TREE OF AEONS 6

What seemed like insanity began to set in. Madness. Prabu and Colette seemed upset; they didnÆt want to be the one to kill him. Prabu and Colette did visit and did try to talk to him. But it went nowhere.

Madness creeped his mind as he seemed to hallucinate that everything around him had somehow transformed into demons.

- Demons! - he screamed, blasting trees the moment he saw them. Grass and trees seemed to be demons. Even people seemed to be demons. I summoned the rest of the sane heroes and updated them on the situation.

I didnÆt know why.

I didnÆt hurt him.

IÆd treated him fairly, as far as I could.

Even from this distance, my Soul Forge could feel an intense disquiet in his heart. The energies of a soul that struggled against the demands of his class. A godÆs curse. I wondered whether Gawa could remove his class.

- Try not to kill him, - Prabu said.

- I would if youÆd help me, - I said. - This madness is caused by the hero class. -

- IÆm not mad, - Prabu countered. Adrian and Khefri listened quietly.

- Not all heroes take the effects and chains of the hero class equally. Madness is the outcome for some, - I countered.

- You donÆt know that. -

- IÆve seen enough to conclude madness is likely the outcome of the hero class and his personality. -

At this point, the only plausible solution, at least the only non - lethal one, was to do something like what I did to Colette: remove the hero class from Chung.

He would become mortal.

Or IÆd kill him in the process.

Or kill him, if he used his powers to hurt more than it was worth.

- If youÆd help me knock him out, I will try to remove the hero class from his soul. - I offered the heroes a way out. I knew they didnÆt want to kill their fellow hero.

- Bloody hell, - Prabu cursed. - I donÆt even know how effective our powers are. -

- The alternative is death, - I countered. My domain holders would assist. It was a valuable chance to deal with a hero that was not at full strength. Chung was mad. His magical powers and abilities were still insanely destructive, but with his mental state a wreck, he was likely unable to strategize and fight us properly.

- Must it be now? -

- If not now, then when? ChungÆs mental state is deteriorating, and he seems to be suffering from some kind of imbalance in his soul. I donÆt know the effects of long - term internal struggles and whether it can be fixed, if itÆs too late. -

I was being a little manipulative, but it was true. A soul, as I understood it, could get damaged. It happened with the first generation of heroes I encountered, Alexis and Meela. Their souls suffered damage. IÆd seen soul damage in many ways or forms, and I expected ChungÆs situation to be similar.

- There is a rot in ChungÆs soul, quite similar to ColetteÆs feeling. While Colette understood it, Chung denies it. -

Partly because he didnÆt want anything to do with me anymore. Partly because he felt, and still felt, I was responsible for KenÆs death. In his eyes, I was a murderer. I killed his friend.

Prabu and Colette looked at each other. Somehow, the burden of this decision was with them. They were the same generation, the same batch. If they decided to help, then it was possible.

- If I have to step in, I cannot guarantee he will live. He is a hero, while we are not. We will have to go all - out to take him out, - I answered.

To be fair, I was excited at the thought of finally taking on a hero. IÆd known, since the Sun Rings , that I could take damage really well. Now I wanted to see how I stood against a hero like Chung, with his destructive piercing arrows.

Was level two hundred fifty enough?

I thought it was. At least, Patreeck put the chance of me winning to be fairly high, though the level of destruction we would cause was catastrophic.

Prabu and Colette looked at each other. - Khefri, Adrian, what do you two think? -

Khefri shrugged. - He needs some sense beaten into him, but as much as I hate to say it, I think heÆs higher level than me. -

Adrian nodded as well. - IÆll help, but. yeah. We canÆt let him destroy and kill like this. I think he might get excommunicated, like. -

It didnÆt need to be said.

It was kind of sad. IÆd watched Chung over the years, and he had always been suspicious of me. But I did think we had some level of professional respect for each otherÆs abilities. He knew I could do certain things, and I respected his power.

But in a long enough time frame, even friends could be enemies.

Then I wondered whether this was how paranoia starts.

Day by day, ChungÆs descent into madness worsened. He blasted more places, destroyed more mountains. He began seeing demons where there were none, and it felt like some kind of suppressed rage.

- You canÆt postpone this decision forever. - I spoke to both Colette and Prabu. Colette accepted the decision was necessary. Prabu struggled a little harder, but ultimately, the hero class did not oppose such matters. There were no restrictions on heroes fighting each other. They fought each other in the past. We had records that heroes went to war with other over petty things.

Colette agreed. - LetÆs do it. -

The plan was the heroes engaged first. They would take the lead, since it was their friend. Lumoof and myself would only emerge in the final minutes to use our disabling abilities on Chung. Edna and the rest would only step in if any of the heroes were in trouble.

But otherwise, as Colette put it, - Chung is our friend, and well, let us do it. -

Honestly, I thought the chance of my domain holders dying was quite high, especially for my softer members like Roon, Johann, Stella, Ezar, and Kafa. We exempted Stella from the battle, since she wasnÆt really a combatant, and we highly needed her, even if we had other void mages.

- Think heÆll kill us? - Adrian asked.

- He might be mad enough to do it, - Colette said after a long pause.

ChungÆs senses were incredible, and it was for this reason we had not attempted to set up traps nearby. WeÆd seen him attack things for tens of miles away, as if augmented by the hero class.

I remembered the very first generation of heroes IÆd met, using super - long - range attacks against the demon king. Chung being able to do as much was entirely a surprise but meant our ability to trap him was fairly limited.

As a hero, he was also blessed with all sorts of protections that most of our restraining powers would likely fail.

Except mine.

If there was any way we could restrain him, itÆd have to be Lumoof and me. Together, I thought I could do it.

There was no need to alert Chung immediately, because with our teleportation abilities, the rest of the fighting force could arrive immediately. The domain holders presence would alert him, and that was not something we wanted to do. Not yet.

Prabu, Colette, Khefri, and Adrian approached him first.

Colette spoke softly, but with the heroÆs senses, it was clear he heard it. - Chung. -

- What? - Chung stood on the remnants of a mountain blasted and riddled with holes.

- Are you all right? -

- All right? - Chung laughed. - All right?! Is that what you came to ask, Colette? -

Colette nodded. - Yes. We wanted to see why youÆre doing this. -

- Why? - Chung answered and then laughed some more. The laughter turned manic, and for us listening from afar, this was unsettling. After that long, manic laughter, he stopped abruptly and then stared at Colette. - Do you really want to know? -

Colette didnÆt flinch. - Yes. -

- Why are you working with the murderers? We were friends, Colette. We were teammates. We came from the same world! And you chose to side with the murderer! -

ColetteÆs eyes furrowed. - I was there. There was no murder. Ken died, as he always wished to. -

- Murderer! - Chung slammed the rock next to him with heroic force, the impact leaving a huge explosion in the ground. - So much for being on the same team, Colette. All of youÆve decided to work with the evil creature thatÆs clearly using us to achieve its own goals. -

Colette stared at the archer hero and asked, - So what should we do? -

- Destroy the tree, of course. An eye for an eye, a life for a life. - Chung laughed. - Were you waiting for me to say that? -

Colette frowned as Prabu held her arm. - Chung, doing that solves nothing! -

- It does. It solves the knot in my heart. The fury in my soul. I want to destroy this tree and everything it created, - Chung answered. - This theocratic empire is evil, Colette. It is a heartless existence thatÆs only goal is to win. We are just chess pieces in its game! -

- Then why not? - Colette asked.

- Would you join me? - Chung laughed. - If you do, we can get started right now. -

Colette sighed. - No. -

Chung frowned, but there was insanity in his eyes. - ItÆs your baby, isnÆt it? He has your baby under control, so youÆre compromised. He bought you when he gave you that baby. -

ColetteÆs patience instantly vanished. - Chung, not a single word more on my child. There are some things? -

- How do you know your baby is real and not a puppet created by the evil creature? - Chung pressed her buttons. I had the feeling he knew that was not true, but he was saying it in a moment of madness.

- Of course I know sheÆs real! - Colette countered as magic swirled in her hands. The rest of the heroes took the hint. - I hoped it didnÆt have to come to this. -

ChungÆs manic laughter was his response. He stood from the rock, and then the skies were filled with arrows. Prabu and Colette retaliated with shields that deftly blocked the magical arrows.

- WeÆve sparred a lot, - Chung countered. - But I bet youÆve never seen this! -

Chung manifested a magical arrow unlike any other and fired it across the barren landscape. It resembled an arrow that was tied up with chains, and it was wrapped in anti - magical energies.

It easily pierced through the two mages shields, but it was blocked by a heavy barrier from Khefri and then exploded. When the dust settled, there was a deep mark on KhefriÆs carapace. But the archer was already shooting more arrows.

Colette retaliated with an area magical spell that turned the entire area into a raging inferno.

Against the demon king and its incredibly high armor and health, the heroes generally stuck to high - damage, focused spells. These raging infernos were not individually powerful, but they covered wide areas and were likely more effective against Chung.

- Do you plan to kill me? - Chung laughed as he deftly dodged magical projectiles from the heroes.

Khefri and Adrian both charged ahead, trying to get him into melee. They were stronger there, but because Chung was the higher - leveled hero, the two melee heroes stuck together. Khefri immediately countered. - No. I hope I donÆt have to. -

A magical scorpionoid tail appeared from her back and attempted to stab the archer. But the archer was already gone.

Chung frowned. - Why do you believe in that murderous tree? -

Khefri and Adrian landed. - Because it is the best choice. -

- Even if itÆs evil? Even if it kills other heroes? Even if it makes us fight against each other?! - Chung countered. - Look what it has done! It rules over the worlds like an iron - fisted dictator! -

He somehow dodged a wave of magically enchanted icicles, shot an arrow that created a small shield, and blocked some of the spells headed his way.

The two melee heroes charged in, trying to make use of the space created by the mages. - Yes. It is still the best choice. Because the alternative is demons. -

Chung countered, - Wrong! ThatÆs what the tree wants you to believe! The alternative could be us! Us heroes as rulers! -

Khefri frowned but wasnÆt affected by the archerÆs words. She was encased in a golden carapace and attempted to step close. Chung created mirror images of himself, phantom clones that vanished. - You told me long ago you didnÆt like ruling. -

- I donÆt, - Chung replied. - But some of us can do a better job! -

KhefriÆs claws barely grazed ChungÆs skin before he somehow vanished. - No. We canÆt. WeÆve seen it in the journals. -

Chung countered, - ThatÆs also the TreeÆs doing! How can you believe it? -

At that moment, thousands of magical spikes emerged around Chung and trapped him. Chung panicked and attempted to smash into the magical spikes. It hurt him. Khefri watched as more spikes emerged. There were spells from both Prabu and Colette. The two were the only heroes who were closer in levels.

- Free me! YouÆre under his influence! -

Colette frowned. - Maybe. But what youÆre doing is not right, either. -

Prabu added, - Chung, we didnÆt want to do this. But we canÆt let you go mad. -

Lumoof then appeared, and in my avatar form, we entered the trap.

Chung struggled in madness as LumoofÆs magical vines quickly grabbed hold of the archer hero. - Let go! -

Lumoof didnÆt reply but continued to focus on disabling him. My energies began to flood his body, and we began to forcefully drain his mana. His soul attempted to fight mine, but this was a sensation familiar to me.

I remembered Alvin struggling in the same manner. Chung was quickly immobilized and paralyzed as my own energies took hold of the heroÆs body.

He struggled. - Let go! -

But eventually, my spiritual energies overwhelmed him, and he was knocked out. I teleported Chung into the depths of the valley, and we would begin the accursed process of stripping a hero of his class.

ChungÆs soul spring was encased in the same type of shining marble stone. But, on closer inspection, the shape of the rocks had turned into large, thorny structures that surrounded the sparkling, star - filled waters.

- Get out. - I felt ChungÆs thoughts here. - GET OUT. -

It was the soulÆs resistance, trying to force me out. It was like a wave, pushing back at my presence.

But this wouldnÆt kick me out. Not now. My presence was like a tree, and my energies, like roots, grabbed the soul spring and pierced the soil of his spirit.

I would rip the hero class out of his soul, and I would do so in the way a tree would.

My roots pierced the gaps of the marble stones and forced my way in.

- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! - Chung roared.

- Stripping you of your powers, - I answered plainly as my spiritual roots drew power from the worlds.

- NO! -

The rocks cracked as I pushed. It was harder, because Chung wasnÆt cooperating. But I was now level two hundred fifty, and the hero class wasnÆt going to stop me.

- EVIL! YOU WORK FOR THE DEMONS! -

- I donÆt. -

- YOU WILL BE THE NEXT DEMON, - Chung accused.

My roots pierced the foundations of his soul spring, and slowly, I lifted. The rocks felt heavy. They always were. I felt his soul spring try its best to hold on to the rocks. But I pushed. My roots grew, and his soul spring buckled like a road with roots growing underneath it.

- Maybe, - I answered as I kept working. - But I posit life is better than death. So better alive than dead. -

- I RATHER DIE WITH PRIDE AND DIGNITY THAN TO SERVE. -

I didnÆt bother answering that. His soul buckled.

The entire valley trembled with the turbulent powers of a heroÆs energies. The four heroes were nearby, near my main tree, and they could feel it.

- Everything all right? - Colette asked Lumoof.

Lumoof shrugged. - ItÆs going well. The hero class is loose. -

Khefri had a mischievous grin. - ZhaanpuÆs going to have a good time once he knows you can do this. -

Lumoof looked at Khefri and shrugged. - HeÆs been having a good time for a while now. We still owe him an apology. A/ promised heÆd get an audience with a god. -

Khefri then looked at Lumoof. - Wait. I wasnÆt briefed on that. -

- Ah. Yes. Priorities. - Lumoof laughed. - We did intend to inform him about Gawa and the things that were discussed, but things happened. -

Khefri squinted. - Fill me in. -

- Later, later. A/ Æs getting there. -

The valley swirled with turbulent magic. Lightning and bursts of magic seemed to manifest out of nowhere, and briefly, everyone felt divine magic.

- Huh, - Lumoof said. - That was unexpected. -

They received a notification that their domain had blocked attempted scrying. For the heroes, they were all instantly hit with a headache, except Colette, who felt as if something attempted to touch her.

Lumoof looked at the heroes and immediately encased them in a barrier of roots and vines. - SomethingÆs trying to look through your souls. -

Adrian, Khefri, and Prabu struggled for a little before the sensation vanished. - WhatÆs that? -

Lumoof frowned. - A godÆs trying to spy on us. -

ChungÆs spirit was in turmoil as my roots and vines separated the marble rocks that made up the hero class from the soul spring.

The hero was in intense pain. The act of ripping out oneÆs class was like removing a central pillar of his identity. I spent quite a bit of my energies trying to hold him, as the rest of my energies pushed the hero class out of the way, further and further.

My spiritual vines grabbed the stones of his hero class, and bit by bit, I pulled it away from his soul spring.

A full day later, the hero class was finally out of the reach of his soul spring, and then.

YouÆve removed the Archer Hero class.

YouÆve gained the Archer Hero Class Seed.

Warning: This Class Seed is highly unstable and may cause death during attempted merger.

Chung was alive, but suddenly, the young man strapped into the soul forge began to age rapidly.

- Uh. Shit. -

47

YEAR 270 (PART 3)

- Icannot de - age him, - I said.

No. If I said I could, and I did it against his will, I would just prove ChungÆs point that I could have saved Ken but chose not to. If I didnÆt do it for Ken, there was certainly no reason to do it for Chung. I had to keep the story straight.

- But doesnÆt this mean we just killed him? - Prabu and Colette both looked horrified.

ChungÆs soul just had his class ripped out of him, and even as I tried my best to soften the edges, it was still a traumatic incident and would cause aging.

Khefri frowned. - How many years does he have left? -

- Five? - I guessed, based on the rate of aging. - His body was under a lot of stress, and he didnÆt trade his hero class for the other classes. -

- Wait. Does that mean he could keep his immortality if he traded his hero classes for other classes? -

- To some extent. -

There was a limit, just like how there was a limit with the experience seeds. As far as I could tell, only domain holders were immortal, as the rest of them still aged, albeit slowly. In that sense, this was a unique advantage afforded to us non - humanoids.

Even a lich or a mummified corpse, like Zhaanpu, experienced decay over the years and had to go through a process of rejuvenation. The heroes didnÆt like this development, of course. Why would they? They thought they just merely stopped him. They didnÆt think they just gave him a death sentence.

Over the days and months, as Chung regained his consciousness, he laughed maniacally. - Well done! Well done, all of you! -

Prabu was the only one there when Chung laughed. - Chung. You were being destructive. -

- I know. - Chung laughed. - And you did it. Well done, Prabu, well done. YouÆve worked with evil and decided to kill me. -

- I - I didnÆt know it was going to go this way. -

- And you trust that crazy tree anyway, donÆt you? You knew, and yet you trusted him. -

I was tempted to just kill him anyway, but I didnÆt care. Chung now posed no harm, and I thought it was useful to have him around as a test for the heroes nature.

Prabu shook his head. - We didnÆt expect it, either. -

- You think the damned tree didnÆt know this was going to happen? -

- It never removed a hero class ever, - Prabu countered. - And you were a danger to everyone. It was the only way. -

- Was it? -

- You were not listening to us. -

- Why should I? -

Prabu frowned. - YouÆre being difficult. -

Chung frowned as well. - Is that what you call standing up for myself and whatÆs right? -

- No. YouÆre being destructive, and you wrecked the place in the Southern Continent. I donÆt call that standing up for yourself. -

- I did that, didnÆt I? - Chung said, as if feigning forgetfulness. - Why not just kill me? ThatÆs what the tree would want. -

- ItÆs not what we want, - Prabu replied. - For the greater good, this is the best way forward. -

- For the greater good, - the former, now powerless, hero said. - ThatÆs how we justify it all. -

- Yes. It is, - Prabu snapped. - And it is the greater good if youÆre not destroying shit. -

- Fuck you. -

Prabu stared at the shell of a man. - I thought I would be sad to see you die. As it turns out, itÆs just me holding on to someone who I thought was my friend. Someone who was with us for the fight against the demons. -

- Not for? -

- No. You were always looking for excuses. I had it. WeÆve been in this world way longer than Earth, or wherever they call it. These worlds are our homes now, and IÆll be damned if I donÆt protect it. -

- All because you have a daughter. -

- Fuck you, Chung, - Prabu said. - So what if it is because I have a daughter? I want to protect the world she lives in. At least I have something worth fighting for, unlike you just wrecking shit up because you think youÆre better. -

- I did. Ken was? -

- Ken was always our friend, - Prabu said. - Even when he vanished and hid away, ditching his responsibilities as a hero. You, on the other hand, used him as a fucking crutch. You blame all your mistakes on KenÆs death, and it fucking tires me. -

- I liked you better when all you did was eat snacks. - Chung somehow aged in that moment, while he looked at the hero that usually seemed quiet. Prabu was not a person of many emotions.

But he snapped today, and Chung wasnÆt sure why.

Maybe the gods tried to ensure the heroes stuck together, so with each other, they were forgiving of each otherÆs faults. Now that Chung didnÆt have the hero class, had those effects vanished?

I wasnÆt sure.

- Guess I ate something too spicy and I just had to vent it. Enjoy your final days, Chung. I hoped we could be friends like we used to, but I realize all IÆm talking to is a shadow of the person I once knew. A rotten shadow. -

- Go to hell, Prabu. Go fight for the evil tree, and I hope you realize the mistakes you made in your final days. -

Prabu walked to the door of the fortified biolab. - IÆve seen the spirits of the heroes that died before us, and I know we are on the right path. ItÆs a shame you refuse to see the cruel reality. We will go to the demonÆs hell, and we will destroy them. -

- Fuck you. -

- Oh, did I tell you A/ spoke to a god? - Prabu smirked.

Chung stared, his eyes a mix of confusion and betrayal. - What? -

- The Order finally found a god - protected world. -

- Wait - donÆt go! -

Prabu shook his head. - IÆll come back if I feel like it. Bye. -

Chung yelled while his body was strapped to all the vines and roots that tracked his every bodily reading.

Lumoof, Roon, and Edna were back on Satrya, where the demon king would arrive, this time escorted with an actual Valthorn contingent of our own, mainly to set up the plan. Our void mages quickly triangulated the location, and since we were expecting a demon king similar to Sabnoc, our approach was the same.

Nuke the shit out of it once it spawned.

Once the plan was ready, we had to brief the locals.

The meeting location was the city of Olpash, the home of the priestess. The full Gawa Æs Circle was present for LumoofÆs presentation of our plan.

The usual way. Bombs and explosions, followed by direct engagement should the demon king survive. Our plan also involved the deployment of one of my node trees in order to transport the heroes from our world to Satrya, and all the bombs we needed for this purpose.

The priests didnÆt see the necessity for such - crude - methods. In fact, they were horrified.

On worlds such as Satrya, the demons were not the endlessly consuming plague. Here, they had to obey the intensely powerful rules woven into the fabric of this worldÆs reality. So, in the core worlds of the gods, the demons were not an existential threat.

They couldnÆt be, because the gods who watched over them would intervene. It didnÆt cost them much to intervene.

But since Gawa himself declared that we would deal with it, who was the Gawa Æs Circle to oppose our plan?

None of them wanted to speak up against Lumoof, because he was my avatar. Our presence distorted reality and warped the environment around us. Just like when I ascended to be a domain holder, my presence rippled throughout the world of Treehome so that even Lilies could sense it, LumoofÆs presence on Satrya had a similar effect.

Our threads mixed into the divine presence of this world, and it made the priests uncomfortable.

They had never felt their lordÆs authority challenged this way. The presence of another god in a world that never had the presence of another was unnerving, and it shattered a long - held belief in the primacy of their godÆs place in the multiverse.

Their god was only one of many.

Eventually, Gawa Æs Circle themselves appointed two to attend to our needs: the head priestess of Olpash and the head priest of Museo. They would act as facilitators and ease our conduct with the rest of Satrya.

Roon had an eyeroll, like the fates were playing some kind of divine prank on him. Maybe she volunteered herself for the role.

- It is time we are formally introduced, then. My given name is Olivia of Olpash, - the head priestess said.

- And I am Michael of Museo. -

We would later find out that they were named that way because once they ascended as Gawa Æs Circle, they were supposed to consider the entire city that was their - home - state - as their home, and as such they were given the cityÆs name as their normal family names.

The land where the demon king would arrive was located deep in the uninhabited territories, and it seemed that the magics of Gawa had somehow twisted their magical rifts such that they could only land in a few specified locations throughout Satrya.

These areas became known as the demon lands to the Satryan populace.

Uninhabited and perfect for a node tree. Or a clone.

Our forces easily pierced the depths of the demon lands. Demon champions were frankly nothing at this point; Edna and Lumoof could handle multiple simultaneously.

I thought about what the right level of force to apply was and briefly weighed the risk. From what I could see so far, Gawa offered to help, but we would have to help free up resources.

With a node tree, I didnÆt show my true strength. But why? Why hold back?

Should I be fearful of Gawa Æs retaliation by placing one of my clone body on its outer core worlds or betrayal?

I briefly considered the experiences so far. I would have the clone I lost in Year 261 back in my reserves soon, and Alka would be back in business in about two to three years.

Lumoof understood my concerns and then asked Olivia and Michael, - How trustworthy is your god? -

I saw the silliness of the question. How could their own priests know their godÆs character? But even so, their answers helped.

- If Gawa is not worthy of trust, no one is, - Michael of Museo answered in confidence.

Gawa Æs decisions in its peripheral worlds did not inspire that sort of confidence. Yet I supposed to those who lived in privilege, what would they know?

OliviaÆs response was similar. - There is no one we trust more than Gawa . -

Lumoof nodded. - Are Gawa Æs promises reliable? -

Olivia and MichaelÆs facial expressions were ones of genuine disbelief. - Of course! - they countered, as if appalled that their godÆs character should ever be questioned.

But the dealings between gods were all a matter of trust, were they not?

The System could ensure contracts and agreements were followed, but it would take a pact, a pact with the same level of power like the World Faith System . In short, it would be a constitution formed from the combined votes of the multiverse.

But right now, my dealings with Gawa would entirely be based on trust.

The belief system, in its design, should be one of trust. One where the gods acted in accordance to their myth, and Gawa was never seen as a deceitful god. After all, actions contrary to the godÆs character would cause the gods to lose believers. It was an incentive to encourage consistent behavior.

- Very well. - Lumoof made the two priests of Gawa speak of their godÆs character, to describe his greatness.

They preached. They were trained to do so from a young age. Gawa , in their eyes, was the god of laws, honorable battle, and honor. Of battlefield excellence and the purity of skill.

To the Satryans, Gawa was the only god in their eyes; naturally, their own creation myths explained how the primordial egg created Gawa , and the remnants of the primordial egg formed the rejected parts of the world.

The demons.

It was totally untrue.

Gawa Æs faith on Satrya didnÆt speak of the others at all, unlike how Gawa Æs faith on Treehome was a blended creation myth.

Perhaps the gods created a few versions of their own creation myths. A set for the peripheral worlds that included the other gods, and a set for their core worlds where they would not encounter the other gods.

In that sense, the existence of the other gods meant Gawa lied to the common populace. I could see the reason for it - after all, Gawa wanted believers, and for its core worlds, it was best not to give its believers options. Here, he was supreme, and the only alternative wasnÆt one.

Only the inner circle, Gawa Æs Circle, knew of the other worlds. But even they didnÆt know the full picture.

There was no reason to know.

Despite this obvious lie, I didnÆt think it invalidated Gawa Æs trustworthiness. The variation in creation myths didnÆt seem malicious.

I also had value that I brought to the table. I could offer the Gawa a way to gain more faith points by transporting his priests and believers to places that would cost too much faith points for him to reach.

I could defend worlds where it cost too much for him to act.

So I decided it was worth it to give this relationship between two powers a shot. If they wanted to see us in action, well, IÆd do so with a clone.

I had three to spare and one more on the way, anyway.

48

YEAR 271

Satrya

My clone was placed close to the demon kingÆs predicted arrival slot. The actual location of arrival would be rigged with enough ordinances to nuke the place to ashes, so my clone was located a little further away.

The rifts swirled.

Stella sighed from the safety of my clone. - I canÆt help but feel that weÆve just signed up to fight someone elseÆs war. -

- It is true. But some concessions have to be made for trust. - In an agreement between powers, what else could there be but trust?

- We still have the void layers to explore. - Stella frowned. I felt her eagerness to see the void layers for herself. There was something that we wanted to see there, and yet here we were, torn by all these other obligations.

We were stretched. And we would be stretched even more.

The scale of the Valtorn Order needed to match our ambitions.

I needed to expand on a larger scale, and to some extent, these peripheral worlds seemed like the perfect place for it. They were exposed to enough demonic attacks that their people should have a reason to take up arms against the demons.

- I know, - I consoled the void mage, but she was here anyway. She monitored the subtle shifts in the void paths of the demon king, making sure we got the right spot.

She merely grunted at my response and after a while asked, - You plan to send someone over to the other side? -

The rift gates hummed in the distance. The Valthorns present placed our bombs as the two officials of Gawa , Olivia of Olpash and Michael of Museo, watched as bombs were carried out of my clone tree by the beetle - trucks. They watched with what seemed to be a mix of horror and amazement.

WeÆd gotten better at the logistics of remote mining demon kingÆs spawn points, and my plan involved designing standard deployment packages, each with enough to deal sufficient damage two times over, and deliver them to each of our attacked territories.

We needed to transform each fight with the demon king into a routine process that we could repeat everywhere. We would be a well - oiled war machine.

- If only to get the coordinates, - I answered.

Stella nodded. - A world that creates a demon king like Sabnoc would be of much interest. What sort of natural terrain they possess or features that caused the creation of such demon kings. -

- You sound personally invested. Do you want to go? - I wondered.

- I am. I volunteer to go. -

- Take Edna and Roon with you. -

- Got it, - Stella said. - IÆll give you a better reading on its location. -

The Valthorns were in full swing as they set up the bombs. Lumoof watched, and the team was familiar with our usual layout that they worked with hardly any intervention from the senior team. There were set formations that determined how the bombs were arranged throughout the arrival area.

- Impressive work, - Michael said to Lumoof. Lumoof merely chuckled.

- ItÆs not enough, though, - Lumoof said. - WeÆd probably have to step in for the finishing touches. -

- Is it? I wouldÆve thought this amount of magical weapons would be sufficient to cause an explosion, - Michael countered.

The priest grinned at the priest of the other faith. - You underestimate how hardy the planet is. -

- Really? -

- Yes. - Lumoof nodded.

- We have miners that use explosives for their underground mines, - Michael clarified. - I had the impression such explosive weapons would be enough. -

- The demon king isnÆt a creature that dies easily. -

Michael paused. - I noticed itÆs mostly ordinary explosives, but since the opponent is the demon king, why not use holy explosives? -

Lumoof stared at Michael and realized that Gawa may have access to divine - tier bombs, created with Gawa Æs magical energies.

- The demon king isnÆt vulnerable to holy weapons. Most anti - demonic spells and abilities do not apply to the demon king. -

- Really? - Michael paused. - Our divine champions would always claim it is the Gawa Armaments that made them so powerful and use it to defeat the demon king. -

Lumoof nodded. - Weapons made by your god must be truly powerful. IÆd like to see them, if we have the chance. -

Michael nodded. - Sure. -

Olivia, meanwhile, looked around. - Lord Lumoof, have you seen my husband around? -

Lumoof paused, a little annoyed that she referred to Roon so casually. - No. -

Demon Conquered World û Orion

The rift gate wobbled. StellaÆs bubble of void magic touched the rift gates and easily resonated with the frequency.

So the trio was now on the other side. They immediately realized this was an unusual world among unusual worlds.

- ThereÆs some kind of magical hexagonal grid in the sky and the lands. - Stella looked around in both amazement and horror as she felt the same forces of divine law trying to apply on them. Luckily, it bounced off their domains.

Roon breathed a sigh of relief. - I donÆt remember ever being so relieved. -

Stella nodded. - What sort of god created this world? -

A world that had fallen to the demons. The world that created Sabnoc came from a world twisted by divine energies!

- LetÆs move, - Roon said as he looked around the environment. It was incredibly eerie to observe the demonic warriors stop after moving across a certain number of hex grids and stop. The magical grid, imposed by divine law, caused creatures that caused those grid barriers to feel exhausted.

The void domain holder watched and immediately made the connection. This entire world was designed as if it was a board game played on a hexagonal grid, and the rules were imposed on regular creatures by way of divine law.

- I can see why it fell, - Edna said. - Those board games have to follow rules, but the demons and their imported army will feel limitless, even if the demons have to obey the rules. -

The grids tried to impose their will on them repeatedly, but as domain holders, they were spared. The terrain itself was also shaped by this magical grid. Temperature, terrain, features, vegetation all changed just by crossing the grid.

Edna joked, - You know, of all the worlds to be summoned to, at least you were not summoned to this world. -

- Heroes should have some really lopsided powers, no? - Roon countered. - Something to offset the disadvantages of this system. -

- It may not matter if the way you fight has to follow the stupid rules of combat like Satrya, - Edna said.

Stella nodded. In a world like this, where the divine law imposed grid - dictated movement, stamina and attack time limits, a million demonic hounds could deliver death by a million tiny scratches.

But the divine law was woven into the creation of this world, and its core accordingly.

Roon led the ground, moving through the grids as if they didnÆt exist. The terrain was beautiful in a strange way. With the aid of magic, they flew across the hexagonal terrain and soon found a large hexagonal hole in the ground that led to the core.

- Well, thatÆs the core. -

The divine law in this world also served other functions. As they approached, it spawned a screen that all could see. It was likely to be a feature unique to this world, perhaps as an experimental world by one of the earliest gods?

The Tunnel to demon-Corrupted Core of Orion

Long ago, Orion fell to the demons, and ever since then, it has birthed demon kings to fuel the demonÆs ceaseless invasion to the other worlds.

Countdown to Demon King completion: 14 days

- You know, life would be much nicer if we had tooltips like that all the time, - Roon countered.

Stella looked at the sun, which initially seemed normal. But, as it turned out, the divine law also created an interface on the sun and the sky itself and had a clock overlaid on the sun itself.

- We donÆt need clocks in this world, - Stella said in amazement.

- ThatÆs both incredibly useful and annoying. - Roon frowned. - IÆm going to be scolded for waking up late if this was a thing. -

- Hah! - Stella smirked. - Who dares scold the archer - god? -

- You? - Roon laughed. - Anyway, letÆs find the rift gates. We need to rob a few, right? -

Stella nodded.

They found four rift gates and sent them back to Treehome and then decided it was time to head back for the battle.

Back on Satrya

The way the demonic worldÆs path glowed was the same as my men prepared. The bombs were ready. The two priests of Museo and Olpash were unnerved; they were so near to the demon king!

- We - we have never been asked to be so close, - the priest of Museo said, but in the safety of my newly placed clone, there really was nothing to be afraid of. My cloneÆs presence on Satrya had been unusual, I felt like I was exerting power over a land that resisted me, and my influence on the land bounced off like water on an oily plate.

I suspected this was how Gawa controlled the world of Satrya.

Edna was nearest to the battlefield. She would be the first to stand against the demon king from the hexagonal origin world, her magical quest - swords floating around her like her guardians.

Stella smiled. - After this, can we explore the void worlds? -

- Yes. -

Both would have to happen at the same time.

The path twisted with the foul energies of a demon king leaving their original world, and then Demon King Uklar arrived. It was a six - headed Hydra, each with a different face, but its power level was comparable to the variant we faced on Mountainworld.

- Bombs. -

The bombs detonated, and reality itself warped around the intense magical explosion. Edna, Lumoof, and my domain holders charged in. IÆd call on the heroes if we needed to. But for now, with our focus on growing our own strength, I decided to prioritize this battle for my domain holders.

The bombs left Demon King Uklar with four of its heads burned, and it was beginning to regenerate. It was a common gimmick amongst demon kings to have regenerating parts. Lumoof entered avatar mode, and my root spears pierced its gigantic armored body, and more lesser demons appeared. I suddenly realized.

This was easy.

My spiritual energies messed with the regeneration.

Unlike heroes who had to keep figuring out how to destroy the demon kingÆs heads repeatedly. I could tamper with regeneration by messing on the mechanism at a spiritual level. The ability to block spiritual access also prevented healing. A body healed based on a biological code provided by the spirit. Magic had a reference point.

IÆd done this before.

Easy.

EdnaÆs magical blades chopped off one of the heads. Roon and JohannÆs arrows blew off the other.

Then the demon king attempted to transform.

But it was interrupted.

My roots, through Lumoof, pierced its body. WeÆd faced Multipus, and Multipus was way tougher. My roots crawled and snuck through its inner parts and wrapped around its demonic core.

And then Lumoof ripped it out of the body. Its fluids shot out of its body, and magical energy and demonic mana leaked, as the muscular roots ripped the heart of Demon King Uklar out of the body. I felt it attempted to reshape, transform.

It wouldnÆt.

I did not allow it to.

My energies penetrated the demonic kingÆs core, and the demon king found its shapeshifting abilities disabled.

My roots drained it of mana.

Its large, massive mana pool attempted to coalesce, as if to trigger a detonation of some kind. As it always did.

But no.

This time it failed.

I drained its mana quickly as Lumoof winced in pain.

It felt like minutes. It probably was. But the demon kingÆs core struggled like a machine going through its last moments. It was like a spinning machine; it whined and whirled in its last moments.

But, fueled by the Fury of the Avatar , Lumoof could take it.

The demon kingÆs body, now separated from its core, froze as if petrified. Without the - heart - of the demon king, it was no more than a puppet with its strings cut. As more demonic mana was drained out of the demon kingÆs core, the body itself began to collapse. It soon melted into goo.

Lumoof stood close at the center of the goo, two gigantic muscular masses of roots and vines emerging from his body holding the demonic kingÆs core. Drained of its mana, it was like a machine that ran out of juice and shut down.

- WeÆll take this, - Lumoof declared as the demon kingÆs core vanished, sent back to Treehome for further investigation.

This was getting easier.

The locals got a notification. We didnÆt. The Will of SatryaÆs refusal to acknowledge my presence in this world meant none of us did.

But the two priests of Museo and Olpash received the notification, and they were stunned beyond words.

Edna landed next to Lumoof. - Good job, Lumoof. -

YouÆve gained a level. You are now level 266.

- Only one level, - I said.

But it didnÆt matter. Both Lumoof and Edna benefited from this battle, because both of them experienced a large surge in power.

Power we would need for the next phase of our interplanar war.

The two domain holders were now level two hundred.

- Well, what did you get? - Edna looked at Lumoof and asked him first.

- I thought you should say it. I thought your choice would be more interesting. -

Edna smiled. - I suppose so. But IÆm more curious about your choice, Lumoof. -

- As weird as it sounds, I only have two choices instead of three like A/ . - My avatar grinned. Lumoof then explained his choices.

LumoofÆs first option was The High Altar of Faith .

The High Altar of Faith granted the Avatar of A/ the ability to select non - domain faithful believers and admit them into the Altar. Up to twenty people will be allowed to join the High Altar. A/ may activate Avatar mode through the Members of the High Altar, though the expressed power is limited to three times their level. Only two full Avatar Mode can be active among the High Altar Members at any one point, though all High Altar members can activate a lesser version of the Avatar form. Members of the High Altar stop aging while they are members and will share sights, senses, and knowledge with the Avatar and also A/ . High Altar Members can be resurrected by A/ at a negligible cost. In addition, High Altar Members can teleport items to each other and can summon each other to their location. However, they cannot bring others with them. A/ and Lumoof will also gain control of each of the High Altar Members.

Selecting this option will also enhance A/ Æs Lesser Wooden Avatars and increase the PantheonÆs Lesser Wooden Avatar power Limits to Level 150.

- ThatÆs like a weird mix of Court of the Deitree and Avatar mode, - Edna immediately thought. - Not that useful, though. WhatÆs the other one? -

LumoofÆs second choice was The Towering Avatar .

The Towering Avatar elevates the Avatar into the total reincarnation of their origin gods. Lumoof will now be able to function and support all of A/ Æs abilities, including Soul Forge , the cloneÆs teleportation , and so on. In addition, under this form, the Towering Avatar is able to summon A/ Æs Spirit . A/ Æs Spirit functions as a temporary but complete incarnation of the patron god. Destruction of A/ Æs Spirit does not result in any penalties or drawbacks. A/ Æs Spirit is usable once a month.

Selecting this option will slightly upgrade A/ Æs combat abilities and also doubles A/ Æs mana pool.

- Wait, is that it? - Edna said.

- Yeah. It just means we no longer need to deploy A/ Æs clone for battle, and the clone can now be reserved for permanent establishments. -

- Oh. ooh. -

- And itÆs like we have two A/ in battle. Myself and the clone. And the mana pool will double. -

- The earlier option allows us to have mini - A/ all over the place. -

- But we already have clones and nodes. -

- Correction, mini - Avatars all over the worlds that can be revived. In short, zero - risk explorers, - Stella added.

- Zero - risk explorers suddenly make that option a lot more appealing for the void worlds, - Edna realized.

Lumoof nodded. - I think the choice is whether to go wide or to go tall. Both have their own legitimate use case, especially as Stella said, explorers. Teleportable explorers and envoys. Or a portable summon of A/ that we can use in place of clones, so that we can reserve clones as home bases. This could be tremendously useful if weÆre faced with a lot of fighting on the peripheral worlds. We wouldnÆt need to lock up clone slots to secure the frontier. -

The question sat in the room for a while.

- WhatÆs more useful? -

- I say tall. A portable A/ without locking up clones is way more useful than mini - A/ everywhere. -

- What if we encounter dangerous threats? -

- The likelihood of threats? -

- IÆm talking about hostile gods, - Stella said. - The High Altar can function as high - power but zero - risk explorers, while having a decent fraction of A/ Æs power. -

Lumoof then looked at Edna.

- What about yours? -

Edna laughed.

49

YEAR 272

We didnÆt see the need to rush into LumoofÆs choice. After all, we could figure out what was happening on the peripheral lands before choosing the better fit.

That was the thought with EdnaÆs choice, too.

- So what did you get? - It was LumoofÆs turn to rib the knight. The knight didnÆt seem too enthusiastic.

- I could summarize them into three main directions. The first choice of my level two hundred domain is the Martial Paragon. In this form, I would achieve what we longed for: combat ability not only on par, but even more than the heroes. Martial Paragon would allow my Duty to last longer, and my overall combat abilities would rise significantly. Some of my abilities would also gain upgrades, such as my Quest Swords would gain even more power. I gain the ability to teleport to any of the fellow domain holders who are members of the pantheon at my choice. I am also able to leave a shadow knight with members of the pantheon to provide some protection. -

I found it underwhelming.

She sighed. - I think, aside from power, the utility aspects of this choice is lackluster. -

Lumoof frowned. - Edna, I think you shouldnÆt worry about the utility issue. The rest of us will deal with it. -

Edna nodded. - That is true. -

- Then whatÆs the next? -

- The Divine Herald of Knights. I gain the ability to sense the presence of all knight classes all over the world and more. The Herald of Knights gains the ability to speak and grant quests to all knight classes all over the world directly, grant blessings and rewards, and also bestow knight classes of different tiers. I am also able to form Knight Orders out of a group of knights, which grants them some kind of group - wide ability. I am also able to teleport to any knight that requests for my aid or send magical assistants and spiritual knights. Pantheon members also gain an ability to set up a Lesser Knight Order . -

- This is more in line with a goddess of knights. - Stella chewed on a sweet of some kind. With the defense of Satrya completed, the next phase was the void worlds, the peripheral worlds, and also the assimilation of Delvegard.

- In short, the first choice is to go in the direction of combat. This second choice goes wider, just like how LumoofÆs one did. -

- I must say IÆm starting to see a pattern, - Stella said.

- ItÆs just how the System creates these domains. ItÆs a choice of focus or breadth, - Roon said as if he knew it all along.

Johann poked his fellow domain holder. - And you know what yours is going to be? -

- I bet mineÆs going to be some kind of super - archer upgrade or some kind of split - archer form. -

- All right, all right, Edna, whatÆs the third choice? -

- The third choice is the wildcard choice. Sword of the Void Forest . It is the domain that takes me closer to A/ , Lumoof, and Stella. -

Edna looked at Lumoof in a way that made Lumoof squirm uncomfortably. - What in the world? -

- I can also be an avatar of A/ , - Edna repeated. - And you can be an avatar of me. -

LumoofÆs eyes widened in shock.

Stella shook her head. - ThatÆs a clear no. ThatÆs too much? -

- You didnÆt even hear the details, - Edna said. - Stella, the System clearly considers you as part of this arrangement. The primary power of this domain choice is the ability to have spiritual equivalents, or as the System calls it, manifestations, and tag along with A/ Æs node trees, clones, StellaÆs void explorer, and LumoofÆs avatar form. In this form, I essentially become a person with multiple bodies, like A/ Æs clone. These manifestations are void in nature, and I can travel in the void sea with your void explorers. -

- You create them? - Lumoof asked.

- No. Strangely enough, this domain binds the manifestation to the abilities of Stella and A/ . My manifestations appear whenever there is a clone or a void explorer or your avatar form. ItÆs a package. -

- A form of subdomain, but not totally subservient. - Lumoof thought about it.

- In a way, itÆs more of a pantheon - support type of role, - Edna countered. - Though the choice mentioned Lumoof, A/ , and Stella specifically, itÆs not actually limited to them. It extends to all pantheon members. -

The rest of the domain holders were in thought, but then Johann laughed. - Roon, you might get a mixed - choice. Think about it: what if you got an A/ Æs Archer type of ability? -

Roon rolled his eyes.

- At least you wonÆt get one linked to your prospective partner! - Ezar, the brawler, chuckled. - Imagine that! -

Roon had a look of genuine horror. - Oh, no way. -

- It is a wildcard choice. - Stella decided it was a fun topic and added fuel to the flame. - A wildcard romance - linked domain choice would be a supreme troll - move from the System. -

- IÆm going to opt for the World Faith System if the System does that to me, - Roon countered.

- YouÆre taunting the System?! - Stella feigned horror.

Roon realized Stella had a point and decided it was best to just shut up.

We didnÆt decide that day. We had worlds to visit, and we wanted Alka to join us in the choice. We would prefer to optimize our abilities and choices that would get us through the next hurdle.

It also helped that Alka would have a level - up of his own, and we wanted to hear from him.

What was it like, being dead?

Lumoof, Stella, and Edna gathered for a trip. The three were often the first to visit dangerous places, and this time, they would visit the void worlds together.

The void worlds existed only in the void layers, and it would be the first time my people ventured there. We wondered what it was like, but after all the wondering, it was time to visit.

- Well. - Stella summoned the void mana in her body and tapped into the void layers. The void layers required a few additional extra steps of locational information, and the cost of opening a rift to the void layers was a little bit higher than normal, but other than the extra ring of magical glow around the rift itself, it seemed pretty normal. - To the first void world. -

Lumoof laughed and walked through without hesitation. Stella stared. - Hey, wait! - she called out, but Lumoof was already through. - I thought it wasnÆt ready. -

Edna smiled at the void mage, and then she walked through, too.

- Dammit. - Stella ran through.

The path through the void layers was as if one slipped through the gaps of reality. They existed on a different layer of the void sea, occupying the same place but on a different plane.

- Well, took you long enough. - Lumoof smiled as Stella finally stepped through. We looked around and saw a world with a burning black sun and a surface made of darkened rock.

- Uh. So where are we? - Stella asked, but just as she said that, her own magic expanded into the world.

Void world.

Our magical senses rang as a strange creature appeared before us. It emerged from the same type of rift gates that we used, but the shape was different. It was some kind of worm, and it immediately judged us. It stared at us. It has fifteen eyes and tentacles that looked like they were made of the void sea itself.

It radiated void mana through its body. The eyes, each of them were as if they were made of starry skies, dark and yet somehow deep. The three spoke telepathically. - This is a void creature, - Stella said. It was a familiar feeling, sheÆd sensed creatures like this in the void sea, but to encounter them in the void layers was somewhat expected.

Standing before us was a creature that didnÆt look like any living being, and through Lumoof, I sensed it wasnÆt even a creature with a normal soul. It was as if it was cobbled together from something that belonged in the void sea.

It reminded me of a jellyfish, its mind distributed throughout its limbs.

It stared at us for a while, and just as suddenly, the rift gates emerged again. It then vanished.

- Well, what was that? - Edna said.

- I donÆt know. It looked like it was curious but not altogether hostile, - Stella said. The void world itself had a dark sun, and the world had a glow that was quite similar to the reflected lights of the moon.

Faint.

There were clouds in this world, made of black dust of some sort, and when they covered the sun, the world around us twisted. The laws of reality worked differently here. A world wasnÆt a fixed object, but a flexible one that transformed according to the sunÆs light.

The terrain warped, and somehow the way it warped was always relative to our position. It only warped when the three of them were not there, in the distance, visible.

- The stars lead to different places. - Stella stared as she watched the position of the world shift. It was as if the void layers were rolling a wheel, and the stars spun and slowly settled into position.

Edna nodded. - Useful? -

- Potentially, - Stella said as we continued to explore the void world.

It was a world that was bare. There was no vegetation of any sort. The terrain was all blackened rock and sand, imbued with void mana to some degree.

We searched.

And searched.

Then we came across a large rocky plain that finally had something unusual. A crater with a skeleton at the center. It was a human of some kind, but a little taller than the normal human. The body had long been eroded by the sandy winds. What was left was just the bones, perfectly preserved, made of something resistant to the windÆs corrosion.

- A body. -

I could probably use the bones to search its memories, just like with the dragons. How did it get here?

- ItÆs been here for a long time, - Lumoof said, judging from the layers of sand and the condition of the crater. The edges of what would have been the impact crater were all smoothed out. Eroded by the winds.

The wind carried the same black dust everywhere.

The wind was created by magic, the swirling energies of the void.

This world should not have winds, but it did, because the rifts created low - and high - pressure areas throughout the world. Each time a rift was opened by the strange rift monsters that sometimes visited, it created a pressure zone.

Winds.

There was nothing else, but the void layers contained many worlds. Many more that Stella could see. We would have more to visit.

- Your ambitions are great, - Zhaanpu said, his mummified body floating in what was a quiet, private oasis meant only for him and his guests. It was rarely used, from what I understood, but these days, it was where we met and talked.

- You knew that, - I responded.

- I did. But even an immortal like myself cannot truly fathom the scale of what you want to achieve. -

I told him about my intention of constructing a multiversal force a long time ago. A force to take the battle back to the demons. But as with many others all over the multiverse, it was one thing to have information. It was an entire thing altogether to turn that information into understanding and knowledge.

So my tree, the vessel of my will, wobbled in his little green oasis. There was a small pond, perfectly clear. Beautiful, white sands, more crystalline than dirt. There were tiny insects crawling all over the ground.

- You have something you want to say. -

Zhaanpu mused for a moment before he went for the strange question. - What do you have planned for me? -

I paused before I decided it was best to be honest. - I intend to honor our old agreements, look for a suitable world of sand as you requested, and nothing more. This question arises because of the crystal king? -

- Yes, - Zhaanpu admitted. - It is unnerving to see how you humbled my peer, and now I am uncertain of the nature of our relationship. -

I decided to reiterate my old stance. Perhaps in politics, as the power balances shifted, there were times when I needed to speak to those who were my friends and remind them that they were friends and not minions. When one party was much stronger than the other, it was only natural that this caused feelings of insecurity. - I ask for nothing but mutual cooperation. I do not ask for you to fight for me, and I would like to continue being friends. -

- Friends, - Zhaanpu said. As if the word was meaningless.

In some ways, what meaning did it have? What did it mean to be friends, when we were immortal creatures that lived forever? - I would not impose, Zhaanpu. I do not intend to. As we expand, our needs will be spread over a wider set of worlds. -

Zhaanpu breathed a long sigh of relief. - Very well. I shall take your word for it. -

Satrya

Lumoof and Roon returned to Satrya to find the two priests waiting for them.

- Gawa wishes to speak to you, Lord Lumoof, - Michael said with a bow. TheyÆd been exceptionally polite, and since the defeat of the demon king, they had treated Lumoof with the full benefits of a foreign dignitary and some.

It was a treatment that the lesser - ranked priests found strange, but those in the divine guards silenced them, claiming that it was Gawa Æs command. Gawa Æs Circle rarely devoted full attention to any one person, but Lumoof, as avatar of a - peer, - was leagues above. It made Lumoof feel a little strange, of course.

The entire courtyard waited as Michael and Olivia sat at the side.

Lumoof sat, while Roon stood behind him.

The world twisted, and Gawa arrived once more. Here, in Museo, most mortal men never felt the presence of god so close. It would be something they remembered for the rest of their lives. To be in the same city as Gawa arrived would be a mark on their souls.

- Well done, and most impressive, - Gawa said, his golden form shining. - YouÆve saved me precious points. Each of us spends every point we can spare, especially in defense of the faraway realms. -

I waited for him to speak as Lumoof glowed. The avatar form rippled in the air, and the entire temple structure wobbled as my own energies rubbed against the energies of Gawa .

A golden pendant emerged from nowhere, as if it popped out of space itself. - This contains my will, and you may use this to sway my faithful followers in the peripheral worlds. Those who possess my related classes would know that you represent me, and you can claim to act on my behalf. -

Useful.

- Change the balance of power, A/ . -

- I do admit feeling like IÆm being used, - I responded. Both priests present paled at my statement and feared Gawa Æs retribution. They didnÆt know how their god would react to such a rebuke.

- You can claim the peripheral worlds as your own. I have no need for them, and many of us lose points holding on to them. -

- IÆll do it, of course. But IÆd like your knowledge. Of the demons, of the other gods. Of how the System works. Of the worlds you have access to, - I countered. I didnÆt mind working, and expanding my influence in new worlds was a win, even if it was contested territory, but I wanted knowledge.

There was a moment of silence as the air around us wobbled. Eventually, Gawa agreed. - I will share what I know. -

Another golden gem appeared. A quick glance of it showed it was clearly a divine item.

- This will allow you to ask me questions. I will reply to them when I am able. I will inform you of what I can tell you. Some things are restricted by our pact. I will let you know if it is. -

Both Michael and OliviaÆs eyes were filled with greed. Two new divine items appearing in a single day would cause the priests to go insane. Armies would fight to get hold of them.

But no one would dare snatch it from LumoofÆs hand.

- Very well. This is more like it, - I answered. - I will begin to reach out to the peripheral worlds and will need to travel through some of your outer worlds. -

- Understood. But move quietly. Some of my worlds know no other god but me, and it is in my interest to keep it that way. You may take my two priests with you to the peripheral worlds. I hear my priestess has found one of your minions attractive and would like to be married. -

It made Roon and Olivia blush.

I merely brushed it off. - Their own private affairs are their own. But thank you for the offer. I will keep it in mind. -

Maelga, Home of the Imprisoned Crystal, Threeworlds

The human kingdoms of Threeworlds bent the knee, as they were expected to. The Valthorns had completed the assimilation of the crystal kingÆs power structure and replaced them. To the nations and kingdoms of the human - dominated lands, they stopped challenging our authority.

It was a peace brought about by blood and a lot of captured men. We sent a few thousand of them to Lavaworld, where a quarter of them died, and the remaining were too horrified to ever raise their arms against us. Blood on my roots and leaves, and so be it.

Peace was here, and it was time to milk the industries of this world into the war machine.

My Valthorns quickly identified locations where we could set up manufacturing facilities for crystal bombs, weaponry, and tools. We also began setting up training and recruitment institutes, where the recruits of the Centaur - ruled lands and the humans of the human - controlled lands would train.

The humans found the presence of the Centaurs in their lands unsettling at first. They were enemies, but under the watchful eyes of the Valthorns, they were in no position to attempt anything.

Trade and mutual learning happened more frequently. Human merchants, mages, and scholars were sent to the Centaur lands to learn from them and vice versa. Centaur - compatible inns and institutions were set up in the human lands, and the opposite was also true in the Centaur lands.

It was an uncomfortable change.

But both sides knew that they were now parts of an intergalactic war. It was an uncomfortable realization that the peace of their world was merely an illusion. For many, they chose to believe in the lie. It was a lie that their world was still peaceful. It was also a lie that the three hegemons maintained a fragile peace.

Many chose to believe the lie. It was easy.

To those who didnÆt, they were guided into our propaganda machine.

Through a large recruitment program, talented soldiers from all sides were drafted and recruited. We wanted those who sought more from themselves. To those who didnÆt like the fake peace, they saw our greater purpose appealing.

I liked it that way. They would join soldiers from Treehome, Mountainworld, Tropicworld and soon Delvegard.

A coalition of forces from all over the multiverse.

TREE OF A/ Seven

2024 SPAIzzER

YEAR 273

The emperor had aged when I sent Lumoof to see him. The holy emperorÆs hair had turned white, even though his power and class should have kept him a lot more youthful. - ItÆs been a while since we last met, Emperor Erranuel. I hope youÆve been well. -

- As well as I could be. - He waved his hand. His aides and guards left the room. There really was no point in having them here.

- Really? - Lumoof nodded and decided to joke. It was inappropriate, but no one dared correct him. - Your hair seems whiter. -

- Age and the weight of managing an empire, Lord Lumoof. In time, my hair will soon fall off. - The emperor relaxed.

- ItÆs certainly too soon for hair to start falling off, - Lumoof countered. The emperor wasnÆt that old, was he? He was perhaps eighty or ninety. He ascended to his Imperial Throne around forty years ago.

He laughed. - If I lived a leisurely life without worries, IÆm fairly certain my hair would still be beautifully golden. But alas, I struggle to understand how an empire actually manages to stick together, with all the bickering nobles and lords. -

Lumoof chuckled and sat on a chair next to him. A tea set was already prepared. The emperor was more of a coffee person, a relic of the earlier parasite years, but diplomatic channels had data on Lumoof and indicated he was a tea person. - Would you like me to find some ointments and potions for your hair, then? It should be a fairly easy issue to solve. -

The emperor smiled at LumoofÆs offer. - That would not be necessary. My whitened hair is quite useful. ItÆs a good reminder to my nobles that I am an aging man. My mortality helps bring out the schemers amongst the ducal families and misleads them into thinking that I am a frail, weakened man. -

- Oh? - Lumoof laughed. To feign weakness when one was strong and lure out the schemers was a common tactic. Somehow nobles still fell for it. Their greed and desire for power often overwhelmed the warning signs.

- So are you here to just taste my tea? -

- Nothing like that. We met Gawa . Twice, actually. -

Emperor Erranuel sagged. - I heard rumors from my informants. It felt so implausible that IÆm certain itÆs an intentional leak. -

- It is. - Lumoof chuckled. - ItÆs good to see how news travels. It helps us know whoÆs talking to who. -

Erranuel looked in the distance. All of us played the game. His throne room was necessarily grand; the act of being invited to this room was a spectacle, a ceremony. Something for mere mortals to remember. But to the holy emperor, this was no more than a ritual meant to enhance his mysticism.

The priests said the regular citizens must be reminded that they stand before the representative of god. A holy emperor.

So the throne room was filled with enchantment. For regular soldiers and citizens, they would feel a tremendous weight as they entered. A set of spells and items, meant to enhance the holy emperorÆs presence.

It was exhausting, and Lumoof could see it. He had a role to play, as a symbol of sorts for his empire.

His powers as an emperor were strong. It was for this reason his lesser nobles had not tried to assassinate him. The empire would collapse without his presence, and lesser nobles were not prepared to deal with the aftermath and power vacuum.

He was not the only holy emperor, and the relationship with the other holy empires was cordial at best and outright hostile in less pleasant times. Not just that, the threat of the guilds still remained in the background. Though the era of merchant warfare was mostly over, there were still small skirmishes and battles. Little reminders that there were greedy guilds waiting to pounce.

So the nobles, despite their greed, dared not shatter the emperorÆs presence that supported their empireÆs strength. His skills, and his blessings, endowed his people with strength. It was a country - wide blessing and worked in some ways similar to those of my own priests and trees. Harvests were bountiful, mines were more productive, people were healthier, and levels increased a little bit faster.

Erranuel sipped the tea. He wasnÆt a big fan, and Lumoof could tell. - Would you like to visit the world where we met Gawa ? -

- Yes. Though I suppose my nobles will curse my absence. My blessings fade over time. But I want to go. To see the god I claim to represent. -

WeÆd known this since the emperorÆs visit to Lavaworld, and later on, a week - long tour through Threeworlds and Mountainworld. The other emperors were not so keen on visiting; they bought their churchÆs propaganda to a stronger degree than we ever did.

A missing king was therefore bad for the country, even if the effects were not felt immediately. That said, there were assassin , spy , and conspirator abilities that could mess with a kingÆs abilities. It was often said that it was better for a king to die in battle than to die assassinated in his sleep, because the assassin class passively eroded the kingÆs country - wide blessing, while an honorable death in battle was often rewarded by some other form of blessings.

Lumoof thought about showing the divine item, but we decided we would keep it. Not now. We didnÆt want to ruin his first experience of divinity.

- I will make the arrangements and let you know. -

- Do you not fear your long absence? - Erranuel asked abruptly.

- What do you mean? - Lumoof paused. The tea was perfectly warm. The cup was some kind of enchanted cup that emitted a soft, gentle heat that kept the tea warm.

- You travel to other worlds, on long missions. Do you not fear for the safety of your homes when you are away? -

Lumoof found the question amusing. - Why? I trust my fellow warriors to keep things safe. -

Erranuel sighed. - I admire that. I canÆt trust my nobles - well, except two - but they have their plates full keeping the empire together. It wouldÆve been easier if we had a structure thatÆs so immensely loyal. -

- ItÆs something you must build, Emperor, - Lumoof advised. - This structure was constructed over centuries, layers by layers, built on the backs of many veterans. -

- Only for it to collapse when I die. -

- Then donÆt. - Lumoof smiled.

Emperor Erranuel stared at Lumoof as if it was the most ridiculous thing ever. After a while he laughed. - I sometimes forget IÆm speaking with an avatar. -

- You just need to gain levels. There are worlds out there where you can gain levels. -

Erranuel paused and looked at Lumoof. - Are you suggesting I expand the empire to other worlds? -

For others, it was as close to impossible. The Valtorn Order had complete monopoly over void mages. Void mage was a class that dabbled in the void mana, and for younger void mages in training, accidental void mana corruption and curses still occurred somewhat regularly, and so most void mages still needed to get - treated - for curses. Even void archmages experienced mishaps, though their souls were so well attuned to void mana that the mishaps were usually minor.

So, a senior level void archmage wouldnÆt even think of working for others, due to the sheer gap in resources. Perhaps the Angels could entice some of my void archmages, but we kept a thorough inventory of who and where each of my void mages were. Well, except those that vanished into the void during the demons comet.

My avatar looked at Erranuel and knew that deploying him on other worlds would be a good way to use his talents. His talents were stagnant here. His powers were used to fight and resist my influence. Here, we were competitors, even if it wasnÆt much of a competition. I would prefer to have his abilities used against the demons or other forces in the peripheral worlds.

ItÆd be a good time to also use my anointed king class, and see its effects on the peripheral worlds.

So Lumoof doubled down. - Yes. IÆd be happy to facilitate your move and even provide you with a suitable protective force. We will help get your new empire in the faraway worlds up and running. -

Erranuel stared at Lumoof as if it was totally ridiculous. - YouÆre asking an emperor to leave his empire and start a new one somewhere else in whatÆs likely to be a war - torn, demon-infested world. -

Lumoof grinned. - Absolutely. ItÆs exciting, donÆt you think? -

Erranuel closed his eyes. It felt like minutes.

His lips curled into a mischievous grin.

- Well, canÆt say IÆm not swayed. When do we start? And IÆd like to see the look on my nobles when IÆm appointing an imperial regent. -

- IÆll have scribes, painters and mages for the moment. - Lumoof laughed.

All of them were in full suits of armor as they prepared for the rift gate. It was a small group, only about six of them, mainly just to protect Stella as we made the journey to the peripheral worlds. Stella, Edna, Ezar, a druid warhealer, a ranger, and an elemental mage.

The peripheral worlds required six hops, mostly through Gawa Æs regional worlds. It was likely to be safe, since these were Gawa - controlled worlds, but Edna was with her, just in case.

We were not allowed to linger, and though it was a bit of a pity, I understood Gawa Æs reasoning and accepted it.

So the goal was to keep moving until we reached one of the peripheral worlds, and because the peripheral worlds were all relatively close to each other, I would then deploy either a clone or a node tree. From there, weÆd use that clone and node tree as the - base - to make further travel, skipping the Gawa Æs outer worlds entirely.

These peripheral worlds were pretty much a cluster of unloved worlds. Worlds too far from the gods, not that far they were out of reach, but far enough that it wasnÆt sustainable. Still, the pact forced them to protect it.

- Well, letÆs start hopping. -

The first Gawa world was similar to Satrya; the presence of divine energies was strong. Just as we arrived, we could feel the strands of divine energy trying to exert itself over us. This was another Outer Core World.

But the five worlds after the first world only had a faint, divine presence. There were no - laws - like the Outer Core Worlds, and per the data shared by Gawa , these were the Regional Worlds of Gawa .

Then we were finally at the frontier of Gawa Æs power bubble. The peripheral worlds.

The First Peripheral World - Landas

Stella landed first, and we were immediately assaulted by the presence of demons. The astral space of the peripheral world glowed with the demon kingÆs path, and when we looked to the skies, we saw were filled with flying demons.

- The welcoming party is here, - Stella quipped as the rest of the six arrived. Edna was just a short few seconds behind her.

- Exactly what I was expecting, though. - Edna smiled. The flying demons were not that powerful. Perhaps about Level 30. She could take them on singlehandedly. - Node tree? -

- Too early. - StellaÆs senses fanned out, and EdnaÆs own magical senses followed. - Divine presence here is minimal. Comparable to Treehome and Mountainworld. -

Of the first three worlds, I would rank ThreeworldÆs divine presence to be a little bit stronger. There was a pact of sorts that governed the three hegemons, and there must have been three gods that agreed to it, a long, long time ago. Their presence may have faded due to the distance, but the pact sustained a certain level of divine presence in the world.

Edna looked at the demons and activated a small defensive, illusionary object. It immediately masked her presence. The rest of the crew followed.

The first peripheral world seemed fairly war torn; the terrain around us was charred. There were burned trees and burned rocks. Corpses that had long rotten.

Bodies.

One of the Valthorns, a Level 140 Warhealer , squatted down and examined the bones.

- Elven, or at least some kind of elven variant. Dead for at least four years. But these burn marks look younger. -

Stella glanced at Edna and back. - Well, I suppose there should be some surviving civilizations here. LetÆs go look for them. -

One of the Valthorns immediately wondered, - Maybe theyÆll be like the Ularans. Cowered and hiding in their tunnels. -

The void mage nodded, but one of the rangers began using his scouting abilities. - There seems to be some kind of habited location further away. I detect new smoke and the faint smell of cooked food in that direction. -

Stella nodded. - Distance? -

The ranger immediately shared the distance and coordinates, and Stella opened a magical portal. The group stepped through, their presence hidden by their illusion items, and on the other side was a fortress that was under attack.

They were hidden.

There was a group of flying demons above them, about two hundred demons and a single demonic champion among them. They attacked the fortress, but for now, their progress was hindered by a decently powerful protective barrier.

- Well. - Edna looked at her fellow teammates. - There are living people on the other side, and we have demons attacking it. What is there to do but stop it? -

The army of flying demons wasnÆt very strong, so Ezar stood. - Let me. -

He stretched, twisted briefly. Then his fists glowed, and he began to punch the flying demons with his energy punches.

Novorosk

Landas was not always a world infested with demons. But for survivors, like Novorosk, that sort of history didnÆt matter. They fought the demons for decades, and a life of fighting demons was the only one they knew.

Ancient history claimed there was a time when the five different elven tribes - the blood elves, the high elves, the night elves, the white elves, and the riverine elves - all had multiple empires, all incredibly powerful. It was a time when the five tribes fought each other for supremacy.

It was ancient and a dream told from the great matriarchs and lorekeepers to the young.

There were demons back then. But each of the five empires would have heroes , elven champions, each of them, and they would fight the demons and destroy them. No lorekeeper remembered when, but there was a time, a few thousand years ago, or perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago, the heroes began to dwindle.

From five to four.

Some elves believed that this was divine punishment. The five sub - races, all those elven empires were all reckless. The demons supremacy and the loss of the heroes was due to the other empireÆs foul behavior. It was an era where elves, already hostile to each other, blamed each other instead of banding together as one. After all, it was the other empire and elves fault that the gods abandoned them.

The era of war came, and just as the wars between the elven tribes intensified, the heroes vanished.

Four to three.

No matter what the elven tribes did. They fought. They made sacrifices to the gods. They offered worship and prayers.

But it was all for naught. The world of Landas drifted further away, unknown to them all. Their gods, faraway and silent, did nothing to tell them of the truth. It costs them too much to even send a message. The gods were stretched, and limited faith points were used to support more worlds. The gods supported thousands of worlds each, but to each of these worlds, they knew only a single one.

Their own.

Then three heroes became just two.

The demons presence in the world of Landas became almost permanent. Somewhere along the way, the demons established a foothold in the world of Landas. They claimed the vast sands as their home, a land hostile to the elven tribes, and what was once a vast ocean of sands became twisted by the demonic energies that took root.

It transformed the sand oceans into the Landasian demonlands. The demonlands spawned demons forever, and what was a once - in - a - decade incident became a never - ending nightmare.

Then two heroes became only one.

The world of Landas only received a single hero.

A single hero to hold off against the powerful demons. A single hero who couldnÆt be strong enough to kill the demon king and live to tell the tale. A single hero that didnÆt benefit from the blessings of the hero shards . Because there were no other heroes to give him that shard.

And it felt like the gods took forever before they sent a hero. The world of Landas was now in an eternal war against the demons.

ItÆd been many, many years since then.

The old feuds for the elves gradually faded away as their inter - tribal enemies paled before their existential threats.

Novorosk prepared for battle. Their home, the Fortress of Roskor, was protected by old magics. There were relics left from the earlier era that still gave their Fortress City its shields and protections.

Their people were ready to die.

Novorosk, the leader of the defenders, prepared his bow, his spear, his harpoons. The flying demons were difficult enemies. He could kill a few singlehandedly, but there were hundreds in the skies above.

It was hard to talk; each time the claws and fangs of the flying demons slammed into the magical shield, there was a loud humming sound.

A life of war meant Novorosk was already Level 80. Many in his squad were Levels 60 to 80, and each of them could kill multiple flying demons. In full strength, this army of demons would not have been a problem for them.

But the demons were relentless. They had flying armies by the tens of thousands, and this was the sixth attack in the last week. His men were all injured, wounded by a thousand tiny cuts, poisoned by tiny droplets in each strike.

Even Novorosk himself felt the demonÆs foul poison in his left thigh. There was a blackened stain that was slowly fading. It would heal in a few days, but the demons didnÆt give him the time.

HeÆd have to fight without his full mobility.

Novorosk, blood elven warleader, watched as a healer tried to soften the effects of the poison. The healers tried to patch up the defenders, as much as they could, but none of them would be at their best today. The shamans drew blood - colored lines, enchantments, on their skin.

The leader of the demonic army was a flying demon with a large battleaxe. The blood elves referred to it as the Axe Leader.

Novorosk beat it before. He killed three of them in the last year alone. But he wasnÆt sure he could do it with the poison in his leg.

He cursed. - Aturk. YouÆll need to support me. -

Aturk, his third - in - command, looked at what Novorosk was looking at and frowned. His face was one of fear. But he wasnÆt going to let his leader down. - Yes, Warleader. -

Aturk was Level 65, and in better times, he wouldÆve been a good warleader.

The shield wobbled. Novorosk waved his hand and signaled for the squad to be ready. There were about seventy warriors in his detachment, and another thirty would be supporting from the back.

If they could take down the Axe Leader, they should win this. It would be at great cost, and Novorosk himself may not survive it. But the Fortress of Roskor would live another day.

- Warleader Novorosk! There are civilians outside of the fortress! -

Novorosk stared at the shouting scout, absolutely baffled. He tried to run, but his poisoned leg made it painful. The shamanÆs pain - suppressing lines glowed and suppressed the pain. But it still hurt.

There was a group of six adults, and from a distance, Novorosk thought they looked like the white elves of the snowlands.

- Where did they come from? - Novorosk shouted. - DidnÆt our magical detectors spot them? -

The scout looked embarrassed. - No, Warleader. We did not notice them at all. -

- Is our equipment faulty? WhoÆs in charge of maintenance? - Novorosk frowned.

The scout shook his head. - It shouldnÆt be? -

- Something is wrong? -

The second - in - command walked to the scouting tower. The shields continued to wobble. It likely wouldnÆt hold for long. - Warleader, letÆs deal with the civilians later. The defenders are ready. At your command. -

Novorosk sighed. - YouÆre right. Civilians who take such risks will have to be responsible for it. -

The blood elven warleader surveyed the fortress walls. His men were all in position. They were all deathly afraid, but they would not let it affect the fight. Novorosk looked at the second - in - command. He would be in charge if Novorosk fell in battle.

He was a good man, and Roskor would be in good hands. Novorosk tapped the shoulders of the deputy warleader. - Take care of yourself. -

The deputy shook his head. He was armed to the teeth. - WeÆll cover you. -

- DonÆt be stupid, - Novorosk countered and then stood on the battlements. - Get ready! Supporting fire? -

But they all felt it then: a sudden surge of power that wasnÆt demonic. A pressure so intense that Novorosk felt the blood in his face drain away.

- What -

They heard sounds. It sounded like a really loud punch. A single swish and a splat. In the constant humming from the magical shields, and in the noise of demonic fangs and claws rattling and attacking, they didnÆt know why the punch sounded so loud.

It was as if it was the only sound that mattered, and all the other sounds were somehow silenced in its presence.

The demons exploded.

They watched the flying demons felt in the skies above. The Axe Leader of the demons turned, as if looking for its enemies.

But it, too, splattered into smithereens.

Novorosk watched as the strongest of the demonic flying horde turned into mush.

The demons were all gone, their bodies splattered all outside of the ground. The deputy turned to face Warleader Novorosk, unable to understand the changing tides. - Warleader, what just happened? -

YEAR 273 (PART 2)

Landas, The Peripheral Worlds I

Novorosk

The six strangers were foreign. Everything about them was foreign. Visitors from beyond the stars. Their weapons were made of wood Novorosk did not recognize, the carvings on their armor and the texture of their steel unknown to them. The way their magic seemed like an endlessly deep lake made the entire army tense up.

Everyone knew they were different. The way their ears looked. The scent of their hair.

- Hello, - the woman in armor said first. - IÆm Edna, and these are my fellow warriors. We are the envoys of A/ , and weÆve come to help. -

Novorosk looked at the rest of his team. Traditionally, communication would be made in the receiving rooms of the elven cities, but most of the receiving rooms have been repurposed. As accommodation, as a warehouse, as a place for healers. Novorosk cursed and immediately whispered to his second - in - command, - Do we still have a receiving room? -

The second - in - command shook his head, naturally paling at the question. - No, Warleader. -

- Get some men and go clean one of the rooms up. IÆll hold them here. Move quickly. -

The second - in - command nodded and ran for it. He hauled at least ten of his soldiers. Novorosk hobbled closer. - My apologies, visitor Edna. I am Novorosk, Warleader of Roskor. I will have my warriors prepare a receiving room. May we know what you need from us? -

The visitor Edna paused and looked around. The Fortress of Roskor was battered, its shields weakened from the assault. There were about two thousand elves living in this place, about half of them working the farms within the fortress walls; there were about a quarter that looked to be children, and a smaller group, about two hundred or so, that looked to be much older.

Their farms were unique. The plants and vegetables were on stacked platforms. NovoroskÆs eyes noticed how the visitors seemed to look at the stacked platforms.

Did they want food? Novorosk quickly did mental calculations. Their druid - farmers produced enough food, but their supply would normally be enough for a week. If they asked for too much, they wouldnÆt have enough? -

Edna turned to another woman with jet - black hair and a scent of the night. Novorosk wondered whether she was a night elf, but she didnÆt share any of their features. - YouÆve seen something like this, Stella? -

The woman nodded. - It reminds me of vertical farms back on Earth. ItÆs interesting that they resorted to this, because of land constraints. -

Novorosk immediately cut in. - Visitors, our food condition isnÆt great, but once the receiving room is ready, we can arrange for some food? -

Novorosk felt the visitor EdnaÆs stare, as if she was judging him. She answered, - Very well, Warleader Novorosk. -

The receiving room was ready. It was hastily cleaned and still had the faint scent of dried blood in some of the old, ancient carpets. Novorosk wished they kept a single receiving room proper, but centuries of war meant all space had to be reused.

The six didnÆt seem hostile, but the way they looked at things was intense and made the entire force feel tense.

- Are you the ultimate leader of this fortress? - Edna asked.

Warleader Novorosk shook his head, as the second - in - command brought three old elves to the receiving room. Each of the three wore a set of robes that looked like they were never worn in hundreds of years. The dust on the robes were hastily cleaned.

Novorosk nodded as he bowed. He struggled to remember the words. - Presenting the Elder Council of Roskor, Elder Ruzus, Elder Muzur, and Elder Noroskor. -

The three elders nodded. The elder in the center, an old man, took the lead. - Greetings, visitors. I am Elder Muzur, and welcome to Roskor. It - itÆs been ages since we used the Receiving Rooms, so we apologize for the poor condition. -

Edna looked around, and Novorosk wondered what sheÆd say. But she shrugged. - WeÆve seen worse. We are new to this world, so we want to know everything. Do you have a map? -

Novorosk thought he misheard that. What did she mean by - new to this world - ?

But the elders were more composed. - Bring the latest maps. All of them. -

Two of the elven crafters that doubled as assistants hurried out. The Fortress of Roskor had few administrative workers left; most of their populace were warriors and the military supporters like shamans and druids, farmers, healers, or crafters.

The maps they brought were old and stained, but they depicted a set of cities and - areas - that were still occupied by elves.

The six stared at it intently, then one of them took out a large piece of paper. At first, Novorosk thought heÆd start to make a copy. But he didnÆt take out a pen.

- Map Replication . -

The map was then immediately copied over to the paper. The elders stared, unable to believe the spell that just happened. Novorosk paused. He didnÆt know there was such a spell.

- All right, - the woman, Edna, said. - Thanks for that. Of these cities, how many survive? -

The elders looked at each other. ItÆs been months since they received letters from the other towns. Novorosk watched as the elder pointed to a set of neighboring cities and then a set of outer cities. - We spoke to some of these neighboring cities about four to five months ago. We have not communicated with these other cities in the last few years. -

Edna, the woman, looked at one of her team. Novorosk wondered whether they were the womanÆs subordinates, because they seemed deferential.

- What do you know about the greater world? -

There wasnÆt much to share. RoskorÆs focus had been to survive day by day, week by week. For most part, the city mostly managed to remain stagnant. There were periods of time in RoskorÆs history when they had multiple Level - 80 individuals, and they were able to expand a bit. They even sent out expeditions, but they never came back.

- DonÆt you have message networks? - the woman asked.

One of the elders paused, as if surprised that the woman knew of such a thing. - It - itÆs not reliable. There are demonic energy storms that frequently interrupt those message networks. -

- I see, - the woman in front of them said.

Novorosk watched as the woman began to interrogate them on the history of the world, as if they knew absolutely nothing. They asked about the gods of the world of Landas and about the different gods, then its history and its heroes.

It really was as if they knew nothing.

Eventually, the two women, the one that felt like a soldier, and the other one that felt like the night, looked at each other. - Well, thank you for your hospitality. We will be leaving now. -

- Leaving? - one of the elders, Elder Noroskor, said. - ItÆs - itÆs dangerous out there, with all the demons. -

But the two other elders immediately looked at Elder Noroskor, and he immediately shut up.

- My apologies, distinguished visitors, we do not mean offense. We doubt the demons would pose a threat. -

Edna grinned. - It is fine. On behalf of our leader, A/ , this world will be under our protection. You will be hearing from us soon enough. -

NovoroskÆs eyes couldnÆt leave the woman, and in that small, cramped room, it felt as if the world shifted around him. There was something about that supreme confidence, a swagger and weight that truly gave that ridiculous sentence credibility.

He had long believed that their life in this world was one of endless struggle for survival.

But his heart pounded.

The world was going to change.

He could feel it in his soul.

Treehome

Lozanna

Lozanna was in the crowd when Roon and Johann stood before them. There were about five hundred Valthorns present, many recalled from a recent tour of service in Threeworlds. With the human kingdoms largely stable, the number of active personnel was reduced and reshuffled.

There were many newer, recently - promoted - Valthorns, those previously in the lower Level 80s to 100s, and now that they reached Level 100, they were ready to join the higher tier of the Valthorns.

There were more from Mountainworld, too. What was once a really small group of soldiers now grew, thanks to the large recruitment process over at Branchhold over the past few decades. ItÆd been almost seventy years since Branchhold was established, and now the force from Branchhold was a respectable quarter of the total present.

In time, Lozanna believed that Threeworlds human and centaur recruits, and also the new Tropicsworld soldiers, would join the ranks.

They would have to prepare for another tour of service.

The Valthorns were expected to support multiple locations - Delvegard, and up to fifteen peripheral worlds, as identified by Gawa .

- So, ready for a trip to faraway worlds? - Kei smiled. The briefing was over, and what came next was for each of the Valthorns to sign up or abstain. Kei once said that this process was a little like how companies would ask for volunteers to go on faraway outstation assignments and how it was a common thing in the merchant guilds of Earth.

Lozanna found the concept amusing and nodded. - Sounds like thereÆs a lot to do there. If we can make a difference to the lives of the locals, yeah, IÆm up for it. -

The golem nodded. - Ever the hero at heart. -

Lozanna immediately glared at the female golem. She smiled.

- IÆm joking. -

Lozanna poked her playfully. - YouÆre not. -

At that point, Kei looked at the counter. They were allowed to sign up immediately or go back and think about it. Most of the Valthorns would mull on it for a few days.

- Which world looks good to you? -

- We donÆt know yet, do we? - Lozanna laughed. - But the peripheral worlds would be a place where I think I can contribute. At least there should be more demons to destroy. Delvegard doesnÆt seem particularly interesting to me. -

- ItÆs the safer option, and more suitable for those fond of more subtle types of moves, - another Valthorn spoke, and Lozanna nodded. Not all Valthorns were the warrior types - some were spies, like Spymaster Intip, and many others were diplomats. Each of them had worlds and situations that best made use of their talents.

For Lozanna , she felt she belonged in the battlefields. She longed to fight against demons, an experience now mostly missing from Treehome.

Roon and Johann also spoke of the void worlds, but the void worlds would remain off limits for non - domain holders. The presence of unusual creatures and strange rules meant the void worlds were a significantly higher risk to the elite Valthorns, while the peripheral worlds, as unloved, soon - to - be - godless worlds, were likely to be free of more obstructive and invasive, divine meddling.

Lozanna listened as Roon and Johann narrated that the meeting was more to assess the level of interest amongst the Valthorns. The exploration team of Stella, Edna, and Ezar was still surveying the faraway worlds, and the Valthorn presence would come in once theyÆd established the general details.

The initial reports were not encouraging. The earliest departure to the peripheral worlds would happen within days, because the peripheral worlds were all under heavy attack.

The elven warrior listened and wondered whether sheÆd be able to join the exploration team like Edna. That sounded interesting, and she remembered how she used to explore the other continents of Treehome.

She would like to be there. Exploration was one of her other interests. She heard tales of how Valthorns were involved in exploring the various tunnels and caves of Mountainworld, and her heart wished she was a part of it.

- You look like you have unanswered questions, milady. Something on your mind? - At that point, Johann was the one that approached Kei and Lozanna .

Lozanna smiled back and spoke her mind. - I was thinking about the explorers and wondering what itÆll be like to be one. -

Johann nodded. - If you are interested, I believe A/ would be happy to rotate you to the exploration team. -

Lozanna agreed. - Ah, I will raise it the next time I speak to him. -

Johann grinned. Few people could answer that way. - We look forward to having you with us on the field, Lozanna . From what I know, weÆll need almost all our people. -

Lozanna nodded.

It was horrifying.

The peripheral worlds were pretty much demon-infested, at different stages of destruction.

Yet she found herself excited at the prospects.

Treehome

A/ .

- Are we involved in the peripheral worlds? - Colette and Prabu asked. They were briefed, naturally, as were Adrian and Khefri. The presence of heroes in these worlds rekindled the idea of a League of Heroes, one that would be managed by Kei.

- Yes. The number of worlds involved would require all of you to be deployed, at least to help remove the threat of the demon kings, - I responded directly. - The Valthorns would then come in to sweep up the rest and help rebuild these worlds. I will need you all to step in, if there are any heroes surviving. -

- You will be doing this in your own name? - Colette wondered. - Or on behalf of Gawa ? -

- My own. If Gawa wishes to spread his presence, he can send some of his forces over, weÆd be happy to facilitate, but since itÆs our lives on the line, IÆve got no intention of letting him get the credit. -

Colette paused before answering. - I see. -

IÆd like to minimize the role of the heroes, simply because their strength was inconsistent. My domain holders all appeared much more stable and centered, while the heroes felt like they could snap. Well, maybe except for Colette.

ColetteÆs liberated hero gave her a sense of calm and assuredness that the rest of them didnÆt have. Even her partner had strange outbursts, like when he interacted with Chung.

It was a strange thing to feel, even though I personally liked talking to Prabu more than the rest. The heroes all had a switch in them that could trigger without notice and suddenly alter their reactions and behavior. It was for this reason that they were unreliable, even if interacting with them on a day - to - day basis could be pleasant and friendly.

They were trustworthy, until they suddenly were not.

I didnÆt want to work with these sorts of requirements. Not in the peripheral worlds, and not when we took the battle to the demon sun.

So I intended that the peripheral worlds become a farming location for my Valthorns and hoped we could elevate a few more of my Valthorns.

Once we stabilized the demon situation, I intended to deploy at least two clones, in the largest, most populous worlds, and use that presence to transform those worlds. I would like these peripheral worlds as future - Core - worlds, just like Treehome, Branchhold, and what I was doing with the world of Delvegard.

The data that came back from Edna and Stella was rather depressing.

The first world they were in, Landas, was almost conquered by the demon king.

The demon king that attacked Landas was some kind of flying demon king, and Landas itself faced demons with high regularity, apparently records, whatever little that they had left, claimed that the demon kings attacked almost every ten years.

They also used to have heroes, but the amount of heroes shrunk quite quickly, and so the condition in their world deteriorated rapidly. It only held on due to the many, many historical relics left behind by all the different heroes and the high - leveled warriors that protected their cities.

In short, they were perfect as our first base.

From StellaÆs surveys, they really needed help.

Peripheral Landas 3

Edna

Edna and team arrived at the next location on the map, only to find it was already an open - air cemetery. The bodies of elves torn by the flying demons were everywhere. Blood and the smell of rotting bodies filled the air. The elves probably died no more than a few days ago, because the bodies were only beginning to rot.

- WeÆre too late, - Edna said.

EzarÆs shock was brief, because he quickly steeled himself and nodded. There were things that needed to be done. - LetÆs keep going. We donÆt want to be late for the next one. -

Edna looked at the two rangers and druids. - Wait. Too late to save the cities, but there may still be survivors. LetÆs search underneath all of this. We should help them before we leave. Just in case anyoneÆs left. -

The knightÆs words made the Valthorn druid regain his composure and spread out his senses. The ranger used a kind of calming ability on himself and searched.

Ezar looked at Stella. - Lady Stella, send me over to the other locations first. If there are demons, I want to be there. -

Stella nodded, and the portal whirled open. As expected, there were demons. Ezar nodded, and he stepped to the other side.

About that time, the druid shouted, - ThereÆs a small group of them hidden underneath this rubble. TheyÆre very weak! -

After stating that, roots and vines immediately emerged from the druid and pierced into the rubble and began to lift the collapsed structure. A set of roots reached for the semi - conscious elves hidden underneath. They were injured, hungry, and almost dying. Only three. But three was better than none.

Edna got to them and immediately used a set of potions on them. Their wounds healed, and soon their eyes opened to the sight of EdnaÆs glimmering form.

- Are we dead? - they asked.

- No, - Edna said gently. - YouÆre not. -

The ranger then shouted, - ThereÆs another few hidden here. TheyÆre in bad shape, too. -

The druid and the mage immediately went over, while Stella checked on the first group. From his pocket space, the druid took out more potions. They continued to search and soon found, in total, twenty survivors, mostly children and their mothers, hidden underneath the rubble.

Many were delirious, but the potions helped with the physical wounds and the shot of food helped with their hunger.

Stella immediately opened a portal and sent them back to the Fortress of Roskor.

Novorosk was there when the portal opened before his eyes.

- Warleader Novorosk, these are the survivors from the nearby city. Take care of them. - The ranger guided the survivors through the portal.

Novorosk stared. - What? -

- Just take care of them. Feed them and house them somewhere. We will come back and check. -

Novorosk panicked but nodded. Once all of them were over, the portal closed.

At that point, Edna then looked back at Stella. - EzarÆs right. If there are other cities, we should go and get to them quickly. The more survivors we can save, the faster we can get this world back on its feet. A/ needs to send more people over and to all of the fifteen worlds. -

- We canÆt scout that many worlds at the same time, - Stella countered. The domain holders must be first to go. The druidÆs roots immediately rescued another few more elves hidden under the buried rubble.

The demons killed indiscriminately. To the demons, the mortals were just obstructions. What the demons wanted was the planetÆs Core. Everything else was unnecessary.

Edna looked around. - I think we can leave this world to the rest of the Valthorns. Leave Ezar here just in case. We must start moving. We donÆt know what condition weÆll find in the other fourteen worlds. Each day we waste is another day for the demons to slaughter more of these folks. Many of them do not have our advantages. We need full mobilization now. -

- But -

- Us domain holders will need to start hopping. LetÆs deploy the node here, and weÆll use this place as our launchpad, - Edna said. - We need all the domain holders in all the peripheral worlds. -

Stella pointed to the immediate problem. - ThereÆs not enough of us to cover all the worlds. -

There were eight domain holders, excluding A/ , and there were fifteen worlds. There were only four heroes.

- WeÆll have to leave node trees there and use that to support those worlds where we canÆt. The heroes will have to step in. We will need to hop extensively. -

Stella nodded. That wasnÆt ideal, but it was the best plan they could do with their current resources. Fifteen worlds also meant some worlds wouldnÆt have a node tree. A/ only had nine node tree slots left, after the first one was used on Delvegard.

- Kafa will have to leave Delvegard. -

- DelvegardÆs priority should be lower, - Edna countered. - Lives are at stake. LetÆs make haste. We can afford to patch it up as we go. -

Stella nodded. - Very well. Let me do so. -

Ezar

The portal led to a horde of demons attacking what was probably a city. It was one, once. There was already crazy fighting when he arrived, the demons have stained the lands with blood and corpses. Flying demons loomed as arrows zoomed.

The defenders were fighting with their lives on the line. Everyone was fighting. There were children, old elves, all doing their best with sticks and whatever weapons they had.

He looked around and immediately spotted the demon champion in charge. It was one of those axe champions. A large, bulky demon with four giant wings, two large, clawed legs, and two arms, each with a burning battleax.

He fought demons across the worlds, many times, and always found them to be emotionless creatures. If anything, he always thought the demons looked afraid. But it was ridiculous. The demons didnÆt feel fear. So he didnÆt believe it, either, when he thought the demon champion looked smug.

Demons had no feelings. EzarÆs enchanted gauntlets glowed as he channeled his domain ability. In an instant, the burst of energy from his fist smashed into the champion, and it splattered to death, unaware what hit him.

The death of the demon champion sent the demon army into a wild frenzy, but that was intentional.

Ezar activated the rings on his fingers and released their stored ability. They summoned five gigantic beasts, two lions and three gray wolves, each about Level 80 in power. - Go and slay the demons. -

The presence of the five giant animals instantly drew the attention of the demons. Without the demon champion, the rest of the flying demons were torn apart by the five powerful magical beasts.

Ezar hopped, and in a single leap he landed right next to the breaking lines. He spoke, his voice carried by the weight of his domain .

- Stand back. -

To the defenders fighting for their lives, they did.

EzarÆs gauntlet glowed, and he punched with such weight that all the demons in front of him were crushed in a single energy punch.

There was no need to use his domain ability here. He watched as his five summoned beasts tore through the demons, and the flying demons fled. Any demon that got close was crushed.

- Mommy, are we saved? - There was an elven boy who looked absolutely in awe. He was dirty, covered in blood, but his mother was injured. His mother, an elf, held a sharp, pointy wooden stick as a weapon.

His mother looked around. Everyone did. There was a feeling amongst all of the elves.

Disbelief.

Hope.

Relief.

Ezar turned. - Is this it? Any more demons? -

The elves didnÆt know what to answer. So no one answered. Ezar realized they probably werenÆt in any condition to know.

The place was probably a fortification of some kind, but the walls were already destroyed. The elves were fighting their last stand within the city itself, because they couldnÆt outrun the flying demons. Not that there was anywhere else to go, anyway.

The elves looked amongst themselves. There were no leaders left; all that were supposed to lead them died during the battle. The five beasts walked closer to Ezar, now that their target had been destroyed, and the elves stared in fear.

Ezar looked back at them. They were creatures tagged to his enchanted summoning ring, one of his many pieces of equipment. There was no need to speak the command, high - tier summons were mentally linked to their masters, but Ezar said it to assure the elves. - Patrol the perimeter. Roar if there are any demons. -

The lions and wolves roared in acknowledgment, and they ran to secure the perimeter. The elves were relieved to see the creatures move.

- Bring all the wounded here. IÆll help them where I can. Those that canÆt move, call me, - Ezar said as the rest of the elves scrambled to sort everything out. But at that point, they obeyed.

Ezar looked around and frowned. This wasnÆt the only world.

- Ezar to Stella, Ezar to Stella. This location is safe, but we need to keep moving and hit the rest of the cities. Can you open a portal? -

- Portal incoming. We plan to deploy a node soon to bring more forces over. Domain holders will need to visit all the peripheral worlds as soon as possible to deploy nodes. -

Ezar smiled. It was nice having teammates that he could count on. - Acknowledged. Let me know. -

Ezar turned back to face the elves as he checked his inventory. At that point, the portal swirled open, and both Stella and the druid stepped out. - Ezar, youÆre needed elsewhere. Falin will handle the healing and fixing the security. -

Falin, the Level 130 Valthorn druid, got to work.

- There are other locations with demons, - Stella said as she prepared to open a portal again.

Ezar nodded as Falin looked at the location. The druidÆs arms glowed briefly as roots shot out of his arms. At that moment, a wall of bramble emerged around what was left of the elven encampment. - This should protect the location for now. -

- WhereÆs Edna? -

- ThereÆs another location. A proper city. It may be under siege. -

- Is it our timing? Why are cities under siege at this time? - Ezar found it terribly unusual. It was common knowledge that most reinforcements arrived either too early or too late, though in some ways, they were too late. Somehow, so many cities were under siege.

Stella smiled. - WeÆll deal with that later. Portal open. Go, go, go. IÆll deploy the node once A/ acknowledges our request. -

Ezar didnÆt know where and how far he was from Stella, but it didnÆt matter. He trusted sheÆll come back for him once it was over. The portal opened, and he arrived to immediately see three demon champions in the air.

Three! How cute.

The demons actually saw him this time, and they roared at him.

He punched through them. Two died instantly, and then he dashed toward the third with such speed that the third demon champion briefly looked horrified. He was fairly sure it wasnÆt horror. Perhaps it was just a survival reaction.

It died.

The elven city of this location was protected by a magical shield that felt like star mana . A quick glance suggested that this was a fairly prosperous city at one point in its life. But it had a breach.

There were two more demon champions there, battling the defenders. The defenders here were actually fairly competent. There were two Level 80ûplus elven warriors battling against the demon champions, and they looked like they had special equipment from a much earlier time.

- Stella, I donÆt think this location needs help. They have hero items . -

- Really? - Stella responded through the message . - Uh, give me a couple of minutes. IÆll send you elsewhere. -

- Got it. IÆll make myself useful for a bit. -

He looked around and decided to just help their odds for a bit. His domain spread out. Everyone saw Ezar glowing midair like a god of war, his fists shimmered with power like the fists of furious heavens. Lightning, fire, and the elements each in a single punch.

The demons charged at him. Mindlessly.

The two demon champions trying to break the gates turned to face him, as they soon decided he was the larger threat.

They all were nothing before a domain holder . His domain was oppressive to these lesser demons.

They died in a splatter of magic.

The elven defenders stared at Ezar in horror. Ezar merely smiled and decided it was worth it to pitch his presence. He scrambled to recall the name in the map. - Greetings, Elves of Shorodosk. I come in the name of A/ . You will hear from us soon. -

The elves looked like they had more questions, but StellaÆs portal opened.

- Deal with the remnants, - Ezar commanded. - Stay safe. We will contact you. -

And he stepped through the portal and left the elven defenders wondering what happened.

YEAR 273 (PART 3)

Edna

This was supposed to be the biggest city known to Roskor Elves, at least a few centuries ago. This place was supposed to be the old capital of the White Elves, Nunarnusk. When Edna arrived, what she found was a fortified city that was battered in many, many places.

It reminded her of Mountainworld. The same scrappiness in the eyes of the people. The same ruthless desire to protect themselves. Everyone here fought wars. Generations lived to fight, and so their people turned hardy.

Tough.

They made do with what they had. Because they had no choice.

They deserved better, of course. This kind of society destroyed those who didnÆt adapt to this kind of life. Who couldnÆt adapt, because they were talented in a field that this world didnÆt need.

A sad thing, but societies like this had to make do.

The city of Nunarnusk was protected, just like the other city. There was a magical shield that stopped attacks and blocked demons. But they were also selective and allowed for the elves to move in and out freely. So the shields that protected the city didnÆt work on Edna.

She felt its energy wobble. It was weak. It weakened a lot over the years, but the fact that it still held for so long was testament to the incredible power of star mana .

Immediately within NunarnuskÆs shield bubble was a layer of battered walls made of stone, wood, and whatever rubble they got their hands on. There were guards on all the towers, and everyone looked tense.

There were demons, but the demons were not attacking. Instead, Nunarnusk was under siege. There were five to six demon champions, all seemingly waiting. Edna thought of helping but realized it was better to figure out what was happening.

Edna cloaked her presence even before she went through the portal, so as she walked through the tired crowds, it was clear everyone was preparing for the next fight.

ItÆd be hard for anyone to see her here.

- Have we patched the left walls? - Edna eventually found someone that looked like a leader, and he was barking orders to the worker men. The elf had armor and exuded power equal to someone at the very limit of their strength. Most likely Level 85.

Some of the workers were injured. A lost limb, a limp. They did the repairs, because in a fight, theyÆd be useless.

It was very rare to see amputees and folks with lost limbs in the Valthorns and Valtorn Order. Ever since A/ healed Yura Æs limbs many, many decades ago, A/ made it a point to restore everyoneÆs limbs. A/ even extended the treatment to the general populace, though there was a lottery that was always oversubscribed.

The leader turned to face another set of workers. - All the folks that can fight are waiting for you, Commander Argo. -

The man known as Commander Argo nodded. Edna quietly followed. Argo glanced briefly in her direction, but he was unable to pierce her illusion items.

There were about a thousand fighters there, all armed with weapons and armor. EdnaÆs quick glance told her all she needed to know. Half of them were injured in some way, and only about three hundred were in full fighting form.

Commander Argo soon elaborated on what seemed to be common knowledge to those present. The demons have been waiting outside for the last one week after their earlier failed assault. There were more demons coming, and the demons had the city of Nunarnusk surrounded. Commander Argo opted for a defensive strategy: stay put and keep waiting.

Edna listened and surveyed those present. There were about seven or so that had a power aura similar to Commander Argo. Level 80 to 85 meant they could take on the demon champions and win.

TheyÆd survive this battle. There were enough strong warriors here to survive the siege.

Then, as the group was dismissed, Commander Argo was surrounded by that same group of strong warriors. And internal divisions emerged. There were whispers of going against the commanderÆs plan, and the high - powered folks were split in half. Together, theyÆd survive.

Three of them had enough. - WeÆre tired of waiting. We charge out there and break this siege. We need the resources outside our walls, Commander. We cannot hold up like this forever. -

Argo countered, - We donÆt even know if those resources are still there. The demons could have destroyed it. -

- Then what? We keep waiting and let them destroy those resources? We need the iron quarries and the white - iron stones. Our weapons need repairs. Our healers need the white - iron stones to make some of our healing tools. WeÆre dying if we keep holding here. -

Edna thought the conversation was slightly pointless. If she acted, they wouldnÆt have this issue. But she listened. It was good to know what was going on.

Argo frowned. - There are five ax champions out there. The four of you rushing out there is a death sentence. The demons will get us separately. -

The equipment used by the four elves was in pretty bad shape. They were battled and scarred and some of its old magic lost. - Then come with us. -

- The city is defenseless! We cannot leave the city defenseless! - Argo countered.

- The shield will hold. -

- The shield will not, - Argo said, frustrated. - Its energies are weak and wonÆt last if the demons attack. ItÆll need time to recharge. -

- Then why are we waiting? We must charge out there and defeat them before they overwhelm us. YouÆre being too careful, Argo. ItÆs time to go out there and defeat them. -

Argo paused. - Can you give me half a day to think about this? -

The other elves looked at each other and shrugged. - Fine. Commander Argo, weÆll charge out there, whether you are coming or not. -

Argo frowned. - Please - donÆt do anything stupid. -

Edna trailed Commander Argo to his own office. There was a small office filled with resources scattered everywhere, and he sat on the only chair in the cramped room.

He was talking to himself then. - ItÆs always like this? -

Edna then appeared at the door as she disabled her cloak. - Commander Argo. -

Argo turned, and his weapon of choice, a kind of dagger, was immediately pointed at Edna. - Who are you? -

Edna smiled. - An ally. Well, a potential ally. -

- An ally? - Argo looked around. - Are you alone? -

- Sort of, yes. But IÆd like to talk. About your city and everything. -

- And what makes you think IÆll talk to a stranger. How did you even get here? - Argo said, totally unused to the fact that there was a stranger.

- Because, Commander Argo, I can help. -

- You can? You, alone? -

- Of course not. I am here on behalf of A/ and the Valtorn Order, and we are here to destroy the demons. -

- IÆve never heard of you. -

- YouÆve never heard of anyone outside your city, - Edna corrected. Most communication between cities collapsed due to the constant demonic attacks, as cities turned insular.

- ThatÆs not true. There was a period of peace after the hero Junmark defeated the demon king fifty - nine years ago? -

- Is it? But how many demon kings since then? - Edna asked. - Every hero that came after is weaker and fighting against tougher odds as the demons established stronger footholds. Every hero weakened, since they couldnÆt level quickly with the loss of the low - level habitats commonly used for farming. -

Heroes could spar to gain levels, but given their situation, he wondered whether the kingdoms would just immediately force the heroes out to the battlefield.

Argo looked at Edna like she was an alien. - So what do you want? -

- Tell me the history of Nunarnusk in an hour, and tell me everything. I assure you, I will deal with your demon siege once this is over. You can even watch. -

Argo had never seen a stranger, but EdnaÆs presence overwhelmed him. His eyes looked at the knight, and he thought she was mad. Confident, but mad. - Very well. -

The demons came in huge waves every ten years. The past few decades, the hero was able to defeat the demon king, but they did so at great cost. The last attack left the previous hero without one of his arms and cursed by a dark magic that no one in the entire world could break.

Thanks to the curse, the hero couldnÆt go on and destroy the remaining demons. Instead, he was like a weakened, semi - dying man wishing he could die, but the hero class was too strong.

Even severely weakened, no one could kill him. His soul and blessings were still too strong. So the hero rested in a city of the Night Elves called Chursky. That was the last communication Nunarnusk received from Chursky about six years ago.

For Nunarnusk, the demons never really stopped. The great deserts, of which there were seven, each turned into demonlands and continued to spit out demons by the hundreds and thousands, so travel between cities became a matter of great risk.

Only cities that were really close together could still communicate regularly.

There were no gigantic oceans in Landas. Instead, there were six great lakes, and at the center of those great lakes were the few bastions of the old elven empires. Nunarnusk lost touch with those old bastions a few years ago.

Edna listened and laughed. - Very well, call your men. Call them all to the walls. I, on behalf of A/ , would like to demonstrate our intentions. -

Commander Argo thought it was rather embarrassing, but when he left his office, the six other Level 80s were waiting for him. He looked back at Edna and then toward the walls. - To the walls. -

The four that supported the push outward looked surprised. - LetÆs go. -

The seven gathered up on the walls, and Edna followed quietly behind. The rest of them didnÆt notice her; they were busy preparing for the charge out. The four immediately called their own supporters to prepare for the charge.

Once they were at the walls, Argo looked at Edna. - So what is it that you want to demonstrate? -

It was at this moment that everyone noticed EdnaÆs presence. Edna nodded, her cloak vanishing to reveal her in shining armor. Two anti - demon swords appeared magically, and there and then, her domain flooded the city.

Everyone felt it, Argo as well.

- Regenerating Guardians . -

Five glowing magical knights appeared, and they flew. They were ephemeral objects, and they shared EdnaÆs toughness. They zoomed across the skies, creatures of magic.

Creatures made from EdnaÆs Domain .

Edna looked around. - There are demons on the other side, as well? -

Argo nodded, his white hair seeming whiter, his fair face a slightly greenish pale.

EdnaÆs energies wobbled outward, as more magical knights appeared. EdnaÆs lesser magical summons swarmed outward, a hundred magical knights now taking the field.

It was a short battle, because none of the demons could even harm EdnaÆs guardians.

The seven leading defenders of Nunarnusk looked at Edna with a mix of awe and fear. - Well, Commander Argo of Nunarnusk, I am Edna of the Valtorn Order, and we are here to recruit allies. If you agree to join us, you will have our protection, but in turn, we will require you to support our war against the demons. -

Argo nodded. There was no other word to say.

- Okay. Nunarnusk is secure. WeÆve added it to the fold. Has A/ approved the node treeÆs placement? - Edna said as the elves of Nunarnusk breathed a rare moment of relief.

Stella responded, - Yes. Node deployment approved. But we need to decide on a location. -

Ezar, also on the same discussion, added, - Just pick a location and start sending Valthorns over. Is there a hero in this world? -

- Yes. Want to arrange a visit? - Edna countered.

Ezar laughed. - LetÆs bet. A hundred gold that itÆs under siege. -

Edna chuckled. - ThatÆs a stupid bet. The hero is there. The demons must be drawn to him like moths to a flame. Also, the hero seems to be cursed. -

Stella frowned. - If thatÆs the case, the decisionÆs made for us. LetÆs place the node tree where the hero is. Send the hero back to Treehome, let A/ work on him, and send him back here to fight. -

Edna had a feeling what happened on Landas would be a tale similar across all the worlds.

INTERLUDE

Edna, on Landas, the Elven Peripheral World

The portal whirled open to the old location supposed to be where the hero was. Nunarnusk was once the great capital of the White Elves, so they retained many old records, stored, luckily, in their underground vaults. The locals gladly gave her a tour of the place, and indeed, there was a time long, long ago when they rivaled even the great empires of Threeworlds or Mountainworld.

Great empires were but materials to be turned into sawdust in the hands of the demons ever - persistent grinding machine.

The old vaults were sealed magically. The White Elves hoped that if they fell, the cityÆs history would still somehow remain within these vaults. There were no weapons here. Instead, it was all books and records. Paintings.

And most importantly, detailed maps.

Maps that made it easy for Stella to roughly locate its location. An old White Elf, apparently almost six hundred years old, volunteered to help them verify the location of the heroÆs resting place. There was a time, a few centuries ago, when there was a lull in the demons push. When they lucked out with a hero with the right mix of talent, capability, and luck to help beat back the demons and push the balance of power in their favor.

During the fleeting era of peace, there was travel between the cities. There was trade that has long vanished. Magical travel was possible during the period, instead of the constant, perpetual disruptions today.

- Portal disruptions seem pretty common, - Stella said. A lot of the messaging and teleportation failure was entirely due to the demons magical disruption, and for someone like Stella, it wasnÆt even hard to tell where those disruptive energies came from.

The demons nests in the deserts of Landas were all sources of that disruption. Stella almost didnÆt notice them, but StellaÆs portals, that survived the shredding of reality and teleportation on far more chaotic environments like the demons comet, easily overpowered the disruptions. If they had capable mages, they might have managed to maintain some semblance of a communication network even in spite of the disruptions, but Edna knew that those odds were unlikely.

Talent needed the right circumstances to flourish, and even today, even with the huge talent infrastructure of the Valthorns, mage training remains slow. Faster than before, but still slow.

And so the portal opened, to a field of destruction and burned wood. Ash.

It was a lake, once upon a time, but it had long since dried up. There were bodies filled with the corpses of the dead, though demons rarely left corpses. They decayed way too quickly.

There were champions in the distance, hammering at what appeared to be a magical shield. The shield protected a cherry tree that had long since withered and was without a single leaf or flower.

There was an injured hero within that treeÆs little space.

All around the shield was endless destruction. The White Elf collapsed on the ground and wailed. - This entire place - it - it used to be a large city. One hundred thousand High Elves once walked this land, and now, all that remains is the Sacred Cherry of the First Estate?! -

Edna and StellaÆs eyes both scanned the demon-filled surroundings. There certainly didnÆt seem to be anything resembling a city here. It was just a series of craters, whatever civilization didnÆt leave any structures or infrastructure that survived the demons attack.

The champions all hammered away at the shield. The shield did not break. The shield did not bend. But they both could sense the attacks chipping away at its strength. Slowly. The shield could last a few more years.

- Since I am here, - Edna said, as she jumped and landed not far away from the flood of demons, - I might as well play. -

Her Quest Swords appeared by the tens, and the knightÆs magical summons soon appeared to accompany her. What were champions before a domain holder?

Stella created a shield around herself and her guide, the old white elf. EdnaÆs blade shone like the fury of the stars. In the land that was once the First Estate, light returned and ended centuries of darkness brought about by the demons champions.

In what was no more than ten series of flashing lights, the army of demon champions crumbled.

The pounding of the shield ended, and an eerie silence returned to the land.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

EdnaÆs footsteps felt like the marches of a million soldiers. She walked to the gigantic Cherry tree that was all withered and felt the presence of a heroic shield.

- A/ would be pleased to find another spirit tree out here, - Edna said, her quest swords vanished into their own magical space.

Stella looked at the White Elf guide, - Please return to Nunarnusk. -

The White Elf wanted to stay, but he dared no object. - Please donÆt hurt the Sacred Cherry. It is one of the most sacred places for all of the High Elves. Our ancestors have offended the gods enough. I do not wish to offend them further. -

Stella found that amusing. All the briefings they received suggested they were all enemies. - Rest assured, if the Sacred Cherry is not our enemy, it would not find us a threat. -

The White Elf went back through the portal, and Stella teleported up to Edna.

With not a single demon in sight, the withered Cherry Tree stood before them.

- So, do we talk to it? - Stella asked. - Or do we require LumoofÆs presence? Connect roots and stuff. -

- I thought you said weÆd just deploy A/ Æs clone here and be done with it, - Edna teased, but the nature of their work meant most plans had to be adjusted. Reality and plans were not good friends.

A root emerged from EdnaÆs body, an ability of A/ Æs familiar. It pierced the dirt around them and made contact with the roots of the Cherry Tree.

The sensation was immediate, like two minds touching. But her domain protected her, while the counterpart was unprotected.

Domain blocked attempted intrusion

But they could still speak through the connection of roots.

- Greetings. - EdnaÆs words were transmitted through the roots from her body. All she felt was a weak whimper from the other side. Its thoughts were slurred and weak.

Edna could feel the vulnerability, the frailness in its energies, so she tapped into the familiarÆs healing powers. Though nothing like the real thing, the effects were immediate, as the flow of healing energies into the Cherry Tree reinvigorated the withered plant, its branches and trunk gained color that was lost, and small cherry buds began to emerge from the tips of its branches. New leaves spawned from the tips of the tree.

It took about ten or fifteen minutes, but the Cherry Tree no longer withered. Stella smiled. - Well? -

This time, the reply from the Cherry Tree had strength that was once lost.

- I greet our rescuers. Our gratitude knows no bounds. - The Cherry TreeÆs voice was like the whisper of a gentle old man.

Edna looked around. - I was told the hero is here. -

- The hero lies within. Nursing his curse. -

- The hero is cursed. - Edna recited from experience. - His soul feels as if heÆs wrestling against the darkness. There is demonic poisoning within his soul. A curse that tainted his soul, a mark that blemished his once - pristine soul spring. He may even have voices in his mind, whispering demonic words. -

- You have seen this sickness. - Edna felt the Cherry TreeÆs surprise through their root connection.

The knight grinned in amusement. Things repeated. She understood why A/ once said that what was possible was pretty much a certainty to occur. Once they visited enough worlds, it was inevitable that they would meet those with similar circumstances.

- We have someone that can heal the curse. - Edna looked at Stella. - We need Lumoof here. -

Stella caught on. - On it. - The rift gate opened, though momentarily Edna detected the Cherry TreeÆs defensiveness. It must have suspected this was the demons work.

The priest stepped through the rift gate, and the earth itself around them seemed to spring forth with life. Plants, grass spawned as if spurred on by the world itself, and the Cherry TreeÆs buds bloomed. What was a destroyed field turned into a field of young grass.

- Well, where is the patient? - Lumoof asked.

- Within, - the Cherry Tree answered, and Lumoof nodded. The Cherry TreeÆs bark bent magically, and a door opened.

- Secret Hideout , - Lumoof said as he approached the room. It was a tiny space, much smaller than the labyrinth within A/ Æs true body.

Edna followed closely behind and saw an elvish man strapped to tree vines. One side of his arm turned black from the effects of the curse, a familiar old rot from a far older time. She saw something similar in A/ Æs dream academy .

Lumoof touched the elvish man, and he felt LumoofÆs domain focus. It was instantaneous, because LumoofÆs energies grabbed something within the elf hero, and pulled.

The demonÆs curse was ejected forcefully, a festering parasite that Lumoof grabbed and pulled out of his soul. It immediately transformed and attempted to take the form of some kind of demonic spawn. EdnaÆs blade was through the spawnÆs body, and her shining blade destroyed it instantly.

The removal of the demonÆs curse restored health to the elven hero instantly, as the darkened skin on the heroÆs body regained color. His face, which was once in pain, instantly relaxed. Lumoof, Edna, and Stella stood and allowed the hero to sleep.

- Well, I was told there are many other worlds like this. - Lumoof looked at Stella as the three domain holders rested outside the Cherry Tree. - Should you start moving? -

Stella shrugged. - Well, yes, but we couldnÆt leave things in their current state here. And since we are familiar with this place already, we might as well finish what we started. -

- You are like us. - The Cherry Tree spoke abruptly.

Lumoof stopped. - Ah yes, I did not introduce ourselves. We are from the Valtorn Order, and we are an organization that aims to defeat the demons across the multiverse. We were asked to come here, to shore up the localÆs defenses, as the old gods presence fades. -

- You are a tree, - the Cherry Tree emphasized.

Edna and Stella chuckled.

Lumoof shook his head. - IÆm not a tree. I am merely the avatar of one. -

- There is no difference. -

- Oh, there is a huge difference, - Lumoof countered.

- We have authorization for deployment. - Lozanna sat quietly in the vast meeting room when the commander and strategist presented the layout. - Our destination is Landas, and based on the map retrieved, these are the identified settlements. Each team of ten will visit thirty locations, defeat demons, rescue survivors, help restore some basic semblance of civilization, and report back. -

Lozanna nodded, as the teams of ten were formed. All in all, there were twenty teams. - Nice to see you again, Ebon. - Lozanna smiled.

Ebon, the A/ ic battle knight , shook her hand. - Glad to serve with you. ItÆs been a long time. -

Ebon served as a knight for many decades, though he did take a break. But he was also one of those who was stuck in the high Level 130s to 140s, unable to push on.

Then a centaur approached. - Arjan. YouÆre on our team, too? -

Arjan nodded. - Hallowed company indeed. A/ Æs princess and the old black knight. - The centaur peeked behind Lozanna to find another woman. - And a matreearch. -

Lozanna turned and bowed before Matreearch Hoyia. - I was not aware you are participating in this round of exploration. -

Hoyia smiled gently. - There are younger priests to handle affairs on Treehome, and things are stable here. How could I resist diving into the deep end and see what it is like? I would have to trouble the rest of you to be my bodyguard. -

Lozanna chuckled. Hoyia was a Treeology Matreearch that served for decades, and she doubted the woman needed protection. Not with her own natural set of blessings. Six other Valthorns joined the four, and they were all in the Level 125 and above.

It wasnÆt the first run for most of them. The announcement came immediately that evening.

- All right, the node tree was deployed. Get ready for transport. Equipment ready! Final checks! - Lozanna checked her own backpack and her spears. Her group would be led by Ebon; he was technically the most experienced one here with a long history of deployments to strange new worlds.

Ebon glanced at his team, and they all indicated their readiness.

- Well, letÆs go. -

About two hundred and fifty would be teleported over to Landas, but fifty of them would be around the node tree . - The node tree in the outskirts of Nunarnusk. -

- Good luck. -

- Another survivor here, - Hoyia said as she helped a young boy out of the hole. There was something about visiting a world where death was so commonplace that survivors seemed like a miracle.

Lozanna wondered how the boy survived in that hole, but such perilous circumstances often seemed to create miracles.

- Are you angels sent by the gods? - the young boy asked when he was much better. It almost seemed like all of them were surrounded by a halo.

Lozanna shook her head, even though she could see why the boy thought so. - No. -

She remembered that conversation with Kei, how she was a hero in her eyes. She looked around, at her team, and saw they too had similar emotions. No matter what they said, in the eyes of these survivors, the team were heroes.

- All right, letÆs send them to Roskor. We need to keep moving. More places to go, - Ebon commanded. This was their sixth location, and almost all of them were just ruins. Most survivors lucked out, somehow trapped under rubble but not yet dead. The others hid and ran. The rangers found many survivors this way, hiding in what remains of the forests, in caves or holes throughout the land.

Of the marked locations, they found a few somewhat intact cities. These cities and towns were all lucky, because long ago, the heroes left defensive items for them. Some ruins were just filled with dead people, dead for years, if not decades.

The seventh location was a field of death. Destruction claimed the land from long ago that plants began to grow from the ashes.

- This is what our world could be like, - Hoyia said quietly.

Arjan merely tapped the matriarchÆs shoulder. - DonÆt dwell on it for too long, priestess. Our focus is on rescuing survivors, if any remain. -

Lozanna remembered a similar scene on the Eastern Continent. The demons didnÆt get a chance to destroy freely, because A/ existed. If the locals could not defend themselves, the solution was obvious. A/ needed to be everywhere.

They needed to be everywhere.

Lozanna realized later that day that being everywhere was a lot harder than they expected.

They covered eleven locations that day and gave themselves four hours to rest. They would need to keep moving.

- The domain holders will be moving to another world. - Ebon spoke when they woke from their rest. - New orders. They expect that only four or five teams will remain in this world to support the natives by the weekÆs end. We need to start making substantive improvements to this worldÆs defenses, as soon as possible. -

- What? - Hoyia said. - But we just came here. -

- There are fifteen worlds to reinforce. Treehome expects to send lower - leveled Valthorns over to support those that remain, - Ebon said. - LetÆs keep moving. We wonÆt be able to rest much. -

The seven surviving domain holders had to split up and formed three teams. Edna and Stella left Landas behind and arrived in the next world. Lumoof and Kafa were sent to another one. Johann, Roon, and Ezar to the fourth peripheral world.

All three teams found more worlds at stake. All these worlds were under attack by the demon kings. Some were almost all lost, and in others, the heroes were significantly less and weaker from their earlier days.

They were weakened, because the demons employed demonic curses extensively in all these worlds. Demonic parasites, demonic curses were found even in lesser beings, but these lesser beings died quickly.

- They are pulling the teams there already? - HoyiaÆs exasperation was immediate. - DonÆt we have people on Treehome? -

- Too low leveled, - Ebon countered.

The Valtorn Order as a whole had about three thousand Level 100 and above individuals. A huge amount that meant the Valtorn Order far outclassed the powers of every other party in Treehome, Mountainworld, and Threeworlds combined.

It was, in every sense of the world, a monumental sum. A fighting force to fear.

But about one third of these were non - combat classes. Crafters, enchanters, builders. Merchants and lords. Mage - researchers. Trainers and teachers.

So, effectively, only two thousand Level 100 individuals were ready for deployment. There was also a need to maintain standing forces on Threeworlds, Mountainworld, and Tropicsworld. These three worlds security situation required a larger staff strength. That eliminated another one thousand or so Level 100 individuals from deployment. If they stretched it, they could reduce the number to five hundred.

So, at any one point, only about one thousand to fifteen hundred or so Level 100s could be deployed as an expeditionary or peacekeeping force, supported by a larger population of lower - leveled Valthorns.

The high - level math was obvious. - If there are fifteen worlds like this, we can only deploy about seventy to one hundred Level 100 individuals per world. -

It seemed like a big number, but each of these worlds were large places. These seventy Valthorns would definitely turn the tide and trivialize all lesser threats wherever they went, but they couldnÆt be everywhere. It wasnÆt large enough to cover all the places that needed help.

- It will have to do, - Ebon said. The support force of those below Level 100would have to fill up the gaps.

The team sat and processed EbonÆs update. Lozanna looked around them and wondered whether there were enough of them to reach these worlds in time.

- LetÆs keep going. We might have to depart for another world once weÆre done here, too. -

They visited location after location in a rush, and finally, when they stopped at the last marked location, Lozanna stood over a corpse that was still warm. A young elven woman gored to death by demons.

Maybe if they reached the place an hour earlier, she wouldÆve lived.

- No use thinking about it. - Ebon sat next to Lozanna as they ate some of their rations. There were few animals or wild creatures to hunt for food, and most forests were destroyed. The surviving cities all had their own specialized farms, supported by their local druids and farmers . - We just have to keep going. -

Lozanna didnÆt like the feeling of helplessness. What price would she pay if she could save more people? No, what would she sacrifice to end this war?

Maybe that was A/ Æs question. She knew A/ sensed it all. A/ could see this. He absorbed the spirits of the dead by the hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions.

Why would he not make a deal with the devil to end this slaughter?

- How many of us are left on Landas? - Lozanna asked.

- Six teams remaining. The other fourteen have been summoned to leave for the other worlds. More are getting ready. -

Lozanna looked around them. Hoyia helped some of the injured with her healing powers. Her blend of priestly and familiar powers meant she could fix most injuries instantaneously.

Thanks to the combined efforts of all their teams, theyÆd constructed a revised map of Landas, indicating all the surviving cities. Of the six great capitals of the elves, only three remained. The other three were razed into the ground by the demons. Nunarnusk, Atarusk, and Sorokor were the three last elven capitals that stood in some way or form.

- All right, Lumoof and Kafa have left the world, - Ebon said suddenly. It was a matter - of - fact update.

- Wait. ItÆs been barely a few days, - Lozanna thought.

- Their world was in such terrible shape that there wasnÆt much left to help. - Ebon recited the communications that came through the network. Updates on the peripheral worlds were given regularly to each of the team leaders, along with updates on the domain holder movements.

- Did they deploy a node? -

- No. Not yet, - Ebon countered.

- What are our orders now? - Lozanna wondered as one of the druids helped create a reinforced wooden rampart for the survivors. They would survive. TheyÆd eliminated almost all the demons they could find.

- None yet. At this point, Treehome CommandÆs leaving it up to the rest of us team leaders to decide what to do. -

Lozanna Æs instincts were simple. If the overarching goal was to reinforce the natives, then they could also accomplish that by weakening the demons. - We have two main choices that maximize our presence. We strike the demons bases in the deserts, clean up the shit that was left behind, and reduce the frequency of demonic raids on the surviving natives. Or we support the elf heroÆs retaliation. -

Ebon nodded. - The elf heroÆs in Treehome for now. So the heroÆs retaliation will have to wait until he returns. Let me talk to the rest of them and build a strike force. -

INTERLUDE

Novorosk

Everything about the place was surreal. Novorosk looked around and had never seen a city like it. It was massive and filled with creatures. Talking lizards and horse - people!

But more important were the people that came along with him. People he didnÆt think heÆd ever see. Novorosk of Roskor couldnÆt believe the people he met. - You - youÆre the hero ? -

The elf man was gorgeous. He had features of the high elves - long, light blond hair that was down to his waist, elvish ears, and handsome features that made the females present stare. He sighed, and somehow he managed to look good while sighing. - Yes. Not a good one. I am Samuel, or since IÆve come here, I go by the name Samahiro. -

- This way. - There were chauffeurs, attendants that led the group of twenty or so leaders of Landas to a large tunnel. The city was overwhelming to them, and all of them were dazed. Novorosk looked at the mass of people and immediately wondered how they were fed and housed.

Except Samuel, who looked at the city wistfully, as if remembering a life before his current one.

Novorosk was next to a lady with pale gray skin and equally gray hair. Among the elves, they were sometimes referred to as the Drow, but they referred to themselves as the elves of the night.

The woman and Novorosk exchanged glances, as if sizing each other up. Commander Argo, the leader of the White Elves of Nunarnusk, greeted the rest of them. The fact that so many senior members of the various elven cities could gather made the commander look as if he wanted to cry.

- Are you all right, Commander Argo? - Novorosk asked out of concern.

He rubbed his eyes. - I, I just cannot help but feel a little teary, that the leaders of the various elven cities are allowed to meet under much gentler circumstances. This moment should be recorded. The first gathering of the elven leaders after a period of darkness. -

The woman was surprised. - I believe it is too hasty to consider it the end of darkness. -

That statement made the rest of them freeze. It was true that they now had hope, but they were not out of the darkness yet.

Samuel, the elven hero, laughed. - Look around us, lady. We are in an entirely different world, and we face a force clearly geared for war. If this is not the end of the darkness, then what evidence do you need? -

At that moment, a woman in a dark green uniform stepped out of a gigantic door. - Greetings. A/ is ready to see you now. Hero Samuel, you will have an additional, separate session after the meeting. -

The beetle led them underground, through tunnels and vines, but strangely, it felt as if the earthÆs pulse gained strength. The blood elves of Roskor were particularly sensitive to energy flows, particularly spiritual energy. It was spiritual energies that powered their blood - runes and blood - marks, so the overwhelming presence of spiritual energy in the tunnels was a strange surprise.

- WhatÆs going to happen? - the night elven woman asked the uniformed lady.

- You will meet our god, the leader of the A/ ic Pantheon. -

The night elf frowned, as if there was disbelief. They then saw the valley, with the pulsing trees and the flowing energies. The place pulsed, as if each of the trees possessed a heartbeat. There were streaks of light, as if the stars and meteors were trapped in the trees themselves.

- We are here. -

The beetle stopped in a gigantic courtyard, and in front of them was the biggest tree they have ever seen? -

Then he felt it.

His attempts to look at the tree were met with a sensation as if a million eyes were upon him. His mind was immediately sucked into a maze of trees, and he felt lost. Novorosk didnÆt know how long he was in there, but then? -

- You all right? - Samuel asked.

Novorosk suddenly felt himself pulled out of the maze, but what replaced it was immediately a sense of scale. He looked at the tree and thought for a moment like he was looking at trees in other places, and the more he tried to look at it, the more he felt like his mind was being pulled apart.

His knees buckled, and quickly, he averted his gaze. The rest of them stared at the tree, only to all kneel, unable to look at the tree anymore.

- Greetings. - The voice was in their heads, and Novorosk felt his skin tremble. His hair stood on its end, as if that voice whispered right next to him, from both his ears at the same time. No, it was as if a choir spoke to him all at once.

Samuel the hero heard the voice, too, and looked around, as if searching. - Greetings? Who - who are we speaking to? -

- I am A/ , the gigantic tree right in front of you. Welcome to my Valley. I have asked my people to bring you here for many reasons. Mainly, I ask for your cooperation. -

Samuel was the only one who could look back at the Tree. NovoroskÆs attempts to even glance at its roots immediately awakened that feeling from before. How? Why? The lady mentioned that the Tree was everywhere, and yet in this valley, why was the sensation so intense?

- Anything you command, - Novorosk answered, as if his soul compelled himself to answer. Just being here imprinted the TreeÆs presence in his soul. He would never forget.

- What is it? - Samuel asked.

- I will establish the Valtorn Order on your world of Landas. We will help you rebuild, if you let us. But we will also ask some among you to fight for us, and we will choose those willing and talented among you to take this fight beyond your world and further into the stars. -

Novorosk realized then that this was a conscription. A/ intended to turn their world into one that supplied soldiers? -

- Who are we fighting? - Samuel asked.

- The demons, of course. -

The night elven woman asked, - Are - are you sent by the gods? -

There was a moment of silence before the Tree answered into their minds. - Your old gods are drifting away. I am here to take their place. -

Samuel was the only one standing. - Why? -

- Time, and expansion of the multiverse. -

Novorosk didnÆt understand it, but Samuel did. He looked at the Tree and sighed. - Can you send me back home? -

- No. I am not the one that brought you here, so I cannot send you back. -

- Then who did? - Samuel asked.

- Hero Samuel. You will have another session later to speak to me privately, and with some other individuals that you will work with, if you choose to cooperate with us. To the rest of you, do you agree to assist my people as we settle in your world? -

The night elven lady answered, - I cannot decide on the behalf of the rest of my people, but I will try my best to convince them to agree. -

Commander Argo answered with a firmness he never exhibited back in Nunarnusk. - Yes. We will support your people with all our might. -

The rest of them nodded without hesitation. - Yes. -

Novorosk wondered how much of their answer was fear. They were ants, and the tree in front of them was the finger of god and could crush them if it so wished. It was a sensation he couldnÆt shake. A savior had come to their world, but their world would be reshaped in their saviorÆs image.

The guide helped the rest of them out, and they were all relieved to be brought far, far away from the gigantic tree.

Novorosk sat and thought. His world would change. It would change into a world made to support this godÆs war. For once, they were no longer helpless victims of war.

This would be a better life for his people. For most of them, as the beetle brought them out of the valley and into the larger city, he realized that they now had a hope to live a life like they once did, and better. The various elven empires would be remade from what was left behind.

For most of them, this would lead them to prosperity.

But he also noticed the soldiers of Tree. The short - eared men and women, lizard - people and horse - people, all draped in weapons. They were strong, but he saw in their eyes a look he recognized.

These were people who lived a life of war. Never - ending war.

Some of his own people would have to make the sacrifice for the rest of them. They would be transformed into pawns, to be deployed where the Tree saw fit. Some of them would be expendable pieces.

It was a sacrifice.

The few would have to bear the burdens of the many.

Novorosk looked at the prosperity outside of the beetle - carriageÆs windows and felt the imprint in his soul.

If asked, he would be the first to raise his hand.

A/

The elven hero fidgeted quietly. He was nervous, and he had a lot of questions. But I decided to ask mine first. I wanted to hear from him directly.

- How did your first battle with the demon king go? -

Samuel paused and shook his head. - Bad. The demon king was some kind of Flying Demon, while IÆm an Archer. It shouldÆve been a decent matchup, but the demon kingÆs armor was so strong, and he possessed so many poisoned axes. -

- All demon kings attacks are poisoned to some degree. It is the nature of their energy. The Demonic Curse infects all that survive their attacks. - I briefly remembered that I was even poisoned by the demons curse in the first few decades in this world, and it took years to remove it. The second time I was cursed, it was from the demonic mana, and that required my domain to free myself from its effects.

Samuel didnÆt know that. - Really? -

- Are there no surviving records in Landas? -

Samuel shook his head. - IÆm not sure, and I also didnÆt think about it. There was no one left to man their stores or archives. The elven nation was battered when I came, and the demon king struck when I was only around Level 90. I was not ready. -

That was plausible. If the gods summoned teenagers, they might lack life experience. If they summoned teenagers who didnÆt have much agency and mostly went along with the flow, they likely would not think too much about their strategy and would not seek out information.

At that point, I introduced the four heroes. I teleported them in via my ability.

- Samuel, let me introduce the four that will now assist you. Adrian, from Mountainworld, Khefri, from Threeworlds, and Colette and Prabu. They are fellow heroes. -

SamuelÆs eyes brightened, and his own senses immediately detected that they were like him.

Colette stared at Samuel and immediately said, - Wow, youÆre so pretty! YouÆre even more pretty than all the other elves IÆve seen. You - youÆre like what I imagine an elf should look like. -

Khefri nodded furiously. - You look like a doll. -

Samuel blushed. - I - IÆm sorry. This is the look they gave me. I - I didnÆt look like this originally, but? -

Khefri cursed. Her annoyance at her appearance never faded. - You lucky bastard. They made you a beautiful elf. They made me into this scorpion shit. -

Samuel sighed. - Milady, I wish we couldÆve traded places. This form did nothing but harm to me. The unwanted attention from the native elves just made life hard. -

- I know we just met, but to me, suffering from this ugly - ass shit form, that sounds like ughh! - Khefri countered.

- These four are heroes, just like you, and they will help you with the battle against the demon king in Landas. I will have one of my domain holders support you. -

- One? - at that point, Khefri asked.

- The rest of them are exploring. -

- Can they come back after theyÆve done the initial exploring? I think this pretty boy still needs to gain some levels. He feels kinda low level, - Khefri countered.

- Acceptable. We may choose to liberate Landas once the rest of my domain holders visit all the fifteen worlds. -

At that point, Samuel interjected, - Sorry, what - what is this about fifteen worlds? -

Colette answered, - The gods intend to abandon fifteen worlds, so A/ Æs tasked with taking over. In short, thereÆs been a big - ass mess thatÆs got out of control, and these guys are the professional cleaning crew sent in to take over. -

- Shit, how can they do that? -

- Apparently, not much of a choice, - Colette said. - Gods have a limited range. -

Samuel sat there and looked at the other four. - If the four of you are here, it means thereÆs no way back, isnÆt it? -

Colette shook her head. - Death. The spirits of the dead heroes tell us death leads us back home. -

The elf hero stared. - How? -

At that point, a Valthorn centaur guide appeared. The centaur spoke. - The Journal Room awaits. -

The elf hero touched the journal as expected, and for a moment, all was well once more.

Lozanna , Landas

- Found them. - Lozanna spoke over message . She was high up on a tree that she made, and she saw the flying demons in the distance.

The operatives, spread all over the world of Landas, reached most of the known cities over the past two months. Death in demon form came to two thirds of them, and only one third of the known cities remained as actual, habited locations. The rest were ruins. Dead. Destroyed.

It was sobering, but it steeled her determination.

No, it steeled everyoneÆs determination.

Sights of thoroughly ruined cities, cities where survivors died because no one came to help them, reminded them of a state possible if they fell. The devastation brought back memories of all her earlier campaigns.

The Order is ruthless. The Order is sometimes cruel. The Order can be callous. There were sacrifices made for power, but all this merely reminded them that their cause was true.

This was an enemy they must defeat.

Team Leader Ebon landed next to her, then a mage followed. The mage created spears of ice that flew toward the flying demons, and they died instantly.

- All right. LetÆs move. The desertÆs not going to clean them up themselves, - Ebon answered as the Valthorn force landed closer.

The Valthorns extensive counterattack brought a moment of quiet to the cities, while Valthorn druids and operatives constructed new defensive formations. The now - destroyed city of Chursky, and home of the Sacred Cherry, became the new home of A/ Æs node.

There was already a small force of builders constructing fortifications. An army of beetles and spiders marched behind them. Beetles outfitted with projectile weapons, fired from the abdomen. They had quite a few deserts to clear before the heroes attempted to battle the demon king, now hidden deep within the tunnel to the Core.

The demon kingÆs journey to the Core would take a few years.

Edna, and Stella, The Second Peripheral World of Sarlpi

Edna and Stella arrived in a world of Fire and Ice. Plumes of smoke from volcanoes poured into the sky above. Demons were everywhere. The first habitation they found was a group of Lavapeople. They were humanoids, but with skin resembling fresh lava; they built their homes in a cave where rivers of lava flowed.

The demons were of the traditional kind - fiery - with horns of flame, wings of flame, and axes of flames accompanying their fire - breathing Cerberus and hellhounds. They were a terrible matchup for the Lavapeople. The LavapeopleÆs fire weapons were resisted by the demons, while the demons overpowered the Lavapeople with sheer brute force.

From the Lavapeople, or as they called themselves, the Arpik.

Edna and Stella then learned of the Snowpeople, the Sarljuk.

The people were once the LavapeopleÆs mortal enemies, but theyÆd found peace with each other after a while. It significantly helped that the two races of the world of Sarlpi did not really contest the same territories. The Snowpeople lived in the cold poles of the world, while the Lavapeople lived in the warm central bands, and the areas where they intersected were populated by the Mixed Bloods, known as the Cham.

The Cham were sort of pariahs to the two sides, who preferred the purity of their own race. The Cham were people that resembled humans, and unlike the Snowpeople, who retained some innate control over the powers of ice, or the Lavapeople, who had innate control over fire, the Cham had none.

Still, as Edna and Stella surveyed the land, they eventually visited the Snowpeople and found that many of the SnowpeopleÆs great cities and nations remained unscathed.

The fire demons that so easily overpowered the Lavapeople were weakened by the hailstorms and blizzards of the coldlands and were easy pickings for the Sarljuk defenders. Even the demon champions were battered by the strong blizzards, and the strong natural coldness severely hampered their ability to expand into the cold north and south.

The demon king didnÆt care. There were no heroes in the world of Sarlpi. The last two heroes died about four years ago. The last two heroes were born to the Chams and sadly, due to their pariah status, did not receive much support from the Sarljuk. Even their death did not affect the Sarljuk or the remnant Arpiks.

Instead, after the victory, the demon king dug into the depths. It had not succeeded in claiming the world yet, but it would happen eventually.

Prosperous Sarljuks and battered, impoverished Arpiks. The Sarljuks saw no reason to help the Arpiks in their warm, volcano - filled lands. It was also a land that was disadvantageous: they were weakened by the heat of the central lands.

- Life is unfair, - Stella said at the end of their visits.

- It always is, - Edna said. - LetÆs help the Lavapeople and the Cham, and weÆll end it there. The Sarljuks donÆt need us. -

Stella nodded.

- Selfishness, - Stella said. - It seems it is a common thing throughout society everywhere. -

Edna nodded, but the Sarljuk had their own reasons. The warm lands of the Apriks were not friendly to the Sarljuk.

- It wonÆt be the last we see, - Edna said. - But let us keep moving to the others. - They didnÆt have much time to spend here. Not yet, anyway. They needed to complete a quick reconnaissance of the remaining worlds. Only then the Order could form a coherent strategy on how and where to place the rest of A/ Æs nodes, clones, and the rest of the Valtorn forces.

THE THIRD PERIPHERAL WORLD

The Deadworld

Lumoof landed in the third peripheral world only to find a world without survivors. This was a dead world, there was no one here, and as far as he extended his senses, it was all demons.

It was a world at the very edge of full conversion into a demon world.

Not a whiff of mortals.

He sighed and spoke to Stella.

- Send me elsewhere. -

- Already? -

- This world is dying. I sense no survivors. -

- Are you sure? - Stella said through their shared communication network.

Lumoof spent another few days scouring the world and found nothing. Ruins. Death. Corpses that were easily a decade old. There were some trees, some vegetation that survived the destruction wrought by the flying fire demons.

- Is it me, or are there a lot of flying and fire - type demons? - Lumoof asked. - Stella, are you going to investigate the originating demon worlds? -

- Later, - Stella said. - Still moving. -

Lumoof looked at his partner for this mission. - How was your stint on Delvegard? -

Kafa shrugged. - Nothing much. I am glad to be reassigned to the front lines. -

- Delvegard is the front lines. - Lumoof laughed.

- Not for me. It is for the Dwarven Lords, and perhaps alchemist Alka. -

- A pity. Alka wouldÆve loved the place. Or hated it because it has too many damned dwarves. -

Kafa related with the response and chuckled along. - I feel that way whenever IÆm in Wetport Lapule. -

- ThatÆs racism against your own kind, - the priest teased.

- I didnÆt say our kind is without flaws. - Kafa smiled. There wasnÆt much to do in this world except destroying demons, so the two domain holders took the time to catch up and chat. Nothing threatened them. Ten demon champions were nothing before a Level 200 avatar. - My people are still changing, and itÆll take a few generations. -

The priest understood it keenly. The hearts of the people were often hard to change. He could preach the truth, show the evidence, and some of their hearts would still deny it. The heart believed in what it believed, and it was a primal thing.

It was why the Central ContinentÆs priests and the Order tried very hard to reach the young children and embed their values as soon as possible. It was something the parents resisted; after all, some of them believed the children should be free to make their own minds. But Lumoof, as an avatar of a rising god, saw it differently.

The truth in the heart of the people needed to fit reality. The beliefs they held must match the societyÆs needs and wants. They tried to step in where possible, and it was why orphans were so often roped into their circle of influence.

It was an area where Lumoof frequently disagreed with Stella, who believed in the independence of mind. Thankfully, Stella was a void mage, and her views did not affect how the Treeology approached the issue of education and shaping societyÆs cultural zeitgeist.

They had to.

The society needed to be ready to fight wars. The society of Treehome must accept and believe in the cause. The society as a whole must possess the industrial and military capacity to support a war throughout the multiple worlds.

Perhaps someday, StellaÆs view of the world could come true. A world where beliefs developed organically.

A wartime government had no choice but to make choices differently, compared to the government of a world with no existential threats. Lumoof believed in it wholeheartedly and that all of them, even Stella, were wartime leaders.

Of all the races on the three Core worlds, the lizardfolks, treefolks, and elves had a very high level of support of the Central government. Dwarves and humans were generally split between Centrists or Order - believers, the noble - royal groups and the guildsmen. A/ once remarked how ironic that the human groups could be summed up to the stereotypical trio of the priests, the nobles, and the merchants.

- Do you think the Delvegard Dwarves will fold obediently, or will it be violent? - Lumoof asked.

- Generally, I expect it to be violent, - Kafa countered. The craft - kings of Delvegard wouldnÆt give up their supremacy so easily.

- Should we just kidnap them and spare the world of Delvegard from an unnecessary war? - Lumoof proposed.

Kafa stared back at the priest.

He was unable to answer.

Lumoof could feel the lizard warrior weighing the odds. A war would have tremendous casualties and in most cases was unnecessary. A kidnapping in the background by a sneaky, hidden group like them would truly enable them to get around and avoid such conflicts, especially if a transfer of power could happen peacefully or if these craft kings realized where they stood along the true scales of power.

The lizard warrior sighed. - I admit kidnapping the leaders and forcing them to bend the knee may be the wiser choice, but I cannot help but feel extremely uncomfortable with it. -

Maybe it was his class. A warrior class did not sit well with such clandestine methods. Their ethos was excellence through combat. But a priest was a type of subversive class. The natural state of the priest - class was to change minds without violence. To convert others.

The avatar patted the lizardmanÆs shoulder.

- ItÆs hard to make such choices, isnÆt it? -

Lumoof pointed to the world around them, and then the portal whirled open before them.

There was nothing else to do on this world, other than to destroy the demon king. With that knowledge, it was time to move on.

- Time to go. -

The Fourth World

The Drakeworld Capra - Terban

Roon, Johann, and Ezar arrived in a world and felt the similar presence of demons in the air. The environment around them was filled with rocky spires and deep valleys, and the energy levels in the air seemed to match the shape of the terrain. At the bottom of the valleys were usually fields of dark rocks filled with bugs that survived off the things that fell down or raging rivers.

It was a land meant for flying creatures, and it just so happened that the demons responded with flying demons of their own. They were the type of flying demons also found on Ulara.

- Well, weÆre bumping into more of these buggers. -

- Well, fuck. I dislike flyers. - Ezar cursed as he immediately sensed the presence of demons in the air. Without Stella around, they had to rely on their movement abilities, but the mountainous terrain was not meant for sprinting. They would be hopping from spire to spire, since their levitation and flight artifacts would not last that long.

The spires were everywhere, as if the earth itself protruded out of the ground like thorns, covered in small vegetation and bushes.

- Demon king. - Roon frowned, and they spotted the demon king quite a distance away. - LetÆs get some distance between us! -

The demon king of Terban was a gigantic flying dragon with two large heads, both blasting the terrain with its energy attacks. The three quickly fled the confrontation with the demon king. It wasnÆt time yet, not with their lack of knowledge.

As they explored the rest of the mountainous world, the three eventually discovered the natives of the world. The natives were a type of goat people that rode drakes of their own. These goat people lived along the cliffs and made homes in caves and crevices along the cliff walls. Their society was similar to villages and towns, stuck in the standardized medieval era.

Capra. The Goat People, and they rode the domesticated drakes. Drakes, or the domesticated variants, were friendly smaller drakes that had grown used to the goat peopleÆs lives.

- The more worlds we see, the more I wonder why everyoneÆs weapons and development seem to be stuck in this particular era, - Johann said as he rode his own flying dragon.

His flying dragon was hugely interesting to the Capra. The first sight of Johann, they immediately bowed to him as if he was the next incarnation of their hero.

The heroes of the Capra were legendary drake riders, and the old gods granted the heroes an ability to supercharge their - partner - drakes, that even allowed those flying drakes to transform into larger dragons, and also strangely, into humanoid forms. For male heroes, apparently the drakes would take on a female form, while the opposite was true.

Roon thought the gods meddling with the sexes of their partner dragons to be rather disgusting and even wondered if this was a form of honey trap or honeypot.

The heroes of the Capra world could also take on human forms, on top of their Capran forms.

They landed on what looked to be one of the larger populated cliffs and immediately noticed the huge magical protections covering the cliff. There was also a massive illusionary magical formation that hid the cliffs from the demons, powered by hero items.

- So there were no heroes in the last thirty years? - Johann, Ezar, and Roon stood as they were welcomed to the Capran Cliff LordÆs home. It was a fairly small place, but the lush decorations of the room made it feel much bigger.

- No, - the Capran Cliff Lord answered. - Our god and benefactor, Gawa , has not responded to our prayers since two decades ago. But we cling faithfully and continue to pour our prayers into these ancient items left behind by the heroes that came since time immemorial. -

Roon heard the updates from Lumoof and Edna. This was a common occurrence for the peripheral worlds. They were peripheral worlds for a reason, and the distance from their protector - gods meant they didnÆt get much protection.

At this distance, it mustÆve cost too much to inform the Caprans of their doomed fate.

The flying demon-drakes of Capran, the same type as those on Ulara, found Capran to be incredibly suitable and made those same cliffs into the demon nests. The magical energies of Capran seemed to be correlated to the height of the cliffs, the tallest mountains seemed to have stronger ley lines, and so the demons were naturally drawn to them. In the same manner, the old Caprans also found these tall mountains to be places where they could grow and breed strong drakes.

The Caprans thus fought against the demons for control of their strongest cliffs, though that war was mostly lost over the last three decades.

- Why didnÆt the demon king dig underneath the earth after these thirty years? - Johann asked.

The Caprans didnÆt know the demon king did that, so they had no answer. But the three domain holders glanced at each other and thought about it.

- Maybe it wasnÆt ready? - Roon wondered.

- Or is it searching for something? -

- Or it needs more hero - souls, - Ezar countered. - You know, like whatÆs written and recorded during the Rottedlands incident. The demon king killed the heroes, collected the hero souls, and used it to poison the earth. -

Roon and Johann glanced at each other. - So youÆre saying the demon king has not killed enough heroes to start digging? -

- Maybe, if the CoreÆs resistance is strong enough, - Ezar proposed. - There seems to be some kind of resistance from the Core, maybe not super strong, but enough that a demon king wonÆt attempt a dig to the Core until it possesses sufficient kills. -

- I want to say it doesnÆt make sense, but at the same time, maybe there is some variability in the demon kingÆs range of abilities. - Johann frowned.

- If thatÆs true, that is a good sign and may explain why the demons sometimes seem to just wait it out. -

- If itÆs true, it does feel a bit too good to be true. -

Ezar countered, - There is probably a limited number of abilities the demons could cram into the normal - sized demon kings. Think about it, these demon kings are immensely powerful, and from what we know of the powers of creatures, there has to be a tradeoff somewhere. A combat - focused demon king or a corruption - focused demon king may not be as well - equipped as a demon king designed to take over a Core. -

- It would be a sensible tradeoff to make, too. - Johann went along with EzarÆs thought process. - If demon kings could capture hero souls and use their own energies to power the planetary corruption? -

- It explains why both Adrian and Kelly were not killed but rather captured when we found them back on Mountainworld. -

- Sorry, may I know what you three are talking about? - the Capran Cliff Lord interjected.

- Ah, our apologies, we were merely lost in thought, - Ezar politely apologized. - We mean no offense. -

The Capran Cliff Lord didnÆt dare to be offended. JohannÆs beautiful dragon was a powerful beast that signified the riderÆs immense position. Such a unique beast could only have an equally powerful master. So he was polite in response. - It is nothing. It must be important if it merits the great master of the beast to think about it so seriously. -

The three domain holders accepted the hospitality offered by the Caprans, though they found their choice of food mostly unappealing. The Caprans seemed to pride themselves on all different sorts of cultivated grasses, weeds, and plants as delicacies. They did not eat meat at all.

They were pure vegetarians, and Capran cooking was mainly through seasoning the various types of grasses, weeds, and plants with sauces derived from fruits. It was odd, but they ate a little anyway, if only not to insult their hosts.

But they did find something amusing: their drakes were fed on special types of fruit.

- A/ would love this, - Roon said as he picked up the strange fruits. They were - meaty - fruits; they had a tough, stringy texture that looked, felt, and tasted like meat. It was as if nature created its own natural, plant - based meat. - We should ask for one for the Biolab . -

JohannÆs dragon tried one and seemed to enjoy the taste. He was given seconds. And thirds.

- The place that you come from, there is no Drakefruit Tree? - The Caprans were very amused, because the DrakefruitÆs sole purpose was to feed the drakes. There were sub variants to the Drakefruits, such as those infused with more magic so that the drakes gained additional magical properties, or those that gave the drakes extra armor, stronger claws, and so on. In the good old days, the cliffs drake breeders competed on training the best drakes, with the best combination of magical properties.

- It would please us if you could give us a small sapling of these Drakefruits, - Johann asked, and given his status as a dragon rider, his request was as good as a command. They gave Johann three saplings, each a different subvariant. They would be sent back to Treehome where they would be properly studied.

Johann wanted to ask for some drake eggs, too, but he knew his own dragon seemed fairly possessive and, like a jealous pet, would show some attitude.

With nothing else to do in this cliff town, the trio went on their way.

The trio soon visited a few more cliff - towns and rescued a few of them from champion - class attacks. The demon king was just roaming about, as if the presence of the natives was nothing. It was puzzling behavior. Why did it not eradicate the natives?

Was it to farm more hero souls?

If so, it would be risky to deploy heroes on worlds where the demon king wanted to find heroes.

Landas

Lozanna watched as the rest of the eighth demonic nest was destroyed by the army of beetles. TheyÆd launched attacks relentlessly, and the mages worked tirelessly to send them from battlefield to battlefield.

Portals were extremely powerful. They invalidated traditional limitations of space and expanded the operating range. For warriors like the Valthorns and their augmented bodies, they could fight as if their stamina was almost limitless.

- Six more nests and all thatÆs left is the demon king. - There were still smaller pockets of demonic nests, but with the major nests removed, the frequency of the demonic raids on the surviving cities reduced tremendously.

Yet the demon kingÆs behavior on Landas was strange. The demon king ignored the cursed hero.

Lozanna wondered why; perhaps it concluded that the elven hero was not a threat and so decided to burrow underground. But the data contradicted how certain demon kings on other worlds seemed to wait forever before starting its - dig. -

But their presence brought a huge sense of relief to the five elven races of Landas. Almost all of them were sent to Treehome to meet with A/ , and when they returned, they found a world not at war.

Mostly.

It took another three months, but Lozanna and the rest of them finally crushed all the major demonic nests, and all that was left was the demon king.

The hero still needed time to prepare, but for the rest of Landas, an era of peace had finally come.

The magical interference vanished, and with it, the ancient magical communication networks between the various elven cities could be restored. The surviving elven cities began to reconnect with other nearby settlements.

But fear still permeated the elves lives.

Many grew up being told not to venture too far.

It would take some time for this foul memory to fade, but Lozanna felt joy.

It made her happy to see the elves relaxing. A fuzzy feeling when the injured elves didnÆt have to rush back to the front line and were allowed to heal.

She came to help the peripheral worlds heal and was eager to move to the next one.

- Well, where to? -

- The fifth. -

FIFTH PERIPHERAL WORLD

Magisar

The Surviving Academy of Magic World. The Ironless World (A World Without Hard Metals)

Magisar, The Fifth Peripheral World

Metteria Hudrot, Gorfort Tower Mage

Metteria Hudrot watched as the magical shields were battered by the attacks from the demons. The fists and arms of the rock demons were strong, but she was a Level 42 Stone Mage, and her shields would hold. This generation of demons had been a good matchup for her, and she gained many, many levels in the numerous skirmishes since then.

- Metteria! Duck! - Metteria pulled back, her movement propelled by manipulating the stones embedded within her robe. A fireball barely grazed her hair and slammed into what appeared to be a rock golem.

But at that moment, she thought she saw a man with short white hair and wearing some kind of greenish robe. The fireball exploded, and Metteria panicked. - Wait! I saw someone! -

- Saw what? - The rock demons came for them, but then there was not a trace of the man that she saw.

Was she hallucinating?

- Pay attention! - MetteriaÆs captain screamed as another fireball slammed into the rock demon; this destroyed the rock demon entirely. - Metteria! Defense! -

- Got it, got it! - Metteria shook her head briefly, and her stone shields reappeared. She once again repositioned herself using the stones within her robe. Her Stone Levitation allowed her to drag her entire body along as she moved to help her teammates. A few more fireballs, and a few stone bullets, and slowly, Metteria and her ten teammates brought down the small squadron of rock demons.

- Good job, good job, - the captain said, relieved that none of this team died. Metteria looked back at the battlefield, and she swore that she saw that old man.

She walked into the location where she thought the man was but found nothing. There was absolutely no trace of the man, as if he was never there.

- Something on your mind, Metteria? - the captain asked.

- I thought I saw a man during the battle. But he vanished just as quickly. -

The captain walked closer to her and then grabbed her hand. - That sounds like mana exhaustion. But no sign of mana exhaustion. -

- Was I the only one that saw the man? - Metteria glanced around. No one else did. The only reason she saw it was it was exactly in front of her, but he vanished just as quickly. Where did he come from?

No one answered her. The captain frowned. - Metteria, report back to the infirmary and have yourself subjected to tests by the life mage. -

She wanted to protest, but then she knew how this all looked like. - Yes, sir. -

Lumoof

Lumoof landed on the fifth world and immediately had a fireball slam into his shield. It wasnÆt intentional, because the fireball hit the edges of the shield. There were demons everywhere, and there were strange mages fighting against them. The demons around Lumoof were gigantic rocky creatures made of a kind of sandstone rock.

The demonic golems of brimstone and fire attempted to punch something in LumoofÆs direction, but he vanished before they got him.

- Stella, can you avoid live battlefields when opening portals? - Lumoof complained through their linked messaging system once he got out of his short - distance teleportation and landed a good distance away in what seemed to be a large valley filled with demons and a group of mages defending against them. The defenders were humans, but they all seemed pale. Lumoof briefly wondered if they were malnourished, but his senses soon realized this was their natural state.

The humans, for once, were not exactly helpless. They all seemed like a decently experienced group of combatants, and they hurled magic freely. Magical fireballs and blasts of energy slammed into the demonic golems, and the explosions ripped the golem demons apart. The group of skinny humans huddled together.

Lumoof watched as they shredded the last of the golem demons and then checked their surroundings for more enemies.

LumoofÆs presence was shrouded in enough protective items and illusions that he was fairly certain they didnÆt see him.

Kafa popped out of the portal a few minutes later. - Sorry IÆm late. Did I miss something? -

Thankfully, he was also protected by his protections that most likely would not have noticed him.

Lumoof and Kafa continued to follow the group of mages back that eventually led to a steep mountain. At the peak of that mountain was a magical structure that floated above the skies, a magical creation.

The mountain wasnÆt totally bare. It was filled with some small trees and vegetation, though Lumoof immediately noticed the encroaching presence of demonic hybrids in small patches all over the place.

He would have to investigate that later and get a better read on the worldÆs state. But for now, he directed his attention toward the floating structure, a city suspended midair by magic.

- That is quite impressive, - Lumoof said. He activated his spiritual sight and immediately noticed the presence of magical energies from the ground below. There was a faint taste of the heroÆs presence in the magical structures beneath the floating castle and multiple magical protections. - Seems like they used ley lines to power a levitation formation and kept their city protected from the demons. -

Ley lines that were fading.

The group of magicians regrouped somewhere near the bottom of the castle, and then Lumoof heard them curse.

- WhatÆs taking them so long to activate the teleportation formation? - One of the humans that appeared to be the leader of the group began to talk.

One of the other mages then teased, - Probably one of the mages sleeping on the job. -

- Really? IÆll give that guy a good sounding once I get back? -

Lumoof looked at Kafa and then back at the flying castle. - Think we can get in? -

Kafa shrugged but knew it was a rhetorical question. The real question wasnÆt whether they could but which method would serve their interest best. So Kafa responded with a silly question of his own. - Do you want to jump in, or do you want me to throw you in? -

Lumoof laughed and then pointed. - LetÆs just watch. They are not the only group, - he said as he felt the presence of more people through the plants and trees around them. - I sense more people coming here. -

Kafa turned around and tried to focus his own senses. - That plant - sense of yours is overpowered as hell. -

- You can be a tree man if you want. - Lumoof smiled. - ItÆs surprisingly nice to have A/ right next to me all the time. -

Kafa shook his head in horror. - IÆll take that back. -

- Well, letÆs see what these guys are up to. -

There were six other small groups, all mages just like the first group. They felt like mages, because of how their mana poured out of their spirit, and the spiritual lines that facilitated magic use were most pronounced. A common feature when mana use was high and something Lumoof had seen often in their own mages and wizards.

- Still waiting for the teleport? - the other groups arrived and quickly asked. They were all slender - looking mages, and all wore some kind uniform made of knitted leather and wool.

- Yeah. ItÆs taking a damn while. -

- Are the charge crystals malfunctioning again? - one of the other mages from the third party asked.

- HowÆd I know? But that would explain why weÆre stuck here. -

- Glad to see you guys all in one piece. - The mage - leader from the very first party smiled.

- Eh. Just usual rock demons, weÆll live. -

A fourth party returned, and Lumoof noticed this party carrying far more things. He continued to observe their interactions. - What happened? -

- Our usual forage run was interrupted by rock demons, and one of my guys is an idiot, - the fourth party leader explained. There was a corpse. - HeÆs dead, but we hauled his body back for his family. -