NOVEL NEXT V10: Chapter 13
V10: Chapter 13
…
Interlude: Rita
…
Bronze skin, scarlet eyes, clawed hands, blood-red hair, and mouths filled with fangs.
The Demons were easy to find… if they did not disguise themselves.
"We're fortunate to have the Iterants. Otherwise, we'd have been infiltrated and found cults all over our lands." Morgan stated. We were called to assemble, away from our other duties at the frontlines, in order to behold this corpse before us. The enemy we have been preparing for has finally arrived and played their first hand. "Look at this thing and the magic it displayed. It's practically bred for destabilizing nations."
"It would have worked in any other nation." Ilych spoke up. Her voice was soft and less booming now. Her recovery was complete, and changes after fighting Sirena settled. She still towered over most, but she was more lithe now. Some would've hesitated to call her beautiful prior to the changes, but now songs spread of the Sword of Wisdom's beguiling charm. Her ears went red whenever she heard them. "They were reported here, but in other places, they would've found purchase."
Morgan gave a nod at Ilych's words.
"Right. It's not just the Iterants. We've fed and provided for our people. Even people in villages can take a trip to a Citadel and get time in a medical pod or meet with a healer, especially if their life is at risk." Morgan faintly smiled at her own words. I was sure that she was praising his majesty in her mind. But now was not the time for praise. It was time for action. She looked back at the corpse on ice before us. "His majesty already sent letters to the other nations and sent spare cadavers and information… but I think they'll only have violence to rely upon with the state of their people."
Morgan's words made me grimace.
It was an unfortunate truth.
"The lands of the Guardians can resist somewhat. At least the more prosperous cities can, but the outlying villages will be a fertile soil for the Demons." I offered what I knew from my travels. Ilych and I parted ways while she recovered. My abilities were best suited for the reestablishment of our networks of spies and informers across the land. Mainly in usurping or holding the knife to the necks of criminals in outlying regions of societies. "Amongst the downtrodden and forgotten, or those forced to labor with little choice, they will find purchase. Not to mention that the other lands hire husband healers for their military and do not grant access to their citadel to the common people."
"Right. We'll need to worry about Warden lands most of all, then." Morgan looked towards Sirena, who gave a swift nod. "I see that you agree."
"They are lost now. Our efforts to destroy the path of ruin have shattered the faith into innumerable sects." Sirena gave advice regarding her people, but she was not allowed to act against them. She worked on keeping our lands, the academy's former lands, secure against opportunists from the Forgers and Merchants. She also trained with Ilych regularly. Fortunately, she has taken to wearing clothes befitting an officer, as scanty and open as her methods of wearing them were. It was an improvement. "They will be weak and swayed easily to temptation in this time of trials. They may even see the coming demons as false messiahs."
"The only choice, then, is to see the matter of the Wardens settled." Conquest spoke. She looked down at the creature on ice, and I could see her breathing hasten and her eyes narrow. The flaring of her nostrils informed me that the scent of corruption that had killed so many of her people clung to the body. "I would prefer they fall to the Merchants. How go their battles against the Forgers, General?"
"The Forgers are losing, but slowly. Armor and discipline do little against numbers, especially when those numbers are alchemically and surgically enhanced. Whoever survives a battle amongst the Merchants is improved; they grow stronger, and they return to battle all the fiercer." Morgan had both the Forgers and the Merchants in the palm of her hand. Initially, both sides tried to seize some of our lands. Even before the deployment of Eminent, she had control over the theater. Eminent's deployment merely gave her the strategic freedom to use our forces to decide who will win the Warden's Citadel. "And I concur. The Forgers are monstrous. I would rather the Merchants win as well. Not only that, but the merchants will be forced to fortify the whole trade line between their new citadel and their existing one. That will tie down their armies… or keep the war between them and the Forgers going."
Morgan looked at Sirena, who gave a swift nod.
"Those who remain are staunchly against the King of Wisdom. They will not come to us. Still, I would rather they have the chance at freedom with the Merchants than have their servitude ensured with the Forgers." Sirena stated. Though she was not allowed to fight against the Wardens, she was permitted to support the fledgling communities of Wardens in our lands. Those who were prepared to usurp Khalai were hard at work in our lands now. They were settling well, last I heard, though Iterants were watching them carefully for any sign of rebellion. "I vouch for the Merchants to win this battle."
Ilych and I both nodded towards Morgan.
"I'll pen the suggestion now and have it sent within the hour. Now… let's see if even the dead of the Demons can speak." Morgan extended her hand, and from a pocket on her belt came forth a multitude of wires and needles. They sank into the skull of the corpse, and magic flowed through them. Morgan's ability to seize memory from the living has advanced enough for her to do the same to the dead. She opened her free hand, and her wires formed a sheet. Black and white wires worked in tandem to showcase the memories of the creature. Starting with the last. It was the sight of a massive Conqueror's blade erupting from its back. Morgan let loose a low chuckle. "Settle in for a bit. I think we'll be searching for a while."
At her words, the final individual present for our meeting spoke.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
"Or, perhaps, I may be of assistance?" Eminent spoke, and all gazes turned to her. She had been silent since the arrival of the corpse. The pale-skinned, scarlet-eyed Divine Engine had been preparing for the call to assault the lands of the Demons when the news came. Now, she loomed over the coffin filled with ice and looked at the corpse… with a smile on her face. "May I, general?"
Morgan contemplated the matter for a moment before retracting her tools from the corpse.
"I want to know as much as possible about these creatures. How they think… and what they fear."
Though she hid her smile most of the time, in the presence of those she considered equals, Morgan was less restrained.
It was eerie how her smile and that of the Goddess of Death's were so similar.
…
Interlude: Eminent Void Blade: She Who Glides Between Sunbeams
…
Crippled, diseased, and fragmented.
That was the state of the 'Demons' who once ravaged the world.
Their ancestors had been fearsome foes. They changed their flesh at a whim and took power into themselves in immense amounts. A hundred or so 'Demons' were enough to shatter a fortress, and they had legions of thralls under their command. Every thrall was a life that they could take to empower their magic, strengthen their physical forms, and even revive themselves. They stole and overrode whole sections of the systems that governed the arcane for themselves and warped probability in their presence, offsetting curses onto their foes and harvesting blessings only for themselves.
To do battle against them was to push back an inexorable tide, to have enough power and skill that neither fortune nor misfortune mattered, and at the height of their power, they were the second-greatest threat to all life in the system.
Now, they were broken.
Their link to their stolen power was severed. Only the templates remained, and that could be learned and used by all peoples. Though they could change faces and forms, they could no longer create near-impenetrable carapaces or biological weapons or turn into far more fearsome monsters. The ability to create thralls from mere touch or sight was replaced. They needed to beguile and use words, as well as have the thralls imbibe their blood, and even that could be resisted.
My creators truly did all that they could to lay their enemies low.
The corpse collapsed and broke apart into sludge after my power finished tearing through it.
Morgan, the general, looked most pleased.
"They're already at each other's throats. No unified empire or ideology. That they were able to spare this many capable agents was troubling, but if they send more, they'll be pounced upon by their neighbors." The demon relayed much to us. His life, his training, his abilities, his accomplishments, and his mission here and who commanded him. This one was trained from childhood, a carefully created infiltrator and ground-based asset, made for covert conflicts between their nations. His original purpose was to do his work in other Demonic territories, but instead he was sent here… much to his joy. "We kill enough of them quietly, while doing nothing to harm them back, and they'll stay silent about their failings. We can make them bleed and slow their advance."
Morgan was the most strategically minded, but sometimes she showed that she could be too optimistic.
"They may have allies. Factions that they can bring into the fold. Or, at least, enemies that do not abhor them to the point of being willing to attack them when they can be paid off." Rita stepped in. The Undead 'Children of the Elm' was the voice of pessimism in the group. Any plan not uttered directly by the King of Wisdom was carefully, logically picked apart by her. Given Morgan's approving nod at her words, the general facilitated this mindset in the Undead. "If we prove to be too large of prey to handle, they will work with their kindred, even if it means losing their monopoly on restoring their true selves."
I had my doubts regarding these young mortals. Though they were blessed at birth, connected to my predecessors better than their fellows, I doubted their ability to hold this land against the rest of the world.
Why did my master give them so much authority when he could do more by commanding them to do as he willed?
Now, I saw what he saw.
The people of this land were capable and skilled, but they needed time to grow to their fullest strength. From the average footsoldier wielding either rifles or pikes to mages learning to heal or to devastate at long ranges, and finally these champions who could wield immense magic and artifacts with ease. They simply needed time, resources, and experience to elevate themselves to far greater heights. He could have led a vast army of common people and surged across the continent, seizing every citadel, but that would've resulted in too many deaths, too much potential lost, and infrastructure destroyed.
Now, his armies clash and gain experience against their fellows on the continent.
Now, his generals gain experience in leading and commanding wars against other nations.
Now, he and his enemies build more factories, cultivate more lands, and extract more mineral wealth while researching at breakneck speeds.
This was a continent no longer.
It was a crucible to forge a nation destined to rule the world.
"They have no higher industry. They rely only on their natural strength. They are vain and eschew what technology offers." Conquest spoke, and my esteem for this land rose ever higher. Her people were naturally gifted and immensely powerful, yet they were at the forefront of innovation in warfare. They were not the vanguard, nor were they meat shields. They were commandos or special forces deployed in massive numbers. The armies needed to bring them down are held by regular people, while they wreak havoc and utterly destroy the enemy's capacity to fight. "Little more than beasts wearing the faces of people. They have held a quarter of the world since the Ancients fell, yet they use stones to build and slaves as labor. Worthless."
"…His memories were filled with self-adulation and praise. His goal was his own ennoblement and rise to prominence. Nothing of sacrifice for his people. Not even the honor to stand and fight." Sirena spoke.
The Wardens were an addled people. Subterranean maintenance workers for the teeming underground infrastructure beneath the planet. Their history was rife with pain and suffering as the lands above closed; thus, they turned to faith and the emergency resurrection mechanisms and the final weapons finalized in the war that were mass-distributed before the final access nodes were lost, which they could easily access. Around the afterlife, around resurrection, and around 'holy' magic designed to be the finest blade against all four of our final foes, they created a religion and drove themselves into a frenzy.
A frenzy that nearly destroyed them but still created people such as Sirena.
"Such is the mindset of a premier warrior sent to undermine and conquer on behalf of a nation. If that is how a child soldier of a nation thinks and acts, how will the common soldier act?"
Sirena saw past another facet of the Demons and unveiled another weakness.
They can feel fear.
"He was afraid. He was ready to run. If they can break, we can break them." Ilych finished and then looked my way. Her visage and stature were the closest to the physical forms of Ancients. If the King of Wisdom had the mind of an Ancient, then she had the body. It was difficult to treat her like all the others. The creator I thought long lost was right here, my senses said. But my mind knew that these people were all like my creators. They just needed time. Time that they were fighting for. Time that I was willing to die a thousand deaths over. "Eminent, the King of Wisdom intended to send you against the demons to slow them down. I would like to request you do one more thing: terrorize them."
I gave a curtsy at her words and bowed my head.
Still, I was mindful of my words.
"So long as my master wills it, it shall be done."
I smiled as I passed another test with those words and continued to live.
They are truly magnificent.