Sage_of_Eyes

V11: Chapter 8

V11: Chapter 8

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Additional 2000 words commissioned by ChaosBrain

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Interlude: Eminent Void Blade: She Who Glides Between Sunbeams

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The King of Wisdom asked, and the dead answered.

For hours and hours, he asked and wrote, while officers came and went. Only the Iterants stayed through the whole ordeal, while he simply sat, gathered information, and ensured that everything was recorded. When everything was done, when he was satisfied by all the answers, he ordered copies made and then retired.

He bade me to do what I wished with their souls, as he had no use for them, and then left me to ponder what was to come next.

I wondered for the whole evening, as I ground down their souls for power and rendered onto them what they did to others.

Then dawn arrived, and the King of Wisdom returned.

My mission is in his hand.

“For a period of one year, you will terrorize their lands. Your goal will be to kill as many of their mortal chattel as possible. Deprive them of the blood, flesh, and souls that they declare theirs to use.” He gave me my mission in the command tent. Officers from all the races were present, listening and watching with bated breath. The Iterants almost forgot to feign being truly alive as they stared at him unblinking. “Let it be known this day that I sign the death warrant of all those who you will slay in the lands of the demons.”

The order was written on parchment thrice over, and he placed his seal on each one and signed it by his hand.

“May future generations revile me for this. I set loose a great force upon the world to kill and lay waste to people who I could work to save. But I will bear this atrocity under my name for the sake of my people.” He understood every word that he said. The number of lives that will die by his command through me was immense. It should have been beyond his understanding, but he understood perfectly, and still he committed the act. He believed that he would be hated for this action. Still, he moved onward. “Goddess of Death, I beseech you to lay waste to the lands of the demons. Kill their soldiers and armies when you can, but your true mission is to create a barren wasteland between their land and our own. Let their immense armies and people suffer to reach us.”

Everyone present knew the truth now.

An empire that stretched across the world. That had colonies in other continents. Millions of souls are ready to kill and fight for an emperor who glutted himself upon a hundred souls and lives a day. The remnants of the Ancient’s foes were an indomitable nation with souls to spare and fearsome magics at their beck and call.

But they were still lacking.

“You will do this to buy time for our nation to rise. They do not have Citadels. They are lacking in alchemy, industry, and magic. We are outnumbered, but we have our own advantages. Advantages that we must put to use.” The King of Wisdom rallied his people. The force that bore down upon the world did not have firearms. They did not have flying castles. They were not unified and squabbled with one another. “Weaken the outlying regions. Have them fall prey to one another. Make them consume one another. They will fight, they will consolidate, and they will realize the truth only to find a land ready to defeat them and their own foes. A land that can hold against them until they can be destroyed.”

He made them rightfully fear the demons, but he also gave them hope.

Hope not in a singular weapon, but in themselves, their work, and their own efforts.

There was no applause, no cheering, and no calls of joy, but as I was handed my mission, I looked around.

Stoic faces with stern gazes filled with the determination to see the fight through lined the entirety of the room.

There was fear, but courage outweighed it.

Ah.

My dear creators, despite all their missteps, I am sure that you would be proud of those who came after.

…

I met with the King of Wisdom after my mission was given.

It was in a room with over a hundred Iterants.

“They will be your supporting element. Their main purpose will be to gather intelligence, increase their numbers, and understand the culture of the demons. Once they have managed that, they will infiltrate and begin efforts to turn the nation against itself.” There was no longer any grandeur. His voice was soft and controlled. Every word was meant to inform me on how I will fulfill his command. We were in a carved-out tunnel near the base, behind an outcropping of rock beside a trail, and the hidden compound was filled with supplies for an Iterant force. A force that had been prepared before I was even found. “In ancient texts, there was said to be a disease that allows the undead to create Undead by killing mortals. Are you capable of that?”

“I am, but only with your command, my dear master.”

“Permission granted. Infected individuals will be carried and seeded through their nation by Iterants. Terrify, destabilize, and create chaos so that warlords vying for the throne have their opportunity. The Iterants will kill anyone who is likely to stop the chaos. They will be provided the prototype weapon in small quantities.” The King of Wisdom informed me, and I listened with nearly bated breath. He anticipated. I did not know how, but I could assume. He saw the length and breadth of the world thanks to the Citadels. He knew that the continent was surrounded by defenses, filled with resources, and that outside there were only monsters. Taking all that into account, he knew that he had to create methods to answer such threats. I was just a potent addition. “You will only strike at their capacity to wage war whilst you retreat. The Iterants will stay behind and provide information while creating a smuggling route for more potent attacks later.”

“May I ask what kind of potent attacks you intend? If such attacks will create bodies and not more poison, I can make it so that those who die will return to fight against the demons.” I offered and received a swift nod in reply.

“The first assault will be with our aerial forces. A firebombing campaign across all that we can reach, during the height of summer, and after they planted their crops.” He explained as we walked through the long hall. We passed by Iterants shifting forms using drawings from previous expeditions and even the corpses that we acquired. They shifted the faces, added subtle features, and differentiated themselves from one form to another. Such a potent force would have made my creators hesitant and fret about possibilities of rebellion. Every Iterant present, however, looked at the King of Wisdom with adoration and at me with envy. “While the fires rage, industries will be targeted by Iterants on the ground. We have certain compounds that can burn through rock and metal with ease from the alchemists.”

We passed through cloth doors inside the hall, and he wordlessly created a light.

It shone across the room, and I stopped in my tracks.

Core after core of Iterants was on the shelves.

The formation of an Iterant from a core was automatic after they were produced from the body of an existing one. That meant that one infiltrating Iterant could become a team of three after reaching their target. In a few months, three became nine, and so on.

But there was another way.

If an Iterant’s core was extracted from their body, they could choose to remain a core so that they could be taken to safety. It was an emergency measure. A failsafe to give them another chance after their chassis was destroyed.

They were using that emergency measure as a weapon.

That was clever, but what made my heart race was another fact entirely.

The Iterants were willing to give up their bodies and render themselves unfeeling and immobile for their leader.

“Every Iterant under your command will be carrying twenty others in their inert state. Two thousand Iterants will infiltrate this demonic empire. They will multiply, they will grow, and with time they will see it fall.” My master called it sabotage and espionage, but I saw what he truly created. This was a killing blow. A tumor that will grow within the demon’s nation. Year after year will pass. The Iterants will infiltrate, ingratiate, and settle themselves into demonic society. Then, when the time comes, they will be unleashed while armed with potent alchemical weapons that will not affect them. “After the firebombing, they will wage a fighting retreat, destroying everything that they can and extracting as much information as possible. After that, all operations will be conducted via our aerial fortresses and from high altitude. Bombardment from the skies.”

A plague of Undead to sow terror.

Inciting discord and giving opportunities to those who want more.

A firestorm to sow more chaos while destroying industry.

Then, unleashing tens of thousands of killing machines across the nation, before they retreat, fire comes from the skies without ceasing.

“It will only buy time.” My glee at his words must have been obvious, as he spoke to me with a shake of his head. “Time to take the rest of the Citadels and cripple the rest of the threats that encroach. Time that can be used to find your third, last sister. We will be taking from them as much as we possibly can.”

“They were struck with more than this and survived.” I agreed with a small nod at his words before allowing my brow to furrow. “What can be taken from the Demons that does not entail sacrificing the people?”

If he asked them, they would give their lives without question, but such was not my master’s path.

“Their average soldier is as strong as our own, after they have been given the Ancient’s gifts. They carry little in terms of supplies, and their magic can heal what Holy magic cannot. Those alone will empower our armies.” He motioned for me to follow him, and I did. We went back to the room where the rest of the Iterants were preparing. Some passed us by with bags ready to carry the cores of the waiting Iterants. A hundred bodies will become two thousand upon reaching their target. Two thousand that will increase and increase every few months. 2000 will create 4000. 6000 will create 12000 for 18000. More and more, until a small army of living shapeshifters is in the midst of the demon’s empire. Such a simple method, to ferry cores of other Iterants in packs, but the potential was terrifying. “As for their sacrificial rites, we will take them apart for countermeasures and perhaps find augmentations that can be used with our own magic that needn’t take blood, let alone lives or souls.”

I nodded and listened to every word.

Contentment filled me as I asked questions, received answers, and allowed myself to cease worrying.

No more worrying about my creators gathering resources for the next generation instead of fighting.

No more concerns regarding my creators holding back because of their own morals and beliefs.

No more thinking about usurping command in order to try and save the people that I care for.

All that I had to do was kill.

All is well.

…

After sweating through giving everyone the bad news and spending more than two hours clarifying every little thing with Eminent, I was pooped.

“Ayah, I’ll be having my dinner now. Please grant me some time to rest before I sleep as well.”

“Yes, my lord.” Ayah gave a bow at my words, while I looked around my tent. My usual prefabricated housing was still stored away, since I had no intention of sticking around here for more than a day. I’ll sleep this evening, then go travel back to the Citadel tomorrow. My last vacation was a few months ago, so it was about time for another one. “What will you have for your meal this evening?”

“The usual.” The usual was a light soup and some jarred fruit. It sounded shitty for a king, but I was half a day away from a potential battle in the middle of an expansive mountain range that was perpetually snowing. Canned soup and jarred fruit were luxurious. “Thank you.”

Ayah bowed and was ready to retreat when outside the tent I heard the flapping of wings and the harsh breathing of a flying horse.

A priority message.

Damn.

“Belay my request for now; get that message.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Ayah scurried away and returned within a few minutes with a message in hand.

All sorts of scenarios and possibilities ran through my head.

Did Morgan fail in her pacification of Academy lands?

Did the Forgers get the Citadel instead of the Merchants?

Was a war declared by the Guardians of the Moon because they found Riegert’s expedition and defeated them?

Were we getting hit by some unknown force out of nowhere that I hadn’t prepared for?

All those questions ran through my head while Ayah was away, until I opened the letter.

It was from Khanrow, who I had stationed at the Merchant’s lands.

I read through it, then I read through it again, and sighed.

“The Forgers found and leaked the existence of the Merchant’s efforts to create artificial champions and elite soldiers. An armed revolt is sweeping through the nation.” I didn’t know whether to be pleased or pissed. On one hand, I wanted the Merchants to get the Citadel since they needed it to hold against the Ascendant. On the other, since this was happening now, we could potentially get another Citadel… or give it to the Guardians.“ Forget dinner and prepare the carriage. Get a letter off to the Guardians.”

“Your Majesty?” Ayah questioned while I got to a box in my dining room. There were a couple of spare bars of rations and water in packs within the small shelves. For me, if there was no time to eat or if we needed to make a quick getaway on foot. “What do you wish to say to the Guardians of the Moon?”

I considered the situation for a moment before answering.

“Ask them if they want to prolong this needless suffering or if they want to halve the continent, face off against the coming threats, and figure out who leads after we all survive.”

Their alliance was dead, I had two goddesses on my side, and now two citadels were up for grabs.

Might as well see if we can seize the Forger’s Citadel too.

With that in mind, I went off to fly into the dead of night to see if I could broker a deal with someone who really hates my guts.

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Interlude: Celia

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Two visitors arrived at my Citadel in the dead of night.

Harper arrived first on horseback with most of her household with her. She asked for asylum for herself and her people while her nation burned with the fires of revolution. The expedition was clean and well-prepared. She had with her not only a great amount of wealth to re-establish herself but also a truly immense amount of information and research.

In the handful of meetings I had with her since the formation of our alliance and the war she waged against the Forgers, she had implied she was losing control. The initial rebellion against her had been hard-won, and she had conceded her power for support from other wealthy merchants. Those on the ‘table’ of executives demanded, and she could only give. Those concessions were used to gather more strength and wealth, and now she was ousted by the same people who she had relied upon as they saw her as unnecessary.

How much of that was true and how much of it was by her own hand, I did not know.

But I did know that the King of Wisdom arrived mere hours after her and requested guest rights.

Both were now in my manor, in entirely separate wings, and the contrast between the two was stark.

“Executive Harper’s people are scouring the city and searching for opportunities. They’re contacting quite a few members of the senate. We had familiars listening in. Their intentions are to create a trading corporation based here.” Mallory watched the Merchants while Christine watched the King of Wisdom. Mallory recounted the findings of her retinue concisely. “Their primary interest is in agriculture, especially in our efforts to cultivate the new plants and species with our Undead. If Executive Harper intends to do something with her military force, she has made no show of it.”

“Even if the reason why she is here is not true, her goals seem to be. Or, that may be what they wish for us to think. This may all be a ruse. Keep watch, Mallory.” My former fledgling, now full-blooded Vampire Knight and Champion, bowed at my words and awaited my orders when she raised her head once more. Only a few years have passed for her to reach her current level of strength. Conflict after conflict forced her to quickly grow in strength. What should’ve taken decades took less than one. “Have you heard back from your sister?”

There was another reason why they were chosen. Thanks to their similarities in mind, body, and spirit, they were able to communicate with one another across vast distances without issue. They also always knew if their twin was whole and hale. When circumstances permitted, they fought together like they were of one mind and two bodies. They never feared harming one another, supported one another perfectly, and could overcome most challenges together with ease.

I hoped that they would be a fine answer to the likes of Ilych and Rita.

“Christine states that the King of Wisdom is fast asleep and that her watch has been encroached upon by his personal guard twice over. They know that she is there, and they permit her presence.” Mallory allowed a frown to grace her features. To allow a champion in the presence of the King of Wisdom meant that they were confident in their ability to overcome that champion. They were calling Christine weak. “I cannot dispute it. Ilych, Rita, and Sirena all stand guard over him. If Morgan and her apprentices were here…”

Mallory trailed off and grunted with a shake of her head.

I knew not how the King of Wisdom managed to sway the Sword Saint to his side, but she was here now, and with her support there was nothing that could be done to assail the King of Wisdom as he now slumbered. Though he was at the very heart of my city, of a supposed foe, he slept without any fear whilst his powerful sentinels stood watch.

Was he in the den of the dragon, or has a dragon come to roost at my home?

“Tell her to return. She will find nothing besides stares and tests throughout the night. We will discover why he has come tomorrow.” I stated with a shake of my head. Catherine should be here, but I dispatched her to gather intelligence on the ongoing war in hopes of finding a solution to the conflict that would satisfy both sides. I would have made sure my teacher was present if I knew that the King of Wisdom would arrive. Mallory’s brow furrowed at my words, and I took note. “Share your thoughts with me, Mallory. I value your words. You know this.”

Mallory gave a sharp nod at my words, her helm’s chin nearly colliding with the gorget at her neck.

“My lady, what if he shared with us the truth? What if his intention is to have us seize the rest of the Citadels? All those not under her control?” Mallory broached the question with care. I had already shared with her my thoughts. It must be some sort of ruse. A trick that would have me move into the palm of his hand. I was sure of it, but Mallory still voiced her concerns and met my gaze through the slit in her visor. “The great threats loom ahead. Why would he not see us reach our full strength?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but none came.

All I could do now was go forth and listen to his words.

…

The three of us sat together at a replica of the table we used to meet to confront the Death Lord. That meeting where the whole continent was rallied to a singular cause, before the formation of the short-lived alliance between my people, the Merchants, the Forgers, and the Wardens against the King of Wisdom. After that I met with my allies a handful of times across a few seasons, and I watched as my allies grew in power, resentment, and distance to one another as he grew stronger still.

Now, the Merchants were engulfed in civil strife, the Forgers were seizing the lands of the Wardens in the turmoil, and my people were supplying weapons, food, and equipment for all the conflicts across the continent.

While he loomed over us all, his strength having only grown while we fought amongst ourselves and exploited one another. Even with our new Wraiths coming into being, after we defeated that creature left behind by the Academy with his forces, I saw an insurmountable force. Reports from across his land showcase ancient technologies coming into being.

Trains and tracks bind his realm together and offer insurmountable projection of force in wartime, and during times of peace his cities may as well be side-by-side. It only took his trains five days to reach one end of his empire to the next. That shipping capacity freed up immense numbers of flying transports for military use without even considering the implication of four regions being able to coordinate and play to their region’s strengths rather than do everything alone.

His armies were massing at an incredible rate. The small, elite professional force he kept and supplemented by Citadel Guardians were now training hordes of volunteers. In just a year, I was told that he will have a quarter million troops. Troops that will be armed with rifles that use cartridge technology and reload on their own after firing a shot, if our intelligence is to be believed, are improvements over the large rifles produced by the Citadel itself. These troops will have uniforms suitable for any theater that they reach, have all the supplies that they need, be provided with new cannons that can fire at an ogre and kill it with a single shot, and be anywhere in his lands within a week.

His strength and power were without question.

But he sat across from us with an unthinkable bargain.

So unthinkable that former Executive Harper forgot all her fears and hissed at him after he stated them.

“What is this farce!? Do you expect us to believe that you’ll give us half of the continent and four Citadels!?” The impossible offer left his lips after we greeted one another and sat. Not even a single second had passed. Harper’s incredulity had her stand once more with balled fists against the table. “What’s your game, King of Wisdom!?”

The King of Wisdom looked her way.

To her credit, Harper may have flinched, but she kept his gaze.

Jack sat back in his chair before speaking with his usual calm, controlled cadence.

“Just under two days ago, the first incursion by the demons arrived. They were dealt a decisive blow and destroyed through an avalanche. Survivors were dispatched by my Champions, and information was extracted from the dead by my Divine Engine.” I felt myself freeze in my chair at his declaration. An incursion past the storm barriers set up by the Ancients? Already? If that had occurred at our part of the continent, then we would have—I need to hasten the construction of defenses there immediately. “The Demons, alone, are a nation in truth with hundreds of millions of slaves and tens of millions of their ilk. They fight to dominate the world and see this continent as their means to achieving rulership over the entire planet.”

A shiver went down my spine, but he continued to speak plainly and without leveling any accusation our way.

He was recounting facts, doing nothing at all to persuade us, yet I could only sit and listen to every word.

“I will be sending the Divine Engine of Death into their lands. The Iterants have asked to move against them, and I am aiding them as we speak to infiltrate and sabotage those vast lands. But the Stymphalians, the Ascendant, and the Sahuagin remain. I am introducing disease to their slave populations where I can, but it can only do so much.” He held his hands outward and shrugged his shoulders. A casual move one would expect from a half-hearted apology. Not admission of using disease as a weapon and deliberate targeting of slave populations. Those were terrible crimes, but at the same moment I knew that I could not deny them. The whole world was bearing down upon us. “My game, therefore, is that I wish to have only one potential foe on this continent rather than three, because otherwise we will also perish.”

Then, my senses for danger flared, and my instinct told me to run as he reached for his neck and pulled out a small, circular locket.

He placed it on the table and opened it.

A vibrant, glowing substance was encased within it, and every sense that I had told me to not move as he placed a finger against it.

“King of Wisdom, what have you snuck past my guards?”

“A deadly, powerful poison that can kill everyone at this table in under a minute.” He glanced behind him, and I followed his gaze. His champions were frozen and stock-still behind him. They were caught unaware of his current move. Even Ayah, who was always by his side, was shocked into complete stillness. “And it will if you don’t agree to ally with me and unify your half of the continent.”

Silence pervaded the room until Harper spoke.

“You will die if you break that. You won’t do it.”

I didn’t believe her.

No one in the room did.

Probably not even Harper herself.

Still, the King of Wisdom answered.

“My death will galvanize my nation into action. Even if the two of you survive, it will send them into a rage, and they will put at risk what I have created to use. They will seize this entire continent, absorbing all casualties in the process, and use all that I have created to protect it.” With every word, the gravity of the situation bore down more and more upon me. “My role as the king of my nation is to secure happiness and prosperity for my people. If the price for that is my life, then so be it.”

Instead of holding anything we held dear hostage, he held himself hostage and demanded we do as he said.

And there was nothing we could do to oppose it.

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 19

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 19

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Interlude: Sirena

…

I awakened not beneath stone and the dim glow of crystals, but beneath blue skies surrounded by grass and flowers.

For a moment, I thought that I remained in Paradise.

But the familiar sensation of my form’s hands around my hilt convinced me otherwise.

“Saint of Swords, Sirena, I am the High Justiciar of the Wardens of the Caverns. You have been called to uphold your oath.” The words were somewhat what I suspected, but they were not yet enough. If the people I swore my sword to remained, then there remained words that I needed to hear. “Let your sword of light cut through the darkness and reveal their sanguine heart.”

That was the first part of the phrase.

“Sapphire.” I inquired, ready to leap from my place of awakening should I hear the wrong reply.

“Onyx.” The High Justiciar said, and I felt a calm flow over my corporeal form.

“I am the Sword Saint Sirena, and I return to serve the Wardens of the Caverns.” I allowed joy to flow across my form. After countless millennia, our people now had a home and temple above ground. No. It was better. Beyond the clearing in which I was roused, I heard the sound of civilization, the howling of wind, and innumerable unfamiliar scents. Other peoples lived alongside us and our people. “I am ready to fulfill my oaths to my people.”

The High Justiciar wore bands of gold and thin gossamer threads over her chest and waist. In a show of modesty, there were no gemstones on her person. A veil even obscured the lower half of her face. Her form was lithe, and I could sense traces of magic upon her person. A humble young woman with immense amounts of magic. The new High Justiciar reminded me much of my friend before we parted ways.

To maintain my strength and power at their height, I needed to enter Paradise and be recalled in the future.

Leaving behind all who I knew and held dear so that I would return when I was needed most.

“I greet you, Sword Saint Sirena, and I thank you for your sacrifice. Let it be known this day that you returned as you swore you would.” I rose from the stone slab and looked around while my form’s armor was laid upon me. Enchanted threads of silver and gold, along with gemstones saturated with power, gave me strength, speed, and otherworldly defenses against all the foes of the Wardens. I felt ostentatious wearing only gemstones and precious metals, but it was needed for my role. “Please, allow me to introduce you to our people’s greatest benefactor. An Ancient reborn after all these countless years to guide our people.”

For a brief moment, I wondered if my people were somehow misled.

Then, I looked towards the figure who stepped out of the shadow.

I barely managed to defend my form’s neck against the feint he sent my way.

“She is strong.” I felt sweat break across my entire form as I resisted the urge to bare my edge against the being that the High Justiciar bowed to. For a second, I saw a Descendant with a crown of gold on his head and simple robes draped over a tall and well-muscled form. Then, I saw the truth. Power was barely constrained by his form. Every moment was an instant away from absolute violence. If I was more a sword than a person, then he was the embodiment of power itself, but I could not compare to him. I was a slave to my devotion to the blade, and I lost myself to it. He held control over his power, unlike myself. “She will serve well.”

“As a Champion or as a bride?” The High Justiciar suddenly said, and the tension in the room broke as I cast my gaze her way. A familiar smile split across her face as I felt blood rush onto my face. It was a too-familiar jest. I knew for a fact, then, that Kali had written more than needed regarding me in my records. I didn’t know how long it had been since she passed into Paradise, but all the generations of High Justiciars that came after her saw and read of her jest at my expense. “Ah, it seems she’s fine with either. What do you think, honey?”

I felt his gaze settle on me, and my form unconsciously stood tall and proud, clad in the raiment of my role as Sword Saint.

“I will have her as a Champion, but perhaps with time I can see her as more.” The words that came forward sent my heart fluttering in my form’s chest. My true thoughts still wondered how I could defeat him. None came forth, at least in my current state. “Kneel, Sword Saint.”

“But you just said you only want her as a Champion right now!” The High Justiciar teased and tittered my way, while I commanded my form to do as I was bid. The High Justiciar betrayed no sign of being coerced. In fact, she seemed devoted to the reborn Ancient in our midst. I could only wonder why this one was the first to return. Why now, instead of so many centuries ago? Those thoughts ceased as he drew his blade from his hip. Effortless shifting of weight. Perfectly balanced in his grip. With a flick of his wrist, I could see this whole temple cut in half. At the same time, he couldn’t be more than two decades of age. His status as a reborn Ancient was all but verified to me after seeing him draw his sword. “Though it’d be amazingly romantic to have her be more than a Sword Saint just moments after she returns to life.”

The High Justiciar and several other priestesses present gave wistful sighs that I did my utmost to ignore.

It would be romantic. —

He raised his sword, and all thoughts fell apart.

Perfectly and slowly, with one hand, he raised his sword up and the placed its flat against my shoulder.

It was suitable for his height; therefore, it was the length of the High Justiciar’s height. It was composed of a white alloy that was cool and light, but upon touching my shoulder, I knew that it had a heavy, weighted core. Its hilt was simple and robust, and I could see him holding the weapon by the blade and swinging it like a hammer to execute swathes of foes. The blade was robust, heavy, and built to be wielded with both skill and power.

Yet it touched my shoulder as lightly as a feather.

“Sword Saint Sirena, I bid you to serve me, and through me you shall serve your people. The Wardens of the Caverns are under my protection against the many threats that persist in this world. Those who would seek not only to kill us but to assail Paradise itself.” My heart almost stopped at his words, and I turned to the High Justiciar. I searched for confirmation, and my heart sank as she gave a single nod verifying the terrifying truth. The Ancient returned to us because of the threat to eternal bliss and safety after death. “The war to come will end all threats to Paradise. This world will be unified under my people as it once was. Peace and prosperity will come to all those who follow me.”

I wished to bow in acceptance, but another set of words left the lips of my mundane form.

“I bid you to show me your truth with your blade in a singular bout. Allow me to know you as a warrior. I beg this of you.” I bowed my head, and I felt glares bordering on condemnation from my fellow Wardens. For a moment, I considered retracting my words, but—

He took his sword up and away from me. I stood up and bared my true self against him, and our eyes met.

Silence hung between us for a mere moment.

Then, we struck at one another.

I went for his neck, swinging with all my strength and more, while breaking apart my arms and guiding my blade with the fiercest winds I could muster.

Before my blow could reach his neck, however, the tip of his blade rested on my chest.

With that I stopped and surrendered, and then I did not just take a knee but prostrated myself before him in apology.

“This one accepts you as her leader and wielder.” Simple, precise, and straightforward. The thrust he sent my way told me all that I needed to know of him. Born of talent and understanding beyond his years, but trained and honed from the moment he was able to hold a sword. A master of the art was reborn into a new body and never missed a moment to train his new one. This was a level of skill and technique in a young body only possible because he was a reborn Ancient, as he said he was. “Tell me what I must do.”

For a moment, I feared that he would question my resolve, but instead he sheathed his blade.

“You have a powerful blade to aid you now, Khalai. Use it well until I call for it.” I felt a shiver go through my whole body at his words. He understood me completely now. “See the Wardens as whole and hale as possible when the truth is shared.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Those words resounded from my lips and from all those present.

Still, in the deepest depths of my being, I bid myself to stay wary and to watch from a distance.

The Wardens have been swayed many times to the wrong cause.

It was my duty to keep watch and ensure that such was not the case whenever I returned.

…

The warden’s integration was a rapid one. They effectively all left their homes and settled across my lands. Tribes and clans coordinated with one another to create diasporas, settled into towns and cities, and set themselves up. The entertainers and merchants that came first made good impressions, while the rest of the population lived up to the expectations that were set, and before long the fact that a quarter of the population wore gemstones and precious metals instead of clothes was simply accepted.

I allocated funds for them to set up temples, and with my presence, they were able to summon people besides faithful Wardens.

There was confusion, and there was nearly a schism, but I stepped in before blood was shed.

It was a close thing.
Even with my reputation and strength, stopping that knowledge from turning the Warden religion into a death cult was more luck than anything else. If the wrong set of people were brought in first, if we didn’t get the numbers of supporters up before hitting the biggest hard-liners, then it would’ve all fallen apart. Thankfully, with me assisting Khalai and Sirena providing muscle, the problem was surmounted.

Now, my lands were filled with a lot of half-naked, promiscuous dark elves.

Some people would consider that enough of a reward for my word, but they brought in more than that.

“Have these reports been validated?”

“Yes, by three different inspectors with multiple scales. All shipments are true.” The Wardens were the best miners, which translated to increased production rates and increased gold income. They suffered a bit in regard to research, but they could make upgrades to their temples with gold and production that increased their faith output. That increased faith output was enough to empower their troops or bring back entire armies that had been destroyed. Their research may take longer, but they could hold their lines just fine. “The materials of this land will be at our disposal soon.”

“Set up a central currency and ensure that it flows through the land. The Citadel’s manufacturing capability is ours, but ensure that some of it can be purchased with a sufficient sum.” The Citadels provided a lot of things that rich people would want. Medical pods were needed to extend life, but simple things like beautification were products that could be churned out by the ton. By setting a stupendous sum for it, we can use the money that came in from the rich to bring everyone else up. This was a short-term solution to galvanize the population, of course. In a world with magic and massive fabricators like the Citadels, time was important, not wealth. “Draft a plan, and I will augment it with my own ideas.”

“By your will, my master.” Ayah bowed her head at my words, while I moved onto the next report. This one was of interest to me, and the Ancient Administrator took note. “That is the report regarding the faction that you believed would form in the northwest of the continent, yes?”

“Yes. The Merchants.” The reports stated that prominent trading caravans were heading there now. They were purchasing mercenary contracts, supplies, and more. Attempts to buy weapons from my soldiers were also rising with the sums offered becoming more and more stupendous. Morgan even reported that someone tried to bribe her for her loyalty, and I commended her for letting the man go to be followed instead of just killing him. “They will have a Citadel within the year, but it will be for naught. They do not have enough.”

I had six Citadels now. It was an eye-watering amount of power, even if my population and industry couldn’t catch up. My borders were filled with Guardians, the population was booming, and factories were starting to turn on, but only time mattered now. The Merchants and maybe the Forgers were on their way to take a Citadel for themselves, but they were in for a rude awakening. They were going to get stage 1 Citadels, while I had 6 Citadels at the 6th stage. One of my Citadels was worth six of theirs, so the manufacturing capability that I had was more than enough to roll over them.

In fact, that was my first thought and what I would do to the Forgers once they pop up.

The Merchants, though?

“Contact Harper. I will meet with these merchants and offer them a deal. To serve me, follow my laws, and prosper, or to perish.” With my overwhelming superiority and the fact that both the Merchants and Forgers had horrible technologies and societal ‘upgrades,’ there was nothing stopping me from going over there and rolling them over after they died for the Citadel. I only wanted to keep my population nice and strong. Fewer casualties now meant more people for the problems later. I knew that the Forgers wouldn’t play ball, but if I could bring the Merchants in without killing them… why not? “Prepare my gryphon and my new blade.”

“Yes, my king.”

Hopefully, showing up in front of the Merchants with a flaming sword, a building-sized flying beast, and covered in impenetrable armor was enough of an ‘intimidate’ action to get them to stop being anarcho-capitalist slavers.

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 18

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 18

…

I had very little need for sleep or rest. If I closed my eyes for five minutes, that was enough for my brain to get the clarity that I needed from a full night with my previous night.

It would’ve been great if I had things to do with all the time that gave me. There were no games to play, no books for fun, or three-hour-long videos on topics that vaguely interest me.

That five-minute rest period just gave me the ability to work or to train.

Now, for some reason, I wasn’t averse to working or training in my new body. I didn’t know that discipline could just be ingrained into the body, but such was the case. Basically, if work or training needed to be done, I just told my mind and body to do it, and it’ll get done. If I wanted to change, I’m perfectly capable of changing, as a matter of fact.

If this was the standard individual back before everything went to shit, it was no wonder things went topsy-turvy. Giving a regular person this much power and ability looked good on paper, but what about the psychos or the sociopaths? All signs pointed towards this world’s equivalent to super soldier serums and the like being purposefully limited and having off switches, but I was sure that certain things would be considered basic, universal things to keep things equal.

Give everyone perfect memory, the ability to change themselves, and the ability to work hard.

It’s honestly no wonder that a large chunk of the population went and tried to usurp control over the planet, believing that everyone not part of their clique is just meat and blood for them to use. Hell, it wasn’t surprising that some of them became undersea monsters with mind-controlling magic or cannibal hedonists living only for pleasure and the hunt. I was pretty sure that the Ascendant tried to turn themselves into gods before the Divine Engines were created so that they wouldn’t have any rivals.

All this power and potential in everyone’s hands was just ridiculous.

I’m all for giving people eternal youth and keeping them from being sick, but literal superpowers that allow them to basically do anything with enough time?

Yeah, no.

Anyway, knowing that I could end up being some super-crazy self-supremacist, I decided that I needed days off that would allow me to know the people that I was protecting.

As much as I liked to sometimes pretend to be the crisis, and some policies and edicts were fun to use, it always felt better to play as the hero faction.

What’s that?

Playing the hero is harder?

My guy, that’s why heroes are heroes and you’re not.

…

Entertainment in this world was hard to find, but when you had time, money, and a safe haven, you could rapidly get access to everything that the continent had to offer. Cultist circuses, previously hidden monasteries with safeguarded literature, and troupes dedicated to plays made and coordinated by some passionate individual traveling through war-torn lands. Musicians, actors, playwrights, acrobats, and more just needed to hear of a place where they’ll be safe and secure, and they’ll arrive all by themselves.

The Academy used this to their advantage to prop themselves up.

They hoarded art, had theaters that glorified them, and most bards sang their praises.

After years of running, having to go from place to place, or submitting to the Academy, most people were interested in my promise.

“Bring culture to my lands and be rewarded. Your only judgment will be by the masses.”

Those who actually lived for their art would rush over first, naturally.

From a strategic perspective, entertainment and art districts increased either happiness or influence. Bread and circuses kept people from mounting rebellions, but if you were making happiness, you weren’t making more influence. Influence was needed for passing laws, dealing with other nations, and setting up good deals. With the right policies and technology research, you can use influence to ‘buy’ your units instantly.

Having enough influence to call a lot of people to arms, giving them supplies, arms, and armor as well, probably wouldn’t fly in this world.

But I was hoping that the entertainment and arts district could make people happy and generate influence at the same time.

But that’s enough worrying.

It was time to rest and recuperate.

Apparently with Khalai wrapped around my arm.

“Ooh, look at that. Let’s go watch.” If there was any noticeable difference from Khalai making the change to ‘better serve the future,’ most people would say no. She was already pretty before, which was the main reason a lot of people would’ve been thrown off. My super-advanced senses could tell that there was no longer a small bump hidden by a necklace and that her hips were a bit wider. If she weren’t so lithe and toned, there’d probably be some difference in fat distribution in the chest and rear, too. “Ooh, do you like what you see, your majesty?”

“I see the works of the ancients’s machines and am impressed. You remain yourself. Only changed for the sake of your goals.” I told her bluntly.

“Of course, honey. I love myself. A little change like this is to remain true to my desires. Everything else is already my true self.” Khalai’s words would probably have a lot of people tripping over themselves back in my previous world. Here? People can get strong enough to throw around boulders, slice through solid rock, and throw tornadoes at armies. They can change their bodies however they like with little effort. Like putting on a different pair of shoes. “Now, what do you think of this little dancing troupe?”

It was a Warden dancing troupe, so it resembled a cabaret club, but all the lingerie was replaced by jewels on silver threads. There were a lot of people in line from all the peoples under my control. Warden promiscuity allowed them to easily ingratiate themselves into society. It wasn’t just for men either. Warden men set up host clubs and their own strip clubs on the opposite side of the district. Wardens were working hard to culturally make the case that they didn’t count as cheating and that they’ll take in fathered or mothered children by their antics without question.

It’s really no wonder that their second and best victory was a cultural victory.

A Star of Vice and Faith, if I recalled the name correctly.

Everyone gets along, the planet becomes a utopia, and no one bothers checking on it forever.

It’s too bad the AI for Wardens never tries for the victory above medium difficulty.

“I’ll consider it once I am assured of you.” I told Khalai simply. We just met in the last couple of days. The High Justiciar was adamant about her role to ‘have my babies and ensure the future,’ along with the goal of sharing the truth that Paradise needed to be protected. I didn’t know a thing about her, except for the fact that she’d go through with murdering the entire continent to get people into paradise and that I managed to unravel that thread before it became a problem. “I find your company only amusing at the moment.”

Khalai tried to pout, but a smile formed on her face.

“But I’m adorable and willing. Isn’t that all you need?” Khalai tried to tease, but her grip on my arm lowered until she went on to intertwining her fingers betwixt mine. What a lewd minx. She’s trying to get romantic with me. If I weren’t a superhuman, I’d probably have crumbled. What if she was still a he? Honestly, it would’ve been a bit easier to resist, but just a little. “Well, I can wait. I’m sure that with you guiding these lands, we will have many, many years to ensure the Ancients will once more become the rulers of this world.”

Woah, I’m getting hit with handholding, patient understanding, and a cute head lean against my arm at the same time?

Thank goodness for superhuman willpower!

Khalai gave a hum, while motion ahead gave away Red’s approach.

The scarlet-haired barbarian warrior stood a whole head taller than everyone else on the crowded street. She was clad in armor with a sword at her back, as well as my crest on the clasp of her coat to denote that she worked with me.

“Chieftain, the path ahead is of being clear!” Red declared with a face smeared with food and a hand holding grilled skewers of meat in the other. While her talent for combat was easily trained, her mind didn’t take very well to language or writing. Putting her in a medical pod showed no problems with her head. She just had to overcome her inability with language on her own, but at the same time she was training hard to reach her full potential as a frontline champion. “No threats to anyone! Not even the littlest of children!”

“Thank you, Red. Keep watch and stay within your stipend.” I spoke, and Red nodded eagerly. She may be messy and have lacking language skills, but her senses were razor-sharp, and I knew all her tells. She couldn’t lie to me if she tried. So, if she said that everything was clear, then everything was clear. “Do you want anything from the pastry shop?”

“Cake!”

“Only if you promise to eat it with a knife and fork. Not with your hands. And, respond properly.”

“I promise to eat the cake with a knife and a fork, your majesty!” Red’s brow furrowed, and it took her effort, but she managed to get the words out. I nodded at the sentence to confirm that it was good, and she gave a megawatt smile. “I will be in attendance to my duties now!”

Red gave a wave before cheerily fading into the crowd, despite her height, armor, and weapons.

“A very bodacious body on that one, but all the curves are new. She has no idea how to use it.” Khalia gave a hum as she analyzed Red’s body. “Was she lacking in food as a child?”

“She was of the many barbarian tribes that I gathered to assail the first Citadel. One of the few who also stayed loyal when I told them my intention to rule, rather than reap and ravage the world. She was an emaciated husk before.” I told Khalai simply, and she nodded at my words with a faraway gaze and slightly furrowed brow. "Pensive" was the best word for it, though "melancholy" could’ve fit. “I had hoped to keep them all, but these have been long cultivated for war.”

“It is good, then, that Paradise is open to all.” Khalai stated it simply and succinctly. She searched me for a sign of hesitation, but I anticipated that probing question hours ago. The nod to answer her was ready, but that wasn’t all. I looked her way, and she let out a light laugh. “Was I that obvious?”

“I saw that question hours ago.” I admitted it freely, and Khalai just giggled again. “I also know you intend to test it yourself and to see if another besides a Warden can be summoned. Bring me to your ritual. I will see what needs to be done to prevent schism amongst your people.”

The Wardens were an exceptional light infantry force with an incredible amount of sustainability, near-unbreakable morale, and high damage output. Even until the endgame, blobs of their regular infantry could be upgraded to fight toe-to-toe with the craziest armies out there. The only real answer to them was to bring enough people to die against their charges while killing their resurrectors and smashing their formations with infantry. Not only that, but win or lose, with the proper infrastructure, that army is coming back with full experience, and they just need to be re-equipped.

There’s a reason why they’re fully capable of killing the entire continent and sending everyone off to Paradise.

The main problem was that if everyone was in Paradise, then no one would keep the crisis factions from taking the Citadels.

“You’ve only met my people for so long, yet you already know the weaknesses that we wish to hide from all. Can’t a girl have some secrets?” Khalai questioned and teased with the same breath. A truly dangerous foe. “What’ll happen if I can’t intrigue you anymore? I’ll have to rely entirely on my body, dear.”

If there was anything in this world that almost made me hesitate to move onward, it was those words.

But I moved onward anyway with my analysis of the Wardens.

“Your people are bound tightly by dogma and belief. Much of it is in worship of the works of my people. This is because of the great calamity that ruined the world and forced your people into the darkness against horrible foes. Knowledge became faith to rally the people as millennia passed.” Part of this was analysis of the current situation, but most of it was wiki knowledge. Knowledge that the Wardens should only know about themselves only thanks to research on their own past. But I was unveiling it here and now without hesitation to build up my reputation. “Your people have endured much only thanks to this faith, High Justiciar. I do not intend to break it. I wish to validate it and help it move onward back to knowledge with time.”

Khalai gave a hum in response to my words but nuzzled against my arm as well.

A real superhuman threat, this one.

“I will do my best to keep our people together. I fear that there may be schisms that must be put down. There will be less if you aid me, honored one.” Khalai spoke this time with the authority of the High Justiciar. But it wasn’t to give me an order. It was to state that this was a request from one head of state to another. The fact that she was wearing a white sundress and was just entreating me minutes ago didn’t matter. This was the head of a faith asking me for aid in putting down an upcoming uprising. “I understand if you wish for us to prove our loyalty—”

There’s no better way for me to ensure their loyalty than by having them owe me.

“To ensure the prosperity of the peoples of this world, and to overcome the foes that my people were unable to defeat, I am willing to be a tyrant hated by all.” I made sure Khalai heard every word. Her heart quickened at my statement. Not out of lust or desire, but anxiety. The way she held onto me was less like a woman and more like someone wishing to drag someone else out of danger. A real danger to my sensibilities. “I shall aid you, High Justiciar, in keeping your people together. I will secure their future, and I will ensure their prosperity.”

I halfway expected her to tease me, but instead I got a smile and a bow.

Looks like I’ve got the Wardens on my side.

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 13).

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 13).

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Word count: 2500

…

I made every effort to avoid Lady Aigen as much as possible.

Not that it was particularly difficult.

My days were spent killing monsters, consuming food, learning about the next set of monsters, and getting what rest I could. Entire swathes of time would pass where I would be left unthinking about anything besides that. The impending civil conflict back home was just an idea, let alone the annulment of my engagement by the prince. I was more concerned with surviving the gruesome pace set by Lord Trelawney… and getting rest and food.

It was embarrassing for me to admit, but between bouts of monster slaying, my thoughts wandered towards my next meal.

As funds continued to increase, as Father and Claire’s family invested more into the North, the hearty fare we were given was replaced by incredible food. Lord Trelawney stated that with trade resumed, it was imperative the people be given food that not only provides strength but also morale. I hadn’t understood what he meant until I sat after a long day and beheld a feast.

Clear soup with delicate poached fish and vegetables to start the meal. Roasted, well-seasoned whole birds carved tableside that ran with clear juices when cut and served alongside a gravy. Small fresh buns with butter and honey between servings. Steaks fried in tallow cooked to my liking along with potatoes and root vegetables cooked to perfect tenderness. Fresh salads and pickles were prepared by the table at my request. Pies and pastries were aplenty after the meal, but so was churned cream frozen swiftly by ice, which had sugar, spices, and dried fruit and nuts.

I had eaten well back home, and my family’s larder was befitting our status as a ducal house, but the meals I had now were aimed to promote cheer and raise spirits in these frozen lands. Back home, meals were exotic, meant to tantalize, and promoted a sophisticated palate. Spices from faraway lands, small game birds soaked in wine before being consumed whole, and pastries with fillings of spiced meats carved tableside well after they were cooled.

The meals were deliberate and delightful. Every dish is the chef’s intention and a celebration of ingredients. At the very worst it was good, and at the very best, my family would sing our chef’s praises and aid him in publishing the recipe to other noble houses.

Such meals were wonderful for a household dedicated to ruling. Dinners with neighboring houses were better with such meals. It showed our influence, our strength, and our reach. The meals were not gaudy imitations or flaunting of wealth. They told those who ate at our home that we not only had power but also the knowledge to use that power for things other than violence.

Here there were no neighbors to impress; thus, the meals were meant to embolden the people and keep them strong.

I hoped that I wouldn’t find myself preferring these sorts of meals.

Our chef, Bernise, would be at a complete loss if I asked for anything currently on the table.

She’d ask me if I was feeling well.

But enough of that matter.

Between servings, I spoke to Chloe, who provided me with information from back home.

“His majesty ordered the homeschooling of the prince after his decision. Despite his attempts to refuse, the royal guard was sent to enforce it. The houses that supported him were forced to oblige.” There were many powerful backers of the prince. Why would they not when they could see themselves rise high in society by following his commands? If confronted by the crown for possible sedition, they would simply say that they could not refuse my former fiancé. “The saintess was sent off to her mother’s church. We haven’t heard from her, but I presume that she is doing well.”

Chloe looked at me as she spoke of the saintess, and I obliged her unasked question.

“I hold her no ill will. In fact, I worry for her. She would be buried by duty if she became queen. Not only that, but she knows the intentions of the prince.” The roasted beef was rarer than I was used to. Barely changed from raw. I was surprised by how much I liked it until I realized memories and experiences from the creatures whose essence I took were coming to light. Only the Ogres cooked food, and they did it only for root vegetables. All the monsters I consumed ate their meat raw. “If I had the power, I would see her whisked away from the possibility of being queen, but that would only rally the prince’s faction.”

“They already use you as a symbol. They call you many things, my lady. A doll meant to give power to your household. A vindictive woman who would see a demigod slain for her own vanity. Many more things besides.” Chloe looked uncomfortable as she relayed to me the poor tidings, but I nodded and listened. “Some even insinuate that you’re some sort of witch that charmed his majesty, as though the empress wouldn’t kill him if he did such a thing.”

I almost laughed at the thought of that.

“Her Majesty would do that.” I agreed with Chloe with a small smile. My mind wandered towards her majesty. She was my supporter. A woman who helped me with my lessons as I served at the palace. Young ladies of high standing were expected to know how to handle a household, and the royal household expected much. I spent much of my childhood there at her service and felt only apprehension at the monumental tasks that lay ahead of me. But she always lent me her ear and her time, despite all that lay ahead of her every day. “If his highness were younger, she would be able to let him have it, but if she punished him now, it would shame the crown.”

“The crown is shamed enough. What’s a bit more?” Alice decided to chime in, and Chloe looked at her aghast. Alice just looked over at Lord Trelawney, where the duke was sitting, enjoying a hearty stew. The boy just raised up a thumb, and that was that. He was always out of his armor in the evening, though it was always looming over his shoulder, ready to encase him in a moment. It was still difficult to believe that the boy wearing a suit vest, cravat, and shorts with knee-length socks was Lord Trelawney. “See? Lord Trelawney agrees.”

“Lord Trelawney does not officially agree with any statement that besmirches the crown. Lord Trelawney, however, does not punish others for their words and thoughts. Action or planned action, however, is something else entirely.” The words were perfectly rehearsed, lacking entirely in expletives and vulgarities, and the staff serving us sighed in relief upon hearing it. He considered his practiced words for a moment before a smile split across his lips. “I do, however, not approve of the crown prince’s actions towards my erstwhile student. Enough to send a letter vouching for her innocence and talent for the crown to read.”

The head butler was quick to lean forward and try to dissuade him, but he raised a hand.

“That was a joke, Riban. I know better, even if I don’t want to. This place needs decent relations with the crown.” Lord Trelawney sighed before looking my way. I stiffened in my seat, but more importantly, I became aware that I was mid-chew as he moved to address me. He simply rolled his eyes, and I enjoyed my food before swallowing. “Anyway, I think you’ve got a decent shot at becoming empress. I’ve got a gut feeling that the prince’s siblings are moving in the background and securing alliances, too. The wheel of progress is starting to spin, and a lot of people are going to grease its axle.”

“If you have such fears, why not share that with them instead? If you were to involve yourself in the conflict, everything would change.” Chloe suddenly asserted. She gazed at Lord Trelawney and didn’t flinch under his gaze. Again, I was aware of how she was able to summon courage to face him. It astonished me, even though I knew she trained her whole life to fight at the front and face monsters. “Your power and strength would allow you to stabilize the nation. Stop countless deaths from occurring. With your support, Lady Argelia can rise to prominence, and the threat of her household and you may see her wed to a better prince.”

Lord Trelawney could’ve answered in many ways.

He could’ve said that leaving the North would see his lands destroyed by his many enemies here.

He may have said something along the lines of seeking vengeance for his family.

Instead, he answered in a very, very Lord Trelawney way.

“Make me, or send somebody who can.” Lord Trelawney sent a vicious grin Chloe’s way. She glared back at him with gritted teeth. He was very much like a predator toying with his prey. Not because he was a child glutted upon immense power thanks to slaying so many monsters, but because he was a petty rascal in a position of authority and power who was confronting a straight-laced lady-knight. Chloe had neither the means nor the methods to surmount this challenge. “So, either start killing wyverns on your own for a few years, or start getting very, very pious.”

Then, he stuck his tongue out at her and laughed.

I desperately wanted to tell Chloe to stop, that provoking him further would only lead to her downfall, but it was too late.

She fell for the trap.

“What of duty? What of honor? How can you claim to be a lord without the desire to protect the throne?” Chloe contended.

In Lord Trelawney’s place, I would’ve attested that I was doing my duty as duke and that he was holding back all the monsters of this continent from reaching our lands. Honor and duty were both fulfilled by that singular action, and Chloe would’ve been stymied.

Lord Trelawney’s response was to make a show of yawning and rolling his eyes.

“There should be plenty of honor and duty back there without me contributing what little that I have. They’ll handle it.” Lord Trelawney provoked with a faint smirk, interrupting feigned discourtesy. Chloe was rankled further and practically shook in place in rage. Her hand went to her plate, but she stopped herself before doing anything to her food. She had that much sense, at least. “All those knights and nobles over there who have so many subjects and so much time will surely have enough duty and honor to go around.”

Chloe opened her mouth to retort but closed it and looked at her plate.

Lord Trelawney frowned at his attempt to goad her failing, but I just sighed in relief.

He had inadvertently ruined his own ‘fun’ by reminding Chloe that she had not moved to aid me.

So, I managed to find my tongue.

“Chloe, let it rest. Lord Trelawney is not yours to sway. Not only that, but my family owes him immensely for his generosity and aid. Even with the resumption of trade between our houses, our debt to him is immense.” I spoke, and Chloe’s gaze held a bit of sorrow. However, I gave her a stern nod and signaled for her to regain her composure. It was a familiar movement. One that I sent her so many times as a child when she came to my defense at the slightest of insults. It was terrifying that I wanted to forget all those moments just because of a single event. “I apologize on her behalf, Lord Trelawney. You have the right of it. The nation must save itself, or it will all simply become yours, and I know you do not desire it.”

Lord Trelawney huffed, obviously disliking that his fun was taken from him, but he let it go.

Chloe was silent for a while, but she ate steadily to make sure that she would have strength for the coming day.

Allowing me to eat the rest of my dinner in peace.

Though I did aim a glare at Alice to inform her that I was aware that she made that conversation occur in the first place.

…

I awakened in the middle of the night with Chloe and Alice at the foot of my bed.

Both were armed and anxious.

I realized why as the castle suddenly shook, and a shiver went through my body from the wave of magic that washed over me.

“What’s going on?” I got off my bed swiftly and started getting into my clothes. To save time, I had my clothes for training at my bedside. Alice helped me into them, and I gave her a coat. I took my dagger and catalyst in hand while following them both out. “An attack from the natives of this land?”

We left my room and entered the large common room and beheld the land outside.

It looked like the sky was falling.

Glittering, large orbs of frost fell from the night sky and slammed into the fortress’s arcane barrier. The venerable protections of Coastal Fortress Trelawney withstood the attack. Falling at great speeds and with immense weight, the bombardment of crystalline comets found no purchase against the defenses of the fortress.

But that mattered little.

“There in the upper left. Lord Trelawney is fighting… something.” Chloe spoke, and I followed her pointed finger. Through the bombardment, in the night sky, there was an armored figure that I recognized as my teacher high in the sky. He was an indomitable fortress surrounded by flickering, near-invisible blades that barely caught the moonlight. His attacker was some sort of monster. A winged, avian beast that was vaguely humanoid that flew through the skies with grace… and fear. “He appears to be winning, but it would be best to move to the dock.”

The dock was where a ship and crew awaited me, Chloe, and Alice. One was present at all times now, staying despite having offloaded their cargo and taking on more, to provide us with an escape if needed.

Lord Trelawney had joked to ring a bell on our way out to let him know if we were ‘washing out’ of his training.

I was unfamiliar with the northern term, but I had disliked it a great deal.

Now, though, I cared not.

If Lord Trelawney was facing something he could not kill instantly, that meant that thing was something that could challenge him.

I had no desire to be near such a battle, so I nodded to both Chloe and Alice.

Unfortunately, as we moved to the door, the woman I’ve been desperately trying to avoid entered the room.

Lady Aigen, in full war regalia, came unannounced to a place she was told to avoid while Lord Trelawney was busy.

It took all that I had to not leap out the nearest window and call for him.

V11: Chapter 7

V11: Chapter 7

…

Interlude: Sirena

…

An avalanche to destroy the army, a plague to kill those who survived, and finally the faithful to fall upon that which remains.

The King of Wisdom’s meticulousness was as overwhelming as always.

I glanced at Ilych and found her gaze meeting mine at the same time.

Rita had fired her six poisoned arrows and terrified the Demons. They saw their comrades scream in agony and pain as they were consumed by living poison. Attempts to heal only gave the poison more flesh to consume. When a single drop fell on one of the Demons trying to help their leader, he was forced to take off his hand and watch it be consumed. Rita’s attacks struck the torso, at flesh that was not easily removed, and the bodies melted into red sludge that sat upon rock and ice like a predator waiting for prey.

The terror provided by the attack gave me and Ilych the opening that we needed.

Ilych summoned up magic and gave a tremendous roar that echoed through the valley. At the same time, she drew her immense firearm, and the sound of thunder resounded through the valley. Alchemical rounds imbued each one with a potent flame that could burn through steel. They exploded and showered the Demons in the hot flames and suffused the land with white fog that obscured vision.

Ilych said once to me that one shell of her weapon cost the same as a whole box of ammunition.

It was well worth the cost.

She set the Demons aflame and gathered all their attention after Rita killed their officers.

Our foes saw a speeding beast in black armor surging through the snow who carried a great sword better suited for a giant.

Without anyone to control them, they charged against their new foe.

Allowing me to flank their charge.

I pushed my physical form forward. I lightened my body enough to walk upon the unpacked snow, covered myself in a barrier of wind, and channeled that wind to push me forward. What once took ten strides became achievable in four. The burst of speed allowed me to streak past Ilych, turn, and strike at the flank of the Demons’ charge just as they were about to make contact with Ilych.

Ilych swung her blade early, crashing it against the valley’s floor, and a great cracking and grinding noise resounded.

Solid ground turned into rubble before her and turned stable footing into shaking, broken rock.

The charge of the Demons was disrupted.

They stumbled and caught themselves, focused on their opponent even as they still burned and regenerated through the white flames.

The elites capable of surviving the avalanche were as strong as we feared.

But strength can be overcome with faith and devotion.

I touched the neck of the first. The sensation of their skin was closer to marble than living flesh. There was no foothold, so I created one. A fierce gale that lasted for just a moment allowed me to twist my frame. I found purchase as my frame twisted and held tight. The muscle below was close to iron, but I have cut through iron many times before. I carried on with the cut, gliding through skin, flesh, and arteries. Even the walls of the throat were as tough as leather. The bone was like interlaced mesh that dispersed force across one layer after another before allowing what was below to crack.

Despite being cursed and weakened by the Ancestors, the Demons were still powerful foes.

But I have been a Sword Saint longer than I have been a mere mortal.

When my frame’s strength is insufficient, I overcome the limits nature has provided. Muscles burst within my skin, unleashing all the might that my mortal shell can conjure. Pain courses through the whole of both my frame’s arms. Innumerable tears and cuts within and without my arms created suffering similar to flaming blades blending muscle and sinew while gouging bone. The force exerted was too much for skin and blood and muscle burst out from my frame’s limbs.

I coursed with magic, elevating my sharpness and speed, and guided my path with control over wind. The wind screeched and shook my entire form as I sliced through iron-like flesh. Not only did I cut, I also sheared and shook apart everything in my path with blades composed of wind. Stone-like skin came apart, iron flesh tore, leather-like vessels of blood were destroyed, and bone broke.

Then, I saw the light at the end of the Demon’s neck.

The next one then saw me in the corner of his vision.

His body shifted and changed before my very eyes. His arm undulating and contorting as skin was swallowed by muscle and bone grew out into blades. A yellow eye burst into being and locked onto me while all the bones turned into blades and muscles straightened into a long and continuous set of strands and compressed… before surging towards my frame and going through protections and finding purchase through the skin of my frame.

But it did not go through the bone beneath.

It was tough, but its ability to do harm seemed to be limited.

My frame’s arms already healed, my next foothold was ready, and Ilych was ready to strike after I swung myself and cut through the overextended, transformed limb. Bone, muscle, and then a long vessel filled with blood came apart with ease. Ilych surged forward, and with a single blow of an armored fist, smashed through the skull of her closest foe, while another of her hands grabbed hold of another Demon and crushed its skull in another. Rita began to rain fire from her perch and slew one by placing an arrow through its skull.

The leader might have been their equivalent to a champion, but he perished by the King of Wisdom’s machinations. The rest seemed to simply be elites or individuals with the possible potential to become Champions with time and investment.

How many of these people existed in the quarter of the world that the Demons held?

The thought was staggering.

I could kill thousands of them, and there will be more to replace them.

Fear threatened to grasp my heart, but with a singular intake of breath, I put it aside while piercing the brain of my second foe by going through his eye.

The eye was as soft and filled with fluid as expected, and they had the same gap all mortals had that led to the brain. With a twist, I went through, entered the brain, and found it as soft and weak as all others I pierced.

Still, just in case, I suffused myself with wind and expelled it through my end.

The mottled, soft thing came apart and became like goo, and my foe went limp.

There was no reason for me to fear.

An army had died in just the last hour.

The same will happen to any other who opposes the King of Wisdom.

I knew what I needed to do in order to fulfill my purpose.

That was to be a blade that followed his commands.

All that was left was the will to see it through.

…

Good news!

The Demons were all dead except for the ones we planned to let go!

Bad news!

The Demons were all dead except for the ones we planned to let go!

“They were weaker than we expected, and Sirena’s miracles harmed them rather than healed them.” Rita reported. The survivors of the avalanche had been a tough bunch. Probably part of the noble caste of the Demons, meaning that they were inherently tougher, stronger, and more powerful. They weren’t Champions, but a single unit of them (1000 or so) could threaten a mid-game Champion. It was a good thing that I sent two in there and Ilych. “My apologies, my king. All we could do was take their heads for Eminent to check before she leaves.”

“It’s fine. I should’ve expected holy magic to not work on Demons. Their own methods of healing are more akin to amplifying their body’s own ability rather than our miracles.” They manipulated flesh and blood through the sacrifice of others. In-game their troops were either writhing masses of scarlet muscle that were vaguely humanoid and covered in bone plates or tanned, horned succubae or incubi with wings and horns that wielded powerful magic. A whole race of supermodel blood cultists with a vaguely Aztec theme. “Eminent, do it.”

“As you wish, my master.” Eminent bowed deep and curtsied. She went forward while watched by Sirena, Rita, and Ilych. There were other officers present from the army that I brought. We were going through the avalanche now in a long line with Conquerors ready to break the skulls of any survivors in air pockets. Recovering the armor, weapons, and bodies at this stage of the crisis was going to be a boon for sure. “Return. I demand it.”

There was nothing overt.

No ghostly mist from her hands entered the cadavers.

No shining light from the sky that somehow permeated through the insulated tent’s roof.

Eminent told the spirit of the corpse to return, and it did.

The singular Demon bound in chains twitched alive. A scream ripped through the tent, but the chains were not tested. Eminent laughed lightly, and I was sure that the Demon had tried to escape, but it was under its control.

I stood before a Demon, a creature of this world that would have me turned into an undying sacrifice to power some furniture, and spoke to it.

“Tell me the location of the town from which your expedition was launched.” I didn’t bother with anything personal. His name, where he came from, and what his dreams were all didn’t matter. He didn’t need to be my friend. I didn’t need to get into his good graces. This was an interrogation where I was holding the very essence of his being hostage. “Tell me. Now.”

Something close to a sneer formed on the Demon’s face, but it turned to horror as its mouth opened.

“Cintal. Four weeks march east of here.” I nodded at the information and looked over my shoulder. It was being written down already by Ayah and two other transcribers at the ready. I motioned for the map to be brought forward, made from our last expedition in their lands, and had the chains undone. The Demon knelt with the map in front of him without any bindings. Horror turned to terror as he realized he could truly do nothing. “What curse is this? What have you done to me?”

I ignored him and just considered my next question.

There was plenty now that I could ‘reveal’ to the gathered individuals by using him as a mouthpiece.

“What are the intentions of your people? Also, point at the map at the location of Cintal.” He pointed at the map first. A marker was placed on the location. It was right where we had the closest town to our lands.

“We came here to reclaim our birthright. This is the unreachable land where all blessings have been hoarded. This is where our people can reclaim their lost gifts and take the world as our own! Tell me what you have done to me!” He raged, but he was unable to yell or move. His face contorted between anger and anguish. Eminent sure was having fun. No necromancer could do this. As far as I knew, Eminent was the only being that could make this happen. Probably because she was directly connected to whatever system took in souls after death. These guys weren’t allowed to paradise, and everything that they were was just left to linger in oblivion. But with a body, Eminent could call that back. “Know your place! You are nothing more than blood and flesh! How dare a beast demand anything of a person!”

I ignored him, but it was tough.

I almost wanted to pump my fist in victory because I was able to cajole those lines out of him.

They were almost word-for-word for when you tried to use their diplomacy screen!

The rest of the tent was noticeably pissed at the Demon’s statement. Of course, we had analysis of what they did from afar. Everyone here knew that they kept people as slaves for sacrifice for their society to function. Blood flowed like water in Cintal to power everything. According to the last report, they even saw doors that opened by themselves and that required slaves to let loose their blood at an altar. The advance scouts trying to start cults and fighting like hell when confronted was also known. It’s another thing entirely, however, to have someone you respect be called a beast fit only to give blood and flesh for actual people.

At least, I hoped everyone in the room thought highly enough of me to be seriously offended.

Anyway, I ignored him again and spoke.

This time it was to gather actionable intelligence.

“Who is the military commander of the Cintal region, and who do they answer to? What is the population of the Cintal region? Give me the direction on the map of the region’s capital.” I bulldozed forward. Here was the perfect chance to convey to people the threat the Demons posed. They were taken out by an avalanche, but dozens still came out swinging and had to be killed by Champions. They intended to turn us all into chattel and take the Citadels from us. However, if I wanted my population to be okay with me dropping the Scarlet Mist on them if things got hairy, then they had to know what we were facing. “How many regions, commanders, and population do your people have under their control?”

With the limited freedom that he had, he answered me, and a smile formed on his face.

Nice.

He fell for it.

“We are four hundred million strong across a vast swathe of the world! This force is nothing. You have achieved nothing. Blood Commander Atlan can call upon eighteen legions to his cause, and eighteen others hold him in high esteem. He will rise to power with the conquest of this realm, take the throne, and put our true foes to the sword!”

Every single word was meant to intimidate us, and some people in the room were, but it’s easy to summon courage while you’re pissed off and the other guy literally can’t move.

A little glance around the room informed me that more people were pissed than afraid.

Still, it was also good to have something bolster morale.

“Do your people have the ability to defend against the weapon that killed your leader when it is released in all your cities at once?”

I already knew the answer, but it was nice to see the Demon try desperately to not say a word.

“No.”

There you go, guys.

You know what I’m afraid of, but you also all know that we’ve got a way to kill them all.
Now, let’s all work hard to make sure we don’t use it and turn this world into a barren hellhole that’ll take generations to fix up.

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 12).

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 12).

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Word count: 2500

…

I had idly considered the possibility that with Chloe our days would be easier.

I was proven wrong the very next day.

Wyverns were faraway cousins of dragons. As far away as an ape was to a human, according to some scholars, and some even said that they were even more different. Dragons were quadrupedal creatures with wings on their shoulders that could grow to immense sizes. Beasts and monsters worshipped them as gods, though dragons cared little for them. Some dragons were known to shapeshift and change form, siring or bearing children with mortals, who would in turn become dragons themselves as they aged.

If those children had children before they became dragons, dragon’s blood would flow through their descendants. Dragons, many theorized, were more amalgams of wild, primal magic with sentience than creatures of flesh and blood. Some even postulated that dragons were the source of magic in all species. Primordial gods unshaped by faith, belief, or mortal ideas. Forces of nature given flesh and shape that intermingled with creatures of flesh and gave magic to mortals and monsters alike.

Some were beasts, some were without thought and more like living calamities, and others still were part of civilization and lived with mortals without being noticed.

Only a child would confuse a wyvern, a mere monster, with dragons.

Yet looking at the task of killing over two dozen of them in a day, I felt as though they may well be.

“You’re all strong enough to do it. Three against one. Fifteen to twenty minutes for each kill. Plenty of time, actually.” Lord Trelawney took us to another armory. He deemed the weapons we had initial access to no longer suitable. Past two iron doors, we followed him into another armory, and all three of us stopped at the threshold. “Yeah, I spent a bit of time hunting them. Good materials and a lot of power per kill. You three will be grinding them down and training at the same time.”

It was an armory filled with weapons made from killed, powerful monsters. The eye of an ogre was aglow on a staff, and frost clung to its surroundings. A club made from a femur the length of a horse hung on the wall and somehow exuded a sense of bloodlust. There were weapons forged of some sort of glittering crystals. They had the shape of swords and axes, but they were made of thousands of small slivers that were all somehow floating close to one another.

Four walls were stacked with weapons that would beggar belief, and the room itself was entirely filled with shelves filled with more.

I felt as though I walked into some ancient treasure room instead of an armory.

But any excitement that had died as he handed each one of us single-handed warhammers.

“These are the best for killing Wyverns.” Lord Trelawney explained whilst holding up the well-balanced, weighted weapon. It had a hammer as one face, a claw on the other, and a spike at the end. A part of me screamed that it was a weapon unfit for nobility. The part of me that endured so much conflict the last few days wondered if it was strong enough to survive more than one bout of combat while considering the utility of a weapon that can cut, pierce, and smash depending on how it was held. “It’s been enhanced with a few enchantments. Mostly to keep it strong and in one piece, but that’s not the main draw. Pour some power into it.”

Alice stepped forward and did as he asked while holding the one-handed hammer at arm’s length.

In an instant it fell out of her hand and fell onto the floor of the armory.

Instead of bouncing off, the hammer smashed into the rack, cracked it, and embedded into it.

Lord Trelawney laughed while Alice’s hand shot back in surprise.

“It only lasts for two seconds. Activate the enchantment as it's falling. It’ll hit like a truck.” He motioned for Alice to pick the hammer back, and she did with slight hesitation. When she picked it up, she froze, and she considered the weapon that just embedded itself into stone with a hint of wariness. “If you’re good, you can throw it really, really hard and have it ruin something’s day. A downward stab with the point will go through wyvern bone easily. The hook will pierce and give you a hold on the wyvern after the weight comes off.”

Chloe considered the weapon for a moment before simply nodding and taking the sheath for the weapon and placing it at her belt.

I did the same along with Alice a moment later.

My mind was already abuzz with possibilities for the weapon.

Then, he moved on to a wardrobe at the end of the armory.

“The three of you aren’t resistant enough to magic to fight against wyverns, so you’ll need these.” The wardrobe opened, and I almost took a step back. There were multiple shelves inside and prongs on the sides of the door. Artifacts hung on every surface. Ranging from golden bracelets with rubies the size of my thumb to necklaces with plates of gold that had gems the size of eyes inlaid into them. I almost wondered why he had need for funds until he sorted and found three bracelets and threw one each to us. They weren’t treasures. They were equipment. “They’re a bit gaudy, but you won’t roast to death even if you’re caught up in the breath attack’s center. You’ll be very, very hurt, but I’ll be able to put you back together.”

Each one was a treasure of a household. A wonderful artifact that would elevate a knight to folklore with ease.

He had them stored away in an unassuming wardrobe in the corner of a room filled with magical weapons.

I almost didn’t want to acknowledge the fact.

Not because I could not believe it, but because I found it too easy to accept.

“Now you have the damage and survivability. It’s time for mobility. Here’s what I used before I learned to fly.” Lord Trelawney moved to an unassuming box in the corner of the room. When he opened it, I thought that I looked upon lengths of iron chain until I looked closer. On one end there was a robust bracer that would go over the entire arm. At the other end of the chain is a three-pronged hook. “A simple tool. You control the chain and the hook with magic, and you use it to pull yourself somewhere or pull something towards you. When you flood the bracer with magic, you’ll slow yourself down. The faster you’re going, the more power it takes.”

He took the ‘simple’ item in his hand, and the chains moved silently to his beck and call. It coiled around his armor’s arm like a snake, then he aimed his hand towards one end of the room, and it shot out, and the hooks embedded themselves in the wall. It was as tough as the hammer we now held, it seemed, and that fact lessened the worry gathering about my brow.

Then, as he passed the new equipment to us, that worry returned.

Because our respite was over.

“Now, are you all ready to start slaying some wyverns?”

The answer was most definitely no, but I knew that I had no choice.

I wanted to keep my family and friends safe from the turmoil that lay ahead.

This strength was something that I desperately needed.

…

I did my best to not scream as a roaring, winged lizard the size of a house chased me through the forest.

Trees broke in its mere passing.

The ground quaked with its every step.

Its roar knocked off snow and pine needles from the trees and killed lesser creatures in its presence.

Screaming would only make the beast more eager to end my life!

I ran and ran, moving through the forest and searching for any impediment or obstacle that might be in my path. My hammer was light in my hand, as were the chains and the bracelet that granted me resistance to fire, but all I could think of was that I could discard them and run faster.

Why was it that I was always the one that had to lure the monsters!?

I ran, my heart thumping so hard that it felt like it was leaping up into my throat, while the taste of iron permeated my mouth. The chill of the northern continent filled my lungs with every breath, but still my throat ran hot along with the rest of my body.

Some part of me yearned to stop and catch my breath for just a moment.

I knew that part of me was without sense and needed to be dealt with.

A single pause or moment without movement was most assuredly death!

Then, there was a glimpse of hope.

“Now, Chloe!” Alice’s voice resounded through the fog of my consciousness. All that I was focused on was running and avoiding obstacles. Her voice cut through that fog, and I became aware. My hand surged up and towards the trunk of a towering tree. The chain shot out instantly, embedded itself into the trunk, and I willed it to pull me up. There was a slight pull to my magic, but I was whisked away in an instant towards the tree.

The wyvern was a smart beast who already saw me use it once.

Therefore, it was ready, and it launched itself at me, faster than even the chain could drag me away.

But that was just what we intended.

Chloe and Alice appeared just as it took flight and aimed for where its extended wings met the rest of its torso. Their twin blows struck at the creatures ‘shoulders’ and ripped through the limbs. The wyvern lost its ability to fly whilst in the air and floundered. While surprisingly quick on the ground and in the air with all its limbs, it was now falling, unable to move, and so I could strike it down.

I willed the chain to unlatch from the tree and instead had it surge towards the wyvern. It wrapped around its neck and pulled me towards the creature. The chain was tight enough that the gout of flame it aimed at me was nothing more than a wave of intense heat thanks to my artifact. I landed on its head, brought my hammer up, and as the hammer descended, I poured magic into it.

I felt as though I hit the side of a mountain, but the weight of the hammer carried the blow. The hammerhead concentrated all the force into a flat surface a quarter the size of my palm. Scales and bone broke, and my hammer struck vital brain matter, turning it into nothing more than mush inside of a skull.

The creature crashed onto the ground, rendered dead and limp in an instant, and I fell off it onto the snow.

“My lady!?”

“I’m fine! Just tired.” I was smoking and melting some of the snow. The flames hadn’t harmed me. It hadn’t even singed my clothes. My bloodline’s inherent propensity towards flame atop the artifact that protected against the same granted me immense amounts of protection. Both Chloe and Alice would’ve been harmed greatly if they were caught in the same attack. “And very warm.”

“Close to boiling hot, actually.” Lord Trelawney descended from the sky and landed in front of the wyvern. His armored hand shot forward and broke through the chest of the dead creature. The creature’s core was the size of my head and was a vibrant, deep red. “You’ve got enough toughness now, so I think this should go to someone who can deal damage.”

He looked over at me and gestured towards Chloe and Alice.

For a moment, I considered giving it to Alice, until she shook her head.

“Chloe, it’s yours. We need you.” Lord Trelawney tossed the core her way, and for a moment she was apprehensive, but she soon closed her eyes and took in its power and strength. Unlike all the songs and tales of wyvern slayers taking in the power of their foe with grace and humility, Chloe looked like she was going to be sick as she took in its strength and power. She was still unused to consuming the strength of monsters. “With that, do you think you’ll be able to empower your blade?”

Chloe took a moment and drew her sword.

With speed and precision born of years of practice, as well as innate talent, she swung her blade in an instant.

The throat of the wyvern opened in the passing of her blade.

“Yes, my lady. I have enough strength to use my blade now. Lord Trelawney, I return this artifact to you.”

“Nah, keep it for the day. A backup weapon with a lot of oomph is always good to have.” Lord Trelawney replied with a shake of his head. I almost sighed in relief. Chloe had attempted to do the right thing in accordance with tradition and custom. She no longer had an overt need for the hammer; therefore, she offered it back. Honor and duty demanded she do so, but I hardly cared for it at the moment. I wanted to survive this day. “Why don’t you learn how to throw it? It’ll be useful.”

“I shall do so. You have my thanks, Lord Trelawney.” Chloe gave a stiff bow towards him before coming my way. From her belt, she took a canteen. My canteen. I had divested myself of anything besides my armor and weapons before the pursuit. “You asked for this back after the bout, my lady.”

“I did. Thank you.” I didn’t know how she was able to do it. She was struggling and enduring just as much as me and Alice, but she was standing with pride and strength. She had less sleep than us and was working harder as she just joined, but she stood with me and Alice on near-equal grounds already. Was this the difference between those who were raised to fight from birth and those who were raised to rule? “I’ll be counting on your blade for the coming days, Chloe.”

“And I shall not fail you again, my lady.”

All that I knew was that I was grateful that I forgave her and had her beside me now.

As a Househusband, Fiscal Responsibility is Imperative (2.1)

As a Househusband, Fiscal Responsibility is Imperative (2.1)

…

Commissioned by Ichypa

…

Time is like a gentle current.

Until you try to resist it because you have something important to do, then you realize that it’s a riptide that has you strapped down for the ride.

Right now, I was really feeling that fact.

Engagements typically lasted two to three years.

While I managed to overcome the initial phase and get the Namgoong to agree to the engagement, finalizing it was another matter entirely.

That took a whole year.

In that time, I did a lot of things after leaving the Demonic Sect. I hunted for a dowry to give to the Namgoong. After that I received some responsibilities, such as handling a small amount of the treasury, and I did well enough to invigorate it. When that was successful, they called my father for a meeting, I hunted a big monster to present to him, and the ball officially got rolling after that event.

Once I returned, Seol started speaking to me about actual couple stuff, like how many kids we’ll be having.

That was shortly after I got the go-ahead from the elders for my trade route between the Namgoong and the Demonic Sect.

Meaning that I was now ‘in.’

Meaning that I had two years to further prove myself worthy of my position.

Meaning that all I’ve done so far was just enough to overcome the lingering enmity between our houses.

On one hand, I could sigh in relief knowing that I brought up a massive deficit to zero.

On the other hand, now I had to turn that zero into a surplus for the Namgoong.

A year of hard, difficult work rewarded by two years to do more.

I had ideas.

Hell, the Namgoong were receptive to my ideas and were willing to fund it. That was honestly more than I could have asked for as the son of their enemy, but they were honorable traditionalists to a fault, so they gave me a fair shake.

The problem was time.

Securing some roads, building new ones, and protecting them was easy enough. All I did was increase accessibility and make sure merchants used the roads, and it paid off.

Everything else that I had in mind that was safe would take more time, skilled craftsmen, and access to resources that we currently didn’t have.

Unless, of course, I went out there and risked my neck to get it myself.

With my time limit, though?

Yeah.

There was no choice.

I had to go out there, cajole a skilled blacksmith away from their current posting, and acquire an iron mine.

Steel was a rarity in this world, but I knew how to change that fact, and the Namgoong would have no choice but to accept me once I did.

But I’ll need to risk a lot to make it happen, because I’ll have to ask my fiancé for help.

I could only hope that she wouldn’t think of this as a play for power on my behalf.

…

Interlude: Seol, the 7th Sword Saint of the Namgoong Clan

…

Rui asked me to aid him in hiring a skilled blacksmith for the sake of the Namgoong. His goal was to crack the riddle of meteoric iron for the sake of our clan and the Demonic Sect.

Outwardly, I did as tradition demanded and asked him for time to consider the matter. Whereupon I would gather the elders and speak to them regarding the formation of an expedition, as well as funding the project.

Inwardly, I was ecstatic.

Meteoric iron!

The terrible conflicts of my parents’s generation had seen all traces of it all but disappear from our lands. Those who wielded our ancestral blades were targeted and slain at grievous cost, and they broke their blades rather than allow them to fall into the hands of our foes. When my father went forth, his blade was broken in combat, and it was because he was forced to use iron as he left the Namgoong’s ancestral blade to me.

Even then, it was not pure meteoric iron but an amalgam of it and other metals.

My father perished trying to keep an amalgam sword in our possession.

Rui wished to make it so that we could have everyone be armed with it.

And, of course, I saw beneath his wish and couldn’t help but blush and almost skip as I walked to Grandmother.

He was truly doing as he said he would!

He will do everything in his power to provide for as many children as I wish!

My stomach fluttered, and I felt my cheeks redden as I recalled that singular conversation that kept rearing up in my mind.

I didn’t notice that I reached my grandmother until she struck.

The stinging of her strike was so severe that I had to touch my forehead to ensure that it remained whole and hale.

“Acting like a maiden in love when your thoughts are filled with such lust that courtesans would blush! It is good that I’m teaching you to hide your emotions and thoughts! You would give half the council heart attacks!” Grandmother admonished me and gestured for me to sit. She was well-dressed in red today. Simple clothes, but new and well made. I gave her a nod to acknowledge it, and she gave a small scoff. “Now, what has you so giddy? Perhaps it can be of some use in the future when you need to defeat an illusionist.”

“Grandmother, Rui has asked for my aid in providing us with weapons as strong as meteoric iron.”

Grandmother went still for a moment at my words but gathered herself.

“It seems that we have pleased the Heavenly Demon greatly, then. This is the true peace offering between the Demonic Sect and the Namgoong Clan. A princely gift indeed.” Grandmother saw through the matter in its entirety in a singular movement. I could only wish that I could have the same wisdom as her at her age. All I saw was Rui’s trust in me and his work towards fulfilling his oath. “We shall rise to our former strength within the decade, and once your children are grown, we will rise beyond it. The Heavenly Demon offers us prosperity and peace so long as we accept his rule. His insidiousness and cunning are without question.”

I bowed my head at Grandmother’s words while I poured us both tea.

I waited for her judgment with as much control as I could muster.

“Our coffers are nearing full. Money does little good gathering dust. An expedition will be assembled to find the skilled smiths, and I will arrange for some smaller sects to lend us their warriors while you and Rui search.” Grandmother decided, before pausing and looking my way. “He gave you more knowledge than just finding blacksmiths, correct?”

I nodded at her question.

“Three iron mines and two coal mines are already identified. Ones within the reach of our new roads. He has also already spoken with a bellmaker to create a large vessel that will copy a meteor’s descent.” Grandmother raised a brow at my words, and I was happy to share with her the knowledge Rui gave me. I must have allowed my emotions to show on my face, as a moment later, I explained with a stinging welt on my forehead. The strike’s afterimage was something I barely caught. “It will be molten iron heated to an immense degree with pumps billowing air into molten iron to cleanse it of impurity.”

Grandmother's gaze was narrow, and her eyebrows were furrowed. Concern and disbelief were clear on her face.

But Rui already provided an answer.

From my pocket, I took out a simple paring knife fit only for cutting ingredients in a kitchen.

It was a bright gray, almost like silver, and when I filled it with Qi and struck its side… a clear and wonderful sound rang through it.

Grandmother’s breath caught, while I felt nothing but immense joy. The promise was enough, but Rui went as far as to present infallible evidence through this small knife.

“The blacksmiths must be found so that they can shape the metal. Creating the metal and what is needed for it are all here already.” Even if this was provided by the Heavenly Demon as a gift of peace, Rui showed me his strength and talent once more. Everything was in place. All the Namgoong needed to do was to find talented workers and provide funds. Even if the idea was not his, everything that surrounded it was. “The secret and method are already ours, grandmother. The means are all that remains.”

Grandmother was silent for a while before suddenly shaking her head.

“It is a gift that we cannot refuse, but also one that ties our families inexorably. The Heavenly Demon is truly peerless. All these years we believed him to only be indulging himself in women and riches, but he has been crafting means to bind the world to his will.” Grandmother shook her head. A sigh left her lips. I froze as I realized that was the most I’d ever seen her react. For a moment, instead of the Namgoong matriarch who guided the clan after its greatest defeat, I looked upon an elderly woman in red robes whose small shoulders somehow carried the whole of the Namgoong for decades. “I fear that the war I prepared you for will never come, Seol. He has spent the last two decades growing his strength rather than languishing in indolence. It will be up to your children or their children to see the Namgoong free.”

Free of the Demonic Sect.

I knew that Grandmother always intended that to be the case from the moment she agreed to the marriage. Just as I had wished to bring the Heavenly Demon low for all that he has done, she wished for the same. She lost her spouse, her children, and many of her close friends in the conflict against him. Since then, she has devoted herself to keeping the Namgoong strong and allowing me to reach the height of my potential, at the cost of luxuries and even treasures we once held in our vaults.

Her life had been dedicated to seeing the Heavenly Demon dead, but she knew the truth now.

The Heavenly Demon, unlike all his predecessors, did not win and become weak without war.

Instead, he sought out more power and now moved to consolidate the whole realm after his victory.

Not just through force, but through knowledge, through his children, and through the threat of force.

Grandmother was correct as always.

I was raised to be a blade against the Heavenly Demon and to strike him down after he suffered years of neglecting his arts. While I was confident that I could match and defeat him within a decade, before I even reached thirty, I sacrificed much for that chance. My talent with the sword and my skill with it hid my lack of experience in the politics of the clan, let alone the intricacies of our relations with others.

He was as strong as I imagined when I met him, but that was only in martial arts.

I could not even fathom his strength when it came to using his fame and infamy to change the world around him.

“We will have this new form of metal for the Namgoong. I will be entrusting the future of the clan to you, Seol. If the Heavenly Demon wishes to win the peace, then we shall let him, but the Demonic Sect has a long history of having foolish, depraved, and cruel successors.” Grandmother’s words were clear and rang in my head. I knew what she meant to imply. Rui was not in the line of succession, but the Demonic Sect has more than once pitted the children of their head against one another. To the point that children were targeted. Though I did not have a child yet, I felt a white-hot, startling rage form in my stomach at the thought of my child being involved in such a thing. “I hope, my dear granddaughter, that you will never experience the pain of losing your child. To that end, I ask you to keep training, keep gaining strength, and be ready to see what comes with it once time takes the Heavenly Demon.”

“I will, grandmother. I swear on my name.” I spoke, and Grandmother gave me a sad smile. How many times has she heard such an oath only to see it broken? Her husband perished after telling her that he would return. The same for my parents when they went forth to aid the Alliance with our warriors. So many souls were lost of her generation and the one that came after. We were all that remained. Though she must have wanted vengeance for her own sake, she accepted the peace that the Heavenly Demon offered and only wished for me to be aware of what would come next. “Rest assured that your great-grandchildren will flourish, and they will not be involved in the succession after the end of the Heavenly Demon.”

Grandmother nodded at my words with the same sad smile, but she soon shook her head, and the mask of the matriarch of the Namgoong clan reappeared upon her face.

Stern, unyielding, and unbroken after numerous calamities.

The figurehead that led us through calamity and into a new, prosperous future.

No matter how much she wished to let loose with all that we had to bring low the Heavenly Demon.

“The men and the coin will be assembled within a week’s time. Tell Rui that you and he will be riding in the Namgoong clan’s official wagon.” Grandmother had ridden the large wagon with its sealing arrays and hardy construction when we went to meet with the Heavenly Demon. It was a strong, powerful vehicle pulled by our best horses, along with spares for them, and guarded by the finest of our warriors. “Show the world that you go with my blessing as the next head and that Rui is to be acknowledged as your spouse. I will quash any foolish rumors pertaining to him that remain while you are gone.”

I blinked at her words.

“Rumors?” I asked… And for a moment, Grandmother reappeared with a slight look of alarm on her face. Then, I realized that even as I tried to smile, my face felt as though it were steel. “What rumors are there about Rui?”

He has long led a life of abuse and suffering but has risen above it.

I loved that part of him.

However, the thought of him suffering more and having to rise above it again, especially in my own lands, filled me with a searing desire to draw my blade.

“Honored grandmother, please tell me of the rumors that currently persist regarding Rui and myself.”

I will not tolerate any foolishness from my sect towards him.

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 8

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 8

…

Commissioned by Arksoul

…

Man, it feels really good to see a plan come together.

The IHA and the Sentinels were working together and really showcasing how strong both sides were.

The Sentinels were more than capable of dealing with the regular mobs, but they needed help to deal with the converted alien weapons and tanks. The IHA had Thunderer come in to take out the projectiles and provide artillery, which even let me unleash the Big Arm.

It was too early in the series to go throwing around giant monsters, even with flying airships in play, but a teaser should be good.

The Big Arm was just a shadow construct that was a giant, clawed hand that dragged on all the alien weapons. Like a mobile artillery tower and an armored hand, it was able to sweep the town, cause havoc, and fire weapons all at the same time.

It was too much for the Sentinels as they were, but by working together with the IHA, they were able to confront it head-on.

Oh, and we were also seeing just how strong the IHA was when they brought in their big guns.

The massive, ten-story armored arm was absolutely getting slammed by lightning bolts, while the Sentinels were cutting at its surface with beams and weapons. They were like streaks of light twisting and turning across the surface of the armored limb. Lightning and multi-colored beams of light slammed into the arm, breaking apart the alien weapons and unveiling the shadow beneath.

I made the shadow a bit weaker on purpose.

It wouldn’t do to make the armor weaker than the flesh beneath.

It also lessened the number of Imps that I had to use to make it. A full-powered limb for a titan would take, like, twenty Imps. This one barely needed ten. At fifty percent durability and damage resistance, the IHA was able to contribute to its destruction, especially with its flying ship firing from the distance.

The airship was cool.

I had eyes on it in a few clouds, and it was obviously patched up in order to be a good firing platform for the occasion. It sported a few holes through the hull, was smoking in several places, and one of the engines keeping it aloft was offline. Still, it was firing some pretty big guns with incredible accuracy while being incredibly far from the actual battle itself.

I idly considered taking it down to escalate the fight, but that just sounded like a lot of trouble.

A ship going down with all its crew was different from wounding one of the IHA’s heroes.

“I wondered where you were. It seems that you’re doing something notable for once.” Ebb chimed in and ascended from my shadow. The baleful eye between two giant bat-like wings glared, and I became aware that it was seeing through all my current minions on the field. “That singular limb is doing impressive amounts of damage for the number of Imps you’ve used to create it.”

“Thanks. I mean, we’ve got a whole world to scavenge materials from. Might as well make use of it all, right?” I stated, and Ebb grunted. The cannons on the underside of the airship crackled with energy before firing off rounds of material that superheated and gained a plasma shell as they flew through the atmosphere. I read up on those. Hypervelocity guns that fired off materials that were meant to ignite and feed the plasma shell created by going super-fast while in the atmosphere. They only went in a straight line, but they hit with both kinetic force and immense amounts of heat. “Take a look at that. Mass-produced weapons are actually doing damage to the titan.”

“A titan’s limb at half its proper strength.” Ebb argued, but I could tell its attention was on the weapon. “No force encountered by the Legion has ever faced this kind of weapon before.”

“Yeah, probably because you guys hit the whole world super-hard at the start and wreck everything before normal people can get countermeasures up. Unfortunately, in this world, everyone’s been dealing with superhuman antics for a long time.” Was it four or five generations? I remember in my history class that the first ones popped up around the 1st World War, and apparently they were just in secret for the most part throughout history? A booming population, more eyes, and more ears everywhere, and all those things apparently just unveiled them all to the world, then the crazy hijinks started. I heard in a few documentaries that gods were likely to be just superhumans. “They’ve had to get creative and mass those sorts of weapons and more up. Not to mention the nukes.”

“As you remind me all the time.” Ebb groused and shook. Nuclear weapons were a pretty big deal. I could count on one hand and have two fingers left over for people who could overcome thermonuclear weapons. Even then, there were the ones that were enhanced with everything from super science to magic the military used to definitively stop interdimensional incursions. I think the last one they used to smash the planet on the other side so hard that we were willing to take in refugees. The monopoly over violence was definitively in the hands of the government. “Within two centuries, it will not matter. Especially with the swarm that you envision.”

As much as Ebb and I butted heads, the fact remained that we were both working under the singular purpose of ending this world.

“It’ll just take time. We’ll need a trillion.” I affirmed while watching the fight. The blasts from the ship struck the limb dead on. The immense, spindly arm was actually pushed back, and all the armor shattered and melted. Multiple airships were deployed against the invasion, and wherever they went, the aliens had little answer. Superhumans on the ground as a hybrid of infantry and tanks, while supported by artillery in the air that couldn’t be reached. The aliens came expecting fast response troops with APCs and guns, but they got the real hammer instead. “Maybe more. They’ll notice the food eventually if we keep up what we’re doing. We need to set up shipments of grain. Container ship sizes. That’ll take a lot of capital.”

“The conquest of a nation should be considered, then. One with plenty of arable land. Perhaps in places humanity considers lost.” Ebb was referring to swathes of land in South America or Africa where the initial response to invasions was too weak, or the invaders in question were too different to have generic responses to. It was so bad in both places that they had people traveling through time and space to assist in pushing back, and they were barely creeping forward and taking land back. “We will need to know how our forces react to this ‘psionic’ power in the future. Otherwise, when the swarm is unleashed, we’ll find them ineffective against two continents in their entirety.”

I really didn’t want to go to either continent, but Ebb made a good point.

We couldn’t do all this work and put an end to this world’s suffering if we found out we had another hard counter besides the Sentinels.

The swarm will be enough to swamp every airship, destroy every missile silo, and take out the vast majority of people across the world in an instant.

Painless, quick, and unstoppable.

A clean end for this crazy world.

Naturally, I couldn’t cut any corners.

…

Interlude: Chroma Scarlet: Aine Campbell

…

No matter what I did, I couldn’t help but think of that thing that I saw at the alien base.

That figure in robes made of shadow itself was stuck in my head like a wart on the nose.

Just there all the time, no matter how much you wanted to ignore the thing.

We brought the great, armored arm down with the IHA providing the artillery. With the armor shredded, our beams were able to score plenty of hits, and even though we were prepared for the rest of the giant to come out of the ground… the limb faded away and revealed solid ground beneath it.

Hell, that was probably more terrifying.

No need for a head and a torso. Just limbs that can sprout from the ground and start swinging or throwing around buildings?

The Legion of Shadows was smarter now.

They were experimenting.

Taking from other alien forces.

Avoiding overt expressions of force.

That made them all the more terrifying.

It was probably because the Darkness made a ‘Chroma’ of their own like the Light did with us.

“Aine, are you okay?” Tsubaki’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked her way and found her brow bent a bit as she looked at me. “Are you hurt?”

“Nah, I’m as fit as a horse.” I made a show of flexing a bicep but just got silence in return. She really perfected being able to say everything with just a stare. “Alright, I give. I’m worried. Remember the person I showed you?”

“The leader or our equivalent from the Legion?” Tsubaki asked, and I nodded. She looked about. Calm and controlled. Always on the mission. Great lieutenant and a good leader if something happened to me. “If that being were here, would they not have shown while their monster remained?”

She had her hand on her sword, obviously ready to try and cut down the thing that left me frozen in shock after just laying my eyes on it.

Do or die.

Nothing in between.

Guess that’s the mindset you need to have your island nation secure next to all the craziness in Asia. The number of superhuman warlords in Asia fighting over every little thing was just crazy. Hasn’t stopped in nearly an entire century. Japan tried to go in there during the Second World War and got involved before getting kicked out by an alliance that fractured later. That’s why they went for colonial holdings and even Australia.

Her majesty herself fought against them in Singapore, if I last recall, and the Yanks fought them all over the Pacific until the first atom bombs were dropped on them.

It's hard to believe that Japan is one of the most esteemed allies of both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Though I suppose becoming the world’s high-tech industrial center helped a lot.

I shook my head.

Da and his lectures always popped up in my mind at the strangest times.

The lecture in question did let me nip a problem in the bud, though.

“Don’t go charging at that thing when you see it. I know you’re brave. Braver than me, but that thing is something all five of us need to take on to stand a chance.” I put my foot down, and Tsubaki took a moment, but she nodded and relaxed. Instead, I gestured at the latest monster conjured up from the depths. “I was thinking that we’re fighting something new. We’ve prepared for giant monsters and got ready to blast them apart. Next thing we know, we’re fighting all over North America in small towns, fighting the legion while they rob banks.”

Most of the initial weeks since we got our power were spent training in our crystal palace between dimensions. Learning how to harness light and shoot it at giant monsters was easy. The Light made sure to prepare for our deployment against the Shadow Legion. We were supposed to watch out for a massive swarm of giant monsters that dwarfed skyscrapers or a legion of the smaller ones swarming across the land, but instead we got… probing attacks all over the strongest nation on the planet.

Everything about the situation stank.

“They’re getting our measure, taking tech from factions that the rest of the world doesn’t care about, and they’re innovating. We’re not facing the massive tide of destruction that we saw in the memory crystals. This is clever, cunning, and intelligent.” Da always told me to look at a situation as far and as deeply as I could. Always discover the ‘why’ by placing yourself in their shoes, he’d say. “Remember what we were saying when we first transformed and we got told what was going to happen?”

Tsubaki’s answer was sharp and decisive.

“Such an invasion would be met with overwhelming force from the entire world. It would be stopped.” Tsubaki nodded. She believed in that answer. So did I. She realized what I was implying, and her eyes narrowed. “I see. The Legion has taken someone from our world as its willing host and is using them.”

“Not just someone normal. Someone who’s willing and who has the skills to back it up.” We were all chosen for our roles by the Light. Heiresses with access to the defense industry, a literal princess, and finally the daughter of a retired general who filled his daughter’s head with history and battle overviews instead of ponies and rainbows. “We have someone who’s willing to destroy the entire world and who has the backing to get it done. It probably picked some missing supervillain or something!”

Tsubaki’s eyes narrowed at my words, and her teeth gritted.

“I see. Yes, that is indeed a more terrifying foe than I expected.” Tsubaki admitted it with her grip on her sword’s handle tight. She looked back at where the creature we destroyed remained. It went from a combined arms assault using alien small arms and vehicles to a giant monster covered in armor and weapons. The former was for fighting against armed, regular people supported by some street-level supers. The latter was for the international strike force and us. “We are being tested and searched for weaknesses. Not once have we made a single feint or undersold our strength.”

Tsubaki’s words made my throat clench up a bit, and this time it felt like two hands wrapping around my neck and starting to squeeze.

“We need to work with the IHA and get them and everyone else on our side. After this, the Legion will probably lay low and go to ground. Or, they’ll start doing small-time things again.” They didn’t even kill police officers or staff in the factories that they hit. They disrupted the place and corrupted it, and we fixed it up with a bit of effort after we left. In everyone’s eyes, what they do is basically just irritating, when the fact was that they were a world-ending threat testing our defenses. “We can’t just let this continue.”

Tsubaki was quiet for a while at my words before a sigh left her lips.

“I will arrange an appointment with my father and see if I can have him listen.”

I very nearly cracked my neck as I spun to look her way.

“I said we need help! Not a brigade of cyborg mercenaries with a battleship dropping in from the sky!”

“Of the four of us, my family would provide the least. You must acknowledge that.”

I could only groan at Tsubaki’s words.

She was right.

She was only the heiress to one of the world’s largest military-industrial complexes.

V11: Chapter 6

V11: Chapter 6

…

Interlude: Rita

…

The container for the prototype weapon in my hand was lighter than my bow, yet somehow I felt as though it was slipping from my grasp whenever I looked away from it.

One errant knock against a wall.

A single sudden drop.

One broken vial.

That was all it took.

One vial broken could mean my death, despite all my strength, power, and ability. It did not matter that I was a champion, that I had protective charms layered over me, and that even without invigorating my body with magic, my bare skin and flesh could turn aside steel. It was the most cunning and ferocious poison ever conceived.

The King of Wisdom guided the alchemists himself.

It is a poison that is always the perfect dosage for anyone or anything that lives.

It is a poison that can spread to others like a plague.

It was a poison that consumed flesh, replicated from that flesh, and consumed more and more until nothing was left but itself.

And, according to our king, it was incomplete.

Ilych wanted to make it herself and fight in it.

She ceased walking and turned to me.

“We’re here, Rita.” I stirred to consciousness. My feet had followed her and Serena to the staging area. The main camp was now two days away on foot for a normal mortal. This was our foremost fortress in this ‘invasion point.’ Much of the mountain range was deemed impassable until the Conqueror’s lands, though we had outposts supplied by air keeping watch over those areas still. “The crews are ready to fire.”

“Eminent?” I questioned, and Ilych pointed down onto the valley before. I focused, and I saw her. She met my gaze and smiled. A black figure surrounded by mounds and mounds of snow. Her mindless Undead creations had buried themselves into the snow all around her. Refocusing on our staging area, I hoped that the fear I felt did not show on my face. “The artillery officer?”

“There.” Sirena pointed, and I followed her hand. She was a strange figure in the snow. Like a lustrous bronze figure with silver for hair and amethyst for eyes covered in links of gold and gems, she stood amidst snow, frost, and biting wind completely unperturbed. “Are the guns ready, commander?”

The soldiers in this expanse were covered in furs from head to toe. Their faces were obscured by wool masks, and they saw the world through goggles with wide lenses. For years now, they’ve kept a quiet vigil. Some called this positioning a punishment. Continuous labor to build into the mountainside, manning, maintaining, and testing weapons in the frost, and with no glory to be had.

Now, though, they were set to drown in glory.

“Aye, the guns are nice and heated. They’re ready to rain fire upon those… monsters.” The man’s voice was gruff, and he tapped his goggles. A slight amount of magic graced it. A farsight enchantment. Very useful for scouting and observing the land. Rare for our people, too. There were stringent rules regarding reliance on magic to empower our tools; they were best used to heal others or provide an edge against foes, but these lands warranted the use of magic for something that a tool could achieve. Binoculars could frost over and would be difficult to use with goggles, after all. “The general said that you’ll call in the strikes. Give the word, and we’ll be ready to let loose.”

“Very good. The explosives are ready, then?” Fifteen guns were assembled across the mountain. Many were hidden beneath snow tarps and could be pulled back into caves. They were specialized and purpose-built for these lands. The mass-produced guns being produced for the army cost a quarter for each mountain cannon. Crafted by artisans, mages, and alchemists rather than in factories by workers, they were made to defend this pass, to retreat and fire from multiple places, and to buy time for the fortress city to be built. It would be best if they did not need to be fired and revealed today. “We will begin shortly, if they are.”

The officer gave an affirmative, and I neared one of the guns. The crew stared at me for a moment before Ilych stepped in to assuage them.

My focus was on the briefcase that I gingerly opened.

The ampules within were small and delicate. Carrying only a thimbleful of dull red liquid. They fit perfectly into the heads of the arrows that were provided to me. I took note of the arrowhead. It was made from a Citadel foundry, obviously too perfect to be created by mortal hands. Razor-sharp edges, but composed of glass, the arrow tips also unscrewed from the rest of the arrow. Only when the ampoule was added did the arrow become perfectly balanced and become fit to fly.

I finished loading the poison onto the arrows before looking at the marching army in the distance.

The reports and sketches created by Iterants on the expedition could do no justice to the Demons.

Red-skinned and with horns sprouting from their foreheads, each one was swathed with deep red flames. Floating wagons and chariots carried their officers and supplies through the frozen mountain valley. To each magical carrier, there were limbless and unclothed people interred in cages. Blood flowed from their wounds and into the vehicle. When one perished due to exposure or because they were expended, the body was seized and tossed to the back of a wagon, from which they took a living sacrifice and interred them with the same casualness as one would replace an arrow in the quiver.

Those used bodies were sometimes pried out by some of the marching soldiers. They cut it apart and divided it with weapons that easily cut through muscle and bone. They offered up the flesh to cast heating spells on themselves. However, I noticed that they put the heads and hearts aside, placing them into jars and giving them to figures in feathered robes with staffs. When I took a closer look at them, I saw glimpses of shriveled heads in the folds of their cloak… brimming with unused power.

This was happening across a massive force.

Blood.

Flesh.

Souls.

The demons will truly take everything from other mortals.

With that in mind, I gave the order after finding the officers and mages of their land.

“Bring the mountainside upon them.” I told the officer to wait for my word, then I turned to Ilych and Sirena. “Be ready to intercept anything coming our way.”

The fortress came alive by my order, words were shared, and finally there it was.

The sound of distant thunder.

The sound of explosives dug into the mountainsides to create two avalanches at once.

I watched in silence as the King of Wisdom’s first attack took its toll. The sound of explosives echoed, but the Demons did not know what to make of it. They did know, however, what to make of the rumbling and creaking of mountains thereafter. The sides of both mountains that bordered the valley were swift to crumble and come apart. Snow crashed into snow, which in turn crashed into more. A roiling cloud of white clouds formed at the first stage, but I realized that I underestimated our majesty’s attack.

The sides of the mountains moved at speeds I never imagined possible. The low rumble turned into a roar that resounded through the whole valley. The ground shook beneath our feet. A simple landslide, but composed of snow, it was not. It was like the whole mountain was falling onto the marching army of demons. The numbers and estimates of the military expedition were in the tens of thousands, and it had snaked through the valley barely affected by the rough terrain and the cold. Such a force in our lands would wreak havoc and do immense amounts of harm, ravaging multiple regions, even before our forces could be mustered and respond.

That immense force could do nothing against the calamity the King of Wisdom unleashed.

Some tried to run.

Mages tried to make barriers of fire.

Others tried to erect barriers with as many hands as they were able to gather, as well as the sacrifice of many slaves.

Nothing could oppose the two earthshaking avalanches unleashed by the King of Wisdom.

The weight of two mountainsides of frost and snow speeding at them faster than any champion could run put the demons to the test.

They failed.

Barriers of fire were overwhelmed in an instant by mass and speed alone. Not even a firestorm turned into a wall could’ve hoped to stop the deluge. Those who tried to run were swiftly overtaken and crushed as well. Those who tried to make shelter saw their refuge succeed for a moment. Rocks and walls made of magic through sacrifice and brutality held against the initial impact for a moment before breaking apart, and then everything was overwhelmed and subsumed.

The two avalanches crashed into one another, crushing the army of demons between them, and after a few minutes the roar of the avalanches ceased alongside the rumbling of the mountain beneath our feet.

Fifteen cannons were ready to fire with deadly shells and pinpoint accuracy while defended by many rifles.

Three champions, one armed with the most terrifying weapon ever created, were ready to act.

A goddess of death was ready to charge in first.

Then, there was an army waiting at the end of the valley.

Yet, in the end, the demons broke beneath the weight of the King of Wisdom’s first strike.

A first strike meticulously prepared for years with the aid of many scholars… I couldn’t help but wonder if it was wasted.

What if we used this after luring more in?

What if this was done after an army was trapped on our side?

Those thoughts and doubts resounded in my mind, but I came to a simple realization.

He intended for this to be a disaster that any survivors would fear; thus, it would not only buy us much-needed time… but also keep our strength concealed.

“Tell Eminent to move in and find survivors and prisoners. Only from those closest to us. Ilych and Sirena, please go there and assist her. I will remain here with arrows at the ready.” I made sure that they saw the arrows I intended to use. The ones meant to deliver poison. I didn’t wish for them to be harmed by it. It felt strange. My weapons were now capable of harming more than one target at a time. “Keep your distance from any strong ones. I will keep watch.”

They both nodded at my instruction, and I cast my gaze towards the valley once occupied by an army. It was gone. Filled in by snow and frost. A wave of snow blown out by the avalanche snaked through the rest of the valley still. It resembled clouds coursing through the mountains, thus enrobing everything in fine powder and obscuring vision… but it was already settling down.

I watched and waited to see if anything survived the two avalanches with arrow and bow at the ready.

Then, through it all, I saw movement.

First there was one figure, then two, and finally dozens upon dozens. They were all in different uniforms. Some were of normal soldiers, others of the mages, but their strength was obvious. Snow melted in their presence. Flames clung to their bodies like a second skin; their uniforms were burnt, but it revealed more. Scales on their bodies, wings on their backs, and mounting power. They cast their gazes around themselves.

Some went to leave and took flight together.

The others congregated at the front end of the avalanche.

“My lady, should we fire?”

“No. The ones who are fleeing will hear.” I took up my bow and readied myself. “Wait until I give the word.”

Even though they were a different people, they had similar habits to us. We all came from the same lineage long ago. As different as we were from them now, they still looked at the leader of their group. They still aimed their questions at one singular individual.

The chain of command in the grouping of eight was obvious.

So, my target was obvious.

I let the arrow loose, it flew, and it struck the one that the rest gathered around.

The poison started its work instantly, while I drew the next arrow.

Flesh was pierced, and the glass arrow and ampule broke apart due to the force of the contact. The strength of the creature’s skin was evident. Though I hadn’t imbued my bow with magic, nor did I strengthen the arrow, my shot had barely gotten through the demon’s skin. Most of the shards that burst apart at contact found no purchase against him. In fact, the poison was released upon his chest and torso, rather than within his body.

But I still watched that demon die.

Starting on his chest, on his red skin, the poison began to feast and multiply. The dark splotch of red on him went from a thimbleful to a handful within moments. As I nocked the next arrow, the demon realized that the attack wasn’t just a blow to his chest, but something else entirely. His hands went to his chest, a grave error, as both appendages were infected instantly. He cried out, and others went to his aid, while the dark-red liquid multiplied by eating his flesh. In the span of four heartbeats, it went from a small splotch on his chest to eating his torso and his hands while going for his neck.

Those who were trying to help him tried to use magic to heal him, but the rebuilding of flesh only gave more food for the poison to consume and use. It grew, it ate, and my target screamed.

The others turned and searched for the source, while some tried to help their leader.

I ceased focusing on him and focused on striking them.

In quick succession, I expended the rest of the arrows, and each one of them started to come apart and become consumed by the poison.

They were resisting it frighteningly well for seconds at a time, but as time passed, there was more of the poison to consume more flesh and multiply.

By the time I loosed my last arrow, the leader of the survivors had the poison crawling up his neck and reaching his mouth. He tried to keep it closed, but I watched as his lips turned into poison, as his screams were stifled by his tongue being consumed, and as the poison slipped into him as it consumed and generated more of itself at the same time.

Were these their strongest soldiers?

Their equivalent to elites?

Or, I dared to hope, were these their champions?

If such was the case, then we had a means of killing their greatest warriors with little risk to ourselves.

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 7

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 7

…

Commissioned by Arksoul

…

If there’s a special showing with a crossover, it’s usually more than an hour long.

The IHA’s failure to showcase their abilities at the initial fight made it clear that they and the Sentinels needed to work together to defeat the new, combined foe. Saturday morning cartoons might not be the end-all-be-all of storytelling, but they can follow decent comic-book story beats when it comes to team-ups.

IHA failed, and Sentinels had to assist.

The Shadow Legion gets away with alien technology.

Next, the IHA and Sentinels work together, and the alien technology the Shadow Legion secured is destroyed.

Since the alien world was of no use to us, I could make a grand showing of the entire thing.

Maybe I could keep a small dimensional cut open for them to find and research the alien world in and find it utterly destroyed?

Get a glimpse of the monsters the Shadow Legion can create?

Hm.

It’d be super great as a teaser to a movie or another special, but that was just asking to be hit by an international team of heroes.

Yeah, we’d get folded by that, even without the Sentinels working with them.

Like the bottom of the top 1000 would be enough to curbstomp us.

So, for the sake of future episodes, I needed to hold back on the cool factor and just deliver a satisfying special.

IHA and Sentinels work together to stop the Shadow Legion from turning the alien weapons against mankind!

Thankfully, there were a couple of coastal villages living at the equator that were hosting pirates that I could show an attack vector through.

Gotta give the Sentinels and the IHA some scenes to talk to one another, make plans, and unite against the common threat, after all.

…

Interlude: Adam

…

Just as the Sentinels predicted, after six days of rest, the Shadow Legion returned.

But unlike what the Sentinels described, the Shadow Legion was now acting differently.

Like the invaders.

“I’m of the mind that taking in the alien minds and their weapons gave them something. A sort of viscousness.” I flew beside the five of them. On my back were sensors and gadgets that allowed the others on the ship to see what I saw. The Sentinels, when in flight, were like dull motes of light traveling through the air. Red, blue, green, yellow, and purple beams of light vaguely humanoid in form. Red was their leader and spoke with a charisma that I would’ve liked to have. “This pattern looks like what I saw on television when the aliens attacked… But the aliens couldn’t take as much fire.”

“No, they could not.” The shadow versions of the aliens engaged small pirate coves that dotted the coasts of the Caribbean. Small pirate groups with small arms, boats, and superhumans were engaged. They were losing handily. Small shadow creatures formed the front line, like hunting hounds, but some were in the shape of the aliens. All the better to use the arms and armor of the invaders. They advanced like a wave across the coasts. The pirates had stopped scouting parties of aliens before. They could do nothing against this unrelenting force. “Anything that the creatures get their hands on, they can tear apart. How do you five survive?”

“We’re plenty tough. I’ve been punched through a building and came out just fine. Azure got hit through an entire candy factory. Lots of heavy machinery.” The red one, given the codename Scarlet, answered for them all. She raised up her hand, and they all stopped in midair. From flying to floating in an instant. Effortless. But more interesting was the reason why. “We’re being watched. Barriers up.”

Two came forward and summoned a sphere of light around us.

Moments later, green bolts of alien plasma crashed and washed ineffectually against the barrier.

Some sort of sensory ability?

“Drat, they’ve got us ranged in.” Scarlet spoke with jargon I expected from a soldier, or at least someone familiar with them. “They’re just out of our attacks. Adam, do you have something?”

I couldn’t see her face, but I knew she was looking my way.

“I’ll call it in. Where?”

“315 from our position.” She oriented herself north whilst flying and then pointed at the direction she stated. It was a general direction, but my gut told me that she could give more if prodded. I just relayed the information. Green, caustic energy continued to strike us. “They’re not shooting and scooting. I think the aliens did that, right?”

“They did. It seems they didn’t gain everything from the aliens… or they might be keeping us pinned down.” I grimaced. This could be a trap. I cast my gaze on the surroundings and strained my eyes and senses. The shouting of pirates, the rattle of small arms, and the scream of alien weapons were overwhelming, but I searched for the sound of their hovering tracks. Then, I found it. More than a dozen. “Down! Now!”

I flew towards the ground and landed within seconds. We were flying just a hundred or so feet above the coastline.

The Sentinels followed, but the trap was already sprung.

Arcing red orbs flew through the sky in parabolic arcs and slammed into the barrier. For a moment the red orbs spun and ground themselves against the barrier before suddenly stopping and glowing.

Then, there was a bright flash.

The barrier held, not even scratched, but our surroundings were turned into blackened glass from the salvo.

Invader artillery was absolutely devastating.

When I had been struck by one, at the epicenter of the blast, I was crushed, shredded, and incinerated at the same time. Each orb converted itself into large, whirling, shredding orbs of heat and gravity that existed for a moment before disappearing.

Those weapons were now in the hands of an endless legion, which most people could not harm.

Thankfully, their counter was already present.

“Get Thunderer over here!” I called out and received confirmation through my earpiece. I looked to the Sentinels. “Keep attracting the artillery’s attention. We can deal with the projectiles in just under a minute!”

“You heard him. Strengthen the barrier.” They moved with practiced ease and coordination. They told us that they gained their powers and came together out of instinct. That was most likely a lie. We suspected that another extradimensional force empowered them to counter the Shadow Legion. We’d be wary of the Sentinels, if not for the sheer threat the Shadow Legion posed. They worked seamlessly, like they had years of training with one another. With just one statement, all five worked in unison, and the walls expanded and gained thickness. Then, another barrage slammed into it… But the color was different this time. “They’re empowering it!”

I observed the next attack, and time slowed as I strained my senses. It felt like I was squeezing my brain into a tiny tube, but everything slowed to a crawl. Moving was impossible; I couldn’t go at breakneck speeds, but I can still perceive things that much faster. That was why I carried the sensors and had a gadget that recorded what I saw into them as data.

The arcing orbs fired by the alien artillery were no longer just scarlet; instead, they were wreathed in shadow.

The moment before the orb came into contact with the barrier, the shadows writhed and shaped themselves, turning into a springlike shape before launching as a lance towards the barrier. Heat and crushing force that could turn a concrete building into rubble in a second or destroy a tank completely could do nothing against the transparent barrier of light.

The lances of darkness sent cracks rippling through the barrier, and they sent shockwaves that blasted air away. The barrier around us slammed into the ground, and the Sentinels redoubled their efforts to empower the transparent dome of light.

I let go of my power so that I could report while more lances of shadow slammed into the barrier while heat and crushing force threatened to reach us.

I knew that I could survive the alien artillery, but the shadow’s attacks gave me pause.

It wasn’t my time.

Not yet.

“Thunderer, the projectiles are—”

“I see them. Let’s see if they’re a problem.”

Thunderer’s words were gruff and plain.

The sky suddenly went dark, the next barrage began to descend, but in an instant they were swatted out of the sky by bolts of lightning.

Then, the sound of thunder resounded after the dozen or so strikes that wiped the shadows from existence.

“They’re not.”

Thunderer descended, clad in long, green robes over his shoulders. At his back was a lightning storm waiting to be unleashed. In his hand was a rod of coiling metals, which was faintly aglow. Beneath the hood was a wizened face and a gray beard. One of the oldest heroes in North America. One of the strongest as well.

“This Shadow Legion reacts poorly to all forms of light-based attacks. Not just those of the Sentinels. That greatly diminishes the threat they pose.” Thunderer extended his staff, and lightning strikes of blinding brightness surged across the battlefield. The town we were observing was like a lightning rod. Numerous, powerful bolts surged across it. I thought that would be enough, until Thunderer spoke. “I stand corrected. Sentinels, the Shadows in the town are far stronger than those on the shelves.”

“They wouldn’t waste troops as projectiles.” Scarlet agreed before ascending a bit into the sky. “Azure, come with me. We’ll hit them hard first, scatter them, and make them give chase. Everyone else, roll in with the firepower.”

Thunderer would normally take control of the battlefield whenever he was present. Wisdom and experience were both his to call upon. Wherever he went, the IHA suffered far less, and there were almost no casualties amongst civilians.

I was surprised as he nodded.

“Keep yourselves safe. I will support as best as I am able.” My surprise must’ve been obvious as he clicked his tongue and gazed my way. “I’ve seen their efforts and read the reports. They know what to do.”

What reports?

What efforts?

I grimaced and left the questions unsaid.

He had higher security clearance than me and worked with more teams than my own.

It was likely that he knew more of the Sentinels through connections he cultivated himself.

Not that there was any reason for me to question it.

“Thunderer, sir, do you want me here or up in the air providing eyes from the sky?”

“Ah, you’ve managed to get a bit more perceptive since we last met. Very good.” His words were demeaning, but the frustration that arose from them was aimed at myself. I had offered him help at the base, asking him where his family was, and treated him like an elderly man outside of costume. I treated one of the greatest heroes of the age like a decrepit old man. “Stay close to the ground. These creatures have already demonstrated perfectly coordinated artillery fire. Let’s not test their ability any further with their remaining weapons.”

I nodded at his words and stayed close to him.

Three of the Sentinels stayed with us.

Scarlet and Azure moved forward, paralleling one another, before surging forward. They became beams of light, one red and one blue, and traveled across the battlefield in an instant. They were inside the town while we were just halfway there at a run. The small fishing town was a war zone recently bombarded by lightning strikes, but that didn’t matter to them.

The shadow version of the aliens tried to respond to them. Each one was a hulking, bipedal creature nearly two meters tall and wielding a weapon that could smash apart a light armored vehicle in a few shots. Before it took the combined force of our supporting infantry to destroy one of the creatures, and they used anti-vehicle tactics and weaponry. The ones infested by the Shadows cared little for pirate RPGs, took hits from superhumans without flinching, and tore through buildings without care.

Garnet and Azure tore through them with ease.

“It’s like a pair of pro linebackers at a little league game.” Thunderer chuckled. Azure and Scarlet cut a clean line through the squad-based groups of the shadow-corrupted aliens. “Let’s get a move on. There won’t be much left if we hesitate, kid.”

Azure generated a blade of light from an outstretched hand and, while moving, cut through anything within her range. Like an extension of her body, it cut through alien alloy armor with ease and dispelled the shadow holding it together. A sudden ambush of a group coming through an entire building only had her suddenly go into a rapid spin, while blades of light emitted from various points in her body. One moment the group was there ready to raise their weapons, and the next the group was gone and she was back to a single blade.

A scalpel one moment and a living blender the next.

Scarlet, meanwhile, was a speeding sledgehammer. She slammed into groups of the aliens while lances of light surged all around her. The creatures withstood the barrage, but they were suppressed by it and unable to raise their weapons. Once she came into contact with the creatures, she raised up her fists, stabilized her position, and proceeded to launch flurries of strikes at the nearest creatures. I watched armor that can resist anti-material rounds shatter into tiny pieces, holes blown into entire creatures, and a stomp at the ground create a crater more than ten meters wide in an instant.

Half the small cove was cleared of enemies by the time Thunderer and I were in range.

But all their strength only forced the creatures to come together.

One of the Sentinels, Emerald, suddenly spoke.

“The Shadows are gathering. We’re in for a fight now.” The moment she said those words… I felt something change in the atmosphere. The gunfire abated along with the sounds of battle. No more birds chirped, and the sound of the waves even seemed to be muted. Though Thunderer had readied a lightning storm and blotted out the sun, suddenly it darkened even more. I remembered the island assault… and remembered the giant walls that had surrounded it. Everything of the Shadows had a mind and volition of its own. “They’re massing up.”

A massive, long, and spindly limb then shot up and out of the center of the town. Alien armor crept up the limb as though carried by many hands. Plates of infantry armor were arranged and formed all over the creature. Alien firearms were carried up as well as entire tanks. In but mere moments, the Shadows went from an army with spread-out firepower to a ten-story-tall amalgam of alien firepower and armor strapped to a monster.

But while I tried to summon up the courage to look and analyze it, the other three Sentinels stepped forward.

“We’ll hold it off for a while, but we’ll need your big ship’s guns to put it down quickly. Just give us cover until then!”

They were ready to be heroes while I was not.

V11: Chapter 5

V11: Chapter 5

…

Waiting for things to happen was something that I’ve grown used to.

In-game, after everything’s set up, you hit the next turn button. Things get built, progress is made, and a load of things to do pop up. After you finish off the little bevy of challenges, you remember that you want something to happen, start the process of making it, and then click on the next turn. Turn after turn happens, you do a lot of small things, and everything culminates when the next war happens. You fight it with all the preparation you’ve put in at your back, lose if you’re a loser, and win if you’ve done your job correctly.

A game on standard speed can take eight to ten hours, though you can keep playing after you win just for fun.

Anyway, I was fine with waiting nowadays.

Waiting meant that there were no problems, no events, and nothing happening. The more time I spent waiting, the more time I spent waiting for my projects to finish. More factories will come online. More soldiers will be trained. The next generation creeps closer to the point where I can recruit them or draft them. If I had ten more years, I was sure that I could win against the entire planet, and I would’ve gladly enjoyed those years.

Unfortunately, sitting around and waiting was no longer a luxury that I could enjoy.

The demons were already here, and we needed to deal with them.

Rita gave me a bow, while Ilych nodded at me, as we met for the first time in months.

“Your majesty, the base is yours.” Rita ceded control over the forward base to me with a small bow. The command center was the standard. Multiple runners were at the ready, two riders with flying mounts were present to relay priority instructions, and there were dozens of people processing reports from outside, looking through telescopes, and a signal corps was on standby. We were atop one of the frigid mountain forts that guarded the pass between the continent and the rest of the world. “The expedition that we sighted is three days away. Here is what they saw.”

On the table at the center of the command center, ink danced and motes of pale blue light arose. The mountains formed and gave us a clear understanding of the topography, while the ink on the paper shifted to form what was last seen by the scout. Morgan’s method of accessing the brains of her targets to extract information was useful in scouting. Our scout had to be present, but after pressing their hand on the command desk, they could show what they saw on the map. Once I was sure that our small arms and equipment were all good to go, I planned on the scout’s role being replaced by flying familiars who can give a bird’s-eye view.

Or maybe some telescope attached to a balloon.

Maybe some sort of early radio?

The researchers will figure something out.

“It’s an expedition in force.” The initial scouts were too numerous for us to realistically all catch. We caught a lot of them, but that just meant those who escaped reported the dangers of our land with the deaths of their colleagues. The first demonic force was supposed to be summoned by cultists who’ve taken over a couple of towns. Since they were unable to do that, they had to hoof it here. “Are the charges ready?”

“They are. The winds tell me that it will soon be the opportune time to unleash them.” Ilych spoke up. I didn’t even honestly recall the last time that I spoke to her. Mainly because if there were opportunities for her to level up, I sent her off to level up. She spent quite a few weeks incapacitated after taking down the Sirena. She needed to catch up. If I did everything right, she should be halfway through all her possible perks by now. “I advise an initial strike at the front to recover officers first, then initiate the plan. We should gather intelligence.”

“You, Sirena, and Rita will be on that, then. The landslide with the most of them. We’ll let some run who see it. You’ll follow them, Eminent.” I felt a warmth on the sigil on my hand as I addressed the figure to my right. She was kneeling with her head bowed to my right. Most people present tried to ignore her. The circumstances of Eminent’s awakening were known to all. “You’ll be creating a border state of undead on the frontier. Raid their outlying settlements, take all that you can as far as you can, and make sure that they need to assail your lands with a truly immense amount of might to have a chance at reaching our lands.”

I hit the slave thralls of the Stymphalians and the Ascendant with diseases.

The Demons I was hitting with an undead plague supported by an undead army.

“I hear and I obey, my dear master.” Eminent rose up, but her head remained bowed, and she curtsied. I saw her force in the path below. Bone golems, hordes of skeletons, and flying carrion swarms. A mid-tier Undead army without long-range artillery or supportive necromancers, except for the Goddess of Death. I really hoped that she’d be able to hold out long enough to get enough kills to create a stronger army. “Your enemies will die and then rise to fight against their kin.”

“Succeed, and some of your debt to me shall be lightened. All you have done so far is stay your execution.” I told her, and I could tell that she was smiling at my words. Since I was alive, I supposed that she liked the fact that I was swallowing my fear and summoning up every bit of courage that I have. “Go now and prepare your troops. Rita, Ilych, and Sirena, stay for a moment.”

Eminent left, and with a motion I had most of the officers leave as well.

With three champions in front of me, I gestured for Ayah to come forward, and she gingerly placed the briefcase she was carrying on the floor before carefully unlocking it.

Inside the briefcase were twenty glass ampules.

Each one filled with gimped prototypes of the endgame poison, Scarlet Mist.

The endgame poison weapon was an item carried by a champion. Preferably a stealth one that stayed on the espionage layer and also had the cautious trait. The Scarlet Mist was a magical living poison cloud with a timed life of one turn, or four months. It acted like a pseudo-nanomachine swarm that replicated off of living material. Poison and chemical weapons can be healed, but what if healing someone just gave more mass for the poison to create more of itself upon? Deploying the Scarlet Mist on a tile meant rendering that tile barren; practically all life on it will be consumed.

Champions and troops can survive it if they have enough resistance to magic, healing, and regeneration.

A couple of upgrades for the Scarlet Mist made it far stronger. It could last four turns, a whole year, instead of going away. It can be made to spread to eight hexagonal tiles or even spread up to nineteen. Another upgrade was to make it more effective so that it can eat past regeneration, healing, and magic resistance at the final stages of the game. The final upgrade for the Scarlet Mist made it so that the Scarlet Mist turned into useful materials at the end of its lifecycle, basically turning living materials into piles and piles of refined carbon that can be used as fuel or used in alchemy to create equipment.

I’ve played and seen whole games where people rush for the Scarlet Mist and just deploy it as fields at chokepoints, then they exploit the ‘Carbon Fields’ generated with a nearby city.

It’s an incredibly potent and powerful tactic.

But once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s never going back in.

Deploying the Scarlet Mist was just asking for everyone with a Citadel to develop it.

Once everyone has their hands on it, the events start rolling. You need to start doming up your cities, setting up checkpoints, and doing your darndest to make sure it never gets deployed in a city. Troops need to be given sealed suits in order to do combat, and mechanical units with pressurized cabins become the name of the game. Every magical resistance tech and upgrade needs to be researched. If you don’t put in the money, time, or have the right research to access those options, the Scarlet Mist will ravage your armies, kill your populations, and do incredible damage to your nation.

If Scarlet Mist strategic deployments and events reach a hundred, then you get a game over.

If there’s enough Scarlet Mist generated from all the people it kills, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes airborne and comes into contact with some wild, primal magic that gives it enough power to keep going.

Then, it’ll replicate until the whole world is just processed carbon.

Yet, here I was, ready to unleash a prototype on the Demons.

“This is the deadliest chemical weapon ever devised. Upon contact with any organic flesh, it will create more of itself using the flesh it came into contact with as fuel. That new copy will do the same alongside the original. Then, it will do so again and again without ceasing for one minute.” I didn’t want that ending to ever happen, so I constrained its development immensely. Rather than a strategic weapon, I developed a tactical one. This Scarlet Mist can’t be used to create chokepoints, but it can be used to assassinate and kill hard targets. An anti-Champion weapon. “If you find an opportunity, I want this weapon to strike a powerful demon. Observe how it functions and how it acts against them. This is a field trial, but make sure none of you get it on your bodies. This is the most dangerous poison ever designed.”

I made it clear to every alchemist that worked on it that they needed to make sure that the compound never received more power, couldn’t keep going past a minute, and had a mass limit of one ounce before stopping their flesh-to-living-poison conversion. All the alchemists are now perpetually watched and monitored. With the slightest hint of betrayal, they’ll be removed from play, made comatose, and placed in a medical tube to keep them alive.

Why keep them alive?

Because I’m still making the original version of the Scarlet Mist, though I hoped to never have to use or deploy it like in the game. Without the constraints it had in the game, if I could turn it into chemical artillery shells or drop it like bombs, things could go wrong very quickly. But if there’s a chance that I’m going to be turned into a living waste processor or an immortal nursery for parasites, I’m going to stock up on the magical version of a nanomachine swarm that replicates off of biological matter.

I’d rather be reduced to carbon and know all the horrors of this world are the same than let them do that sort of thing to me.

“Sirena and Ilych, you will be on guard. Rita, as you can see, these ampoules are evenly weighted and can be attached to these arrows.” One of my Iterant bodyguards came forward. It was Ria with black hair and blue eyes. She had a long rectangular bag slung over her shoulder. The other Iterants had briefcases and similar bags, but they had Citadel Alloy weapons in them. We were close to the battlefield, so they were well-armed. “I’ll leave the deployment to you. Use them carefully and away from Eminent’s forces. There is a chance that the rapid feeding of the poison will cause the body to burst and then spread the virus to nearby individuals.”

All three champions carefully considered the weapon, and each one bowed after contemplating it carefully.

Rita then took the arrows and closed the briefcase shut.

“I will take it to the battlefield in this secure container and load it onto the arrows there.” Rita made sure the briefcase was secure thrice over before picking it up gingerly. She treated the thing like it was a ticking bomb. “Are there any countermeasures?”

“A barrier of wind that directs it away from you. An enclosed suit of armor with a breathing apparatus with filters. Being entirely mechanical. Undead flesh will be consumed and used by the poison as well.” I told them simply and held up my hand. The Iterants wouldn’t let me near the weapon without a form of protection. I had a circlet on my person that could create a barrier of wind around me and blow away the poison. “If it gets on your limb, cut it off and run away. If it’s inside you, then there’s little hope, unless you can heal through your body being eaten from within.”

“What is the rate of consumption?” Ilych asked quietly, and I recalled her armor that allowed her to regenerate from killing, as well as her own personal regeneration ability.

I thought about the best way to convey the in-built mass limit.

“Each ampule carries an ounce of the poison. Once it comes into contact with flesh. It will become two ounces within five seconds. Two ounces will become four in five seconds. The first ounce alone will exist for one minute, but in that time, it will generate twelve ounces of itself with the same lifespan.” I looked at Ilych. She probably considered taking the hit if possible. Maybe it was. If she was hit with it, then she was smashed with healing magic while also surrounded by an army to heal off of. It was possible, but it was better off not chanced. “If one is resistant enough to magic through various means, it can be slowed or even ignored; perhaps you are strong enough to slow it down. If it takes you, struggle and survive if you can, but if you fail, I will make a pact with Khalai and find a means to resurrect any of you.”

I addressed them all with that statement, but in all honesty, Ilych was the one I’d go out of my way to resurrect.

She had more potential and was already ridiculously useful.

That was only made more evident by how she stared at the Scarlet Mist briefcase.

Not with fear, but with a calculating gaze.

I didn’t dare hope, but…

“Is it possible for me to learn how to create it myself?”

…if she had magical resistance and enough regeneration, and if the Scarlet Mist’s kills counted as her own?

Lifesteal with a battlefield-wide high-DPS damage-over-time effect was hilariously broken.

That build just might break the setting over its knee.

I wanted it.

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 11).

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 11).

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Word count: 2500

…

Lady Aigen sat in a gazebo in a frozen garden but was unperturbed by the frost. Clad in furs and leather strips across her body, she sipped heated tea from a fine porcelain cup without noticing the cold.

If I were a few days younger, I would’ve wondered how.

Instead, I walked to her in a formal dress without feeling the cold myself.

Steward Matthew declared my presence before retreating.

I stood still and waited to be called.

Nary a moment passed before she proved that she knew the etiquette of this land and that she established herself as my superior by not standing to meet with me.

“Come. Sit.” She turned her gaze to me. I fought many giant monsters today, but they did not make me feel nearly as small as Lady Aigen did. Every step towards her, towards the seat she offered me, felt like I was walking through miles and miles under the gaze of a being who could kill me at any moment. If I was told I aged a year whilst walking to take my seat, I would’ve believed whoever said it. “Your strength has grown immensely. You’ve taken to my fiancé’s teachings well.”

“Lord Trelawney is an excellent teacher… if a bit harsh.” I wracked my brain for means to suggest to her that I felt nothing for him while ensuring my own safety. Telling her directly that I felt nothing for him would merely arouse suspicion. Insulting him would also demean her. I wished to establish our situation as swiftly as possible, but my mind could provide little. “After I learn all that I can, I hope to use his teachings to keep my home safe.”

Lady Aigen reached for the tea kettle, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me as she glanced at my cup.

Deftly and gracefully, she poured me a cup of tea and faced me.

“I understand that you had no intentions towards my fiancé. Let that matter be cleansed from your mind. I abhor the whole event in its entirety.” Lady Aigen was more magnanimous than I realized. Then again, she had invaded my dreams and tried to bewitch me at our first meeting. My concerns would be considered well-founded by most who knew the entirety of the event. “I have called for you as I believe the restitution I granted you was lacking, especially as you have showcased to me your true potential.”

Ah.

She has seen my growth from yesterday to today and judged me worthy of more respect.

That fact complicated matters greatly.

“I am greatly pleased by the blade that you have granted me. Coupled with your acknowledgement of my strength, I can ask for no more.” My attempt sounded poor even to my ears, and it was poor enough that Lady Aigen smiled and laughed beneath her breath. Though I felt my cheeks redden, I felt relieved. “You have my thanks, Lady Aigen. I am ill-trained in diplomacy.”

“Against those who are superior to you. You act with great dignity around those of lesser strength and status. You come from a peaceful land, then. A peaceful land where hubris has arisen in the hearts of the next generation.” Lady Aigen spoke, and I realized that she knew my story now. She must have been truly informed of my station now. It was both a blessing and a curse to not have to fret. “It would be a lie to say that you have my sympathy. Your nation should have chosen to wage war upon a weaker neighbor so that those who hunger for glory would be sated. Now, instead, kin shall fight against kin for more power within a closed land.”

I saw the logic behind her words.

Though I wished to speak of justice and of honor, of how we did not wish to bring war upon our neighbors who did us no wrong, the impending civil strife stopped my tongue.

My shoulders slumped, and I felt resignation take hold of my heart.

“I only know now that I must gain strength to protect my family and our territory. I cannot speak for the rest of the Empire or those who rule it.” I admitted.

Only for Lady Aigen to speak up.

“Take it. Take the throne. You will have the means to do so with great effort with his aid. If you accept mine, then you will take it with far less.” I froze as the words struck me like a hammer blow. The audacity of her words, coupled with her immense power and strength, shook me to my core. She aimed to make me empress and place herself as my teacher. No. As the true power behind the crown, how could I possibly become stronger than her when she still sought out strength and lived countless years? “You will have more than vengeance. You will have the entirety of the empire, and your lineage will be safe for centuries. Is that not desirable to you?”

I opened my mouth to deny her, but I found myself unable to speak.

The moment the thought was placed in my mind, it ingratiated itself and carved out a niche. Suddenly, I was aware that it was possible. If I reached the strength that I was promised by Lord Trelawney and then accepted the teachings of Lady Aigen, then my strength would be more than enough.

Not only would I be able to protect those who still stood by my side, but I would also be able to take the throne.

Take the throne and perhaps stop the impending war to come.

Were it only a dream, I would’ve been more capable of resisting it.

But with the strength that I will soon have and what I can learn from her—

“That’s enough, Aigen.” A presence as dark and vast as the ocean on a moonless night appeared at my back. A massive armored hand settled on my shoulder. Something slipped away from my mind. The temptation was gone. Instantly I was aware that something had been done to me, even though I had been given all assurances that I would be safe by Lady Aigen! “But you were being an idiot. She’s invaded your dreams and tried to break your mind, but you lowered your defenses to her just because she followed a few customs? Customs that she doesn’t believe in?”

Lord Trelawney’s booming voice made my cheeks redden in shame.

When Lady Aigen spoke again, her voice was cold and deep.

“She is your guest. You gave her lacking protections, Lord Trelawney. Her body is strong, but her mind is weak. She will fall without being properly taught.”

“I’ll teach her how to keep her mind intact when she’s not pushed to the physical limit every day. Don’t pretend like you’re not taking advantage of the fact she’s exhausted.” Lord Trelawney waved with his hand, and the food on the table shimmered before my very eyes. Including the tea that I was served. “You’ve just lost any privilege to command my staff. I hope you enjoy earning that right again.”

Some part of me felt furious, but I commanded it to be silent before I spoke out of turn.

As much as it shamed me, I cowered behind Lord Trelawney and placed him between myself and Lady Aigen.

Twice now, I’ve been tricked. The onus of the first betrayal was on her, but this time the mistake was wholly mine.

I will not fall for it a third time.

“My own servants will be arriving soon. They will tend to my needs.” Lady Aigen declared. I shivered. Plans within plans. I was but a passing objective to her aim to place more people that she can trust into the castle. “I believe that there is another guest wing—

Lord Trelawney didn’t care.

“If they come here, I’ll kill them. This land, the skies above it, and the seas that surround it are all mine.” Lord Trelawney spoke, and the whole world shook. Clouds high above parted as if blasted apart by wind. After a few moments of silence, I realized that the crashing waves in the distance were also gone. “I declare now that it will do as I will and be without mercy.”

Lady Argelia moved swiftly at his words, composing a spell and proceeding to speak in another tongue at a rapid pace to someone in another place entirely.

Lord Trelawney looked over his shoulder at me, and I thought that I would sense disappointment.

Instead, he raised a gauntleted hand my way and raised up a thumb.

“Good job breaking out of it right away. Next time, keep your guard up. Actually, next time, just tell her that you’re not allowed to do anything besides rest after a hunt.” True relief swept over me at his words. Then, the armor lifted from the ground, and he turned to leave. “Feel free to stick around. She’ll try to be nice to you now.”

I wondered exactly what that would entail, but I shook my head instead of allowing curiosity to get the better of me.

“I think that I’ll leave for now. I want to rest.”

“Smart.” Lord Trelawney stated, before moving away.

I followed.

…

I found Chloe on the floor, in a nightgown, holding a pillow, and staring into the ceiling with blank, wide eyes.

For a moment, I considered the fact that she had left my side and did not support me when I was thrown aside.

Then, I recalled the fact that Lord Trelawney took her into the dark, snowy night to kill several ogres while also being taught how to take in as much of their power as possible.

That night when I took in the rage, hate, and suffering of the first monster I slayed, it was still etched into my memory.

It was hard to believe it was just mere days ago.

I decided at that moment to do away with my grudge.

“C’mon, get up. You need rest on an actual bed.” Chloe flinched at my presence. I realized that I was still nervous from my meeting with Lady Argelia and was not restraining myself. The new power she received this evening placed her solidly within striking range of myself and Alice. Alice was in the corner of my eye, doing her best to stay unnoticed, until I just waved her over with a sigh. I picked Chloe up and plopped her onto one of the sofas in the living room. “If you can muster up the strength and will to catch up with us by tomorrow, I’ll have Lord Trelawney teach you in full to stand by my side.”

My original plan with her was to have her remain weaker than me.

But after considering the coming times of hardship, I decided against it.

Keeping Chloe weak felt like something that Lady Aigen would do.

“Lady Argelia…” Chloe stirred and managed to get through some of the mental burden that weighed on her. Fresh from the ship, she met with someone she failed, and then was pulled into the northern night to fight a great and terrible beast in the darkness. After succeeding, after imprinting on the essence of the creature that she was its killer, she was made to consume that creature herself. She may as well have fought and slain herself in pitched combat while feeling only rage and the desire to live. Could I still hold that moment where she failed me against her? Yes, I could. I was not beyond such pettiness. But could I forgive her? Yes. I was not so petty that I could not understand and forgive. “I am so, so sorry. I should have stood before you. I should have come to your aid. I should’ve been brave—

“I shall accept your apology, Chloe.” A mixture of surprise, relief, and confusion filtered across her face. Alice raised an eyebrow at my statement, but I could only helplessly gesture at myself and her, then towards Chloe. What did I mean to say with such movements? I didn’t know entirely myself, but the message seemed to be conveyed. Alice looked upon Chloe and gave a sigh before tersely nodding. “But I require penance. Endure this trial with us and never stray from coming to my aid again.”

For a moment, I wondered if Chloe would accept merely alluding to what we were doing as a trial, as it sparked fear in her eyes.

But she gritted her teeth and clenched her teeth.

The hesitation and fear that I saw only highlighted the courage that she summoned.

“I will. I shall. I will not fail you again, ever. I swear on my own name and my own soul.” She swore with all her being. Enough for faint flickers of magic to come to life. It was not a magical contract, not some soul-sworn fealty, but her conviction and her words were true. “Lady Argelia, please allow me to fight by your side and protect you once more.”

Some part of me still remembered being alone whilst surrounded by faces filled with glee, but when I closed my eyes and pierced through the veil of my own loathing… I saw faces of concern, of fear, and of hesitation amongst the crowd.

I saw Chloe’s face in the crowd, her hand on the ceremonial blade on her hip, but her body half-frozen as she tried and failed to act against the future heir of the whole empire.

The memory was still fresh.

Not even a month has passed since it happened.

But when given the chance to sail across the seas to join me, and after realizing the challenges that lay ahead to stay beside me, Chloe chose to still apologize and accepted my terms to stay by my side.

Though I already made the decision, I felt only content with it after I finished recalling that horrible moment in full.

Chloe failed then, but she was here, she admitted her mistakes, and swore to do everything to make up for it.

That was more than enough.

“Then, Chloe Rothwell, I bid you to gain strength by my side and to not stray from my side henceforth.” I offered her my hand, and she scrambled to get off the sofa. She strained, but she managed to kneel. It was ludicrous. I was in formal wear, she was in bedclothes, only Alice was watching, and we were in the far north in a living room. But she took my hand and pressed her lips against the back of my hand before placing it against her head. I gave her my blessing. “Swear by your name and honor that you shall not falter or fall ever again in my service.”

“I swear.”

With those two words, a great weight fell from my shoulders.

I will need to look back on that horrible night once more to see if there are others who I can forgive and accept once more.

With what is to come in the future, I could not let a singular moment such as that take away allies that will be sorely needed in the future.

V11: Chapter 4

V11: Chapter 4

…

Arming, clothing, and feeding 80,000 soldiers from the first round of drafts was a test of my nation’s logistical might.

On paper, we could do it, and I trusted the people who reported the numbers and came up with the plans. I did my best to vet my scholars, planners, and everyone involved in governance, while also policing them with Iterants to verify. Having a police force of shapeshifting constructs that don’t need to eat or sleep and are happy with their current station… is very helpful at keeping everything spick and span in my bureaucracy.

Theoretically, right at this very moment, we could draft ten times the initial round-up, put them in the field, and have a glorious time rolling over the continent within a year. Then, within a year, we won’t be able to supply them. And they wouldn’t have gotten very far, since we didn’t have enough cargo capacity to get them anywhere. If they were just fighting on home territory, close to all our stockpiles and industry, and didn’t have to move, such a massive mobilization effort would be fine.

But I wanted a mobile force supported by aerial cavalry, mages, heavy troops, and artillery.

A regular infantry grunt with a rifle needs boots, fatigues, a pack full of rations and useful tools, and a rifle. That grunt needs several weeks of training, where he needs to be supplied shelter and food while he’s taught by several instructors. Time on the range requires ammunition. The grunt will need to be inoculated against diseases, as well as given all-around physical enhancements. After all that training, if the grunt needs to go somewhere, transportation will need to be arranged for him and all his buddies.

Before a grunt with a regular rifle fires a single shot, he’s already taken up more resources than one person could produce in a year. He needs a wage, he needs food, and he needs time invested into him by qualified people. Those qualified people will also need wages and food, and time will be spent quantifying what they’ve done and properly reporting it. The person counting the beans and checking the reports will also need wages, food, and some sort of support to get what they produce to me.

I see ‘1000 recruits successfully passed the first quarter of training,’ but it’s a massive logistical chain. Everything is only possible due to the work of millions of people being harnessed and put towards the manufacturing of an army. That’s without even considering the fact that once we’re invested… there’s no selling off the factories, recouping losses, and making new ones in an instant.

What we make now, what we commit to now, is what we’ll have in excess for the vast majority of our troops for the next decade or two.

So, yeah.

I want a test run of everything before amplifying everything up an order of magnitude.

…

Conquerors made for fine trainers and field officers. Their honor and nobility got in the way if they were any higher than a captain, but they preferred to be on the field, so that was no issue. More importantly, though, they stuck around, gained experience, didn’t oppose change unless it was a mistake, and saw training new groups of troops as an honor.

Basically, most of the trainers for my new batch of soldiers were current special forces on easy assignments until they got shipped off to the front again.

They were putting the new soldiers through the wringer.

Even freshly enhanced to be tougher, faster, and more agile, most of the soldiers were hitting their limits.

But what mattered was that after hitting their limits, they could get back up and return to training within half an hour.

“Descendants respond the best to the treatments left behind by the Ancients.” Crusher noted. We were walking through the new training camp. There was one in each region now and near a town with a new rail-line connection to the Citadel. It was a pain to move tens of thousands of people into the camps, but once they were there, I didn’t have to worry. Supplies flowed in, and soldiers came out. Or, they would in a few weeks. “Is it favoritism for those closest to their bloodline?”

“It’s more likely that descendants have less than everyone else, so their improvements are more pronounced in comparison.” I answered Crusher. We both had guards keeping distance. Well, Ayah was holding an umbrella and keeping me cool. Crusher had rolled his eyes at the suggestion. He got older every time I saw him. His face sported a few wrinkles, and he looked smaller than ever. His bicep was only the size of my leg, instead of my waist. “And who are you to talk? The Conquerors are the strongest that they’ve ever been. Your people are reaching their prime.”

“With gifts. Not time and effort.” Crusher shook his head. He turned his gaze towards some of the Conquerors on their training track that went around the whole base. The average Conqueror was already a supersoldier by any mortal metric. But they were meant to be more, and they reached their true strength with what was left behind by the Ancients. “They will need to be trained hard. The time you have given us is too short.”

“We have too little time as we speak. You’ve read the reports.” Crusher grunted and nodded. I could feel a few eyes on us. Did I feel a bit bad walking with a maid holding an umbrella next to me in the desert region, while everyone else was running their asses off? Yeah, but not bad enough to ask Ayah to stop. “They’ll be sent to the academy’s former lands to be blooded, but we have far more to defend than our contemporaries.”

“You can call upon us. The Conquerors are ready.” Crusher pointed out, but I shook my head. A low rumble left his lips. “We have fought well. There are many of us. Can you not entrust us with defending our homeland?”

“I need the Conquerors for assaults. Not defense. Grow your population, train well, and be ready for mass mobilization in five or so more years. When the time comes, the Conquerors will be the lance we use to end this threat.” With nukes off the table, my plan was to use ridiculous amounts of super soldiers, biological warfare, and chemical warfare to kill our enemies. While a sea of radioactive cobalt would secure our surroundings, I was wary of threats from above. I hadn’t heard of any new crisis before I died, but the only vector left for us to get hit was above. Presuming, of course, that the Academy summoned demons by accident and that was how that first crisis was supposed to pop.   “For now, the line needs to be held. Their teeth and claws need to be broken. When the beasts go back to lick their wounds, the Conquerors will break them long enough for us to rest, rearm, and prepare the coming generation for victory.”

Crusher looked down at me with wide eyes, then he gestured all around us.

I know what he meant.

To everyone else, the four new camps and the eighty thousand people I’m training up seem immense.

How could all this and a Conqueror counterattack mean that we’d just be buying time for the youth of today to reach the age of majority?

I stopped walking, and with the massive camp stretching behind me, I told Conquest the truth.

Or, as close to the truth as I could tell him.

“There are fearsome, terrible weapons from the times of the Ancients. They were revealed to me as I accessed the Citadel’s records. Weapons of mass destruction that create miniature suns for a brief instant on the surface of the planet. These weapons would allow us to win the battle here… but they came with a warning.” I pointed upward towards the sky. There was no warning, and there were no records. When I said I was going off to study ancient manuals, I just ate my fill of food and relaxed while reading up on recent literature. Well, sometimes, I consulted my notes since I didn’t want to forget anything. One of the most important things to not forget was that using nukes would get us invaded by what remained of the Ancients’ foes up in space. Could those be the fifth crisis? I didn’t want to find out. “A warning that amongst the stars are the remains of the Ancient’s foes. Those who isolated this star, who provided weapons and power to the ancestors of our current foes, and sought to destroy us. I believe that they remain, especially as none of the Ancient’s allies or long-lost cousins have come to our aid since the fall.”

Crusher’s mouth opened and closed at my words.

His eyes were wide, and behind me I heard the sound of fabric ripping.
I glanced at Ayah and noticed that her free hand, gloved, was clenched into such a tight fist that her glove ripped.

Guess she didn’t realize that was a possibility.

Anyway, I turned and began to walk again.

“The war we face to take this planet must be completed by our own hands. Nothing that can be noticed by our possible foes must be noticed. The world we create after this war will be one that must tread carefully in a dark forest filled with unknown threats.” Crusher nodded slowly at my words and followed, while I did my best to relay my game knowledge to him in a believable manner. “So, while we can call upon all our people and surge across the world with great success, that will deplete us as a nation. It will take decades that we may not have to recover from it. So, now, we must be cautious, we must be cunning, and we must slowly, carefully kill our current foes without being noticed by a greater foe.”

Crusher’s lack of response to my words was something that I was grateful for.

I wasn’t sure how far I’d be able to go without literally saying I just knew that it was going to happen.

Hopefully, I had enough of a reputation for being right that they wouldn’t ask any questions.

…

Interlude: Conquest

…

Eminent may have shattered the ambitions of the Forgers and Merchants in the lands formerly held by the Wardens, but there was still work that needed to be done.

Work that could not be completed by lumbering masses of animated bone.

Brigands were aplenty in the Academy lands once held by the Wardens. They were of many different peoples and purposes. Some sought to keep their lands against all odds. Others fought for scrap and anything precious like scavengers. Many were bands of soldiers who abandoned their cause and now fought for a way out.

Eminent’s creatures were powerful and capable of shattering armies.

But the bands of armed mortals roaming the lands needed to be dealt with by a finer hand.

But not by those with experience and time, like my regular troops.

They were a fine challenge for those to be blooded.

Or so I thought.

“They new bloods are stronger than we expected.” Breaker noted by my side. After being enhanced with the gifts of the Ancient’s he grew in height and width, much like many other Conquerors. He loomed over me now. A hulking mass covered in armor from head to toe capable of wielding a cannon with ease. “The training they’ve been given has made them used to their bodies.”

“They still act like warriors instead of soldiers. Sometimes.” We were watching from afar. The first batch of new blood was composed of young ones who never saw battle. Those born in the safety of the Citadel. The most violence they’ve seen in their lives was in the arena. Controlled and bereft of bloodshed. I expected that they would need to be worked hard, and even for some to hesitate, but they assaulted the brigand position, assured of their own strength and power. They worked together without hesitation, covering for one another or pulling one another aside, and they made quick work of the brigand camp. “But they are adequate in many respects. They will need less time to train.”

“They would have been considered elites without reproach mere decades ago. Now, we merely consider them worthy of training.” Breaker mentioned and I nodded at his words. Armed with the Citadel-forged large rifles and melee weapons, they would have been eminent before the rise of the Citadels. Each one of them a venerated warrior who would stand at the top of our tribe. Father would respect them, while many others would honor them. I would’ve wished to be amongst their ranks. Now? They were adequate recruits. “Can you imagine an army of them, captain?”

At Breaker’s words, a recent message from Father came to mind.

A message that detailed what the King of Wisdom intended for our people.

The reason why there were so few of us on the battlefield, even as we grew more and more in number, was that we reacted the best to the Ancient’s gifts.

We were to be the sword that will mortally wound the beast and prepare it for the executioner’s strike for the next generation to land.

The thought of it made my heart race.

The glory that we were set to receive as the slayers of the Ancient’s foes will overshadow the entirety of our horrible history.

The Deliverer wished for us to stand as equals with the rest of the world.

To be protectors instead of slaves.

The King of Wisdom would give that to us and more.

“I cannot see such an army, Breaker, but I do have a singular hope: that they can be made to fight with zeal and tenacity unlike any other.” Give them to me, King of Wisdom. I will mold them into the finest and most powerful troops imaginable. Grant me the chance to end thousands of years of suffering with a glorious victory unlike any other. “Let the next army of Conquerors be the downfall of the Ancient’s foes forevermore.”

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 17

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 17

…

I’ll be perfectly honest.

I thought that I’d need to destroy the Wardens, but after seeing what I was able to do with the Guardians, I decided to take a gamble.

I intended to tell their leader the truth about the afterlife, that it was ultimately at risk if we just went there, and bring them into the fold to win.

Every single body that we could get fighting for us was essential.

So, I met with their representatives under the guise of giving them a favor after they helped Morgan raise another Citadel for me.

With my current forces, with all the people under my control, everyone on the continent knew that taking a citadel for themselves was foolish at best and suicidal at the very worst.

I didn’t expect them to get on their knees and bow their heads in supplication the moment they laid eyes on me.

“Ah, it is true! He is of the Ancients! His very being is blessed with the holy light that we hold sacred!” High Justiciar Khalia was a slight young Dark Elf male wearing a slip of white cloth, leather sandals, and some gold jewelry. He shivered in my mere presence and fell to his knees when our gazes met. I knew these guys were the fanservice faction, but instant loss is going a bit too far. “We offer you our bodies, minds, and spirits, oh venerated Ancestor! Tell us your will!”

Most of the court took to the pronouncement with little issue, though some exchanged glances.

I was surprised that money didn’t change hands.

But I had to play my part rather than remark on how ludicrous the situation was.

Another faction was just falling into my lap.

IMBA didn’t even begin to describe this start.

It hasn’t even been 20 turns!

“Rise, High Justiciar. The power that you see vested in me is meant to be used against the foes of all peoples that remain on this world. I see that your people have made good use of it.” I sat on my throne. There were Guardians watching, so I wasn’t in simple robes with a sword at the ready. For some reason, from how the High Justiciar was sneaking glances at me, I was glad that I had armor on. “Your people have fought on behalf of my Hand and given unto me another missing piece of the continent. State your desire, and I will reward your people.”

“We desire to be part of this covenant! To have our place amongst all those who once obeyed the Ancients!” High Justiciar Khalai’s face was flushed with what was hopefully fervor as he pronounced those words. He had a hand over his heart as he spoke… and one hand tugging down his robes. The fanservice is really going wild here. Then again, they were hedonists in-game lore, and devs didn’t have to limit them to sneak below any ratings boards. “Oh, great Ancient, let our reward be given the chance to earn your trust as your subjects!”

I considered accepting and just offering him more, but in the grand scheme of things, that wouldn’t fly.

As much as they’ve done, they were still going to be fast-tracked as citizens for a budding nation. Unlike the Guardians, they didn’t have cities or fiefdoms to support them. Just taking them on as our people was enough, especially with the disparity in our power and influence.

“Then, so shall it be. This day the Wardens of the Caverns are under my protection as my loyal subjects.” I declared, and it was so. I did my best to ignore how Khalia was biting his lip and how his legs were shaking at the proclamation. Nor did I let my eyes wander anywhere close to his crotch. From a completely theoretical standpoint, I kind of understood. They worshipped the Ancients as gods; one was right in front of him, and pleasure and decadence were entwined with their religion. His episode was their version of religious spasms. That didn’t make it any less distasteful. “Your people are welcome to my lands, and High Justiciar, you are to represent them in my court. Let this be known to all!”

My declaration was followed by affirmations from the rest of the court.

I idly considered dismissing them and speaking to the Wardens about the afterlife right away.
Then, I remembered their leader’s state and decided against it.

…

“Would it be possible for the technology in this magnificent facility to turn me into a woman capable of bearing your children?”

Who the fuck starts a conversation like that? We just met two hours ago!

“Greetings, High Justiciar.” I was still in full armor when we met again. Khalai pouted when I ignored his words and leaned on the table across from me. I requested a meeting with him in the usual conference room. He took the seat closest to my right and leaned on it and gave me goo-goo eyes. He was cleaned up from his mess in the courtroom, but that cleanup involved getting a bow in his head, getting some purple eyeshadow and lipstick on, and somehow finding skintight robes. Honestly, it was kind of impressive. “I admire your desire to ingratiate yourself to me shamelessly, but there is a vital matter that needs to be discussed.”

“More vital than having your essence spread and your bloodline ensured? My entire retinue is willing to carry the future of the world. I cannot think of a single warden who wouldn’t.” I ignored Khalai’s proposal to turn all the Dark Elves into my personal harem. It would be pretty neat, but I didn’t have time for it. “For the sake of the future, we are all willing to bear the burden.”

If I didn’t have superhuman discipline and determination, Khalai’s blatant flirting and cajoling probably would’ve gotten to me.

Thankfully, I was able to bulldoze past it.

“I speak to you in regard to the future. Your people celebrate the afterlife. That is why you practice hedonism and entice all mortals to join your church. Those who follow your religion reach paradise.” Khalai’s eyes widened as I shared the deepest secrets of the Wardens, then a sort of weariness came upon his eyes as his lips quivered into a smile. I wondered why for a moment before my brain supplied the answer. I just validated thousands of years of religious doctrine. Why wouldn’t he be happy? “In truth, all that does is place them in reach of your spells of resurrection after they reach paradise. The truth is that paradise was opened to all souls not of the enemy when the war began. We moved to save all.”

That got the response that I expected.

Khalai shot out of his seat, and all my instincts told me that a dangerous thought was about to take hold of his mind.

The dangerous thought that would turn the Wardens into a death cult.

Thankfully, I could nip it in the bud.

“I see your thoughts. Why not take the sin of murder upon yourselves and send all to paradise? The unfortunate truth is that paradise can be assailed. With time, with effort, the enemies that remain here can work towards breaking the defenses and glut themselves upon all those who have been saved.” Khalai stilled at my words. If I were anyone else, I was sure that he would’ve called me a liar. Something along the lines of Paradise being assailable being blasphemy. But I banked on the fact that I was an Ancient in his eyes. “It would take thousands of years, but with none here to fight, those thousands of years will be spent waiting for the enemies of all peoples to assail it.”

Khalai trembled before clasping his hands in prayer and bowing his head.

“Oh, honored Ancient, forgive me for my trespass. I doubted you out of selfishness and wicked desire. Temptation clouded my mind. I offer the entirety of myself for forgiveness.” The last sentence was not necessary, especially with the little wiggle that he did in his chair with the phrase. I ignored him again until he cleared his throat and sat up straight. “I understand. It will take time to convince my people, unless you elect to speak to them yourself. We have long believed that paradise is unassailable and have devoted our lives to entry.”

“I will speak to them myself. The path the Wardens have chosen with the knowledge of Paradise was correct with what you knew and what you could see. Only I could have told you the entirety of the truth.” Thanks to being a freaking nerd that binges wikis until he notices it's 2AM. Not because I’m some reincarnated messiah. Well, I’ve got the chassis, but the knowledge and soul are all me. “The works of the Wardens are to be lauded. We now work with one another to see it protected and safe from the predations of our foes. High Justiciar Khalai, rest assured that your people have saved all the souls they strove to save. Now, I ask you to do so again. One. Last. Time.”

Khalai bowed his head at my words.

“As High Justiciar of the Wardens of the Caverns, I swear to save salvation itself from the enemies of the Ancients. Let it be known that we will not stand for paradise to be ever assailed.” Khalai spoke. Doubt was cleared from his mind. Determination replaced it. Telling him that his people did the right thing with the knowledge that they had was the right call. Basically, I gave him an out in that he just received new knowledge to work from and provided more context to the Warden faith. Not contradictory. Just new information for the faith to follow. I’ll need to keep him protected, because the chances of a religious schism were now ridiculously high. Whatever speech I give to the wardens needs to be really, really good. “We will do everything within our ability on this planet to see all souls saved from the predations of the ancient foes.”

I gave a nod in reply to his words, and I was ready to start talking about how to start integrating his people into my lands with limits on how they practice their religion.

Until I noticed Khalai shifting in his seat and giving me sidelong looks.

I sighed.

Let’s get this out of the way.

“The machines of the Citadel are capable of providing what you desire, but know that I will not simply have children for the sake of procreation alone. You must sway my heart to gain my favor.”

I hoped those words would make him hesitate to transform his entire body, but he didn’t hesitate.

“Okay, I’ll see you later and knock your socks off, honey!”

Alright, superhuman physique, mentality, and instincts.

Let’s see how much you can resist being beset by an entire nation of Dark Elves in skimpy clothes that want your babies.

…

Interlude: Harper

…

Rare metal lumps the size of my fist and gems larger than my thumbs were on sale on street stalls.

I rubbed my eyes to try and see if I was seeing things right, but such was truly the case.

“Greetings, anything on the cart of interest to you, lady?” The tender of the stall was sitting down and doing her nails. She was a warden of the caverns. With skin of a deep, dark brown, white hair, and purple eyes, she wore little besides jewelry and a few strips of cloth. “Prices are negotiable, but their base is up on the sign.”

I looked at the sign, somehow expecting real prices, and my eyes nearly popped out of my skull.

They were all about fifty percent of what they should be!

“W-what are you doing!? This is a fortune. Why are you—

“Don’t care for it. I’ll be joining the clergy proper. Everything I sell will be my tithe.” The warden stated, and I blinked. All of this wealth was going to be liquidated and given to the Warden church. My incredulousness must’ve been obvious. She kept talking and addressed it directly. “Can’t take any of this to paradise. Don’t know why I keptt, in all honesty.”

With two sentences, it all fell into place.

“I’ll buy it. All of it.” I told her simply, and she was pleased. With a nod, she held out her hand, and I gave her a bag of currency in exchange. She weighed it in her hand and started to check the coinage by stacking them on her small table. I looked over my shoulder, and my retinue was quick to start storing all the precious gems and metals. “If you know anyone else who needs it liquidated, please tell them to ask for Merchant Harper.”

As soon as I stated my name, the warden’s gaze turned sharply my way.

“Harper! You are part of the ancient king’s retinue!” I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was walking about with my head covered. Gingerly, I took off my hood. The number of gazes on me was terrifyingly familiar. The warden was quick to bow her head. “Please, take your money back! All my former treasures are yours. Please permit me the chance to serve you!”

Despite fearing the sudden change in the calm woman, I decided to nod, and my hand took back my coins.

Damn my instincts to save money!

“Very well, then. Follow me. I will determine your worth.” I spoke, and then my heart stilled as the warden gave a wide smile and reached for the roof of her stall. Two long and wicked blades settled into her hands with incredible ease. Suddenly, I was aware of the fact that many of the Wardens were warriors as well as miners. They spent their long lives fighting and honing their bodies for conflict. I could not afford to disappoint this woman. “I see. I believe you’ve already earned your place. I plan to venture into far lands to spread the reach of our nation. I have need of capable sword-hands such as you.”

I aimed to flatter her, but I miscalculated.

“Then, I shall call upon my blade-sisters. We are all trying to tithe our work to join the clergy, but this is a worthy service to the Ancient King as well.” I cursed myself, as I found myself unable to refuse the opportunity. The gems and gold that they had, which I could gain by just accepting them as guards, were too tempting. “Let us all work hand-in-hand to see the great work of the ancient king completed. Let us work together to ensure paradise cannot be touched by the heretic, the infidel, and the abominable!”

I felt a cold sweat break upon my brow.

I think I’ve gravely miscalculated once more.

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 6

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 6

…

Commissioned by Arksoul

…

Honestly, I’ve kept my antics clear of Europe for the most part, because they were really into investing in reverse-engineering technology and implementing super-science wherever they could. After the first alien invasion hit them, they really buckled down and threw money, titles, and the kitchen sink towards anyone willing to work with them.

A lot of cities were abandoned, everything got centralized into metropolises with shields and planetary defense guns, and the countryside became vast fields tended to by agricultural robots. Transit between cities was through maglev trains the size of buildings and covered in armor. Military bases were embedded into mountains or other defensible terrain and had hordes of robots and planes. Finally, the number of superhero teams running around in armored airships ready to pounce on anything at any weight class was in the double digits.

Yeah, I was sticking to small towns in North America. It was just too large to consolidate, and the heroes and military there were spread too thin. They had an appropriate response, with heroes being only for the top-tier threats. Most criminals with superpowers got apprehended by police in power armor and specialized gear. Heroes were a step below a conventional military response and also beneath a strategic military response.

You’re either street-level or someone who punches alien invasions back to orbit.

Asia was a big mess with dimensional monsters and magical incursions, while Africa and South America were tangling with Eldritch nonsense and some time travel bullshit.

Yeah, I didn’t have any plans on doing anything in either place until I had to.

Dealing with magic, mind-altering powers, and anything involving time was best reserved for re-imaginings.

Maybe after the first eight seasons, four OVAs, and three movies, I’ll start scouting Asia, Africa, and South America.

For now, though, I was in Rome and purchasing gelato.

How much gelato?

A couple of tons.

It seems that my boss liked it a lot.

…

Naturally, people took note of the fact that a suited figure with a head composed of shadow was purchasing gelato with gold coins.

Thankfully, while it was out of the ordinary, Metropolis Rome’s police came armed and armored… but without weapons drawn.

“Good afternoon, signore.” The two armored-up police officers wore blue, interlocking plates of armor that somewhat resembled a modern art piece. Lots of curved and small pieces around the joints. Not many smooth and flat places. I read an article once that the creator of the armor was a specialist in ceramics. The magazine showed the police armor in front of me shrugging off APC rounds, distributing the force perfectly across all the pieces, and dropping the spent ammunition around the officers wearing it, deprived of any propelling force. “May we trouble you for a moment?”

It's really odd to think that I could swing my hand and that armor would do nothing to protect the two peacekeepers.

Anyway, I did my best to play the laudable butler fetching food for his master.

“Greetings, peacekeepers, how may I be of service?” I was pretty sure that neither my boss nor Ebb knew what a butler was.

However, a butler in service of the big bad always lent the big bad a lot of class. A looming palace of dread is intimidating, but it being filled with elite guards and servants willing to throw down with the invading heroes every step to the throne? That tells the audience that there’s more to the big bad than just being evil. They’ve got people willing to die for them, they’ve got servants who can fight like hell in suits or maid uniforms, and if the heroes don’t kill them, they’ll kill the heroes.

It's one thing to invade an empty castle filled with gaudy riches.

Another thing is to invade a castle filled with sharply dressed servants fighting alongside elite royal guards for their master.

Like I said, class.

Anyway, I gave both officers a deep bow with a hand stretched out before raising my head. One hand back, spine straight, and the other above my chest.

“I am afraid that I cannot remain for long. I intend to purchase another four stores worth of gelato to please my master.” I fetched a pocket watch from my chest pocket and examined it before clicking it closed. “I can spare you both five minutes only, I am afraid.”

Both officers shared a look through the dark-red visors that they wore before addressing me.

“Thank you for your time, signore. We would simply like identification and your purpose here.” I faintly detected a burst of energy from their helmets. The hidden officers and the hero waiting in a faraway alcove all relaxed. Sorry, but ambushing me when I can have eyes and Imps in every shadow in an area is pretty much impossible. “You have done no harm. Save for depriving children of some sweets with your purchases.”

“Ah, I apologize. Please accept this restitution and grant it to the children.” A servant reflects their master through their actions. I was tempted to use gold coins, but there’s a thin line between generosity and gaudiness. “I shall endeavor to purchase only half the stores of eight stores. Please use this to apologize to the children who have been deprived of these delicacies.”

I took out rolls of silver coins and placed them on a nearby table into a neat stack of a hundred rolls with twenty coins each.

More than enough to give to kids.

Barely worth a bar of gold, since they were just half an ounce or so.

The officers forgot what they were doing and stared at the stack of glittering silver bound in simple threads for a moment.

Using the senses of my Imps, I found a lot of the hidden officers making noises of surprise.

The nearby hero had the most interesting reaction.

He looked like he was debating on coming forward.

It’s way too early in the series to start introducing other heroes with their own sets of villains, so I gave another bow before raising my head once more.

“I am afraid my master calls for me now, peacekeepers. I must go.” I think an hour doing nothing followed up by going somewhere else to get more ice cream would be good. Freezer 5 was only half full with artisanal gelato but should be enough for everyone—wait a minute. Freezer 5’s barely got anything in it! Five stores' worth of ice cream was barely enough for the boss! Thirty minutes then, and I’ll go through the whole fortified metropolis. “My master is very pleased with the quality of the gelato. I will be returning within the day to purchase more. If you can all be troubled to gather it in one place, I shall pay the creators handsomely for their efforts.”

With that said, I sank into the shadows whilst perfectly poised.

Or, well, as perfectly poised as I could personally manage.

Hopefully, I managed to play the part well enough and give my other persona a bit more character through association.

Robed figures of living darkness are pretty cool, but they’re cooler when they’ve got elite, loyal followers!

…

“And, here you go. An entire platter of sushi fresh from that spot in Tokyo that you like. Not the omakase place, though.”

“Of course not! A true omakase experience is in the sushi shop with the chef! Not takeout!” Ebb was thankfully in a better mood as I gingerly placed the platter of sushi in front of him. At over a hundred pieces and ordered just a few hours ago, it was like a glittering box of jewels arrayed on a black plastic tray with some fake grass, pickled ginger, and wasabi. Ebb practically tore off the cover and took the first bite while I was handing out boxes of grocery-store sushi to the Imps. “Ah, delicious! If there’s one nation that I shall deal with diplomatically instead of with force, it shall be Japan!”

“I’m with you there.” Japan wasn’t a place that I wanted to fight, anyway. With all the chaos in the world, they dove into robotics and cybernetics. Tradition and super-science combined, and now it’s mostly populated by a cyborg population that caters to the needs of humans. On the surface they’re pretty and handsome and in lots of colors, but beneath the surface they’re all more than capable of incredible feats. It’s basically a whole country filled with superhumans in plain clothes. That’s not even considering the fact that their military has even more powerful robots. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve got really strong androids and gynoids masquerading as ‘natural’ heroes. “Let’s stay in North America. Things get weird everywhere else.”

Ebb would probably have something to share about my statement, but he was focused on savoring his meal. No focus on me, the Imps, or TV. Just enjoying every bite of his food, and in between bites, looking at his platter of sushi and emitting happiness as he knew there was more.

I felt the same way about pizza or, really, cheesesteak sandwiches.

I should go to Philadelphia again and just order a ton of those.

Don’t know when that city might get destroyed, you know?

Anyway, I turned on the news after handing out a big sushi dinner for the gang.

North America News Network came online on a big screen at the end of the room.

With a big headline:

‘Mysterious Shadow Creatures Assault Alien Stronghold, and Intercontinental Heroics Association is Defeated!’

“Good evening, this is Barry Vernon. Tonight: a stunning report of a new threat right on our doorstep! Calota, I believe you have more.” It was a classic newscaster duo. Young up-and-comer reporter Calota Lock and older, esteemed reporter Barry Vernon. One appealed to the older folks and their likes, while the other appealed to the other side. “What did the IHA have to say about another blow to their credibility?”

“Good evening, Barry. There need to be some clarifications. The IHA repulsed the initial alien invasion with no military support and was set to completely rout the latest invasion.” Barry had a mustache and combover, as well as a plain gray suit. The conservative parties were against working with other nations. They wanted home-grown heroes staying at home. Working with allied nations meant sending America’s heroes over to foreign countries when there was already so much ground to cover at home. Progressives wanted to work with other nations, positing that they could get more heroes here by working with other nations. I was for the former, since that meant fewer heroes overall and no cavalry riding to suddenly save the Sentinels without proper backstory“. Then, they were informed by another group, the Sentinels of Light, that the threat they normally faced took over the alien’s last stand”.

“You heard it here first, folks. The IHA is a global organization that needs help from third parties but still gets overwhelmed and beaten with additional help”! Barry was the more effusive of the two. He had a deeper tone but spoke quickly and didn’t let anyone counter his voice. He didn’t yell or scream, but it was obvious he was going for no arguments against his points. Calota looked irritated at his statements, and sometimes she would argue, but everything was rehearsed, and they were following a script. “There’s news that Stormrider needed to have a limb reattached, and even some rumors that the Sentinels of Light did all the heavy lifting against the Shadows, while the Shadows dealt with the Aliens! What exactly did the IHA do besides get heroes wounded?”

“Barry, without the IHA, multiple towns bordering the Caribbean Sea would’ve been destroyed by the alien assault. Not to mention only one team of five was sent to finish the aliens off, rather than the entire group.” Yep. The IHA usually operated with overwhelming force. They came in with airships loaded to the gills with superhumans and dumped them onto the battlefield while providing coordination with local troops and fire support. The airships were warped in from all over the world after getting their payloads, and a lot of heroes signed up to be able to help at a moment’s notice. “It’s thanks to them that multiple fleets of aliens were intercepted before landfall with coordination with the navy.”

“If our heroes weren’t spread across the world, they would’ve been able to do the same!”

Barry made a bold claim without any evidence, and I took that as my cue to flip to another channel.

After the first couple of minutes, anything that can be backed up is already backed up, and the rest is just two talking heads trying to insert ideas into other people’s heads.

In other words, it was too boring to bear.

The next channel was more of a constant news channel that gave warnings and information on day-to-day stuff in North America.

The market was trending up, as per usual. America was relatively isolated from the world and enjoyed a high standard of life. Most heroes were brought into the federal government’s fold, trained up, and supported. Some people called it the birth of a new aristocracy, especially since heroes tended to have kids with powers, and those kids basically got a free ride.

But what were people going to do?

Not cultivate bloodlines that can keep the nation safe from interdimensional horrors, magical anomalies, aliens, and more?

Most of the coasts were clear. Just a few kaiju attacks on both seaboards. Nothing that threatened any cities with actual defenses, but a few smaller towns reported being saved by heroes. Even though it’d be safer to stay in cities and behind consolidated defenses, there were still a lot of small towns across America where things could go wrong.

Those were the towns that I was interested in, since I didn’t want to hit places that were already on the ropes.

Robbing a candy factory in a town that’s doing okay will get some attention.

Robbing a canning facility in a town struggling to keep itself up and running is a good way to get a lot of heat on your tail.

Not to mention hitting towns that don’t exist and are places where the government is trying to build secret weapons with all the super-powered scientists they can get their hands on.

I needed to do a lot of recon and work in order to find targets that won’t get a hammer dropped on us but will give me and everyone experience fighting and let us keep growing.

I watched the channel for a bit, took notes on places to look up on the internet, and after that I’ll look into the places that seem promising via my contacts.

The Sentinels sure were lucky.

All they had to do was keep an ear to the ground and pop up wherever I show up on Saturday.

For me, it was a week of building up, research gathering, and validation!

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 16

Apocalypse Reborn: Demon Lord 16

…

With the acquisition of Guardians of the Moon, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Finally, I had the skilled and experienced people that I needed to rule over my holdings.

Better yet, they saw it as me granting them immense favor.

They and everyone else probably thought that I’d want them as elite shocktroopers or something. It didn’t take a genius to see all their current wealth and holdings and put their true worth together. While everyone else was busy killing each other, they were learning how to govern, lead, and build up a nation while staying under the Academy’s radar.

There’s a reason why gaining influence as the leader of the Guardians of the Moon is a big deal. The higher you were on the totem pole, the more the vampire courts were willing to lend you their aid. People only looked at finishing the tree and getting a maxed-out Champion with great gear, but in truth all the nodes leading up to that were great, too. Increased population, gold per turn, research speed, and production were great bonuses, especially at the start of the game.

The problem was the people usually mainlined one court at a time to get to a champion faster, rather than distribute their influence across all four courts evenly.

I didn’t have such intentions.

While the champions that were promised were incredible, I wanted my people to be prosperous and to be elevated to greater heights. The Guardians were to be the bureaucratic backbone of my nation. A bureaucratic backbone that didn’t tolerate corruption, who led from the front,

The fact that they saw it as an honor was just a bonus.

…

Interlude: Celia

…

Power, influence, and respect.

We were given all three in enormous amounts.

Immense swathes of land were placed under the control of each court. Everyone was left scrambling as information poured in and lands were allocated to us near or even inside citadels. Those of highest standing, those who I would’ve needed to invite weeks in advance to meet with, were gone within weeks to settle new holdings and take stock of their new lands.

The lands were rough in shape, the people just beginning to be educated, but the foundation was there. Roads were flush with merchants and cargo carriers. The streets and gutters were clean. Sewers were set, and clean drinking water was abundant. People were at work, industry was rising, and a nation was being born.

There were growing pains and struggles ahead, but everyone who looked upon it knew a singular fact: civilization was being reborn, and the Guardians of the Moon were to be its administrators.

It led to much of their lands and peoples in our territories falling to me.

What should’ve been unthinkable, their lands being consolidated under the rule of others, became a matter of fact.

I received all the power that I could’ve ever asked for, while they became the guiding stars of the new nation.

It was humbling to witness.

But perhaps even more humbling was the truth from the Ancient Reborn.

Why this was all being done.

“The enemies of the past remain. They hold the entire world in their grasp. Within a decade, perhaps two, the defenses will fail, and we must fight against them.” I listened and followed him through the Citadel. The lands and peoples that were given to me by the courts were being consolidated at the arisen structure that now pierced the sky. “The continent must be united under a singular cause, and the might of the Citadels leveraged in full, if we are to survive the coming battles.”

Ayah spoke next. An ancient administrator who saw the end of that era herself.

Not even the oldest of the still-sleeping elders could match her in age.

They only heard from their sires of what happened then.

“With five Citadels in hand, as well as the breadbasket freed of the so-called Academy, it will be of little issue.” She had short black hair and dark skin and followed him wearing a flattering black dress. She hung off his arm like a lover, but she was in truth an artificial construct of immense power. At our first meeting, she was unable to walk into the mansion without a charm to lighten the weight cast upon her. Her strength was immense, but it was her ability to calculate and store information as well as retrieve it that was staggering. “With the final three acquired, we can hold the line until the true strength of the Ancients is unleashed on the world.”

That piqued my interest, but the Ancient Reborn spoke.

“We cannot stand back and wait. There are things out there that may be lost if we do nothing. There are projects of the Ancients out there. Too dangerous to keep here as they were completed, but ready to be fetched now.” Ayah’s eyes widened at his words. I suppose that it was no surprise. He had knowledge from the past, while she was stored away and hidden. “The most important are the Divine Engines. They must not be lost. They must, at least, be secured. And the usage of atomic weapons is too dangerous.”

Atomic was an unfamiliar word to me, and I made sure it was known.

He explained after giving a single nod.

“They are powerful weapons that unleash the true potential of matter by breaking it apart. By breaking apart the bonds that tie them together, tremendous energies are unleashed. Enough to destroy cities with weapons no larger than a wagon.” I almost tripped at the explanation. The thought of such a weapon alone was staggering. The fact that they existed made me wonder how the Ancients could have lost with such powerful weapons at their disposal. My question must have been obvious, as it was soon answered. “There were answers to such weapons when the Ancients’ foes were at the height of their power. Now, we can use them as we wish, but we will not. Their use will surely be detected by foes from the stars.”

The more the Ancient Reborn spoke, the more questions I had.

Thankfully, Ayah seemed just as confused.

He explained without being prompted.

“The Ancients spoke of a being of a vast nation across the stars. Of this world not being their home, but rather forged into one. Here they made a civilization and the peoples upon it when it was once cold, barren rock.” I thought those were mere myths. Tales of creation. That the Ancients came to barren rock upon great ships that sailed the void, then created life on the planet. But here was an Ancient Reborn stating it as fact. No. As the basis of another truth. “I suspect that the attack on our planet was one of many. The fact that none of our fellows have sought us out means that they are unable to do so. The fact that none of our enemies have come from the skies… tells me that they were either defeated or that they are waiting for a sign to come.”

He turned his gaze towards Ayah.

“This is a battle that cannot be won with those great weapons, but there are many others. We will find them, use them, and we will be victorious nonetheless.” Ayah nodded at his words. Her eyes were wide, and a smile formed on her face. Adoration was too light of a word. The Ancient Administrator looked upon him with worship. How could she not? He was one of the people that created her. “Lady Celia, your people are the best suited for this. They are disciplined and need far fewer resources, as well capable of scouring vast swathes of land. There will be a break in the storm wall in the east. When it opens, an expedition to the lands beyond will be sent.”

I seized the opportunity given to me.

“I shall find strong companions and advisors and go with them.” If I do nothing, I will find my place under siege. The courts are now hard at work, but with time they will establish themselves, and they will find every reason to take my position from me. That will dilute the power of our people far too much. I had to remain as impartial as I could and retain power for the Guardians of the Moon. Everyone else was thoroughly on board with the Ancient Reborn. I had to be a bastion for our people just in case. “Rest assured, if there is something to be found out there, the Guardians will recover it and return it to these lands.”

The Ancient Administrator looked at me with surprise and then satisfaction.

My declaration must have pleased her.

The Ancient Reborn nodded at my words as well.

“Go forth and pry from the darkness the light that will lead all the peoples of this realm to the future… and perhaps beyond. I entrust this task to you, Lady Celia.”

I bowed my head at his words.

Some would say that I was making a mistake to not trust him completely.

However, as nearly all the Guardians of the Moon seemed entranced by him, someone needed to be cautious.

I will take on that task and make sure to watch him from an unassailable position.

…

Interlude: Khanrow.

…

The Guardians of the Moon entered our society, and much like a key fitting perfectly into a lock, they opened the door to magnificence once only held by the Academy.

The Vampire Counts were reclusive and unknown. They held swathes of land in the north and coordinated with one another to grow in spite of the Academy’s wishes. I knew that they were a powerful force of order in the age of warlords. A force that rescued people, kept knowledge secure, and protected many. The limit of their reach was their small numbers, and they knew that rousing incredible amounts of undead would turn the people away from them, and so they devoted themselves to smaller holdings, which they would grow year by year over the course of their immortal lives.

The Academy judged them too slow to be a true threat, but the Academy was gone now, and the Guardians were given half of a continent and all its peoples to administer and protect.

They took to the task like birds take to flight.

They were in their element, and their talent was undeniable.

Shelter, food, and cleanliness were what we achieved with our massive influxes of people. It took all we had to assign work, to reap taxes, and to make sense of our population as it grew and shifted. The population of the Academy mostly stayed put, but many still went to the Citadels. Tribes of all peoples came to our lands seeking better lives. Every day we received thousands of people and brought them into the fold, and we did our best to provide for them so that they could work for our sake.

The Guardians of the Moon arrived with their undead retainers and began to refine the rough gemstone that was our nation.

Untiring, disciplined, and principled bureaucrats.

Within weeks, homes were created, lands were assigned for farming, and schools were set up. Within months, industry was moved out of the cities to be downwind and downriver, with any tributaries clearly marked, and factories began to churn out goods for the populace. Vast swathes of farmland were cultivated with the help of skeletons, while mines were first gouged out of the ground by vampiric mages. Clerks were trained in the meantime, and once trained, they were placed where they were needed and supported by the Guardians.

Soon enough, reports started to come in, information was at our fingertips, and we found where we were lacking and thus were able to act.

We thought that we already had a fine system, but they unveiled everything without shaming us and put themselves to work fixing all that they found with our aid.

Then, with any time they could spare, they spread trees, gardens, and places to rest all over the cities. Some brought their extensive collections of artifacts and opened museums to showcase the past. Others endorsed troupes of musicians or playwrights while creating venues for them to be heard in public parks. Once enough people were capable of reading, they shared their libraries filled with knowledge from across centuries, with copies made in the Citadel from books they carefully preserved.

Their inclusion was the turning point.

Our new home went from a gathering of people under one king and turned into a true nation that befit a reborn Ancient.

It was quite entertaining to see my granddaughter return from meeting with the Wardens of the Caverns with a new Citadel and find a realm transformed.

“This was dirt the last time I walked on it.” Morgan noted. Gone were her large glasses. She bore her face proudly and even swept back her hair. She was clad in plates of white armor forged in the Citadel, and the insides of her cloak were covered in weapons. The brief trip outside the realm allowed her to transform. She no longer wished to hide. She bore the symbol given to her by the Ancient Reborn with pride over her heart. “How was this possible, grandfather?”

“While you were swaying the hearts of the Wardens, he brought all of the Guardians of the Moon into the fold. Instead of taking them as warriors, he took their ability to manage their fiefdoms.” A sharp smile came upon her face at my explanation. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and felt contentment. I knew that she was skilled and powerful, so her changes were not new to me. Instead, I was pleased by how she was now trusting others. Even if that was only one person. “They work now to better the lands for all our new peoples.”

“And how do cleaner roads and better homes prepare us for the conflict ahead?” My granddaughter brazenly questioned me. She knew the answer. It was clear in her eyes. I almost laughed as she prodded me for an answer. “Well, grandfather, how do you see this as a former warlord?”

“If I were a young warlord, I’d see it as a weakness. A land that puts money into roads does not put it into troops. At my age? I see it as a land to be avoided. Not one person here would abandon their homes, and they would fight tooth and nail with their bare hands to keep them.” I told her the truth. That was what I saw as a warlord. She raised an eyebrow, and I chuckled as I answered her unsaid question. “As a citizen of this new land? I enjoy walking the new streets and hearing children playing in the parks, and if anything threatened this land, I’d do everything in my power to kill it.”

Morgan smiled at my words before looking around the city with the same smile.

“I feel the same.”

V11: Chapter 3

V11: Chapter 3

…

Some game developers called a few cosmetic and stat changes to a faction DLC and called it a day.

Not my game devs.

A modding kit was one of the first things released with the game. New factions, cheats, and everything can be downloaded to a specific folder in the game, then activated in specific sequences in the game. People can make whole voiced campaigns with their own custom factions. Multiplayer lobbies just need everyone to have the same mods, and they can co-op on those campaigns. Some people made entire games using the modding kit, and the devs just let everyone play around in the servers.

But I’m getting away from my point.

This game had supporter DLCs that gave new models and some glamour for champion weapons, but that was just to support the company while they developed the real content.

Expansions.

Every expansion came with revamps to the entire system, new units for every faction, a whole new campaign, a crisis, a whole slew of new events, and some new wonders. The base game had only one crisis, no intrigue layer, a dozen wonders, and pretty vanilla units. One expansion turned the game into a different beast entirely. Building off each expansion, the devs slowly unleashed the game that they wanted to make but didn’t have the time, money, or audience for when they first started out.

I should’ve figured those crazy motherfuckers weren’t finished with the last one.

Unfortunately, the fact that there was a fourth expansion meant that everything was officially off the freaking rails.

It meant that there was likely to be a fifth crisis lurking around somewhere.

It meant that there were units, wonders, and technology that I didn’t know existed.

It meant that there were events that I couldn’t guide my faction through.

Were there still only three Divine Engines?

Did they each only have three lines of upgrades?

Were there new artifacts and weapons out there?

Was I missing out on benefiting from an entire freaking system that I could’ve been using this entire time?

Could all my decisions up to now have been leading me to an early grave?

I didn’t know.

That fact terrified me, but at the same time there was a thrumming in my heart.

Excitement.

Despite all the possibilities, despite the fact that it was possible that I could get fucked over, I was excited.

It’s been nearly three decades since I last played my favorite game.

And, now, it’s like it’s risen up from the grave to give me something familiar but new to enjoy.

It’s the worst, but it’s also the best.

The ‘best’ part will probably wear off in a week, and I’ll become even more paranoid, but I’ll do my best to enjoy it for now.

…

With the potential existence of a new crisis, as well as the need to acquire the rest of the Citadels to finish the ‘great work,’ I kicked off a contingency plan.

A mandatory period of conscription along with the creation of new factories to build up weapons for them to use.

Now, you might be wondering why I didn’t already have factories churning out weapons.

The answer is that the weapons I wanted the masses of my population to have experience with just became possible to mass produce. Going from breech-loaded muskets to semi-automatic rifles and machine guns takes time, especially when I wanted WW2 small arms rather than WW1. There’s also the caveat that I didn’t want any parts of the weapon system to be manufactured in any of the Citadels, including the machines involved in making them.

We weren’t just making guns but the entire supply line for those guns. Steel quality needed to be improved. Primers and gunpowder needed refining. Lathes needed to be made to cut through and rifle the new steel. Trigger and blowback mechanisms needed to be made from the new metals and tested. The resources for this production line needed to be secured, the people who’ll be manning the factories sourced, floor plans needed to be made, and everything had to be tested.

These were weapon systems that I wanted to use to win against the entire world, and barely three decades ago blacksmiths and alchemists were skilled professionals; a village was lucky to have two or three of them.

Anyway, the weapons were good enough for mass production to train the masses with, so mass conscription was a go.

Naturally, it started with an understanding of the current population.”

“Two million here. One million in every other Citadel. Two million in non-Citadel municipalities. Adult population only.” Ayah read the statistics off. It wasn’t what I wanted. 7 million adults sounded like a lot, but the vast majority were already working. I put everyone that I could to work. My main interest was in their children, but the vast majority of incoming young adults were still three years away. We had high population growth. People were encouraged to have kids, and we took care of them in boarding schools. People paired off, had kids, and enjoyed none of the responsibilities that having children entailed. That was a big boost, but those kids still had to grow. “Within the year, that number will be supplemented by three million Iterants, given our new focus.”

“Ten million mortal souls again in the world.” It was a nice and neat number. Pleasing to think about. Again, though, most of that population couldn’t just be taken out of the picture, given a gun, and trained up. Then, there was the fact Britain and France had like fifty million people for their armies during WW2. As for the two hyperpowers that rose to prominence after the war, America had 120 million and the Soviet Union nearly had 200 million in terms of population. Since I intended to live, I had to be mindful of what came after all this conflict.   “A fine starting point, but we will need more.”

Ayah opened her mouth to speak, but I raised my hand.

We’ve been through this before.

“The Iterants are not to be turned into an army. You and your people are needed everywhere. More importantly, you all should have a choice.” A part of me really wanted an army of shapeshifting terminators. Just focus on biological and chemical warfare, supplement them with magic, and go crazy with melee troops with ridiculous armor values and high DPS. But after all these years, the Iterants were far more valuable as people. People that were happy to work, who didn’t need food, and when not expending their power in combat and infiltration, could produce two more Iterants each in a handful of months. I was styling it as giving them choices and treating them well, but the numbers were clear: my nation is better off when they’re working and producing than dying in droves and fighting. “Now, let’s move ahead and go over plans for the mandatory draft.”

Ayah gave a prim bow at my words and went back to telling me of our census.

My mind, though, turned towards what was to come.

We had militias established all over our territory. We encouraged our population to volunteer time with local militias and learn how to use and maintain small arms. Local armories and militia commanders were Iterants vetted by Ayah, so the militia forces weren’t any sort of threat. In militias, people were taught to shoot, how to march in full kit, and listen to basic orders like hold ground, fire, and retreat.

They were mostly meant to provide support fire for our legions of Citadel Guardians meant to bog down the enemy in melee.

At most, I expected them and the Citadel Guardians to heavily attrit enemy forces in our lands with support from various strongpoints in defensible positions.

We were going to start churning out armies now.

The mandatory draft was going to be a massive recruitment and training effort. We couldn’t take all the males of military age without straining our infrastructure and massively committing our fabrication capacity to paying the soldiers, but we could still afford a massive buildup of 80,000 armed soldiers. Half of them were going to be trained up to be flying bombers, artillery units, and cavalry, but the vast majority were going to be general infantry. Semi-automatic rifles, a bayonet, primitive grenades, and green combat fatigues with another twenty more pounds of equipment. Some units will be testing our submachine guns, and I wanted a machine gun or two for every twenty men.

Ten months of training, including two months to acclimatize to being given enhancements left behind by the Ancients.

This was the culmination of years of work and effort starting from my search for ancient weapons while I attended the academy, and as I personally directed the research of all my universities. It was the reason why I had such a small force all these years.

Again, unlike the game, I didn’t just magically get the ability to churn out the weapons that I researched after I finished researching them.

So, with that fact in mind, I wanted to make sure that when I committed to churning out an army, I would have them armed with the weapons needed to win the coming war. I could’ve gone with more research into magic, invested in the production of golems, researched the use of magic for agriculture and for industry, gone for more aerial units, and more. Instead of being at the cutting edge of those fields, I had scholars just keep the research alive and going to give some of us some of the early-game benefits, because more than anything… I knew what I really needed was a lot of firepower in a lot of hands.

Breech-loaded armor-piercing cannons that can be pulled by horses or pushed around by infantry.

Semi-automatic rifles just shy of big-game calibers.

Submachine guns that rattled out pistol rounds with enough punch to knock a man down.

Machine guns that can be lugged around by a gunner while another brings along links of ammo.

I basically maxed out the tech tree for my basic units because I can make the most of them. One in four people had the potential to be living, magical artillery as a mage, but everyone can be taught how to shoot a rifle, crew a machine gun, and load and aim a cannon. Not only that, but I hoped that they could also be taught to fly biplanes and crew long-range artillery.

I could only hope that it was the right call, as we were committing ourselves to manufacturing them all in truly massive quantities.

It was a ton of risk, but if it worked as I expected it to work?

The reward was that we’ll have a slim chance at actually winning, rather than just surviving.

…

Interlude: Riegert

…

Experimental weapons.

Our king had asked us to bring some along for field testing if time permitted.

It was to be my first sight of the future of conflict.

A mere fifty soldiers were sent with their weapons against an outpost of the Stymphalians. They were supported by a few Conquerors who were not instructed to interfere unless lives were at risk.

The outpost was manned by nearly a hundred Stymphalians, and they held reign over an outlying length of forest between their lands and that of the Ascendants. The forest was thick enough to give them an advantage against Ascendant raiding parties, but the Ascendant scorched the earth in the surrounding lands to deny the Stymphalians from growing more of their infernally large and strong trees.

An Ascendant ‘Dagger’ of four of their warforms was destroyed by the hundred warriors of the outpost.

Judging that the outpost would likely sight our expedition as we passed through, it was set up for destruction with magics replicating the weapons of the Ascendants.

That way we could continue on our journey while the Ascendants and Stymphalians fought against one another.

I expected the experimental troops to succeed but require aid from their Conqueror auxiliaries.

Instead, I found myself watching them lay waste to the outpost.

“If you told me that those were fifty mages two decades ago, I’d have believed you.” Oswald observed by my side with his own pair of binoculars. I watched through my own.   The fifty men we sent in had adopted an L-shaped formation around the outpost. They took cover, sighted the large building built into the large tree, and opened fire with a withering deluge. “It’s like I’m seeing a thousand men firing. Not fifty.”

“It’s the new weapons. The automatic guns.” The new weapons were robust. Even with enhancements to their bodies courtesy of the Ancients’ gifts, those charged with carrying the weapons and ammunition had many complaints. It looked like a box with handles on one end and a barrel out the other. It fired munitions of the same caliber as the Conqueror’s Citadel-forged cannons, but manufactured by our own people. Brass ammunition with steel tips nearly the length of a bottle. I doubted that they would complain about their weapons now. It roared a continuous stream of thunder, and the wooden, hanging building came apart in large chunks. “They’re devastating.”

Only two of the weapons were with the fifty men, but I could tell the initial barrage of two ammunition boxes, or one hundred rounds, was devastating.

The building turned into a ruin in but a few minutes, and both flesh and chunks of wood fell to the ground after the barrage.

The remaining Stymphalians tried to charge out from their broken outpost to avenge their comrades, but that’s when the rifles began to bark. A steady cacophony of cracks in the air resounded as forty men fired a barrage of fire into the descending Stymphalian flock. The flock in question came apart at the constant stream of fire from overlapping fields of fire.

“Some are getting through.” Oswald observed. The veterans or elites of the Stymphalians used magic to create barriers of wind. The rifle rounds punched through but did not kill, as they were tougher than their younger compatriots. “I think that’s where the smaller automatics come in, correct?”

“Correct.” I nodded and kept my gaze towards the last of the Stymphalian outpost. Of the hundred that inhabited the building, only a dozen remained. They had reached fifty stride-lengths of the group, mere seconds away from using poison and magic to kill our men, but then the last remaining eight soldiers fired. From our distance, it was like the sound of a clock ticking right next to our ears. The small automatic weapons put down a barrage of lead that pushed back the last of the outpost. Grenades were then thrown to shower them in flames that set their wings alight. They fell to the ground… and the rifles were already done reloading. “It’s over.”

I put my binoculars down and took a deep, calming breath to try and slow my racing heartbeat.

In the next ten years, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were to be armed with these weapons and set off to war.

Despite all that I knew of our enemies, I could only wonder one thing:

Were the remains of the Ancients' foes really strong enough to push back against the monsters that the King of Wisdom has created?

As a Househusband, Awareness is Required (1.5)

As a Househusband, Awareness Is Required (1.5)

…

Commissioned by Ichypa

…

The trip back to the Namgoong Clan was as uneventful as trips in a world full of cultivators and demonic beasts went.

The guards stopped three demonic beast attacks.

A first-rate warrior went off to deal with bandits with a squad of second-rate warriors.

One of the villages we entered actually had some miscreants causing trouble, accidentally picked a fight, and got their shit kicked in by another first-rate warrior.

One week of travel required three encounters with dangerous beasts that can rip apart iron armor, dealing with bandits, and the disassembly of a small prostitution ring.

It’s really no wonder why nothing has advanced for countless years.

Trade, the flow of people, and even the sharing of knowledge were heavily constrained. It was nearly impossible for a regular person to reach the neighboring town by themselves.   One li was half a kilometer. Our caravan travelled twenty li a day on dirt roads. We had a cartographer, guards, a few warriors, and supplies to traverse ten kilometers a day.

We didn’t even carry anything valuable, yet we attracted attention and threats for being possible meals.

A regular merchant trying to ply their trade will need to hire guards and warriors. That’s an extra cost of doing business that knocks out a lot of competition from the very start. Even if all the beasts who are attacked can be loaded up or processed, you’ll need to pay the guards for their work or give restitution to their families for falling. If you’re a poor judge of character, you might even find the people you hire to be untrustworthy, thus leading you to being killed or getting everything stolen from you.

Which was why most of the Orthodox Clans made their money by acting as guards and protecting the people. Whole associations worked together to hire clans as protectors for their journey. They made up for the cost with volume and dispersing the price to all their members. The Orthodox Clans bring in money, they use that money to improve the clan, and they get more warriors and people who can do other things like purge populations of demonic beasts, guard towns, or take down dangerous beasts for materials.

But there’s a big problem with this relationship.

Improving the situation by fixing the problems will take money away from the Orthodox sects.

Better roads meant fewer days spent guarding caravans.

Fewer demonic beasts in the surrounding area meant guards wouldn’t be needed.

More output of goods and materials will mean more supply than demand, thus a lowering in prices, especially as more merchants get in with lower costs involved in becoming a merchant in the first place.

Fixing the problems with traveling by making things safer and better for the common people leads to less money for the Namgoong clan.

Less money for the clan means fewer warriors and talented individuals who can face the Unorthodox Sects.

So, why should the Namgoong clan make things safer?

It doesn’t bring in money and might even make the Namgoong clan weaker in the long run.

But a sufficiently large project achievable only by the Namgoong clan?

Say a massive length of road that would require frequent protection but would invigorate trade so much that it would be worth it?

A stretch of road between the Demonic Sect and the Namgoong Clan, for example?

That might just be worth it.

…

Interlude: The 7th Sword Saint of the Namgoong Clan, Seol

…

Winter passed, the Heavenly Demon sent his sons and daughters my way, and I defeated them soundly while they faced the warriors of Namgoong and found those who were lacking.

To my great shame, a mere handful of my cousins could challenge the Heavenly Demon’s children.

The number of those who could eke out a victory could be counted on one hand.

With our newfound wealth, and in an effort to cultivate my own skills by training others, I dedicated myself to training my peers.

It was halfway through spring when I realized that my fiancé was also hard at work.

The constant comings and goings of the Demonic Sect’s people had drawn attention initially, but they became a constant soon enough. Everyone became focused on contests against one another in the form of spars. Though I could soundly defeat all whom the Heavenly Demon sent, my victories against them were hollow, and the Namgoong benefited more from having warriors that could stand against the younger children of the Heavenly Demon.

Time passed with me training them, and so I unnoticed the great work behind the scenes conducted by my fiancé with the help of his father and my grandmother, the first of the elders.

It was a road from the Namgoong Clan to the Demonic Sect.

To be built, guarded, and profited from by both the Namgoong Clan and the Demonic Sect.

Nearly three hundred li long, it was composed of smoothed stones with gutters and areas for rest that would be maintained by our two families. It went close to territories of tenacious beasts, but the rest areas also served as places for hunters and trainees to rest as they learned to fight and gather materials from those territories. The road snaked through many dangerous locations, finding the most advantageous places to traverse for defenders, and connected the Demonic Sect and the Namgoong clan’s lands.

Where there once was nothing, there was now a bustling path that brought the two lands closer together.

Close enough that merchant associations on both sides were able to trade with one another, thus bringing wealth into both lands.

Wealth that found its way to both the Namgoong and the Demonic Sect.

Wealth that brought more strength than I believed possible.

“Virtues and merits carry mortals into legend and myth, but it is food and gold that sustains people in the present and permits them into the future.” I spoke to Grandmother about the matter. Though she was not an esteemed martial artist, she was trained to support the head of the Namgoong from the moment she was born. She has forgotten more in the management of the clan than I knew. “In truth, child, what you see now is merely the Namgoong being granted succor from the tragedies we endured in the conflicts that took my husband as well as your parents.”

My brow almost furrowed at her words, but fearing her raised hand, I kept my features composed.

The head of the Namgoong Clan must be like a storm.

Indomitable and beyond the reach of others, until the moment when lightning must strike.

My grandmother sniffed, barely pleased with my ability to keep calm, but made no motion to strike me with a dreadful chop to the head.

“I believed the Demonic Sect meant to shame us, initially. They sent their weakest to be your husband. It was when I saw the caravan of gifts that I realized the truth. The Demonic Sect seeks to dominate by being victorious not just in war, but also in peace.”

I was incapable of not furrowing my brow at Grandmother’s words and suffered for it.

When she spoke again, I was holding my head with both hands.

How she managed to impart such stinging pain upon me, despite all my training, I did not know.

“Being victorious in war is simple. You destroy your enemies. Winning peace is to become stronger and to have fewer enemies before the next conflict arises. The Heavenly Demon already has countless rising stars from amongst his children. Now, he seeks to lessen his number of potential foes.”

Clarity came upon me.

Unfortunately, I was unable to stop my eyes from widening at my realization.

Grandmother spoke again, while I was sure that I felt a welt forming upon the welt I already received.

Her precision was unrivaled.

“He has given us his son, who has in turn given us gifts, and now has bound our realms together while both our merchants and his ply their trade. To turn our swords against him now is to turn our swords against ourselves.” Grandmother reached for her tea and took a sip. When she finished drinking, she turned her gaze my way. “We are not yet bound by written contract nor any oaths, but that will come with time. The boundaries between Orthodox Sects and Unorthodox Sects will come apart by the time your children begin to show their worth. We will have to work hard to remain independent of the Demonic Sect.”

“What work is that? What can we do to retain ourselves?” I asked, intent on learning what must be done, only for Grandmother to suddenly, eerily smile at me. Making sure that I kept my face calm and that I sat straight across the room from her, I narrowed my gaze ever-so-slightly and directed another question her way. “Grandmother? What pleases you so?”

“Daft girl, who wouldn’t be pleased to know that they have great-grandchildren on the way?” She snickered, a truly disconcerting sound, but that mattered little. My stomach dropped, and my face felt as though it were suddenly aflame. I had… I had just accepted the matter of having children with Rui as an inevitability! Grandmother shook her head and cleared her throat, while I tried to suppress the blush on my face. “Indeed, though, that is good news. You will need at least three children. One that is supremely talented may be vied for by both the Namgoong and the Demonic Sect. The second can suffice to keep the lineage going strong. Finally, a third in case the Demonic Sect wrests the first from us, and if the second falls to combat.”

The thought of failure never frightened me. If I failed, then I would simply have to try once again.

The thought of dying never crossed my mind, as I would only fail against an individual of truly immense strength if I fought with the future of the Namgoong Clan on the line. For any other lesser reason, I would flee.

Grandmother saying that I should have multiple children, as some may die or some may be taken away, created a pit of terror in my stomach that I could not put into words.

It made me wish to run out to the nearest training ground and train until my hands bled and my heart begged for me to stop.

The thought made all my suffering and pain to gain my current strength seem infinitely small.

Grandmother’s voice, usually so strict, reached me as a soft whisper that was full of care.

Bringing me back from the edge of the madness that I teetered upon.

“Seol, your children will have more than you ever had. Not only that, but they will pull from the Namgoong and the Demonic Sect. They will outshine within the first two decades of their lives. I know this because this is what happened to me.” Grandmother’s chiding was filled not just with sagely wisdom passed down but also with experience. She had watched her children outshine her and her grandfather long ago. Even though they were taken by the fires of war, their strength and talent were still clear to her. “What matters is that we work to give them all the advantages we can to face the world as they confront its blessings and perils.”

I could only nod meekly at her words, and for once she did not rap me upon the skull with the edge of her hand for not acting as the head of the Namgoong Clan.

The moment soon passed, however, and Grandmother began to lecture me once more.

…

“I expect to have at least three children for Clan Namgoong.”

Well, that’s a hell of a way to start a conversation.

“I understand. I will do all that I can.” It made sense. None of my brothers and sisters had children yet. Father might be interested in someone of our bloodline with the Namgoongs. It goes without saying we can’t oppose Father’s whims if he wishes to teach our child. A second heir was necessary for that, and the third was just good sense in a world filled with so much danger. Father could also poach one child, maybe two, but three was atrocious enough that a traditional stickler like him would never do it. Thus, I believed that ‘at least’ three children for the Namgoong Clan will entail at least five. I made sure to clarify that I understood what she meant. “I hold to qualms to your expectations, even if you wish to have up to six.”

The Namgoong clan’s heiress didn’t even blink at my words. On her beautiful features there wasn’t the slightest twitch. A stoic ivory mask that betrayed no emotion.

Only beauty and grace.

The silence that followed made me think that I did something wrong, so I bowed my head to her slightly from across the tea table.

The garden and patio setting were fairly nice, but I’d still mind it if I got beat up or killed in it.

Anyway, I suspected that the Namgoong clan expected more children from me. It would make sense. They took a lot of casualties from the previous war, and they constrained their current generation greatly. It seemed like they didn’t want to just recover their strength from before the war but also go past it.

More children will also mean more alliances with outside clans and even the creation of subordinate houses in the Namgoong clan.

Yeah.

The more I thought about it, it was stupid to suggest just six.

So, I raised my head and assented to the Namgoong clan’s desires without any hesitation.

“Of course, I hold no complaints if more children are desired. I only ask that all our children be treated fairly no matter their number. I will do my utmost to ensure that they shall also want for nothing regardless of their number.”   Father had the luxury of being the most powerful man in the Demonic Sect; thus, he owned all of it. It was easy for him to raise hundreds of children to great heights of cultivation. I will need to find more methods to make money and embolden the Namgoong. I see. They’ve taken my measure and are now set to work me for all that I was worth. Since I wasn’t getting sent out to die, I saw no reason to back down. “I assure you, my dear fiancé. I shall fulfill my duties for as long as I am able and for as many as you wish.”

Thankfully, at those words, Seol nodded her head.

Man.

It’s really crazy how she can demand all that without hesitation or even the slightest bit of embarrassment.

I really can’t compare to martial artists like her and Father.

Their sensibilities are completely different from the norm.

…

Mini-Interlude: The 7th Sword Saint of the Namgoong Clan, Seol

…

As long as he is able!?

As many as I wish!?

He’ll support them all without favoritism and cherish them!?

How depraved is my fiancé to have such desires!?

And why am I so giddy at those words?!

V11: Chapter 2

V11: Chapter 2

…

Interlude: Khanrow

…

I looked upon the carcass of the creature before me before looking to my adjutant.

“This is a young man of only six years of age?” The Merchants of the Marsh were inconsiderate of the ramifications of rediscovered technologies. Their alchemists and scholars toiled away in hidden lands and unleashed monstrous things upon the world. Enhancements passed down by the Ancients were difficult enough to accustom soldiers to, but the Merchants used the technology of the Scholars of the Skies and experimented with bizarre alchemical concoctions at the same time. “This is more a golem of flesh composed by mad alchemists.”

The creature was bereft of any hair and covered in muscle. The only sign that he was of the Canine Tribe was unfurred ears on his head. The clawed and furred limbs the tribe usually sported were replaced by bronze limbs bolted onto the rest of his torso. In his opened chest, there were two hearts, one of flesh and the other of metal. One of his lungs was a canister with a pump in it, which was connected to a valve on his chest, which had held a vial of some concoction that we sent back to be studied.

The whole body was like that of our soldiers. Musclebound and strong, but there were also innumerable cuts and inlets for concoctions. This dispatched ‘agent’ had a whole satchel filled with various vials with which he could inject himself at great speed. His bones were bound and reinforced with metal, and we even found a device lodged into the back of his skull that interfered with a mechanical eye that replaced his left.

“Indeed, the mages have verified it thrice over. This is tangible proof of Sarala’s suspicions… and his Majesty’s foresight.” I nodded at the Iterant, taking note of her unsaid praise. Their estimation of the King of Wisdom has grown to near fanaticism now. They may not hold every office or position of power, but they were also within reach of it. They would all do as he commanded at a heartbeat. An impeccable act of foresight given the nature of our enemies within and without the continent. “The Merchant’s attempts to mass produce powerful soldiers have borne fruit. If they are finely armed and armored, then they will make for fearsome foes.”

“They’ve found a way to make their coin go far.” I admitted the truth. The reports I received on this creature resembled a group of skilled warriors fighting against a Conqueror rather than a Merchant. Their bones were nearly impossible to break, they regenerated swiftly from shallow wounds, and even deep wounds swiftly ceased to bleed. They were fast, strong, and had quick reflexes. Not enough to surpass an ambush by trained marksmen and skilled swordsmen, but with training and better equipment? We may have failed. “Send this body back for study. We need to determine how to deal with them.”

The Iterant gave a nod, and I bid her a quick farewell before leaving the room.

Just a few steps afterward, and I was at a bustling street of the Merchant’s capital.

The stench of the place was pervasive. Damp furs, unwashed bodies, and the runoff of businesses combined into a mélange that made masks necessary. Those with wealth could afford masks with filters and covers for their eyes. Those with less could afford a mask and replace them every few days. Those without tried their best with rags, but every so often their vomit would add to the mélange.
The activation of the Divine Engine of Life cleared the air, but there were no trees or plants in this section of the city that could provide succor. Parks and such only existed in the wealthier areas… and those were too closely watched for work to be done.

I made my way to a stall three blocks away.

Back home, I would’ve passed people at leisure, people eating a meal, or people simply conversing with some drinks at a small shop. Here there was only the constant rush of bodies. Laborers are bidding lower and lower rates per hour for their work. Contracted employees are doing their utmost to keep their jobs. The wealthiest didn’t walk the streets. They were on palanquins carried by laborers and had guards to protect them.

Coins jingled in my pocket.

Though I spent years understanding their value, knowing what they were, they felt unnatural to me now.

The basis of wealth here was rare metals, and they used coins and printed money to denote that.

It made little sense when Citadels could produce gold and other precious metals without ceasing.

But what made even less sense was that people starved or were without homes here.

I took a seat at a stall for noodles, then ordered liquor. The owner of the stall gave a nod and gave me a tall bottle of clear, refined spirit. The bottle was closed with a small cork and some wax. Despite being as tall as long as my forearm, the liquor was not meant to be closed. Good enough to be used to clean and disinfect wounds, and strong enough to numb the pain.

It cost a single copper coin to purchase, and the same was true for a myriad of other recreational items for consumption.

I took a sip of it. Alarmingly smooth and crisp to drink, but I knew it was more than enough to get a regular man drunk within a few sips.

Meanwhile, in the nearest alley, there were people slumped against the wall and lying still. A few urchins ran in and checked who was dead and rifled through their pockets. What little victories that they had were in vain. When they left, they were followed by some who were merely pretending to be asleep, and their fates would be cruel indeed.

I drank the liquor aggressively and stood up.

My physiology allowed me to be unbothered by the liquor.

Then, I resumed my walk.

This land was worse than the Academy ever was. They practiced slavery on an unimaginable scale. Every person in the slums had debts that they had to pay lest they be conscripted for labor. Those who owned their debt could take them and use them, but mainly they sold the ‘contract’ for work to the state. Women were found and taken away to work off their debts, producing more soldiers and laborers, while men were controlled, changed with machinery and alchemical concoctions, and sent off to fight.

Meanwhile, the true rulers of the Merchants led from their lofty towers, protected by Citadel Guardians, and trained Champions who will do what they bid.

They are the Academy remade into a more brutal and more efficient machine.
With that thought in mind, I entered a tavern, gave the keeper some coin, and asked for a name while giving a phrase.

The brawny, scarred man gave a nod.

“Third room on the left upstairs.” He stated, before moving towards the door. He flipped the sign outside to closed and no vacancy. “You have an hour. Leave through the attic. Tell him he needs to get out without making a fuss this evening.”

I gave him my thanks before going through the doors.

In there was a young man of the Bear Tribe, but not a normal one.

Someone who we believed was an escapee of the Merchant’s secret projects.

At worst, a live subject for our investigation into how they’re changing people.

At best, a possible route towards curtailing those projects until the true enemy arrives.

Though I wished to see them destroyed, the King of Wisdom’s strategy was sound.

It was better for these troops to exist, because they will allow for the Merchants to hold their ground against the nightmares to come.

“You have a job for me?” The young man was no more than nine years old, but he sat on a bed like it was a stool. His frame was massive, and if he stood tall, he’d likely hit the roof of the small room. His muzzle and nose twitched beneath the massive hood of the cloak he wore. “No women and no children, Descendant.”

He saw through my disguise through scent, though I masked it well enough for others.

My gut told me to tell him the truth, and whenever I followed that path, I avoided grave dangers and stumbled onto unforgettable miracles.

Just one miracle, in truth.

“I am a spy working on behalf of the King of Wisdom.” I pulled back my hood. My face was bare and young. None would recognize me. The name Ghor Khanrow was long forgotten. A footnote in recent history. At most, there was a nice statue in a memorial at a plaza that most people simply passed by. “We are in search of the new soldiers being composed by the Merchants of the Marsh. You stepped into our net, but after observation, we found you didn’t operate under the same rules as they did.”

The giant of a child leaned forward at my words.

“And, under what rules do they operate, agent of the King of Wisdom?” I had to wonder if he knew some method of discerning the truth or if he believed my words for some reason that I did not understand. Whichever was the case, there was no reason for me to not accommodate him. “I bid you to tell me what those depraved creatures are doing with my brothers and sisters. I will consider it a further extension of the trust you’ve shown me.”

“They operate out here with the intention of taking over operations deemed illegal by the Merchants. Primarily those who work to smuggle people out of the city.” Citadel Guardians patrolled the roads, but with the current conflict between the Merchants and Forgers, they were stretched thin everywhere else. Conscripted young men acted as hunters, but they were ineffective. So, now, the Merchants sent out their new super soldiers. “They’re dismantling anything larger than one or two trappers making some money on the side. Anything organized vanishes overnight.”

The great, shadowed creature sitting on the bed leaned back.

“That explains the disappearance of a few individuals that I was looking to help me. I had planned to leave within the year.” I wondered how this one was so much smarter and more capable. He was eight years old. Was he akin to the King of Wisdom? “You know of my age, but you seem unsurprised. No. Experienced. I heard tales of the King of Wisdom and how he gained his crown at a young age… but I had always believed he was merely surrounded by capable lieutenants left behind by those who installed him as king.”

I could not help it.

I laughed and shook my head.

“No. He ruled in truth from the moment he took the Citadel. All others raced to simply support him.” I told him the truth, and the great, immense child in the body of a destroyer seemed startled and humbled at the same time. “I thought you may have been born with the mind of an Ancient, as he is said to be. But it appears that you are simply a very brilliant child whose will was not taken by the Merchants as they changed you.”

The child was quiet for a long time, and even when he spoke with a voice like thunder, he sounded very much like a lost child.

“It was painful. Every moment was agony. Those who obeyed were treated better by the small, green men in white. They were the first to get their skulls opened, and they came back changed. I pretended to be dumb, and I left before they could open my mind and turn me into just a weapon like all the others of my tribe.” He leaned forward into the faint light cast into the room by a singular window, then took off the hood on his head. Two black eyes stared at me upon an unshaven bear’s head. He lacked any of the scarring on his skull shown by the other child operated upon by the Merchants. The green men, I suspected, were Scholars of the Skies. “Are you here to destroy their efforts? To see them destroyed?”

I shook my head.

“We’ve judged the current efforts of the Merchants to need to be slowed but not destroyed. There are greater, more terrible threats coming from beyond the continent. Creatures that the Merchants will need these new soldiers for.” Once again, I did not lie to him. A low rumbling sound came from him. An unsettling growl of frustration. I met it with a singular nod of acceptance. “They will pay in time. The scholars and merchants will be reviled through all of history after we take their citadel. Future generations will know that they have taken children and forced them to become machines of war. However, there must be a history to write after all the calamities to come. That is why we have not assaulted these lands ourselves for their citadel. If we did, then we will all die to the foes of the Ancients, whose explorers and spies are already here.”

The growl echoed through the room for a time, but soon enough the child’s shoulders slumped.

“At least, they will be remembered as heroes and warriors. Not as the brutal enforcers that the Merchants intended them to be.” The giant looked at me, and I nodded. “Fine, then. What do you ask of me, agent of the King of Wisdom? What do you intend for my talents?”

“To see if they can be reversed, most of all. We already have the means to undo the improvements made to our soldiers. We’d like to see if the same can be done here.” The child’s excitement at my words was palpable. I had the entirety of his attention. Of course, he was a child that was intelligent beyond his years. He knew that having such changes in his body forever was not ideal. “We would offer that to you first, and after its success, you may become a citizen and live the rest of your life in peace. Perhaps with us making sure that nothing is wrong with you.”

For a moment, I thought he’d accept that offer.

The offer to be normal.

But he said just a minute or so ago that he intended to spend a year here before leaving.

With all his power, strength, intellect, and will?

That pointed to only one possibility.

“I wish to fight against the Merchants in any capacity that you will provide. So long as it is to act against the monsters who dare call themselves our fathers and mothers, I will work with you.” The answer that I wished to hear came forth. I nodded and took out one of two maps I had prepared. The way for him to find a normal life remained in my pocket. I could have offered it, but I did not. “We will never see one another again, will we?”

I shook my head and left the room.

A good asset to have here and to gather combat information from was now at my disposal.

Nothing more and nothing less.

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 5

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 5

…

Commissioned by Arksoul

…

After engaging with the Sentinels long enough with the copies of the aliens, I made a quick getaway. While the other heroes involved in the fight took more damage than expected, I made sure that the Sentinels were able to quickly dispatch my forces. The formatting of the crossover episode went out the window when the heroes couldn’t deal with my forces, so I just did my best to turn the whole thing into a sort of lore episode as to why other heroes can’t help the Sentinels.

Only the power of Light can defeat the Darkness!

Or something along those lines.

Anyway, after skipping around the world a bit, I reappeared under the sea and rose up in the cave we hollowed out under the base. The outside of our lair was dilapidated and cordoned off along with the rest of the island. Some giant monster attack unleashed a lot of radiation in the area. Humans couldn’t do much in the area, but radiation and light were close enough that my Imps could passively get rid of it and give us room to work with. Everyone else sees an abandoned mega-project surrounded by fauna and flora that’s surviving the radiation, but inside we were living it up.

The underground facilities were our own additions, though.

They were perfect for storing stuff, too.

“Alright, you guys, remember to detach the power supplies from the weapons before storage. Also, you all know how to vacuum-seal.” The Imps can wrap around an object along with some plastic and form a double layer that expels air. Once they managed to do that, they were able to store whatever we got our hands on in some boxes. We did some light forestry across the world. Imps made great lumberjacks since their limbs could turn into blades, they could carry immense amounts of weight, and finally could teleport to other locations with whatever they could carry. Cutting up trees and nailing them together took some time, but it was better than buying up boxes. Wood joinery is also easier when you’re working with incredible amounts of strength and have limbs that can cut steel with ease. “Hey, Ebb, how are you doing?”

I made a disc of shadow and popped my head through it.

And I found massive, looming titans wreaking havoc across a city. As big as a city block and as tall as a skyscraper, they were massive blobs of shadow that rolled over and crushed civilization. Any attackers were met with a limb generated of shadow, which promptly smashed through them with speed and mass alone. The aliens were mustering up a powerful defense, smashing titans with lasers from the atmosphere and long-range missiles, but the result was the same as any attack that wasn’t by the Sentinels: negligible damage.

We were weak against the Sentinels.

Weak enough that they could kill Imps by the thousands.

But the Sentinels of Light weren’t here, and these guys didn’t have any heavy hitters that were stronger than the Sentinels even with all our resistances like back home.

Ebb had the run of the place, and I expected him to be aglow with joy… But he loomed over his monsters like a very, very angry god.

He wasn’t sparing any of the aliens here for slave labor.

“Something wrong?”

“The materials and food in this dimension are not conducive to our growth. This place is a testing ground for weapons at best.”

“Well… shit.”

“Indeed.”

I stepped through and looked at what he was observing. The Legion of Shadow took in mass in the form of previously living things to grow in number. Ebb told me that the previous method to growing stronger was to mass-produce grains through enslaved populations. A couple of Imps, some land, some bodies, and some grains, and we can churn out armies. The fact that food was so easy to get on our Earth was a big reason why I could play things cautiously and avoid problems with the big shots that handle universal or multiversal threats.

We steal stuff, cause mayhem, and harvest rare materials to get food to get strong.

If we had an entire world to plunder and consume, we would’ve been much better off, though.

But that wasn’t the case.

“They must be some sort of silicon organism or something. Not carbon.” I approached one of the dead alien bodies. Outside of their armor, they were like smooth, polished, and clear stone with gems inside them. Soft to the touch, but with a bit of force, the surface cracked and broke. Inside was some sort of metallic and silvery liquid. I gathered some shadow and engulfed the thing… And it was like transporting rock instead of consuming something that was previously alive. “Well, I think that we’ll be able to sell these bodies at least. I’ll have Imps gather them up, we’ll exchange them for money, and get food.”

“Food within certain limits, so that we remain unnoticed.” Ebb growled, and a titan roared before turning into a swarm. The other titans broke apart too. Thousands of Imps turned into living, flying, and near-indestructible darts too small to hit with heavy ordnance and surged across the land. “Bah. I’ll crack this world in half and leave it to its end.”

“Maybe… maybe not. They’re not useful as food for us, but we can make use of their weapons.” I found an Imp on ground level and switched places with it. The average alien weapon was pretty powerful. A few shots were enough to destroy armored cars. The power cells they used recharged passively, too. Accurate, powerful small arms that refilled passively with ammunition were great“. I doubt we’ll be able to get anything more than small arms constantly flowing our way, but—

“No. I want nothing to do with these creatures. If you want to go through all the trouble, you shall do so on your own.” Ebb appeared close to me and set its ultimatum down. It knew me. My answer didn’t even need to be shared aloud. I can’t be bothered to set that all up. “Leave this matter to me. I shall excise this waste of my time and derive what little satisfaction I can from that.”

“At least gather some stuff up for us to sell off. If you find a lot of military hardware, leave an Imp there or something.” I shook my head but didn’t complain. If Ebb wasn’t willing to rule over a conquered planet and extract meager resources from it, then that was that. It wasn’t like I could do it. Ebb had all the cards when it came to actually ruling after victory. “Let’s take everything we can get, at least.”

“Go home, Hayes, unless you wish to put this matter up to the Shadows.” The nearest Imp stared at us both at his suggestion. I considered it while Ebb floated and bore down onto me. “Toys and trinkets, or the destruction of life that cannot contribute to our strength? Which path do you believe our true liege will choose?”

The Imp went separate from both myself and Ebb at that moment, then it instead linked itself with us.

In an instant, I became aware of the source of my power.

The immense, powerful entity that took me from the brink of death and offered me a chance to serve as its herald.

I felt nothing but unwavering gratitude for my liege, so I knew the path to take here.

It was the path that wouldn’t endanger our unity.

I raised my hands in surrender.

“No, I leave this to you. I’ll direct some Imps to gather what they can and pull stuff away. You do as you want here.” Ebb fluttered back a bit at my retreat. While I could certainly argue my case, and I was sure Ebb could argue his case as well, I didn’t want to. My expertise was on Earth. Not alien worlds. Certainly not alien words that can give us nothing back. Ebb, as far as I was concerned, was the expert on the subject here. “I’ll see you back home in a few hours. I’ll be going for a grocery run. You want anything?”

Ebb stared at me for a while before speaking.

“Sushi.”

I gave a nod and moved to leave, but then another voice entirely came forward into my mind from the Imp, who I was connected to, rather than the other way around.

Ice cream. Lots.

Tons of ice cream coming up, boss!

…

Interlude: Adam

…

I awoke beneath blinding white lights and a scowling face.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Adam.” I groaned and sat up. Memories of my most recent demise were not pleasant. Pain and agony as people tried to help my body fix me. I asked them time and time again for a strong explosive that could blow apart my head, but they refused me each time. Too much potential for civilian casualties given the yield required. I couldn’t fault them, but I would’ve liked for my body to finish healing before coming back. “You were right. We should have listened to the Sentinels.”

“Nice of you to admit that. It would’ve been better if I didn’t have to take plasma shots and die keeping everyone alive.” Marcus helped me off the medbay bed. I looked around and grimaced. All the beds were full, and there were body bags being carted away. Marcus’s normally cheery expression was gone. His face may as well have been carved from obsidian. “How badly did the extraterrestrials hit the carrier?”

“The ETs did two things: jack and shit. Everything in there was dead and coopted by the Shadow Legion. We were wrong.” He made a motion with his chin for me to follow him, and I did. I wondered why, since I knew the carrier like the back of my hand. Leaving the medical bay told me why. Repair crews were hard at work, and cordons were everywhere. The gentle sloshing of the carrier told me we were on the ocean rather than flying. “Those things were definitely NOT just Tier 5 supernatural entities. They’re tentatively categorized as Tier 2, and the Sentinels have shot up to National Assets since they’re the only answer to those things.”

“Tier 2 doesn’t sound right.” Tier 2 were city killers. Those things operated without pity, remorse, or fear. They took the bodies of the aliens, learned how to use their weapons, and what they broke, they molded themselves into and made to function. That wasn’t even mentioning the titans that surrounded us. Gigantic, living shadows. A couple of them running wild through a city would level it. A wave of thousands of the small ones? Tier 1 sounded more appropriate. “The brass wants to keep things quiet, huh?”

“Too many damn fires with too few big guns to deal with them.” Marcus looked around. Once outside of any work areas and the med bay, he took a cigar from his jacket pocket, popped it in his mouth, and lit it with a spark from his hand. He offered me one, but I abstained. The flavor was good, but I never got to enjoy the hit of nicotine. Purged too fast, like any other drug I took. “The brass wanted contact information on the Sentinels, but they’ve got strong supernatural protections. All our sensors registered them as light. We ‘saw’ their faces and bodies, but we can’t remember a damn thing. Everyone’s hoping it didn’t work on you.”

I paused at those words and tried to remember.

Vaguely, I remembered red hair, a uniform better for a stage play, and then… both faded out.

I was left with an image of a figure composed of light.

“I’ve got a semi-humanoid figure of light on all counts. Changes in shape every time I remember. Damn, that’s scary.” I wasn’t a fan of my head being messed with, but if it was bad, my powers would’ve worked on it. “I’m jealous. I’d like to play the unrecognized hero.”

“You and me both. Having to keep everything public is horseshit.” Marcus groused more as we got into more secluded halls. He was former military and got his powers while in a firefight. He never had the chance. Meanwhile, I woke up as the sole survivor while already in a morgue. We both never had the choice of keeping our powers quiet. “The brass wants everything we’ve got on them and to get them on our side. They’re not going to be happy about not having intel… but fuck them. I might not have seen their faces, but I know they’re kids. Good ones.”

“Everyone’s a kid to you, Marcus.” He gave me a glare at that, but it was true. He was nearing his fifties. He didn’t look like it. He could pull off being a bodybuilder in his prime. It was something to do with his power and how he manipulated energy. I didn’t know exactly what. “Your girlfriends can be grandmothers.”

“When you get older, everyone below thirty is a kid.” Marcus growled before we reached our operations room. He took a long puff from his cigar, cut off the lit end, and stuffed the remaining half in a tube before entering the room. The operations room still looked whole and untouched, with everyone at their stations working feverishly, but I noticed Alexis was missing. “Alexis got flown off. They wanted to get her arm reattached ASAP at a real hospital. She told me to tell you, Thanks for the save.”

I nodded and felt some relief wash over me.

Just like that, all the pain before my brain shut off was worth it.

I kept one of my teammates safe.

I took my seat at the table, and Markus sat down.

Our debriefing was coming, and even though I wanted to sleep, I kept myself awake.

I wanted to know everything about the Shadow Legion.

Just one look at them told me that they might be my one and only shot at dying if I ever wanted to.

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 10).

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 10).

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Word count: 2500

…

With all my newfound strength, I believed myself ready for the challenge of slaying ogres.

I found that I was wrong very quickly.

Each Northern Ogre was thrice my height and had limbs thickly knotted with muscle as wide as my whole body. They were covered in a tough fur, a thick hide beneath that fur, and finally a layer of blubber. Beneath all that was corded muscle as tough as iron, then even stronger bones. They had multiple eyes all over their bodies and a massive mouth on their stomach that they used to eat trees with, and from it they can launch magical flames with a roar.

They were smarter foes than the tales suggested, too. They evaded blows, observed my movements, and made use of tools. They ripped trees apart and made them into clubs, threw stones or snow at me, and even called for help when not killed quickly enough. The creatures cherished their lives enough to be willing to tear themselves apart to live, and they were also willing to flee in order to save themselves.

Failing to kill one would have stronger, older ones find me, and they were experienced hunters armed with weapons of their own making from the bones of their prey.

I thought the day would be easy, but killing one with Alice took a quarter hour.

In the same hour after we killed one, we had to kill another to stay within schedule, and it was an absolutely frenetic experience.

One that I had to rely on my gifted weapon for, as the weapon I brought had shattered as I had imbued it with too much power.

“Mistress, now!” Alice called out, and I heeded her voice. I shot off the ground from my hiding spot and got behind the ogre’s legs. It took notice of me and tried to leap forward and jump away, but it was too late. The gifted blade sliced through the back of its knees. Fur, hide, blubber, muscle, and tendons came apart as the blade passed through, then deep-red blood gushed out and fell onto the snow. The creature fell to its knees, roared, and tried to get up and grab me. “Over here, you fool!”

My sudden appearance distracted it enough to stop searching for Alice.

Allowing her to bound up a tree, bounce off it, and surge towards the head of the ogre with both knives primed.

She sank both deep through the eye sockets of the creature, then called upon her magic, and filled the ogre’s skull with flame.

Alice kicked off the creature as it tumbled forward, but I was already moving.

Before it could fall forward and make the harvest more difficult, I got underneath the falling bulk and kicked it at the sternum. It fell back instead of forward, and once it did, I was upon the creature and carving out its core. Once I was through all the layers of the beast, I reached through the square I cut out and extracted the creature’s core.

It was a deep, ruby red and awhirl with potent energies and hot to the touch as well as the size of my head.

But I did not have time to gawk.

“Alice, here! Take it quickly!” Alice grimaced but nodded at my words. She took the heart of the second ogre we killed in both of her hands while I looked up. As I expected, Lord Trelawney was already descending to pick us up. I grimaced as I flicked the sword aside and the blood of the creature came off. I burned off the blood on my hand and looked at my teacher. “How long did that take?”

“You’re on schedule now. Good job.” He meant it and aimed a raised thumb at us. I dropped off the bulk of the creature, which he proceeded to lift up. With a gesture at all the spilled blood, he gathered everything and froze it into a ball that he lodged into the crevice I created. “Pretty clean kill, too. I’ll be sending this back to your home. A few Ogre tinctures should strengthen your forces. The bones make for good lances, too.”

“You have my thanks.” At the mention of being on time, I allowed myself a moment to take a breath. He threw me a skein filled with the familiar concoction of wine, honey, salt, dried fruits, and water. I took measured sips, even as my body demanded for me to gulp it down. It took much to stop at one mouthful and hand it back. The sight of a hunk of dried meat nearly had me rush for it. I took the meat and chewed it swiftly and consumed it. The emptiness of my stomach was curbed. “Will I feel this way with every kill today?”

“For the first five? Yeah. Ogres are big sources of power. If we had the support system and the time, I’d have you eating a full meal between each kill. We don’t, though.” I had killed and consumed the core of the first kill of the day. That singular ogre’s power and strength filled my body with the same amount of strength as all the previous days combined. It was no wonder a knight who killed an ogre became so strong. It was equal to killing hundreds of lesser monsters. “The last ten will feel like two increases at most. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a mature one. Not one of these cubs.”

The thought of facing a skilled adult of this species did not appeal to me in the slightest.

“Augh, it feels like I haven’t eaten in days.” Alice finished consuming the orb, and her brow was furrowed. Her head was slick with sweat, and her hair was matted to her face. She engaged and lured the creature into the trap. As long as she was the one who consumed the core, it did not matter which of us did more. She grimaced as she looked at the corpse floating up to the sky. “Is there a better way to finish them, Lord Trelawney? Putting two knives into their eyes, filling their brains with flame, and staying there while burning them is far too dangerous.”

“Hm. At your current level… no. Just keep at it.” Alice’s shoulders slumped, while Lord Trelawney looked my way. “You can try going straight for their head, but they’ve got protective magic around it. They just naturally know to wrap their necks up in magic, and they can fight for a while with anything else pierced or cut through. Even their hearts.”

“What if we try the club method again?” I had killed the first one by blowing up my weapon, but in doing so, it had eviscerated everything above the sternum into gore and fragments. The ogre had cornered Alice, so I unleashed all my strength at a singular moment to save her. It resulted in the core nearly being destroyed, a loss of a weapon, and most of ten percent of the carcass lost. “Lord Trelawney, may I trouble you for some assistance?”

“It won’t be pretty, but sure.” He reached with his hand, then the earth at our feet rumbled. A hunk of stone came forth and then was broken apart, and an edge chipped from one side. He took a length of cloth from his backpack and wrapped it around the carved handle of the stone. “Here you go. A stone club with a chipped-out edge. Enjoy.”

It was easily my height, but when I took hold of the handle, I was able to lift it with utmost ease. It was like I plucked a branch from a bush and pretended it was a sword. It was terrifying to know that I could call upon such strength with ease. If I lost control, if I did not restrain myself, then my entire ancestral home would be at risk. The improvised weapon felt like a toy in my hand, but I knew that with a single swing I could obliterate a normal creature with utmost ease.

How was I to live normally after all of this?

Especially when my first, true thought after touching the hunk of stone was that it would not last a single battle?

…

We slew the rest of the Northern Ogres at a decent pace, but upon our return there was an unforeseen complication that delayed our promised moment of rest.

A new ship had docked and left Coastal Fortress Trelawney with a new shipment of goods.

Most were from my family.

Ancestral weapons of immensely fine quality for both myself and Alice, along with more resources and supplies for the fortress.

But it was the passenger of the vessel that drew the most attention.

Chloe Rothwell had met my gaze with wide, terrified eyes before getting onto her knees and bowing her head in apology.

I had forgotten that I called for her.

In fact, I had forgotten that I held disdain for her as she all but begged for her life at my feet.

My thoughts were consumed with the sole desire to bathe, sleep, and eat before tonight’s lesson prior to tomorrow’s battles.

“Get up, Chloe.” I addressed her through her blubbering apologies and picked her up by the scruff of her clothes. She went stiff as she realized that I picked her up with newfound strength, and her eyes were wide with fear as I made her gaze match my own. Alice grunted behind me, reminding me that every moment spent here at the dock was a moment not spent resting. “You are here to earn your place as my retainer once again. If you fail, the Rothwell family will be ousted from my family’s good graces. I am sure your father already told you the truth, so I shall not reiterate it. Grow strong, become ready, and I will forgive your transgressions. Do not fail.”

With my piece said, I dropped her, and she barely managed to clamber up and stand, brushing her dress down and shivering in the cold.

A cold that I could barely notice whilst paying attention.

Chloe shivered in a thick, furred coat. Her hair was cut short just above her nape, while her family’s prized broadsword was on her back. The heirloom blade that I had feared as a child could call upon blades of water that would slice through the air, as well as act as a counter to fire. She was a talented swordswoman who pledged her blade to me… and stood by wordlessly when I was denounced and shamed.

I should have felt angry at her.

I should have felt afraid of her blade.

Instead, I felt only pity for her.

Her lessons were already set to begin.

“You’re behind. We’re going out to catch up now, Rothwell.” Lord Trelawney came forward. His armor made no noise as he made it ‘step’ towards us. As I grew stronger, my senses improved, and the more vast and terrifying was the gap between him and me. He did not have power alone. He had control, skill, technique, and precision. But, perhaps more terrifyingly, he had means and methods that were alien to the rest of the world. Or, perhaps, were alien to all who did not aspire to reach divinity. “We’ll put that nice sword to use.”

Rothwell barely managed to look up before Lord Trelawney seized her and made her float.

He looked my way, and my dreadful curiosity must’ve been evident on my face.

I could see the smile hidden beyond layers and layers of armor thanks to the glee in his voice.

“She’s not coming back until she kills an ogre all by herself. Don’t worry. I’ll give her some assistance.” Just like that, my grudge against Chloe all but evaporated. I understood Lord Trelawney’s methods. A single ogre slain will immensely increase Chloe’s strength. She’ll be able to leave with us, despite being days behind, thanks to her shorter training regimen. But it will test her to the limit. “Don’t worry. As long as her heart’s beating and her brain’s intact, we can put her back together. Aigen owes me, after all.”

Chloe blinked at the words, then looked at me as I grimaced and looked at her with concern.

“Lady Argelia?” She asked with fear in her eyes.

She didn’t know.

If she did, she would’ve shown terror.

“Do not die before you earn my forgiveness. Godspeed, Chloe.” I told her with a small nod before turning on my heel. I spotted Alice looking her way with some concern before she followed me. “See you in a few hours, Lord Trelawney.”

“See ya, princess!”

With that he leapt away, and Chloe screamed as she vanished into the dark, frosty night.

I moved to rest and recuperate from my ordeals when Steward Matthew came forward.

His words shook me to my core.

“Lady Argelia, you have been invited to dine with Lady Aigen this evening at the great hall. Alone.”

I reflexively looked to Alice but found her bounding away towards the stairs.

I felt her retreat more keenly than Chloe’s.

Steward Matthew took note of the despair that I felt, then gave a small bow.

“I have set aside a bath in my master’s chambers, and a dress has been prepared in your wardrobe. And, of course, a meal.” He gestured at me with an open hand. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Aches and pains I had been enduring faded. I realized he was an adept at the healing arts as a particularly tenacious cut on my arm healed. His brow was covered in sweat as he finished, but he had a handkerchief ready to wipe it off. “Give me a few moments, and I shall provide you with more assistance. With Lady Aigen present, I can spare my efforts on aiding you. I had to conserve my power in case of more grievous wounds.”

“You have my most sincere thanks, Steward Matthew.” I gave him a nod, and he bowed in return. Already, I felt better. The ache throughout my body was massively reduced. However, the hunger still remained, and I was more aware of the fact I was covered in bits of cloth, broken armor, and blood. Chloe must’ve thought I was some sort of barbarian fresh from the killing fields. “Please, lead me to the baths. Which dress was chosen for me? The one with the most prominent crest of my house, I hope?”

Please assure me that I won’t be meeting with that madwoman wearing Lord Trelawney’s colors.

Steward Matthew gave a sharp nod.

“I would not heal you simply to see you killed, Lady Argelia. I give you my word.”

His words lessened my burden a great deal.

I was sure Lord Trelawney conveyed the truth to his fiancé, but I had no intention of taking any undue risks with such a powerful sorceress and queen.

V11: Chapter 1

V11: Chapter 1

…

The Goddess of Life’s third perk line was a double-edged sword, primarily because of the fact that it was the best.

Some people in the community said that it’s unbalanced, and plenty of mods make it so that only the faction with the Goddess of Life gets the benefits.
They’re the kind of player that wants multiplayer matches to be restarted when they don’t get optimal tile yields for their first city. They have the shitty mindset that if they’re not born with an advantage, then life is unfair, and everyone else should give up along with them. It’s the equivalent of being reincarnated, finding out you’re a peasant, and offing yourself instead of gritting your teeth and doing something about it.

In other words, I don’t associate with people like them.

None of them even play above normal difficulty.

Anyway, back to their Nature Goddess’s third perk line.

It provided five new strategic resources to the map along with five new luxury resources, which also gave bonuses to your troops if you already had an excess of happiness. Each perk in the line added 1 strategic resource and 1 luxury resource at random throughout the continent, and maxing out the line improved the output of all tiles synergistically with the second perk line. While your enemies also get access to the new strategic and luxury resources, you benefit the most thanks to the 2nd perk line provided by the Goddess.

The first strategic resource and luxury resource pair were Adamant Trees and Bright Grass.

Adamant Trees converted hardwood forest tiles. While giving the same production output as before, the new trees had a bevy of amazing properties. They could be tapped, and their sap could be gathered and turned into a powerful binding agent for metal. If you carve parts and pieces from the wood and then proceed to boil the trees along with their leaves, the wood becomes ‘Adamant’ material, which was the best anti-ranged and anti-explosive armor in the game. Allocating supplies of harvested Adamant to your armies or to your industrial centers either improved the army’s defense or gave you better industrial output.

It's a cheat code for advancing material science. Basically, the trees produced a wonder material that was easy to form and shape initially, but after treatment was lighter than aluminum and several times stronger than steel. My first intention with it was to see how I could use it to make planes more quickly. However, I’ll set my alchemists and scholars on it so that they could figure out its limits and find all the ways that we could use it.

In-game, Adamant Trees just give ten percent more defense to a chosen army or ten percent more production to an industrial center.

Here, in reality, I was sure that it was going to do more.

But Adamant Trees could scarcely compare to Bright Grass.

As the name suggested, the grass in question was luminous. A few blades of grass gave off a warm glow that illuminated the darkness during the night. However, when bound together into a shape, like a ball, and given some magic… they gave off a warm, soft shine. With some dyes, they shone different colors. In-game, they had a 1 in 3 chance of replacing a Plains tile, and if you exploited it with a farm improvement, it gave five Happiness to the nearest city. But if you have positive happiness, you can get the choice to use it for your military and give them lanterns and lights that don’t require fire. In-game, that means no debuffs while fighting at night.

In reality, the Bright Grass was far more incredible than the Adamant Trees. Light meant streets could be lit better during the evening. It meant that night shifts wouldn’t consume so much oil and fuel. Magic was abundant enough that someone could be hired just to touch the bulbs and charge them up for a week. They didn’t switch off, so instead of switch they’d just be covered up with some fabric or a shell of material that’d be removed in the evening. With large enough bundles and some glass, we could also make searchlights. Long-range communication will be easier now, too, as we'll be able to send light signals more clearly by using these guys instead of a fire.

So, with one perk into the Nature Goddess’s last line, new tiles are made all over the continent for people to fight over and use. It let those who were lacking catch up, but those already with power could make better use of both resources.

And I had a little over half the continent at my disposal, meaning that I’ll be getting most of the new resources.

Then, of course, there was also the fact that there were four more new strategic resources and four more luxury resources that operated along the same vein as those two.

In the game, they gave modest perks, but in this new world?

Yeah.

Like I said, with these new materials becoming ubiquitous, we’re going from low fantasy with sci-fi DNA straight into high fantasy.

With the remaining sci-fi involved pretty much becoming sufficiently advanced enough to just be magic.

Yeah.

Needless to say, I wished that I had had the opportunity to prepare for the changes before they took place.

…

The first thing I did after meeting with the Life Goddess was to get to my scholars and tell them to search for anything new, write down their findings, and start investigating everything for advantages. While I had my suspicions and plans, I wanted to make sure there was nothing hidden away and no surprises. I wanted to make use of and exploit all the new assets, but at the same time, I didn’t want to make any mistakes by committing to a resource before finding out that they had side effects that weren’t in the game.

After I did that, I moved back to speak with the Divine Engine.

The Children of the Elm had moved quickly to set up living quarters for their new goddess, but they were outdone by the woman herself.

She made her new living quarters herself in the form of an impossibly massive tree whose trunk held a palace/cathedral at its base.

Where did the mountain-sized, pure white tree come from?

She made it with ‘excess’ power.

Yeah, I really filled her up too much with faith in her ‘power conservation’ mode.

Anyway, the surrounding forest was now the Children of the Elm’s paradise on earth. Nature was flourishing beneath the Great Elm’s canopy. Animals gathered in packs and sequestered themselves in new clearings. Trees transformed and turned into different types and arranged themselves into different biomes. Fields of flowers formed, along with forest paths made of upturned soil and moved stones. Though I did my best to limit the pollution made in my cities, keeping factories and the like downwind and downstream, I could easily tell that the air was better in the new land, too.

There were multiple new lakes forming in the region, too.

They were suspiciously perfect for building resorts in, which made me think that the Goddess of Life had some form of information gathering while she slept.

But that’s enough worrying about how much power she had.

She’s literally called a Divine Engine, and I’ve been channeling faith into her the moment we found her. It was all to be expected.

So, it’s time to move on.

The cathedral/palace was composed of pure white wood that had veins of a glittering gold-like substance. I had a suspicion as to what the tree was composed of, and what that gold-like sap was, but verification would have to come later. Gothic in design, if with wood rather than stone, however the spires and buttresses weren’t plain. Vines and flowers grew from them, and the same went for the walls and columns inside the structure. The base of the columns had springs that provided fresh water, and ever-ripe fruits were close at hand.

Vines hung from the ceiling and created complex lattices while holding bulbs of Bright Grass. They shone light throughout the inside of the cathedral. The aisles were filled with individual seating. Banners, carpets, and even cushions were living plants. A constant breeze flowed through the large chamber, keeping everything cool. The ceiling was a dizzying array of bright flowers in perpetual bloom. Dizzying because they changed every couple of moments in waves.

And, at the end of the cathedral, instead of an altar… there was a great, pure-white throne of white and gold.

Where the Goddess of Light held audience and received prayer.

The whole place felt like an endgame level for some demented third-person masochist hack-and-slash.   Surrounding levels would all be filled with enemies that were bosses in the early stages. All the flowers, statues, and praying pilgrims outside would be the background for loads of fights. The chanting and prayers would be the OST, and it’d just get louder and louder, until you get through the doors, get hit with the cutscene, and BAM:

Pinnacle Cultivator of Souls: She Who Enriches Existence through Living

Goddess of Life and Nature, the Third Divine Engine

Giant health bar appears, Pin flies in from across the map, hits you with a launcher, and all the plants turn their petals razor-sharp and shoot them at you. Then, she hits you with all sorts of AOE beams right when you land, so all that you can do is run and dodge with the pattern until you find an opening, while the choir surges all around you.

Hopefully, though, Pin can be taught to not humor enemies with patterns, and just fly and bombard the enemy with loads of long-ranged attacks.

But that’s enough fun.

“Pin.” My arrival had turned a few heads of the faithful, but my direct address commanded attention. She lay on her side at her large throne. Covered with a mattress at the seat and with multitudes of pillows, the arms of the thrones were more for her to lay on rather than rest her arms on as an imposing ruler. At my words, though, the goddess’s eyes opened and a smile came upon her features. She rose from slumber, and the multitudes of the faithful went silent and bowed their heads as one. Hundreds went from sitting to kneeling with their foreheads against the ground. “I have questions that only you can answer.”

“I will do my utmost to fulfill your desires, my honored master.” Pin got up and floated before me. Pure white robes came apart. Her final form came to be in all its skimpy glory, wrapped up in floaty squares of silk, jewels, and tight cords of white-and-gold wood cords. She took a knee before me and bowed her head. One hand on her staff, while the other over her heart. Which meant it vanished into impossible depths—stop that. The lewdness is probably a trap. “Please, ask me your questions.”
I gave a nod and asked.

“What do you recall of the Ancients?”

“Nothing, my honored master. I came to be when I met you.” That was what I expected. I gave a nod at the answer. The crest on my hand gave off a warm feeling. Instinctively, I thought what she said was true. I might have more control over her than I did, Eminent. Or, it could be a trap. “All I know is you, and what I can do and should do.”

“What should you do? Explain.” I asked, and she bowed her head.

“My prime directive is to serve you and do as you command. In my dormancy, you protected me, you cared for me, and you gave me all that I required and more. Then, you trusted me, and even now you ask rather than command.” She smiled and looked upon my hand. I haven’t given her a single order. Some sort of hidden trust mechanic that I miraculously passed, or was it a trick? After the Death Goddess, I wasn’t sure. “But to fully be yours, I had to complete a primal command embedded deep within my soul: to give this land the blessings necessary to complete the work of my creators. Now, throughout the continent, the materials exist to complete the great work.”

None of this rang a bell.

“And, that is?”

Pin held out her hand, and the floor between us shifted. The plants formed a map of the continent. Then, the eight Citadels arose in the eight starting regions as flowers.

Then at the center, where the Academy used to be, another flower bud came to be.

A ninth Citadel?

No.

Something else.

From the blooming flowers crept vines through the map, which reached the central flower bud.

This must be an expansion that I was never around for.

Damn, dying sucks.

“Once the eight are under control, this great work you speak of will begin, and the materials you’ve created across the land will be needed to complete it.” I put everything together. For a moment, Pin’s eyes widened, and some of my guards muttered. “I see. Then, many plans will need to be changed. I will be requiring your assistance.”

Pin bowed her head again before timidly reaching for my hand, and I did my best to pull her up to stand and give her a firm handshake.

While looking up at her eyes.

Good.

I hoped that I didn’t feel as awkward as I felt.

Now… let’s see if I can access this new content for my favorite game without getting killed.

As a Househusband, Awareness Is Required (1.4)

As a Househusband, Awareness Is Required (1.4)

…

Personally, I consider every cultivator a psychopath, but it’s not their fault.

They don’t really have a choice in the matter.

Say you’re born into a sect’s main family. The only choice that you have at inheriting your family’s wealth and power is to throw yourself into training, listen to the words of your elders, and do as you’re told until everyone stronger than you dies. If you’re lacking in any way, you’ll get replaced by someone from a branch family or one of your siblings. Sure, you have the support of servants, never have to worry about money, and learn anything besides what the family decides you should learn, but the moment you’re born… your future is writ in stone.

That’s the very top of cultivator society.

Everyone else below that line has more competition while resources are at a higher premium. Children born second need to choose to fight against their older siblings in smaller houses that can’t afford to have them be lieutenants or get married off. The third and fourth in line are thrown in with the warriors, and they’re expected to find their own way. If the family distributes everything equally to their children, they’ll never grow stronger as an organization and advance further in society.

Advancing further in society requires accolades through combat, marrying up into established families that need your strength or wealth, and using what you get to get more.

Even if you integrate into the ruling, main family of the sect, you’ll find yourself looking at your neighbors.

How can you limit their influence in your lands while keeping your influence high?

Is it possible to grow strong enough to influence them?

The entire world of cultivation operates on this central pillar of constant advancement of the sect… because it’s what’s kept civilization alive and progressing.

What do I mean by that?

Cultivators are necessary in this world. Demonic beasts are common, and they ravage the lands. Cultivators use them for materials and as a source of resources, but without them the Demonic Beasts will ravage the lands and kill regular people in droves. Fireworks exist in this world, along with handheld bombs, but they’re for distractions or entertainment. Using them against Demonic Beasts would just result in the deaths of regular people.

Hell, even without the Demonic Beasts, cultivators are needed to counter other cultivators. This isn’t a world where people can just call a ceasefire and then sue for peace. If you stop training every generation, if you don’t keep progressing your martial arts, you’re going to lose against the sect that does. Each successive generation gets a bit stronger but needs more input gathered by the previous generation to reach their full potential.

If you’re behind in your creation of cultivators, you better get ready to lose ground, then spend the next generation in scarcity to prop up the talents that come through.

Basically, I understood the logic behind why people in this world are the way that they are.

But that doesn’t mean I’ll just forgive my siblings and help them out when they ask.

“No.” The word felt alien to my lips. Twenty-five years—it may be the first time I uttered the word. In fact, the fact that I spoke it towards my fiancé rather than my sister. “Such an action will endanger the Namgoong Clan, Seol. There are few things that she can offer in exchange for such a favor, and those few things will endanger her position in the Demonic Sect.”

Feng’s eyes widened, while Seol’s narrowed.

For a second, I hoped that I didn’t misstep by speaking in such a way to Seol.

Thankfully, my recent efforts to bring in more money to the Namgoong Clan’s coffers seemed to have paid off.

Seol gave me a nod, and she followed my advice.

“My fiancé is correct. He has been diligent and knows of the state of my clan and that of our neighbors. The Namgoong clan is in no place to negotiate for betrothals.” Father had been pleased with Seol. Probably because Seol was a real monster with talent, diligence, and the backing of the whole of the Namgoong clan behind her. While the rest of the clan lived in scarcity, nothing had been spared in her upbringing, and it showed. Only a handful of my siblings could rival her, and they were all in the single digits. “If you desire a husband from an Orthodox Clan, then the esteemed Heavenly Demon is the only one with the strength to find you a favorable match given the… disfavor felt by the Orthodox towards the Demonic Sect.”

In short, Feng can do exactly two things if Seol refuses to help her: jack and shit.

Feng bowed her head at Seol’s statement, but she made a mistake.

She glared at me when I’ve been extremely diligent at being a good fiancé.

The atmosphere in the room increased, and the scent of burnt ozone filled the air.

The Namgoong clan was an extremely traditional clan amongst the Orthodox Sects. They rivaled the Shaolin and Mount Hua in their strictures towards tradition, and those two sects turned martial arts into religious lifestyles.

In other words?

Glaring at the fiancé of the Namgoong clan’s future head was a very big fuck-up on Feng’s part.

“Sister.” The singular word that left Seol’s lips split across the suddenly heated air in the guest room. The mere activation of her Qi made sparks fly. The edges of the table danced with branches of lightning. Her hair rose slightly off her shoulders, while sparks danced around her eyes. The Namgoong clan’s path was that of the Lightning Sword. Their regular warriors were lauded for ripping through hordes of Demonic Beasts in an instant, as well as their ability to coat their swords in lightning. Some were even able to throw lightning around like spears. Their greatest talents were said to be becoming like lightning themselves. “Rui is under my household. You will treat him as my engaged partner, do you understand?”

Even if Seol didn’t like me, the Namgoong clan benefited from my actions.

However, more importantly, even if Seol didn’t like me… she couldn’t stand idly by as any ‘threat’ was leveled at her lawfully engaged fiancé.

That was a threat to the Namgoong clan.

As its heir, she couldn’t let that stand.

I took a sip of tea, untouched by Seol’s efforts, while Feng was quick to bow her head low.

“I offer my apologies. I understand!” Feng was very much the average child of the Heavenly Demon. Very capable and strong whilst in combat, but limited in many other skills. Father had well over a hundred children now, and it was unlikely he was going to stop. Those who had excellent skills were hand-picked, tutored, and assigned to the other Unorthodox Sects to bring them all under the fold. Feng wasn’t engaged and was very much a blunt instrument. “I heed your words, Lady Namgoong!”

I expected that to be the end of it and for the pressure being exerted to end, but when it didn’t, I acted swiftly.

The persistence of Seol’s displayed anger informed me that she was better at hiding her dislike for the Demonic Sect than I thought. But the fact she hadn’t drawn her blade told me that she wasn’t a complete psychopath. She probably just had justifiable grudges towards my family, and having Feng under her thumb was a way to vent.

But venting too much would jeopardize the relations between my family and her own.

The Heavenly Demon, and those he assigned and trusted, were the only ones who could punish his children.

So, I cleared my throat.

“My honored fiancé, I thank you for your courtesy and care.” I laid it on a bit thick, but the message went across without a hitch. The fizzling of atmosphere and the faint sound of buzzing electricity ended. Seol gave a nod and withdrew her power. Feng didn’t raise her head, but she relaxed slightly after realizing that she wasn’t about to lose a limb or her life. Still, given Seol’s aggressive response towards my sibling, it was best we withdraw. “My sister, I bid you to offer your skills as a beast-hunter to the Orthodox sects if Father permits. You may expand your influence, showcase your skills, and perhaps find a capable suitor by hunting powerful beasts in the lands of the Orthodox Sects.”

I offered Feng an out, and since my words were backed by the Namgoong clan’s heiress, she was quick to accept it.

Father’s decision will decide what happens in the future, but if she wanted to impress Father by becoming part of an Orthodox sect, she needed to do it herself.

The Namgoong clan needed to grow strong enough through my actions that if conflict breaks out, they’ll protect me without question.

I just needed to play my cards right and make sure I leveraged tradition to properly get on their good side.

Conflict is inevitable, but I should still work towards delaying it… or be a part of the winning side.

…

Interlude: Feng, the Eighteenth Daughter of the Heavenly Demon, Slayer of Demonic Beasts

…

My muscles spasmed beneath my skin as phantom sensations left behind by thens of the Namgoong Clan’s monster refused to fade.

One errant look and I nearly perished.

It took all that I had to look strong as I walked back to my family’s compound and headed to my room.

I wished to recover my strength unnoticed by my siblings.

But my plans came apart as I turned the corner of the street from the Namgoong clan’s compound and felt a familiar presence.

A presence to which I had only one response.

I took to my knees and bowed deeply.

Then, I greeted my father.

“This one greets the Heavenly Demon!” Though I walked on a dirt path, I did not hesitate to bow my head low and press it against the soil. I emptied my thoughts and resolved myself to speak the truth. “This one is honored to be in the Heavenly Demon’s presence!”

I feared what would come next, but instead my father gave an amused hum.

“Should I not be amused? My daughter has avoided dying a dog’s death, despite baring her fangs. Fortune has favored you, despite all odds.” I said nothing and acknowledged the rightfulness of his words. My actions had been foolish. “It is a fine jest. Many would have perished for what you did. Stronger, more powerful martial artists certainly have perished beneath the weight of the Namgoong’s newest blade.”

Father’s gaze settled on my nape.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar sensation on the back of my neck, and then, for a moment, I realized that I had no control over my body.

Then, control returned to me.

It was only a second, but a second in combat was an eternity.

Sheer terror filled my veins, and Father laughed.

“You placed yourself in the palm of her hand, then dared to fire malice at her fiancé. Had I been in her place, you would have died a thousand deaths before I permitted you peace.” The sensation I felt all over my body hadn’t been mere lightning generated by Qi. There had been innumerable swords all over my body, ready to pierce and stop me while she killed me. No. With the amount of power that she had, I may have been completely destroyed. Father chuckled. “You thought so lowly of the Orthodox sects, yet it is their mercy that has allowed you to live. Foolish child. Stand.”

I got to my feet with my head bowed, then I froze as Father placed a hand on my shoulder before speaking.

“You moved to gain my favor but nearly lost your life… and nearly dishonored me.” I trembled but kept my head bowed. I kept my eyes open and willed myself to not tremble. If this was the end, then I will accept it. “Hmph. You have humility and the will to do better. If I spared my weakest son since he did his utmost, do you believe you will not be afforded the same?”

At those words, the tension left my body almost instantly, and Father turned away from me.

“Rui was correct in his dealings. The Namgoong clan would have risked too much by aiding you. However, he is more correct in his other statement: Working in any manner with the Orthodox Clans is for me to permit.” I offered my apologies again while keeping my head bowed. I listened and heard his words, enacting them to both memory and belief. Then, I cursed myself. Such a thing should’ve been obvious. I should have known better. “You are lacking in your education. You will meet with new tutors when we return to the sect. They will give you scrolls to learn from, and you will take them before you leave for the Shaolin; then, through them, you will meet with and work under Mount Hua.”

I almost raised my head at the mention of Mount Hua.

That… that was where the Plum Blossom Sword was.

Father’s attention gathered upon me again, then he asked another question.

“Indeed. Their sole, singular, and lacking answer to my strength is there. So… where better to begin making amends than by sending you?” Father spoke, and I listened. I nodded at his words and did my best to fight against the rising fear within my chest. I will be alone, surrounded by enemies, and beyond the reach of the Demonic Sect, while completely at the mercy of our house’s most powerful foes. My father clicked his tongue. “Hah, my blood truly is too strong. You and all my children besides Rui never felt fear your entire lives… thus none of you ever learned how to summon courage.”

Father’s words echoed in my mind, and I frowned at my own weakness.

Father was right.

I had been there when Rui accepted his order without a hint of hesitation. The Heavenly Demon bid him to act, and despite the odds and the overwhelming strength of his foes, he accepted without hesitation.

Now, the Namgoong Clan hosted us with the highest honors after mere months of Rui reaching them.

Father’s wish to win the peace came to the forefront of my mind.

There was only one way I could contribute to his wish.

“This one will do as she is bid. Mount Hua will find gratitude towards the Demonic Sect and sheathe their blades through this one’s actions.” I stood to my feet, forcing my trembling legs to stay straight, before clasping a fist in my hand and then bowing from the waist. “This one is thankful for the opportunity!”

Father was silent for a while before nodding and turning away while bidding for me to follow him.

Something strange and light bubbled in my chest while I followed in his footsteps, and he began to speak to me of the Plum Blossom Sword.

V10: Epilogue

V10: Epilogue

…

Interlude: Celia

…

Rumors and observations regarding the Goddess of Death abounded on my desk.

My agents watched her carefully, and even the budding information networks of my subordinates went to learn more of her to curry favor with me.

The information we received was grim.

Her strength and ability were without question. The Warden lands in the Academy fell to her might within a month. The few survivors who came our way described the work of an entire army of necromancers in support of a Champion Lich. Wherever she went, the Wardens had no answer, and the zealots who charged her anyway became fuel for her creations.

Her skeletal constructs moved more swiftly, required more damage to defeat, and did not come clattering apart when faced with Holy magic. The freshly risen corpses she created were said to be like Ghouls from the moment of their creation. They had access to all their physical strength, regenerated damage, and rapidly grew stronger when consuming corpses. Besides those staple creatures, she created flocks of undead carrion birds, made dead animals into beasts of burden, and finally… created Bone Constructs in massive numbers.

I knew not if she was truly divine, but I knew that she was a singular individual who could wipe a region clean of life and turn all she killed into more soldiers. Not only that, but she didn’t need support in order to start that army. Those who survived the battle against her described her waving her hand and groups of soldiers turning into broken piles of flesh at her feet. Strong enough officers of the Wardens who confronted her with blades infused with Holy Magic could not even scratch her skin. Finally, a gathering of priests from the region abandoned their attempts to resurrect all she killed and moved to confront her… only for their bombardment of Holy Magic to be avoided.

She surged at them, according to some reports reaching them from the horizon in mere minutes, and slaughtered them before they could finish their combined spell and strike.

After their fall, the region was systematically brought to heel, and reinforced to prevent the Forgers and Merchants from trying to take it.

I waited for her next move to see how the King of Wisdom would deploy this ‘Divine Engine.’

Then, a wave of power and magic rolled across the entirety of the continent, and my body was accosted by fear and trembling.

Instinctively, I knew that something had happened, and I pursued every avenue possible to know what did.

In the back of my mind, however, I already knew the answer.

The King of Wisdom saw the success of the Goddess of Death and moved to awaken the Goddess of Life.

And, with her awakening, the world changed forevermore.

…

The skies were blue, the breeze cool and gentle, and wherever there was soil, there were green shoots of new life.

Yesterday, my capital city had been covered in soot, the air was too harsh for children to play outside, and their plants choked and withered.

“Catherine, inform me.” I sat on a park bench. To create the few parks in the city, I had spent some of my own treasury. They were warded against the soot and smoke. Even still, the lack of sun made it difficult for plants to grow. Only a hardy, tough grass grew, and all the saplings that were brought perished. Now, the saplings were trees bearing fruits that they shouldn’t have, while the ground was covered in bushes with berries and vines crawled up the sides of fences with white flowers. “What is this?”

“The mages state that just a few hours ago, a potent wave of magic swept across the entire continent, with the effect of empowering nature.” I touched the nearest fruiting tree. The ash tree that I had purchased was said to have a dry bark and needle-like leaves. It thrived in dry and cold environments. This was not the same tree. A shudder went down my spine. The fuzzy fruits it carried on its branches were unfamiliar to me, but they smelled sweet and ripe. Was it some sort of poison? I discarded the thought almost immediately. He wouldn’t stoop so low. “It touched all of nature. Lumberyards report the trees they’re harvesting growing immensely in size. Farms state their crops look weeks older than they should. Foresters tending to our few wild areas state that both fauna and flora are wildly changing.”

“Our messengers to the other nations will report the same. All of reality has been changed by the awakening of this Divine Engine.” My mind raced. What of the other one? It had conquered a whole region and created an army of its own, but compared to what I saw and felt now… A sudden realization gripped my heart. “They must have found this Divine Engine far earlier. They seized the one they deployed from the Warden mere weeks after its capture. This one… this one they’ve been preparing for years!”

Catherine’s eyes widened at my outburst, but there was no one to watch.

I reached up and took the fruit, took a bite of its crisp and sweet flesh, and let myself fall and sit upon the grass covering the floor.

“What can be done against this? This was given, but it can be taken away. No. If they can affect all the plants and animals around the continent with blessings, they can surely douse it all in curses.” My mind swam with possibility. This was a poisoned chalice. An irrevocable strike against our ability to be a nation. I could only laugh at the absolute strength showcased here and now. I feared his armies, then I feared the Iterants. Then, as I gathered information on a new terror, he unleashed a blessing upon the entire continent from a Divine Engine he kept secret for years. “Do we meekly accept the blessing? What shall we do when followers of this new Divine Engine arise in our lands? How can we act against him when doing so will bring low this new boon?”

Catherine’s presence was close by, but I noted another.

A messenger.

A message was given, and I could only shake my head at Catherine’s latest news.

“The hospitals are reporting miraculous recoveries for many injuries. Several elderly patients too weak to walk have found their strength revitalized. The healers report that many are appearing more youthful and healthier.” I could only shake my head at the news. A series of assassinations or a declaration of war would’ve given me and the others a chance to rally our nations. He knew that confronting us all in combat would lead to a long conflict that none of us could win without losing to the threats beyond the continent. Therefore, he struck at us with divine blessings instead… while we have been pushing our populations to the limit. “My lady…”

“Send a messenger his way. I will allow an embassy to be built on our lands in exchange for knowledge and assurances regarding these blessings.” I stood up. I calmed myself. This was beyond my expectations, but fighting against the King of Wisdom was always like this. Ruse after ruse. Threat after threat. Then, a strike from the shadows that gave him an advantage like no other. What mattered now was how my nation would recover and overcome the challenges set before us now. “Take advantage of it. All of it. We will take all that they offer and bide our time. Until we can be without this blessing, I will uphold a pact of non-aggression and trade with the King of Wisdom.”

A part of me screamed to surrender, but I knew that it could not be done.

The Igniters and Spearheads both had too much power now. They sipped from the chalice, and they were eager to slake their thirst for more might. Unlike the nobility that have stored themselves away for a future that might not come, they were willing to treat with the other nations. Some were already working on proposals to trade freely with the King of Wisdom. With the unleashing of the Death Goddess, I expected them to collude and propose it within a few months.

Now, instead, I would propose it myself against a far more dire threat.

A threat to the cornerstone of our authority.

Why should we be followed when we could not provide as much food?

Why should our laws be adhered to if we could not give them longer, better lives?

Why should my commands be followed when I do not give my people clear air, drinkable water, and blue skies?

The only answer I could give now was because I controlled violence in these lands.

Making it so that my only worth as a leader was my ability to kill.

That makes me no better than a despot.

I shook my head, and then I cast my gaze towards Catherine.

“Send a messenger to the expeditions. Tell them all that we now know. If we can find a Divine Engine, we must take it for ourselves.” Catherine silently nodded at my words. She seemed perturbed by the sudden change. It will take time to explain to her, but I doubted she saw this as I did. The King of Wisdom was everywhere now. The prosperity and strength of his rule now permeated my very capital. One merely needed to take a breath, go into a park, or observe the clear skies. He was everywhere and nowhere… declaring the superiority of his rule and his unsaid ability to take it all away. How many years did I have now before I was ousted from my position? A decade? Half a decade? “ And, call for an emergency assembly. This must be addressed.”

Catherine bowed, and I looked up at the blue skies surrounding my Citadel.

Smoke went up from factories and simply… vanished away.

That was heat and matter.

Where was it going?

What did governance over ‘Life’ mean for us?

How were we to oppose someone who controlled it?

…

Over the course of days, the reports arrived from the Forgers and the Merchants. Though they were working to conquer the Warden lands and take their Citadel, the agreement to collate information remained. We would work together when a greater threat presented itself.

And we discovered that this was very much a greater threat.

Missives arrived with the King of Wisdom’s seal.

He described the creation of a religion as one would create a factory. A whole, hidden city filled with the Children of the Elm who were spared his wrath. As the Wardens were to the Goddess of Death, the Children of the Elm were to the Goddess of Life, and they became her faithful adherents. Then, after that, years were spent in worship, in secrecy, and in prayer to strengthen a sleeping Divine Engine.

Then, when she awakened, she blessed the continent in its entirety to prepare against the coming foes of the Ancients.

Food would grow more swiftly. Illnesses will be more easily fought. Nature will change to provide more powerful reagents for Alchemists to use, and animals and monsters will change.

Those were gifts for the entire continent to bolster our strength against the coming darkness.

But our agents in his land report that blessings were not equal.

“All animals are domesticated in their lands. The forests are flush with fruit. Their fields grow ready for harvest within two months, while their soil shows no sign of growing fallow.” My agents worked with the merchants. The Merchants were keen on discovering all that they could in the King of Wisdom’s lands. They told me Sarala, one of the King of Wisdom’s Champions, worked for them. I told Hariss to not trust him. I could not see any of Jack’s Champion’s betraying him now or ever. “What tribal peoples remained have come forth to worship her, and expansions of child-rearing institutions have taken place.”

Catherine went over the reports with me from her desk in my office. Multiple reports floated all around her ghostly presence. She was summarizing them and categorizing them while I read the ones of highest priority.

Everything was of the highest priority.

“The Forgers state that many of their new creations are experiencing malfunctions.” I grimaced at the mention of it. The Forgers were trampling on the sanctity of life. Since they began deploying their new ‘war machines,’ I abandoned partnership with them. We only shared information on dire matters. “But also, a substantial increase in growth in the output of their extraction nodes for agriculture. Their enemies from the depths seem to have retreated for the time being. A few hives have been found rotten.”

Catherine spoke up after I finished that missive. The Forgers had little more to say, as they would fear looking weak.

“Reports from our own lands affirm higher rates of food production, as well as increased overall health of the population. However, an inspection of recent pregnancies in hospitals showcases a rise in twins… and an increased rate of success having children.” I nodded at the news. That explained the increasese in child-rearing institutions in the King of Wisdom’s lands. More children were to be born, more regularly, and presumably more safely. If we were seeing more twins, then that would be the norm in his lands. “The Merchants made no note of this, despite their breeding camps.”

Catherine’s words drew my attention.

“They may see it as an advantage. Those camps produce so many already. With these improvements, they will only grow more powerful.” I took a measured breath before moving on to the next report. Or, I had intended to do so until there was a knock on the door to my office. “Enter.”

Mallory and Christine came forward in their full black armor with helms tucked under their arms. My two Vampire Knights were now fully fledged factions. I preferred them working with the rulers of other cities in the region to learn how to rule themselves, but I called them back to aid me in this dire time.

They attended to my day-to-day duties together, while I tried to make sense of what fell upon us.

Their appearance at my office meant only one thing.

“How has the King of Wisdom replied?”

They shared a look with one another before Mallory spoke on behalf of both.

“The King of Wisdom has offered to meet in a town under our jurisdiction, but not at our capital, as long as he is permitted to bring along one of his flying bastions and four Champions.” I frowned but nodded. It would assure his safety, so I saw no reason to refuse. Without an army backing that force, they wouldn’t be able to get far into our lands. “However, he states that the Divine Engine of Life cannot come but has stated that the Divine Engine of Death can come before her deployment against the Ancient’s foes.”

I considered the counteroffer.

Nothing I could do would convince him to bring the Goddess of Life. It was a mere invitation, and I had no leverage.

But if he offered to bring another Divine Engine so that I may lay eyes on it, I saw no reason to refuse.

“Let it be so. Make the preparations to meet with and speak with him. Invite our allies. They may come if they feel inclined. Representatives or themselves. If none come, my words on what we discuss will have to suffice.”

It has been a long time since I’ve seen the King of Wisdom.

Perhaps not since the Death Lord was defeated.

So much has changed since then.

I could only wonder how I would feel in his presence now, after all that I’ve achieved.

Giant Robots? Say no more. I’m in. Volume 2: Chapter 2

Giant Robots? Say no more. I’m in.

Volume 2: Chapter 2

…

Word count: 2500

…

The most common bug variant is the ‘Ceros.’

Probably short for rhinoceros, since it was kind of like a rhinoceros beetle.

They had strong, ablative shells, limited amounts of fluid that can vaporize, and sectioned-off parts and pieces. They come out by the dozen and beetles, but with many more legs. Besides the toughness, they have plenty of firepower, too. One bio-plasma launcher, spinally mounted, that they had to turn to fire, supplemented by acid-spitters on their sides that can melt power armor infantry from up to a hundred meters away.

They go around in packs of thirty, coordinate to create firing lines, and even charge together when needed. Normal human vehicles are easily flipped by them, infantry gets routed very quickly, and they even have the accuracy to shoot at combat helicopter equivalents. Bug advances typically have thousands of them charging across the land like a carpet made of black shells.

Their shell could bounce small calibers like 12mm, and you’d need armor piercing on 75mm if you didn’t want to spend all day shooting them. They had gel-like blood and had multiple pumping organs all over that moved the stuff through their whole bodies. If you wanted to blow them up with a high-power laser, you’d need to commit a lot of reactor power, get some cabling going, and lose a lot of mobility thanks to heat sinks. Finally, they had redundant everything inside their shell, so even with explosives, you needed direct hits to do meaningful damage.

Apparently, though, most of those changes and improvements were over the course of centuries of warfare against humanity.

The original version was all about numbers.

The Ceros in the frozen waste had far weaker shells that could be pierced with point-defense weapons. Throwing some explosives their way made whole groups of them explode in a violent fashion with their acidic, green blood. Lasers raked over them and made bits and pieces of them explode. Heck, just flying over them with boosters on full burn set them alight, and they were so dumb they ran into each other. Their main guns were like peashooters that couldn’t ablate a millimeter of armor, while their acid sprayers couldn’t harm my paint.

Yeah.

“Wow, you guys are a letdown.” I had a bit of fun for like five minutes, but I could’ve just hovered over the battlefield, let my point defenses rip, and killed them all. Kicking them was enough to make them explode into gooey green chunks. I spent like two of the five minutes killing them that way. “You can’t even sync your shots.”

They were probably threats in the early years. The swarm I faced was three times bigger than the usual Ceros column. Swarms of these guys, with the skies controlled by the bug’s explosive fliers, would probably easily overwhelm most defensive perimeters without incredible amounts of sustained artillery support. The bugs hit the planet around the time when everyone was about precision munitions, and if one ballistic missile killed fifty bugs, the bugs won the economic exchange.

But nowadays most walls were touting ‘light’ artillery in the 105mm range, and they were operated by AI, had incredible materials so the barrels would take a long time to burn out, and were fully automatic. These Ceros would be mulched by a couple of standard defensive turrets on an outpost. Meanwhile, a column of modern-day Ceros getting past the defensive perimeter would have someone lose their job, and an interception would need to be made before they wreaked havoc.

Fighting these guys just made me want to fight the modern version.

6/10 event enemy. If they had some confetti after they popped or wore Santa hats, they’d be a good temporary mob to fill the screen.

Thankfully, though, the last couple of minutes of my extraction proved to have something interesting pop up.

A juggernaut-class bug.

“Oh, hello there.” juggernaut -classes were in the history books as the most massive of the bugs. They were sent out as pseudo-officers. Their abdomens were mostly brains, and they were like extensions of the will of the hive queens. Wherever they went, the bugs would operate more fiercely, respond to threats better, and even strategize. Nowadays, most bugs could do that on their own. However, the titan class was known to be pretty lethal and tough back then. “Let’s see how you do.”

I got notified that the pickup was two minutes away.

Plenty of time to kill a giant monster.

The eight-legged creature was the height of half a skyscraper, and its legs were thickly covered in armor. Its back was bristling with numerous pods, which proceeded to launch living munitions with wings at me that were engaged by my point defenses. They arced through the air, leaving glowing neon-green trails of acid blood, and my bright-red tracers tracked the efforts of my PD to shoot them down. Meanwhile, its ‘head’ was an ovoid with two protruding horns, between which was an orb of crackling lightning. It stopped skittering my way and fired a pulse of electricity at me… that didn’t even make my systems flicker.

EMP to take down PD after firing a missile salvo?

Good tactic.

Unfortunately, it was out of date thanks to progress defenses over the centuries.

The giant creature noticed that I didn’t go down and get slammed with its barrage of living missiles, and it decided with all its intellect to turn tail and run. The ‘back’ armor it presented was thick and sloped, so it was actually running away while protecting itself.

I contemplated just shooting with an anti-armor missile, but looking at the behemoth… I realized I can do the thing.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I let my boosters flare as I surged towards the creature.

It had a plan for this, giving off a screech, and the buildings I was flying past disgorged swarms of smaller bugs. They threw themselves at me, obviously trying to die while dousing my mech with acidic blood. The tactic surprisingly slowed me down a bit and took off some armor integrity while also muddling some sensors. However, despite the deluge of bodies slamming into my mech, I was barely slowed down… But suddenly my sensors warned me of a seismic movement.

I almost looked at my feet, then a chunk of building fell off to one side, and I realized that the juggernaut had taunted me, let loose with its infantry, and lured me in to try and crush me beneath two skyscrapers.

“Holy shit, you guys really are smart!” I dove down to street level, and the snow burst to reveal more bugs hidden and in wait. Two skyscrapers were bearing down on me. Calculations showed that if I had just flown straight at the juggernaut, I’d have been caught in the falling rubble. It knew that I’d go to ground, so it set up an ambush. It would’ve slowed me down enough to get hit with the rubble… Whenever I descended with bugs around, I always set off explosives to clear my landing site. The ambush was crippled before it sprang, and by going as flat as possible with my mech, I slid beneath the two crashing buildings and exited out the other side… where the juggernaut was waiting with two giant legs raised up to try and crush me beneath all its weight. “Nice!”

This wasn’t a disappointment anymore.

If modern bugs could plan and strategize like this, they’d be way crazier to fight!

So, why weren’t these guys around anymore?

Only a single answer came to mind.

“Oh, I get it. It’s because you guys were too smart and became threats to the queens.” I set off an explosive to give my mech an explosive updraft. The massive legs of the creature went straight through ruined asphalt and caved it in. The back of the giant insect fired off a salvo of living missiles instantly. My PD dealt with it, but we both knew I’d already won the exchange. Its missiles hadn’t worked before. So, it had just tried valiantly to live. “Yeah, we’re keeping you.”

I wanted to get on its back, shoot a hole into it, and drop a mech-sized explosive into its guts.

Instead, I aimed for its leg joints with both arm weapons, and from my chest piece activated two explosive spikes that burrowed into the creature and connected it to my mech with two very robust wires… that allowed me to shock the creature with about a tenth of the output of my fusion engine.

To the creature’s credit, it tried to turn and run again, but between having its legs blown off and a fusion-powered taser coursing electricity through its veins?

Yeah.

You’re mine now, boy!

Either we figure out how to control bugs, or you escape as a mutant strapped to the gills with guns and give me a fun boss fight!

…

Interlude: The Heiress: Madelynn Harris

…

Despite leaving my service, OS-549 still casts a long shadow over all my efforts.

The Empress saw fit to elevate my family to her direct service. A move that tied the hands of my parents. We received acclaim and wealth, but they had to man the battlements at home to prevent the political tidal wave from drowning us. If we did not use our new wealth and power, then we could only drown beneath all those who wished to take our place.

That wealth and power was also tied to the Empress’s whims.

It was a masterstroke.

Though I received an award, though we were elevated, and though OS-549’s training gave a band of powerful knights, we were bound to her. We received everything that we ever wanted, but it could all be taken away in an instant by Empress.   Even if we wanted to part ways, even if we left our current station for our previous one, we would have too much to maintain to retain the power we had. We would have to liquidate the vast majority and practically start anew.

In the lap of luxury, but still anew.

We could do no such thing, so we did as we were bid, and now I found myself in support of OS-549 as he led the charge to reclaim new lands.

New lands that were somehow inhabited by remains of the nation that called it home.

Whose representatives I had to meet with.

New lands that were filled to the brim with ancient forms of our enemies.

Enemies that he was studying, sending back corpses… and live specimens of.

Sometimes, I wondered if I should have let him perish instead of having him bring in the queen.

“My lady, your heart rate is spiking.” One of my servants informed me, and I took a measured breath. I closed my eyes, counted to twenty, and reopened them after taking a multitude of breaths. When I opened them once more, I was able to discard OS-549 from my mind. Instead, I looked upon my temporary ‘embassy.’ “Your elevated heart rate has ceased.”

The underground city was dilapidated and held together by grit and recycled scrap. They received mere materials as a grand gift and put it to use. A single fusion generator, one of a multitude of spares aboard my ship, was treated as a national treasure. The lights that it powered only made it clearer the dilapidated nature of the underground city.

I was no fool.

I saw the worth in these people.

“When is my next meeting?”

“Five minutes. The individual in question is here.”

“If they are ready, allow them in.”

The servant bowed, and in moments my next appointment arrived.

“Greetings, Lady Hariss.” The young woman wore modest clothes. Her family’s crest was on her chest. That of a white, winged horse. The Kinter family. They were merchants and scavengers. One that I sought to bring into the fold. “I am Danice of House Kinter.”

“You are the heiress of House Kinter. You must say such things in the presence of my people.” I instructed her, and her eyes widened. She had glasses on. The frame was well-maintained, but I could see that the lenses were new. Most other glasses I saw were cracked or resembled monocles. Some sort of manufacturing ability? Artisan lenses, perhaps. “They may say that they were misinformed on purpose regarding your status. That you aimed to fool them. Such a thing makes enemies.”

Her eyes widened, and she almost bowed, but she showcased her family’s worth by stopping herself.

“Good. You’ve learned from the mistakes and lessons of those who came before. Well done.” We were vetting the various houses that existed in this ‘nation.’ Their claims were without a doubt. This land was theirs. A few whispered that we should consider bringing them into the fold. The Empress stated that they stayed and held their land while most fled. They bowed to her statement and said no more. Now, we moved to make them the core of the new arcology that will be built. A whole arcology that will be fanatically loyal to the Empress. “I have read all that I can about your household. All that you are willing to admit with peers watching. Tell me what else I should know.”

Unlike many others who I asked, in the gaze of the young heiress, I saw suspicion and caution.

I raised my estimation of House Kinter at that moment, especially as she acknowledged my superiority without feeling anger.

“My household has eighty percent of the illicit operations in this barrow under our control. Through them, we have prepared for the last two generations a war chest to seize control.” She admitted the truth. We knew already. Drones and deep scans showcased their household’s vaults being particularly full. That led to an investigation of their actions in society, which unveiled their connection to the underbelly of this land. “We now hope to use this war chest to seize as much control as possible once we return to the surface.”

I nodded.

“Describe the planned coup. Your economic strategy is sound enough to warrant a large loan and a charter to become a corporation. What matters now is how highly that corporation is ranked.” Danice nodded sharply at my words. I activated a recorder just in case, but sat back and readied myself to listen. “Share with me this planned coup. If the plan is sound, your people can be entrusted with a small military force.”

She began to share, and I listened.

They were scavengers who hid beneath their broken nation, but despite it all, they have grown in population and strength across countless decades.

There was a film of dirt on every individual here, but with a bit of brushing, I was able to determine if a gemstone lay hidden behind the dirt.

I learned my lesson with OS-549.

No matter where they come from… there was always potential for someone to be an incredible asset.

As a Househusband, Awareness is Required (1.3)

As a Househusband, Awareness is Required (1.3)

…

Sponsored by Ichypa

…

A battle avoided is a battle won.

While saying those words aloud would’ve gotten me killed, it was a paradigm that I subscribed to wholeheartedly. Every time that I did a favor for others that got me out of a beating was a successful mission in my book. Training my ass off so that Father didn’t consider me a waste despite being mediocre for his bloodline? That was a massive win, too.

In the context of my current situation, as the fiancé of the Namgoong clan’s heiress, it was different.

I was clearly in the top ten percent as a first-rate warrior at my age. That’s not to say that I can just throw my power around, of course. My fiancé’s generation was full of rising stars. The Orthodox Sects took their losses to heart and essentially buckled down to invest in the next generation. Most unorthodox sects took massive losses in the war, but they were becoming indolent with their victory.

Meaning that if I threw my weight around, I’d be sure to quickly find out that I shouldn’t have.

The same was for the rest of the unorthodox sects.

If not for Father’s consolidation efforts, including his efforts to churn out kids with his massive harem of skilled/talented martial artists, the Unorthodox Sects would already be on the back foot with the coming generation.

If father was taken out of the picture, all his kids would go with their mothers to their original clans, and everything would be roughly equal.

That’s if Father’s death didn’t lead to a massive civil war led by my siblings to try and take the throne.

Which they definitely would.

But I couldn’t imagine Father dead, so that’s a moot point.

Anyway, back to how I was changing my strategy to fit the current situation.

The plan was to become the perfect husband to support my fiancé. Even with my newfound strength compared to most of the Namgoong clan, I still had to seek otFher avenues to avoid fighting. They weren’t a might-makes-right sect. Using my strength in such a manner would just worsen my reputation.

So, my only path to being considered irreplaceable meant that I had to emulate the previous ‘great’ partners of the Namgoong clan’s heads.

Invigorating the clan’s coffers.

Rearing strong, talented, and capable children.

Managing the politics inside and outside of the clan according to the will of the clan head.

To do all of that required sleepless nights, especially as I kept up my training and worked with people who didn’t want me around.

In the end, though?

It was a lot easier than living in a mud hut on the outskirts of the Sect’s territory, gathering my own food and supplies, training on my own, and getting beaten up by my siblings.

Honestly, if I hadn’t been reincarnated, I’d probably have died.

Or, worse.

Been ‘taken in’ by another Unorthodox Sect and used a political piece.

Father would’ve made an example of me if that happened.

As strange as it was, making the Namgoong clan prosper and therefore not want to go into conflict was the best way for me to survive.

I just needed to make sure that the money coming in was going out as investments.

Not as fuel for the fire that’ll set the land ablaze in a decade or two.

Unsurprisingly, the devastating war between the Unorthodox Sects and the Orthodox Sects led to widespread issues across the land. The people were caught up in the conflict, a lot of lives were disrupted, monsters grew rampant without cultivators bringing them down, and independent martial artists struggled to stay out and keep their lands safe.

The Namgoong Sect, for example, governed over a whole province with twelve villages, five towns, and two cities. The governors and mayors of the various municipalities were related to the Namgoong main family; thus, they derived political power from the Namgoong sect. In exchange for keeping the region safe, they received tithes/taxes from the various municipalities, which they used to raise more cultivators, equip them, and send them out to kill monsters and protect the land.

The Namgoong Sect was one of three frontline Orthodox sects. The other two are the Tang and the other is the Shaolin. That meant the lands under their protection, from which they derived their wealth and income, were attacked. Even if a village wasn’t destroyed, time spent recovering meant time not producing, and deaths of able-bodied people resulted in loss of ‘national’ wealth in the long term.

Deaths from fighting and from hunger resulted in no less than a ten percent decrease in the land’s population from the start of the war to its end.

My eldest sibling was thirty and was born a few years before the end of the war.

Therefore, twenty-five or so years have passed, and the land still hasn’t fully recovered.

Which meant that the Namgoong clan’s finances were strained by a shortfall in what was their original income source, as well as an increase in their expenses. Not only did they lose warriors and capable individuals in the war, but they also needed to replace them, which led to them investing more into their warriors and prodigies. This encouraged them to look to other Orthodox sects for trade and allies.

Trade brings them more money, and they’ll need fewer warriors if they have allies.

However, if that all came to pass, then war was assured in the near future.

The people who fought in the war will die, the coffers will fill up as the lands recover, and soon the leaders of the Orthodox Sects will see that they’ve become stronger. The changes they made to survive the lean times will lead to decreased costs when they are prosperous once more.

Then, they’ll be prosperous and have a powerful force at their disposal.

Leading to war.

My goal was to avoid that, and I already cleared the first hurdle by alleviating the ‘scarcity’ that was being experienced. A few words with merchants and the right things to trade led to the Namgoong clan’s coffers being refilled. They had servants again and could train their own people to become warriors.

But it’ll be some time before those warriors are active, so they still might look for allies with the Orthodox Sects.

Therefore, to prevent those alliances from forming, I needed to make the Namgoong clan prosperous and find a way to alienate possible allies from the Orthodox Sects.

Thankfully, since I was my father’s son, I had a unique ability that solved quite a few problems.

Trade with the Unorthodox Sects would alienate the Orthodox Sects while making the Namgoong clan stronger.

Not to mention, if it was good enough, that would mean that the Namgoong would balk at the thought of fighting against a great trade partner.

Some would say a political marriage should be enough to ensure peace between the two factions.

I say that it’s better to be sure.

…

Interlude: The 7th Sword Saint of the Namgoong Clan, Seol

…

Just a few months ago, I would’ve thought it impossible for me, the Namgoong Clan’s heiress, to dine with the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon was the zenith of his generation. In the flames of war that engulfed the entire realm, which consumed so many stars, he stood at the center of it all and shaped the present that we now knew. The Orthodox Sects lamented the outcome of every battle he participated in, while the Unorthodox Sects lauded his very existence.

I thought that if fortune favored me, and if I were able to grow in strength for a few more decades, then I would have been able to confront him with able allies as age began to wear at him.

Instead, now, I found myself sitting across from him, while my fiancé poured him rice wine to his right.

The table felt infinitely small as I looked across the table at my fiancé’s father.

There was a low murmur in the rest of the reserved restaurant. Namgoong warriors were interspersed amongst the Heavenly Demon’s own warriors. There was a low rumble of conversation, mostly about the deliciousness of the food, and some regarding the gift to the Namgoong Clan, which was the white coat of an immense tiger from the far north with fangs as long as swords.

I felt more than a few gazes our way from some who I believed were my fiancé’s siblings, but they did not return my gaze.

My thoughts were interrupted as the Heavenly Demon finished drinking from his cup and put it down.

The clink of porcelain upon porcelain seemed louder than a hammer striking the side of a bell.

Then, the Heavenly Demon spoke.

“You considered fighting me when you laid your eyes on me.” He stated the absolute truth, and silence reigned across the room. Every breath was still. Only his voice mattered. “Do you believe that you could defeat me?”

I felt the weight of his power, but there was no malice.

It was a question that I had to take great care to answer.

“I cannot call myself a martial artist if I did not wish to test myself against the pinnacle.” I told him honestly and bowed my head. A small ‘ah’ left his lips. He nodded. But I was not done. “But I would make for a poor daughter to request such a thing at our first meeting. Perhaps as an anniversary gift, you would allow it, father-in-law?”

I did my utmost to convey that the Namgoong clan will respect what has been done, as well as maintain filial relations.

However, I also wished to convey that I would continue to train and reach the Heavenly Demon with my sword.

Even if only in a friendly spar.

Silence permeated the whole of the building at my proclamation, then… the Heavenly Demon… laughed and nodded.

“Ha. I shall consider it.” With that, all the tension in the room bled away. Then, he turned to his son. My fiancé raised the rice wine bottle diligently, and the Heavenly Demon stretched out his hand with his cup. He nodded at his child. “You have done well, my son.”

“This one is earnestly grateful at his honored father’s words.” Rui bowed his head and thanked his father. A bitterness arose within my mouth suddenly. The information on Rui gathered from the Demonic Sect came to mind. The weakest and most ill-treated of his siblings. I understood that was the way of the Demonic Sect, but to see him so meek did not sit right with me. As those thoughts came to mind, he turned to me. “Seol, if you feel ill at ease, challenge not my father, but my siblings. My father did all that he could for me.”

While I blinked in surprise at his words, the Heavenly Demon’s mouth split into a smile.

A smile that made the sources of so many gazes our way suddenly flounder.

A smile filled with pride at his son, if I was not mistaken.

“My children do have a need for more strength. What better way to gain strength than to face strong opponents without flinching or breaking?” Yes, that was most definitely pride in Rui. To his credit, Rui bowed his head in thanks to his father and poured the Heavenly Demon another cup of wine. The Heavenly Demon raised his cup my way, his smile still on his face, and I bowed my head low while raising my own cup to meet with his. Our cups resonated the instant that they touched. The gentleness and precision of his Qi was beyond mine, despite all his raw strength and power. “Send for them, and they shall answer. I will see that they do so.”

As strange as the notion was, I felt that I would get along quite well with my new father-in-law.

…

After the dinner, after we all retreated to our rented inns for the evening, one of the servants came forward.

An invitation for Rui from one of his siblings arrived.

Luckily, we long established spending time together having tea before retiring. It was usually spent walking in the garden, reading something together, or playing a simple game. Therefore, I could go with him to meet with his sibling without any issue.

The compound that we rented for the gathering had a guest house that was separate from the rest of the home.

I entered it first, clad in my fine clothes, with my family’s ancestral blade at my hip.

It was obvious that the sibling in question thought that Rui would arrive on his own.

She stood up swiftly, got onto her knees, and bowed.

Her head touched the floorboard.

The sight of it was worryingly satisfying.

“Raise your head, sister-in-law. There is no need to prostrate yourself to me.” Feng, if I recall her name correctly, was the one who supplied the gift to the Namgoong clan today. The beast she hunted was quite powerful. Perhaps it could even be equal to the great false dragon that I had slain. Seeing her, however, informed me that she was weaker and had yet to reach the rank of master. Meaning that she was a great deal weaker than me. She must have some sort of skill that allowed her to engage the beast with a clear advantage. “I am merely here to accompany my betrothed.”

“I offer my greetings to my honored sister-in-law.” She finished her greetings before speaking. Unlike my husband, the Heavenly Demon, Feng had scarlet hair, and her skin had a slight tan. She wore her hair up in a ponytail, and she was dressed with arms bared. Scars from claw and fang covered her arms. When she raised her head to stand, she remained wary of me. That wariness remained as she looked past me towards Rui. Good. “I greet my honored brother.”

If I were in his place, I would’ve lauded my new protector and status against those who ignored me and abused me.

Instead, Rui spoke calmly and stood by my side, rather than behind me.

My side would not block me from drawing my sword.

“Sister Feng, I greet you and offer you my hospitality. I thank you for the gift.” He spoke and moved. The room shifted with him. Before I knew it, we were seated at the small table of the guest room and we were being served by the servants. He made only a few gestures; I followed, and everything shifted according to his will. He was simply skilled. I did not follow him like a puppy, as my friends teased. “I know that you have little taste for pleasantries, so as we are served, please tell me why you are here.”

Feng nodded at his words, acknowledging their lack of closeness and making no falsehoods, before speaking.

The words that left her lips stunned me.

“If you would, can I be introduced to a young man of a respectable sect?”

Apocalypse Reborn: Unique Victory Conditions 2

Apocalypse Reborn: Unique Victory Conditions 2

…

Commissioned by Chaosbrain

Word count: 2000

…

Fate is Fortune, Fortune is Fate:

Merchants of the Marsh

Prerequisites:

• Have 100,000 gold per turn

-Construct the World Wonder: The Oathkeeper

…

The grand tower shines over the entirety of the world.

Some call it a miracle composed by mortals. Machine and magic working in perfect harmony in order to affect both the physical and the metaphysical.

In truth, it is nothing more than the ultimate debt collector.

The masses are indolent now. Their lives are buoyed by handouts from the elites for which they toil. They live in tenements little better than hovels but are grateful for their meager lives and temporary luxuries. Their minds are inundated by the urge to spend what little they earn and fall farther and farther into debt.

A debt that will be collected no matter what.

Some herald the Oathkeeper as the ultimate form of assurance. Those who owe you must repay you. If you give something, then something else must be given in return. A simple and powerful concept is empowered until it is unbreakable.

An unbreakable spell used by the Merchants of the Marsh, along with their immense capital, to enslave the continent. They used the crisis to their advantage. They used greed and desire. They used the skills they cultivated over countless centuries to own the debts of others.

And, once they were owed, the Oathkeeper moved.

Those who rebelled became no more than thralls.

Those who never partook only watched as vast swathes of society fell because of greed and desire.

Those who did not succumb were ostracized and marginalized.

Now, with the continent enserfed, the rest of the world is next.

The Merchants of the Marsh need only to sell them enough of their new assets until their Oathkeeper steps in.

Then, we will all be bound to their whims, as they look to the stars to further extend the length of their maws to feed their endless hunger.

…

The Eightfold Spears:

Default Conquest victory

Prerequisites:

• Have all Citadels under your control.

• Do not defeat any crisis.

• Do not use any superweapons that cause the Global Catastrophe effect more than once.

…

The Citadels were raised decades ago and heralded the end of an age. The age of the Academy and Warlords was over.

The age of the Citadel began.

It was a bloody and terrible age. Countless mortal lives were spent as the nations that arose fought against one another. Those who came before struggled in vain to retain their power and were felled by the might of the new. Terrible magics and ancient technology were both used to bring war to more terrible heights.

Then, they came from beyond the continent.

There was no rallying cry.

No sudden move to unity.

Only the sophistication of violence, the tightening of timetables, and the expenditure of more troops.

Now, the result is the death and destruction of all others save ourselves.

The monsters are at our door, but they do not know what they face.

The spears of the Ancients are now ours.

We stand as the few and the proud from the most terrible of arenas, and we hold at our disposal the greatest weapons ever conceived.

The world is ours.

Ready to be seized by a flood of flensing, living blades.

They simply do not know it yet.

…

A Dream No Longer:

Default Diplomatic Victory

Prerequisites:

• Have all Citadels under your control or control of allied nations.

• Do not defeat any crisis.

• 6 or more factions must continue to exist.

• Total combined casualties must be less than 500,000.

…

Many could not believe the words that came forth.

The Citadels had arisen, the Academy had fallen, and grudges, both new and old, came to light.

We thought that the new age would be one of conflict and destruction, even as the protections of the Ancients broke down, and their foes came forth to destroy us all.
But our fears did not come to pass.

Where the sword would be wielded, instead there was the pen.

Where battles would be waged, there were instead townships with neighbors from separate nations.

Where there would be chokepoints, there were instead roads built between nations to facilitate trade.

Then, when the enemies of the Ancients arrived, what remained gave way.

Armies were massed to fight beside one another. Resources were husbanded and shared with all. Factories were pulled into the most defensive positions and great cities were constructed under the protection of all.

Then, there was the sharing of rings, and the Citadels rose to pierce the very sky, as our leaders swore to use their new strength against the enemies of the realm.

And so they now do.

The world is changed, and great and terrible monsters threaten us from all directions, but I knew a singular truth: so long as we fight together with all our newfound strength… we shall not be defeated.

…

A New Age of Wonders:

Default Monumental Victory

Prerequisites:

- No citadel must fall to a crisis.

• Do not defeat any crisis.

• Have 10 Wonders.

• Have 2500 influence per turn.

• Have +100 Happiness Per Turn.

…

They called us mad.

When the world demanded that we create armies, when the world demanded we wage war, we looked to emulate the ancients.

Our scientists decoded their secrets.

Our engineers worked hand in hand to create the materials.

Our architects drafted the blueprints.

Then, we as a people devoted ourselves to the revitalization of the old. None who joined our nation would want for food and shelter as was the case in times long forgotten. None who joined our nation needed to fear anything because of their mortal form. All would only be judged by the content of their character.

The world beyond our reach burned with the flames of war.

The foes of the ancients came.

Trials and tribulations came forth to overcome us.

But they all knew that we could not be overcome. More and more people flocked to our banner. Our stalwart soldiers held the line. Our foes became our allies, and our nations united. We grew, and we found fortune thanks to our success. Our leaders spoke, and all listened, and soon enough the truth became evident.

We held the future in our grasp, and we were willing to share it with the others so that we may all prosper.

Now, they come and bend the knee after years of terrible fighting.

Our hope is that the Ancients' foes can see the light… But if they do not, they shall be found wanting.

For we are the inheritors of their great legacy, and we will succeed them if we must.

…

Succession:

Descendants of the Ancients: Monumental Victory

Prerequisites:

- No citadel must fall to a crisis.

• Have all Citadels under your control or that of allies.

-Defeat At Least One Crisis

• Have 7 Wonders.

• Have 2500 influence per turn.

• Have +100 Happiness Per Turn.

• Do not use any superweapons that cause the Global Catastrophe effect more than once.

…

Many aspired to achieve as the ancients did in the belief that they were the pinnacle of civilization.

But would the pinnacle be brought low?

Would the greatest nation rise, fall, and leave their descendants surrounded by foes?

No.

The Ancients have been long lauded, but the fact remains that they fell. They may have brought low their foes and left behind an inheritance, but they still faltered and failed.

Was it hubris that brought them low?

Was it a force beyond the stars that gave strength to those who wished to seize the entire planet?

Was it merely the eruption of resentment and frenzy of dissidents that destroyed the Ancients?

Whatever caused the end, we know one thing as truth: we must be better.

We stand on the shoulders of a dead giant. A carcass held up by metal supports carefully integrated during its dying moments. Around us are crippled predators that see the carcass as their only method to reach their former strength. We are prey held aloft by a dead giant.

Many of us wish to become the giant anew.

But the correct path is to let the corpse fall, to use everything left behind, and to slay the beasts while forging our own path forward.

We must take.

We must seize all that we can.

We must slay the beasts that killed our ancestors.

Then, we must learn from their mistakes, learn, and become more.

The Ancients would not wish to see us become like them and fall as they did.

They would wish for us to be better.

Now, as we have felled the first beast, it is time to take the sword to others.

…

Ascension (Unavailable):

Descendants of the Ancients: Monumental Victory (Divinity DLC)

Prerequisites:

- No citadel must fall to a crisis.

• Have all Citadels under your control or that of allies.

-Defeat At Least Four Crises

• Have ??? Wonders.

• Have all 3 Divine Engines at Max Level.

• Retain a mortal leader.

-Complete the ??? Divine Wonder.

-???

-???

• Do not use any superweapons that cause the Global Catastrophe effect more than once.

…

The greed of the ancients was vast and shameless.

Their downfall was writ in stone the moment they trespassed upon the realm of divinity.

The entirety of the cosmos watched with bated breath. They watched as reality itself began to be shackled. While many bowed their heads in supplication to the greatest known empire’s ascension to beyond the physical plane, some plotted.

They knew only destruction awaited them if their plan succeeded. A war across the stars would rage and destroy all that is… and perhaps even all that was and will be. The destruction of a single project based off a single world would become the spark that would set the galaxy alight.

But it is better to die fighting than to die under the yoke of tyrants that control reality itself.

So, they acted.

So, they gave strength to those with depraved intentions, seeded the seas with malign forces long thought eradicated from existence, and corrupted even the greatest guardians of the planet. Finally, they found traitors and gave them power.

Then, as the first trinity was composed and before they could come alive, they set the galaxy aflame.

Such is the story of the Ancients. An unspeakably vast and powerful empire that ruled as hegemon over the galaxy. Discontent with their mastery over the material realm, they sought to become more. They sought to become gods over reality itself, and so their few foes banded together to destroy their final project, and they prepared for the war across the heavens that would erupt thereafter.

Now, the cosmos thinks us dead.

Now, not a single force from the greater empire has come to help us.

Now, we have in our hands a fourth of the divine pantheon that they wished to construct.

The world is ours. The last of the cataclysms are being scoured from the world. The Throne is complete, and thousands of years of consolidation of the gathering of energy, the complete system, will suffice for the missing nine divine engines.

Our enemies think us dead.

Those whom we called kinsmen are nowhere to be found.

We are sure that some still watch us now.

But they all now merely watch the end.

The time of judgment has come.

The work of the Ancients and our own is now finished.

Thousands of years of suffering now end, and the age of reclamation begins!

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 9).

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 9).

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Word count: 2500

…

After just a few days of wearing only armor and fighting against innumerable monsters, I found formalwear to be an unfamiliar luxury. The softness of the fabrics against my skin, the assured beauty provided by the corset, and the secrecy allowed by makeup allowed me to gather myself. A lifetime of wielding beauty, wealth, and courtesy returned to me in an instant. All of it was far more natural than wielding magic, taking injuries simply because I knew I could heal through them, and teetering on the brink of death by gathering as many monsters as possible to kill.

Clad in the colors of my household, red and black, I felt a certain measure of safety as Lord Trelawney’s fiancé neared.

Meanwhile, Lord Trelawney was clad in his typical, boyish noblewear save for the fact that he wore a furred cloak over his shoulders.

A furred cloak that exactly matched the one the sorceress wore when she invaded my dreams.

But tailored for him.

I prayed that the matter of our false engagement could be dealt with before anything absurd occurred.

Then, before I could have any more thoughts, a great and terrible power came into ‘view’ from the west of the castle. To my eyes, I could only see a lone figure traveling through the sky at incredible speed with a fluttering white coat. However, to my honed senses for magic, it may as well have been a raging pyre arising from the crest of the world that rivaled the sunrise.

My rising fear was not helped by Lord Trelawney’s blasé attitude.

“Ooh, she’s really pissed. Keep your guard up. I’d protect you myself, but I think that would just piss her off more.” Lord Trelawney glanced at me from his shoulder before turning back towards his incoming fiancé. We awaited her at the courtyard at the foot of the castle. Only myself, Lord Trelawney, and a few guards were present to greet her. “Work hard!”

Then, he cast his gaze forward and contorted his features into a stern sneer.

Snow melted, grass grew, and flowers erupted all around the courtyard as if spring itself heralded her, the sorceress-queen’s, arrival.

When her bare feet touched the cobblestone path, the frigid frost that enrobed the courtyard was gone.

It was an act of great majesty, but my eyes were focused on how her staff of carved, black stone topped with sapphires had blades at the top that resembled the heads of great axes.

And how she held her staff like an executioner instead of a sorceress.

It took all that I had to not kneel before her, especially as her gaze was firstly on me.

Thankfully, before I was crushed beneath the weight of her gaze, Lord Trelawney cleared his throat and addressed the matter directly.

“Before we begin, an explanation is needed. Lady Argelia is my student and guest. Not a new fiancé.” The sky-blue eyes of the sorceress went to him but glanced my way after a moment. I barely remembered that I needed to keep myself protected before a probing tendril of magic nearly launched me backward. It was only thanks to constant encounters with danger the past several days that I managed to create a barrier that shattered but kept me from receiving any direct harm. At Lord Trelawney’s lack of direct protection, the weight of her gaze lightened considerably. Breathing was no longer a trial. “Now… do I need to protect my guest and student again, or are you satisfied?”

I knew the answer before it left her lips.

“I pray you offer me the honor to be your guest, Lord Trelawney.” The staff was raised and held like a scepter instead of an axe two movements from being swung. A sigh of relief left me, and the cool features of the sorceress softened for a moment. The slightest of nods came from her and onto me. This time, when she spoke, it was obviously in the Empire’s tongue. It was accented finely, like a songbird’s lilt echoed with every word. “And to the young maiden, I offer restitution for my unseemly acts.”

She reached for the head of her staff and broke off a blade tipped with a sapphire. In her hands, the stone shifted and changed until it turned into a saber with a sapphire at the pommel. She sent it my way, and it fit perfectly in my hand, with its weight perfectly balanced. I swallowed thickly as I realized that one glance at my frame, and perhaps my hands, and she had perfectly discerned how I fought.

I bowed my head in thanks.

“I am grateful for your kindness. All that has occurred shall be forgotten.” That statement earned me a nod of acknowledgment. Then, after that, I was as invisible to her as were all the guards and servants.

Her gaze was solely on the young Lord Trelawney, decades her younger. I knew of similar marriages. Second or third sons marrying an older lady of a house that has lost its lord and heirs. Or, a single daughter of a household losing her husband and all her generation were already wed. It was for the sake of ensuring the bloodline persisted.

This, though?

My stomach turned over at the blatant desire for power with which the foreign sorceress viewed Lord Trelawney.

Once I was out of the way, though, he smiled and addressed her directly.

“Nice new body. Decent top speed, and you’re not winded after a night of flying. You’ve been taking lessons.” I wanted to be elsewhere as he addressed the powerful sorceress. Every word out of his mouth seemed to insult her. I would never dare imply such things, let alone utter them. Lord Trelawney’s every other breath seemed to be an insult. It was a mark of professionalism for the staff that they trundled forward with a wheeled cart and offered the sorceress bread and wine. She consumed the loaf of hearty wheat and grains in one hand and drank a whole bottle of the strong wine without flinching. The insults aimed at her didn’t seem to register at all. “So, what do you have to say for yourself? You’ve failed in being an ally to my family. I have every right to annul our relations and see you ruined.”

“You will do no such thing.” The white-haired, pale-skinned sorceress stated simply. She leaned back, and stones arose from the ground to give her a throne to sit upon. With a gesture, Lord Trelawney put his own power to use. Faint threads formed a platform for him to sit upon, while the sun’s rays dimmed as a shimmering, near-invisible tent of threads formed around us. The simple move gave the sorceress pause, while I became intimately aware that I was at his complete and utter mercy. “It will delay the vengeance you seek to launch against those who harmed your family. The gods of the Fading Isle are fickle and capricious. They understand vengeance and passion, but not slow, careful destruction. Our engagement gives you the right to come to my lands and strike out against those who killed your family.”

The words she uttered were beyond me.

These two tread with such power and strength that they brokered deals with gods of the land in order to strike against those who worshipped them. I recalled Lord Trelawney brokering his own vengeance against the people of this land. The tribal peoples here did not receive the aid of their deities because he was striking against them as a disaster would.

If he wishes to wreak such a vengeance against the foes who harmed his family in the Fading Isle, he will need to broker a similar agreement with the gods of that land.

Thus, he gave the sorceress something to bargain with.

Or so I had thought.

Lord Trelawney ceased smiling, but it wasn’t anger or disdain that overtook his features. Nor was it even confidence in his own strength.

It was the face of a scholar ready to relay truth regardless of how horrifying it may be.

“Ransom. I have the right to enter the Fading Isles by offering ransom for a living prisoner.” I could not stop the intake of breath that went through my lips. Neither could the sorceress-queen retain her mask. Her brow furrowed, but such a single movement may as well be a scream of affront in court. Lord Trelawney’s hatred for those who harmed his family led him to extremes. To have kept one of the killers alive for ransom to return to their family alive… he must have sated his hate in a different manner. “So, go ahead and give it another try, Lady Aigen. I have a ticket that can get me in there to cause havoc whenever I want.”

A fierce smile crossed his features after a moment.

“I might even do it after a few years of training so that the gods of your land have no choice but to accept what I do.”

A shiver went down my spine.

If he was this strong at a mere fourteen, then how much stronger will he be with another four years?

…

Lord Trelawney’s negotiations with his future bride took time normally set aside for training and breakfast. He cited that lack of sleep was enough to warrant avoiding the morning exercises, but after the negotiations, our aim was to venture out and continue to kill monsters.

Alice helped me out of my dress and assisted me in getting into light armor suitable for the coming battle.

Today we were to fight the local population of ogres.

Ogres are large and powerful beings that lived in solitude. They wandered forests and preyed upon large beasts and protected natural groves and springs, which they called their home. They were intelligent monsters who prized human flesh but knew better than to attack villages outright. Instead, they struck travelers or ‘defended’ their territory in the wilderness. If a group of hunting humans went after them, they would flee before returning with a plan for the same group of hunters. Between their size, strength, speed, regeneration, toughness, and ability to use primordial magics, knights of noble households were best suited to their destruction.

A knight who slew an ogre would find themselves greatly acclaimed, and it was a mark of honor that many wore to the end of their days.

Today, Alice and I were supposed to kill twenty such creatures before sunset.

“I would say that I feel as though I’m heading to my death, but that would be a lie.” Alice gave a hum while tightening my armor until it was flush against my form. She was making sure there was no easily grabbable surface for the creature to take hold of or to catch onto a tree or branch. It was all hardened leather atop padded wool. Basic steel armor would be largely useless against such powerful foes. “The fact that I only have to kill twenty-five of them in single combat seems trifling.”

“Careful, my lady. Our sense of normalcy is being warped at a rapid pace.” Alice warned me, and I nodded. We have been here for such a short amount of time. We fought slimes, insects, and then wolves. This was our fourth target. In barely four days, our strength dwarfed what we had just in the prior week. Not to mention the fact that one single mistake would’ve meant death, if not for Lord Trelawney’s constant mentorship over us. “We have fourteen more weeks here. If this continues, we will be nonsensical and beyond anyone’s ability to understand upon our return.”

I nodded at her words and felt her tug on a few pieces of my armor before giving a small hum of completion.

Without thinking, I turned to her and proceeded to check on her own armor to ensure that everything was in place.

It was not my place to do so, but every minute we could get to ourselves was one to be cherished.

With that done, I turned to the armory with the intent to look for weapons to use, only for the door to open and admit Lord Trelawney fully clad in his armor.

“Best that you use the weapon that you were given, princess.” The words made me grimace, but I nodded. “Don’t worry. You’ll be in plenty of danger even while using amazing gear. Just think of it as a sword that won’t go dull.”

“That is plenty amazing in itself.” I stated and earned myself a nod. The armor floated into the room. When I first met him, I thought the whole armor held a person within. Now, I could see it. The innumerable tendrils of magic that kept it in motion and in flight. Like a dizzying array of sinews and strands of muscle, the armor moved in accordance with his will. His ability to manipulate magic was as staggering as the amount that he had. Combined with the ancient, powerful spells layered onto the pieces of armor he used, he had little to fear. “But I would like to be permitted a secondary weapon. She would not be cross with caution, correct?”

“If you haven’t pissed her off, she shouldn’t. Oh, and if you’re not in a way to get something that she wants or in the way of something that she wants. She won’t care that you exist unless you insult her.” I grimaced at the words, but still I elected to take a hefty and large war club made of metal on the wall. The weapon was nearly my height and as thick as my waist. However, I found no issue picking it off the wall and hefting it onto my shoulder. It was as light as a stick in my hands. “If you end up using that instead of her sword, and it’s not an emergency, she’ll probably see it as an insult.”

It would be declaring that the gifted blade was lesser than a hunk of steel with a lead core.

However, at the thought of something happening that would leave me without weapons, I made my decision.

“I would live to apologize to her rather than die with her weapon in my hand.”

Lord Trelawney nodded at my words.

“Good, you’re learning, princess. You’ll be an empress before you know it.”

V10: Chapter 14

V10: Chapter 14

…

Another Council of Kings to address the Demonic threat sounded good on paper, but from my experience in-game and in reality, I knew that it was just going to be a waste of time.

Council of Kings was automatic and didn’t take time when you played in the game. They start happening every couple of turns, and everyone can work together on a countermeasure for the current crisis. Free trade agreements that upgrade everyone’s income for a couple of turns. Cross-agency espionage collaboration that lowers the success rate of espionage missions. A ten percent increase to EXP gain thanks to all armies working with one another.

Sounds good on paper, but in practice the bonuses are too small to matter. They would’ve been great if you could’ve gotten them years before the crisis started. Ten percent compounding growth every year is great… at the start of the game. Now, with the dangers at our door, the Council of Kings would only provide benefits if they were tripled. Not only that, but in-game, there’s no cost to attending the Council of Kings.

You click the diplomacy screen, and there you are.

Here?

Everyone needed to be on good terms with one another.

Everyone needed to put money together to present themselves as strong.

Everyone was more hell-bent on their own interests rather than anyone else’s.

The possible gains from another Council of Kings were just too small for me to consider. If someone else called for it, if there was some unified call to work together, I’d join in. However, with the Forgers and Merchants fighting, and the Guardians selling them weapons? It was unlikely that was going to happen.

The time for building alliances, diplomacy, and expansion has passed.

Now, it was time to kill or be killed while desperately holding onto all the territory that I now possessed… while keeping an eye on all the other Citadels.

If they were about to fall, then I’d need to go in and take it before it falls.

Usually, one Crisis getting one Citadel would just make the game harder, but with four end-game factions converging on us?

That would be the end of it.

I really hoped that once things got dire enough, if enemy armies were in spitting distance of their Citadels, they’d ask me for help or just surrender.

But I haven’t gotten this far by being an optimist.

If I smell blood in the water, I’m going in with full force to deny the enemy a Citadel and take another one for myself.

It was time to stop holding back, go full throttle, and not care about how the other factions saw me.

Now it was time to be aggressive.

…

There were a lot of changes to the Goddess of Life’s temple since my last visit. Some would say that’s an understatement since the clergy got murdered the last time I came around, but those guys weren’t just replaced. The whole feel of the place at first was like a secluded vault to keep people out. Multiple gates, tall but narrow halls, and plenty of corners for defenders to use. If you looked at the temple as a diagram, you’d see it as a meat grinder for any intruders first, before realizing that it was actually a place of worship at the center.

Whoever took up the new position basically made a new temple, set aside the first one as a storehouse after putting in more doors, and now the new temple was actually a place of worship.

Almost too much worship.

Hundreds of Children of the Elm were in secluded halls looking through into the garden. They knelt with heads bowed and prayed. They wore little more than loincloths or bands across the chest, with no jewelry in sight, so as to adhere to ascetic principles. The halls were circular and wide with tall ceilings bare of any design, as well as composed of wood shaped through magic. The constant prayer-chanting created a choral echo through the complex that coalesced into the garden. A constant breeze swept through the halls, and through flowing, vine-like grates, they looked at the garden where the Goddess of Life slept.

In the garden there was one singular tree that provided shade, but fields of grass and flowers flourished without needing any tending. Flowers of every color grew, perished, and shed their petals to flow through the grates. Each petal was carefully dried and kept by those it fell upon. If they did not fall upon someone, they simply vanished. Typically, if a petal landed upon a Children of the Elm, they would cast aside all their work and devote themselves to the Goddess of Life’s clergy.

A clergy that largely gave food to the hungry, provided healing services, and helped crops grow.

Tests on the chosen also showed that they had higher rates of regeneration, could cast healing spells more easily, and were predisposed towards magic that manipulated plants.

Since the rate at which these clergy were appearing finally reached around one a month and hasn’t risen since, I assumed that the Goddess of Life was finally ready.

Though, I could’ve told you that just by looking at her.

Sometimes, when the world is so shitty, fanservice shines so brightly that you just can’t help but be absolutely floored when you look at it. I think a few posters on the game forums said it the best:

>tfw when you’re surrounded, millions are dead, and behind tech, but you have big-titty elf mommy on your side.

>tfw when you strap in because you can’t let mommy down.

>win

I salute all those degenerates, especially since posting with that formatting gets the poster banned.

Anyway, the Goddess of Life had the ridiculous figure that she was supposed to have now. Asleep in the crook of a tree, beneath its shade, the Goddess of Light fit her earliest stage art. If everything went right, she’d just stay here while the temple around her flourished and I funneled faith her way. She’d just yawn, maybe stretch a bit, and look ludicrous just with a few pieces of cloth on her person along with some leaves and vines.

How ludicrous?

Imagine a model that has flawless, healthy skin, then give her waist-length, straight blonde hair and a healthy slenderness. Give that model a kind, caring, and compassionate personality, but one who also knows how to add ‘punishment’ to ‘divine’ when needed. A caring and compassionate beautiful lady who wishes for the descendants of the Ancients to grow strong and powerful and who wields what power she can to strengthen her chosen people. Put her in bits of white cloth to just drape over her body along with some vines and leaves.

Alluring, beautiful, and sensual, right?

Borderline hedonistic, right?

Yeah, for normal people.

This game was made for degenerates by Eastern Europeans who’ve been bitten hard by the anime bug.

And they’re independent and don’t have any shareholders.

So, to that borderline hedonistic image? Add on thick thighs, wide hips, and breasts bigger than her head.

How big?

If she holds her hands behind her back, her breasts will hide her shoulders and arms.

That big.

Alright.

That’s enough staring.

It’s time to put the Goddess of Life and Nature to work for my war machine.

Standing before her sleeping form, I undid the glove covering the two marks on my hand and clenched my hand into a fist. I took hold of the magic inside myself and channeled it as best as I was able towards the crest.

It came alive with light, and the constant chanting from the circular halls ceased, the constant cool breeze stopped, and all plants went still.

Then, blue eyes opened, and a smile spread across the Goddess of Life’s face.

I was ready for something to go wrong, since the Death Goddess was so different from what she was meant to be. The deaths of the former clergy were still too easy to remember in the presence of the Goddess of Life.

Yeah, it’s not easy to forget seeing multiple people get turned into trees with those trees growing out of every orifice that they have.

Anyway, I was ready for everything to go wrong, so I was pleasantly surprised by what came to be.

“Ah, my beloved, you have finally awakened me.” So far, so good. The breathy ‘mommy’ voice was higher in fidelity, but still the same as I remember. A breeze flew by, and petals along with a breeze made strands of her hair flutter. Her VA had a nice accent, and that carried through here. Couldn’t tell you where the accent was from, though. Or who the VA was. I’m a fan of games and indie game companies. Not people. What was I doing again? Right, contracting with a Divine Engine. “How may I serve you?”

There were three dialogue options to answer her question.

‘Your power is not mine, but the people’s. Give to them the bounties of nature. Protect them from their foes. In exchange for their faith and their worship, grant them blessings to overcome the curses that have ravaged them.’

The first dialogue option unlocked the first Nature Perk, “Health and Plenty,” which doubled all the yields of food output, as well as doubled the rates of population growth. Improved food tiles with farms at this stage at mid-game gave four units, but the perk turned it into eight. It was a great perk, since the double applied after all the flat, percentage, and tech-based bonuses the player had and rounded up. A single endgame food tile with all the building bonuses and techs, along with a Champion, could give out twenty units of food. Turning that into forty units was frankly absurd, even with the doubled population growth.

But population growth and food weren’t something I was looking for. If I needed more bodies, I just needed to wait a turn, and every Iterant could give me two more as long as I stayed on their good side. Not only that, but they didn’t need food to support their population growth and were stronger, tougher, and worked harder. That’s why I was doing everything in my power to prevent their rebellion question chain.

So, the first option was not worthwhile.

The second dialogue option went:

‘Heed my words, I am your master. By my will, you will grant my armies the strength and power to crush my enemies. The faith I have given you has been costly. It will be repaid, or you will not receive more.”

The second dialogue option gave the first perk to the Primordial Strength Perk line: “Blessed Strength.” It provided mediocre improvements to attack and defense but gave a regeneration boost to all combat troops and even to city health while under siege. The regeneration boost was like 1% of troop health every ten seconds. So, in a thousand seconds, someone can go from near-dead at 1 HP to perfectly fine. It also reduced the number of deaths that occurred in battle, turning them into recovering casualties that will return to the fight after the battle is done.

Again, a great perk, but I made sure to have combat medics available that can staunch bleeding and get people out of the line of fire and gave my troops armor. Not to mention the fact that I was giving them every unlocked tech that I had that upgraded their stats, so they’re all turning into supersoldiers. Anything that a combat medic can’t staunch or overcomes the armor or bodies of my troops will kill them outright. Therefore, that was a waste for a ‘free’ first perk choice, since casualties are far less likely than outright deaths.

That left the final option for me.

“Oh, Goddess of Life, I offer you sanctuary in my lands. I grant you this place and the people here as your faithful attendants, and the lands they tend to are now yours. May this become your paradise.” This was always the plan, really. That’s why I gathered the Children of the Elm here, set it all up for them, and got them to take care of it while keeping my hands off of it. In-game, if you did this, the Goddess of Life will take the region that produces the most food and has the least production. That region no longer contributes to your coffers, along with any population and villages you had in it. Finally, it started giving points towards starting the Usurpation questline, which could have me replaced as a ruler. Sounds pricey, right? Yeah, but it was the only way to get the free Perk point in the third, last Perk Tree that the Goddess of Life had. “My sole desire is to see the works of the Ancients completed. Look to me as an ally in your just cause.”

I held the hand with my crest over my heart and gave a small nod after finishing my statement.

That should’ve been all of it.

Hopefully, I haven’t flubbed any lines. I did my best to recall them, and then I practiced on my own time for weeks before coming here.

A silence hung in the air for a moment while the Divine Engine considered my words.

If she asked for the whole empire, I’d say yes, then bomb this place to rubble before calling on the Goddess of Death to finish her off.

Thankfully, it did not come to that.

“I accept this alliance, my beloved. I shall be stalwart and true to you, as you are to me.” Great, that was the reply that I was looking for. Now, the Goddess of Life should recline back into her tree and go back to sleep until I get enough faith for the next perk. Instead… she stood up, and vines crawled up her while leaves formed clothes. Pure, white silk cloths that barely covered anything draped themselves over her, and suddenly… she was standing before me in her fourth stage. I knew this because a staff of pure white came forth from the ground at her left, while another white oak created a white crown at her left. I was ready to scream at the sight of the crown, thinking that she was going to usurp the empire right away by crowning herself and killing me, but I realized that the crown was too small for a two-and-a-half-meter Elven Goddess. The staff floated by her side while she took the crown of white oak with both hands and knelt before me. “May your reign be blessed forevermore by my strength, and may we see this world reborn anew.”

I bowed my head in reflex while she placed the crown of entwining white branches on my head.

When she stood up again, white oak wings settled on her shoulders, and she floated off the ground with her bare feet.

Yep.

That’s the final ascension portrait with all the additions and fetishes heaped on.

I… I guess that I pumped in more Faith than I thought!

Oh.

Does that mean I’m getting all the perks from all three lines at once!?

I need to warn everyone that we’re about to go from low fantasy to high fantasy at ludicrous speeds!

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 8).

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 8).

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Word count: 2500

…

One of my earliest lessons in magic was to know how to discern reality from fantasy. When skilled enough, illusionists can tamper with one’s senses; it was imperative to start training to defend against such things from an early age. Lacking strength in combat can be overcome by providing more troops or funds to the war coffer, but it was inexcusable to have a mind or senses that can be easily tricked.

So, though I opened my eyes in the guest room that I was given, I knew that I was in a dream.

The moment I came to that realization, the facsimile faded away, and I found myself standing on a vast and expansive lake.

Where a table with two chairs was present, alongside a porcelain tea set and some pastries.

But the one occupying one of the spare chairs took all my attention.

“I have not had the pleasure of enjoying foods such as this before. Would you mind showing me how to enjoy it?” The figure was clad in swathes of black and azure cloth. A black crown adorned with spikes of sapphires sat on her head. Her skin was almost pure white in color, and faint blue lines glittered on her skin into multitudes of symbols. With hair as white as snow, straight and long enough to reach her calves, she looked at me with teal eyes that seemed almost aglow through a black gossamer veil. The words that left her mouth were not what my mind heard. “You have already seen through the illusion, child. Anything more will invite my betrothed’s wrath.”

The impossibly powerful user of magic before me spoke the word ‘betrothed,’ and everything fell neatly into place.

Though the edges of my senses felt as though they were slowed by invisible muck, I forced myself to bow my head to give both a curtsy and a bow.

“I offer my greetings to the betrothed of Lord Trelawney. I am his student and heiress of the Dukedom of House Argelia.” I was careful of my thoughts. I did my utmost to recall only what Lord Trelawney said of his betrothed without any negatives. Also, I made sure to not speak my first name. That she could already enter my dreams was a sign that she had a connection to me. I did not wish to give her a greater hold. “Please, allow me to serve you.”

I had worked for the queen as part of the princess’s entourage. That entailed learning how to pour tea for my betters. Though I had chafed while learning the methods, I was now grateful as I was able to pour tea with a flourish, as well as give the powerful sorceress a selection of snacks from my dream. I also made sure to stand and wait, not taking the offered seat, while the powerful sorceress sampled the pastries and consumed the tea.

“This drink is too delicate and light to warm the heart in winter. These breads are light and filled with sugars that will not fill the stomach.” She decried it and swept her hand. The top of the table came undone, and in a blink the foods were replaced. A hunk of roasted meat glazed in spices and herbs, a wicker basket of hearty bread, and green glass bottles that were open and filled the air with the scent of fruit and wine. Then, the sorceresses stood up and walked my way… Her hands moved my shoulders and placed me on the opposite seat. With motherly grace, she sliced and served the meat and bread to me. “The meals of my homeland are far superior.”

I almost consumed it, but I stopped and met the gaze of the sorceress through her gossamer veil.

Sweat and terror crawled down my back as a lesson I learned resounded in the back of my mind.

Never consume anything offered to you by a skilled user of magic.

Especially when they have not given you the rights of a guest.

Then, there was the fact that she tried to lure me into a false sense of security by awakening me in my bed.

“I am afraid that I must decline, my lady. I have been forbidden from consuming meals when not given the rights of a guest.” I spoke, and I was ready for horrors to be unleashed, especially as the chair, table, and fine-smelling meals all disappeared.

My dream contorted and changed until I was in a long, dark hall of smooth black stone, and at the end of it, on a throne, sat the sorceress I thought that I had met. The flowing robes, veil, and crown were gone. Instead, a furred coat hung over her shoulders with the face of a fierce beast contorted in a final roar settled on her shoulder, while a long loincloth in black and a band across her chest preserved some modesty.

The light blue lines of magic that coursed all over her milky-white skin had a fiercer glow. The mask of elegance was gone.

A conqueror remained.

I knelt and bowed my head and pleaded for my sanity. “I apologize for all discourtesy. I ask only for mercy.”

Even if I had done nothing wrong, my mind was at this sorceress’s mercy, so I had no choice but to beg—

“That’s two. You’re out, Aigen.” A wave of relief swept over me in an instant at the sound of Lord Trelawney’s voice. It could’ve been a trick, but I felt his power. The abrasive, uncaring, and ruthless weight of his soul permeated the dream. Cracks formed on the smooth black stone, and the glare of the conqueror on the throne narrowed. He reached me, walked past me, and promptly raised his middle finger towards his betrothed. “And, since you didn’t lift a finger to help us despite our engagement, consider it over.”

His hand reached for my shoulder, and I knew that he was moving to crush the dream when the conquering sorceress suddenly spoke.

“I offer restitution for this moment and my lack of action against those who struck against you.” The words were cold and calculating, but I balked at them. Those of royal standing made no such offers. Monarchs did not make mistakes. Not in the presence of others. Not even their equals. Then, I came to a simple realization. If she was this strong and capable, then she would surely know the true strength of Lord Trelawney. “Let there be peace between us.”

Lord Trelawney paused and gave a hum.

“Peace between your lands and mine? You think we can have that after you let my entire family get wiped off the planet? Not even a warning, even though it was agreed that you’d get all the power you ever wanted?” Lord Trelawney chuckled lowly and shook his head. Then, he pointed towards the sorceress that he was engaged to just minutes ago. “No. That’s not fair, let alone just. You might not be fair game since inaction isn’t a good enough reason for your deities to look away… But I can prop up somebody that you hate instead and give her everything that you wanted.”

The cool and dispassionate stare abruptly turned to a glare, and the sorceress stood up to her full height and crafted a spear of darkness with an outstretched hand.

“You dare!?”

Lord Trelawney responded with such enthusiasm that I was sure that he had a smile on his face.

“Look at it this way, your bloodline still gets empowered! Just not through you, bitch! Tell Aire that I send my regards, and tell everyone who worked against my family to get ready to be wiped off the face of the planet!”

A roar of power rushed at us, and the spear flew at us. It burned with an azure flame and coursed with golden lightning.

I was sure that the blow would shatter a castle with ease, and I thought that we’d leave the dream before it reached us.

Instead, Lord Trelawney seized it with his magic via an outstretched hand, then clenched that hand into a fist, and rendered it to mere motes of dissipating power.

It was only a dream, but dreams reflected reality, and a shiver went down my spine as I realized my teacher hid more power than I realized.

Then, his hand settled on my shoulder, and the dream began to fade.

But not before he gave his last statement towards the furious Sorceress-Queen.

“If you have something else to say, come and say it to my face! Invading the dreams of young women doesn’t suit you!”

If looks could kill, Lord Trelawney would’ve been obliterated from existence with not even his soul remaining.

They did not, so his laughter echoed through my mind as the dream faded back into a natural rest.

…

I questioned Lord Trelawney on my dream and his broken engagement when I found myself shocked beyond belief.

“Oh? Nah. It’s not over. I basically told her to get over here and apologize personally instead of bullshitting.” I had awoken from my slumber and went to seek him out after modestly covering myself up. A lady couldn’t meet with a young man in her nightgown, of course. I found him in the guest room with a maid, and he had mulled wine at the ready for me to imbibe. I questioned him, and he answered me. “She’s a whore, but she’s smart enough to know what she needs to do. And that is to get over here, beg to stay in my good graces, and become an honest woman. Or, you know, I’ll kill all the people who don’t hate her and empower the people that do.”

“You are… incredibly blasé regarding this matter. I know that you are strong, but is it wise to incur the wrath of such a powerful being?” The Fading Isle was a land from myth and legend. There, mortals, ephemeral creatures, and gods walked the same land. Their isolation and the fact that they had little interest in the rest of the world made it so no other deities entreated with them to allow for civilization to flourish. It was a wild land where might made right, and to be a queen-sorceress there meant one had the ability to rival a deity’s whims. “Would it not have been better to simply allow her to do as she wishes, even if you could defeat her?”

Lord Trelawney considered the question for a bit. While I had mulled wine to help me sleep, he was sipping on warmed milk that was spiced.

“Aigen is a powerful sorceress, but she’s hit her limit. That’s why she goes around making multiple bodies, while staying young, and finding strong bloodlines to mix with her own. Her ultimate goal is power for herself by creating a new body to inhabit.” I blinked at the words that came forth from Lord Trelawney’s mouth. The manipulation of the flesh and the soul through magic was considered the realm of those who have truly mastered magic. They were sages and hidden hermits who used immortality to study magic in seclusion. Not sorcerers bent on conquest and power. “She’s spent the last fifty years after reaching her current state sending out bodies, seducing men, and becoming concubines or wives... for the sake of personal power.”

Lord Trelawney leaned forward and raised an eyebrow after his wanton statements.

“Do you think a person with that much drive and who uses her body like a tool to gain power… would respect someone who wouldn’t stand up to her in his own home?”

The answer came to me swiftly.

“No. She would not.” Lord Trelawney was right. If he hadn’t come to my defense as his guest, he would’ve shamed himself. In fact, if he did not treat the sorceress’ actions as he did, by declaring his intent, issuing forth his threats, and demanding a personal appearance, he would have been ill-suited to be a lord. Those were the actions to be expected of his title and position. I shook my head and regathered my thoughts. “I should have known that.”

“In your defense, princess, you just had your mind invaded and your sanity held hostage. You can stand to give yourself a little credit.” I nodded as Lord Trelawney took a stand. He handed his mug to the maid, and she took my own empty mug. The mulled wine was doing its work. It was strong, and drowsiness was taking over me, while a pleasant warmth crawled up my chest. “Now, go ahead and get some rest. You only have a few hours before you need to start fighting again.”

I nodded.

The knowledge of the next upcoming bout for the sake of strength wiped away my fears and concerns.

Then, another… frightening thought occurred to me.

“Lord Trelawney… Is it possible that Lady Aigen believes that I am your new fiancé?”

Lord Trelawney paused at my question, then a frightening sound left his lips.

“Huh.” It was a sound of damnation and realization in equal measure. He looked my way with concern, and my entire world felt as though it were spinning on its axis. “She might, actually.”

“And… and you told her to come here after defending me against her!” I reviewed my memories of the dream. My instincts all told me to stay on guard the moment I had entered it, as though I were in the presence of someone who wished to destroy me. Why would such a powerful individual go out of their way to try and trick me and then confront me directly, except while operating under the belief that I was her foe? “Is there some way to contact her and ensure that she knows the truth? I still have my father’s letter with his seal upon it with the truth writ!”

“Yeah, you should go fetch that.” For the first time, Lord Trelawney looked like a child as he idly scratched his cheek and blushed lightly. A blush that a boy would make after making a mistake and was properly chastised. Unfortunately, that mistake may very well lead to my doom! “I’ll give her a call this evening to clear things up and tell her you’re not my fiancé.”

He held up his hand and muttered a spell, and suddenly the sound of howling winds surged across the leisure room of the guest wing.

He cut off the spell and looked my way.

“…She can’t hear the spell because of the winds. It’s pretty stormy around the Isle at this time of the year.” My heart dropped into my stomach at his words. He bowed his head in apology and offered a guilty smile. “I’ll try to intercept her before she gets into the castle, but the skies are pretty vast.”

No amount of mulled wine could’ve hoped to bring me to rest.

A sorceress that can defy gods is on her way here, and I stood between her and her desires!