Chapter 423

Cain began by stitching the edges of the vortex back together, which seemed to stabilize the effect somewhat but also diminished its presence. The remaining portion of this one was actually recognizable as a portion of traveling magic, much like Cain’s [Recall] spell, so that is what he used to fill in the blanks, setting the destination for just beside where he was standing, should anything be able to escape once he was finished.

Getting everything to line up wasn’t easy, but by the next morning, Cain had a fully woven spell created on the ruins of the vortex. All he had left to do was add mana and they should be able to see if all that hard work was going to pay off.

It was the pulse of power at midnight that made the final connections possible, during that moment when the Crazed were cloned and expelled, the vortex did seem to push out, reversing its effect from normal, just as Cain suspected that it was doing. He could feel the presence of the people trapped inside for an instant, and then it was gone and they were trapped again. For that instant, it was whole and complete, and Cain could see what he needed to do.

“Here goes nothing,” Cain whispered, activating his changes to the Vortex. Screams filled the air and all the plant life in the area died in an instant. Cain felt a huge pull at his mana, trying to suck him dry now that there was nothing else to draw from, until a half-second later, the Ley Lines themselves collapsed with a twang that felt like someone had torn a chunk of his soul away.

Cain grasped at his chest in pain, nearly collapsing as he felt the mana from his companions being drained to refill the Ley Line. They were mere threads now, instead of the invisible river that they once were, but the companions and Cain combined had enough mana to keep them from fully destabilizing.

The problem was that Cain’s modification worked. There were now a large group of Soldiers in archaic armor standing at the point Cain designated. Why was this a problem? Because they didn’t know that the war was over, and Cain’s entire party was out of mana. Not a single point remained between them for the first few seconds before their regeneration kicked in.

This force was made entirely of beastkin and despite their confusion, they were raising weapons and preparing to do battle with Cain and Vala.

Evangeline, still in Parrot Kin form, and Nemu rushed forward to stop them from attacking and the soldiers gave them a confused look, not understanding why they would defend a pair of demons in the middle of a war. 

“Wait. You were trapped in the vortex for nearly two hundred years. The war is long over.” Nemu called out, stopping their attacks for a moment.

“What are you saying? We camped here last night and were sneak attacked by an imprisonment spell. We had been fighting all day to get out until the spell duration ran out just a few seconds ago.” Their leader, a Turtle Kin that looks a bit like the snapping Turtles that Kone loves so much, except with a blue and yellow shell, demands.

“We broke the spell just now, it didn’t wear off. You have the System, just look at us and you will see that things have changed.” Nemu does her best to convince them while Cain recovers his mana. At least the barrier that Cain cast on them all is still active. They are out of mana, but they didn’t take any physical damage.

The mana in the area is almost depleted though, and they can all feel their bodies struggle to recover with only internal energy. It’s not a pleasant feeling, but if they can buy a few minutes they will still recover enough that they would prevail in a fight. Then again, they have Laura, if she simply freezes the area it would likely kill almost all of these soldiers. But the effect knocked her out cold, and she’s not conscious yet, sleeping in Cain’s pocket.

“How did you know I was brought here by the System? Are you one of the Blessed too?” The leader asks, while his companions look shocked.

At the point in the war where the spell that created the dungeons was cast, only a few dozen Transfers had gone to species other than the humans. Finding another one at random was extremely unlikely.

The Turtle Kin gasps as he uses his interface to inspect them. He frantically waves at his companions to stand down, putting away his own weapon.

“They are all Mythic and Ancient Quality. I have never even heard of Mythic Quality creatures, but my [Battle Odds] Skill says our chance of winning the fight is zero. Not less than a percent, just zero.” He explains quietly.

“But what happened? Where is the fort? Why is everything dead?” One of the others, a werewolf with long silver hair, asks with a note of panic clear in their voice.

“We needed all the mana we could get to activate the spell that let you loose. It drained us, the plant life, and even the lines of power that converged at this point.” Cain explains, seeing that he now has enough mana to call out at least some of his summons if needed.

“Lines of Power? Like the Mana Veins of my old world?” The transfer asks and Cain nods.

“As I understand it, that’s exactly what they are. Not all the transfers come from the same world, though most of them are similar. My world didn’t have them, so all I know I learned after arriving here.” Cain agrees and the man’s demeanor turns more friendly. 

They might not have been on the same side of the war, but at least they had something in common, and most of the transfers were happy to see the war end as soon as possible. That made Cain not quite an ally, but not an enemy.

“Are there more places like this? It felt like the spell covered the entire world.” The werewolf asks.

“There are thousands more, but not all of them are the same. Some trapped the people near them in a time loop one day long and drove them mad. Some, like yours, trapped everyone who stepped inside. Look at your group, were you all together when you entered?”

That makes them do a double-take, as they realize that not only were they not one group, but not all the beastkin in the group were wearing the same army’s regalia. That doesn’t fit with what they remember, the feeling of being stuck fighting against the weight of the spell for a single day.

“I see what you mean, things aren’t what they appear. Will you be freeing the others after this? Surely they all would be thankful for the demons’ kindness if that cruel spell were reversed.” The turtle kin transfer nearly begged Cain.

“This was the smallest one I have come across, and the process is still an experiment, but it took half a million mana points and still killed all the plants in the area and left the Mana Veins as a mere thread. I don’t think I could do it at all on a more powerful vortex without killing everything on the continent.” Cain explains and the man’s hopeful look fades.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to find a better way to get it done without depleting everything in the area, even if I have to assemble every Mythic Being on the Continent next time to provide the needed power to stabilize the vortex.”

That thought is disturbing, but it also begs the question “What exactly did they do that allowed this spell to be cast in the first place?”

Maybe the answer lies in the Ancient cities if any of them except the one in the mountains still survive.