INTERLUDES - AKBAR

Sometime around Year 80, Month 9 (TreeTree-time)

Every demon king is slightly different, every generation of demons, usually a variation of the previous. Scholars, inquisitors, demon-hunters have often wondered why it is so, but since these invading demons don’t seem to be able to communicate, no one knows for sure.

Still, the inhabitants facing the demons could still observe and make a note of how subtle differences exist. The first demon rifts reveal little hints about the characteristics of the demon king they face, and the sort of battles they will have to prepare for. Usually this meant elemental and/or monster variants, like how Andraas had earth-golems, earth centipedes and fire hounds, and as time went by, its more, larger versions of such monsters.

Spotting a demon rift is something every warrior learns by experience. Seen it, and you will remember it for life. The way reality itself warps and break, a tear in reality that links to another world, it is an unforgettable sight. The portal to the demon world.

...

“General Akbar.” A human knight rides up to central camp, there's about 5,000 soldiers here.

“Commander Akbar.” The older man emphasises. “I’ve been demoted, and you need to remember that. Had it been in the city, you can get in trouble.”

The knight shrugs. “You’re still my General. Anyway-"

Commander Akbar frowns, and gives the knight a stern look. “Get to it, what's the status? How many demons did you spot?”

“1,200. Surprisingly easy to get a count, now that they look like humans. They made something that resembles a large house or camp. Still no sight of the rift yet, I’m waiting for the other scout to report back.”

“Demons, making camp.” Commander Akbar scratches his chin. “What has the world come to, I must see this.”

The force of 5,000 men marches towards the site of the reported demon camp, and indeed, what they saw is indeed a demon camp.

"There it is, Commander."

The demon camp's surface resembles a dark reddish hue, its existence as if magic itself was forced to form the fabric.

"What's it doing?"

Akbar starts counting, his eyes looking through his portable telescope, right at the demon camp. He watches intently for about 30 minutes, and then it got

“It’s making more demons soldiers. Get the mages, I want a magical reading on this area right now.”

Akbar’s hunch was right. The camp's location had slightly stronger natural mana and energies. There’s only one decision to make. The camp had to be destroyed before they spawned more demons.

They crushed the 1,200 or so demons easily.

A few days later, back at the camp.

“The news is unsettling.” Akbar pored over the news coming in from all the other continents and kingdoms. Demonic news didn’t have the usual diplomatic embargo and political filters, and frankly, Akbar enjoyed fighting demons. It’s just plain fighting, without the bullshit of politics, or the worries over the unnecessary death of others. It allowed him to be a true military man, the only thing he had to focus on, is to crush this faceless demonic enemy.

“There are so many...” Both of his aides nodded, and they looked over a rough map of the world. It’s one of Akbar’s personal collections as a General. Akbar places a small red flag wherever they receive reports on rift sightings.

There are multiple rifts in every large continent, and even in smaller continents. In earlier demon kings, the rifts were concentrated, most of the time, a single continent. Maybe two, at most, and even those, the bulk of it usually formed on one continent.

It didn’t take much for Akbar to conclude the obvious. “This demon is planning to overwhelm the world with sheer numbers, by attacking everywhere simultaneously.”

One of the aides shakes his head. “But, does it matter? If they come with us with that tiny force, scattered throughout the world, they won't be a threat! And the heroes will come around and save the world when the demon king arrives” Akbar frowns a little at the aide's statement.

Two knights and a mage walked into the war planning room.

Akbar looked at his aides. “True. But between now and the Demon King, is at least a few years. This tactic may potentially destroy the world before the heroes even appear.”

“So what, we can stop them. The quantity from the rifts reported so far has been small.”

Akbar paused and remembers the demon champions. No reported sighting of the champions yet, though they often arrive before the King.

The other aides answered before Akbar got to it. “If the demons can build camps that generate more demons, their quantity won’t be small for very long. How many rifts do we know nothing about? How sure are we, all these are the only rifts out there? If the rift and camp was made in a secluded area we know nothing about, they could suddenly surprise us with a large force!”

“True, true.”

“How’s the analysis on the camp and the demons?” Akbar asks.

The mage shifts uncomfortably.

A soldier ran into the camp. "Gene-, sorry, Commander! The mages, they... uh... they turned into demons. We had to kill one of them."

Akbar's eyes widen and he stares, "When did this happen, and why did I not know about it?"

"It just happened, General." The soldier shouts trying to catch his breath, been running. "The mages, they were just meddling with the demonic staff, and suddenly it started to absorb one of the mages! So we had to destroy the staff, and we couldn't save the mage."

Akbar stops, "You know about this?"

"No, sir." The mage in the room shakes his head, but then he walks over to the soldier to talk.

Before Akbar could ask more, another person comes in. He's a mage too and he looks younger than the other mages. "General."

"Commander."

"We have the report you wanted."

Akbar glares at the young mage, he's unfazed. "What happened?"

"Accident. It is quite unfortunate that I could not save him. But we now know that the staff seeks magic and consumes it to create demons."

The two aides pause.

"So, my guess is should probably seek out major magical locations and dungeons, and seek to take over them."

"But how does the demons expect to beat the dungeons with their tiny force?" Dungeon, generally, have a respectable defense force, and multiple boss level creatures within their base.

"Maybe not immediately, but over time their force will grow."

"We must let the world know." Akbar acknowledges. "This fact, may be helpful for the other nations."

"Commander, we must first report this to high command. The King will want to know before this is shared." One of the aide says.

Akbar nods, but inside he just feels annoyed. Politics. He could see it coming, the King probably wanted to sell this information for money. The awkward truce with the Nung and Takde wasn't something the King enjoyed, especially since he wanted his reign to be one of glory.

-

And so Akbar and his retinue, returns to the capital, Ransalah, leaving the rest of the force behind. The rest would continue to hunt demons, and look for the rift.

The journey took them a few days, and soon Ransalah enters their view. The massive sprawl of the city, the faint stench of human activity, the smell of the forges and factories, it’s a sign they were getting close. Even at night, one could see the dispersed glow from the city’s lights.

The aide cheered. "Civilization! I can't wait for a hot bath!" The captains are relieved, one of them is from the capital, so his family is here.

Akbar just sighed. As a military man, he never felt like he has a place in Ransalah. Earlier in his career, he lived fortresses and camps, and till this day, that is where he feels where he belonged. Ransalah just reminds him of all the politics of the court, unnecessary reports to various nobles who wanted to build ‘rapport’, and bureaucracy.

"Don't look so glum, Commander. Let's have some good food. And good wine! I hear there's quite a good vintage coming from New Freeka, something we've never managed to try before!"

One captain nudged the aide, signalling him not to mention New Freeka.

Akbar just shrugged, well, perhaps he shouldn't be so upset. The capital does have a whole load of good eateries. "Well, let's do that. I do miss having properly cooked food from a good chef."

The group passed a damaged set of roads, some trees and shrubs. "Ah, I notified the city that we are arriving soon." The aide messaged the city using some kind of [message] spell. At this distance, the spell doesn't cost much mana, and the message decay isn't bad.

Akbar's mind is still occupied, occupied with the strategies of this generation’s demons. What will the champions bring this time? Is the demon’s plan to split the heroes?

He distracts himself and looks at two rings on his fingers. One made of a greenish gold, another just regular silver. "Anyone coming to greet us?"

The aide shake his head.

Akbar smiled. "Best news I heard all day, then." He hated the whole greeting and welcoming ceremony, frankly, the best thing since his demotion from General. Even his aides know how much he hated it. “Let’s eat some good food!”

Since they didn't have a welcoming ceremony, that meant he also didn't have to immediately go and face the King or the senior ministers. Not that the King is eager to see him.

So, the group went for one of the many famous eateries in Ransalah, this one located on the commoner's district. Despite being the commoners' district, there are many such eateries, serving adventurers, or wealthy merchants, or just some young men looking to impress a woman.

They had a spread of grilled meats and roasted meats, mostly from the nearby farms and also some of the edible monster meats, and a few different dishes of potatoes and yam, accompanied by wine. They have wine in regular wooden cups, though glass is available as a material, it's far too expensive for restaurants to use regularly, given how often these glass things break when an adventurer brawl happens.

Akbar, his aides and the two accompanying captains took their time and dined, their conversation began with demons, because, well, that’s their job, and it was an easy thing to talk about in a dinner with colleagues.

Most of them wonder when the demon champions will start appearing, demon champions are still the single-highest risk outside of the demon king, and there’s usually multiple champions. In terms of actual destruction, the champions are probably ahead of the demon king. The captains joke about running if they ever seen one, and Akbar just nods, “I would run too, if I see a demon champion.”

And they all laugh. Demon champions are difficult, even a general like Akbar would need a strong mage and healer team to defeat one.

But once all of them were progressively more drunk, the conversation turned to less serious topics, like how’s everyone’s love life, and whether Commander Akbar will ever remarry. Or other silly things, like what some of the soldiers are doing when in camp, or stupid manliness challenges.

One of the aides talked about his failed dates with the local girls whenever they go on expeditions, and the rest of them just laughed, but they all also admire his guts for trying to date girls from all the various villages.

As they were about to leave, two men approached Commander Akbar. "Are you Commander Akbar?"

Akbar’s a little tipsy, but he still manages to turn and face the two men. The two look like plain ordinary villagers, their presence honestly didn’t seem anything special.

One of Akbar’s aides, probably more drunk than Akbar, tried to step in. "Why are you bothering our Commander?" The aide’s usually a little more timid, maybe it’s a alcohol-fueled machismo.

"May we talk to the Commander, just for a while?" One of the men smiled, he’s polite.

Commander Akbar looked at them, quickly glanced through them from top to bottom. If they wanted to rob or kidnap him, they did not need to ask. Though, even while drunk, Akbar could easily fight off two men, and his [alert] passive did not trigger, so he’s got a good hunch that these two men didn’t mean to harm him. Besides, he's got a [General] class, and that meant he could hold two men down, easy.

The aide's attempt to respond on Akbar’s behalf, was stopped by Akbar's hand.

"Yes, let’s talk. Back inside?" Akbar pointed back to the eatery.

The two men nodded and they walked back, "Yes, inside is fine, but without your aides, please? Just something we want to ask you personally."

Akbar smiled, "Let's use one of the private dining rooms then. They can wait outside."

"Commander, no... General Akbar." The two men sat, it's a small room, with one round table and chairs for 6. Akbar sat opposite them. "What do you think of the demons?"

Akbar chuckles, "They are bad, of course." What kind of question is that, anyway? Demons, causes tremendous destruction and death, can’t be negotiated with, and doesn’t have any useful functions. The only possibly positive thing about them is the daemolite, left behind when the demon kings die.

"Do you think the heroes are doing a good job of fighting demons?"

"...not as well as I think they should." Akbar spoke his mind, he had a hunch they were leading him somewhere, but he’ll see.

The two men grinned, "Great. Do you enjoy fighting demons?"

Akbar paused, and stared at the two men. Enjoy fighting demons? In what sense? "I'm sorry?"

"Have you ever thought of joining a cause dedicated to fighting demons?."

Akbar's stern eyes meet with two others, the room felt heavy then. "I’m afraid I need a bit more than that. What exactly is your cause?"

At that time, a third man appears in that small private room, he materialised from the two's shadows.

Akbar though, still didn't react and just took a sip out of the wooden cup of water. "I was wondering when you would come out."

"As expected of a [general]. Proper introductions, now. I am from the Laenza Alliance, a secret society. Allow me to do the full explanation. The Laenza Alliance’s main purpose is to support the heroes in their quest to defeat the demon king, and we would like you to join us in that quest."

Akbar didn’t react, he just took a good look at the man. "Have we met?"

"Yes. But that matters little. Our issue is the coming demonic conflict. We believe you've realised the gravity of the issue, and so we'd like to invite you to join us." He felt familiar, but Akbar couldn't pin it down.

Akbar sipped from the cup of water, and said. "When you say, support the heroes in the quest to defeat the demon king, what does that actually mean? You want me to put my life on the line and fight the demon king myself, together with the heroes?"

"Well, no. You won’t be the one’s actually fighting the demon king. Ultimately, the heroes received the gods blessing, and only with the blessing, can the heroes hope to stand toe to toe with the demon king. Our presence in that fight would be unnecessary, we may even be a hindrance. I would say, we would be throwing our lives away.”

“So what do you do?”

“We, the Laenza aims to support the heroes, by, spotting them early, guide them, remove the barriers to their growth, and give them what they need to progress."

"Barriers..." Akbar looks at the three Laenza men.

"Politics. Bureaucracy. Think about it, these otherworldly heroes, they arrive in the world with very minimal guidance from the gods. They are lost, despite their gifts, and when they meet the locals, they need time to find their way. If it so happens they come under a nation’s protection, kings and rulers often have their own political agenda. Every step of the way, they face resistance and unnecessary barriers, from locals who have no idea whether they really are heroes, to politicians and rulers who seek to manipulate them.”

The man paused to catch his breath, and then continued.

“Our role, the Laenza is to offset those resistance, help them discreetly, and where we can, take them away from politics. We try to be the first, or among the first to find and contact the heroes, and to offer them assistance, guidance, training. And if the heroes need any special equipment or items, or need to get somewhere, we try our best to help them along."

Akbar sighed, it suddenly occurred to him that the heroes have it rough. They start off weak at first, thrown into a world they know nothing about, they are still young and naive, and that usually makes them gullible, and nobles usually try to manipulate them. It suddenly made sense how things usually did work out for the heroes, especially if there is a secret organisation that supported them in the shadows.

"So, would you be interested?"

"I have the feeling that you already know I would be."

The shadow man offered his hand, "We must hear it from you."

Akbar nodded, and they shake hands. "Yes. Let me be a part of it."

The shadow man took out a ring with a single red stone surrounded by various smaller red stones, and passed it to him. "Drop you blood in the ring's inner stone."

Akbar gently pricked his finger and a single drop of blood touched the inner stone. It glowed gently, a soft reddish hue, and then, the shadow man walked over and he too pricked his finger. A drop of his blood in the same ring. The two bloods mixed and the ring released a red flash.

"The ring, its invisible to all but the rest of us who also have it. It marks the Laenza, and is how we communicate."

Akbar put the ring on, and he could feel its magic mix with those of his own. The ring fitted nicely. "Intricate carvings."

"Made by our magesmiths, from where we are from, Rhongo."

Akbar nodded, "That is far."

"The demons' rift are everywhere. And we follow."

"True."

"Welcome to the Laenza. We have taken too much of your time, Commander Akbar. We will not keep your aides waiting any longer." The three give a gentle bow, and the shadow man vanished into the shadows, again.