260. Unsettled boundaries

260. Unsettled boundaries

Year 259 Part 2 - (Chapter 260)

Khefris Threeworld battle

How many saboteurs are we dealing with? Khefri barked. More humans attempted to disturb our preparations, but by now I had the entire area filled with trees that its fairly difficult for low level spies or assassins to sneak through. But the old crystal dude was relentless.

I caught many of them, and made public executions. Public executions, along with magical broadcasts.

Death. I declared to the horror of those watching. I knew the mages of the human-lands, and the Crystal King watched. Their scrying magics were easy to spot. To those who disturb our preparations.

At some point, I would have to start making enemies. No. Ive already made enemies. Could I crush them? I am struggling on whether I should just march an army into the depth of the Crystal Kings fortress and blow it up.

At some point, we should. Chung said. At some point, we must.

My domainholders didnt think that was necessary. The crystal king was an annoyance we could deal with. Its just like flies. Edna thinks that if we scare them enough, theyd go away.

The centaurs opinions of their human neighbors soured greatly. Centaurs and the crystal kings humans went to war a long time ago, but recent events seem to have undid a fair bit of the goodwill since then.

The field where the battle would happen was properly rigged, and my Valthorns observed the demons on the other side.

Roon and Johann returned from the demon world with a party of void mages. Theyve done the usual set of procedures, where we planted our tracking devices, stole a few riftgates, and observed its own astral pathways. Were dealing with bugs.

The first few rifts released only the stereotypical hellhounds, but the later rifts from the demon world confirmed something else

Khefri cursed. There were just a few small rifts. We don't have a good track record with bugs and insects.

I know. Prabu, Colette were ready in my clone. My city in the northern lands of Threeworlds was a proper magical fortress. For Colette, this was her first real test.

Well, after this we'd wage a full scale attack on the Comet.

There wasn't much time left, and though I had wanted the odds to be stacked in my favor, with the Comet, we didn't have much of a choice. Preparations for the attack on the demon's comet were in full swing.

***

"Bugs." The rift of the demon king opened to the flood of locusts pouring out of them.

The mages, Prabu and Colette, rained a burning inferno and the bugs burned into ashes. Side by side, it was easy to notice the subtle differences. She was clearer, and less affected by the compulsions of her class. Even if her powers were not stronger, the clarity of mind made her stronger. In a way that was less dependent on skills, but from a kind of elevated situational awareness.

The demon king was a giant bug that spawned more bugs, in an ironic repeat of the Spider Demon King. But, without invisibility, and the bombs, the demon king would not have been worth a mention.

We detonated the bombs the moment we sensed the demon king walked through the path across the stars.

At the same time, the crystal kings attempted sabotage took a leap. An escalation that would begin more conflict. The crystal king created a portal, a rift appeared in the skies above, one that was different from the demons. A hole in the sky appeared as if the sky was a piece of rock, and a shattered chunk emerged. A golem of crystal slammed down, and strangely, aimed for Khefri.

What the hell! Khefri cursed as the golem attempted to sabotage the battle. My vines quickly emerged and attempted to wrap itself around the golem, only to suddenly feel the golem releasing some kind of poisonous mana into my roots.

My roots shriveled. At first. But I quickly adapted as I could purify the poisonous mana away.

-thats new. I cursed, while bug champions emerged from the demons rift.

Chung shot an explosive arrow that destroyed the golem instantly. Some of those shrapnels explode and accidentally smashes into Khefris scorpion armor. Fucking distraction! Im gonna get that chunk of rock-

Dodge. Colette said as she pushed Chung out of the way of an exploding bug with magical force. Do you forget to dodge when you fight demon kings?

Argh. Chung cursed, as he unleashed a volley of magical arrows in fury. They slammed into the giant bug demon king Sectar.

Khefri frowned. Chung, can you stop being an idiot?

Im not! Im attacking this damned bug.

Prabu and Colettes combined inferno continued to burn, turning the vast grasslands of the Centaurs into a swirling firestorm that destroyed the bugs. Thankfully, despite their own fiery origins, the demonic bugs were not fire resistant. Their base natures as bugs meant fire still hurt them pretty badly.

The demon king itself, Sectar, a gigantic insectoid with wings. It was more like a ladybug, and released waves of attacks from colorful spots on its back. Regardless of its gimmicks, the heroes overpowered the demon king without major issues.

The demon king was no match for the power of the heroes, and was swiftly defeated. My Valthorns supported the battle, and some levels were gained.

None for me. Not that I devoted much resources to it. Everything I had will go towards the coming invasion. When the Demons Comet intersected with Lavaworld.

***

Impossible. She would be a threat to the entire world. The powers of a god without the gods control is far too dangerous in a childs hand.

Khefri stopped talking. I reckon what went through her mind then, was whether Zhaanpu just distrusted heroes, or whether he was genuinely fearful for the world.

-She must be slain. She is an agent out of control

No! Khefris response was immediate. She- shes fine.

For now. Eventually, without the inhibitions of the gods, they will turn against everything.

Khefri countered. How do you know for sure?

That made Zhaanpu pause. His golden eyes flickered. -true. I am merely remembering the faint vignettes of the past. But be wary, child. Those unshackled from the controls are dangerous. The hero class is a dangerous weapon, it can hurt as much as help, and it is for that reason the gods keep it tightly leashed.

The scorpionoid heroine frowned. Fucking scam of a class.

***

Lavaworld was busy as hell, and my demonic trees were visible to all those who were there. Ive sent demonic beetles over to the demons comet repeatedly, trying to explore and take control of more things.

The demon king Multipus seemed to react particularly strongly to the presence of star mana, and I could use that as a distraction. Cause certain parts of my roots to inject star mana into its surrounding, marking it as a target.

The will of the Comet was complex, as if multiple voices talking to each other.

-intruder. Destroy.

Help!

Destroy!

Every time the will commanded destroy, the Demon King Multipus would rouse from its slumber, but the Comet was unable to provide targeting information. So Multipus could only search for a target. Everything around them to be demons.

I had somehow fooled it.

I wanted to create more cracks on the demons core, but with the barrier of demonic mana blocking my advance, I moved around, and continued to spread my demonic roots to more parts of the demons comet.

The use of so much demonic mana was beginning to strain, and I had to quickly compartmentalize the mana, and set up specific artificial minds to monitor the flow of this demonic mana.

Even then, each time it moved from the clone to another clone, it had to pass through the clones body.

And I began to experience hallucinations. Visions. My artificial minds tried their best to block their influence, but even then they still creeped in.

It was a familiar vision.

That old sandy, deserted world filled with demonic spires. Home. Origin.

Now though, I wonder whether they are looking for a place, rather than just a memory of their homeworld. Are the demons looking for their homeworld? If I could shake my head, I would. Why was I thinking in sympathetic terms with a group of demons that clearly slaughtered almost everything in its path?

Still, I needed to prepare the Demons Comet for the invasion. The Valthorns, and the heroes were prepping for battle.

By injecting star mana in random locations throughout the Comet, I lured demon king Multipus to lash out at the surroundings, and it left huge cracks in the demons comets structure. Some of it would mend itself over time, as the demonic mana from the core reached it.

But with most of the demonic mana curled up to shield the Core from my intrusion, the speed of this recovery was significantly weakened.

Alka didnt look optimistic. All of his computations suggested our weapons were not enough to destroy the comet. But with ten years left on the clock, we had no choice. We needed to act, and we couldnt wait too long.

The invasion team was ready. As much as we can be.

The heroes were ready too. Even with their conflicts, they accepted the task of battling the demon king Multipus while the rest of us tried to wreck the place.

Its time to roll the dice, and attack.

May fortune be with us.

***

Spaizzer

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[Also. Book 3 chapters going down tomorrow - up to Chapter 85- 137]