In Loki's Honor

Our airship fleet touched down and the mooring ropes secured us to Ackerton's recently-built airship wharf. Mom gave strict instructions to not call it an airport. The acceptable designations, according to Her were "Airship Port" or "Airship Wharf", depending on the size.

Queen Lorna's Vengeance got the best spot. The [King] of Ackerton was there with his full retinue, ready to greet us. As preparations went on, the size and scope of our mission crept on. We would install the [Moons] on the Ackerton capital and surrounding settlements, then do the same at Atlantis, also putting a Truesilver cylinder inside a crystal grove in hopes Crystal Fairies would spawn there too. The cylinder would be inside one of the moons to be placed in the grove. That would deter thieves and treasure seekers.

But then Snowdrop asked us to take her children with us. Some of the foals from the first batch were already adults and they needed Experience and levels if they were to be set free in the barbarian plains and fully restore the legacy of the Unicorn King. So mom forged armor for them. We brought twelve Unicorns and four Pegasi with us.

Then some elven volunteers from Fulgen, more [Priests] and [Beast Paladins] from the Matriarch's Church, Goliath, Miriel, Kasumi, and some Adventurers vetted by [King] Hamilton of Espero. We brought Lily and Apricot to help keep everyone safe and also to earn some Exp. We decided that these two, were the weakest among the Aspects because they were the earliest incarnations among them. The elves and Adventurers were all wearing Subordinate Tabards, for their protection and as a safeguard. These Tabards would also level up with them.

Our group was fifty-one creatures strong. Everyone was eager to help and gain some levels.

Below the wharf, the people cheered and sang hymns of praise. The Goddess herself was coming to deliver them from the cultist menace. I really hoped I could live up to their expectations.

In Haru's form, I walked down the gangplank, making sure my tails were moving in sync with my feet. I had to appear graceful, divine. As I went, I cast an Illusion spell to project my face into the sky above, for the people to see.

I sensed hidden forms in the roofs and towers around us and a smile formed on my face. I put a [Death Contract] on each of them at the same time, then quickly removed those contracts. Behind me, still inside the cabin, Apricot laughed, a rare display of mirth. Said hidden forms all bowed and placed an open hand over their chests as they knew what my gesture meant. Good girls. I had to set some time to visit them with Apricot. It was the only thing that made that little murderer emotional. Family.

Once we set foot on the pier, Kasumi and Barbara flanked me, with Goliath, Miriel, Apricot, and Lily three steps behind. Those living fur streamers behind me needed a lot of room. The fairy, who insisted on wearing a youthful version of the gown I wore, rode on the floating Jadeite golem's shoulder.

We approached our greeters. The crowd underneath the floating platform went silent.

"Your Divinity, welcome to Ackerton," the King bowed while everyone else knelt.

I adjusted the projection to show the man and also checked his level.

> Level 88 male Human [King]

Hooray for [Royal Exp Tithe].

"Stand up and look at me in the eyes, [King] Albrecht VII of Ackerton. I recognize you as a friend."

"You honor us with your words."

"Let it be known, that six Realms in this world are held dearest to my heart. Auvani, where I first lived among people. Fulgen, where I found home for the first time. Ackerton, where I slew two Demon Lords and a God. Windemere, Cradle of Silk, where I first ruled. Atlantis, within its depths I rested my dreams. And Clovehaven, where I put my throne. These six realms are all my home. I don't feel like a visitor. I merely returned, then."

The King smiled, especially because everyone was seeing him. "Welcome back home, then. Your blessing, Matriarch."

I removed the first [Moon] from my storage ring.

"You asked for a blessing, and a blessing I shall grant you. Here, this is a divine artifact, one who will thwart evil and protect this land. It is fitting that the first one shall be here. Above this wharf, I place the cornerstone of the cleansing of this tortured Continent, a sign of hope for its people."

This [Moon] was special, the first one I made which granted it a boon. It would link and bolster the nearby moons, networking them and making all of them share Exp, MP, and more importantly, the self-repair power. It would also permanently shine as a beacon, a lighthouse for the Airships.

"Where the light of these artifacts reaches, let darkness be dispelled!"

I commanded it. The silvery-white orb shot up into the sky and stopped, five hundred meters above the wharf. Its enchantments activated.

And the shit hit the fan. I unlocked my full power by suppressing the curse.

*

*

The loss of five hundred points of [Stealth] Proficiency hurt. These [Demon Infiltrators] were good at their job, so good they evaded my passive detection. But when they lost those points and started to glow like D&D druid had cast Faerie Fire on them, they quickly abandoned their disguises.

At least the artifact was working as intended. I shot an {Appraise} at one of them.

> Level 75 Demon Infiltrator

Damn high level. But it seemed to be too focused on infiltration.

I broadcast to every member of my party still on the airships.

I activated Royal Aura, Eldritch Aura, and Eye of the Manastorm, and spread my tails as far as they went, about twenty-four yards each. Each tail could defend one person and I assigned them to the people around me.

"Full offense! Cleanse the city!" I shouted.

Goliath reacted like the well-oiled arcane machine he was. "Calculating reflection arcs. Focusing Light energy!" The two wands mounted in his arms shone as slanted magical circles appeared above the golem. Dozens of prisms flew out of the circles and started shooting lasers at each other, condensing the light.

"Let your faith in the Goddess be your defense! Aegis of the Meek!" Kasumi cast a Divine spell, the area of effect boosted by her [Saintess Magic] to cover the whole crowd. She knelt and prayed, sustaining the spell. It would put a faint Force barrier on everyone who didn't take offensive action, soaking the damage with her MP pool.

Barbara started to cast a spell, moving her staff around, drawing the diagram out of the ruby plate with her mind. She would take a minute or more to realize it like a normal [Wizard], her casting speed heinously slow for her level. "[Shard Blades]!" She called out.

Miriel just took cover behind one of Goliath's Mithril pauldrons. Lily jumped off the pier into the city below, transforming into her werecat form as she went. Apricot vanished into her own shadow.

"Multicast! MITH Force Javelin!" I shouted my attack. It was cool but useless and even a bit of a delay but knowing what your teammates were doing was what made a party a team. Coordination was more important than secrecy or a bit of celerity.

The Demons were all outlined in our sight. Now that they no longer had their disguises, I targeted and marked them for {Assassination}. The ones inside my auras were rendered powerless and immobile. The [Guards] and [Knights] down there were already skewering and cutting them to pieces.

Goliath's rainbow lasers fried a dozen Demons. Kasumi winced but kept praying as her shield saved the lives of a few people down there, the Demons rampaging attacks on these low-leveled people were still lethal even when debuffed to quarter damage.

I sensed Apricot appearing and a Demon vanishing, the bounty on their head collected. The girls from Ackerton's secret army were going to town with the Demons too, using the same shadow step Perk Apricot did.

My Force Javelins flew out in all directions in a starburst pattern. They split and my mental focus strained as I marked their targets. Each Demon in the far reach got skewered by a dozen such Javelins. Still, I could sense a lot of souls floating around and dragged them to me, demons and people alike. It was a bit of a tug-of-war but whatever power from afar tried to reclaim the demons' souls was weaker than me at this range.

I looked down. A lot of demon outlines glowed underneath the cobblestones. It seemed they intended to do a massive attack to welcome me.

I sent it to my group.

Lily replied and jumped down a manhole.

Goliath kept shooting his lasers at the demons with mechanical precision. Barbara's blades flew down and instead of attacking the Demons, parried their claws and harried them away from the people.

From the airship's starboard side, the volunteer elves rained down arrows on the demons below.

Another application of Mithril. A compact parachute. It was a standard three-layered Mithril plate, a tenth of a square foot, with two long steel chains linking the corners in an X pattern. The person could jump from the airship and the Mithril would soak all the kinetic energy of the fall, pushing the air back down with 72% of the absorbed energy as only 14% of this energy would be projected upward. That made the person's terminal velocity fall within the acceptable range for a first-rank person. While the first links of the chains were enchanted to reduce vibrations and sound, the Mithril plates were enchanted with a tracking spell that allowed the captain of the airship to locate the priceless safety devices.

The elves and assorted species Adventurers all jumped from the airship, some hanging onto the chains with a single hand, others had threaded the chains around their arms in what looked like a weird backpack. But it cushioned everyone's fall without fault.

I heard a screech and saw several Griffins joining the fight. They dove straight for the highlighted Demons on the streets.

The situation reached its end several long minutes later.

I broadcast to almost the whole city.

"I'm going to bring everyone who died today back to life," I told the [King].

I would interrogate the dead first, to see if any of them was a cultist or knew one. It was possible that they died in the crossfire. But the Demon souls would become fuel for the resurrections. And I didn't intend to let them go. I made that mistake as Arista before but now I knew better. The Demons had no regard for their lives or deaths because their bodies were created when they invaded this dimension. Their souls would go back to the Demon Realm and be eventually recycled.

Most of them were once people in faraway worlds in other dimensions that were once stolen from their homeland by a Demon incursion like the one we were suffering now. Once they got a foothold, they would suck the world dry of souls, grinding the wheels of reincarnation to a halt. New souls could be created depending on how rich the world's magic was. This Realm "spawned" new souls slowly. It was a lesser one – that's why Loki was so powerful here – and would become a dead planet once the Demons had their way with it.

I would keep those Demon souls and then scrub them of all information until they became pure sparks, then send them to be reincarnated in this world. It wouldn't put a dent in our soul deficit but it was a start.

With a wave of my hand, all corpses, both people and Demon in range went to my item box. The city remained painted in blood and bits of gore.

I removed the storage ring from my finger and handed it to the other Kitsune. "Kasumi, go with Goliath and deploy the other Moons. Cover the entire city as we discussed."

"Okay," the [Saintess] waved at the green golem.

Goliath approached. "Carrier has arrived. Instructions."

Barbara glared at me. Kasumi laughed and climbed on the golem. It flew away. Several Griffin riders flanked the Golem to escort the [Saintess].

Some local [Mages] were washing the blood with their magic.

"Let's go down," I told the [King]. "I want to start bringing the dead back to life."