TREE OF AEONS 3

Each class presented itself differently in the spring, and this class was a domineering one. It absorbed all her other classes, and she was now a single - class, A/ Æs Demonslayer . Nothing else.

- Can you hear me? - I spoke as I delved into her soul spring, examining her energy. She was asleep, yet awake here.

- . yes. - She was confused, and this, to her, was like a dream - like state. It was not too far off.

The spring was vigorous, like Yura and the other two. The springÆs vigor was the essential component, though not the only one, of a personÆs level cap. The vigor seemed to determine how many skills or levels a person could support.

I wondered why I was not affected by it.

What beings are not affected by the level cap? I asked Lilies.

Heroes, because the gods grant them boundless vigor. Us, trees, and other beings like us, for we derive our vigor from the land and the world around us. Dragons and magical creatures that tap into the land or exist on some outside source of vigor, too, would not have a level cap. But mortals, no. Treefolks have a higher - level cap than mortals, as a part of their vigor is from the land, yet they very rarely reach those heights.

Wait, what? I had so many treefolk followers. Where were my super - leveled treefolk?

The highest - levelled treefolk in the Central Continent was a Woodshaper at level seventy - four. He mainly shaped wood into utensils and tools but also did a lot of larger - scale projects like defensive walls, buildings, castles made of wood, and all that.

I decided to speak to him and awarded him a gift for skills. It significantly improved the finesse of his woodshaping. I asked him to aid in making weapons against the demons.

76

YEAR 152

Lilies introduced me to an interesting new friend. It was a massive turtle, the size of a bus, that somehow managed to secretly swim through the rivers and lakes. I had eyes and ears, but in the water, it still managed to evade my detection.

It clearly had some skills, and the way it communicated was strange. The turtle stopped at the side of the lake and touched one of Lilies floating platforms. It seemed to use Lilies way of communication.

I am Vallasira. Pleased to meet you, A/ .

It was a magical turtle or tortoise thing, resembling a zaratan, but too small to be one. But I asked to be sure. Greetings, Vallasira. Are you a zaratan?

Yes, I am a young zaratan. It is a common question, and I have lived for as long as Lilies. We heard of your search for tales of the sea, and I am here to answer what I can. It is not often that one of the spirits of the land seeks out the spirits of the sea.

I see. Was there a catch? With Lilies, there wasnÆt any. Lilies was just willing to share, especially with someone like me whom they view as an equal. Thank you. What may I do for you in exchange for the favor?

So long as we are never hunted on your lands and your rivers, that is good enough.

I can do that. It will be so. But it is best to never declare your existence at all. I said. Just declaring your existence draws attention to your kind.

It is so. It seems you seek the origins of the gods?

Yes, and perhaps the origin of this system to begin with. But first tell me, how have you hid away from the demons? They lived so long, surely there were ways.

We do what spirits of our kind do. We swim to other worlds where the demons cannot follow.

I felt like that turtle just dropped a bombshell on me. So there clearly were other worlds, and not only that, the turtle was able to go there!

Can you take us with you?

It paused momentarily. We can only carry what can fit on our backs, and our void mana determines how often we can go and what we can take. For spirits of your power. we cannot do so.

Void Mana. Where had I heard that before? Ah. That princess from so many, many years ago. So that princess was headed in the right direction.

I have so many questions.

And we have time. Vallasira spoke. He, or it, floated on the shores of Lilies lake. I made a large wall of trees so that he would not be seen and then added a layer of camouflage and mist . Here was a creature who travelled to other worlds.

Are the gods and demons on other worlds, too? Have any of the worlds broken free of this. system?

Yes, and yes. Some were never even touched, though we know not why. But I have only been to the two nearest worlds. Though I have lived for four thousand five hundred years, my Void Mana is only enough to take me to the nearest of the two. Both worlds are just like this, with their own gods, heroes, and demons to deal with. I have heard of a system that is beyond the reach of the demons and the gods, but it was a few millennia ago when I was but a youngling. I do not know of a path to that world.

Fuck. So there were multiple worlds with similar problems. But also there was a way to escape. PatreeckÆs idea of hiding the world or somehow moving the world away had merit.

What are the gods?

We believe they are creatures or beings that reached a certain yet unknown high level and obtained the second tier of the system. We also speculate there is either a system that existed above this one or a tier to the current system. In any case, the gods have access to a higher set of powers and rights. We do not know how to get there, and those who have could not reveal it to us.

An admin system, or console access, wasnÆt it? Mozart referred to himself as administrator. Maybe it was just a set of administrator passwords that granted them access to that system. The gods, are they the same ones on other worlds?

We suspect so, though their names are different across worlds.

You say. we? Are there more of you?

Certainly. Zaratans meet each other to mate, to raise our eggs and our young, and to discuss the matters of our safety and of the multiverse.

Then what are these demons? Can you stop them?

As zaratans of the sea, we know little of these otherworldly invaders. They have a homeworld, or a chain of worlds somewhere, but their world lacks seas, rivers, or lakes, so we cannot create the interplanar mist and swim there. So. we donÆt know beyond that, and who controls them there. Our great elder once tried to stop the demons, but the gods puppets turned on our elder.

A waterless world. I see. Also, these interplanar turtles needed large bodies of water to move around worlds? That was a rather odd restriction to their power.

Can you teach me how to move to other worlds?

Our abilities have adapted us to travelling to other worlds and would not be useful to you. Large quantities of Void Mana is the first step to any interplanar travel.

Void Mana. How did I get that?

It seemed the turtle read my mind. Void Mana requires one to dabble in higher magics or, if you have it naturally. Like us.

Wait, did this also imply that the Spirit Trees in those stories may actually have Void Mana instead of Star Mana? Perhaps it was a path along the road of the domains that I may have one of those choices in the future?

I would presume that there had to be further Domain choices, that level one hundred fifty wasnÆt the only time one chose their Domain. Given that my first Domain choice happened at level one hundred fifty, itÆs possible that the next Domain choice happened at either level two hundred, level two hundred fifty, or level three hundred. If level one hundred fifty was the one and only Domain choice, then I may be quite fucked.

Do you have a Domain?

The turtle was silent for a moment, then answered. No.

Hmm. That meant a high level was not really necessary to get the power to travel to other worlds. Even that princess managed to expose herself to Void Mana, she was not higher than level fifty then. So there were ways to access Void Mana. Perhaps even naturally. Were there plants that naturally produce Void Mana? If I could create a farm of such trees or plants.

How do the gods summon heroes? Why them?

The turtle just shook its massive head. It probably didnÆt know. Not that I could blame them. What else did I want to know? Uh. But already I had a lot to work with.

What do you know of the Domain?

Elevated authority in a specified field of the system.

Ah darn. The system worked like users making and interacting with it, and Domain powers were super - user rights? Gods eventually reached admin rights? But what was this. system? Were gods the creators of it or were they just glorified administrators? If they were just administrators, surely the creator must be a lot more powerful? The turtle left after a while, but it promised to return again someday.

- We wish to reopen diplomatic relationships, discreetly. - An Aiva envoy arrived on our shores, disguised as a regular merchant. They met with an audience of the representatives and Kavio. Kavio was about to retire after decades at the helm, to be replaced by one of the representatives. They had a mini - election to select the representative leader.Æ

- And why would we even bother? - Kavio barked. His mood was rather foul. Another lord in the meeting quickly intervened.

- Representative Leader Kavio, wait. LetÆs hear him out. -

- The Temple of Aiva does not believe or participate in the slander against A/ or the Central Continent. - Absolute rubbish. All the evidence collected so far; it was quite clear Aivan Church participated in the propaganda.

Liars. - They are liars, - I whispered to KavioÆs ears, and he knew it, too. After all, we did not sit idle after the blockade was broken. The restoration of our eyes and ears in these hostile lands was one of the great priorities since then.

- Lies, envoy, - Kavio repeated. - Let it be known that we do not appreciate the lies. -

The envoy gulped. Patreeck used his mind - reading abilities. The envoy screwed up anyway, he knew it was a lie, too, but he was confident. He had a skill to resist mind reading, but he was horribly underleveled against Patreeck. The Aivan Temple did want to open diplomatic relations, but the leadership hoped to extort some kind of agreement or aid, since they had a lot of damage to undo.

- A/ notes you did not come to our shores in good faith. This negotiation is over. - Kavio sent him off. The representatives were baffled. - Thank your foolish gods that we do not send you back in a body bag. -

The envoy left in haste.

One of the Valthorns, without the use of my class seeds, managed to upgrade his own class to Archmage . Archmage had been one of those elusive classes to create, though I did have archmage classes obtained from the dead.

I would say the magic of the Central Continent was not significantly more advanced than the other continents. Magic research was mostly the pursuit of eccentric individuals, so while the Central Continent was safer than the other continents, and my various abilities did seem to improve the speed of gaining levels, they still tended to plateau. To summarize, with magic, what I had were mages of a high level who did not have particularly unique abilities.

The process of creating or inventing new spells or new ways of using existing spells, as it was, remained the domain of the eccentric or, otherwise, luck.

A Mage was someone who tapped into the mana of the world and cast spells. A spell could be both a skill and not a skill. That meant it was possible for a mage to read an instruction of how to cast fireball and cast the spell without having the skill fireball . Having the skill, of course, meant the mage could cast the same spell faster, quicker, stronger, and with less mana cost.

A mage therefore learned to cast a spell and with sufficient practice gained the skill reflecting that said spell and thus became more competent and powerful. Mages also gained a range of support skills throughout their careers, such as mana - cost reduction skills, passive mana regeneration skills, or elemental boosts and discounts.Æ

The invention of new spells, however, was mostly bouts of madness. A mage tried to mix components of the spells together in hopes of creating something new. Sometimes they succeeded; sometimes they failed. A good healer, like myself, meant that they were more likely to survive failures and have the chance to try again. This, of course, supported the persistent mages, those who worked hard and experimented constantly. They had some successes, but they would see a lot more failures.

The conversation with the zaratan left my mind spinning, and my artificial minds were hard at work processing the ideas. There were ways to travel across worlds. Void Mana.

If anything, I now had to consider sponsoring the mages and wizards in our care to dabble in Void Mana, figure out how that princess managed to do so. It was a risky one; clearly playing with Void Mana incorrectly would destroy oneÆs soul spring.

Over the decades, my library of books and tomes had grown massively. I had my researchers and mages run through them to find the clues of Void Magic.

I recalled some words back when Madeus still lived: the tomes of the mad - hero Arsene Emir. I quickly called on the Valthorns to locate it. It took a few months, but the tomes and writings of the mad - hero were duplicated many, many times, so we managed to retrieve a few copies. Some of the surviving kingdoms on the Central Continent had a copy in their own personal libraries.

Void Mana. Exposure to it would cause visions and nightmares of otherworldly horrors.

Back then, it was explained to me that Void Mana was a raw, primordial form of mana. Was that explanation then still true?

Quite a few of the mages professed their reluctance to experiment on Void Mana. It seemed that the history of man was littered with mages killing themselves through incorrect use of Void Mana, and no one had figured out how to correctly use them in the first place.

Knowledge of Void Mana wasnÆt entirely rare and was used mostly as a reminder of bad magical practices.

Some of the mages commented that Void Mana could be collected, in small amounts, by way of runic formations. However, the runic formations usually must be located high above the ground, usually in towers or tall secluded places that were exposed to the night sky, and a large anti - magic barrier must be present, such that the runic formation was clear of all other mana. Then it was a matter of waiting and luck. Sometimes, the runic formations would collect a small bit of Void Mana. Most of the time, nothing. Collecting Void Mana when the two suns were present was impossible as the light would cause the Void Mana to decay.

Of course, their comments were very strange; some points seemed to contradict my existing knowledge, and I believed there was quite a bit of misinformation in that knowhow.

What was Void Mana?

Would you know how to create Void Mana? I asked Lilies.

Some say it is always around us but just undetected. Ah great. I was hunting for elementary particles. Some come across them purely by luck.

I see.

I had an entire continent. Surely if it was luck, the statistics would point to me having seen it already.

Perhaps it is invisible to you, as you rely on Spirit Vision.

. fuck.

77

YEAR 153

There was not much time to rest as we saw rifts opening throughout the Central Continent. It was a magically fascinating thing to see, to see space and reality crumble and break apart to reveal these gashes in space.

We redirected all the magical sensors and labs to the rifts and wondered whether the demons used Void Mana, too, or perhaps they had some substitute for it.

Were the rifts Void Mana?

- A/ . Demons spotted on our continent. Your command? - Kavio and Valthorns came to meet.

- Ringfence all the rifts, and let our forces fight them. - Naturally, what else was there to do against demons? - We should aim to take this opportunity to level up the forces. Alert me to all demon champions. -

- As you command. -

Some of the smaller rifts spawned only ordinary demons. The demons resembled large skeletal structures, a bit more like animated skeleton animals with some dried flesh. From this alone, I was predicted an undead - type demon king.

Since it wasnÆt a problem to suppress the rifts, IÆd started setting up labs closer to the rifts, hoping that my sensors would figure out what they were.

- Has anyone ever touched a rift? - I asked the entire council and the Valthorns.

- Uh. not that we know of. -

- What if we touched the rift? -

There was silence. I decided to try, and on one of the smallest rifts, a bunch of vines and roots reached out and attempted to hold the rifts. It was weird. The rifts seemed to be both a physical and magical thing and alternated between the two. It felt like touching a floating snowflake that promptly turned into a puddle of water.

There was a. frequency. I could feel it, the way the energy of the rift ebbed back and forth. I instinctively attempted to match its resonance.

- Master, the vines went through, - Patreeck noted.

- What? - The vines got to the other side of the rift; I could still feel them. They could go through if the magical pulse was at the right regularity. There was a sensation of incredible dryness; my vines had to draw more water from the network. Sand. Rocks. But very, very dry.

About an hour into it, the demons seemed to realize, and the small rift quickly closed and cut off my vines, which were now left on the other side.

- Did you see or feel anything? - I asked Patreeck. Patreeck had used my eye ability on the vines to see what was on the other side. Patreeck gave me a series of images. It felt like I was looking through the eyes of the Mars rovers, an alien world filled with massive spires and large, red crystals. An army waited at the other side.

The vineÆs eye turned and looked back at the rift. We saw a large, ring - shaped gate structure and the rift in it. Around the platform of the gate were six massive arrays of reddish - black stone. It glowed in both red and a black - ish color at intervals. There were also more of those red crystals, further out, connected by some strange chains.

The demons then spotted the vine, and the portal promptly closed. That was the end of it.

But I saw enough. Demons. Alien worlds. Gates that opened the rifts itself. Could I tamper with the rift next time?

78

YEAR 153 (CONTINUED)

Each rift had a different frequency and resonance, but it was still possible to align them. The beetles and Valthorns fought demons by the thousands to gain access and reach the rift. Again, no big deal. With LovisÆs new demonslaying power, the regular demons were easy. Under the effect of the demon-suppressing aura, these demons were more like slow - moving zombies. Together with my subsidiary trees spawning up to the rift itself, it wasnÆt hard.

Once they managed to reach the rift, they, too, tried matching their mana to match the rift, but they struggled to do so. They did not possess my ability to manipulate mana in oneÆs body at such great detail. I did, after all, face decades of corrupting demon energies and also used mana for magical soul - surgery. All of these meant I was capable of incredibly subtle mana control, and I could handle the fluctuations in these frequencies.

I tried wrapping a beetle in my vines and then sending it through the rift. It didnÆt work. The vines went through, but the beetle just bounced off.

Again, my vines and roots went through the rift, and once I had vision, I immediately activated my subsidiary trees on the other side of the rift. It worked. The subsidiary tree instantly spawned beetles that fought with the demons on the other side and bought me some precious time.

My vines and roots grabbed the red crystals, those red stones, and pulled them through the rift. Then I saw the giant demons. Massive boney mammoths. Their magical blasts destroyed my subsidiary tree in a single energy attack.

Ah. The rift was closed again. But I got them, the red crystals. Never mind, there would be more rifts. The demons seemed like they were unable to stop opening the rift.

I hauled the red crystals back to my labs for analysis. They were not demonic in nature, and instead. they were Void Mana batteries. Each of them was slightly depleted.

One of them exploded suddenly and left a massive crater, killing a few Valthorns and destroying a few hundred beetles. The Valthorns got the message and maintained a large distance from the crystals. Another one exploded when one of my lab - trees prodded it with too much mana. The Void Mana inside was clearly quite unstable and was prone to strange behaviors.

One of the Valthorns injured in the first explosion soon developed symptoms similar to the princess, and testing in the biolab soon proved me right. He had the exact same curse, Exposed to Void Mana . Thankfully, I was far better equipped now, and I had more mana at my disposal. This time, I was about to crush the curse outright.

But he lost some of his levels and skills from the Void Mana.

This made me wonder. could I use Void Mana to remove the hero class?

I supposed this was like using chemotherapy to remove a cancer. It was harmful, in more ways than one.

There were easily thirty to fifty rifts open at any one time, and from them, out came these undead - like demons. With so many rifts to secure throughout the continent, it was a bit like playing whack - a - mole on a continental scale. This meant our forces and our elites had to be distributed throughout the continent.

Hytreerion, my tree walker, finally saw battle, and it was incredibly fun to watch it stomp demons the same way those demon walkers stomped on us. Have a taste of your own medicine! It was also my first time witnessing the full combat capabilities of a Titan Soulûpowered Walker and its accompanying army of Wood Soldiers.

Those wood soldiers were quite like beetles, in that they didnÆt have much intelligence. In a way, Hytreerion was pretty much a land - based Protoss Carrier and the wooden soldiers were its interceptors.

So far, the first wave of demons from the rifts did not contain any champions or walkers and were just large masses of mobs. That meant a single Hytreerion was sufficient to secure one rift or a few if they were located close to each other.

Now that I knew those rifts were actually two - way gates, IÆd like to prepare for an eventual counter - invasion to the demon worlds, and Hytreerion, as a champion - tier creature, would be my advance force. But first, IÆd have to figure out how to create these rifts on my own.

There were a few good reasons to go to the other side.

One: there may be a chance to figure out why and how the demons were invading our world. This may be one of the best ways to get an answer. Two: more of those void battery - crystals.

Another matter at hand was whether I should tell Kei about these two - way rifts, that it was possible to go to the other side with some mana - synchronization. My concern was if the gods had a read on her mind to some extent, then if she knew, then the gods must know, too. Then again, there were certainly secret followers of the other gods in the Central Continent, and the gods may have observed my actions.

I decided to tell her anyway. She promptly returned to the Central Continent within a month and attempted to assault one of the rifts.

She managed to synchronize herself with it; her natural magical gift as a hero meant this was easy stuff. But once she entered it, the barrier seemed to drain a little of her star mana and then the rift quickly collapsed.

Fucking hell. Because the heroes were almost entirely star mana once they pass level one hundred, and the rifts seemed to be powered by Void Mana, the interactions between the two mana types caused the rift to collapse.

Well played, gods. Well played.

The heroes couldnÆt use Void Mana since it reacted dangerously with star mana, so they couldnÆt use Void Mana to travel back home or travel to the world of demons.

Of course, this frustrated Kei. - So thereÆs this mana type called Void Mana that lets you open fabrics of space and time, and we canÆt use it because us heroes are loaded to the brim with star mana. -

But Stella was delighted to learn of Void Mana. She, after all, did not have star mana, and now this Void Mana was a way to go home. I would have to ask the zaratans whether it was possible to send her back by riding on their backs, but from what he said, it seemed the distance was too far.

Conceptually, if the gods had star mana, and I presumed that the reaction between Void and star mana was still dangerous even at significantly higher levels, how did the gods summon the heroes from far away? Did the gods store their mana off - body, i.e. in separated shells? Perhaps the gods had the ability to split their being, like multiple trees in a network?

If so, perhaps me and the gods were more alike than I thought. Either that, or there was some distinction between the mana types of the gods. Perhaps Mozart and gang were gods with Void Mana, and the Aiva, Gaya, Gawa , and Neira gods were star - mana gods? That there was some kind of trading arrangement between them?

- Rift secured, Master, - Hytreerion repeated, and more of my subsidiary trees spawned into place. Throughout the continent, the military and Valthorns had kept the riftÆs demons suppressed.

After my first void battery, IÆd resolved that I wanted more of them, so it was time for the Rift Robberies. I activated a few more artificial minds and readied them for the task at hand. Vines and roots resonated their mana with the rifts, and all at once, all of them entered the rifts. We invaded fourteen rifts and spawned Giant Attendant Trees and Subsidiary Trees by the tens and hundreds. Beetles then appeared to fight the demons on the other side.

But the terrain on the other side was incredibly dry, and it was an environmental energy that caused my trees to dry up and shrivel. They wouldnÆt last very long in that hostile terrain, the ground nothing more than rock and sand. The roots of my Giant Attendant Trees and Subsidiary Trees couldnÆt extract any water or nutrients from the ground to sustain their strength, so all the nutrients and water had to be supplied by roots through the rift itself.

Never mind. I needed them to buy me time. I wanted a lot of that Void Mana battery. I would keep them and store them secretly as weapons against the heroes. If Void Mana reacted with star mana, it made sense that trapped the heroes in a Noid - Mana - battery field would be dangerous for them.

One. Two. My roots pulled. I saw more of those boney mammoths; they used beam weapons and glowing red horns that shredded through my trees.

They were stronger on the other side. My beetles didnÆt last long, weakened by the dryness of the air, and my aura was negligible.

Through one of the rifts, I saw a familiar sight. One I saw during the demons dreams, back when the souls of the heroes were trapped.

A massive, city - like structure filled with massive spires of red crystals, the spires were everywhere and stretched to the horizon. A massive serpent of bone and decayed flesh spotted the trees and charged at them. Its body glowed in pulses of red and black, and it rammed the giant attendant trees . It crushed my trees easily.

Never mind. More crystals were stolen. IÆd grabbed twenty - five of them before all the rifts shut off.

Still, my rift raid triggered something strange. All the rifts throughout the continent instantly closed.

Great. If the demons were intelligent, clearly they figured out that I knew how to go through their rifts. We expected countermeasures.

79

YEAR 154

Detailed analysis soon revealed something that was quite worrying.

These crystals were pretty much daemolite , but before they were fully emptied of their void mana. The demon kingÆs death always left daemolite , hence, the rifts would close quite soon after the demon king was killed, simply because their carrier of the void mana had fallen. In these crystals, we saw these magical patterns powered by the void mana. They were almost invisible, and only now we could see them because of the void mana that caused them to flicker into existence.

Quickly, I asked for some existing daemolite, harvested from the previous demon kings. When void mana from the void mana battery was connected to the daemolite, those patterns reemerged. For now, I didnÆt know what they did. but the fact that there was a magical pattern in these crystals suggested that they may have other purposes, on top of just batteries.

It also made me wonder whether the demonÆs mana was a form of processed and stabilized void mana.

I didnÆt make much progress on this research, and the demonic rifts remained closed for a good six months. At first, I wondered whether this was a way of scaring the demons off.

Then the second wave of rifts opened. Only a single rift opened, but it was massive. I could see the rift open right before my vision, simply because this rift opened right next to Freshka, very close to where my labs were.

Then demonic champions poured out. Large mammoths and skeletal serpents emerged from the rift.

But they picked a fight in my home ground, where my aura was strongest. The battle for the good three weeks was fearsome, as champion after champion poured out of the massive rift. I had to step in and hold them back as my forces, now scattered throughout the continent, rushed back.

Then, as more of my higher - leveled warriors returned, they took the reins. Yura slew one of the skeleton mammoths single handedly, and they leveled. Lovis, Edna, Faris, and Yura fought for days, and ten champions came out of the rifts over the three weeks.

Yura hit level one hundred twenty - five. Edna, Faris, and Lovis soon breached level ninety - five. After the ten champions, there was a lull, where only lesser demons, the mobs came out. They died as soon as they stepped out of the rift.

My roots attempted to synchronize with this rift, and I noticed theyÆd scrambled the magical resonance. It was no longer the same pattern, but a constantly changing frequency and pulse. Smart, and after a day or two of monitoring I thought I cracked how they changed their frequency.

My roots went through. I saw more demons. They noticed. The rift closed again just as suddenly, then we had another period of peace.

The demonic attacks became propaganda fodder for the four temples at first. But then they soon shut up when they noticed just how quickly we suppressed the demons.

Kei was personally quite impressed at how the entire demon issue was kept under control. - If every continent had an existence like yourself, the world would be a lot more peaceful. -

I then pointed at the states and lesser nations engaged in small skirmishes and wars with each other. - Once you remove the big bad guy from the picture, those in power merely turn on each other. ItÆs a form of peace, but conflict remains inevitable. -

- True, true. Unless you want to mind control everyone to submission. -

- That would not be ideal. - I may be a tree, but I sure ainÆt no Eye - of - the - Moon.

- Yeah. ItÆs silly. - That said, I was no saint, either. The Treeology priests and Valthorns engaged in massive social ventures to build positive reputation and also not - so - subtle propaganda and emotional manipulation. Just like the Four Temples, we too used a bit of carrot - and - stick, the stick being fear of life without us, the chaos of the times before. I wondered if Kei was smart enough to notice.

- So howÆs your trip to the other continents? -

Kei rolled her eyes. - Well, itÆs not bad. I see a lot of rebuilding in the Eastern Continent, all of which progressed quite well. ItÆs been eight years, but the scars still remain. ThereÆre also large groups of refugees in the other continents that are stuck in limbo, struggling to decide whether to return or stay in their new home and face a different set of challenges there. -

- ThatÆs just life. - My citizens had been through that a few times. IÆd seen so many generations of refugees. - The people of this world are used to it. - The fluidity of their lives was something they were very well aware of.

- IÆm going to use my heroÆs forge and make massive robots, - Kei said. The conversation just went off in a ninety - degree angle. - I mean, after what IÆve seen on the other continents, I think the world needs a lot more than just heroes. -

I paused. Seriously.

- ItÆs possible, I checked. IÆll need a lot of materials, though, so IÆm going to go travel again and find them. IÆll be back for the demon king, though, which should be in a year or two. IÆll try to convince the other two to come, too, if they arenÆt too busy stuffing their dicks into their army of sluts. -

- Language, Kei. -

Kei laughed and left.

- Tell me more of this void mana. - Stella looked through the papers, records, and magical books. SheÆd been here for a decade or so, and I thought her confidence level was getting better. She still didnÆt like to talk to new people, but she was very comfortable with me. At least, to her, I was that voice in her head thatÆd been around for a decade.

She was now a level forty Courtly Administrator , and unlike the heroes, she had no star mana. She was therefore a good candidate, if I wanted to work on these void - mana shenanigans.

Void mana was a way home, even if it was extremely remote. I explained it at length about the rifts, but I did not speak of the zaratans. Her earlier classes had merged together, Painter and Administrator , and for her to touch magic at this point was a great change.

The risks of how the void mana could destroy the soul spring and all that, strangely, was not really a risk. - If you are right, this void mana is pretty much a reset button. -

- . - Well, yes.

- I get to lose all the stats and levels and start over, - Stella said. - So, thereÆs really no risk, unless I die, and thatÆs rather unlikely because you have cured people with void mana curses before. -

She walked a step or two, then turned.

- Fuck it, IÆm in. ItÆs either I get home or I die trying. -

Dabbling in void magic was quite like blood magic in some ways. It required magical formations and also complicated chants. The magical records left by the mad - hero, Arsene Emir, documented his attempts to call on the void. Once we cross - checked his history, it seemed that he died when defending his home from the demon champions.

A hero shouldnÆt die to demon champions so easily. There must be something more, but most of those records were lost to the great Rottedlands disaster.

Still, the magical tome of the otherworldly void was sufficiently interesting. It seemed, per ArseneÆs view, that void mana was ever present in the environment, and the issue was actually collecting it. In low quantities, void mana did nothing, and its reality - disrupting abilities only manifested when high amounts were present.

In his own words, Arsene actually said that void mana wasnÆt actually mana, but more of a reality - atom, that the world was actually held together by Void Mana. So generating void mana was strangely easy, according to his theory. Just spread mana to the general surrounding and let the mana dissipate into the world. Occasionally, this would knock off one of the void mana.

The difficult thing was actually capturing the void mana. Holding the void mana was difficult unless one had the right kind of item. The void mana would pass through almost all kinds of materials and would disappear after a while. It was like trying to capture, bottle up bubbles, and hope they didnÆt somehow break apart for long periods of time.

ItÆd take some time. Or maybe I should just reuse the captured void mana batteries? But I was not sure what would happen if I did so, especially with the unknown inscriptions and patterns inside the batteries. Would I summon more demons if I did that?

Progress with Blackstar Gems and demonic hybrid core - none. Attempts to further refine tea to enhance mental - divine resistance - uncertain. Unable to test efficacy. We gave Kei various types of tea for her to comment on, but again, she wasnÆt really the best judge of whether the gods were meddling with her or not.

Research! IÆd completed the first stages of both the Wind - to - Mana and Waste - to - Mana research. The seagrass research also meant my knowledge of the surrounding seas was gradually improving, but the vast oceans still remained out of research. Seagrass research, for now, continued.

For the Wind - to - Mana, Waste - to - Mana, and Wave - to - Mana research, it increased the total mana output by a little bit but so far did not unlock a new color for my soul forge . IÆd added a wide variety of new coastal species to my biological collection, too, especially those that live mostly in the sea.

It felt a bit like I was expanding in so many different directions, even with Trevor organizing all my various labs and artificial minds. With so many different types of mana, so many different types of new plants, weaponry development, research on runes and blood magic, it felt like I was scattering my resources throughout and hoping some of them stuck.

I didnÆt know what might work, and concentrating all my resources on just a few things only to end in failure was rather depressing. But this process of carpet - bombing everything also felt. cheap. Like I didnÆt know what I was actually doing.

80

YEAR 155

The rifts opened again. This time, they went back to their earlier strategy of multiple rifts across the Central Continent.

But we were getting better. My studies into the void mana and the daemolite had produced some useful information. The daemolite had a certain range of resonance with the rifts that was mostly invisible, except when one had void mana. The daemoliteÆs ability to store void mana was actually quite good compared to almost everything weÆd seen.

The next point, really, was why?

The daemolite left by the demon king on this world, did it serve a purpose beyond just a store of void mana? Or did the demon king need that void mana batteries to travel to this world? Or was there some other purpose?

But anyway, our research into void mana and these void batteries made us more sensitive to the rifts, so I had about four to five hours notice that a rift was happening, and also their location. It was just a lot easier to find something when you knew exactly what you were looking for.

The Valthorns, Hytreerion, and all engaged in combat over the next few months, the rifts now popping in and out. They barely stayed open for more than a week and would close as soon as my forces got near. If this wasnÆt proof of demonic intelligence, I didnÆt know what else was. They clearly had some way of transmitting information back to the homeworld and were able to act on it. Thankfully, the type of demons remained the same. It was still the quasi - undead demons. Was there like some kind of facility in their home world that decided on the demonic themes?

As the year went on, it was increasingly clear that something big was going to happen. My sensors were going wild, and I knew exactly where it was going to happen. Of course, we had to be tuned in to that specific magical resonance to detect it. I was betting my money on this being the demon king, and he would appear in the Central Continent. I was quite sure of it.

Immediately, I had that area where we detected the magical fluctuations cleared, emptied of all people, and loaded with all the magical traps and weapons. If a demon kingÆs gonna appear on our continent, I was gonna hammer it with everything. I also started to flood the area with my Giant Attendant Trees .

This was my chance to test how long I could hold out against the demon king.

Kei was on the way back from the other continent. The other two heroes agreed to come as well. It seemed to me that they were compelled to fight demon kings, even if they disagreed with me and had no love for the Central Continent.

Perhaps it was a requirement of the hero class that they must challenge the demon king.

Of course, my actions were not missed by the common folk or the elite. I decided it was just right to be forthcoming about it, so I informed everyone that the demon king would be on the Central Continent.

Once again, panic.

Schadenfreude. That was the feeling from the other continents and the temples. They delighted in the fact that I would have to face the demon king. Damn them. Not that they could do anything to help.

I called on the kingdoms of the Central Continent to share their hero items. Many of them had a few, legacy of their founding heroes or gifts from visiting heroes. We built bombardment stations around the hero items. We could prepare for this, and so we would. The hero items were all supported with massive arrays of mana - storing potatoes.

If one didnÆt hurt the demon king, maybe a few of them together could. Together with the heroes, IÆd hoped to make this battle a swift one. After all, apes together were strong.

I even equipped Hytreerion, my massive tree walker, with that Cannon of Alantara I stole from the temples. HytreerionÆs massive mana pool meant he could support one hero item on his own, and to bolster his mana capacity, we also started research of mana - storage beetles. Mobile - mana batteries were meant to augment HytreerionÆs large mana pool.

These mobile mana - storage beetles started off as beetles with a large mana - potato grafted on their back. Over time, the biolabs made improvements to the bond between these mana - potatoes and the beetles.

Eventually, I even got them to explode if triggered in a certain way. It was a roundabout way of getting back to Beetle - banelings.

Point was I needed mana - storage, since the point was to create huge bursts of energy output. WeÆd also planted the entire area with modified potatoes and charged them up with all the mana I could get.

If a demon kingÆs coming, I was going to blow it up as much as I could.

- Seriously, this is. really just camping at the spawn point, isnÆt it? What if the demon king doesnÆt spawn here? - Kei admired my work when she arrived at the location. WeÆd built multiple fortresses around the demon kingÆs spawn point.

My rift - attuned sensors did not detect any unusual changes. For now, all of them pointed here.

- But sure. -

- Can you help? - I spoke to Kei. - Your array of guns, are you able to place them as fixed objects? Since I am quite certain where the demon king will appear, it is entirely possible to really break this. -

- But is killing the demon king the answer? - Kei asked. - We did that last time, and all it did was lead to this point here. -

- If youÆre not willing to help me kill the demon king, then help me immobilize it to a significant degree such that we can repeat what happened. -

Kei thought for a moment and then agreed. - This is pretty much trying to injure a Pokemon so that you can catch it, but not too much that itÆs dead. -

I got that reference, but I just continued. - So, help? -

- Yes. -

She spent about a month using her heroÆs forge to set up multiple cannon arrays. But her arrays were powered by her star mana, so for now, they were pretty much like single - use turrets that would expire once the star mana ran out. Still, with so many cannons, traps, and weapons, IÆd hoped to at least significantly weaken the demon king.

- When are your two friends coming? -

- They said they will come once the demon king appears. -

Ugh. So glued to their harem.

- So this is what MomÆs been up to, - Arlisa said. She had snuck out after I asked Lozanna and many others to help with the preparations of the site. She stood at the edge of the cliff and looked at the vast area now cleared into a battleground. The entire area, and anywhere with fifty miles, was evacuated where possible.

Overnight, towns and cities in the area were emptied, the people moved as far as they could. We had large convoys of beetles ferrying people from the towns and cities to large dedicated new - towns.Æ

- What are you doing here? - Lozanna , of course, could sense her daughter from a distance away. It also helped that one of ArlisaÆs bracelets was enchanted.

Arlisa jumped when Lozanna snuck out behind her, undoing her Camouflage . - MOM! - Arlisa was about to flip. - Wait. Why didnÆt I sense you coming? -

- Your Detection abilities are probably too low. - Lozanna patted her fourteen - year - old daughterÆs head. She was a level thirty - four Ranger , and it was considered slow when Lozanna herself hit level sixty at that age. But, of course, Arlisa was also taking life a lot easier and did not have to fight as many monsters as Lozanna did. Naturally, her level would be lower.

There was also a part of her rebelling by not following her motherÆs footsteps. When everyone expected her levels to soar, she resisted it. She claimed that she was still trying to figure out her life and didnÆt want to move so fast.

- Now, you want to see what we are doing? -

- Is the demon king going to appear soon? -

- A/ thinks itÆll be soon. This entire place is loaded with formations, which. he isnÆt sure will work or not. -

Arlisa was worried, and her facial expression reflected that. - Will you be fighting, Mom? -

- Not against the demon king. Hopefully not. Yura is. Along with those who received the seed. But the rest of us will be helping to control the other demons that appear. A/ expects the demon king to be accompanied by a large army. -

- . I see. -

The Valthorns went through the plans over and over. Kei, as the hero, was also involved. The moment the demon king appeared, we would activate all the weapons and traps against the demon king, and then only would Kei engage. One - on - one against the demon king was going to be tough, but the rest of us would play support.

Everyone was in their best equipment. We moved our best anti - demon artifacts to the fortresses around Ground Zero. The signals we detected were increasing and getting stronger. The tension in the air was rising.

And yet the two heroes had not even left their continent.

- How long do you think we can hold back the demon king? -

- Based on our calculations and data provided by past heroes, Master. we should be able to suppress the demon king for at least a day. Our base - case scenario varies, but the median is around six days. - Patreeck modelled the potential battle, and six days wasnÆt great. The key was whether Kei could kill it. Based on our current data points, we should be able to take the demon king down by about 40û50 percent. KeiÆs star mana would have to make up for the rest of the shortfall.

That was barring any cheap tricks.

I made progress with my various energy research. There was no progress for the blackstar gems, however. Still, the energy research did not unlock new color. At least, not yet. All it did was add more mana to the pool.

It was fine. It was loading the entire area with more mana anyway.

Yura , Lovis, Faris, and Edna were all level one hundred twenty - five. It seemed there was a natural limit for experience seeds, and that limit was level one hundred twenty - five. All the experience seed did not work beyond that point.

Darn. I supposed you couldnÆt cheese your way to divinity through experience seeds. They had to earn their last twenty - five levels.

I also gave my fifth soul - strengthening seed, this time to one of my Patreearchs, Priest Lumoof. He was a level eighty - five A/ ic Bishop . Though he was old, he had a lot of support abilities, and I needed someone like that to support the first four.

Now was not the time to save on experience seeds, so I also pushed him up to level one hundred twenty - five.

81

YEAR 156

The demon king didnÆt waste time. The rift was massive, so massive that it seemed like the sky itself twisted.

- ItÆs coming, - Kei said from a distance away. We watched as massive skeleton dragons and mammoths stepped out of the rifts. The champions of the demon king.

- Should we blow it up now? - one of the Valthorns asked nervously.

- No. Only when the demon king is here. - There were at least fifty of those champions, and I couldnÆt help but remember Harris describing them as fodder once they were at level one hundred thirty. They could destroy a champion in a single star - mana attack.

The demon kingÆs heads appeared. It was a massive skeletal serpent with large, reddish spires along its jagged spine. It had three heads, a three - headed skeleton serpent; one head resembled the skull of a mammoth, one head resembled a dragon, and one resembled a cobra. Everyone felt it.

- Hold, - Kei said nervously. This was her first full - powered demon king. The last one was a dud. She instantly notified her two friends that the demon king had descended.

Indeed. I got the notification the moment its entire body appeared.

Demon King Tigash has descended.

Its three heads roared. The demonic champions, who surrounded the area, turned and charged.

I felt a tingle in my network. Fear. Everyone seemed to be caught in its aura and presence. Kei immediately stood straighter and activated her own star - mana form. It glowed like a lighthouse in the dark, and instantly, the fear subsided.

Point one: the demon king had some kind of fear aura.

Point two: heroes had a natural anti - fear aura.

- Ready. - I notified everyone to take cover. - ItÆs time for some explosions. -

All the hero items prepared in the entire area activated, and the first volleys of energy blasts shredded the demon champions. The barrage of bullets, projectiles, and beams came from all directions, even Hytreerion.

It was beautiful. It resembled Total Annihilation when I let loose multiple long - range cannons or those old videos of battleships going all out. The valley was filled with the sound of all the cannons and artifacts unleashing fury on the demons and the demon king. The fifty or so demon champions were destroyed quickly.

After the volley came the traps. The entire ground beneath the demon king glowed. Overcharged mana potatoes embedded in the ground, configured into a literal mana bomb, and the multiple explosive formations around them. Together, they would explode as one single massive bomb. The single explosion for the mana was so large it could be heard one hundred miles away; the fortress braced for the shockwave of energy.

The detonation left a massive crater.

- WhereÆd the demon king go? - No. It was an illusion. We saw the three heads still floated, surrounded by massive skeletal shields. Those shields looked like they took some damage, and its body was gone.

The eyes on the three heads glowed, and instantly we saw its body regenerate. It roared, and more champions emerged from the rift.

Kei sprang into action. She could remotely recharge her arrays as long as she was within the area, so the cannons kept up the attack.

I felt drained as the weapons and traps called on more mana, but this was the moment weÆd prepared for. Two to three years of preparation all for this single moment. We unleashed everything we could as suicidal beetles loaded with mana potatoes on their backs charged toward the demon king.

One of the heads roared, and a huge red energy blast torched the walls. We quickly activated defensive shields, but they didnÆt last very long. The beams were as powerful as the heroes! Tower after tower, incinerated.

- These fortresses are a bad idea. We should have built them into the ground instead of above ground! - one Valthorn commented. Which I agreed with. Tall fortresses were a stupid idea against demon kings with beam weapons. Naturally things above ground would be in their line of sight and line of fire! I should have fortresses built underground next time. At least the earth and dirt helped to absorb some of the damage!

The artificial minds helped me reconfigure some of the magical weapon arrays, connecting them to fresh mana potatoes. We needed to keep up the pressure as more demon champions emerged from the rift.

- WeÆll take the champions and let Kei focus on the demon king. - Yura , Edna, Faris, and Lovis stood and charged in.

One of the demon kingÆs three heads, the one resembling a cobra, opened its mouth and shot a huge spire - projectile. Where did such a projectile even come from? The projectile exploded into thousands of smaller spires, and those thousands of smaller spires transformed into small zombie - like creatures. They charged out of the crater and attempted to reach the magical cannons.

Beetles! Thousands of beetles emerged and met the zombie army.

The mammoth - headÆs eyes glowed, and all the zombie - minions glowed and gained strength. A buff effect.

Yura hacked through hundreds of zombies and managed to land a finishing blow on a champion. Hytreerion, too, loaded up its mana beetles and shot another projectile. It impacted one of the demon champions, and it staggered and then fell.

It was pure chaos as the cobra head turned again. This time it shot a beam at Hytreerion. Shit. It was too big and bulky. I activated all the defensive abilities I had, but it still tore through them. It knocked Hytreerion back by a few hundred meters and made a large wound on its back.

The mammoth head roared, and a fire appeared between its tusks.

- The fuck is that? - My sensors went wild.

KeiÆs multiple arrays fused together into a large cannon and then fired a purple - and - white energy beam. It hit the cobra head, and the cobra head crumbled.

The mammoth headÆs fire glowed, and in an instant the entire crater and its surroundings were charred with black demon flames.

It was a very familiar pain. The fire blast hit the surrounding weapon posts, and multiple hero items were destroyed. We felt it as some of my subordinates died. Yura and the heavy rankers immediately dived to avoid the blast, but FarisÆs staff was instantly torched.

Kei had a magical shell protecting her. It glowed white, and she had suddenly transformed. This was the star - mana form. Now, she was the core and center of a massive magical - weapons platform. Each of its energy blasts were purple - white and contained huge quantities of star mana.

It was a form IÆd never seen, and I wondered whether she was still holding back? Or was this something that only activated when she faced a demon king?

Yet the cobra head that we thought was destroyed reconstituted itself.

- Master. The mammothÆs head, thereÆs ten slots with six red crystals on it, - Patreeck mentally shouted in my mind. I immediately zoomed in. - When we nuked the entire place, three of the red crystals crumbled, and just now, when Kei destroyed the cobra head, one more crystal turned to ash. ItÆs a life - counter! -

There were six more lives. - Kei, those heads can regenerate. You need to knock them all out at least six times. - I suspected nine times in total. They only stopped regenerating if they were out of crystals. I quickly explained the details as we kept up the pressure.

The dragon heads turned to glow, and it shot multiple beams.

- Master. Bad news. Rifts opening across the continent, - Trevor repeated. - At least fifty. -

Fuck. Most of my high - leveled guys were here. - Beetles, get everyone not occupied. Activate the adventurers and the local militia, too. - I still had a few guys. Horns was not involved in this conflict since he was too low - leveled, but he could help with the other sites. - Lozanna , I need you to take a team and get to one of the rifts! -

Yet I couldnÆt distract myself from the conflicts throughout the continent. I felt my entire body tingle, like static, as if I was right next to a lightning storm. The dragon - head roared and launched more energy beams. These beams behaved more like strings than beams, and it destroyed a few more fortresses.

Kei flew and weaved between those strings like a pro, but even then, she got hit a few times. The arrays took the damage for her. It felt like watching a touhou game. The dragon - head released multiple slow - moving, floating energy - mines. These were like explosive wisps, and they went in all directions.

- A/ , what do we do? - Edna shouted as she hid in the ground together with Faris. - WeÆre pinned down and we canÆt get close! -

They had a few shields up, but they didnÆt last very long. The flames burned them easily. It seemed that either the demon kingÆs flames were not really flames or my resistance just got nullified before the king or I was still too far.

There were about thirty demon champions left, and the demon king traded blows with Kei. The king concentrated on Kei and focused its attacks on her. Honestly, the rest of us were just distractions for the two true titans.

KeiÆs attacks filled the skies, and her barrage of star - mana bullets took out demon champions easily, two shots, and the demon champion was destroyed. But that was not her objective! She wanted to attack the demon king, but these champions kept getting in the way!

- Black fire blast incoming! - I alerted the engaging forces as we noticed the mammoth head had a small spark of fire between its tusks again. This second shot incinerated my beetles and a few more arrays.

I got mental notification that a few of the arrays were ready. I had to shoot or they might get destroyed.

- Go, go, go! -

Right next to the demon king, my Giant Attendant Trees were nothing more than firewood. Its energy beams ripped through the trees like they were a piece of thin scrap paper. It was a mistake to ask my elite forces to engage in this battle, as they scrambled to flee for their lives.

My mistake. Next time I wouldnÆt field anyone less than level one hundred. Anyone less than that was nothing more than a liability. It was true that they could help with the demon champions, but with the demon kingÆs attacks, I couldnÆt even protect them. The demon king clearly didnÆt care for its own subordinates, as it shot beams that incinerated both ally and foe.

The demon king was beyond them, truly. The traps and the cannons were infinitely better choices.

- Kei. Can you push the demon king to the marked spots? - I asked. We had traps made in the surrounding area as well. We were prepared to nuke this entire area to smithereens if we could take out the demon king.

- Am trying, - she responded as she dodged wave after wave of magical bullets and beams.

Her attacks managed to hit the dragon - head, and it crumbled! Five crystals left! The rift abruptly closed behind the demon king. There were no more champions as KeiÆs projectiles and the few arrays took out the remaining champions.

It didnÆt take long for the dragon - head to start regenerating. But it was enough to buy time. As KeiÆs array transformed into massive mirror structure and temporarily deflected the demons bullets. The sudden shift hit the cobra - head and it, too, crumbled after five or so star - mana hits.

I quickly attempted to create multiple Giant Attendant Trees around the demon king and used my vines to latch onto them when they were still regenerating. There was only the mammoth head now. My vines grabbed on to all of them, and I tried to drain them of mana.

I heard a voice in my head when that happened. Free uss.Æ

Mental incursion detected. Blocking. sCraMb -

Excessive demonic mana in network. Expelling.

Fuck. Fuck. Not now. Patreeck and my Domain stepped in and blocked off the attack.

Pawns. The voice was legible now. I felt it in my head. Shit. Shit. Pawns. Æ

- Master, we couldnÆt block all of it. We must detach. We must disconnect the vines, - Patreeck shouted in my head. - ItÆs in your head! -

Pawns. I saw visions of their homeworld again. It was a massive purple world. Long ago. Before the slavers. Massive, purple, and they were giants. They were all monsters and their cities were massive canyons. Monsters. A primitive society.

Fight the slavers.Æ

More visions, massive cities of giant monsters. Then. a beam of light.

KeiÆs energy blast weaved through the trees and hit the immobilized mammoth head, and it, too, crumbled. All three heads abruptly twisted and fused together, and in an instant, those Giant Attendant Trees were vaporized, along with my vines.

The link to my mind broke, and I was knocked out of the vision.

In its place, the three heads combined, turning into a single head with three faces. The dragon, the snake, and the mammoth. Was that some kind of symbolism? All three mouths opened, and it shot out huge red beams in all directions.

Faris was too close! Still, he kept attacking the demon king, and his attacks made small, tiny cracks on the large three - faced creature.

One of the mouths turned to face Faris and shot a red beam. It happened so, so quickly, and he was too close. Faris was caught in the red beam. He was vaporized instantly.

Faris has died.

FUCK!

- Retreat! - I screamed mentally, but it was too late, really. The red beam was crazy powerful. My shields were nothing more than paper before a flood. This power was above and beyond whatever data I got from Harris. When we simulated the past demon kings, my shields still managed to weaken the power of the attack, but this was easily three to four times stronger.

Yura shook his head. - No. WeÆre this near, and weÆre this close. ItÆs either we win, or thereÆs nothing left for us. - He threw a magical spear. It hit the demon kingÆs face and caused a tiny crack.

KeiÆs star mana blast managed to hit, and it knocked a big chunk off the demon kingÆs three faces.

- It traded defense and hit - points for power, - Patreeck commented in my head, quickly summarizing that its defensive stats were probably not that high. It was also a relative thing. To Kei, yes, it was totally a glass cannon; to us, itÆs still impossibly tough. - ItÆs a glass cannon. -

- With ten lives. Not exactly a glass cannon. - Still, my eyes were locked on Yura and Lovis. Both attempted to get closer. Lovis threw a few magical spears at the demon king from her location, and it did just tiny bits of damage, too.

- Not anymore. ThereÆre only two red crystals on its mammoth - face. -

The demonÆs energy beam and the beam from KeiÆs array had a clash of powers normally seen in anime. The two energies met and had a short tug of war, but eventually, KeiÆs purple - white beam lost. The demonÆs power pushed through, and KeiÆs array was destroyed in another big explosion. The beam was so strong it even burned a straight line for about ten miles. I felt like a line of trees just vanished from my network.

Kei was alive. She managed to dodge sideways, but she had lost an entire limb. Blood streamed out of the charred parts. But she stood. Alive and defiant.

I immediately sent vines to surround her and attempted to heal her. At this distance, my root strikes would be weak, but whatever. I unleashed all I could and summoned multiple Giant Attendant Trees again.

The demon king roared, and black flames instantly torched my root strikes. One of them hit the demon king and caused a few more cracks.

- . not yet, - Kei said, my vines now wrapped around her entire body. Her arm was lost, but my vines quickly applied healing energies to suppress the wound. She lifted her other hand, and her body glowed.

Her lifeforce and soul were flickering. I could sense her entire soul spring cracking and crumbling, even the marbled hero - blocks.

Ten magical large projectiles that resembled armor - piercing rounds appeared in the air, made of star mana. This was it, as all of her mana left her body. Her body now felt like an empty shell. If this didnÆt work, the demon king would win. A flick of her finger and all ten massive magical rounds flew toward the three - faced demon king. The demon king roared, its three - faces unfurled like a book, and it took the attack head - on.

The projectiles exploded on impact. Each explosion was small, but they were dense with star mana. Each shot resembled a mini - nuke on its own.

There was a short moment of suspense as we watched the dust settle.

It was not enough.

When the dust settled, there was still one face. The mammoth face was still there, cracked and weakened; there was no crystal left on its head. This was its last life, too.

If only the other two heroes were here.

Kei fainted. Her life force flickered and faded; she was weak and dying, even if I managed to suppress the bleeding. I called on my mana to heal Kei and supported her, but I could sense her soul spring crumbling.

The demon kingÆs movements were sluggish. Its face was filled with thousands of cracks, and it roared.

KeiÆs anti - fear aura faded away.

I froze. I had flashbacks of that very first time when I met that demon king, and I remembered how it chopped off my trunk. It felt like old wounds had suddenly reappeared; their wounds that I thought had fully healed just flared up. Old pains and wounds just burned suddenly, things I didnÆt even know I had.

What did I -

- Master! - My artificial souls voice broke me out of my flashbacks.

Then I saw Lovis and Yura both charge at the demon king. Somehow, they were unaffected. They were equipped with anti - demon spears and launched an attack together. Their weapons glowed as they used everything they had at the demon king.

- What are you guys doing? -

We have a clear shot. Both of them mentally responded, even though I sensed and shared their fear. I didnÆt know what compelled them to even try for the demon king. Their spears crashed into the demon kingÆs skeletal face. The cracks on its face glowed. It was a familiar look. Things IÆd seen in dreams.

It was going to blow. Flames shot out in all directions.

Why did they always blow up?!

- Fuck, get the shit out of there! -

I quickly extended my vines and attempted to drag both of them out of there and used my vines to latch onto the exploding demon king. If I could drain some of its energy, the explosion may not be so big.

I wrapped my vines and roots around Kei - she was too weak to move in her half - dead state - and used my vines to haul her away.

Yura and Lovis ran as fast as they could. I made layer after layer of wooden shields. Everything. I made Giant Attendant Trees, too, by the hundreds.

I pulled and tried to drain as much energy out of the demon king as I could. My vines wrapped around the demon kingÆs cracked faces many, many times, and my entire body was temporarily flooded with the demon kingÆs mana, but it wasnÆt enough. The mammoth - face still detonated, and instantly, there was an explosion just as big as my traps. Black, blue, and red light cut through my vines and all my shields, and it was as if the void itself was here.

What could I do? Wait. Teleport! My Star - Mana Ropeway! I wanted to activate my teleportation ability to save them, but I had used all my star mana. The explosion was too quick, and my subsidiary tree was charred before it even completely spawned.

The black - ish energies exploded and caught Lovis, Kei, and Yura . I tried to shield them, but the energies attacked my roots, too, and incinerated them instantly. The energy felt like a shockwave of radiation, and it interfered with my roots, vines, and trees ability to regenerate.

- Fuck! ! ! - I was far away, but if I had a human heart, it was like watching a tragedy unfold before my very eyes. I felt it sink. I wanted to deny this reality. No.

Yura was closest to the demon king, and the impact of the blast was strongest on him. Even with all the shields and power I could muster, it was nothing before that king. His entire body was pierced by the light and charred by the explosion, and he collapsed.

- Yura ! -

He died, even though my vines tried to reach him. I tried and tried to create shields, and I saw Yura activated his familiar to shield himself, too. But the explosion was too strong, too dense.

The notification I dreaded came in.

Yura has died.

- FUCK! - I mentally yelled.

Lovis managed to escape a little further, but it wasnÆt enough at all. Just like Yura , the demonic rays pierced through and charred her body, and she died within seconds.

Lovis has died. A/ Æs Demonslayer class was released.

Kei was much further away when the radioactive shockwave hit. It tore through the layers of wooden vines, and I felt the rays pierce through the wounds. But at the same time, I thought I felt a strange flow push back at the demonic radiation. Something equally powerful, if not stronger.

Yet I got a strange notification.

Kei has died. You have received a fragment and a Titan Soul.

Then I looked at her again. Her body had fused with all the vines. Her heart was beating; my vines had entered her body through her destroyed arm to keep her alive. She was no longer human. Only her face was left intact, but her body had. melted into this strange part - crystalline, part - treevine structure. There was a heart in there that was still beating; I could sense it with my vines.

It was no longer a normal heart. It was. a crystal? The crystal collapsed instantly and formed a cocoon made of crystal and a huge tangle of roots within.

- What happened? - I asked, then one of the artificial minds flooded my mind. I saw the explosion rip through KeiÆs body, but then she glowed. A part of it crumbled away, and a part of it remained that pushed back against the wave, like how a magnetosphere deflected a solar flare. In that process, the shockwave caused her body to shift and change.

Demon King Tigash has been destroyed.

Due to your excessive contribution in the fight against the demon king as a non - hero, you have been granted a special experience multiplier. You gained 27 Levels. You are now Level 197.

Yura has bequeathed the skill - WarlordÆs Barrage. Skill absorbed into Root Field. Root Fields upgraded to Fields of Death.

Lovis has bequeathed the skill - Spear of Destruction. Skill modified and changed to Roots of Destruction.

Faris has bequeathed the skill - Vine Control. The following skills have been merged. Healing Vines, Constrict, and Absorption to Root & Vine Mastery.

- hidden

I. I couldnÆt. I couldnÆt check the rest of the skills. I had to pause for a moment and consider what had just happened.

So I didnÆt. IÆd get back to the skills the next time.

- Oh. I died. - Yura Æs spirit appeared in my soul realm the next day. So did Lovis and Faris. - I figured that would happen. IÆll disappear in a few months, right? -

It was a strange feeling to see him there. - . IÆm sorry. - I shouldnÆt have put them through that. But against the demon king, could I even think of holding back my best fighters? No.

Yura shrugged. - IÆm glad I did it. To fight a demon king and manage to land a hit to finish it off? If thatÆs not going out with a bang, what else is? -

Lovis agreed.

- Thank you both. -

Yura smiled. - IÆm glad we still have these few months to say my goodbyes. -

82

YEAR 156 CONTINUED

Edna stood in the ruined battlegrounds. They were now filled with deep gashes and cuts, most of it from the damage left from the demon kingÆs numerous beams. We couldnÆt even find FarisÆs body. The beam had vaporized him, and what was left were a few trinkets that were not caught in the beams.

- Life remains so frail. - She knelt and touched the dirt. She saw it first hand, when the beams burned through the air. - So frail before the demon king. -

Faris was EdnaÆs closest friend. They were peers over so many years.

- And now. - She touched the ground. The dirt and earth in the entire area was magically charged. It was something I would study later on. The demon kingÆs magical blast also transferred some of its qualities to the remaining dirt that was not destroyed.

Yura was a spirit in my soul realm. - So this is what itÆs like to see things from your point of view. - Yura , though, seemed really relaxed and free. - I have always wondered what itÆs like to be a spirit. -

- Do you want to stay in this world, Yura ? IÆll find a way. - He had a few months.

Yura shook his head. - IÆd like to see whatÆs beyond that, please. The death promised to all elves who died with their spirit trees. Let me just say goodbye to those who I cared for. -

This meant the original elves and the Valthorns that he personally trained. Many were in a way his closest friends and family, even if not related by blood.

- We died gloriously, but no big state funerals, please, - Yura said.

- There will be one for all who died in this war. - I wanted to insist. There were many others who died, and they deserved a proper burial. - ItÆs the first time anyone has participated in a large - scale battle against the demon king. -

It was a somber event. Throughout the continent, there were many battles, and there were deaths there, too. Thankfully, most rifts were relatively low - risk less than five rifts had demon walkers or demon champions. After the destruction of the demon king, we quickly redirected our attention to those demons.

But the lag meant death.

Relatively speaking, it was good for us. The Central Continent lost about one hundred thousand people to the demons, most of them when one of those demon champions got close to one of the cities or towns. Low, relative to the huge numbers lost on the Eastern Continent. Throughout the entire war, about two hundred thousand were lost. Again, good numbers, good numbers.

Yet the deaths of Yura , Faris, and Lovis felt really personal to me, especially Yura .

- You really want to go? - I was sure I could figure out something. Perhaps a soul contract or something to keep him here.

Yura just nodded. - I think itÆs time. The next generation can take over my place. The young Valthorns, many of them have great potential. -

- No. Please reconsider. -

Yura shook his head. - A/ , TreeTree, youÆve done so much for me, and I am grateful. WeÆve fought many battles together and achieved much. To see Freeka grow to New Freeka, only to lose it and then rebuild as Freshka has been wonderful. These few decades were incredible. But IÆve died, and I would like a peaceful passing. -

I sighed mentally, but I thought he could feel it. - Very well. I will dearly miss your presence by my side. -

- ThereÆre still a few months. -

Many of those who died in the conflict actually appeared in my soul realm . Some would stay for days, some for months. Often, it was their own choice. Using a combination of PatreeckÆs mental powers and my own soul realm , we used it to grant special mental audiences with the dead.

It was a special ritual - the priests called it the communion of the passing - for those who remained to say and say so much. Many, though, did not want to die.

I felt a little selfish and hypocritical then. I would go to great lengths if I could resurrect Yura , but for the rest of them, I wouldnÆt. A soul contract , made before death, wouldÆve been an easy resurrection solution, since I could redeploy them as something else. Yet I felt for young orphans whoÆd grown up and lived almost their entire lives as my swords and shields; to drag them to service again through soul contract was exceptionally cruel even for my standards.

They had given me one life as my weapon, and they would return experience, skill seeds, and level seeds when they died through the familiars.

For the general populace, it was a sense of relief that the demon king disaster passed by so quickly, in about a day. Perhaps this was the fastest weÆd ever killed a demon king, because we could predict where the demon king appeared.

If the demonÆs intelligence was real, the next time wouldnÆt be so easy.

Kei was not dead, but the system thought she was dead. It was incredibly weird.

Her body was entirely a mixture of crystal and vines, like an overgrown laboratory. - This is not what I expected. - She looked like a golem. A crystal golem.

She lost her hero class when the blast happened. It stripped her of all her classes and levels, and she was. temporarily level - less. Then, because the healing happened simultaneously as the demon kingÆs blast stripped her soul of all her soul - bricks, she didnÆt actually die even as the loss of all her levels somehow made the system think she died.

- My friends think IÆm dead, right? - Kei said.

- Most likely, if they get the notification. -

- Then letÆs keep it that way. -

Ah. Shit. This meant the advantage had just shifted to the heroes again now that KeiÆd lost all her hero powers. They most likely wouldnÆt believe that this golem was her, either. Shit. Was I going to face the crusades next?

- How do you feel? - I asked the golem. She shrugged and moved. The first few days after the battle, I thought she was dead. After all, that was what the notification said, and it had never been wrong before.

The heart kept beating. Pulsing. I thought it was just residual energies that caused it to beat. Then she moved after a few days and talked. Kei looked around; right now, she was in a resting area within the Valley of the Unrotten. I wasnÆt comfortable letting her wander around in Freshka. Not yet, anyway.

- Surprisingly fine, even if this body needs getting used to. - Kei was incredibly nonchalant about the entire transformation. - If anything, I suddenly have a clarity of mind that feels amazing. - Her golem body was mixed with organic elements within, and anyone who laid their eyes on her would immediately say she was an abomination.

- Really. - I considered the implications that the system could be wrong. What else was wrong, then? Also, the demonic blast was able to strip a person of their soul and levels. If so, could I replicate it to ultimately free the heroes from their traps?

- IÆm now a level one Bio - crystalline Construct with no classes. Do you think this is just a copy of my soul and the real me is really dead, or is this really me? -

- ThereÆs no true answer for that, is there? - I could see that she still had a soul, but if most of a soul had been stripped away, was it really still her? It reminded me of the ship of Theseus problem.

- Good answer. - Kei laughed mechanically. - I should gain levels. Can you help me? -

- Certainly. - I secretly guided Kei to a patch of the Rottedlands where she could fight hybrids.

Edna had gained levels. She gained fourteen levels from the battle, so she was now level 139 as an A/ ic Grand Knight . She was stronger, and yet at the same time, she was cursed.

- A/ . How do you do it? Watch our friends perish? - She was actually trying to cope with her own loss. Faris and Lovis were her friends, and as fellow Valthorns, they were really close knit. - IÆve lived with certainty that my friends would survive. Drunk on our own immortality. -

When you were over level one hundred, it was normal to feel like youÆd never die.

- I honestly have no good answer for you, Edna. Yura was my most loyal warrior, and he had served at my side since the days when this valley was a village called Freeka. His loss and his presence will be something I keenly feel for decades, perhaps even centuries to come. -

Edna nodded and wept privately. WeÆd all lost a friend. - This struggle against the demon king destroyed too many friendships and relationships. When you told us you wanted to stop the cycle, I honestly thought I understood it. But only now do I see and feel the real cost of this struggle. -

- It will be a path paved with the blood and bodies of our friends. Victories all have a price, - I said, despite my own struggles with Yura Æs death.

Edna didnÆt reply and continued to cry alone. An hour or so later, she responded. - Well. if I stopped now, Faris and Lovis wouldÆve died for nothing, right? -

- Indeed. -

Faris, Lovis, and Yura Æs spirits watched that same conversation. Faris just sighed. - I felt like I died like a chump, though. Just a bad position and the deathray just killed me. How does one even stop such things? -

The spirit of Lovis agreed. - I think there must be a way to strengthen our body such that we can resist it. At least, we should be able to survive it. -

Yura Æs spirit nodded along in my mind. - That explosion at the end was extremely disgusting. To think that a demon king almost always self - destructs when it is defeated. - Well, almost all demon kings self - destructed. - We should have prepared with some kind of instant teleportation ability. -

Faris nodded. - Yeah. The next generation of Valthorns must have the ability to perform instant - short range teleportation and also super - enhanced senses. There are skills that can grant the ability to temporarily supercharge oneÆs senses and reaction time. -

Strangely, the three dead spirits were a lot more analytical. Perhaps, now that they were dead, the best way they could contribute was to think about how to prevent their own deaths.

Edna was back to work after resting for two weeks, and then she had a session of mental communion with Faris and Lovis.

A part of me felt numb. IÆd always known that as a tree, I would eventually outlive everyone around me. As a magical tree that did not decay or age, but only grew larger and more powerful over time, it was inevitable.

Did you ever lose those loyal to you, Lilies?

Always. One eventually turns detached. Friends eventually become just tools. To lose so many, so often, one learns to draw lines.

At that moment, a human part of me resisted. No. No. I must have courage to constantly make friends and trust them. If I became more like Lilies, eventually the Valthorns would just be numbers on a battlefield. I would be nothing more than a general, safe in oneÆs nuclear bunker, pressing buttons.

No. I didnÆt want to become desensitized to this. I wasnÆt prepared to lose what little was left of my humanity just to accomplish this goal of stopping the cycle. I was already a murderer and slayer of thousands, enslaver and mind controller. To lose even friendships and trust, that was just the next level.

Even villains needed to have people that they could trust. No. Great villains all had people that they could trust.

Time, and cycles, Lilies responded. Cycles, repeating lives and conversations.

I paused.

It hurts too much to see those who have fallen in those that still lived. I wondered which one of Lilies many minds was talking. This one seemed a little more melancholic. Like a widower who sees a woman that looked like a splitting image of their deceased wife.

I sighed. Maybe Lilies had a point. But I believed I should try. I owed it to those who lived to give them a chance. I couldnÆt just wallow in grief and never move on. No.

I would trust and I would make new friends. Even if I would have to suffer and watch them die eventually, it was only right I continued doing so. A tree survived disasters and storms and still bloomed when spring came. The scars did not alter its will to live and love.

Once the state funerals and about a month had passed, I was finally prepared to revisit the huge wall of notification that IÆd received.

I gained twenty - seven levels and I was now level 197.

Due to your excessive contribution in the fight against the demon king as a non - hero, you have been granted a special experience multiplier. You gained 27 Levels. You are now Level 197.

Yura has bequeathed the skill - WarlordÆs Barrage. Skill absorbed into Root Field. Root Fields upgraded to Fields of Death.

Lovis has bequeathed the skill - Spear of Destruction. Skill modified and changed to Roots of Destruction.

Faris has bequeathed the skill - Vine Control. The following skills have been merged. Healing Vines, Constrict, and Absorption to Root & Vine Mastery.

Level 190 - Domain Skill acquired: Court of the Deitree. Court of the Deitree has a 50 - member limit. Possession of the Devoted now merged with Court of the Deitree.

Those granted the Court Familiars gain abilities similar to those of the Devoted. Court of the Deitree does not require star mana.

Those who served never truly die. Their abilities are recorded and retained. Yura , Lovis, and FarisÆs abilities and skills are elevated as Zealots of the Ancestree. Court members function similar to Familiars. YouÆve gained the ability Summon Court . Court members can be instantly teleported to your location without any mana requirements, with no use limits and restrictions. Skills of those who died with the Court Familiars are absorbed.

Level 180 - Domain Skill Acquired: Natural Dungeons.

Grants ability to trigger new dungeons. Each dungeon must be powered by either a ley line or magical formation of equivalent power. Dungeons are not subordinates and are mostly independent, but you have some influence to control their difficulty level and strength. Each dungeon generates rewards and monsters based on the chosen difficulty and strength.

Active Titan Soul capacity increased to 5.

Root Strike significantly upgraded. Root Strikes and Super - antidemon root strikes merged and now all automatically have anti - demonic effects.

Healing abilities significantly upgraded. Vines now can perform instant - healing by touch.

Wooden materials significantly upgraded. Strength of all wooden items made significantly upgraded and gained passive skills.

Giant Attendant Trees defensive abilities and force projection significantly upgraded. Giant Attendant Trees now able to recreate up to 66% of A/ Æs original strength over long distances.

Familiars significantly upgraded. All familiars gained additional skills and abilities. All familiars are now Greater Familiars.

Biolabs and other labs significantly upgraded. All labs now are significantly more attuned to demonic energies and rift - related energies.

Overall physical defense and magical defense significantly increased. Demonic Curse dispelled.

It was a long one, but ultimately it was still numb to me. All these abilities were achieved with the death of those close to me. And was it worth it? These abilities enhanced my strength and defenses.

There was something extremely bittersweet of receiving powers like Court of the Deitree , which would have allowed me to save Yura , Lovis, and Faris. It was like having the ability to close the stable doors after the prized horses had left the stables.

Yet it was clear that during the battle, KeiÆs magical powers did at least 60û70 percent of the damage.

Regardless, these small steps all led me closer to that eventual day.

The rest of the Central Continent had some reconstruction to do, and privately, our intelligence services indicated most of the other temples were amazed at how quickly the demon king was defeated. Yet, despite KeiÆs death, there were no concrete plans for a continuation of the crusade. Just rumors and discussions.

I wondered what changed on their end.

Lozanna and Laufen were both most affected by Yura Æs death at the battle. They spoke to him, too, via the mental communion. Arlisa only sparred with Yura a few times; after all, her training was mostly conducted by her mother. To her, Yura was that uncle that seemed to mostly accompany the crazy tree.

Yet Arlisa, too, witnessed the destruction wrought by the demon king. The craters it left behind all still had residual magical energies, and already labs were in full swing, conducting research.

Lozanna tapped her daughterÆs head as she guided her through the battlefield. She wanted to see what happened to all the traps and fortresses, and she was greeted by the hellscape.

- The land will heal. A/ Æs powers would soon undo all the wounds of the earth. Which is why you must see it now, when the wounds are fresh and the earth is torn asunder, - Lozanna said. The magical residue was gradually being cleaned up. Beetles hard at work, they dug and carried them back to the labs for studies. - Those of us who received A/ Æs blessings are more sensitive to the land. We can feel the subtle flow of the energy in the ground, the same way a druid can. If it scares you, hold my hand, - Lozanna assured her daughter.

- Are all battles like this? - Arlisa was both impressed and fearful. It was quite a sight, and the terrainÆs energy meant the weather was just as chaotic. Storms and thunder seemed perpetual, and I could feel my own mana wrestling with the unsettled air.

- When the opponent is a demon king, yes. But this is a lot more common. Even demon champions can deal huge damage. WeÆve seen things like this back in the Eastern Continent, - Lozanna said, and she remembered her own time in the wasteland that was the Eastern Continent.

- You fought them before? - Arlisa suddenly seemed really impressed at her mom.

- Only the champions, - Lozanna said. - Never the king. -

- But Uncle Yura did. -

- Yes, - Lozanna said. - If the other heroes were here, maybe he would not. - She couldnÆt finish the sentence.

- Can A/ fight the king? - Arlisa, though, quickly switched the question.

Lozanna paused for a moment. - I donÆt know, Arlisa. Maybe, maybe not. Unlike us, A/ cannot move himself to face the demon king head on. -

- Then theyÆll have to lure the demon king so that A/ can smack him? -

Lozanna smiled and patted her daughter. - Now thatÆs an idea to think about. -

- If we ever face a demon king, what can we do to survive? - she wondered.

- Honestly, unlikely. You may not even be able to run, since its attack range is clearly very far. - She pointed as the gashes in the earth, which stretched for miles. Even the hills in the distance were not spared. There were many destroyed forests and trees in the area, often from a stray energy beam or a deflected projectile that exploded.

- Then weÆll just accept our fate? - Arlisa looked back at her mom. Lozanna nodded.

- Pretty much. Unless you are someone like Uncle Yura . He died a hero, a true champion of Freshka. But his path is not for everyone. -

Arlisa the little rebel frowned. She was underleveled in many ways, at least compared to the Valthorns of her age. Already there were young, upcoming Valthorns just about fifteen or sixteen that had reached their level forties in their chosen combat profession.

Still, she watched the ruins, all the fortresses, so strong and sturdy before this, flattened in a single battle. All those magical traps and hero items activated, and it was still insufficient. The destruction truly hammered in how small she was in the larger scheme of things.

Without levels, one had no say in what the world could throw at them. - Without levels and skills, we are just lambs for the slaughter, - Lozanna said quite frankly. - Our world today is changing thanks to A/ , but should he fall, the world will revert back to its original state. One where might and power makes right. A/ Æs overwhelming might today is what grants the lesser ones a choice. Without his vast shade, what we have today is not possible. One day, IÆll take you to the other continents, and there you will witness what the world is like without an overwhelming presence like A/ . -

Arlisa merely nodded.

They had a rest at a makeshift rest stop. The Valthorns had set up multiple viewing points since there clearly was an interest in disaster - tourism.

- Lady Lozanna , what a coincidence. - There were not the only visitors. Many nobles, too, came to see the destruction. Some hoped to see daemolite, but somehow this demon king did not leave any behind. Those in the Freshlands Treetiary college even organized large tours for the students to see the destruction for themselves.

- Ah. Lord Kraveik, what luck. -

The tree lord smiled. - Fascinating, isnÆt it? Even though it does pain me to see the land in such suffering. - The treefolk could feel the damage when they walk; their exposed feet had little feelers and roots.

He turned to face Arlisa. - And you must be Arlisa? -

The young girl nodded.

- Taking in the sights, too? - Lozanna asked.

- Yes. How many lords and kings can even claim to have seen the site of the demon kingÆs death? If anything, this is an experience unique to us! - Kraveik smiled.

Lozanna laughed. Indeed, it was heaven and earth, if compared to the vast destruction of the Eastern Continent. Here, the nobles were talking about tourism. Arlisa merely listened as the nobles continued their conversation. Even if her mother said she wasnÆt a noble, no one would believe it. In the eyes of the entire continent, her mother was a member of the nobility and perhaps even as close to a continent - wide royalty.

- Thanks for fighting with me all this while, Yura , - I said one day. I could sense that his soul would soon move on.

He just smiled. - ItÆs not too bad. Casshern once said, Death comes to us all, but for some earlier than others. Oh tree spirit, take good care of them, those who still lived, and in your Court of the Deitree, truly, elves that die with their spirit trees, never truly die. -

- May you have a blessed life. - At this point, his heart was already set, and I was not going to hold on to him forcefully. Forcing a soul to do what it didnÆt want to do, outside of soul contracts , was something quite against the nature of soul and spirit trees.

- IÆm blessed enough, TreeTree. The heights IÆve reached, the battles I fought, few can even speak of. IÆm sure Faris and Lovis feel similar. -

He bowed in my soul realm.

- I remember I knelt that day when I returned to Freeka. I returned expecting to see nothing, and how this tiny village has gone through so much change. Destruction, and then reconstruction. There will be more change, but I know they will have you to guide them. -

I felt sad. Maybe it was that tiny fragment of humanity left in me.

- Goodbye, A/ . -

- May we meet again, in your next reincarnation. - In the long run, we would all meet again.

- Indeed. -

TREE OF A/ Four

2023 SPAIzzER

1

YEAR 157

Yura departed, along with many others for their onward reincarnation. Their souls would go on, rejoin the cycle, and eventually be reincarnated somewhere out there.

But my mind still swirled with the conversation we had before he left.

- Why did you attack the demon king at that time? Did you feel like it was something you wanted to do? -

Lovis and Yura thought as their souls floated in my soul realm and shrugged. - IÆm not sure. At that moment, it felt like it was something we should have done. I knew I had a shot, and I just took it. I didnÆt think of it that much. -

I still thought about those words. Was that divine influence compelling them to do so? How did I know what they did was something performed on their own free will? How was Yura and LovisÆs action different from KeiÆs own experience when she and her fellow heroes met the weakened demon king?

Yet, while a part of me considered the possibility of divine influence, another part of me thought about my loyal friend.

He fought by my side for years, and maybe, just maybe, we would cross paths again.

The worlds continued to reincarnate everyone. Those who died would take new forms but forget everything. Maybe he already reincarnated as a baby in the Central Continent, and I wouldnÆt know it, either.

The day immediately after he left, I felt lonely.

It was strange to lose his presence, and in some ways, I was reminded by that moment when I first came to this world. When I was trapped and imprisoned by the demon fire and corruption.

Empty. Nothingness.

- We will be here for you, Master, - my artificial souls reassured me. I felt similar sentiments from the trees, everywhere. TheyÆd done this many times, when I felt down and unsure. I sometimes felt that my identity was clearer during these periods of loss.

- I know. -

But time for grief was over.

With the demon king killed, weÆd merely reset the timer, and there was a lot to process. I believed it was unlikely for the demon king to appear in the same continent twice, consecutively, even if there was some intelligence on the other end.

Regardless, preparations must continue. Based on that single sample of demon king battle, weÆd observed that hero items were clearly super effective. Explosive area traps were also very useful and could deal some damage to the demon king.

I gave the directive to the rest of the continent. We needed a lot more high - density magical munitions. Things that we could stack together into a big array of bombs or use as part of a heavy barrage of projectiles would be great. My anti - demonic weapons were useful, but against the demon king, their effectiveness was average, not significantly better than the non - anti - demonic weapons. If there were bombs loaded with anti - demonic weapons, that may be a way to mash them together.

Either that, or the demon king itself was not a - demon-element - in the system , thus it did not suffer any penalties or weaknesses against anti - demon weapons. My gut, or I supposed my roots, felt that this was the most likely case. The demon king was - unique - and - different - from the rest of its spawn.

After this battle, I also concluded that it was risky to depend on the - anti - demon-advantages to carry the day. It was entirely possible that the demon king could adapt and had changing elements, just like some overpowered Pokemon, or the spawned demon king just had specific resistance. Thus, generic weapons should be more successful in the long term. I also could rely on this arsenal against any rogue hero that decided to come my way.

Edna was stronger, and first we noticed her stat gains had accelerated. Her additional fourteen levels effectively tripled her overall strength.

It proved that my earlier theory was not correct; the stats catching up to the heroes started a lot earlier, at level one hundred twenty - five onward. That said, even with those levels, she was still far behind the heroes.

Her movements were quick, even faster than Yura and the best of the rangers, despite being a - knight. -

- This kind of power is surreal, - Edna said privately. If she was anywhere mad, the utensils around her would break, and the ground itself would crack. If she stomped the floor, it would break, too, unless I reinforced it. Her - shield - abilities, too, had shared in her growth, but those abilities made her feel bitter.

The same way I related to my new Court of the Deitree . Bittersweet. But no matter, it was time to test it out.

The Court of the Deitree essentially allowed me to award special familiars to up to fifty members, and these fifty members were each like the Possession of the Devoted, with a wide array of extra perks. The best perk was the retention of abilities from past warriors, and fifty members meant I could keep the best abilities of fifty of my best warriors. One of them kept about ten of Yura Æs best skills.

At least, I wouldnÆt have to totally start from scratch even if I lost those that I helped to level. In EdnaÆs case, she wanted LovisÆs skills. She thought the mix of LovisÆs offensive skills would be a great complement to her current defensive abilities.

Edna briefly activated LovisÆs spear skills present through the familiar, the Lady of the Court . She was infused with the muscle memory of someone else and could move and attack with the exact pose as Lovis. After Edna used her move, she just stood there for a moment, quiet. She muttered something to herself, so quiet I couldnÆt hear the details. But somehow, I suspected it was a feeling of gratitude.

- I have something to discuss, - Yvon said one day. - IÆve seen the strength that Edna now possesses, and IÆd like to know whether itÆs possible to remake us in that manner. -

- Huh? -

- ItÆs an open secret that youÆve been helping them gain strength, and I donÆt know how itÆs done, but IÆd like to know whether itÆs something that can be done for me. -

I was puzzled by YvonÆs request. She was currently a level seventy Training Tree .

- I want to fight. IÆve trained so many and hoped that my training is enough when the time comes. But after IÆve heard of the battles against the demon king, I feel an urge, a calling within me to fight once more. -

I did not answer. I did not know whether I should.

Kei had gained about forty levels over the course of one year. She adapted quickly to her new form as a crystalline golem. When she hit level thirty along the way, she evolved and her crystalline golem form became taller, more refined, and more flexible. Now, she could look like a crystal statue and her colors could change.

- I honestly like this body, - she said after a battle with hybrids. I had not started the whole dungeons thing, not yet, anyway.

- Really? Why? -

- ItÆs just a feeling. IÆm more aware of my body, and I can change it if I donÆt like it. And I feel like a million bucks. And IÆm shiny like a diamond! - She laughed.

Did she just try to joke?

- I mean seriously. I can sparkle like IÆm so fancy, like a vampire. -

- Vampires donÆt sparkle. -

- Yes, they do. -

- No, they donÆt. - What were the kids reading these days that vampires sparkled? - Are they golem - vampires? -

She paused and seemed to think about it seriously. - They must be blood - crystal golems then, since they need blood to replenish their strength. - I didnÆt want to continue this conversation since it was inane.

- LetÆs not talk about sparkly vampires. Your friends, the other two heroes, they have not said anything or made any pronouncements since you died. Would you happen to know why? Are you guys close? -

- I thought we were, - Kei said. She made that - I donÆt know - pose. - But I guess I am out of their strike zone so they donÆt care anymore. And we have been apart and separated for years. Pretty sure the relationship between us isnÆt tight anymore. WeÆve drifted apart, pretty much. -

- Really, are heroic friendships so weak and brittle? - To be fair, for highly mobile and powerful individuals like them, I could see how relationships could be difficult. Everyone else treated them like they were someone to be feared or someone to be obeyed. Equals were a rare thing, and not everyone enjoyed a relationship with their equals.

To me, I was lucky to meet those I did consider my equals, like Lilies.

- I donÆt know. I guess weÆre just not that good at being friends. WeÆve been sent here together and are friends out of necessity and convenience. I honestly feel you are a better friend than they are. Truly, - Kei said. - Even Astia feels like a better friend, as aloof as she is. -

Speaking of Astia.

- Attempt four hundred ninety - four, - she said as she swirled mana before her eyes. She was surprisingly determined when she got down to it. In the past few years, sheÆd gained twenty - five levels as a Mage , and her focus was attempting to touch Void Mana. Anyone with a brain would put one - and - one together and surmise her performance must have something to do with her Late Bloomer ability.

Level twenty - five as a mage was low, of course. It made her just slightly ahead of an apprentice mage who was normally around level ten to twenty - five.

Void mana was both hard and easy. Controlling and containing it was extremely difficult but easy enough to generate, if one did not care for oneÆs own health. So Astia had numerous visits to the soul forge for repairs.

- Home is a great motivator. -

- Indeed. Though I donÆt have much there, I still feel like I have a duty to return. At least, with this, I have the choice to return. -

- What if itÆs a one - way trip? -

- Then I will have to live with it. But thatÆs a bridge I will cross when I get there. - Astia, or Stella, kept practicing. At night, she would sleep and use my dream academy . She seemed to be really into this whole mage thing, but it took time for magical studies to pay off. Magic was such a broad and deep subject that mastery took a long time for most common folk.

It was a lot harder to develop ocean grass than I expected, and the clear problem was the lack of sunlight. Was it still a plant if a plant did not depend on sunlight and perform photosynthesis?

One of the easier shortcuts was to take after Lilies, which meant large floating platforms with roots that stretched all the way down to the ocean floor. But the ocean was also home to massive waves and typhoons, and the monsters that lived in the oceans were huge.

The seafarers brought home tales of their ventures on the high seas, of giant leviathans and krakens, of ancient sea creatures, and I highly doubted my roots could survive those.

For now, I concentrated my efforts on expanding seagrass to most of the continental shelf. This was the area where the seas were shallow and sunlight still reached the sea floor. Already, IÆd made many discoveries of sunken ships and other various hidden treasures. There was nothing quite like a constantly growing carpet of seagrass to truly - scan - the sea floor for sunken items.

As I kept expanding my seagrass, I had a very pleasant upgrade.

Giant Attendant Tree variant added: Seagiant Trees.

This allowed me to add giant trees on the shallow seas and more variants to my trees, too.

Biolabs upgraded: Sea - variant labs added.

There were more to see in the seas. Fishes, monsters, and even insects. New types of sea - insects, sea - crustaceans, and also all kinds of plants.

There was a patch of sea where the continental shelf extended a little further than the norm, and the seagrass expanded on this path. Then my rootnet met something new.

Foreign thoughts detected.

There was a growing intelligence in the mass of sea corals and algae in this part of the sea. An emergent sea - spirit similar to Lilies in a way. It was young, and I could tell because it was incoherent and a mess.

- Master, should we block it out? -

- Not yet. -

My seagrass expanded even more, and we had more contact points with that sea - coral - reef - spirit. It transmitted thoughts.

Sea. Roots. Tendrils. Fish. It felt like it was trying to learn language, and we responded with words. This went on for months, as it transmitted more thoughts. During this time, my seagrass pretty much encroached on the entirety of the reef, and I got close enough to use Inspect .

Reef Mind

ooh. There were no details to it, other than the name. I spoke of this to Lilies, and they were rather interested.

A new spirit of the seas. Vallasira would know more.

Then I must speak to him.

I will attempt to call him.

I didnÆt know when Vallasira the Zaratan would return; I recalled that their sense of time was somewhat distorted by the travel between worlds. For now, I kept communicating with the Reef Mind. Perhaps it will soon speak to me.

I also returned to focus on the hybrid demon-plants in the Rottedlands. Now that IÆd seen what the world of the demons looked like, I wanted to prepare myself for an eventual war on their homeland. Perhaps one of the ways to end this conflict for good was on the other side of the rift.

If I could stop them from creating the rifts for good or push the battlefield onto their world, thatÆd prevent the demon kings from ever coming to our world.

To do so, IÆd have to find ways to establish a foothold on the other side and have a force that could stand up to the might of the demons on their home world. IÆd seen from the few raids that the power levels of the champions were significantly stronger on their home world, probably due to some kind of magic there, and also perhaps to the weakened, dried state of my trees and plants.

Now, at the hybrids, I was looking for drying resistance, if there was such a word. Things that could endure a dry, arid environment.

I contemplated whether it was a good idea of even upgrading beetles to adapt to such an environment, but Horns, typically, was a massive advocate of the beetles for all environments. He insisted that beetles could be adapted to fight on the dry worlds.

Personally, I was thinking of cockroaches. Mainly because the idea of insects in a dry world just reminded me of that cockroach on Mars manga. But I supposed beetles also would do.

It was a set of research I had to do secretly, since making plants and insects more demon-like would probably ring all the wrong kinds of bells among the general population.

- I think itÆs a good idea, but the portal should come first. - I shared the idea with Edna, of course. She was the only one left of the four. - Taking the war to their home world would avoid a lot of the problems, but personally I think maintaining an open portal will be the biggest issue. Else, any force left on their home world is on their own, and itÆs a death sentence. We need your support and presence if we ever step foot on their soil. -

It was like landing a ship on enemy territory.

On that front, I was still working on the void mana. But progress was slow.

- Mom. -

- Yes? - Lozanna turned to face her growing daughter. They were home, then.

- Have you ever thought of stepping into Uncle Yura Æs shoes? -

- Sometimes. But IÆve decided not to. -

- A/ Æs searching for someone to take over, right? - she said as she munched on her breakfast.

- Of course. If you know someone, do let me know. IÆm sure A/ Æs interested. - Arlisa frowned at Lozanna Æs comment. - Your classmates, perhaps? -

- Ugh. -

Arlisa was finally enrolled in the Freshlands Treetiary College. She initially had a stint with the Valthorns, but due to her relatively low levels and rebellious nature, Lozanna suggested that she try the college instead.

- My classmates probably canÆt kill a fly. -

- Oh? - Lozanna smirked. - I had the impression that the nobles from the outer rings all had combat experience, either on the high seas or against the hybrid demons. -

- Nah. No way. -

- You seem to think very little of them. ThatÆs not a good attitude to have, my dear. - Lozanna shrugged. - YouÆd be surprised how quickly people can grow and level under difficult circumstances. -

Arlisa paused. - Nah. They are not good enough. -

- Well, you never know. - Lozanna smiled.

- If you say it that way, why search? Anyone could do it, - Arlisa protested.

- Not everyone desires it, and not everyone has the right personality for the task. Some things are not about talent, but more about choices and desires. Whether they want to step up to fulfill that role. ItÆs a commitment. One I cannot give. -

It was true that after the death of Yura , Faris, and Lovis, there was a gap in the pinnacle of the Valthorns. But the Valthorns was a vast organization, and they were in every sense of the word a professional army with an even more elite chosen.

There were already many other Valthorns with upgraded classes in the level seventies and lower eighties that now I had to test and train, to push them higher up to their limits and to achieve level one hundred. More candidates to vet through.

Most of these were from the existing training program, a large part from my earlier child soldiers initiative, as abhorrent as that sounded to those from Earth. But we couldnÆt apply the laws of a world without magic to one with magic, at least, not totally. To these soldiers, this was a career, a legitimate, well - paying career that could get them out of poverty.

If one believed everyone had different talents, it would not be a stretch to say some people were just meant to fight and were good at it. That sort of talent was diminished back on Earth, where everyone was relegated to operate in a capitalist society.

With my new dungeon ability, I also had additional ways to test whether these Valthorns were able to perform at higher roles.

Essentially, my new ability meant I could spawn dungeons where there was an unused ley line. I didnÆt have a lot of control over what happened inside the dungeon, and no control over the monsters, either. But I could decide their - challenge - rating, essentially whether these were level twenty, level forty, level sixty, or level eighty dungeons. The quality and strength of the ley line also affected the max level I could go.

So far, the best ley line I found could go up to level seventy. I thought whether I could - hack - into the ley line and make it even stronger, perhaps with a runic formation. ThatÆd be something to experiment on.

In any case, a level seventy dungeon actually spawned a - dungeon - boss - at level eighty, so that wasnÆt a bad challenge for the existing Valthorn elites. From the adventurer circles, normal dungeons rarely went past level seventy, and those were considered difficult dungeons. But there were some rather special dungeons where there were monsters in the level one hundreds, but most of them were lost to time.

2

YEAR 158

- The peace we have today is one won by blood, - Edna explained to the young Valthorns. - The order we have today is held together by the bones of those who fell defending it. Peace demands blood. Order demands bones. The question is simply are you ready to give your blood and bones for the cause? -

The entire blood - and - bones analogy was a little too much and felt a bit like a blood mage or a necromancer trying to win others to their cause.

But it worked on hot - blooded young folks. Even the naturally calm treefolk were taken by the whole sacrifice schtick. In every generation, in every batch, there was a mix of dispositions, some more reserved, some more passionate.

As the one they would ultimately fight for, it was my role to identify those whose fire would keep burning, and burn brighter for decades to come. Based on what IÆd seen so far, there was no real clear personality indicators to suggest which type of person would remain passionate and loyal to the cause for years to come. Instead, what we noticed was loyalty tended to be accumulated over the decades via little events, and events that increased loyalties for some individuals did not increase them for others.

The young ones all practiced, and Edna adjusted their pose. I asked her to help with training, simply because they would just naturally level faster when someone of a significantly higher level was advising them.

Renewal was a constant, never - ending affair. Just as a deciduous tree repeatedly grew after each winter, I must constantly replenish my battle forces and ensure I had those ready to step up should the earlier group decide theyÆd had enough.

- Class, today, we have Roon and Evin, two of our senior Valthorns! TheyÆll be providing guidance on archery and fighting with weapons! -

Students grew and turned into teachers. Teachers changed. A new generation took over, hopefully better than the ones that had come before.

- Roon is a level sixty - four A/ ic Sharpshooter and Evin a level sixty - one Champion Gladiator , - Edna introduced them. They were just as nervous as the kids. Roon was once among them, fifteen years ago. Somehow, to return and be one of the teachers was a stressful affair. Kids.

Edna patted them both on the back.

- YouÆll do fine. Just relax, and have a cup of herbal tea if you need it. - She smiled at the two younger folks. Roon was a typical elf orphan, while Evin was a female half dwarf who capitalized on her exceptional strength to win multiple arena battles, thus earning the champion title. The Valthorns were allowed to compete in competitions, but only a limited number. So internally, within the Valthorns, there was a mini - competition before they even got to participate.

That was because we didnÆt want to flood every competition with Valthorn Initiates, with our dedicated training and high levels. Yet we did want a presence in these competitions where there were large spectator groups, so we wanted our good candidates to perform well and help improve our reputation. That said, our best - of - the - best never participated, and there was an internal rule that only those below level fifty could participate in competitions.

I did think it was a bit silly, but if the level of competition increased in the future, the level cap would be revised accordingly.

The two new trainers were uncomfortable at best. It was hard to connect with young children; it took effort and practice to know how to speak and get young kids to listen and do things. Even if the Valthorn recruits were already a preselected crop.

The dungeons opened, and the Valthorns attempted them. The dungeons had some rules, despite the domain powers. For example, my - view - of the dungeon was always delayed. I could only see what happened after each team completed their run of the dungeon, whether they failed or they succeeded. Secondly, I could tweak the dungeonÆs settings, but I had no ability to use my powers inside the dungeons.

It was like I had a RNG dungeon generator, and I was playing an idle game where I sent teams out on expeditions and hoped they succeeded.

Patreeck was quick to generate a mathematical model, though. After like ten to twenty rounds of attempts, he already could estimate the chances of success for the dungeon, based on the squad strength.

The return of dungeons to the continent also brought a new lobbying group. Adventurers.

- We wish to petition A/ for access to the new dungeons. - Adventurers wanted dungeons. After the borders were loosened, there actually was a - brain drain - where adventurers left the Central Continent for the other continents.

This was simply because there were no dungeons, and if there were no dungeons, adventurers had little chance of striking it rich by fighting a dungeon and earning a high - tier reward. They were nothing more than monster hunters. Dungeons were a crucial element in the adventurer ecosystem, and previously, the adventurers had to suffer in silence since, well, the borders were closed. They were not going to get themselves killed by travelling to a continent that killed anyone that came from the Central Continent.

Not anymore.

The guild masters were quick to band together and demand the dungeons for the adventurers. Or at least, shared - slots - where adventurers could attempt those dungeons for themselves.

It was a point I discussed with the Valthorns consistently, and after a while, we had a - carve - up - system.

Certain dungeons were marked at Valthorn - only, and certain dungeons were free - for - all. Valthorns were free to join the adventurers on raids and form their own parties.

- A fifteen - percent tax on all earnings is too high. - The guild masters then shifted onto issue of taxes on dungeon rewards.

- Twenty - five percent was the initial number, I believe. - Kavio walked.

The guild masters gulped but then presented that there was actually at least a two - layer tax. Under most local and regional laws, dungeon earnings were subject to taxes at the local nation level. That meant adventurers had to pay a tax to the local state and also to the Valthorns.

- Higher profits will allow the adventurers to get better gear and fight better. If A/ Æs goal is to get strength, please consider supporting the adventurers in their pursuit of personal growth. -

I was rather torn. The taxes helped support the Valthorns, and the Valthorns did have a lot of spending. But I also agreed that for folks that risked their lives for money, a high tax did feel like bad taste.

- We recommend a door tax. A per - entry tax. - The guild masters naturally preferred a flat tax, since all the potential upside accrued to the adventurers.

Kavio looked over the proposal. - WeÆll submit this proposal for further discussion. -

- WeÆre running at a marginal surplus at the moment. - The chief of the Valthorns financial and accounting records was Chancellor Brandak, a treefolk merchant turned lord. He was the fourth treefolk A/ ic Lord after Kraveik but soon found a home in the massive Valthorn machinery as our defacto chief financial officer.

The Valthorns bookkeeping function was frankly a mess as we expanded quickly, and we had revenue sources throughout the entire continent. Compiling income and expenditure reports on a continental scale continued to be a challenge. This was despite my artificial souls monitoring all the transactions throughout the continent.

Simply put, there were simply far too many transactions at any given day for artificial minds to keep up with, and over time, their role shifted to that of - auditors, - where they merely observed the practices of the Valthorns on a sampling basis. The complexity of revenue had also increased, as with the multiple layers of taxes and jurisdictions.

BrandakÆs advice seemed to concur with the guild masters. - It would be administratively easier for us if we just impose a door tax. That way, we donÆt have to calculate the adventurers earnings and participate in the highly subjective matter of valuing artifacts and salvaged equipment. As it is, we do spend quite a bit of money maintaining valuers and appraisers. -

Kavio was on the other side. - Marginal, Chancellor Brandak. We could use the money for more recruitment. -

- A reasonably higher door tax would pretty much equalize our take from the dungeons without the need for valuations. It would not be significantly lower, and the chances of high - tier equipment is so low that itÆs better to let that be the adventurers shot at the lottery. Let them have their winnings. -

One of the councilors wondered, - Is this related to that report on adventurer emigrations a while back? -

- Actually yes. - Kavio nodded. - ThereÆs the issue of adventurers preferring work on the other continents as they had far better outcomes with dungeons. Monster hunter is a stable but not very lucrative job, but adventurers are all, in their hearts, looking for that moonshot. -

- Does A/ have a view on this? - another of the councilors asked. There are some councilors who just preferred to go with everything I decided. Bootlickers.

- A/ has decided to abstain on the matters of taxation, - Brandak responded to the floor.

- CanÆt we just override the local authorityÆs right to tax dungeon earnings? - one councilor from Freshka asked, which was swiftly slammed by the councilors from the respective kingdoms. None of the kingdoms wanted to give up their own rights to the tax income, yet if the Freshlands Federal Authority shifted to a door - tax mechanism, most kingdoms would naturally follow with their own rates.

I mentally spoke to Brandak and Kavio. - IÆll leave this matter to the both of you. -

They argued for two months, with multiple hearings and consultations with the adventurer guild masters, as well as some passionate views from certain kingdoms, and eventually decided to go for a vote. That resulted in a door tax.

Then came the next part of the dungeon squabble.

- Councilor Kavio, weÆd like to submit a petition for at least one dungeon in the Kingdoms of Random Country A to be converted to a public dungeon. - Well, there was a tax inequality where dungeons reserved for Valthorn use did not generate tax income for their host kingdoms.

Honestly, this entire debacle just reminded me why I hated bureaucracy with a freaking passion. It was a chore going through the numerous interested parties. I felt like being stuck as a project manager with different opposing stakeholders that refused to compromise.

I could, of course, steamroll this entire thing through. A few more months passed by. The councilors were pretty much bombarded with lobbies and petitions. The issue of dungeons had a whole lot more vested interests than I thought. Merchant groups who traded on dungeon equipment and crafters and workers who supported and supplied gear to adventurers all lobbied for public dungeons. Valthorns all used Valthorn - supplied gear, so their spending in the local cities was usually lower than adventurers on a per - capita basis.

Thus Chancellor Brandak came with a proposal. - We propose all dungeons below a certain level be designated as public dungeons, but all dungeons will have three months per year where the dungeons are exclusive to the Valthorns. All existing public dungeons will be rolled into this scheme. All dungeons will have a door tax proportionate to their difficulty. There will be no tax on Valthorn use of dungeons. -

- These dungeons are cool, - Kei said after she explored the dungeon as a golem with a group of Valthorns. - Right, Ikka? -

Ikka was one of the unfortunate Valthorns that were stuck as her - escort. - She was a level fifty - five Grand Knight . - Yes, Kaide. -

Kei had a new name, Kaide. She wanted to distinguish herself from her old self and also help keep her secret identity safe. But honestly, I still referred to her as Kei. Besides, very few people knew she was a hero.

- Are these dungeons normal? - Kei asked Ikka. Ikka shrugged. - I mean, fifteen floors seems a bit overkill for a dungeon, and I really liked that big boss fight at the end, and the miniboss fight. -

- ThereÆs. a miniboss? -

- Yes. A few, in fact. ThereÆs usually a miniboss at the end of the floor, too. Good for leveling, really. ItÆs almost as if the dungeon read your mind, A/ . -

I wondered whether that was just my will spilling into the dungeon system.

- How frequently can you change the settings? - Honestly, none. Once I set the settings, the dungeon was locked, unless I destroyed the dungeon. I couldnÆt even set what kind of monsters could appear. My artificial minds helped to build a register of the dungeons and their monsters, but even then, the dungeons did spring surprises every now and then.

The dungeons were intentionally not letting me into their inner workings, beyond a RNG and challenge setting. For a domain ability, this felt annoying. - I canÆt. -

- Oh. You canÆt even tweak what happens inside, right? -

Reluctantly, I answered, - Yes. -

- Hmm. I think itÆs because the leveling system requires genuine danger. The special dungeon experience multiplier only applies if thereÆs actually lives at risk, I suppose, - Kei speculated.

- Special dungeon experience multiplier? - What the hell was that gacha - raid shit?

Kei paused. - Oh. Maybe you donÆt know, but when I entered dungeons, at least when I was a hero, I could see I had a passive experience gain buff. I donÆt see it now, but I think the buff is still there. All dungeons have a thing where people gain levels faster when they struggle in them, I think. -

What?

- WouldnÆt be fair if you could tweak dungeons and still enjoy the passive experience multiplier, ayy? -

Fair? If they wanted to talk about fairness, start with why in the flying fuck did heroes get overpowered level gains? They could reach level one hundred within one year. One year. There was no such thing as fairness when it came to gods and heroes. If they could stack the game and load the die, why couldnÆt I do it, too?

Kei paused. - Did I say something wrong? -

I didnÆt reply. I still stewed over the concept of fairness.

- A/ , are you mad that IÆm slacking? - Arlisa asked one day. She. wasnÆt the best student, despite her clearly blessed intelligence and natural talent. Somehow, she was blessed with martial talent that exceeded most, but there she was, slacking and dodging classes.

- Do you want me to be? - I didnÆt want to push the responsibility on her. As far as I could tell, achievement couldnÆt be forced; all you could do was offer opportunity. For Valthorns with nothing, they would naturally grab all the opportunities they could get. Arlisa, thus the spoiled second generation, had the luxury of time and nobility to waste it. It was sad, of course, but at the same time, that only meant I excluded her from my plans.

- I donÆt know. Mom keeps telling me about duty and that because I am blessed, I should live up to it. I mean, I feel like I did enough, though. -

Her behavior was familiar, like the clever kid in school that studied just enough to do well and then spent the rest of her time playing or doing other things.

- ThatÆs why I wanted to ask you. -

- Many others on the continent would give up a lot to be in your privileged position. Whether you live up to your station in life is up to you. ItÆs very fortunate that Lozanna is an elf who lives very long lives naturally; itÆs a safety net very, very few have. -

- I knew it. - She sighed. - All this following the footsteps of my mother is annoying. I want my own life. -

- Your life has always been your own. -

- I mean, I want to be able to choose the direction of my own life. -

- That has never been taken away from you. Whatever choice you make, it will just factor into the bigger picture. -

- ThatÆs the problem, isnÆt it? - Arlisa frowned. - Even if I have the ability to choose whatever I want to be, the gears of the world will move against me. So only certain choices are realistic choices. In that case, am I really able to choose? -

- It seems you are thinking far too ahead of yourself, my dear Arlisa, - I responded. - Are you slacking because all the choices scare you? -

She paced in her room and then sat down. - ThatÆs a very good point. -

- You can create dungeons? - I wondered why no one ever presumed to ask why so many dungeons appeared suddenly throughout the continent. So when I discussed the matter of dungeon configurations with Edna, she seemed really, really taken aback by it.

- Yes. It is a new ability I gained. -

She was stunned. - Everyone seemed to think that perhaps the God of Dungeons was suddenly magnanimous, so dungeons reappeared on the Central Continent. -

- I see. - Of course, me being me, I told almost no one, except Kei, about my abilities. I would have told Yura , but, well. - It seems I may have erred in my decision on this. -

- No. Wait. That means all that squabbling with the kingdoms could have been ended by telling them that the dungeons are all your creations? -

- I had the impression they were aware. -

- No. They were not. They guessed, but it was just a suspicion, and certainly creating dungeons is a level of ability that they didnÆt think you had. -

- I find their lack of faith in your abilities disturbing. Requesting permission for mind - attack, - Patreeck commented.

- Denied. -

- Should I say so? -

- I mean - I donÆt know. ItÆs a strategic decision at this point. If you could essentially hold the kingdoms at ransom by creating or removing dungeons. - Edna processed it.

- Ah. - That was a good point. Access to the wealth of dungeons as a form of economic leash on the kingdoms was a very good way to keep these herds of cats compliant.

- We should discuss this with a wider council. -

Chancellor Brandak, Councilor Kavio, more senior Valthorns, the Treeology Patreearches, and the highest lords and kings were there, and of course, it was pretty much an earth - shaking announcement.

- A/ gained the ability to cause dungeons to appear, and the recent Dungeon Spring is entirely due to A/ Æs prolific use of his new ability. -

A diplomat was quick to display the risks of this news going out. - In the holy text of the Gaya church, it is mentioned that the power of creating dungeons is one that is vested in the Lost Gods. By association, the Gayan faith will therefore consider A/ to be one of the Lost Gods, the traitors who opened the astral way to the demons. -

- Then we must be quick to counter such beliefs, - a Patreearch said. - Our faith is independent of the other faiths, and so our godÆs powers should not be linked to the text of another religion. I am of the view that the priesthood should go out and sing praise of this new power. -

- People die in dungeons, and that did not change. These dungeons, created by A/ as they may be, remain a dangerous place. - One of the lords had another opinion. - Associating A/ with a place that causes death will make A/ seem cruel. Even if those are risks that the adventurers knowingly signed up for. -

That was also. a good point. Creating this place of death had reputational risk.

- In the history of our allied nations, there have been some kings who had skills that improved a dungeonÆs characteristics or improved its levels gain and such, - one of the local princes explained. Indeed, kings had all sort of generic improvement skills, some of which targeted the dungeons in their territory. - Such skills are not associated with the Lost Gods, if one even believes in such hogwash. -

This particular local prince was a product of the FTC and, as such, had rather aggressive views toward the - outside - religions. Kinda ironic, when we were the ones that displaced those religions.

- So do we tell or not tell? -

I eventually decided that this was something to be shared among the leadership team, but not to the general public. They all swore an oath that day to tell no one outside that room. They should know my abilities to some limited degree, at least; I wanted to begin this process of forming a cohesive top - level force, and I could do that with only a reasonable level of trust.

WeÆd see soon enough if the trust was reciprocated.

3

YEAR 159

- The next demon king wonÆt be here, - Edna said confidently. - Based on historical records, so far thereÆs only been two incidents of successive demon kings in the same continent within the past five hundred years. -

It actually wasnÆt that low, was it? Two consecutive demon kings implied four demon kings in the same continent, and every ten years meant fifty demon kings in that period of time. About slightly less than ten percent? At least, that was what my primitive, non - mathematical mind suggested.

Not the best chances and could still happen. - Edna, thanks, not a flag I appreciated having. -

- I donÆt think IÆm that unlucky, - Edna responded. Edna was merely trying to convince me that we still had time. Our research and development for stronger, more powerful magical bombs and weapons was making progress, but it was still too slow to really tip the scales.

In the past two years, weÆd started training more enchanters and more lapidarists to build stronger, more powerful magical bombs. It was funny that I was back to repeating and going through what Harris did.

Back then, he wanted huge crystalline matrixes to store my skills. Now, what I was trying to do was huge crystalline matrixes to function as bombs. Bombs. Lots and lots of bombs. Bomb research tied in with my ongoing hexbomb research, and the idea of a - clean - hexbomb.

That felt like a dirty word, the idea that there was such a thing as a - clean - hexbomb. As if the twisted tangle of soul fragments, things made via blood sacrifice, could be - clean. -

My regular process of - harvesting - souls also generated soul fragments. I disliked the term - harvesting, - since as a soul and spirit tree, my job was actually to facilitate the transfer of souls to the unknown for them to reincarnate in life. Increasingly, though, I was now curious what actually happened after sending them off.

Anyway, that was another thing to study. For now, soul fragments of the dead were what I used to make artificial souls and minds. To fuse them in a way that made a bomb, while still - clean, - was really one of the oxymoronic challenges, because my very nature as a soul tree and spirit tree was really to - repair - all the soul damage, not find ways to corrupt soul fragments into bombs.

But I believed it was possible. The soul was the single most powerful material in the world. Infinitely malleable and could gain the power of the gods, the soul therefore should contain far more potential power than anything.

We resumed experimenting on the soul fragments and set up large mana batteries around the Valley of the Unrotten to do so. Dabbling with soul - related matters still required a lot of energy, but not as much as it used to. It seemed that my naturally higher levels and domain abilities contributed to a - discount. -

We attempted a few different kinds of - research, - one of which was to manually stitch the soul fragments together and figure what shape created what sort of effect. We knew for a fact that hexbombs were imperfectly connected soul fragments, but why? Was it the irregular shape, or type of connection, or the base nature of the fragments? Did the type of fragments matter?

At first, I thought it didnÆt, but then as the research continued, it was quite clear there were some differences in the nature of these fragments, especially in the - type of death. - If so, that was a bad sign because the power of blood magic was then inherently tied to the nature of its sacrifice, that the fragments must be made in this manner to generate that level of power.

I believed it was possible to separate the emotions from the fragments, but if the emotions were the fragments, then.

We reviewed our experience clearing the hexed lands, and it took a lot of brainpower mainly to disentangle the hex. I wondered how that worked, that - drawing out - the negative emotions so that they could dissipate; did that actually support the view that the emotion and fragments were separate, or was it both?

At the same time, it was a known fact that some extremely traumatic deaths could generate - ghosts - and - haunted - monsters, and so were those ghosts and haunted creatures similarly a product of that personÆs soul fragmentation on death, and those fragments then transformed or created a ghost?

There had to be something. Death and blood magic must be linked.

Arlisa went on a tour of the cities and places of the Central Continent. Despite being an average student due to her lack of effort, she was enthusiastic at the opportunity to get away from her parents.

- You seem very keen on travelling to the other cities, Lady Arlisa, - a fellow student around her age said. Arlisa theoretically should have graduated, but she decided to stay on. The Freshlands Treetiary College did have a - core - syllabus that was aimed to replicate the four - to five - year university experience, but there were a lot of - optional - subjects, and even the core syllabus changed year on year.

Arlisa nodded. - Yes, Irkania. - The group was mostly commoners. Most of the noble - born students had their own - continental tours - already, but the Freshlands Treetiary College wanted to recreate a similar educational exposure for its commoners, so they had a tour arranged. There were other nobles, too, most of them less wealthy. Still, there was no shame in the tour, since many of the academic team participated. - IÆve wanted to visit the coastal cities for quite some time. -

- Did you participate in last yearÆs tour? -

- I didnÆt. - Arlisa shook her head. - I wanted to, but something came up. -

- Ah. - Irkania was a lizardwoman, from one of the riverine towns. They were relatively rare previously, but a few decades of stability helped their population to regrow. - Have you ever been there in the past? -

- No. Maybe my mom took me there when I was a small girl, but I canÆt remember any of it. -

They both smiled. - Well, I was hoping that you knew your way around. IÆve got to visit some relatives and pass them some souvenirs. But I guess IÆll just have to keep walking around and ask whether theyÆve seen any lizardpeople. -

Arlisa chuckled and made a joke that would be inappropriate in more socially developed societies. - So the whole stereotype is true! All lizardpeople are connected! -

Irkania laughed, too. - Well, to some extent. We were a small species. - Truth was they were once more common; their cities were centered around the swamps of the inland lakes. Most of those lakes and the swamps were flattened when Demon King Sabnoc blew up. So what was left of the lizardfolks that went on to reclaim their lost land all came from a small pool of survivors and outlying villages.

They benefited greatly from the Valthorns social services, especially the incubation pods , specialized childcare centers , and nutritional tree saps. Young lizardlings were frequently starved of nutrients, and it seemed they had a relatively low survival rate. It was also particularly troublesome as infant lizardlings were pretty much animals and had very monster - like aggression; their intellect and awareness seemed to just pop up when they passed their second year.

In the case of lizard young, it was particularly important to prevent their lizardlings from escaping. Their society had a very strange relationship with their children - to them, the insentient children were monsters, and their own people had no qualms killing the young lizards if they were exceptionally aggressive. To them, a child was only a lizard child when they gained their will and intelligence. Before that, monsters.

They also had no concept of parents and practiced a case of pooled upbringing, where everyone contributed to raising the newly sentient children. Everyone was pretty much related, and the females would deposit any fertilized eggs in a central location in their village.

Till this day, this was something I had not been able to process, that they were able to have that emotional distance from their spawn for the first two years.

- Cousins? -

- Yes. EveryoneÆs a cousin or an uncle. We do have our own words for it, though. - Irkania smiled. The lizardpeople repopulation program was one of the few success cases on the Central Continent, but one we rarely talked about. Lizardpeople generally faced a little more discrimination than others, particularly because lizardpeople preferred to work and play at night. In the daytime, they were often observed to be lazing about, and thus they had a reputation as being lazy. Still, they were the best night - time guards and were very good counter - assassins, thanks to their extremely keen sense of space and movement. - But I believe they are two generations before us. -

- Ah. - Each village a family, each generation a batch. Arlisa nodded.

The tour was a large one. There were easily five hundred students in this batch. For the commoners, they were split into about six different batches, so that everyone would get their chance for the tour. The academic staff would rotate to participate, along with a group from the Valthorns and the Treeology.

The largest beetles were used as transport; after all, once all the other support staff were included, this tour was a one thousandûstrong tour. Entire inns were reserved for the tourists. It spoke of FreshkaÆs evolution from a town no one knew to the Spiritual Capital of the Continent, the soft and hard power it now controlled.

The sea. Arlisa spent about half an hour by the sea before leaving, a little disgusted.

- The seaÆs the same everywhere, - Irkania said. - The ports, too. Forever messy and filled with the smell of salt, rotten fish, and people who didnÆt have showers for weeks. -

- I thought lizardpeople donÆt shower. -

- We do. Some of us. - Irkania smiled. - Were you expecting something different? -

- I donÆt know, actually, - Arlisa said.

- Maybe what you need is space. Away from whatever that kept your mind occupied. Perhaps your mother? -

Arlisa shrugged. - Perhaps. -

Communications with the reef mind continued, and progressively, I began to feel like its mind was forming up. It no longer felt like it was a clueless thing clawing randomly. The images and scenes it brought up were all new, different, and it repeated, as if getting confirmation.

About two - plus years since we made contact with the Reef mind, it finally attempted its first conversation.

Reef. Greetings.

I heard its voice; my group of artificial minds allowed its attempt to communicate to reach me.

Tree. Greetings, I responded. I would one day hope to bridge this communication with Lilies and also Vallasira. Perhaps Vallasira could visit it directly.

Reef. Happy. It was happy?

I am glad.

Language. Difficult.

With practice, it becomes easy.

What was this reef mind? Was it a dungeon core? Or perhaps just a collection of reefs and corals that somehow gained consciousness and a soul?

It paused. Reefy did not attempt to speak for a while, but I could sense a lot of thoughts floating about, those thoughts sometimes vaguely touching the roots at the edges of the reef. I wondered whether it was appropriate for me to refer to it as Reefy.

I awarded my second special class, A/ Æs Field Scientist , to a middle - aged dwarven alchemist named Alka. Alka was just a level thirty - nine General Alchemist , and he had spent the last forty years working on growing highly powerful crystals from simple raw materials. He made some progress, but as with research, it was often an issue of resources, just as much as knowledge. To try everything and see what worked required one to be able to afford everything. If a researcher was financially distressed, the research usually would not progress.

The materials needed for labs were expensive, especially when dealing with items possessing magical potential.

So when Patreeck summarized a list of contractors and researchers that supported our attempts to develop more potent crystal bombs, Alka somehow came up. I interviewed him, and somehow, perhaps an instinct or a gut feeling told me he would be fit.

- I will sponsor your research, and you will have a set fund. Chancellor BrandakÆs office will handle it. -

- And all I gotta do is find ways to make bigger, stronger, magical storage crystals. - He wasnÆt confident, I mean, I could read his mind, and I knew he was acting, but he still attempted to put up a confident face. But as it turned out, he shouldÆve had more confidence in himself.

- Yes. -

I notified Chancellor Brandak to set a reasonable budget, but something on the lower side. Two months later, he displayed the first multi - layer crystalline bomb. In short, a two - stage crystal bomb. Its performance was impressive. It was a deviously simple solution, and I wondered why we were so obsessed with getting better crystals. A set of interlinked crystal bombs with mutually amplifying spells stored could be made more powerful than a single large superspell.

Honestly, when I saw it, I felt like an idiot. What was stopping us from making an entire super - lattice of crystal gems, all configured to cause a massive chain reaction?

- Crystals store magic and mana and are meant to go off at a trigger. A chain of crystals that is meant to trigger when the others trigger, arranged in such high density, will explode from the sheer mana density and the entanglement of the different spell types. You want the spells to only interact when you want it to, but the crystals also need spell shielding so that they donÆt interact prematurely. See the problem? More crystals, more shielding. More shielding, harder to trigger and less efficient. -

Alka, liberated from the financial challenges, went full speed ahead and worked tirelessly on research. So I decided to award him my special class. I needed someone to work on this. I was prepared to build massive nuclear bombs if it meant I could end the demon kings easily.

If he could solve this multi - crystal amplification - containment puzzle, we had taken steps along our way to magical nukes.

Once I had magical nukes, I was gonna try to send a few across the rifts. I knew nuclear bombs across portals were not new.

So along the line of portals, Stella, or Astia, gained a special class.

Void Mage . This was after she accidentally hurt herself a grand total of seventy - three times and cursed herself in the process. That process had been generally beneficial for me, too.

I gained a rather specific skill in dealing with StellaÆs void mana exposure.

Skill: Greater Resistance to Curse obtained.

Skill: Curse - breaker obtained.

Void magic. Progress!

This was a good affirmation and dispelled one of my earlier concerns. I was worried whether this void magic existed outside the - system. - It was not uncommon, at least from my memories, for certain types of magic to exist outside the system. Void magic seemed likely to be one such thing.

StellaÆs skills were rather lame, really. Void Fist , Void Punch , and Void Walk . It seemed that the powers of the void were indeed powerful, but it didnÆt seem particularly different. But, under the hood, when I looked into StellaÆs soul spring, that was when the differences were clear.

StellaÆs once - clear soul spring was now pure, pitch black. It was like black oil poured out of her spring, her soul now a conduit for the void. The skills existed in her soul were matte - black blocks of things and resembled the curses she had, but now a solid form.

All this came at a high price. She lost all of her earlier artist or administrator levels. But somehow she still did it. The call of home was a lot stronger for her.

- I wouldnÆt be able to go home. Not in this shape, - Kei said. - Earth would bomb me to hell or put me in some kind of exhibit. -

Kei gained more levels, and one of her stranger powers was the ability to change the surface and color of her crystalline body, allowing herself to actually pass off as a marble statue or a stone statue.

Stella didnÆt really care much. - I gained the void mage class, but whereÆs my portal? -

- ItÆs probably something you need to discover. -

- I keep trying. -

- Maybe itÆs just a simple void equivalent of a teleportation spell. - And so Stella attempted to learn teleportation but with void mana.

It didnÆt turn out well for the first five times. It resulted in her rupturing her soul spring and needing special repairs. Stella was knocked unconscious and in a coma for a week after one of the incidents. Strangely, despite her soul spring now being entirely black, she could still cast regular spells and still tap into normal mana. Weird. Where did it come from?

If I could get hold of the void mage class seed, I would be able to seriously manufacture void mana. I suspected that void mana may well lead me to a new color for my soul forge. I also wanted to know whether I could make specialized void - trees . I theorized it should be possible, in the same way I could have star - mana - producing leaves.

Maybe the end goal was like a single grand unifying mana and soul theorem. Something that would bridge from star mana, to hex and blood magic, to this void - mana schtick.

- We should design a response plan if the other continents ever get attacked by the demon king, - Lozanna proposed one day to the Valthorns. - I saw the destruction of the Eastern Continent first hand, and we, too, suffered the destruction of the Rottedlands. Though it may feel nice to see them suffer for their past crimes against our aggression, the vast majority of the populace is not complicit in their crimes. We should give aid. -

- Aid does not come free, and if we are to provide assistance, with all due respect, Lady Lozanna , we must use that opportunity to spread his divine faith. The faith of A/ . -

- ThatÆll trigger a war, - a diplomat suggested. - At least, from the more aggressive nations. -

Lozanna nodded. - Understood, which is why we must have a plan. There must be nations that we can ally with or be friendly with, who can then act as our beachhead. Somewhere for the regular folk to retreat to and somewhere that we can push back at the demons and stem the destruction. Save lives. -

- I believe the key problem is that A/ is immobile and remains firmly rooted on our continent. It is his grace and divine protection that allows us the luxury of this conversation. It is our fortune and luck and their misfortune. - Some of the lords really took the shoe - polishing and ass - kissing to the next level. The scary thing was, because of years of - brainwashing - and - propaganda - from the Freshlands Treetiary College and Treeology, they actually believed it.

It was unnerving, but this was the outcome of my own actions. I wondered how the Emperor of Man felt when, after millennia, his followers worshipped him instead of speaking to him the way he wanted.

- Can we transplant A/ Æs trees? - a lady asked. - I mean, thatÆs what druids used to do, right, transplanting trees with magic? -

Fuck no. After a century or so, I was not moving.

- I mean, just the lesser trees. -

- ItÆs something worth considering and merits discussion with A/ himself, - Kavio answered. Chancellor Brandak, Alka, and Edna were all in the audience for this proposal.

- We have six years, at least, to plan a response, - Lozanna said. - I propose we identify friendly nations on each continent and start making the necessary preparations. We can have seedlings and smaller plants moved over. -

- But does A/ Æs divinity and presence carry over? I had the impression his powers cover only the Central Continent. -

- Maybe itÆs an issue of quantity. Maybe with enough trees and seedlings, he could project power? - It was an interesting discussion, but I was not about to reveal that all the trees I controlled so far were linked via a massive network of roots.

There were certain groups of priests who felt we were too fixated on the Central Continent and wanted to preach on the other continents. They would be delighted at this news.

How did I make my divine presence felt?

Perhaps a portal, with roots? Like how I invaded the demon world temporarily?

4

YEAR 160

The ruins of Demon King Tigash were converted into a memorial for the dead. I felt it was appropriate, now that my powers had gradually restored the damaged terrain to almost ninety percent of its former self. It was just a little memento to remember those who sacrificed themselves in war. Once the terrain was restored, it would be hard to tell this place was once a hellscape.

A city would be built here, over time. A war - focused one, of course. At the same time, this place, now that IÆd reversed the damage, did have residual magical energy that I could use, so I made a dungeon.

It was just sweet, petty revenge on my part. I would train multiple generations here, with the energies of the demon king.

On the topic of ley lines and dungeons, we also explored ways of enhancing these magical but naturally occurring geological features. Ley lines seemed to be the mana - magical equivalent of sun spots, and now that I had a massive map of the Central ContinentÆs ley lines, it did seem somewhat evenly distributed across the continent. Somewhat, and that did imply areas where there was a particular lack of ley lines and areas that had lumps.

What were ley lines?

When dealing with only a few ley lines, this was a particularly pointless question to ask. But with a continentÆs worth of ley lines, I could start making some inferences.

- Ley lines are naturally occurring, - Akrenaf, the wolf, said. - Creating them is impossible. -

I disagreed with that. The fact that there were so many of them across the world implied something. One: it was something created from the land itself, perhaps by way of agglomeration of energies. Two: the sun - spot analogy suggested that the worldÆs core had some kind of mana - field that created these ley lines.

Ley lines power us, Lilies explained one day. The Lake was created by the ley lines eons ago, but the ley line has moved since.

Again, ley lines could move over long periods of time. This clearly suggested a mana - magnetosphere kind of mechanic deep in the planet. A mana - tosphere. This was quite like how magnetic poles could shift over time. If these ley lines had no polarity, then it made sense that its distribution was random since there was no repelling or guiding force.

- Could the elemental features or colors of the ley lines be a way these ley lines differentiate themselves? - Patreeck theorized that the colors were a kind of - polarity, - instead of just north and south for magnets. Manas had multiple poles, perhaps?

This theory was dispelled when we analyzed the colors of the ley lines. Black and blue dominated the colors of the ley lines. There were also - neutral - ley lines with no coloration to it, and these were by far the most common source. If there was a polarity, there should be a lumpy distribution of the colors, but that was not what we were seeing. It was random.

- Perhaps itÆs more of an electricity - like mechanic. The core is just a source, and thereÆs something on the surface that causes the mana from the core to arc to the surface. -

This would be like plasma globes. The plasma filaments were thus the ley lines. Also possible, but it did not explain coloration.

Our research into ley lines was primarily driven by two things.

One: could I supercharge ley lines to make super - powerful weapons? The existing ley lines were not powerful enough, so could I, using my natural powers, influence or cause the energies to gather in such a way that the ley lines became significantly more powerful than they normally were? This thought process was a bit like attempting to use canals and channels to accumulate multiple smaller streams into a larger river.

Two: could I use multiple ley lines or enhance ley lines to create dungeons with significantly higher level caps? This would allow my level one hundred twenty - fivers to level up quickly and thus achieve the level needed to counter the demon kingÆs next attempt.

Firstly, how did I interact with ley lines? So far, I had been on the receiving end of the ley lines energies. Were there historical records where mages attempted to meddle with ley lines?

I sent out an order to the Valthorns and then to the various mage guilds. I got close to nothing. Very few people ever recorded their meddlings with ley lines. I was sure multiple mages had considered whether it was possible to tap into such natural circumstances for power. It was likely most of them died when exposed to such power.

I tried meddling with ley lines. I went back to the earlier ley lines, like the ones that held my threetrees of mana . I extended my roots, attempting to follow the flow of mana deep into the ground. I went as deep as I could, following the subtle fluctuations of mana.

IÆd gotten a lot better at sensing and following the traces of mana after all that practice. My roots could also stretch deeper than before. The ley lines seemed to all head to the center. There must be something down there, no?

The distance to the core was massive, I reckoned. Assuming this world was no larger than Earth, that was still some six thousand kilometers of distance. Could I dig that far down?

Yet I felt this challenge was one I was incredibly well suited for. I had various tunneling skills and abilities to extend my roots. If I could create little microclimates and - pockets - as I dug downward, IÆd run into whatever was down there.

Perhaps even magma or the planetÆs mantle? I should be able to break past the crust.

So I did.

A treeÆs journey to the center of the planet.

I wasnÆt sure what I was expecting, but I felt that now was a good time to try.

I would dig tunnels with my roots, and eventually, at the limit of the roots range, I would create a large pocket of space. I would then spawn a Giant Attendant Tree there. This renewed my roots range and allowed me to extend them further. The roots supplied water and minerals for the attendant trees to survive, and the tunnels themselves supplied air.

It was a long, laborious, and somewhat boring process. But I eventually got deep. Minerals and strange metallic ores, crystals of all kinds were here. And that damned black as coal Blackstar Gems were aplenty. Gems. Hah. They might as well call it Blackstar Coal. That was a better name for it.

It also got hotter.

And hotter.

I dug.

And I dug.

I dug for weeks.

Months.

I dug without seeing much other than rock, stone, sand, dirt, and ore.

I followed a faint trace of magic. Perhaps I was just tracing the ley line.

I kept digging. The heat was still manageable, thanks to my various resistances.

Then, following the ley lines, I broke through the hard crust, and if I had a jaw, IÆd say my jaw dropped.

I had stumbled into a pocket of space down below the crust, and instead of just rock and minerals, I saw the remains of a civilization I did not recognize. Deep down here, it was dark and without light. There was hardly any oxygen, save those that somehow managed to make it down here through my root tunnels.

But my spiritual senses could still see the structures, ancient.

Preserved, buried in such depths. This was at least a hundred miles below the crust!

Title: Rediscoverer of the Magmarian Dwarf City earned.

Magmarian Dwarves, I thought. All the people that once lived here were all dead. Long, long ago. But their massive towers and structures remained, mostly made of a metal I did not recognize. There were no bodies, no one on the streets. The structures looked like theyÆd been untouched for eons.

I spawned a Giant Attendant Tree here, at the edge of their ancient city. The earth seemed to have caved in on them. Was this my fate if the demon kingÆs corruptions overwhelmed us? Did a similar event happen to them?

I noticed how the curvature of the rock above their city was almost perfectly round. They must have had a barrier or something of that sort that shielded them.

My roots spread through their ancient city. It felt like I was in a post - apocalyptic movie, the last man walking down a deserted city. There was little sign of chaos; the ancient structures looked beautifully preserved with hardly any damage. It seemed no war happened here. Their city was quite large, and I kept going.

My roots spread through the cityÆs tiled roads. The tiles were old and easily gave way to my roots. I could use this city as a secret hideout for the people.

There were all kinds of buildings. I spawned beetles, my heat - resistant variant. Down here, the heat and pressure was quite high, and my spiders would not do. The beetles then fanned out, searching for life.

Would there be survivors?

I thought not. There was no vegetation in this area; certainly these Magmarian dwarves did not survive without food. Unless they ate rock. Maybe they ate rock. My beetles highlighted some buildings of interest.

My roots followed.

Temples, ancient, massive temples. Made of an even stranger metal. No. Crystal. My roots approached, and I felt something push back. Magic.

The temple was surrounded by steps, like a pyramid. Crystalline columns surrounded the temples, and each had a statue on it. Statues of creatures. A four - winged bird, a scorpion, a dragon with a halo on its head, a dog with two balls of flame. All sculpted out of crystal.

Were these dwarves some kind of Egyptian equivalent? What levels of wealth did they reach to do so?

The temple itself was the first building I saw in this entire city that crumbled. My vines snaked up the stairs and then, as with vines, crawled up all the crumbled walls. I saw a large broken statue inside, a humanoid structure with its head gone.

There were words on the building walls that I did not recognize. All scrubbed off.

What happened here?

Another group of beetles highlighted something else. Another set of temples. These temples were still intact. They were also made with the same materials and the same crystalline structures.

There were no statues inside.

My roots spread, and then we reached the center of this city. There was a vast domed building, solid and made of a mix of crystal and metal. It had no entrances, no holes.

It looked like. a tomb.

I had to know, so my roots attacked it. The crystal was strong, and it held through the first hit. And the second. And the third. And the tenth. But it cracked at the twentieth root strike, and my roots now had a hole where they could enter.

And for the first time, bodies. Ancient bodies all preserved in crystal. At least ten thousand bodies. I sensed no life in them; their souls had long since departed. At the center was another crystal, but this crystal seemed like an equipment rather than a structure. It was a lot more intricate, and I sensed fluctuations in its energy. It was reacting to my spiritual sight.

My vines then touched it, and the crystal attempted to draw mana from me. I decided to give it a bit.

The crystal glowed and responded to the mana, and then, from it. an apparition appeared, floating right above the crystal. It was a hologram! A magical hologram!

- Today is the twenty - fourth year since the fall of the Daemos Comet. We remain trapped underneath the Daemos CometÆs tremendous magical sludge, and our attempts to break through the sludge have not been successful. Our archmages theorize it would take at least ten thousand years for the chaotic energies from the sludge to dissipate. -

Magical sludge? But it was all dirt to me.

- Our fellow sister cities are all equally trapped by the sludge. -

It paused.

It was that same man, but he looked a lot older. - Today is the forty - sixth year since the fall. Our food stockpiles have run out. Our archmages have been working hard daily to create food, maintain vegetation, and keep us alive. But things are honestly bleak. We expect not to survive for long. IÆve called on the archmages to start our self - entombment. We may as well give ourselves a peaceful death. -

It paused again, and it flicked to a different scene. A different person.

- Chancellor Mar has been entombed. Honestly, at this point, everyoneÆs given up, and well, me too. WeÆre trapped in this hell. Who would have thought a comet would have ended our world so easily? Our prayers to our gods have all yielded nothing. Eras, Geis, and Deyar, we prayed to you. - He sobbed. - But nothing. Not a word. Why have you forsaken us? Doomed us to this! -

It flickered again, and the scene now changed to a different person.

- We pray to the gods Eras, Geis, and Deyar, may we be protected even in death. -

It flickered again, and another person appeared.

- I am the last one here, the last mage - priest of the Marga. I assented to the wish of the others for their peaceful death. In my anger and hatred for our fate, I destroyed the temple of Eras. Eras has abandoned us in our time of need. Where was he when we needed him? Is this it? Trapped in a city underneath a massive layer of molten sludge? -

It paused, and the same person then continued.

- The Jewel of the MargmaÆs protective barriers continued to hold. I had attempted to disable it, but I failed. The jewel remains untouched underneath this dome. I refuse to die. I will continue to experiment on the jewel. -

That was the last image. There was another jewel!

My roots quickly explored beneath the dome, and indeed, there was a large subterranean structure, a series of tunnels and walkways. These dwarves built relatively sophisticated cities!

Then I saw it, about a few hundred feet beneath the dome, through walkways and stairways.

A bright blue crystal, still faintly glowing, but slightly off center. It was no longer on the pedestal but still on the platform. There were a few bodies around it, all dead.

My roots and vines reached out and briefly touched it.

You have obtained an ancient relic, Ley Line Lens - Focusing Shield Gem.

A ley line lens? Such a thing existed in the ancient world? I spawned a few more attendant trees outside around this ancient city, but this time, I attuned them to the magic in the area. Indeed, IÆd been following the ley line all the way down.

I spread my roots and then noticed that there were other ley lines that converged here. The ley lines on the surface were like streams of a river, and here, in this very ancient city, those streams converged. Taking the logic that all the ley lines we saw on the surface were nothing more than little branches of the same whole, the core would thus be the great ocean.

The ley lines here were a strong, robust blue and also black. Multiple colors mixed here. But over the millennia, it had moved, shifted slightly, like how rivers reshaped the land and like how magnetic polarities moved.

The ley line lens was now off center, no longer along where the ley lines were focused.

I moved the ley line lens, placing it back on its pedestal, properly. At first, nothing. I adjusted the pedestal, moving it until it was focused along the invisible paths of the ley lines. It suddenly glowed, and then it emitted a vast, powerful shield that covered the entirety of the ancient city. Yet it did not cut off my roots. It had somehow taken to my roots signature, identifying I was a friendly party.

The shield was back.

If the ley lines remained, surely the shield would last. If so, the city clearly outlasted its inhabitants.

The shieldÆs restoration also seemed to bring certain structures in the city back online. My roots sensed mana flows in the city itself, and my roots retraced those flows to large buildings that housed other additional crystals that - harvested - energies from the shield as a form of power. These were things IÆd not seen before, a unique set of runes and power. My roots connected to the structures, and I wanted to study them.

I spent days studying these ancient runes and the formations they used and also the crystals. They were regular crystals but programmed by the runes and formations to function as an ambient mana absorber. It was really cool, and after about two months of studying, my subsidiary trees unlocked new functions.

New subsidiary tree variant obtained: Crystalline Mana Trees. Crystalline mana trees are trees with crystals in them. The crystals can store mana and also be tailored to perform specific functions. Each tree can have only a single crystal type.

Tuberous storage upgraded: Crystalline Potatoes. Potato mana storage now comes with crystals, and this increases capacity and also ability to store different kinds of mana!

New lab variant obtained: Underground Living Crystal Labs. Allows creation of crystals in a lab.

Somehow, the studies meant I had rediscovered the ways to grow crystals in a lab. That was not exactly groundbreaking; I mean, I knew that was possible from earth, but this was hell of a roundabout way of rediscovering it.

Surely, if I needed to make massive crystal lattices, what better way than to grow the necessary crystals myself rather than actually hoping to find those crystals out in the wild? Thanks, ancient civilization, I was one step closer to lab - grown crystal superbombs!

At the same time, there must be something further down there.

With the discovery of an ancient city so deep underground, I wondered, could this world actually just be layers upon layers that millions of years ago, this planet was very, very small, and each of these disasters just added a layer of earth and crust over it?

Was this just a slice of layer cake all the way down?

I had to know, so I traced the ley lines and kept digging.

5

YEAR 160 (PART 2)

So many different things to focus on, and perhaps that was how an empire lost focus. An emperor could not do everything at once, and though I had significantly more advantages than any regular emperor, I, too, felt this limitation. It was increasingly obvious that I was often the bottleneck of any decision - making process.

I had so many different concurrent research projects, all operated by my artificial minds. Time to check in on each of them.

Anti - divine research. The lack of testability hampered progress. The artificial minds were trying their best to reverse - engineer the component parts of the blackstar gems, but it was really educated guesses at this point. Without ways to test effectiveness, it was hard to know what exactly worked and what didnÆt.

Demon invasion research. Research into extreme terrains was not doing too bad. My main body actually had all - terrain adaptability, and that essentially meant it was possible for me to survive in their world. The problem was my subsidiary trees and also the forces that I had to bring to mount a successful retaliation.

Patreeck and my artificial minds were modelling various scenarios and presented with a wide range of areas where we needed.

Firstly, we needed a way to create mana on their home world and, from that mana, create water and other materials we needed. Only with this we could hope to maintain a permanent staging point on their home world. I wondered whether such resources were available on their world, but I thought the chances were very slim. So it was likely that weÆd have to make water. It wasnÆt entirely impossible, there were spells and gems that could do so, but this was a key starting point.

Secondly, we were also working on the alien - world beetles. This meant further enhancing their ability to operate in ultra - arid environments. The brief moments when I spawned trees on the other side gave me some data, one of which was all the beetles were incredibly brittle without the necessary moisture. Even my trees didnÆt hold themselves together that well. We needed to design a replacement fluid, something that would not just immediately evaporate in the demon world. Developing this evaporation - resistant fluid would strengthen both tree and beetle and would reduce the impact of the water scarcity.

Thirdly was a matter that needed StellaÆs input as my first void mage : the issue of maintaining the demon rifts and the possibility of creating our own rifts. If we could create rifts, we could even find a way to send her home. When I told her that this was a way of testing the portals, she was quickly on board. The idea of helping to defeat the demons through research seemed to appeal to her. But first, I needed to recreate the rifts, and that was. a lot harder. Stella experimented with teleportation spells instead, and actually, teleportation within the same area, or even the same continent, did not require any void mana. This meant void mana may actually be only needed for inter - world issues. Was void mana perhaps some kind of - transdimensional fluid? -

If so, was the void mana merely something to act as a shell, to send a packet through the stars? I. didnÆt know how to test my theory.

- LetÆs send somebody to the two moons, - Stella said. - We donÆt know how to send someone to the other world, but I think we can first attempt the moons. -

That. was a good idea. Were the demons on the same - realm - as us? Or were they actually creatures on some other planes of existence? Maybe this test would go nowhere, but in any case, teleporting to the moon sounded like a good first step.

One small step for the tree, one giant step for the forest!

After that, there was also the sea - related research and the idea of somehow developing a network of deep - ocean roots. My roots would essentially be subsea internet cables, wouldnÆt it? If I could make deep ocean roots, where, at certain regular intervals, I had floating plants to sustain the network?

So, on this front, we also had research on making my roots go further, last longer, and could survive the pressures and dangers of the deep sea. There were monsters down there. I hoped Reefy would be able to assist, or could Reefy be a bridge?

But it had a strong turtle instinct. That meant ReefyÆs first instinct was to just hide and build huge defenses.

Were all reefs like this?

Why were trees different?

Anyway, I didnÆt have any progress on ocean - level grass, but I did make progress on large floating vines and floating roots. Perhaps I could float a root or a vine all the way to the other continents? Convert the entire ocean into a massive hydroponic farm?

Ideas, ideas, but whether the system cooperated by rewarding me with a skill was another matter.

Then there was the matter of bombs. Alka, my chief scientist, was doing his best. I mean, he was a little bit mad, as with all those who dabbled in research, but I supposed dealing with bombs did tend to make one a lot edgier than usual.

I decided to award him one of my Court of the Deitree , so that I could teleport him away should one of the bombs go nuts.

No progress was ever made without a few accidental explosions. On this front, Stella was also contributing, because one of our earth - inspired ideas was a star - mana and void - mana fusion bomb.

We had to quickly allocate a space, an uninhabited segment of the continent, for AlkaÆs bomb research. Kei quickly dubbed it our Area 51. I thought that wasnÆt quite correct; I thought itÆd be more of our Bikini Atoll or some shit.

It was honestly quite entertaining to watch shit blow up. I would love to see all these new bombs blow up in front of the demon king. His research also led to some attempts at mixing crystal matrixes with hexbombs. It was pretty much a - dirty bomb. -

It didnÆt work very well; it seemed the hex itself did not enjoy being trapped in crystal matrixes and would also corrode the runic formations present inside any crystal matrixes. Perhaps we were doing it wrong, but Alka and his small army of crystalworkers were hard at work.

Then after research was the issue of training. Every year we focused on training new people, and the training program of the major institutions got finetuned year after year.

IÆd also awarded more upgraded classes, and in EdnaÆs case, I upgraded more of her skills.

Also, thanks to my recent research into mana, IÆd managed to figure out some ways to increase a ley lineÆs strength. In some ways, ley lines were like - feng shui - flows, the will of the worldÆs movements, and they were affected by strange offerings and structures that normally did not have any magical effects.

In short, a simple statue of the right kind, in the right places, could actually amplify a ley line. There was a certain set of rules around ley lines, and these rules only applied in a relatively limited distance from the ley line. I was still in the process of figuring it out, but I got help from that Shaman .

He carved a simple totem and placed it quite a distance from the ley line, and yet, somehow, it interacted with the ley line and increased its power. That pushed up the levels of the monsters from a dungeon made of said ley line by ten!

So, after a few more tweaks, we finally made a dungeon able to spawn level one hundred monsters.

Level 100 Dungeons unlocked. Dungeon level limit increased.

Uh? Stupid system. Why make us jump through hoops just to allow us to make more level one hundred monsters?

With that, my Valthorns, especially those in the level eighties and nineties, and also Edna, started challenging the level one hundred dungeons. I still had a huge stockpile of experience seeds, though right now, my limiter was actually my ginseng plant. Back then, when I first got the skill, I was limited to three ginseng at any one time. Now, I was still limited to about fifteen ginseng at any time, and the ginseng needed at least five years before they were sufficiently mature to unlock the level limit. Essentially, every five years, I could unlock fifteen individuals. I missed a few decades during the Burning Rottedlands era and had been resuming it after I regained my own sense of self, a good fifty years ago. There were a few accidental failures, too, due to the erratic nature of the monster spawns, so I still had about sixty - five or so ginseng I could deploy.

That was quite a small pool, but I decided I had to be generous and gave it to most of the Valthorns that capped out at around level eighty to eighty - five.

I recently also had my first Valthorn Treefolk that hit his level limit. His level limit was actually higher, at level ninety - five. Still, his class mix was a bit part A/ ic Berserker and part Wood Mage , and also part villager , so some of those levels were not that - effective. - Still, it was enlightening to look at a high - leveled Treefolk under the hood.

One of the immediate differences was that the Soul Spring seemed to have a secondary source of mana. There was a small trickle of - water - that dripped in from up above, as if it rained in the soul spring. After some analysis, this was the Treefolks natural ability to absorb vitality and strength from its surroundings, like a tree would gather nutrients from its surroundings.

So I really wondered how different Lilies soul spring would be. I was unable to view my own, after all, and Lilies and Reefy might be the closest equivalent I would ever find.

Lumoof, Patreearch of the Treeology, the First of the Decarches, led a prayer once every month. There was a schedule in place; each Patreearch or Matreearch would lead a prayer, and they would take turns to do so.

At first, it felt very. old school to have a religion that conducted prayers, but the priests eventually convinced me that their very class demanded them to conduct acts of faith, and mass prayers were one of the best ways to do so.

I still remembered how weird it was to have others pray to me, at first, but eventually I got used to it. Now, these mass prayers were the next level. I wondered whether this was how superstars felt having a big fanbase. The halls were massive for the prayers, and I made an extremely large - size Tree of Prayer in the center of the hall for them to focus their prayers. It was easily one of the most beautiful ones IÆd made, too, with all sorts of flowering colors and little glowing lights.

To add to the spectacle, I had one of the artificial minds coordinate the flowering with the sermons. It helped, apparently.

Lumoof was also a recipient of my soul strengthening seed , and the unlocked level limit seemed to de - age him by a decade or two, simply because his soul now had a lot more vitality, and that vitality flowed into his overall wellbeing.

Faith was one of the unifying features of the Central Continent. I could actually see the parallels of the Central Continent with the Holy Roman Empire, and also the Muslim empires, in that faith and governance were intertwined. Part of this by design, my own attempts to forge unity through culture meant the religious aspects also meant there was institutional backing for the missionary and preachers.

As a result, the temples of A/ , over time, also became a social venue and a place for those seeking audiences with authority to mingle. Prayers were one of the few rare moments where nobles and common folk could be seen together, at least among the common races of humans, elves, dwarves, and centaurs.

For the non - humans, many still remembered the earlier racial purges, and that too was a cause for wars between the kingdoms under my jurisdiction. It seemed that past transgressions continued to remain, even till today.

Lumoof paused as he touched those who came for prayer briefly. A blessing , a skill of many high priests. It often granted a temporary boost to their health and strength, usually for a week or two. The short duration was intentional, meant to encourage their return to the temples.

The baby blessings were next. Children and spawn of all races were brought before him, he chanted, and they all had a warm glow. Also a blessing. It seemed that just like how I had a special nursery , the priests too had a separate set of blessings for children.

There were a few more acts of - miracles, - as they called them, as Lumoof demonstrated a power available to all the Patreearchs. An act of healing or restoration was very much like my ability to remove curses and fix arms, though with some required additional items or objects. Like my own power, depending on the scope of healing needed, they may also require the personÆs memento.

I had often forgotten that priests and shamans had abilities that could often influence the soul . The dayÆs proceedings were over.

Lumoof relaxed and walked to the back of the prayer halls. Some of the junior priests exclaimed their sense of wonder at LumoofÆs abilities.

He smiled.

- A moment, Patreearch Lumoof? - The nobles often tried to find time to speak to the high priests after prayer.

- Ah. I have a meeting to attend to. - He scurried away.

Arlisa and Lozanna attended these prayers occasionally, and they both used a ring that seemed to distort everyoneÆs perception of them, usually giving them some semblance of privacy. Afterward, theyÆd have lunch in one of the cityÆs many restaurants.

Lozanna was pregnant again, but she coped well; her high levels and strong physique meant she suffered few of pregnancyÆs many challenges. Arlisa was pretty much her bodyguard, though there were a few Valthorns in the vicinity ready to assist her should it be needed.

Lozanna had the talk with Arlisa, about children and sex, and the not - so - young Arlisa blushed. She was, after all, nineteen, almost twenty, and for half elves, this was at the very edge of adulthood. Lozanna then shared some differences about how babies were cared for on the other continents, and Arlisa decided it was too much for her, so she changed the subject. She had decided to work a little bit harder this year, and that hard work quickly translated to levels.

Maybe it was the pressure of having a younger sibling at her age that was just a baby?

IÆd never wondered about the issue of the age gap between siblings in a world where elves could have children for centuries.

Did they even have laws on minors? How did one even shape laws on minors when what was considered a minor differed across species and the intermixed species that matured at different speeds?

6

YEAR 161

StellaÆs attempt to teleport to the moon failed again. Of course, during this time, she and Kei brainstormed many issues.

- Surely the moon has no oxygen. -

- We donÆt know for sure. -

- It makes better sense for me to go, - Kei said. - IÆm a golem. I can live there. -

- But what if I canÆt send you back? -

- And sending you there is a better idea? -

- IÆm the void mage . I can cast the same spell in reverse. -

There were two moons, and both moons had a somewhat elliptical orbit around this world. Or at least that was how it seemed to me.

- YouÆll die first, - Kei responded. - If there are monsters, or if the moon is inhabitable, then youÆre dead the moment the rift opens. -

- Air doesnÆt pass through rifts. - That was what I said, really. The demons rifts were more like pathways filled with filters. One had to use the exact mana sequence and resonance to actually interact with them.

- How do we know that? - Kei argued. - That sample size is based on the demons rifts. Why should our magic be the same? -

Stella agreed, but then, this entire argument was one of the few distractions from the real fundamental problem they had. Portal spells. had been lost to time. Heroes had a teleportation spell, unlocked as part of the heroes grimoire when they hit somewhere around level one hundred one to one hundred five, but those were teleportation spells that only worked on a small number of people around them and wasnÆt a - portal. -

They continued experimenting. This, being an area of magic and most of my magical knowledge more of the crafting or enchantment sort, meant my ability to contribute was extremely limited, despite my mana mastery.

I also looked at my inventory. I had stored so many different things over the decades and then looked at the single unused Forest Rod .

I wondered.

Could I use this on the demonÆs world? It was mostly useless on this world, but could the rod be my single super - terraforming stick to allow me to make that single base on their home world?

It could work. I quickly analyzed the rod for its characteristics again. I had done so in the past and found certain parts of it confusing, its material some kind of strange metal. It was strange that it absorbed mana from whoever, and whoever flooded it with mana gained control of it. Yet how it performed its terraforming or terrain shaping was still something I didnÆt quite understand, simply because it worked very differently from my own powers.

I still didnÆt understand what it was. There was a set of crystals inside that seemed to hold the entirety of the rodÆs functionalities, and those crystals refused to reveal its secrets. I didnÆt want to poke too hard, either, and risk losing my one and only Forest Rod.

But it was worth trying. Once we could establish a reliable riftportal to the demon world, the Forest Rod would be going to the other side.

Later during the year, I received strange news from my agents across the other continents. It seemed that the swift death of the demon king rattled the leadership of the various temples, and theyÆd sent agents to investigate whether I possessed weapons of incredible destruction. They didnÆt think Kei was strong enough to take down a demon king on her own, so their next bet was that I had given her something of tremendous power or she located some super - powerful artifact.

They seemed to have spent the last few years attempting to use a range of scrying and spying spells on the Central Continent but had been unsuccessful. My domain must have deterred most of the spying in the immediate vicinity of Freshka. I decided to test it out with some mages, and they reported that it was impossible to use certain types of spells around the Freshka Valley and that - deterrence - covered the three academies as well.

The only unprotected academies, in a sense, were my naval academies at the coastal cities, the place where we trained new sailors and captains. One of the flaws of the naval academies was their inherent distance from me, so the effects of my various - power - leveling - abilities were slightly weaker, even with the amplification effects from my Giant Attendant Trees.

So, since their scry spells failed, they attempted to use spies and double - crossers instead. They approached a lot of Valthorns with the usual cocktail of espionage. Girls, money, power, artifacts in exchange of information.

I wasnÆt going to hide the fact that I trapped the targeted location with bombs and that I could somewhat guess the demon kingÆs location. I mean, that place was even a memorial now, and the tale of the Valthorns bravery in face of mortal danger was one of the recurring new tales most aspiring recruit held close to their hearts. So what was initially secrets among the intelligentsia became a common folkÆs tale. The stories of the kingdomÆs massive bomb arrays went out, and it was both scandalous and inspiring at the same time.

Scandalous for the temples, because the larger populace always thought it was only heroes who could damage the demon kings.

- It seems the demon kings can be harmed by mortal weapons! -

The temples then had a counter - propaganda problem of their own.

In the past, they had always let the heroes fight the demon king. Mortals of the world were nothing more than fodder. But now, the concept that the people of the world could aid in the swift destruction of the demon king was a set of ideas never ever thought possible.

- If so, then does it mean anyone can gain the power to challenge the heroes and demon king? -

A tale of hope and power that man could challenge gods. The core ethos that - only heroes can defeat demon kings - had been damaged. If we were to successfully defeat a demon king without any heroes, then we would have thoroughly broken that belief.

The temples tried to twist it to say it was my blessings that allowed the bombs to harm the demon king, that the demon king remained an enemy of only the divine.

The four temples over the centuries had implicitly told the general populace to - know your place, - that the demon king was not one for mortal men to challenge.

So the tale of Yura and LovisÆs self - sacrifice to destroy the demon king was the single best counter for this tale. That it was possible for natives to rise from their stations and seize their fates for themselves. That if there were no summoned heroes, the natives could rise to the challenge.

Hope. Glory. Legend.

The tale of the Valthorn heroes was a hit among the general populace, unlike the tale of the foreign heroes. The bards and songstresses made different versions, with many embellishments both big and small.

Hope was a very powerful poison.

Already the stories swayed the stability of many priests so that their words of gods suddenly seemed a little hollow.

- Surely the gods donÆt trust us with such power, - the speculation went. - ThatÆs why the gods imported their own people. ItÆs divine nepotism! -

- Why do only summoned heroes get gifted powers? Why do we who live here, who prayed devotedly to our gods, not deserving of any lesser power? Is that fairness? -

Poison.

The nations faced internal conflict from the stories, so much so that the tales were banned. But banning them just led to them being propagated secretly, and there were no real ways such stories could be stopped with the proliferation of messages .

- The gods play favorites with their own favorite heroes. We are just cattle, offering prayers to gods that do not care for us. If this story is true, and it must be true, it is possible for us to rise and be more than this. -

That led to a small wave of refugees. The kingdoms and nations decided that it was better to let those who believed go to the other side rather than risk domestic conflict. If these refugees, empowered by hope, were to take up arms against the kingdom, blood would be spilled. Sure, they would win, but what was the point?

Of course, this pleased me. Loyal believers from the other continents. More war potential? Sure thing, I needed all hands on deck for the next time the demon king landed here.