Side Story: Akbar & the Demons

Side Story: Akbar & the Demons

INTERLUDES - AKBAR

Sometime around Year 80, Month 9 (TreeTree-time)

Every demon king is slightly different, every generation of demons, usually a variation of the previous. Scholars, inquisitors, demon-hunters have often wondered why it is so, but since these invading demons dont seem to be able to communicate, no one knows for sure.

Still, the inhabitants facing the demons could still observe and make a note of how subtle differences exist. The first demon rifts reveal little hints about the characteristics of the demon king they face, and the sort of battles they will have to prepare for. Usually this meant elemental and/or monster variants, like how Andraas had earth-golems, earth centipedes and fire hounds, and as time went by, its more, larger versions of such monsters.

Spotting a demon rift is something every warrior learns by experience. Seen it, and you will remember it for life. The way reality itself warps and break, a tear in reality that links to another world, it is an unforgettable sight. The portal to the demon world.

...

General Akbar. A human knight rides up to central camp, there's about 5,000 soldiers here.

Commander Akbar. The older man emphasises. Ive been demoted, and you need to remember that. Had it been in the city, you can get in trouble.

The knight shrugs. Youre still my General. Anyway-"

Commander Akbar frowns, and gives the knight a stern look. Get to it, what's the status? How many demons did you spot?

1,200. Surprisingly easy to get a count, now that they look like humans. They made something that resembles a large house or camp. Still no sight of the rift yet, Im waiting for the other scout to report back.

Demons, making camp. Commander Akbar scratches his chin. What has the world come to, I must see this.

The force of 5,000 men marches towards the site of the reported demon camp, and indeed, what they saw is indeed a demon camp.

"There it is, Commander."

The demon camp's surface resembles a dark reddish hue, its existence as if magic itself was forced to form the fabric.

"What's it doing?"

Akbar starts counting, his eyes looking through his portable telescope, right at the demon camp. He watches intently for about 30 minutes, and then it got

Its making more demons soldiers. Get the mages, I want a magical reading on this area right now.

Akbars hunch was right. The camp's location had slightly stronger natural mana and energies. Theres only one decision to make. The camp had to be destroyed before they spawned more demons.

They crushed the 1,200 or so demons easily.

A few days later, back at the camp.

The news is unsettling. Akbar pored over the news coming in from all the other continents and kingdoms. Demonic news didnt have the usual diplomatic embargo and political filters, and frankly, Akbar enjoyed fighting demons. Its just plain fighting, without the bullshit of politics, or the worries over the unnecessary death of others. It allowed him to be a true military man, the only thing he had to focus on, is to crush this faceless demonic enemy.

There are so many... Both of his aides nodded, and they looked over a rough map of the world. Its one of Akbars personal collections as a General. Akbar places a small red flag wherever they receive reports on rift sightings.

There are multiple rifts in every large continent, and even in smaller continents. In earlier demon kings, the rifts were concentrated, most of the time, a single continent. Maybe two, at most, and even those, the bulk of it usually formed on one continent.

It didnt take much for Akbar to conclude the obvious. This demon is planning to overwhelm the world with sheer numbers, by attacking everywhere simultaneously.

One of the aides shakes his head. But, does it matter? If they come with us with that tiny force, scattered throughout the world, they won't be a threat! And the heroes will come around and save the world when the demon king arrives Akbar frowns a little at the aide's statement.

Two knights and a mage walked into the war planning room.

Akbar looked at his aides. True. But between now and the Demon King, is at least a few years. This tactic may potentially destroy the world before the heroes even appear.

So what, we can stop them. The quantity from the rifts reported so far has been small.

Akbar paused and remembers the demon champions. No reported sighting of the champions yet, though they often arrive before the King.

The other aides answered before Akbar got to it. If the demons can build camps that generate more demons, their quantity wont be small for very long. How many rifts do we know nothing about? How sure are we, all these are the only rifts out there? If the rift and camp was made in a secluded area we know nothing about, they could suddenly surprise us with a large force!

True, true.

Hows the analysis on the camp and the demons? Akbar asks.

The mage shifts uncomfortably.

A soldier ran into the camp. "Gene-, sorry, Commander! The mages, they... uh... they turned into demons. We had to kill one of them."

Akbar's eyes widen and he stares, "When did this happen, and why did I not know about it?"

"It just happened, General." The soldier shouts trying to catch his breath, been running. "The mages, they were just meddling with the demonic staff, and suddenly it started to absorb one of the mages! So we had to destroy the staff, and we couldn't save the mage."

Akbar stops, "You know about this?"

The aide's attempt to respond on Akbars behalf, was stopped by Akbar's hand.

"Yes, lets talk. Back inside?" Akbar pointed back to the eatery.

The two men nodded and they walked back, "Yes, inside is fine, but without your aides, please? Just something we want to ask you personally."

Akbar smiled, "Let's use one of the private dining rooms then. They can wait outside."

"Commander, no... General Akbar." The two men sat, it's a small room, with one round table and chairs for 6. Akbar sat opposite them. "What do you think of the demons?"

Akbar chuckles, "They are bad, of course." What kind of question is that, anyway? Demons, causes tremendous destruction and death, cant be negotiated with, and doesnt have any useful functions. The only possibly positive thing about them is the daemolite, left behind when the demon kings die.

"Do you think the heroes are doing a good job of fighting demons?"

"...not as well as I think they should." Akbar spoke his mind, he had a hunch they were leading him somewhere, but hell see.

The two men grinned, "Great. Do you enjoy fighting demons?"

Akbar paused, and stared at the two men. Enjoy fighting demons? In what sense? "I'm sorry?"

"Have you ever thought of joining a cause dedicated to fighting demons?."

Akbar's stern eyes meet with two others, the room felt heavy then. "Im afraid I need a bit more than that. What exactly is your cause?"

At that time, a third man appears in that small private room, he materialised from the two's shadows.

Akbar though, still didn't react and just took a sip out of the wooden cup of water. "I was wondering when you would come out."

"As expected of a [general]. Proper introductions, now. I am from the Laenza Alliance, a secret society. Allow me to do the full explanation. The Laenza Alliances main purpose is to support the heroes in their quest to defeat the demon king, and we would like you to join us in that quest."

Akbar didnt react, he just took a good look at the man. "Have we met?"

"Yes. But that matters little. Our issue is the coming demonic conflict. We believe you've realised the gravity of the issue, and so we'd like to invite you to join us." He felt familiar, but Akbar couldn't pin it down.

Akbar sipped from the cup of water, and said. "When you say, support the heroes in the quest to defeat the demon king, what does that actually mean? You want me to put my life on the line and fight the demon king myself, together with the heroes?"

"Well, no. You wont be the ones actually fighting the demon king. Ultimately, the heroes received the gods blessing, and only with the blessing, can the heroes hope to stand toe to toe with the demon king. Our presence in that fight would be unnecessary, we may even be a hindrance. I would say, we would be throwing our lives away.

So what do you do?

We, the Laenza aims to support the heroes, by, spotting them early, guide them, remove the barriers to their growth, and give them what they need to progress."

"Barriers..." Akbar looks at the three Laenza men.

"Politics. Bureaucracy. Think about it, these otherworldly heroes, they arrive in the world with very minimal guidance from the gods. They are lost, despite their gifts, and when they meet the locals, they need time to find their way. If it so happens they come under a nations protection, kings and rulers often have their own political agenda. Every step of the way, they face resistance and unnecessary barriers, from locals who have no idea whether they really are heroes, to politicians and rulers who seek to manipulate them.

The man paused to catch his breath, and then continued.

Our role, the Laenza is to offset those resistance, help them discreetly, and where we can, take them away from politics. We try to be the first, or among the first to find and contact the heroes, and to offer them assistance, guidance, training. And if the heroes need any special equipment or items, or need to get somewhere, we try our best to help them along."

Akbar sighed, it suddenly occurred to him that the heroes have it rough. They start off weak at first, thrown into a world they know nothing about, they are still young and naive, and that usually makes them gullible, and nobles usually try to manipulate them. It suddenly made sense how things usually did work out for the heroes, especially if there is a secret organisation that supported them in the shadows.

"So, would you be interested?"

"I have the feeling that you already know I would be."

The shadow man offered his hand, "We must hear it from you."

Akbar nodded, and they shake hands. "Yes. Let me be a part of it."

The shadow man took out a ring with a single red stone surrounded by various smaller red stones, and passed it to him. "Drop you blood in the ring's inner stone."

Akbar gently pricked his finger and a single drop of blood touched the inner stone. It glowed gently, a soft reddish hue, and then, the shadow man walked over and he too pricked his finger. A drop of his blood in the same ring. The two bloods mixed and the ring released a red flash.

"The ring, its invisible to all but the rest of us who also have it. It marks the Laenza, and is how we communicate."

Akbar put the ring on, and he could feel its magic mix with those of his own. The ring fitted nicely. "Intricate carvings."

"Made by our magesmiths, from where we are from, Rhongo."

Akbar nodded, "That is far."

"The demons' rift are everywhere. And we follow."

"True."

"Welcome to the Laenza. We have taken too much of your time, Commander Akbar. We will not keep your aides waiting any longer." The three give a gentle bow, and the shadow man vanished into the shadows, again.

Announcement So erm... for the entirety of this demon king season, it's going to be about 40% treetree focused, and 60% elsewhere (my current estimate). So uh.. yeah.