Depthless Hunger

Chapters 625-628

Chapter 625: Wind and Smoke

Since leaving Deadwaste, Omilaena had been a little cavalier about meeting the great powers of the world. She honestly respected the Empress of the Coiled Empire less, after understanding that her power was just brute Physique and a defensive phase, even if she'd be a tough fight. Everyone else that was a major threat to her was too far away to matter.

But as she arrived in the Flaeren Dominion to meet the Windlord, she was on edge. A speed phase could be lethal in a way that others weren't, and the Windlord was rumored to be extremely fast. Almost nothing else was known about them, but their speed was renowned as the core of their power.

She and the elves had arrived at the designated meeting point, a red marble plaza that looked uncomfortably like an arena. There were powerful fighters of the Flaeren Dominion there, wearing huge suits of armor... but they only had around 1000 Power.

Thinking that way made it seem less wild that Omilaena had gotten an audience. She was one of the strongest people on the continent, flanked by two elven elders of considerable strength, and the great powers owed her a favor. If the Windlord made good on their promise, this would be a serious meeting... or so she hoped. So far there were only guards on the other side of the plaza.

"We'll let you handle this and stay back," Ceryyn whispered. "We trust you, but..."

"Yeah, it's a risk." Omilaena gave them both a lazy smile and turned away. "If I die, I won't hold it against you."

She headed out across the plaza, examining it for traps, but there didn't seem to be anything of the sort. The Flaeren Dominion was an empire that dominated the eastern and southeastern parts of the continent, but it wasn't particularly aggressive as far as empires went. Her interest was primarily in warning them, though she would love to get a shot at the Glorious Tree if possible.

A burst of wind swept across the arena, and Omilaena reminded herself to focus on one thing at a time.

The world went still as the Windlord arrived, leaves and dust freezing in midair. Their ambiguous figure moved up to a safe distance from Omilaena, their obscuring robes flapping around them, and then flickered around the plaza to inspect the elves. Maintaining the speed phase to keep up strained Omilaena, but she managed and held still until the Windlord moved around her.

She was sorely tempted to ask the Windlord if they were checking out her ass, but Omilaena restrained herself. Instead she simply turned, maintaining her speed phase, and looked at the Windlord. Those eyes within the robes - very hard to place - widened slightly.

"Why are you here?" the Windlord asked in a strangely reedy voice. They also dropped the speed phase, which was a relief for Omilaena.

"You've heard about the invaders," she said, "and you may not be worried about them because they didn't cause much trouble in the Coiled Empire."

"Don't presume. What about them?"

"Well, they're fully phased. All of them. Now, you're very fast, you could definitely still kill the weaker ones, but Jonijix? He has almost 2500 Power and a disturbingly fast water technique. His allies already dominated Deadwaste and I don't want him to do the same to Rosemount."

"Hmm." The Windlord's head cocked to the side, more like a bird than a person - Omilaena wasn't confident in their species, much less gender. "Even if your motives are sincere, I am not confident in your ability to judge the true heights of speed."

"Try me."

Omilaena almost regretted her words the next second when a sword swept toward her face. The lethal moment was the transition between normality and a full speed phase: for the Windlord it was no transition at all, but Omilaena hadn't completely mastered phases yet, so she lost a critical fraction of a second. She had to throw herself back to escape the blade as it arced toward her.

The Windlord wasn't trying to kill her, not seriously, but they were absolutely using their full speed. Omilaena had to push herself to her limits, both maintaining the phase and pouring enough of herself into speed for her to keep up dodging the following strikes. Just in case, she tried to maintain a defensive phase as well, but she hoped not to have to use it.

Of course, she wasn't fighting seriously: if Omilaena had really wanted to kill the Windlord, she would have begun breathing poison across the plaza, restricting their movement. She could have pretended that she couldn't phase her poison at first, leaving immobile clouds, before breathing out a cloud of poison that was phased. Or she could create weaker clouds that the Windlord could probably force through, but leave offensively phased poison within as a trap.

She didn't do any of those things, but Omilaena smiled as she realized that this wasn't mad. Somehow she had reached the point where she could stand against a great power of Rosemount on her own, and she was aiming even higher.

Perhaps it was that smile, or perhaps she had merely displayed enough speed, but it ended soon after. The Windlord came to a halt opposite her and inclined their head just slightly.

"You are much faster than you were four years ago," the Windlord acknowledged. "Astonishing growth... very well, I accept the value of your warning. But what do you expect to be done about it?"

"Glad you're willing to listen," Omilaena said with a grin. "There's a lot we could talk about, actually..."

After some irritating negotiations, Omilaena got only some of what she wanted. The Flaeren Dominion was taking the invaders seriously now, and tentatively agreed to collaborate with the other great powers if necessary. She was also given permission to move within the Flaeren Dominion, though not to access the Glorious Tree, and the Windlord refused to hand her more resources.

Such a shame: Omilaena already had the Coiled Empire, and she was getting there with the elves.

Just when she was beginning to think that it had been a successful meeting, one of the guards jolted and then moved forward. The absurdly tall armored woman paused, waiting for the Windlord to approve, then stepped closer. She paused again, glancing toward Omilaena nervously, but the Windlord gestured for the guard to speak.

"Windlord, there is news from the Commonwealth of Traebor. The invaders have conquered the city of Traeton and declared a new empire."

So it had begun. The Commonwealth had been taken over so many times, few on Rosemount would blink, but Omilaena knew that this time would be different. She could only hope that she had done enough to convince them of that.

.

..

.

Smoke was still rising from the city of Traeton, but this time it was from the great feast that the invaders had insisted upon. Troulon sat atop the roof of the Great Library and watched as the celebration turned into a sick orgy.

He had seen invaders before, of course - his life had been entirely changed by the arrival of demons, after all, thrown onto an alternate path that led him to become a Gray Demon. Now that he had given up the demonic power, he could think again, but he wondered if he wouldn't be more comfortable if he still had that power within him. With only his Paper Artisan abilities, he felt defenseless.

Then again, perhaps what Omilaena had done to him was a hidden blessing. Troulon had seen some of the initial conflicts, and the invaders had been overwhelming. Each and every one of them was like a great power, and the leader Jonijix had completely unstoppable offensive power. He had gone up against a powerful fighter with Cagnazzo's Tide and a simple water burst technique had left nothing but blood behind.

Some of the others believed that this was just another in a long line of conquerors who became seduced by the Commonwealth's luxuries, just another ruler who would sit on top for a time before violence eventually replaced them with another. Troulon wasn't so confident, not after what he had seen.

Normally conquerors required a certain minimum level of intelligence, because it wasn't possible to gain great power without a degree of wisdom for training and decision-making regarding abilities. But this Jonijix really seemed like a brute that had been granted the powers of a god without warning, without any of the usual experiences of struggle or fighting equal opponents that would moderate the behaviors of such conquerors.

Instead, he seemed to think of nothing but his base desires, demanding the best food and courtesans in the city. Some of Troulon's peers said that was normal for new conquerors and that he would calm over time... but Troulon wasn't sure. There was a disgust in the man's eyes, no matter what he was given, that seemed a grim portent of things to come.

For years, Troulon had stood aside from such events, finishing his history of the demon occupation and taking care of the Great Library. Now he had a feeling that an era of history was coming to a close and he wasn't sure what would follow, or if he would take any role in it.

But for some reason, he found himself getting to his feet.

Chapter 626: The Precipice of Limitations

As more and more grim news came in, Zae Zin Nim could only cultivate and hope that it was enough. After so long pushing through Earth Soul, she finally read a value of 99% in her soul, which was the highest that she could theoretically attain. According to the standard path, she should absorb all the cultivation resources she had in order to push her over the limit and attain Sky Soul.

Instead she remained seated and continued condensing the qi within her dantian.

The news of Yangix triumphing was interrupted by a strange story, rumors of him being spurned by the sacred dragons of the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes. Of course he claimed to be superior to such dragons, and some believed him, but the mere fact that the story was being spread mattered. It was also rumored that the patriarch of the Coiling Island Sect had challenged him over it, because the patriarch had disappeared overnight.

That combination of rumors made Zae Zin Nim hope, even though she was reading between the lines. The disruption to Yangix's steady conquering of the continent meant that he ceased his pushing into the Western Wastes and Eastern Plains, so it bought her time regardless of the reason. He had made a proclamation that he would send his four underlings to each rule a quarter of the continent, but had instead kept them close.

Just when she was beginning to spiral into worry, she felt a familiar monstrous presence. It might not be dignified of her, but no one else was present to see the matriarch throw herself at Kai and wrap her arms around his neck.

"I don't know how much it slowed him down," Kai said while still holding her, "but I sabotaged what I could and I came back with some qi in the form of essence."

"And you killed Xir Xan Khan's father?" she had to ask.

"Ate him, actually. I'm not sure what to do with all this qi in my soul..."

Zae Zin Nim pulled back to examine her husband more carefully. The qi essence he'd absorbed had brought him up to the peak of the Nascent Foundation stage, 99% just like her. She realized that they might well be able to extend their progress with dual cultivation, which was an extremely tempting possibility....

But she kept thinking about what Yangix had said, about their Nascent Foundation being a false version of the true thing. All of her studies suggested that it was a potentially important time, particularly for someone like Kai who might be on a different path.

"Kai, I have a... strange recommendation," she said nervously. "I know you need to break through to Earth Soul, and I even recommended it. But... I think you should wait."

"Okay." There was no hesitation, he simply agreed. Kai's hands enfolded hers and he rubbed the back of her wrist gently. "You think I can do something different?"

"Perhaps, but I haven't figured out the details yet. Your cultivation path may be difficult, because you always make everything difficult." She realized too late that it sounded like she was insulting him and reached out to touch his chest. "I will find a solution, I promise. Don't use the new qi essence in your soul, either, and keep cultivating. We'll need it all."

"You mean you're planning on an even bigger breakthrough than normal? Is that what you're doing with your own soul?"

She smiled as she realized that he understood. Of course Kai wouldn't be offended by her heretical ideas of disobeying the normal rules of cultivation. That meant that he was trusting in her, however, and doubled the pressure on her to find the truth.

"I have something else for you." Kai reached into his robes instead of his spatial ring, which made sense when he instead handed her a different spatial ring. "I took this from the Coiling Island patriarch. He probably didn't carry his vault resources with him, but it might still include some of the things your father was trading for, right? I figure if your hand in marriage was being traded for resources, you deserve them now."

"Oh..." Zae Zin Nim took the ring, which was heavy with the feelings that rushed through her. She would never have imagined that her husband had remembered those minor details of her marriage pact, from before he had even been her husband. The fact that he had thought of her even in the midst of his fight made the idea of dual cultivation much more tempting.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently.

"I just... you are tempting me." Zae Zin Nim put both hands on his chest and pushed him back slightly. "Kai, I love you dearly, but I think I need to cultivate on my own to break through."

"Will you be okay here? I could go back to the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes, or even head to the Southern Rivers. There was some talk of Yangix heading there, so it might not hurt to lure him that way to give you more time."

"Thank you, but I will be fine. This invader is much less violent than the others... I think you should go to Rosemount. Not just because Omilaena needs your help, but because you still need more strength. I'll bring cultivation solutions for both of us, just... wait for me."

"Alright." Kai smiled gently and kissed her, and Zae Zin Nim indulged in that, at least. But it wasn't long before she was left alone to contemplate her own path.

First she searched the spatial ring she had been given, sorting through the various resources from the Coiling Island Sect. Strange to think that she had once been traded for resources like these and had come so far. A few of them might be useful, but for the most part, she was on her own in finding the way forward.

In her father's time, the Brightwind Pagoda had always been filled with people. He had his harem fawning over him, courtiers flattering, and entertainment at all times - she hated that falsely exuberant atmosphere that served under him.

But under her, the Brightwind Pagoda was empty except for one woman seated alone.

.

..

.

With her tour of Rosemount over, Omilaena sat alone atop a mountain, focusing on the Insanity sitting in her lap. She still had the Whispering Death contained within multiple layers of her power, and she used a remote location just in case, but she was beginning to gain more confidence with it now.

Illnesses and poisons had some characteristics in common, especially as both were really broad categories only grouped together by their effects. The Whispering Death was primarily an animal illness: she had determined that it entered through the skin and then, once it overcame all defenses, dealt such a large shock to internal organs that it caused death. She couldn't do anything with the infection component, but the particles that actually caused death were a poison, or at least close enough for her.

That was an extraordinary breakthrough that would have gotten her praised under any other circumstances, but here it wasn't enough. She had a final poison that could take her over the edge, but she wanted more than simply intensifying her own poison. Somehow she needed to merge the poison with her body and match the partial transformation she had done with the Final Metal.

And that... that was a much taller order.

Her soul was balanced, she believed, with every capacity occupied by different powers that nonetheless worked together. For a time she feared that the ice qi from her cultivation could never merge with the others, but she thought she could overcome that, since it was localized in the qi ink within her arm.

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Could she actually merge them all? Omilaena had a lot of theories, but it seemed like she would need another source of power, and she was running out of sources. Even though the situation in the Commonwealth had been stable for weeks, she knew it couldn't last forever, and her Physique transformation couldn't be accomplished instantaneously.

Before she could come to a solution, Ceryyn appeared beside her in a rush of teleportation. Omilaena automatically smiled at her, but the elf wasn't smiling back.

"The council want to see you," Ceryyn said in a grim voice. "Things have turned bad. They're shaken. It's... I admit, it seems horrible..."

"What's happened?" Omilaena asked, sealing her ice qi and rising to join the elven woman.

"The invaders were doing what invaders usually do, but then..." Ceryyn wrapped her arms around herself miserably. "Jonijix raped an elven woman. He said... that she was the first person he'd seen worth fucking. Some of her relatives sneaked her away, but he didn't care, he..."

"He's coming north to the Elven Expanse." Omilaena nodded grimly. "I can't say that I expected exactly this, but I knew it was a possibility."

"This is bad. Most of the elders believe you about how strong the invaders are, but..."

"So they're willing to meet with me. Let's go before it's too late."

Lesser people might have been intimidated by entering the great hall of the elven elders, but Omilaena had done so multiple times already, mostly to convince them to give her things. If anything, this was a grimmer meeting than all that came before it. The elves didn't attempt to awe her this time, because at least some of them understood the threat.

There was still a little pomp and circumstance, small talk about Darkmist Island, the elders generally trying to convince her that they weren't afraid. But they couldn't keep it up for long before they finally let Omilaena speak.

"The invaders come from a world where everything is fully phased," Omilaena explained, "including soul and presence phases. So people here look dull and unattractive to them... except for those of you who have developed your abilities. I'm afraid that unnatural beauty is going to make you a target."

"Presence is not merely beauty," one of the elders snapped. "We can concentrate a force that-"

"I'm not trivializing that, but these invaders have challenged everyone." Omilaena folded her arms and raked her gaze across the council. "I warned the Empress, I warned the Windlord, and now I'm warning you. You've been reliant on phased abilities for too long, but just phasing won't be enough."

"What are you proposing?" It was Elder Graveylin, somewhat more composed than the others, but perhaps even grimmer because she had faced off with powers that had other phases. "Even if we can assemble all three great powers..."

"No, you need a new one: me." It was a mark of how far she'd come that no one laughed at her. Omilaena raised her hand and began forming a phased needle, letting them all feel its power. "I can fight the invaders on even footing, I'm just at a disadvantage. I'm close to a breakthrough that could bring me up to their strength."

"You're already absurdly strong," one of the older elders said. "Presuming you can do what you say, you expect us to sacrifice power and resources to make you even stronger than us?"

"Don't be childish. Who are you going to trust... invaders who have already made their intentions clear? The powers that have been your rivals for decades? Or someone who has pulled your asses out of the fire over and over again?"

The elders responded with a cold silence, many looking at one another with disguised nervousness. Omilaena fully expected them to make her leave so they could confer privately, pretending that their situation wasn't grim and preserving some pride. But to her surprise, it wasn't long before Elder Graveylin stepped forward and lowered her head.

"We will help you if we can," she said. "What do you need?"

"Actually..." Omilaena smiled as her plans came together. "I need all of you."

Chapter 627: Climbing Toward the Unbeatable

As Kai burst over the Blood Current, he occasionally dipped into the ruby waters to snatch up a monster, then consumed it as he continued flying. He wasn't sure whether his increase in strength mattered or whether he was just moving too fast, but few of the most dangerous beings in the Blood Current tried to attack him, so he could make a direct path to Rosemount without stopping.

There had been a time when entering the Blood Current was a risky maneuver they'd needed to build enough speed to escape cultivators, but now the Brightwind Sect was theirs and the Current would only slow him down. Kai didn't like these long flights between continents, but they gave him a chance to flex all of his monstrous abilities.

If he had broken through with his cultivation, they would have had even more space to grow, but he trusted Zae Zin Nim had made the right choice. Instead he focused on growing what he already had, since his maximum had increased after the Abhorroid, and considered alternative paths to the future.

An armor technique would be valuable, now that he was facing phased opponents and the Abhorroid. The problem there was that he had only two excellent defensive abilities - Bloodtail's Armor and Voidshell Essence - and his greatest fusions generally involved three. He considered all the other essence in his soul, even considered chasing down other monsters, but in the end kept pushing toward Rosemount.

Flying high above the ocean like this, it was easy to lose track of the world, so he had to remind himself that time was running out everywhere else. Deadwaste under the invaders' rule, Yangix building a cultivation empire, Jonijix likely tearing across Rosemount... he had allies who needed his help across the world.

All of that fell away at times as he continued flying. Instead he found himself thinking of the powers he'd seen over the abyss and the threat that had hung over his head ever since then. Even though he never would have wanted things to go this way, he felt as though he was finally taking steps against them. The threat of greater powers that could devastate his world had finally proved true, but in a form that he could potentially defeat, if he just obtained enough strength.

Those abstract thoughts lasted until he landed on the western coast of Rosemount. It should have been nostalgic, since he hadn't been back since he'd first come with Omilaena and Zae Zin Nim years ago. There were places he would have revisited, if he had time.

Instead, as he began to hear the news of the continent, Kai abandoned thoughts of the far future and focused on the battle in front of him.

.

..

.

Even with the council of elders agreeing, it took Omilaena several days to prepare. Physique breakthroughs didn't come every day, after all, and if she was correct in her fundamental theories, this would be a singular event that set the course of her entire life.

The others were focused on the invaders, and she hoped that she could gain the power to face them... but as far as Omilaena was concerned, this was just building a foundation for future growth.

It would have been entertaining to make the elven elders do the transformation in their fancy conference room, but they instead suggested a chamber deep underground, where elders apparently trained their presence phases. Since that likely would be beneficial if anything, Omilaena was willing to compromise on that. Where she refused to bend was demanding that all the elders participate, and wearing her own clothing instead of the ornamental elven garb they offered.

As part of her preparation, Omilaena had forged a robe for herself out of pure venomsteel: a blend of the strongest metal and poison she could manage. It was perhaps the most powerful garment in the world, invulnerable to many attacks and covered in poison that would kill almost anyone - it was also cold, unflattering, and hell on the nipples.

She wore it in order to focus her entire body on her final Physique goal, because what she was trying to do was incredibly ambitious, even by her standards. Working with the Final Metal had nearly killed her even though it normally just granted power, and now she intended to work with an Insanity that actively killed by nature.

Worse than that, she needed to merge everything into a single Physique, without it causing instability in her soul. That was why she had roped the elves into participating as well: they would pour their presence energy over her and she would use that cauldron of elegant power to fuse everything before she consumed it all. Kai would approve.

When it was finally time, Omilaena walked to the lowest chamber while gathering herself. She couldn't help but look at her soul one last time.

<

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 2007

Heart of Poison: Level 94 (658)

*Prana Jewels: Level +6 (42)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (350)

Nascent Ice (251)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 12 (180)

Physique: D-9 (245)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

Azure Core (+200)

>

She had barely surpassed 2000 Power via all her preparations, which would have been astonishing on its own, but now wasn't enough. In theory, if all worked well, she would soon see if her theories about how power fundamentally worked were correct. If she was wrong, she would probably be dead by the end of the day, because she didn't think anyone was coming to bail her out of this one.

All the elven elders were waiting for her, with varying degrees of acceptance or anger. The news of Jonijix traveling north had not been good, since he'd blasted through anyone in the Commonwealth who tried to stop him, and they were accordingly grimmer. Omilaena wiped her mind free of such thoughts and concentrated solely on herself.

"Focus raw presence on me," she ordered as she knelt down in the center of the circle of elders. "Give me everything you can, and don't stop, whatever happens."

A major part of her preparations had been isolating the poison component of the Whispering Death and eliminating the rest, so Omilaena now carefully removed the Prana Jewels. She wore the necklace and the choker, but she had used one of her earrings on the Abhorroid, so she gripped the remaining one in her cupped hands as she began.

When the elders cast their presences at her, it should have been an attack that humbled anyone, but Omilaena soaked in the power. Her entire body felt light, as if seeking to elevate itself to a higher plane, and she needed to control the giddy rush.

Instead she focused on her own essence, piece by piece, just as she'd planned. First the potion Juray had made for her, thick with mana and Kai's essence. Then the blue pill that Zae Zin Nim had imparted to her on Lostwreck. Finally she drew on the Insanity that had been purified by her Prana Jewels for so long, and placed it into the incomplete pill she had been forming for herself. She swallowed the Whispering Death whole and then drew it into her Heart of Poison.

As expected, pain racked her body instantly, because the power was too much for one ability to contain - that was just what she wanted. Instead of letting it destroy her body, Omilaena surrounded the power with her Azure Core, that pure combination of all her abilities that was supposed to represent the fusion of her fundamental self.

The Azure Core throbbed powerfully as it began to transform, but the power was too much even for it, and that would leave her unbalanced. Omilaena gritted her teeth and let it run over, soaking into her body. This was the most difficult part, because the new energy clashed violently with the metallic powers that had burrowed deep within her.

But she had been controlling poison and metal her entire life, and she refused to let them master her now. She began using Lethal Artisan on herself, knitting metal through her flesh. It wouldn't have been enough, but she drew on the Path of Venomsteel as well, a perfect balance of both abilities. Her lips parted and hung open even though she was no longer breathing, her body a statue of rigid power that barely lived.

For a moment she thought it was too much, that she would fall as a metallic corpse, but then the Azure Core radiated power through her, restoring life to her flesh. She took a breath and seemed to feel the world in a way she never had before. Her body began to soak in all the presence techniques around her, refining herself as her transformation completed.

That should have been her moment of triumph... but something unexpected surged within her. Omilaena rarely thought about her half-elven ancestry and the resurfacing flow of it surprised her now. She wasn't sure whether it was due to the elven elders or her own history, but she could feel her ears beginning to tingle. In this moment, as she changed herself, she could have changed more.

No, Omilaena knew who she was. She kept her body exactly the same and only absorbed the beauty and grace, perfecting herself as she had intended.

The process trickled out instead of ending in an explosion. All around the room, the elven elders were gasping for breath, as they had poured out enough soul energy to explode a normal person. In the center, Omilaena breathed slowly and deeply with transformed lungs.

When she looked at her own soul, she smiled in triumph.

<

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 2411

Heart of Poison: Level 94 (658)

*Prana Jewels: Level +8 (56)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (350)

Nascent Ice (256)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 14 (210)

Azure Physique: E-0 (500)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

Azure Core (+300)

>

She now had over 2400 Power, but she was even more proud of something subtle: she now had an "Azure Physique" at rank E-0. It even granted her more base Power than Zae Zin Nim, though Omilaena doubted she could compete with her wife in raw strength.

Then again, it might be fun to try. There were a lot of things that would be fun if she could be reunited with the two of them.

When Omilaena rose to her feet, some of the elders watching actually gasped, a mix of impressed by her transformation and horror at what they had created. Omilaena knew that she had the stupefying beauty of an elf now, though that was just a fun bonus compared to the power.

"Thank you," Omilaena said, running a hand through her hair luxuriously. "You won't regret this."

"You... you're going to fight the invaders now?" Elder Graveylin asked.

That was where Omilaena had lied to the elves, because she couldn't simply attack Jonijix, not without triggering a genocidal response from the other invaders. But though she had lied, she hadn't betrayed them, because this was just the first step in her plans.

"We have a lot to do," Omilaena said. "Let's get started."

Chapter 628: Taunting the Invaders

Resistance under the new invaders was entirely different than it had been under the demons, Troulon reflected as he traveled north. The demons had been more predatory in a spiritual sense, but less so practically: demons only targeted those powerful enough to feed on them, whereas these barbarians were debauched fools who targeted whoever their whims indicated.

It had also been possible to join the demons by becoming a demonic arts user, and that was simply impossible now. Not simply because the invaders' power couldn't be replicated; they were ideologically separated, treating one another like the only real people in a continent of dolls. After examining them, Troulon thought that they had been normal men once, but months of unlimited power and indulging their appetites had twisted them into perversions of themselves.

He was grateful that they were finally leaving the city of Traeton, even if not for the reasons he might hope. There had been a lot of collateral damage to the powers of the region - several members of the Crestguard had been killed as examples, and the invaders had slaughtered many who followed the Savage Creed when they refused to bow to them.

Of course, as the strongest and most savage, the invaders now had some Savage Creed followers on their side. Joining the others who had bowed to them... there were always people willing to collaborate with conquerors, as Troulon knew well.

But suddenly, in a development that no one could have anticipated, the invaders had abandoned their ideas of empire-building to rush north to assault the elves. It was encouraged by many other factions that wanted them out of the Commonwealth, or hated the elves after years of vendettas - but the truth was that it was entirely decided by the whims of their lusts.

Now they were all headed north in a vicious mood, and Troulon felt only sympathy for everyone in their path. There was nothing he could do but continue to monitor their route, warning those he could and waiting for an opportunity.

"There you are!" An enormously muscular arm wrapped around Troulon's neck and he froze. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

For a moment he was stupefied, then he realized that he had been grabbed by Gorutiel. "It's been years," Troulon managed to choke out despite the arm squeezing him.

"Ah, you got all spindly. Shame." Gorutiel grabbed his shoulders and held him off the ground to inspect. "But you can help a fellow demon take on these invaders, right?"

"I'm not a demon anymor-"

"Bah, you had the balls to become one, and you still have the balls to chase these invaders. Good enough for me."

"I see." Troulon managed to extricate himself and rubbed his shoulders from the grip. "I understand why you'd want to target them, Gorutiel, but I beg you, don't. They're much stronger than than they look... each one is like a great power on their own, and Jonijix is worse."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Gorutiel punched his shoulder irritably. "I can feel that strength, but it's all raw meat. If we manage to take down even one, we can feast. And except the leader, they don't have anything special, so if we equal their power, we can take them down."

"We?"

"Aye, I'm not the only demon with balls enough to come back to Rosemount. This is the opportunity of a lifetime."

There wasn't really a choice to disagree, not when Gorutiel could easily kill him, so Troulon accepted that this might be for the best. As they continued north over several days, shadowing the invaders' party, several other demons melted in and out of their path. They had been far from welcome in the Commonwealth since Matiavel died, but of course many of them had the strength to escape, and now they intended to return.

While Troulon was a bit skeptical about their ability to drain one of the invaders, he had to admit that the demons were better allies than he'd find on his own. Well, not allies, perhaps just assets. They wouldn't cooperate with him, but he could use them against the invaders if he could just pull together more allies.

How he was going to do that, he had no idea.

They'd made significant progress to the north when the invaders were suddenly interrupted by someone standing in their path. Troulon had been watching from a high hill, so he needed to strain his eyes to see that it was a woman... then he realized that it was Omilaena.

What had happened to her? She was far stronger than she had been before, but beyond that, she seemed to project an aura around her. It reminded him of the elves, except this was more potent and profoundly sexual instead of beautiful. All she had to do was put a hand on her hip and the image shot straight to the animal part of his brain, nearly overpowering his intellect.

Many of the locals in the group dropped to their knees in awe, while the invaders began to drool. Jonijix actually lunged forward and Omilaena danced away from him playfully. She disappeared ahead and the invaders charged after her, disappearing into the landscape.

"Godsdamn, that woman is sex on legs." Gorutiel stood nearby, shaking his head in admiration. "An elf, you think?"

"No, but an ally." Troulon wavered on his feet and rubbed his forehead, trying to regain his focus. "I hope she knows what she's doing. That's the first time Jonijix has shown interest in anyone except the elves, so he'll hunt her to the ends of th-"

"Nah, I lost him." Without warning, Omilaena was standing just beside him, leaning on his shoulder.

Up close, she was even more astonishing than she had been from a distance. It seemed like she had turned off the overpowering aura, seeming more like her normal casual self, but that had been the Omilaena that always tempted him. Even though she had cut off that possibility years ago, just seeing her again made him ache.

"Fuck!" Gorutiel leapt to the side, raising his fists in a defensive stance. "Where did you come from?"

"You have no idea how much faster we are," Omilaena told him playfully. "Jonijix and I had a whole chase while you were still staring at the afterimage of my ass. But don't worry, I left him behind way north from here."

"Damn, woman, you've got some balls on you."

Balls aside, Troulon was more concerned about the hard look in Omilaena's eyes. "What are you trying to do?" he asked. "Even if you think you can beat him individually, even if you can trivialize his local allies, the other invaders are all great powers."

"I'm not trying to fight him right now." Omilaena gestured to the northeast. "My secondary goal is to lure them away from the big cities in the northern Commonwealth, if possible. The main goal... well, he's not going to stop going north, but I'm going to make sure he ends up in a specific place."

Troulon swallowed, and this time it had nothing to do with Omilaena's beauty. He had no real idea what she intended to do, but it scared him.

.

..

.

Razz had always considered himself a merchant first and foremost, which meant taking on a variety of different roles. He had been willing to act as a servant for the invaders if that was what it took to get close to them, but he ended up acting more as a caterer. They said he could get better food for them than anyone else, so they were always demanding that he arrange feasts.

Truthfully, he thought most of the effect was psychological. He had a precious few items with phased energy from the elites, and a minority of goods with rich chakra or qi. Everything else was the same fare they scorned otherwise, but they'd decided that his food was better, so they tricked themselves.

In a bizarre way, he was both the safest and most threatened person in the city. The invaders all liked him, so they weren't going to kill him randomly, but there was always the risk that they would turn against him, and when that happened he would simply be dead.

Or he might die completely by accident. Razz winced as another shockwave of force tore over the ground and blew up a pile of boulders.

"You got any more of those?" Budajix turned back, thumping his fist against his chest. "This is fun!"

"Very sorry, Lord Budajix," Razz said with a deep bow. "It took workers days to set up all the stones that you destroyed in a few minutes. I can prepare more, but..."

"Nah, that's enough for now." Budajix raised his fist to everyone watching, and they all dutifully cheered, but then he closed in on Razz. "Hey, Razz. You ever seen power like that before?"

His throat was very dry, and Razz needed to summon his courage. At first he'd had a fantasy of stealing the invaders' phased equipment, which he realized was suicidal given their speed, and he had abandoned the idea of poisoning them due to their defenses. Acting now was risky, but if he didn't, then he would have been bowing and scraping to them for no reason.

"Your might is astonishing, Lord Budajix," he said. "I've never seen anything like it. Except for Lord Fodajix, of course."

"Eh?" Budajix frowned, glancing toward the city, then back to him. "Did Fodajix have you setting up tests, too?"

"I do whatever I can for all of you, my lord. But I must say, I much prefer to serve you. Lord Fodajix's tests are always so demanding."

"Demanding, huh? Who's would you say was more impressive?"

"I couldn't say, Lord Budajix, I'm far too weak to even try to compare any of you. You and Lord Fodajix are clearly the only ones standing at the pinnacle."

Budajix grunted and moved off, mollified, and Razz finally allowed himself to breathe again. It might have been his imagination, but he thought he saw a flicker of anger in Budajix's eyes as he moved away. Not the first.