275. Securitree Concerns

275. Securitree Concerns

C275

Year 268

Delvegard

The security situation in most of the newly controlled towns were stable. The dwarves were fairly respectful of power, and they voiced their disagreements and dissatisfactions in a straightforward manner. In the face of strength, they respected and accepted that, and so didnt make much of a fuss.

These small towns didnt have much concept of pride and its identity as a town or nation state wasnt fully formed. This was due to the relatively short history, and the lack of unique selling point. As a result, the five lords from Treehome were generally free to consolidate their power and make changes.

Its likely things would be trickier, with older dwarven nation-states. These states and cities would have longer history, more pride, and generally, a stronger desire to keep control within itself.

But for now, nothing much occurred.

The void creatures found in the mines of the other dwarven cities were nowhere near the five towns we now controlled. But it wasnt that difficult to find them.

The dwarves, incredibly, had a special class for it. [Sunmetal Prospector].

These dwarves seemed to have an inbuilt radar that detected the presence of these Sunmetals whenever they approached a new land, and stronger, higher leveled prospectors could even sense their presence just by standing on top of them.

From our informants, it seems that the Dwarven Lords themselves usually have some [Prospecting] or [Mining] classes, because of how valuable the sunmetal was to their war efforts. etal, in other words, was Delvegards gold.

The void creatures were the dragons that guarded them. Large veins somehow generated and caused the creation of particularly strong void creatures, and in Delvegard mythology, there were stories of the Void creatures as the spirit of the Sunmetal, expelled from their flesh due to their crimes.

In those stories, the void creatures guarded the sunmetal veins like an obsessive spouse, and would fight tooth and nail to protect their bodies.

In other regions of Delvegard, another version of the story places the veins as the remains of an old dwarven god, the void creatures were the poisons that killed the old god, and now feasted on its remains.

Kafa found the stories fascinating, and traveled to learn more about Delvegard. His levels and domain made his physique exemplary, and he used it to his full advantage, moving from place and place. We wanted to visit all the large kingdoms of Delvegard, and improve our knowledge.

One of the key concerns the Lumoof had was whether there was divine presence in this world. We wanted to find out who these dwarves worshiped, and whether there are other domain tier individuals. Most of the dwarves we met so far seemed to believe and worshiped a god called Eras.

But Eras was more like a craft god, and it was a familiar name. We had records of Eras, as mentioned in the Margmarian recordings. But unlike the records in the Margmarian city, Erass faith in the world of Delvegard was more casual and unregulated.

Here, the teachings of Eras were passed down from parents to children, and so were twisted in bits and pieces. Whats left of the original Eras scriptures were scattered across the dwarven nations, but no one actually attempted to piece them together.

In some ways, the dwarves didnt take Eras all that seriously, and the pious was a real minority.

It is a blend of an old faith with dwarven superstition.

***

One of the largest dwarven factory-academies on Delvegard was an institution called the Delvegardian Yards. It was a large mountain that was hollowed out over the centuries, and home to the third largest war machines and factories on all of Delvegard.

It was, politically, a subordinate of the nearby Dwarven Kingdom of Ruthfyord, but in substance, the Factory master of the Delvegardian Yards was the true king of Ruthfyord. Even today, it is the Ruthfyord Kings father that controlled the Delvegardian Yards.

Kafa tapped the illusionary device, and it cloaked his presence. He could do so with his scales, too, so the illusionary device was made not to interfere with the functionality of his colorful scales.

Colossal War Machines stood motionless in the yards. Here, hundreds if not thousands of dwarven crafters worked on separate parts of the war machines. Some worked on their legs, some worked on their body, some worked on the weapons that would soon.

Kafa walked about untouched. In this factory-academy where masters taught their apprentices, the sound of metals banging and hammers hitting steel was the background music. No one noticed the invisible lizard.

He snuck through the vast academy, and then into the hangers located on another side of the hollowed out mountain. They had at least thirty war machines just under maintenance, and another ten more that seemed ready for use at any time.

They had pilots. Dwarven [Machine operators], each forming a bond with their gigantic war machines.

The war machines had to be charged. They had large crystal power units, and the [Operators] themselves supplied some of the war machines power requirements. Just as sunmetals were used for joints, they also used some kind of Sunmetal-Crystal mixture for batteries.

I was tempted to steal one and even suggested it. I was fascinated. Such equipment and design were unseen on Treehome, and I believe Alka would love it.

But I was interrupted.

But what if this leaves a bad mark? Do we really want to start a relationship with these dwarves on the wrong foot? Some of my dwarven diplomats advised otherwise. I believe we can obtain this above board, through trades.

Very well. Lets try trades, then. We could easily trade void weapons for it. My void mages produced enough void weaponry, but thats something we wouldnt reveal. Not yet.

Kafa soon learned that the kingdom of Ruthfyord controlled about seventy war machines. There were a few other kingdoms with such similar size. Most smaller kingdoms and city states controlled two to three such war machines, and even those were of a lower quality than the giants.

The war machines themselves had surprisingly powerful beam weapons, and the legs were pretty much stabbing weapons. By my own estimates, two of these war machines could take down a demon walker.

Their protections are rather weak. Kafa noticed, as they mainly relied on the natural endurance qualities of the Sunmetal and Sunsteel. Most of them were focused on energy reflection spells.

Kafas espionage continued, and he snuck through the Delvegardian Yards easily. He quickly detected the presence of a hidden chamber, and entered it. The factory master worked on a super-colossus. Ten legs and enough weapons to match ten colossus, it was engineered for the Factory master.

It wasnt that unique. Kafas exploration of the other large factories and academies revealed that most kingdoms worked on some superweapon.

Bigger. Stronger. Each Factory Master wanted to go above and beyond a war machine.

We charged our weapons, and waited for that protective layer to fade. Once it faded, we blew up the demon king.

[Demon King Marchosias has been slain]

There was no explosive destruction. The demon king left a core that was tainted by star mana, but that was no matter. The entire crater was seeded with crystals, as the remnants of the demon kings corpse transformed into daemolite.

Well. Time to clean shit up. Lumoof declared. The Valthorns quickly descended on the forest to mop up the residual energies.

Adrian looked at Khefri. You know, I had the strange feeling like I was supposed to die today.

Khefri laughed. You think too much. With so many other combatants present, you think youd die today?

Well, its just a weird feeling. Like it was written in the stars, but it did not happen.

Khefri frowned. Dont say such inauspicious things. Theres still Multipus.

I dont think so. Its inevitable that we will die. Adrian laughed. I just wonder when.

***

The Cometworld floated through the vastness of the void sea. Its bubble of reality expanded slightly, very slightly. This was a world with no core remaining, and so its bubble of reality is maintained by my existence. I wonder whether only domain holders emit a bubble of reality, or whether it is something that all living creatures have.

It floated by places. Darkness.

Its movement in the void sea brought us even further away from the demons, and I wondered where it was headed.

Weve been working on manipulating an objects trajectory through the void sea for ages, and even now, weve not succeeded. With the void layers, we wonder whether this is even necessary.

Perhaps, in one version of the void layers, the Cometworld was headed in the right direction after all.

Thats so optimistic. Stella laughed.

But true. I countered.

Its like falling upwards.

The void sea defies all normal types of logic. The void sea is pretty much whatever your mind thinks it is. Its like a painting on a canvas.

My void domain holder chuckled. I cant wait to start exploring the void layers. We need to hunt Multipus down and be done with this meteor storm.

The demon king is out there somewhere, on one of the meteor remnants.

I doubt it was consumed by the void. It just didnt seem like a thing for demon kings.

***

Chung was alone in his part of the world. He trembled, as his mind weighed on him.

It wasnt the demon king of his world. And yet, when he heard that a demon king came for Mountainworld, his mind seemed to strain.

A hero was compelled to fight demon kings. It wasnt that strong, if the demon king was of another world.

But it tugged at his mind, and he lashed out.

He abandoned his puppet state, and found a place in the mountains. There were no sapient beings here, only animals and monsters. He lashed out, his arrows blasted the surroundings. Everyone knew the area was off limits. It was where the Archer Hero went to blow off steam.

The place was filled with craters and holes. Ive not bothered to repair it, and left the mountainous region riddled with all the scars of his attacks.

It happened more and more. Especially in recent years.

I spied on him, and realized that he was slowly losing it. Conflict with this hero seemed inevitable, and the only one left on talking terms with him doesnt want anything to do with him.

Internally, we prepared for conflict. We ran simulations of battle against the hero Chung. If he actually turned on us, the ideal state was a surprise attack.

I didnt want to kill a hero.

Yet, as his erraticism grew, I knew that it was inevitable.

I only hoped that there wouldnt be too much collateral damage.

Spaizzer

"As the end of her journey loomed and a pleasant future was laid out before her, Cal was left with but one question to grapple with: Should she should accept the generous offer from the Deities and become one of their Champions?

She hoped that she'd find answers that would help her make that decision on the final leg of her journey around the world, where she'd fulfill one of her long-time dreams to see the world beyond the isles where she was born.

Whatever the result, she knew that the choice she made would be her own, made without regrets. For all she knew, an ending to one story might well just be the prelude to another..."

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