Chapter 281: 270. The Bloody Forest

Those that can’t see in the darkness often remark how it is all black, but those who could see, often see in colors that couldn’t quite be described to man. I would be able to unlock all three choices in time, and I thought to myself that the [Dark Void] seemed to be the power I needed the most. 

I’ve struggled with the void for all this while. Our pace of expansion is dictated by the void, our travels through the void is the clear limiting factor of how we could visit new worlds, and eventually, the conclusion of the council was fairly decisive.

I would select the void. 

[The Dark Void].

The selection itself was immediate, and quiet, but what immediately happened soon after, was the appearance of black lightning over the skies of Freshka. Void Lightning. 

A single blast to my first body. 

I wonder whether this was heavenly retribution. 

I felt my soul, already separated across my clones, began to change, and the view of the void came instantly. One moment it wasn’t, and the other, I suddenly saw the different shades of darkness in the skies above, in colors I couldn’t quite see.

My immediate description of the void layers was-

Magical photo filters. 

This was like looking at photos of the stars with infra-red or ultraviolet light. They revealed things that were not there before, or in different places. 

Each of these filters revealed a different version of the stars, with different locations. As I shared it with Stella, she immediately understood what this was.

“This is the different perspective we’ve been looking for all this while. It’s hidden behind a domain ability?!”

I thought about it, and perhaps, it could be a domain ability for me, but there may be certain races or species who could see the different void layers themselves. Stella immediately began to experiment on her newfound access to the [void layers]. 

We were all very excited to see the new worlds hidden within the void layers, but we had to be prepared. We were not sure what exactly lurked on the other side. 

***

“Aeon finally has mechs.” Prabu said, amazed, as he watched the magical construction emerge from it’s hangar on the moon. My Valthorns outdid themselves when they built the first moon base, and they outdid themselves again when they constructed what was the first orbital battle platform. 

We were expected the first of the remnant meteors to enter our void teleportation range soon, but given that they were such small objects with hardly any bubble of reality, we felt the risk of engagement in such a situation was too high.

With such small bubbles of reality, even if we succeeded in destroying them, we wouldn’t be able to flee in time. It’s likely that their ‘reality’ was very fragile to begin with, and so, my void archmages recommended against attacking them in the void sea itself. The best area of engagement was once they entered Treehome’s now-expanded sphere of reality. 

This was, in a way, the equivalent of letting the meteor enter our solar system. 

The means of engagement were these orbital battle platforms, the first few usable space warships, and these mechs. The mechs were not really mechs, but instead, to facilitate the heroes in their movements and survival in space. They were only made possible due to a combination of clever crystalwork from our crafters. 

“I wish we could make [mechs] with our [hero forges].”

Kei, on their shared communication network, responded. “I could. You guys just need to work around your limitations.”

Each hero’s hero forge was different, tailored by their assigned powersets. Kei, being the shipgirl that she once was, could make mech suits. Basic ones, but mech suits nonetheless. For Prabu and Colette, their weapons were smaller. 

Khefri- didn’t want to participate in the defense of Treehome. She said she had things to do back on Threeworlds, so, we didn’t force her. Similarly, Adrian had his own set of tasks back on Mountainworld. 

Chung- well, being Chung, he decided to ignore us altogether. 

I wasn’t bothered. But Prabu and Colette tested out our first mechs.

They struggled, and we had to send the mechs back to the workshop to work on the synchronization. In theory, mechs and golems are pretty much the same thing. But golems ultimately were controlled by their masters, and so the [system] facilitated the control and manipulation of the golem’s many parts.

However, a mech, in our case, is piloted by heroes, and these heroes don’t have the relevant skills and classes. Sure, they could still be manipulated and moved about relatively well, but not at the operating level expected of heroes. 

Certainly, not a level of performance where these mechs can see battle against the demon kings, even if it should still be quite sufficient for lower levels of demons. 

***

Most conventional weapons continue to work, as long as they were within the boundaries of Treehome’s reality bubble. 

Now that we were able to move in ‘space’, we attempted to reach the very edges of this reality bubble, and realize it was more like a rubber ball, than actually a soap bubble. As we move closer to that edge, we are pushed closer towards the center of that reality bubble. So, it’ll feel as if we are moving forward, but in reality we were not going anywhere. 

In other words, it was like there was a ‘treadmill’ at edges of reality that pushed inwards. 

With enough force, and a high enough speed, it should be possible to overcome this ‘force’, and pierce the reality bubble directly. 

Still, day by day, I could sense the bubble of reality continued to expand. 

My domain ability was gradually pushing the world wider, and soon, it would be large enough to accommodate a secondary world. 

I wonder what it’ll be like.

Does the world just pop out of thin air?

Or like a world drifting out of the void? Would it come with an inbuilt population, or would it be empty?

***

 

Threeworlds. With the Crystal King imprisoned, the first moments of war began to emerge. The human kingdoms and nations struggled to realign in what was a tectonic shift in power. 

We sent diplomats everywhere, accompanied by our Valthorns. We had to show force, even if I didn’t want to use the stick all the time.

But I had to. There was a point of no return. When the Crystal King attempted to sabotage our preparations, that was the point of no return for me. They put my people at risk. 

Now, I put them at risk again, by making them force these human nations to bend their knee. Bloody or not. 

As with any large group of people, some were loyalists, and despite my declaration, they were not convinced. They fought. And what began was an unfortunately brutal occupation by my forces. 

Old leaders had to be expelled, especially those that sought to fight against me. Those that didn’t, were actively and openly monitored.  It was the noble class that opposed me most, and it was them that I had to remove. I tried a mix of carrot and stick. I enticed those willing to bend the knee with food supplies, resource assistance, and protection. Those that didn’t were punished. 

I assisted family struggles, using those willing to work with me to overthrow those that didn’t. 

The human nations, some attempted to attack us with their military. 

Johann, became my enforcer. He traveled the land with his dragon, and struck fear into the kings and queens. Yet, they were attacked frequently, and in response, they were punished. Jailed.

And at times- slaughtered. 

It made me churn.

A little. 

But then I remembered that there are times that we have to make an example of a few, to scare the masses. 

I had imprisoned the Crystal King. What was done, was done. 

Now, I deal with the consequences.

***

It was a scene that was repeated across the kingdoms of the Crystal King’s land. 

“You come into my kingdom, and demand I bend the knee?” The King roared, surrounded by his soldiers and knights. Golems. 

Johann was flanked by six elite Valthorns, all level 100s, and his golden dragon. The dragon grew day by day, feasting on the meat of the land. He laughed, and flexed his domain easily. The soldiers buckled. The King trembled in his seat, even though he stood. He held his scepter tightly, using it to support himself.

It would not do for a King to cower in his throne. 

Johann smirked. “No. I demand you work with us under the old arrangements with the Crystal King. You either accept, or you will be removed, and replaced with those who will. I’d rather not invite the brutality of Aeon’s Mercy onto your land, or let you experience a little of Aeon’s Perspective.”

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“-You!” The King held his scepter, and called on the strength of his class to withstand the weight of Johann’s domain. 

One Minister tried to speak up. “Your Majesty, please - we should discuss this further.”

The King stared at the minister- but another minister spoke up for him.

“Your majesty, the minister is wise. We- we’re dealing with a god-”

We had sent our spies and agents into the many kingdoms, to bribe, to talk, to convince those who could be convinced. This occurred before Johann’s visit, to ‘prepare-the-field’ for the agreement.

***

The same King agreed later on, convinced by his council of ministers. We bribed half of them, and attempted to bribe the other half. But they were wise enough to remain silent. 

They have seen our beetle armies. 

Many had used magic to look at what happened to Maelga, and were made speechless. 

But ultimately, we used the stick.

There was an unfortunate King that opposed us to the end. He evoked war. 

And Johann made him into an example. We announced our intention to remove him as King, using charges collected by my spies. Then we killed him there and then, publicly before his own citizens and subjects. 

Death was a scythe we threatened on every noble. 

***

About two thirds of the kingdoms eventually capitulated to our rule, even if we had to reward them with wealth. Wealth was no big deal, after all, it is a resource I can always create. 

One third of them saw the writing on the wall, and realized I was stronger than their crystal king. They agreed out of fear. The other third agreed with bribes. 

As for the remaining one third, we had to engage in power struggles. My agents helped those in favor of our new regime to overthrow their existing rulers, and functionally, install our people as the puppeteers of their new ruling state.

Naturally, there was blood spilled.

Kidnappings, murders and assassinations. All to prevent a bloodier war. 

The next one was to deal with the priests, and similar to the kings, we bribed them. Those that we couldn’t bribe, we removed. My spies and assassins were busier than ever. 

Accidents. 

Visits to another world. 

I offered exile to those who wish to resist. I granted them the chance to live in Lavaworld. 

The priests of the Crystal King’s land were granted the right to operate as normal, so long as they did not incite riots or attacks against us. 

The commoners and citizens of the Crystal King’s lands, most of them couldn’t be arsed, and in the era where high speed communication is only available to the rich, most farmers and peasants didn’t even know there was a change in power.

They would learn of such changes over a longer period of time, through the stories spoken by merchants and bards. Again, bribes. It was honestly because I had the wealth of Treehome, that I could engage in such outright bribery of the masses. 

My spies fed these folks coin, and made them tell more pleasant versions of the story. We asked them to speak out how the Crystal King attempted to sabotage the hero Khefri’s battle against the demon king. 

We were the Crystal King’s divine punishment. 

It was an angle that worked well, and helped pacify the commoners. Many didn’t really feel strong loyalties to the Crystal King. He was too distant, too aloof. His empire was more of a ragtag coalition of vassal states, rather than a proper federal structure. 

The improved farming yields from my druids and trees that came after soon placated the commoners who usually dealt with hunger and heavy taxation. 

Naturally, among the commoners, not all accepted the change of regime. This was most unfortunate. 

We tried to reeducate them. Expose them to what happened. 

But ultimately, some were violent. And death is the only way to deal with them. 

It is unfortunate that regime change must occur this way. 

But I accept the blood on my hands. I will pay the price for my brutality, when my day comes. 

With blood on my roots and leaves, I will transform the world and the human lands into an economy that can support this war against the demons. 

 

***

Dwarfworld 

My mages and crafters analysed the Sunsteel and we believe it should be one of the components of what the demons use for the Sun Rings. At least, we believe the Sun Rings to be some kind of metallic alloy. It’s this Sunsteel mixed with something else altogether. 

So, Lumoof went with the first proposal. Trade. The Dwarven Lord rejected the offer, but Lumoof wasn’t bothered. There were many dwarven cities, and we would be able to find a smaller dwarven city that we could support. 

“Trade?” The Dwarven Lord looked absolutely shocked. “You want half of the Sunsteel? You might as well rob us.” 

Lumoof frowned. “Half is fair. I will be doing the work. I really rather work this out on friendly terms rather than invade.”

“I don’t know who you are threatening-” The Dwarven Lord didn’t understand. Naturally, in front of him was just a man. A powerful man, but he didn’t grasp exactly what he was faced with. 

Lumoof waited for a bit, and realized he might have a point. 

Though the dwarven lord rejected Lumoof’s trade deal, Lumoof decided to explore the world some more, and realized this world, despite the constant brutal wars between the dwarven cities, was also filled with many relatively high leveled dwarven craftsmen.

Many were level 50-60, and they were available in very large quantities. There were multiple dwarven craft academies throughout the world that produced the smiths, crafters and engineers needed to construct their gigantic war machines. 

And they loved large scale construction projects. 

He pinged Stella. 

“Stella, do you think you’re keen on sending some dwarves from and to our homeworld?”

“-sure- but why?”

“I’m thinking of some good ol’ Perspective. I think Alka would love this world, he could turn this world into one of those Forgeworlds.”

Stella paused. “If they are a bunch of war hungry dwarves, why not give them war?” 

Lumoof paused as he digested Stella’s message. “You know what- you’re right. We should give them war.”

“Oh. Do you want an invasion force? We’re a little tight with half of our folks dealing with the Comet remnants and the other half occupying Threeworld-”

“No. I think I have something else in mind.”

“Really? Will this world be worth it?” Stella challenged. “What do you have in mind?”

“Get me a group of dwarven lords from the academy willing to rule over some alien dwarves?” Lumoof said. “I believe this world has potential to assist our war efforts. A node should be sufficient, since we should be able to claim some land as our city-”

“Got it.” Stella laughed. 

The dwarfworld was filled with many small dwarven towns and cities. Not all were competent, and not all have war machines. There were smaller towns, led by less powerful lords that we could depose. High-leveled, well-trained [Lords] trained by the FTC could sweep in with Valthorn support, take over these smaller towns, and effectively cobble the smaller towns together into a coalition. 

Then, we could effectively convert the cities into our dwarven workshops.

Rather than fight each other, it was time to channel the dwarven crafts towards a more productive war. 

We would turn this world into a forgeworld, and those war machines will find themselves battlefields where they can do some good.