257. Tree Blight

257. Tree Blight

Year 257 Part 2

Thirteen years till Impact

Liberated hero? I asked as Colette exited from the soul forge. What in the world-

I have gained control of my class, and no longer will it inject me with its whims and desires.

How? What-

She smiled. I actually dont know. But I remember my family, and I remember a lot of love from everyone. I had a great, incredible dream, Aeon. A dream of a lot of suffering, but always a lot of care, and affection. And I remember that I desired to remember all those who cared for me, and really desired to return that care to those around me. Then when I felt the hero class return- all I did was push that desire towards it.

She walked to Rohana, who looked at her mummy. Mommy, did you find it?

Colette squatted down, pulled her child for a hug, and nodded. Yes. Yes I did.

Can I look at it? I spoke to the hero directly. Again?

Later. I want to spend some time with my family.

Prabu wasnt sure what to make of it. He looked at her partner, unsure. So all he did was wait. She carried her daughter, and looked at him with a smile. When you are ready, you should ask Aeon for it too. It feels- It feels like I no longer forgot our childhood.

Rohana, the young child, merely tugged her mothers hand. Does it make you stronger, mommy?

Not really. But, I feel like I see things clearer. As if a veil was lifted.

Thats good, mommy. Can we go eat something now?

***

Ken stewed at the revelation that it was possible to escape the control of the gods, while still retaining the hero class. He immediately looked at Sneks hero class.

Do you think theres a way to turn your hero class into that? Whatever that was?

-do I look like I know? Snek answered. Our knowledge of the Soul never got to that point. Hell, the moment we got a hero class, were frankly in uncharted waters!

Ken frowned. I still kick myself for falling for your scam.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. As far as I could remember, you wanted to get rid of it, at almost any cost.

-fair.

Honestly, no one knows, and I wasnt even sure whether I could replicate it. That last part, where her soul itself heated her hero class, as if purifying it- I was sure that it came from her, and had nothing to do with me. I merely facilitated the moment, enabled the circumstances where she could then make it happen.

It was something within her that gave her the strength to change the hero class, and the heroes themselves wanted it.

But I could try.

Modifying hero classes was certainly not out of the picture.

***

Time was ticking. The demon comet was thirteen years away from impact on Treehome, and three more years till the next interplanar intersection with Lavaworld.

Time.

I had all the time in the world, and none at all. The heroes were not willing to go on a suicide mission on the demons comet.

Not with the torrents of demonic mana flooding my tree. As much as I hated to admit it, the demons were learning and adapting to my methods, and trapping me in a heavy dose of demonic mana was way more effective than I liked.

So, I focused on my experiments with the demonic mana, demonic trees and demonic beetles. The demons clearly had not adapted to my ability to use demonic mana, and I reckon that once they know I could use demonic mana, they would adapt accordingly.

After countless more experiments with my demonic beetles, I was finally comfortable enough to test one out. I still retained control of the demonic beetles, my hold on them through the demonic mana was unaffected by how they moved.

I wondered, briefly, about the nature of demonic mana, and its corruptive abilities, and thought about my choice so many decades ago.

When I chose Tree of Life, instead of Crown of Magic. Could Crown of Magic absorb demonic mana with none of its drawbacks? I wondered briefly whether the Crown of Magic wouldve solved the demon comet issue easily, due to its natural mastery of magic.

Ah. I quickly snapped myself out of my contemplation, and focused back to my demonic beetles. I could control them, but I couldnt see through them. My next problem was I needed the means to remain in contact with the scouting demon beetle as it explores the demons comet, so I tested more variants of demonic plants and trees, just in case I needed them to explore the demons comet and expand my beetles range of operations.

It was frustrating that the demon comets rivers of mana continued to focus on my Clones location. I had hoped that they would somehow realign themselves back to their original nodes, then I could use that opportunity to expand outwards, in some manner that wouldnt rouse the attention of the core.

Now, with the swirling rivers of mana, it was dangerous even for the heroes, and the constant harassment from the demonic creatures never quite ended. Despite destroying so many of these demons, I have not gained a single level.

My demonic beetles were now ready, and I sent them to Lavaworld to experiment on them.

With the [Liberated hero], there was none of that. No decay, no future weakness. Their strength was preserved, and they could act freely.

I hope some of you will join me. She said with certainty, and the other heroes merely stared, puzzled. Even her partner, Prabu, merely frowned.

I reviewed the data from the incident, of how Colette broke free, and realized that her own soul must want it. Based on what I know, its likely that if the heros soul wasnt strong enough, the [hero] classs hold on their mind may actually be enhanced. The very act of pushing against the hero class drained the soul of its energy, so if it didnt have enough, it could be a mistake.

I quickly clarified the risks of attempting similar acts, and also explained that there were already tremendous cracks in her soul before she broke free.

I would hesitate trying it again, until your souls reveal similar characteristics as Colette. I said. In fact, my gut feeling told me that the hero themselves must have conviction, and a desire for it.

I also dont know the consequences of a [liberated hero]. Does it affect how future heroes are summoned?

Do we still receive fragments?

***

Magical research focusing on the destruction of the Comet was in full swing, and by now, rumors of an impending disaster leaked out to the wider society.

After all, Valthorns would tell their families of the Comet, as means of convincing them to make the move to Tropicsworld. Some of these families would speak of it to their friends. The rumors spread, and as time ticked, the nobility were first to panic. Some of them sent emissaries, demanding details of the rumors.

Knowledge of the other worlds were common, now. Everyone knows we have access to other worlds, and so the fact that there was a Comet coming our way didnt seem farfetched.

Most didnt know the details, of course. Some thought it was just a super-demon-king, some thought the planet itself was cracking. Some thought it was just all the water on Treehome was evaporating.

It was hilarious and sad to watch how stories mutated as it passed on.

But ultimately, emissaries began to visit Freshka in droves, demanding truth. My own diplomats initially tried their best to delay it, by denying the truth.

I felt conflicted, as my diplomats and leaders denied the truth despite the evidence. Our official stance was this is a military preparation for the coming demon king.

I was a liar. We were all liars.

But it wouldnt help my cause. No. I would expect resources will be needed just to satisfy their demands. In fact, some would demand to be sent over first. Panicking would not help and would lead to misaligned use of resources and time.

***

The way to the demon world is opening in about two years. Maybe less.

Threeworlds would face the next demon king in another two years. The last time we fought a demon king in their world was Year 238, and their world faced a demon king every fifteen to twenty years.

Stella and Khefri pointed to a location on Threeworlds. The Centaur lands. Khefri merely cursed. Theyve gotten hit hard, and now theyre getting hit again.

There are times when I feel rich. When I feel we have enough resources to pursue anything we want to.

Then there are times like this, where I have not done enough for the Demons Comet, and I still need to dig into my reserves to resolve a demon king on Threeworlds. The heroes would be there.

They have to be.

We would need to properly rig the place for war.

***

Ridiculous. Lumoof cursed as he heard the emissary. Absolutely ridiculous. The dwarves of Mountainworld demanded us to reconstruct their capital, and move the structures back.

The heroes, in their grief, were in no shape to immediately start work. Matters such as moving the dwarven city buildings back to their original location? Low priority. Colette and Prabu, the two mages, dragged their feet, because that location still reminded them too much about Hafizs death.

Lumoof slammed the table. This is very unreasonable of the dwarven king.

The dwarves had initially blamed the heroes for their capitals fall. Now, their discontent towards their new living conditions, despite our attempts to assist, were aimed at us. The Dwarven King was not wise. It was something I know, but I suppose, it wasnt important before. But now, the dwarven king, unable to do much to improve things, aimed that anger at us.

I have sympathy for those who lost their homes.

But if they declare war against us, that would be unreasonable. Reconstruction from a disaster, where reasonable, was already ongoing.

Full restoration was not.

What ensued was gutter politics. The dwarves sent letters to neighboring kingdoms, accusing us of deliberately destroying their capital. My spies intercepted them, and sent letters of our own. Most kingdoms were aware of our neutrality, and the nobility, privy to a wider range of news, were mostly on my side.

But the dwarves were quite good at riling up the masses. Their rapport with the common folk was good.

Politics and public relations sapped resources and manpower. It was tiring, trying to deal with a Comet, while these gnawing things came my way, both on Treehome and Mountainworld.

But I swallowed my frustrations, for now.

I will deal with them. Later.