286. Greenfields III

286. Greenfields III The node and the hero

Edna, on Landas, the Elven Peripheral World

The portal whirled open to the old location, supposed to be where the hero was. Nunarnusk was once the great capital of the White Elves, and so, they retained many old records, stored, luckily, in their underground vaults. The locals gladly gave her a tour of the place, and indeed, there was a time long, long ago when they rivaled even the great empires of Threeworld or Mountainworld.

Great empires are but materials to be turned into sawdust in the hands of the demons ever persistent grinding machine.

The old vaults were sealed magically. The White Elves hoped that if they fell, the citys history would still somehow remain within these vaults. There were no weapons here, instead, it was all books and records. Paintings.

And most importantly, detailed maps.

Maps, that made it easy for Stella to roughly locate its location. An old White Elf, apparently almost 600 years old, volunteered to help them verify the location of the Heros resting place. There was a time, a few centuries ago, when there was a lull in the demons push. When they lucked out with a hero with the right mix of talent, capability and luck to help beat back the demons and push the balance of power in their favor.

During the fleeting era of peace, there was travel between the cities. There was trade that has long vanished. Magical travel was possible during the period, instead of the constant, perpetual disruptions today.

Portal disruptions seem pretty common. Stella said. A lot of the [messaging] and [teleportation] failure was entirely due to the demons magical disruption, and for someone like Stella, it wasnt even hard to tell where those disruptive energies came from.

The demons nests in the deserts of Landas were all sources of that disruption. Stella almost didnt notice them, but Stellas portals, that survived the shredding of reality and teleportation on far more chaotic environments like the Demons Comet, easily overpowered the disruptions. If they had capable mages, they might have managed to maintain some semblance of a communication network even in spite of the disruptions, but Edna knew that those odds were unlikely.

Talent needed the right circumstances to flourish, and even today, even with the huge talent infrastructure of the Valthorns, mage training remains slow. Faster than before, but still, slow.

And so the portal opened, to a field of destruction and burnt wood. Ash.

It was a lake, once upon a time, but it has long since dried up. There were bodies filled with the corpses of the dead, though demons rarely left corpses. They decayed way too quickly.

There were champions in the distance, hammering at what appeared to be a magical shield. The shield protected a cherry tree that has long since withered and without a single leaf or flower.

There is an injured hero within that trees little space.

All around the shield was just endless, endless destruction. The White Elf collapsed on the ground and wailed. This entire place- it- it used to be a large city. One hundred thousand High Elves once walked this land, and now, all that remains is the Sacred Cherry of the First Estate?!

Edna and Stellas eyes both scanned the demon-filled surroundings, there certainly didnt seem to be anything resembling a city here. It was just a series of craters, whatever civilization didnt leave any structures or infrastructure that survived the demons attack.

The champions all hammered away at the shield. The shield did not break. The shield did not bend. But they both could sense the attacks chipping away at its strength. Slowly. The shield could last a few more years.

Since I am here. Edna said, as she jumped and landed not far away from the flood of demons. I might as well play.

Her [Quest Swords] appeared by the tens, and the knights magical summons soon appeared to accompany her. What were champions before a domain holder?

Stella created a shield around herself and her guide, the old white elf. Ednas blade shone like the fury of the stars. In the land that was once the First Estate, light returned, and ended centuries of darkness brought about by the demons champions.

In what was no more than ten series of flashing lights, the army of demon champions crumbled.

The pounding of the shield ended, and an eerie silence returned to the land.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

Ednas footsteps felt like the marches of a million soldiers. She walked to the gigantic Cherry tree thats all withered, and felt the presence of a heroic shield.

Aeon would be pleased to find another spirit tree out here. Edna said, her [quest swords] vanished into their own magical space.

Stella looked at the White Elf guide, Please return to Nunarnusk.

The White Elf wanted to stay, but he dared no object. Please dont hurt the Sacred Cherry. It is one of the most sacred places for all of the High Elves. Our ancestors have offended the gods enough, I do not wish to offend them further.

Stella found that amusing. All the briefings they received suggested they were all enemies. Rest assured, if the Sacred Cherry is not our enemy, it would not find us a threat. for new novels

The white elf went back through the portal, and Stella teleported up to Edna.

With not a single demon in sight, the withered Cherry Tree stood before them.

So, do we talk to it? Stella asked. Or do we require Lumoofs presence? Connect roots and stuff.

I thought you said wed just deploy Aeons clone here and be done with it. Edna teased, but the nature of their work meant most plans had to be adjusted. Reality and plans were not good friends.

A root emerged from Ednas body, an ability of Aeons familiar. It pierced the dirt around them, and made contact with the roots of the Cherry Tree.

The sensation was immediate, like two minds touching. But her domain protected her, while the counterpart was unprotected.

[Domain blocked attempted intrusion]

But they could still speak through the connection of roots.

Greetings. Ednas words were transmitted through the roots from her body. All she felt was a weak whimper from the other side. Its thoughts were slurred and weak.

Edna could feel the vulnerability, the frailness in its energies, and so she tapped into the familiars healing powers. Though nothing like the real thing, the effects were immediate, as the flow of healing energies into the Cherry Tree reinvigorated the withered plant, its branches and trunk gained color that was lost, and small cherry buds began to emerge from the tips of its branches. New leaves spawned from the tips of the tree.

It took about ten or fifteen minutes, but the Cherry Tree no longer withered. Stella smiled. Well?

This time, the reply from the Cherry Tree had strength that was once lost.

I greet our rescuers. Our gratitude knows no bounds. The Cherry Trees voice was like the whisper of a gentle old man.

Edna looked around. I was told the hero is here.

The hero lies within. Nursing his curse.

The hero is cursed. Edna recited from experience. His soul feels as if hes wrestling against the darkness. There is demonic poisoning within his soul. A curse that tainted his soul, a mark that blemished his once pristine soul spring. He may even have voices in his mind, whispering demonic words.

You have seen this sickness. Edna felt the Cherry Trees surprise through their root connection.

This is what our world could be like. Hoyia said quietly.

Arjan merely tapped the matriarchs shoulder. Dont dwell on it for too long, priestess. Our focus is on rescuing survivors, if any remain.

Lausanne remembered a similar scene on the Eastern Continent. The demons didnt get a chance to destroy freely, because Aeon existed. If the locals could not defend themselves, the solution was obvious. Aeon needed to be everywhere.

They needed to be everywhere.

Lausanne realized later that day that being everywhere was a lot harder than they expected.

***

They covered eleven locations that day, and gave themselves four hours to rest. They would need to keep moving.

The domainholders will be moving to another world. Ebon spoke when they woke from their rest. New orders. They expect that only four or five teams will remain in this world to support the natives by the weeks end. We need to start making substantive improvements to this worlds defenses, as soon as possible.

-what? Hoyia said. But we just came here.

There are fifteen worlds to reinforce. Treehome expects to send lower leveled Valthorns over to support those that remain. Ebon said. Lets keep moving. We wont be able to rest much.

***

The seven surviving domainholders had to split up, and formed three teams. Edna and Stella left Landas behind, and arrived in the next world. Lumoof and Kafa were sent to another one. Johann, Roon and Ezar to the fourth peripheral world.

All three teams found more worlds at stake. All these worlds were under attack by the demon kings. Some were almost all lost, and in others, the heroes were significantly less and weaker from their earlier days.

They were weakened, because the demons employed demonic curses extensively in all these worlds. Demonic parasites, demonic curses were found even in lesser beings, but these lesser beings died quickly.

They are pulling the teams there already? Hoyias exasperation was immediate. Dont we have people on Treehome?

Too low leveled. Ebon countered.

The Valtrian Order as a whole had about 3,000 level 100 and above individuals. A huge amount that meant the Valtrian Order far outclassed the powers of every other party in Treehome, Mountainworld, and Threeworlds combined.

It was, in every sense of the world, a monumental sum. A fighting force to fear.

But, about one third of these are non-combat classes. Crafters, enchanters, builders. Merchants and Lords. Mage-researchers. Trainers and teachers..

So, effectively, only 2,000 level 100 individuals that were ready for deployment. There was also a need to maintain standing forces on Threeworld, Mountainworld, and Tropicsworld. These three worlds security situation required a larger staff strength. That eliminated another 1,000 or so level 100 individuals from deployment. If they stretched it, they could reduce the number to 500.

So, at any one point, only about 1,000 to 1,500 or so Level 100s could be deployed as an expeditionary or peacekeeping force, supported by a larger population of lower leveled Valthorns.

The high level math was obvious. If there are 15 worlds like this, we can only deploy about 70 to 100 level 100 individuals per world.

It seemed like a big number, but each of these worlds were large places. These 70 Valthorns would definitely turn the tide and trivialize all lesser threats wherever they went, but they couldnt be everywhere. It wasnt large enough to cover all the places that needed help.

It will have to do. Ebon said. The support force of those below level 100 would have to fill up the gaps.

The team sat and processed Ebons update. Lausanne looked around them, and wondered whether there were enough of them to reach these worlds in time.

Lets keep going. We might have to depart for another world once were done here too.

They visited location after location in a rush, and finally, when they stopped at the last marked location, Lausanne stood over a corpse that was still warm. A young elven woman gored to death by demons.

Maybe if they reached the place an hour earlier, she wouldve lived.

No use thinking about it. Ebon sat next to Lausanne as they ate some of their rations. There were few animals or wild creatures to hunt for food, and most forests were destroyed. The surviving cities all had their own specialized farms, supported by their local [druids] and [farmers]. We just have to keep going.

Lausanne didnt like the feeling of helplessness. What price would she pay if she could save more people? No, what would she sacrifice to end this war?

Maybe that was Aeons question. She knew Aeon sensed it all. Aeon could see this. He absorbs the spirits of the dead by the hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions.

Why would he not make a deal with the devil to end this slaughter?

How many of us are left on Landas? Lausanne asked.

Six teams remaining. The other fourteen have been summoned to leave for the other worlds. More are getting ready.

Lausanne looked around them. Hoyia helped some of the injured with her healing powers. Her blend of priestly and familiar powers meant she could fix most injuries instantaneously.

Thanks to the combined efforts of all their teams, theyve constructed a revised map of Landas, indicating all the surviving cities. Of the six great capitals of the elves, only three remained. The other three were razed into the ground by the demons. Nunarnusk, Atarusk and Sorokor were the three last elven capitals that stood in some way or form.

Alright, Lumoof and Kafa have left the world. Ebon said suddenly. It was a matter-of-fact update.

Wait. Its been barely a few days? Lausanne thought.

Their world was in such terrible shape that there wasnt much left to help. Ebon recited the communications that came through the network. Updates on the peripheral worlds were given regularly to each of the team leaders, along with updates on the domainholder movements.

Did they deploy a node?

No. Not yet. Ebon countered.

What are our orders now? Lausanne wondered as one of the druids helped create a reinforced wooden rampart for the survivors. They would survive. Theyve eliminated almost all the demons they could find.

None yet. At this point, Treehome Commands leaving it up to the rest of us team leaders to decide what to do.

Lausannes instincts were simple. If the overarching goal was to reinforce the natives, then they could also accomplish that by weakening the demons. We have two main choices that maximize our presence. We strike the demons bases in the deserts. Clean up the shit that was left behind, and reduce the frequency of demonic raids on the surviving natives. Or we support the elf heros retaliation.

Ebon nodded. The elf heros in Treehome for now. So the heros retaliation will have to wait until he returns. Let me talk to the rest of them and build a strike force.