel would use—not to rest, but to plan the next steps.
"The quest is to make a bulwark, not a simple city." He whispered to himself.
What he was building wasn’t ant to house people, but to defend them—or at the very least, give them the ans to defend themselves.
The wall and the moat were more or less just deterrents. Against large enemies or those that could fly, they’d be useless on their own. But with the witches’ curses factored in, most threats should be stopped at the periter, making it a genuinely safe place to stay.
"I need fortifications. Towers. Structures that can deter enemies and be used to strike back."
He whispered to himself while staring at a blank A0-size sheet of paper.
Slowly, he began filling in the details.
The round walls, etched with the witches’ curses, as the first line of defense. Then, 3,600 towers, placed radially at even intervals—roughly 100 ters inward from the walls.
Those towers would serve as both lookout points and elevated firing positions.
Behind each tower, a barracks, a weapon storage, and a safe house protected by sigils and magic.
Behind all of that, an even larger wall—one that would rise over 50 ters tall. The wall itself would have cannons embedded into it, allowing bombardnt in all directions. The cannons themselves could only be adjusted up or down, not left or right—fixed fortifications, built for sustained fire.
Axel kept drawing as more ideas ca to him. Slowly, the blank sheet filled up until it looked almost crowded. It was a masterpiece.
"So that’s the plan?"
A voice suddenly ca from behind him.
Axel turned to find a familiar face peeking over his shoulder—Fenrir!
"Oh, you girls finally arrived?" He smiled thinly as he stood up.
Fenrir, however, only sighed. "Just so you know, Master, you’ve been sitting there for hours since we got here. You weren’t responding to us at all."
"...Huh?"
Axel looked around, and sure enough, the girls looked like they’d been waiting for a long ti.
There was even a table and chairs set up, with a few board gas scattered around—as if they’d been having a little tea party while waiting for him to resurface from his focus.
"Wait, where are Ria and Nina?"
Noticing the two were absent, he quickly asked. Though the answer was pretty obvious with a mont’s thought.
"They’re helping the other two witches finish setting up the periter." It was Eve who answered, smiling. "It’s been hours since they started, so they should be back any ti now."
"I see..."
Axel nodded, then walked over to the girls’ table and cleared a space.
"Then, take a look at this." He said. "I’m planning to build this here. What do you think?"
"This is... it looks like an elaborate shield."
"What’s that part? So kind of machine?"
"Looks like a decorative plate... is it?"
The girls murmured one after another, making Axel feel a little awkward. "It’s a... city plan, I guess?" He added.
Looking at the dinsions and the small notes beside each unique section, the girls began nodding to themselves.
"Then this part should be..."
"Wouldn’t it be better if..."
"Moving this here would be more efficient and safer."
And just like that, with their input, the design evolved even further.
Where Axel’s initial draft had prioritized function over ease of use and access, the girls’ touches made it more human. Safer, and far more pleasing to look at.
The redrawing itself was quick, but incorporating all their input took a full hour. By then, the four witches had returned wearing satisfied smiles. With their additions, a few more edits were made — producing the final version, draft three of the bulwark.
"This... is perfect."
Even Axel couldn’t help but murmur it.
A design that left nothing uncovered.
Protection against every threat, from aerial to subterranean.
Firepower capable of killing even a demon lord, provided it held still long enough.
And the entire city itself functioning as a magical circuit, generating a barrier that shielded everyone inside from negative energies—miasma included.
There was nothing left to ask for...
"But damn, the bill..."
Axel grumbled, sweating from his eyes.
The price to pay for such a grand design... literally.
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