Infantreecide

Infantreecide

Year 221

Is this normal? A section of Branchhold was cordoned off for work. Construction of the weapons meant for the lava-demonworld required the combined efforts of many skilled workers, across the entire empire..

Ive never seen something like it. The citizens of Branchhold stared.Most migrants to Branchhold had not seen our large scale directed plans, and they could not fathom a civilization able to deploy the resources across an entire empire, and now, across worlds. All they saw was a mobilisation for a war.

Those on Branchhold were tasked with the manufacture of spears, hooks, and chains.

It alarmed the spies scattered in Branchhold, and reported the findings to their masters in their own capital cities. Branchhold geared for war splattered across intelligence communiques, all over the world. The nearest nations to Branchhold immediately received a huge influx of more spies, and more scouts.

Fools, really. If we really wanted to invade, we didnt need such mobilisation.

On the lava-demonworld, the area around the pit became one of the largest magic formations weve devised.

Multiple redundant large scale magical snares, thousands of stationary weapons, more bombs and explosives than I bothered to count littered the area, and more was made every day. We built larger ballistas, equipped with chained harpoons.

The place was geared for war, and frankly, the mood in the air was optimistic.

Man, the demons would regret invading our world after this. Roon said as he admired the temporary war city on the lava demonworld. There were hundreds of level 80-100 druids and mages deployed to conduct minor terraforms.

They could just melt everything in a volcano.

They could, but with the number of mages we have, wed still survive.

On top of those plans, there was a quasi-suicidal plan with Lumoof at the center. The idea was simply to freeze or solidify the entire surface of the lava pit, have Lumoof enter avatar mode in the center, and have my avatar form latch on to the demon king as it attempted to teleport to the other world.

Stellas void mages also made their own set of preparations. Large quantities of void crystals, and multiple void-magical formations created.

The target was the black sun that appeared as part of the demon kings ascension, and this time, they planned to attack and interrupt it directly, in the same manner as how Stella disrupted the demon-mother of the parasite world.

All of this was only possible, because of our efforts across the decades. If its not enough, well go back and work harder.

Our sensors were on overdrive, and these days, Stella, the void mages and the elemental archmages had their own set of magical sensors. I had a feeling wed see the demon king this year, and rushed the team to work faster.

Back home, Stella had largely triangulated the direction of the accumulating astral energies, though, so far, not a single rift had opened.

This was simply because my Valthorns regularly scoured the landscape for any rift, and captured them or destroyed them. That meant, no rift for the demons.

It was very effective, and this time, the demon king was projected to land somewhere in the Southern Continent.

Unlike before, I didnt give any advance warning, since the demon king was going to land in one of the wide deserts of the South.

***

Back on the lava-demonworld, we realised we had a real simple problem.

If we failed - the demon king would leave for our world. Thats normal and all is status quo.

But what if we succeeded in detaining the demon king? If we succeed, wed have to fight the demon king without the heroes.

Or we could just leave, since we technically achieved our mission of detaining the demon king. Im sure Stella would be fascinated to see what happens next. Does the demon king attempt to open the portal again?

I think it would, since the path through the void forest is still there. It only collapses when the demon king dies. This was also a project for Stella and her team, where they would attempt to collapse an astral path before its used.

In fact, the void mage academy had to be expanded quickly, due to the scale and requirements we needed in the far future. So much depended on having enough void mana, and enough magical talent to run all we needed to do.

So if we succeed, we... uh... just watch?

We weaken it, I guess?

It sounds like the real success case is to tear it apart while its in the astral path.

Yes.

***

Our role is just backup, this time. Chung grinned, amused that they didnt have to travel to the other side. Or if the interruption fails and the demon king comes here.

They were still happily resting in the Central Continent, in one of the seaside towns facing the ocean. On the other side of that vast ocean was the Southern Continent.

***

The core pulsed. We felt it, a cracking in the movement. The core of this world was probably just really hot, molten iron and other minerals.

Well, ready? Everyone got in position, and we expected this. The heroes were somewhere near to the Southern Continent, assisted by a small group of Valthorns and void mages.

The lava-swepted world cracked, and we felt a powerful presence move from the core, up into the surface.

Alright! Lets get the party started! Alka laughed maniacally. Freezing bombs!

The mages and his assistants detonated hundreds of ice-element magical crystals, and the sudden surge of large quantities of ice magic caused the huge pit of lava to temporarily freeze over. It wouldnt last for long, as the heat from the core would eventually melt it again, but for now.

Lumoof jumped into the middle of the hardened lake, and activated avatar mode. My roots pierced through the hardened lava, and expanded as fast as I could. The roots covered every part of the pit.

A living barrier.

Roon and Johann led the thousands of ballistas at the side, all armed with hooked harpoons, each equipped with bombs. There were at least a hundred different types of bombs. My sensors felt the force from within the core surged upwards, and the ripples of that force pushed against my roots. It was trying to uproot Lumoof and my roots from down below, but I resisted.

My roots held onto the igneous rock and earth, as the pressure built up beneath us.

Are we going to trigger an explosion if this keeps up? Stella looked as the pit began to bulge upwards. My roots resisted the magma and lava displaced from the demon kings escape, and the demon king approached at high speed. Its coming up the chamber really quickly.

The pressure from lava beneath us strengthened, and this time, I felt the effects of heightened demonic magic. It attempted to tear at my roots, but we held our ground. Literally.

Towers began to emerge out of the walls of the pit, the gate mechanism. It was a point of great interest, to see how the demons created these riftgates out of thin air. For now, that was something my builders, mages and crafters studied intently, while a battle broke out around us.

The demons emerged from all around us, and attempted to retake the pit.

They failed.

From beneath, the demon king shot up the lava chambers like a missile. The demon king was going to smash right into me, and it clearly didnt care.

Lumoof, brace for impact. The ground beneath us was filled with my roots. Itll have to destroy my roots to get out.

On the surface, the rift towers began to channel their abilities, and the void mages studied it intently. This was the second time its happening, but the first time such a large group of void mages was deployed to study it.

Alright, we're going to have to start interfering with the black sun once it emerged! Stella shouted to her team of void mages. Their magical formations were ready and charged up.

The demon king smashed into my roots from below, and I felt a strong, burning sensation. My roots were incredibly resistant to heat and fire, so I wasnt disturbed by that aspect.

Yet, its ensuing impact shook the entire pit, and then, it pushed the entire chunk of hardened magma upwards, like a superhero lifting an entire city from down below.

FIRE! Roon and Johann commanded as we got line-of-sight on the demon king. It was a demon king of tradition, a massive horned beast with eight wings and four arms, each with a weapon-made of lava. It was huge, in the same size as the anti-mana demon-turtle.

An undamaged demon core.

It didnt detonate. Not with what little magical energies it had. It felt like an eternity, as my vines wrapped around the core, just to be sure. I drained it, but there was nothing left inside to be drained.

It was an empty, purely undamaged demon kings core.

I was left speechless for a moment, as the madness of battle suddenly gave way to exhaustion. Edna looked pensive.

Holy freaking shit.

Did we just win?

Lumoof, Roon, Edna and Johann all stared at each other, waiting for something to pop up. They looked up to the sky, wondering whether the sky would split apart to reveal some gimmick.

It had taken so much to get here.

But I looked at those who fought, and felt genuine joy burst out from my soul.

We won!

Everyone felt like a huge weight lifted off their shoulders, and they looked at my giant tree-clone, safely and grinned.

WE WON!

In a strange twist of fate, we had somehow managed to defeat a demon king without the heroes. It took extensive preparation, attacks from everyone, and a bit of luck that the blob at the end detonated, but whatever it was, we got through the finish line.

My domain holders glowed, and I felt their strength increase.

Power. We would need a lot more of it in the coming days.

Holy shit I gained like fifteen levels. Edna shouted, and punched the sky.

Me too! Roon, Johann and Lumoof all gained levels.

[Youve gained 12 levels.]

[You are now level 238]

[Tree of Life - Youve gained two extra clone seeds].

[Natural mana overwhelming upgraded]

[Root strikes upgraded]

[Demonic resistance upgraded]

[Domain ability unlocked: Greater Titans]

[Your titans will now change into their greater forms, with wider range and abilities. Patreecks mind-reading and protection range will now expand to include all your clone trees, and its range is increased significantly. Hytreerion will now be able to temporarily shrink to travel through the Void, and can shapeshift into other battle forms.]

***

[The Demon King ???? has been defeated.]

The announcement of its defeat was greeted with a strange feeling.

I lost 30% of those who failed to avoid the explosion, but those who survived gained powers. The star paths linked to Treehome, all abruptly vanished. Including those subsequent to this demon king.

That was not a good sign. It meant the demons discovered that we could counter-invade their world, and thus dropped the invasion paths.

It was also a sign that they were preparing for something bigger.

But, there was no use worrying.

We consolidated our gains, celebrated our wins, and prayed for those who fell. The souls we collected, some would move on, some wanted to stay back. I tried, where I could, to give all of them a chance to at least say goodbye to their loved ones.

Alright, we need a roll call. Who gained what powers? My domain holders came together, and it seemed among the survivors, quite a few gained a lot of levels.

Stella smirked. I gained [Void Weapons and Projectiles]. I cant wait to try it out on the other demon kings.

Are we trivializing demon kings already? Roon cursed. And you sound too excited for that.

They would adapt to our changes. Stella said. They are not stupid. The fact that they dropped the star paths shows they are learning, and we probably shouldnt repeat it for the Mountainworld, unless, well, unless thats what we want.

Do you think theyll throw something stronger our way?

What else could it be? That black sun or blob is probably figuring out what to do. I had a tree still in the lava world, and I also needed to figure out what I should do with that tree. What did you get, anyway?

Just some super strong unavoidable null-element arrow-attack. Roon said with a sigh.

A domain tier arrow attack cant be that bad. Stella laughed.

Edna jumped from level 160s to level 180s, and so gained two domain-tier abilities. First was the strangely-named ability [A Knights Myth], and I felt her power spread throughout Treehome, and strangely, only Treehome.

Just like my [Aeonic classes], Ednas power had changed Treehome. Ednas new domain ability enhanced all knights on Treehome, and allowed them to take up a special class [Knights of Treehome]. In addition, when defending Treehome, all knights are empowered against outside invaders.

It also had sub abilities. A part of the [myth], it opened up a unique set of quests for Edna alone, the [Mythical Knights Quest], which, summoned Level 130-150 creatures that existed in a pocket dimension, that only Edna and a few companions could battle. Each victory, awarded skills and stats.

For the ordinary [Knights of Treehome], they could attempt lesser variants of the [Knights Quest], awarded and unlocked through the system.

Seems like a Knights gotta do what a Knights gotta do. Stella grinned. Youre becoming like the Knights of fairy tales.

I cant really say I hate it. Edna laughed. Its... amusing.

Ednas second ability was the [Three Strikes of Honor]. It unlocked a battlefield-wide enchantment that protected everyone, from three instances of an undetected, unreactable attack that would have killed them. An enchantment with additional rules befitting a knight, such that, an attack that was known and but cannot be responded to, was still covered, but it essentially meant death had to come from known sources, and from known attacks. Instead, heavy but non-lethal damage would apply.

If someone were to be killed by a sword that he saw coming but didnt react, or incorrectly reacted, the protection would not apply.

Essentially, it prevented instant kills. As always, the system had a tendency of awarding preventions after the disaster. The precautions we have were all essentially earned and paid for in blood and souls.

Lumoofs skill was probably pretty good too, [Projected Presence], which, strangely, allowed his to project himself in another location and essentially be at two places at once. Alkas new ability was [Crystalline Supercomputer], which allowed him to transform crystals into magical computers.

Johann, in my opinion, got the best new domain skill. [Reconstructed Mythical Companion]. He essentially has the titan-equivalent skill of using bones to rebuild a mythical companion. Obviously, he asked and received the moon-dragon bones. He didnt even need all of it, just one large piece was sufficient for the ability to start regrowing a dragonling in his [domain-space.]

A victory is a victory. Stella said, We should throw a party.

Lumoof agreed. A party to remember the sacrifices of those who fell, and those who survived.

Then lets do it.

[Author Notes : Writing this was... stressful. I wasn't sure whether it was the right time to kick things up a notch, and with progression, it's a fine balance between meaningful progression, and not burning the plot to the ground. I'm not sure I'll regret this, but it is done, so be it.]

[Author Notes 2 : 9 November 2022 will be a break because I has covid and I can't write]