Tree of Aeons

281. Logged and Loaded

Year 271

Satrya

My clone was placed close to the demon kings predicted arrival slot. The actual location of arrival would be rigged with enough ordinances to nuke the place to ashes, so my clone was located a little further away.

The rifts swirled. 

Stella sighed from the safety of my clone. I cant help but feel that weve just signed up to fight someone elses war. 

It is true. But some concessions have to be made, for trust. In an agreement between powers, what else could there be but trust?

We still have the void layers to explore. Stella frowned, I felt her eagerness to see the void layers for herself. There was something that we wanted to see, there, and yet here we are, torn by all these other obligations. 

We were stretched. And we will be stretched even more.

The scale of the Valtrian Order needed to match our ambitions.

I needed to expand on a larger scale, and to some extent, these peripheral worlds seemed like the perfect place for it. They were exposed to enough demonic attacks that their people should have a reason to take up arms against the demons. 

I know. I consoled the void mage, but she was here anyway. She monitored the subtle shifts in the void paths of the demon king, making sure we got the right spot. 

She merely grunted at my response, and after a while, asked. You plan to send someone over to the other side? 

The rift gates hummed in the distance. The Valthorns present placed our bombs, as the two officials of Hawa, Olivia of Olpash and Michael of Museo, watched as bombs were carried out of my clone tree by the beetle-trucks. They watched with what seemed to be a mix of horror and amazement. 

Weve gotten better at the logistics of remote mining demon kings spawn points, and my plan involved designing standard deployment packages, each with enough to deal sufficient damage 2 x over, and deliver them to each of our attacked territories. 

We needed to transform each fight with the demon king into a routine process that we could repeat everywhere. We would be a well-oiled war machine. 

If only to get the coordinates. I answered. 

Stella nodded. A world that creates a demon king like Sabnoc would be of much interest. What sort of natural terrain they possess, or features, that caused the creation of such demon kings. 

You sound personally invested. Do you want to go? I wondered.

It is. I volunteer to go. 

Take Edna and Roon with you. 

Got it. Stella said. Ill give you a better reading on where 

***

The Valthorns were in full swing as they set up the bombs. Lumoof watched, and the team was familiar with our usual layout that they worked with hardly any intervention from the senior team. There were set formations that determined how the bombs were arranged throughout the arrival area. 

Impressive work. Michael said to Lumoof. Lumoof merely chuckled. 

Its not enough, though. Lumoof said. Wed probably have to step in for the finishing touches. 

Is it? I wouldve thought this amount of magical weapons would be sufficient to cause an explosion. MIchael countered. 

The priest grinned at the priest of the other faith. You underestimate how hardy the planet is.

Really?

Yes. Lumoof nodded. 

We have miners that use explosives for their underground mines. Michael clarified. I had the impression such explosive weapons would be enough.

The demon king isnt a creature that dies easily.

Michael paused. I noticed its mostly ordinary explosives, but since the opponent is the demon king, why not use [holy] explosives? 

Lumoof stared at Michael, and realized that Hawa may have access to divine-tier bombs, created with Hawas magical energies. 

The demon king isnt vulnerable to [holy] weapons. Most anti-demonic spells and abilities do not apply to the demon king.

Really? Michael paused. Our divine [champions] would always claim it is the Hawa Armaments that made them so powerful and use it to defeat the demon king.

Lumoof nodded. Weapons made by your god must be truly powerful. Id like to see them, if we have the chance.

Michael nodded. Sure.

Olivia, meanwhile, looked around. Lord Lumoof, have you seen my husband around?

Lumoof paused, a little annoyed that she  referred to Roon so casually. No.

***

Demon Conquered World - Orion

The riftgate wobbled. Stellas bubble of void magic touched the riftgates, and easily resonated with the frequency. 

And so, the trio was now on the other side. They immediately realize this was an unusual world among unusual worlds.

Theres some kind of magical hexagonal grid in the sky and the lands. Stella looked around in both amazement and horror, as she felt the same forces of divine law trying to apply on them. Luckily, it bounced off their domains. 

Roon breathed a sigh of relief. I dont remember ever being so relieved. 

Stella nodded. What sort of god created this world-

A world that has fallen to the demons. The world that created Sabnoc came from a world twisted by divine energies! 

Lets move. Roon said, as he looked around the environment. It was incredibly eerie to observe the demonic warriors stop after moving across a certain number of hex grids and stop. The magical grid, imposed by divine law, caused creatures that caused those grid barriers to feel exhausted. 

The void domain holder watched and immediately made the connection. This entire world was designed as if it was a board game played on a hexagonal grid, and the rules were imposed on regular creatures by way of divine law. 

I can see why it fell. Edna said. Those board games have to follow rules, but the demons and their imported army will feel limitless, even if the demons have to obey the rules 

The grids tried to impose their will on them repeatedly, but as domain holders they were spared. The terrain itself was also shaped by this magical grid. Temperature, terrain, features, vegetation all changed just by crossing the grid. 

Edna joked. You know, of all the worlds to be summoned to, at least you were not summoned to this world.

Heroes should have some really lopsided powers, no? Roon countered. Something to offset the disadvantages of this system.

It may not matter if the way you fight has to follow the stupid rules of combat like Satrya. Edna said.

Stella nodded. In a world like this, where the divine law imposed grid-dictated movement, stamina and attack time limits, a million demonic hounds could deliver death by a million tiny scratches. 

But the divine law was woven into the creation of this world, and so, its core, accordingly-

Roon led the ground, moving through the grids as if they didnt exist. The terrain was beautiful in a strange way. With the aid of magic, they flew across the hexagonal terrain and soon found a large hexagonal hole in the ground that led to the core.

Well- thats the core.

The divine law in this world also served other functions. As they approached iit spawned a screen that all could see. It was likely to be a feature unique to this world, perhaps as an experimental world by one of the earliest gods?

[The Tunnel to Demon Corrupted Core of Orion]

[Long ago, Orion fell to the demons, and ever since then, it has birthed demon kings to fuel the demons ceaseless invasion to the other worlds]

[Countdown to Demon King completion : 14 days]

You know, life would be much nicer if we had tooltips like that all the time. Roon countered. 

Stella looked at the sun, which initially seemed normal. But, as it turned out, the divine law also created an interface on the sun and the sky itself, and had a clock overlaid on the sun itself. 

We dont need clocks in this world. Stella said in amazement. 

Thats both incredibly useful, and annoying. Roon frowned. Im going to be scolded for waking up late if this was a thing.

Hah! Stella smirked. Who dares scold the archer-god?

You?  Roon laughed. Anyway, lets find the rift gates. We need to rob a few, right?

Stella nodded. 

They found four rift gates, and sent them back to Treehome, and then decided it was time to head back for the battle. 

***

Back on Satrya

The way the demonic worlds path glowed was the same, as my men prepared. The bombs were ready. The two priests of Museo and Olpash were unnerved, they were so near to the demon king!

We- we have never been asked to be so close. The priest of Museo said, but in the safety of my newly placed clone, there really was nothing to be afraid of. My clones presence on Satrya had been unusual, I felt like I was exerting power over a land that resisted me, and my influence on the land bounced off like water on an oily plate. 

I suspected this was how Hawa controlled the world of Satrya.

Edna was nearest to the battlefield. She would be the first to stand against the demon king from the hexagonal origin world, her magical quest-swords floated around her like her guardians. 

Stella smiled. After this, can we explore the void worlds?

Yes. 

Both will have to happen at the same time.

The path twisted with the foul energies of a demon king leaving their original world, and then, the Demon King Uklar arrived. It was a six headed Hydra, each with a different face, but its power level was comparable to the variant we faced on Mountainworld.

Bombs. 

The bombs detonated, and reality itself warped around the intense magical explosion. Edna, Lumoof, and my domain holders charged in. Id call on the heroes if we need to. But for now, with our focus on growing our own strength, I decided to prioritize this battle for my domainholders. 

The bombs left the Demon King Uklar with four of its heads burnt, and it was beginning to regenerate. It was a common gimmick amongst demon kings to have regenerating parts. Lumoof entered avatar mode and my root spears pierced its gigantic armored by, and more lesser demons appeared, I suddenly realized-

This was easy. 

My spiritual energies messed with the regeneration.

Unlike heroes who had to keep figuring out how to destroy the demon kings heads repeatedly. I could tamper with regeneration by messing on the mechanism at a spiritual level. The ability to block spiritual access also prevented [healing]. A body heals based on a biological code, provided by the spirit. Magic has a reference point. 

Ive done this before.

Easy.

Ednas magical blades chopped off one of the heads. Roon and Johanns arrows blew off the other.

Then the demon king attempted to transform.

But it was interrupted.

My roots, through Lumoof, pierced its body. Weve faced Multipus, and Multipus was way tougher. My roots crawled and snuck through its inner parts, and wrapped around its demonic core.

And then Lumoof ripped it out of the body. Its fluids shot out of its body, magical energy and demonic mana leaked, as the muscular roots ripped the heart of the Demon King Uklar out of the body. I felt it attempted to reshape, transform.

It wont.

I do not allow it to. 

My energies penetrated the demonic kings core and the demon king found its shapeshifting abilities disabled. 

My roots drained it of mana.

Its large, massive mana pool attempted to coalesce, as if to trigger a detonation of some kind. As it always did.

But no.

This time it failed.

I drained its mana quickly, as Lumoof winced in pain. 

It felt like minutes. It probably was. But the demon kings core struggled like a machine going through its last moments. It was like a spinning machine, it whined and whirled in its last moments.

But, fueled by the [Fury of the Avatar], Lumoof could take it. 

The demon kings body, now separated from its body, froze as if petrified. Without the heart of the Demon King, it was no more than a puppet with its strings cut. As more demonic mana was drained out of the demon kings core, the body itself began to collapse. It soon melted into goo. 

Lumoof stood close at the center of the goo, two gigantic muscular masses of roots and vines emerging from his body held the demonic kings core. Drained of its mana, it was like a machine that ran out of juice and shut down. 

Well take this. Lumoof declared, as the demon kings core vanished, sent back to Treehome for further investigation.

This was getting easier.

The locals got a notification. We didnt. The Will of Satryas refusal to acknowledge my presence in this world meant none of us did. 

But the two priests of Museo and Olpash received the notification, and they were stunned beyond words. 

Edna landed next to Lumoof. Good job, Lumoof.

[Youve gained a level. You are now level 266]

Only one level. I said. 

But it didnt matter. Both Lumoof and Edna benefited from this battle, because both of them experienced a large surge in power. 

Power we will need for the next phase of our interplanar war. 

The two domainholders were now Level 200.

***

Well, what did you get? Edna looked at Lumoof, and asked him first.

I thought you should say it. I thought your choice would be more interesting.

Edna smiled, I suppose so. But Im more curious about your choice, Lumoof.

As weird as it sounds, I only have two choices, instead of three like Aeon. My avatar grinned. Lumoof then explained his choices.

Lumoofs first option was [The High Altar of Faith]

[The High Altar of Faith granted the Avatar of Aeon the ability to select non-domain faithful believers, and admit them into the Altar. Up to twenty people will be allowed to join the High altar. Aeon may activate [Avatar mode] through the Members of the High Altar, though the expressed power is limited to three times their level. Only two full [Avatar Mode] can be active among the High Altar Members at any one point, though all High Altar members can activate a lesser version of the Avatar form. Members of the High Altar stop aging while they are members, and will share sights, senses, and knowledge with the Avatar and also Aeon. High Altar Members can be resurrected by Aeon at a negligible cost. In addition, High Altar Members can teleport items to each other, and can summon each other to their location. However, they cannot bring others with them. Aeon and Lumoof will also gain control of each of the High Altar Members]. 

[Selecting this option will also enhance Aeons Lesser Wooden Avatars, and increase the Pantheons Lesser Wooden Avatar power Limits to Level 150].

Thats like a weird mix of [Court of the Deitree] and [Avatar] mode. Edna immediately thought. Not that useful, though. Whats the other one?

Lumoofs second choice is [The Towering Avatar]. 

[The Towering Avatar elevates the Avatar into the total reincarnation of their origin gods. Lumoof will now be able to function and support all of Aeons abilities, including [Soul Forge], the clones [teleportation], and so on. In addition, under this form, the Towering Avatar is able to summon [Aeons Spirit]. Aeons Spirit functions as a temporary but complete incarnation of the patron god. Destruction of Aeons Spirit does not result in any penalties or drawbacks. Aeons Spirit is usable once a month.]

[Selecting this option will slightly upgrade Aeons combat abilities, and also, doubles Aeons mana pool.]

Wait, is that it? Edna said.

Yeah. It just means we no longer need to deploy Aeons clone for battle, and the clone can now be reserved for permanent establishments. 

Oh. Ooooooh.

And its like we have two Aeons in battle. Myself and the clone. And the mana pool will double. 

The earlier option allows us to have mini-Aeons all over the place.

But we already have clones and nodes. 

Correction, mini-Avatars all over the worlds that can be revived. In short, zero-risk explorers. Stella added. 

Zero-risk explorers suddenly make that option a lot more appealing, for the void worlds. Edna realized. 

Lumoof nodded. I think the choice is whether to go wide or to go tall. Both have their own legitimate use case, especially as Stella said, explorers. Teleportable explorers and envoys. Or a portable summon of Aeon that we can use in place of clones, so that we can reserve clones as home bases. This could be tremendously useful if were faced with a lot of fighting on the peripheral worlds. We wouldnt need to lock up clone slots to secure the frontier.

The question sat in the room for a while.

Whats more useful?

I say tall. A portable Aeon without locking up clones is way more useful than mini-Aeons everywhere. 

What if we encounter dangerous threats?

The likelihood of threats-

Im talking about hostile gods. Stella said. The High Altar can function as high-power, but zero-risk explorers, while having a decent fraction of Aeons power.

Lumoof then looked at Edna.

What about yours?

Edna laughed. 

Spaizzer

I'm planning to take a week off for Lunar New year (not sure when, but probably when my backlog runs out)