Devourer

Chapter 65: Gifts and Debts

“So how are the preparations coming along?” Cecilia asked and I looked up at her from my book.

We were in our room, I was reading while Cecilia was naked and sweaty from a little romp with Lily. Honestly I have no idea what’s so fun about it, wouldn’t it get boring after a point? I swear if Cecilia was straight and Lily was a guy, Lily’s prick would have fallen off by now. They do that shit like twice a day at least.

At least it’s good exercise I guess? I mean Cecilia always ends up drenched in sweat and Lily is just a panting mess on the bed.

If I’m being honest I have no idea how this lesbian stuff works. I mean it’s just the two of them and they use this toy that can be stuck into both of them at the same time. Like what is the point of this? I mean isn’t the real thing not that much different? If at the end of the day you want to stick something into you, does it really matter who is doing it? It’s not even about reproduction at this point because there is no way what those two are doing can produce a baby.

Well whatever, a question for the philosophers I guess…

“Struggling a little honestly, not in the sense that I can’t get it right. The Sneaky Adjutants are easy to make. The only problem is that I don’t have enough power for it. I’m hunting wyverns now to get more fuel but now I only have enough for six of them. I want at least twelve to keep Legiana safe. Also Legiana’s upgrades have also cost quite a bit, plus the Battering Ram thing is also quite expensive.” I replied with a small sigh.

“So you have a shortage of Ether to create what is needed…” Cecilia said as she wiped her nethers with a cloth before taking a seat on the couch and cupped her chin.

“You could go to the swamp to hunt, but that is…” Cecilia began.

“On the border, which of course means it's more exposed.” I finished.

“Yes, that is a problem… Perhaps you could try the waters near Elysia? There are sea serpents and Naga prowling the waters. You would have to avoid shipping routes naturally but it should be doable.” Cecilia suggested.

“I would have to put in aquatic adaptations, but I would have to seize them myself first. So the real question is whether it would be worth it to dedicate the resources to the conversion of my soldiers so that I can cover enough ground.” I replied.

“Yes and we are short on time… god dammit Maria…” Cecilia said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

From what Sarana’s spies have reported, Cecilia’s little caged cousin has become smitten with a rather dashing knight of her royal guard. Apparently they share a bed quite often nowadays. Only problem is that Averlin is crawling with Tralis soldiers. It seems so far Tralis is none the wiser because thankfully Maria has the brains to do some precautions to prevent discovery. However, it was only a matter of time honestly…

So to put it quite simply, our schedule has been moved up. The original plan was to rescue the Princesses of Beralis and Maria to really piss that idiot off. Yes we were basically stealing his shit from right under him and leaving a “fuck you” note behind. Cecilia even had a pair of portraits of her commissioned with her flashing smug smile. She planned to leave those behind after we get the girls out.

The original plan was for this to be done in Spring when the Tralis army was knocking on the Beralis palace door. We were supposed to grab Maria and then the Princesses of Beralis. Maria will escape using tunnels and the Beralis Princesses will sneak away using flight or tunnels depending on the situation. I even had some flying cargo creatures made to transport them just in case.

But now with Maria taking dick from someone else, who knows what he is going to do when he finds out…

I mean yes technically the Prince couldn’t exactly ride all the way to Averlin and beat the shit out of her when he is prepping for the coming campaign. But he could just, you know… send a letter and order his soldiers to do his work for him. I mean I’ve seen portraits of Maria. She is quite pretty, in fact she looks a bit like Celene but just more good looking.

“Yeah, I bet the soldiers posted there would be more than happy to hold her down and do whatever they want to her. Probably make that knight watch too as they had their fun before making her watch as they cut his head off. I would bet my right arm on it.” I mused.

“Not much of a bet considering your arm can just grow back.” Cecilia said as she raised an eyebrow.

“A better bet would be your head.” Cecilia added with a sigh as she swept her sweaty and matted hair out of her face.

“Hey I’m not gonna risk my head for something like this.” I replied in a light hearted tone, hoping to make her feel a little better. At those words I saw Cecilia smile slightly before it returned to the usual grimace when her cousin was brought up in conversation.

“The worst part about this is that even if you do bet your head, you aren’t really risking anything…” Cecilia muttered wearily.

“True… Well at least we have a plan in the works for it. The improvements for Legiana are done, she should be able to command the Averlin op and I’ll handle the Beralis one. Sarana’s agents are in place and on standby whenever the orders come down.

Legiana has increased combat capability, intelligence and with the Sneaky Adjutants they can kill the entire garrison in Averlin easily if given enough time. The only real issue there is the Averlin adventurers.

This is also a test for a Vanguard Brood that can act almost completely independently deep in enemy territory” I said.

I got this idea from Tralis funnily enough, for all the crap everyone gives that Tralis Prince he was very good at military affairs. He pioneered this commando unit that could act with only basic orders to accomplish their objectives. That was how he took down the Beryl Wall, a bunch of skilled commandos breaking in, killing the commander and raising the gate. It was a rare thing indeed in this world, most of the powerful people are not the brightest, there were only so many hours in a day afterall. Every hour you spend swinging a sword is an hour not spent reading.

The truly talented individuals who can do both usually end up as commanders. So the Prince had to hand pick soldiers that would be able to be trained to be pretty good in both aspects. Still he paid them really well so I guess that's why so many recruits were clambering to join, even if most of them got turned away.

Apparently his little commando training camp has been at it for two years in preparation for this little war. So for all his faults he could at least plan long term, his only problems were his lust and temper. Thus we steal his women and shit on his table to really piss him off. Every man has a weakness…

“Hmm so we just need to find more Ether for you… I can’t afford to give you anymore Ether Crystals, the finances of preparing for the war are hefty and I can’t compromise the entire war effort to save Maria.” Cecilia said softly.

“Then we better win, from what you told me if we don’t win, the realm will be in financial ruin. We need to seize the Tralis treasury.” I replied.

“Indeed we do, but such is the nature of war. Gold wins wars as much as soldiers do…” Cecilia muttered.

I might be able to help with that…

I heard a voice say from the balcony I instantly sat up and brandished my blades. I saw this human girl with brown hair smiling at me. I felt my blood run cold at the sight, she was by far the most powerful person I had ever seen. Every alarm bell in my head started to go off. If everyone else were worms, this woman was a dragon. I couldn’t beat this…

“Who are you…” Cecilia asked as she sprang to her feet, her hands glowing, completely not caring about her state of dress or lack thereof.

“I’m here to talk, your friend here knows he can’t win, don't you?” the woman asked with a smirk and I sensed Cecilia turn to glance at me.

“Delusion Magic…” Cecilia said softly after a pause.

“Very good, only the Firstborn can truly see through all deceptions, while they themselves are unreadable.” the woman said with a chuckle as she casually leaned against the wall looking completely relaxed.

“You know what I am?” I asked cautiously.

“Of course, I share your blood and I served your kin long ago.” the woman said as she brought her hand to her face and her skin seemingly dissolved off of her into motes of blue light. Revealing a Lizardkin with pink Scales, wearing ornate gold armour with a pair of rapiers with white blades at her waist. On the sides of her head were a pair of large fins that extended outwards and she had bright silver, sterling eyes with the sharpest gaze I have ever seen.

“Wait… you look like…” I said as I gazed at her.

“Mahaila the Swift, Apprentice of the Blade, Goddess of War, Nobility and Valour within the Zariman Pantheon and Crown Princess of the now dead Draciman Empire. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Mahaila said with a bow.

“That’s a long list of titles…” I replied dryly.

“There’s more but I think I’ll spare you the rest.” Mahaila said with a smirk as her forked tongue flicked outwards for a moment.

“Why are you here?” I asked cautiously. I knew if Mahaila drew those swords and attacked, both me and Cecilia would die right here.

“First off I have a gift.” Mahaila said as I watched her reach into her pocket and take out a small cube. The ether on this thing was radiating off like an inferno, it must be quite a powerful relic.

Mahaila magiced a sack into her hand, you could probably put someone’s head in it and it was quite full. However, what drew my eyes was the large amount of essence radiating from the bag. It wasn’t as much as a phoenix but there was a lot more than there should be in such a small sack, a lot more than I could currently get my hands on…

Wyverns although big and scary weren’t that powerful actually, I mean they are basically just armoured, flying, venomous and can breathe fire. They also do a subpar job on all of those as well.

But Phoenixes were extremely powerful in terms of essence, considering they have that resurrection ability it’s not that surprising. As for what’s in that bag…

I think I know what’s in there…

Then Mahaila walked over and dumped the contents of the bag onto the table and my suspicion was proven correct. I looked down to see the entire table covered in Gilded Grahanam Crowns.

“About a hundred Gilded Crowns, it’s half my stash. I think you can put these to good use wouldn’t you say?” Mahaila said.

“Also I have this. Have a look.” Mahaila said as she took out a thick roll of parchment that glowed with ether and held it out to me.

I magiced the bundle of parchment towards me and as I unfurled it I was surprised to see a map of the surrounding region with red X's marked on it. This parchment looked very old but it was also enchanted.

Then I realised something, one of the Xs was roughly where my little home is…

“What is this?” Cecilia asked as I showed her the map.

“These are the locations of the Vaults in Zarima, Elysia and Western Voleria.” Mahaila said with a grin.

“These are what?” Cecilia asked in surprise as she did a double take.

“Ok… what do you want?” I asked to get straight to the meat of the issue.

An ancient hero or goddess or whatever the hell she is doesn’t just show up and give me shit like this. So what the hell does she want? Everyone wants something, even charity is often done to make the person in question feel better.

“I want to help you topple Heaven, I have a bone to pick with them. Well several bones actually, but if you are looking for people who have issues with Heaven that’s quite a long list.” Mahaila said.

“So what is this? Are you buying your way into my circle?” I asked.

“Consider it a gesture of good will, you are my best bet to correct the wrongs done to both me and this world. You can think of it as an offer of alliance, you know how strong I am. The Firstborn can always tell.

I would be a valuable asset wouldn’t you agree?” Mahaila said slyly.

“Uh huh, so is there anything left in the Vaults?” I asked dryly, I mean if she knows where it is… wouldn’t the vaults be raided?

“Oh I know where they are but I can’t open them, you will need a master key for that.” Mahaila replied.

“And how would we acquire a master key?” I asked.

“I don’t know but I suspect one of the vaults should have one.” Mahaila replied.

“Why would you think that?” I asked, in the back of my mind I wondered if she secretly just wanted to get herself into my little home. I could tell she wasn’t lying so far but then again I haven’t exactly questioned her too vigorously.

“You don’t trust me, of course you don’t. I just appear on your balcony and drop great gifts at your feet. Almost seems too good to be true doesn’t it? But what you have to understand, is that the two of you are just the latest and perhaps final piece to some greater design.

The Age of Heaven has lasted for 80 000 years, many have been planning for this for a long time. I won’t be the last to appear and many will have their own agendas.” Mahaila said.

“Like you?” I asked as I peered down at her.

“Yes, like me, but if you distrust my gifts…” Mahaila said as she took out a small totem with a dragon’s head.

“This is the Zariman Master Key, feel free to try it on one of the vaults.” Mahaila said as she placed it on the table.

“They’re sealed?” I asked.

“Yes, I thought it would be better if someone who could actually use its contents be the one who opens it. The Zariman vaults are a curious thing, they hold many of the Eternal Mother’s old brood. I am sure you can get something out of them.” Mahaila said. “Really?” Well now isn’t that interesting…” I said as I cupped my chin.

That is an attractive proposition but now isn’t the time to do it… the whole Maria situation could blow up at any moment. With the Grahanam Crowns on the table I could easily finish up what I need to smash Tralis. It would have been doable without them, if worse comes to worse I would have cannibalised some parts of the hive to make it work.

Sarana’s spies could only track incoming messages to Averlin; they didn’t have the capacity to observe the Tralis’s royal family’s private letters. The guard level on those were too high, it was only possible to intercept them near the destination. So by the time word got to us, we would probably have a few hours at most to act.

I had assigned some of Sarana’s spies to deliver this particular piece of news to a drop zone which my hive will collect. Since transmissions through the Hive were basically instant I could find out immediately. Which means I needed the rescue team to be on standby at all times just in case. If I’m out all the way in Zarima then there’s a chance we would be too late and Maria would have been used a dozen times over by the Tralis soldiers.

“That can wait, we have more pressing concerns at the moment. If the vaults have stayed sealed for a few thousand years they can wait another season.” I replied as I turned to look at Cecilia who gave me a gentle smile as she caught my meaning.

“I have an idea of how to use you actually. We have a rescue mission soon, I could use someone of your talents.” I said.

“Very well I am at your disposal. Know this Firstborn if you treat me well I will treat you well. My master The Blade once told me something…” Mahaila began as she locked her gaze with mine.

Return the kindness you receive tenfold

But return injustice a thousand times over

I have a hundred thousand years of grievances with Heaven

And I intend to claim what I am owed…