I had expected many things, a massive green world with a towering city or some infinity hall of training rooms, but not what we arrived in. By my best guesstimate from the curve that I saw running away on all sides, we were on a hundred diameter ball of dirt. Above us was a thin blue shell beyond which a chaotic churning mass of stars, energy swirls, and fire raged. In between, massive beings that vaguely reminded me of the demons we saw in the sea. With arms and the backside of a squid, they cruised around, gobbling up burning patches of colorful energy. Dozens of haphazardly placed eyes lined the sides of their angular heads, slit multicolored pupils gazing at everything at once. Just looking up at them was enough to give the feeling of imminent destruction.

"Est, it's not that bad!" Rathica said as she stood beside me. "The Primal Demons can't see us through my barrier. Besides, my realm is already denser and with better groundwork than that of Flowheart or the others."

I ignored her, probably not a smart thing to do with a deity, but I was already doing better than the others. Haltir and Laurel had dropped to the ground, their arms spread wide, hands placed on the floor as if they were off-balance. They were staring at the massive abyss above them as if they expected it to swallow all of us at any second.

"Fine. I thought the three of you were stronger than this," Rathica said, and a thick layer of clouds covered the view we had.

Looking at the clouds that covered the churning mass, I sighed in relief. I knew the demons were still there, but not seeing them made things a lot better.

I looked around and decided that seeing the curvature of a planet like this, for that was what it probably was, didn't make me feel comfortable at all. Turning full circle, I stared straight at a massive tree from which innumerable fist-sized pods grew. It almost reached the top of the barrier before stretching sideways.

"How are you going to fit more tree's here?" I muttered, turning to Rathica, who just smirked and pointed at a few spots around us. As I followed her finger, I saw I had missed a few knee-high saplings that were visibly growing, although not as fast as those Ulderion had grown back on Kernstalion.

"Well, he is a tree deity. What did you expect?" Rathica said as she walked towards a section of land in between the trees that I now saw formed a circle.

As I followed after her, I realized that the air was clean and fresh and the grass crisp and springy under my boots.

I'm on another planet, I thought, slightly giddy. Although technically I had been on one before, it felt more alien now. As I looked around, I realized everything had a solid, grounded feel, from the earth and grass to the sky. It felt, for lack of a better word, alive. Still, it was smaller than some of the Kuiper-belt meteors that had permanent mining rigs.

"Such odd ingenuity you earthlings have," Rathica said as she moved towards a gleaming oval ring of metal that rose from the ground. It was a few meters across and began rising up until it stood like a portal.

"When your people get here, I can't wait to see what they and their technical knowledge will do combined with magic."

I looked up in surprise.

"Yes, Est. Your people can and probably will recreate parts of the things you were familiar with. You might have to use different power sources, though, as electricity here has far more chaotic tendencies than back in your universe. But no more questions now! We have something more important to do. The others have started opening their portals, so we need to hurry."

As the portal began rotating faster and faster, sparks of white light shot away from it. Soon it seemed to be moving the other way like I had seen drone blades when they spun up. Thinking of the drones, I couldn't help but think of what Rathica had just said, and I wondered why we couldn't just use electricity here.

"It's the magic," Rathica said, seemingly in a good enough mood to answer another question. "Electricity can only be stored the way your people did in low magic worlds. It is most likely one of the main reasons the Guidar picked your universe. But enough knowledge. It's time!"

A loud ping came from the portal, and a cyclone of light appeared in the middle, seemingly draining away into infinity. As soon as it appeared, a rumble shook the world, and my status screen seemed to go ballistic. Loud pings came, slowly coming faster like a countdown.

"NO!" Rathica screeched, and her arms disappeared, turning to blurs that moved in patterns too fast to comprehend or see.

My mouth ran dry, and I felt Rathica's sudden fear directed at the portal. I tried to see something in the portal, staring into it through pinched eyes. At first, I didn't see anything. Then I saw a black spot, the size of a rice grain, move along the wall of the funnel of light. It was still incredibly far away but was visibly growing in size as it moved closer.

Another rumble shot through the planet, and then it felt like something smacked the barrier causing the whole planet to vibrate like a tuning fork.

A loud cracking sound came as if something was starting to break. I was flung from my feet and slammed into the ground, rolling across the ground until the vibrations stopped. Rathica was a blazing beacon of golden light, one arm pointed towards the portal and moving like a blur, the other pointed straight up, tendrils of light shooting up. Following them, I saw the clouds part slightly, and a hand, the size of the planet, was swinging down against the top of the barrier in slow motion. The tendrils arrived before the hand, and the barrier began burning with a bright light. When the hand slammed down on it, I only felt a small shock this time and remained on my feet. The hand continued hitting. Every time it touched, the barrier blazed, and the clouds dissipated some more.

"What's going on?" I shouted, looking at Rathica but not daring to move closer.

The Guidar! They hid something in the system aura! When the true portals opened, it triggered a disruptive effect that is actively canceling the illusionary barriers hiding us from the Primal Demons!

I groaned, looking behind the others. Haltir was standing close by, his gaze switching between the portal, Rathica, and the barrier above. Behind him, Laurel was holding Eliandra, gazing up at the barrier in horror.

NO! Rathica's angry howl made me cringe, and I turned back to the portal. In the center of the swirl was a stream of bright pinpricks of light, moving towards us rapidly. They were gaining on the black spots that had grown to the size of quarters. I thought I saw arms and legs on those and felt my hair stand on end.

Est! They are sending Rift Demons through! If I close the portal now, the souls of your people will be lost to the Primal Chaos, but if I leave it open, I can't deal with the Rift Demons, or the Primal Demons will break through the barrier!

As if it was doused in water, my mind calmed and turned clear as crystal.

"How long before the souls are here?"

Half an hour for most of them, almost an hour if we wait for the stragglers. A twitch of pain flowed from Rathica to me at the last words, and I realized how strong our connection had become since coming to the realm. It also somehow pleased me that the idea of leaving someone behind hurt her. If it hadn't, I don't know what I would have thought.

My mind went into overdrive as a plan began shaping. Long, but not too long depending on the strength of those Rift things and the barrier, I thought, crystallizing the idea.

"How long till those Rift Demons get here, how many and how strong?"

I see what you're thinking. A wave of battle-hungry fervor surged out of Rathica, together with a sense of pride, and I felt a small grin surface on my face.

Forty minutes before the first of the Rift Demons will arrive, Rathica said, before she began giving me details about the Rift Demons, their attacks, and weaknesses. I could feel how much effort it cost her to even talk.

"Wait, they are weak to fire?" I shook my head in disbelief. My whole idea about demons was that they lived in fire and heat.

Most demons do, but not all! It is incredibly cold inside the rifts, and Rift Demons hate heat.

Ideas rushed through my mind as I imagined placing a bonfire before the portal.

No! That's not hot enough! It will hurt them, but their desire to leave the rift will make them break through. Unless you put the torch to my entire realm, it won't work.

I played with the idea for a moment when another popped up. Rathica picked it up immediately, and I felt her surprise.

Yes… I can't do a lot, but I might be able to do that. It will reduce their life expectancy to less than an hour, but that won't matter.

Grinning in anticipation, I moved towards the pod tree. The trunk was as thick as a large house, and the branches closest to the ground so thick I could never wrap my arms around them. I moved towards the closest and lowest one, its leaves touching the ground, and inspected it quickly. Seeing nothing strange, I cast Soften Wood on the closest branch and got ready to chop it down.

"Alright, how many can I chop off before it starts hurting the tree?" I asked, aiming for the spot on the branch connected to the tree.

Four of the big branches, or you risk permanently damaging the tree. After the first four, you need to wait for the first of the souls to arrive so we can begin putting them in pods. Only when all of the pods are used could you potentially chop the rest of the tree… But if you do, the remaining souls will need to be stored in the still-growing trees, and that means they might have to remain there for decades or even centuries.

I blinked at that, staring at the branch with my ax raised high. "But you grew this one in weeks?"

Because I had only you as a follower! Now I have Laurel and Haltir, not to speak of the Earthlings coming over! I can't spend that much Karma on a tree again. Not without risking the soul integrity of all of my followers!

I hesitated for an instant before bringing my ax down on the branch as hard as I could.

Better alive and sleeping for a hundred years than dead or in the arms of the Guidar.

My ax blade sank down deep but didn't sever the branch. Yanking it out, it took another six strikes to chop it off, and then it slammed down onto the ground. Taking a quick look up, I saw a second, taloned and black-scaled hand had joined the first, its fingers wrapped around the barrier as it squeezed.

"Can you hold?"

We will have to find out! Rathica shouted back, but I could feel an overpowering sense of will behind her words. Now focus on your own task!

I nodded, about to chop another branch.

"Est! Let me help!"

I turned to Haltir, seeing him step forward, his ax hefted.

"Alright! I'll weaken them, you chop them off!"

Laurel got up and ran our way, holding two of Eliandra's small axes. She didn't speak, just nodded at me. I glanced at Eliandra, but she seemed to be no better or worse.

I moved between the branches, casting Soften Wood on three more branches.

"This one and this one, but no more or the tree will die!"

"Don't worry! Just tell us what to do!" Haltir shouted before slamming his ax down with almost as much force as I could muster.

Turning to the last of the branches, I chopped it down almost at the same time as Haltir was finished. Laurel was halfway through, impressive with such small axes.

"Laurel!" I shouted. When she got up, I tossed my ax her way, "Throw me your knives!" As my ax swirled through the air, I suddenly wondered if it had been a good idea, but she just snatched it out of the air like she'd been doing nothing else her whole life.

"Much better!" she shouted before flipping two knives my way. I had never done any blade work like this, but my reflexes were so good it felt like catching apples. "Nice catch!" Laurel shouted, then turned and slammed the ax down.

"Remove all the large branches!" I shouted at Haltir before turning to the massive branch.

One of these days I really need to take some time to make something that's not just functional, I thought as an image appeared in my mind of a creature I had only seen in myth and legend. As soon as it was clear enough, I began cutting and chopping at the trunk.

You have thirty minutes left.

I nodded absentmindedly, carving as fast as I could. I wouldn't be able to finish all four in that time, but hopefully, the first few could hold back those Rift Demons.

Est… finish that one now or you won't make another before they are here.

Rathica's voice shocked me to reality, and I finished the second eye with a quick cut before looking up. It hadn't been that long, had it?

Not for what you're making, but there isn't any more time, backup, and I'll try and do my part!

I felt a tension in the air, and the constant light from Rathica's right hand darkened slightly. I looked up and saw Rathica tremble slightly. A loud pop came from the wooden statue. The wood before me began smoldering, the brown color quickly turning a dark red while small flames licked across it.

Summon a spirit, Rathica said, her voice weaker than before.

Looking at the burning wood, I saw that one of the legs hadn't combusted yet, and dodged around to put my hand on it. I began the process of pulling a vengeful spirit inside, but nothing happened. All I sensed was a vast empty void surrounding me.

Give it a moment, Rathica groaned.

Scanning around, I tried increasing my range when I finally felt something at the far edges of my reach. A single spirit, filled with a fiery rage and white-hot anger, rushed through the silent void towards us, moving through the barrier as if it wasn't there and shooting into the burning wooden statue. Even from here, I felt the burning heat from it.

A ping came from my status, and then I was knocked back and off my feet by a massive explosion. Dumbly staring up at the barrier above, my ears were ringing, and I saw spots in front of my eyes. I pushed myself up on my elbows.

In front of me stood a massive lion of fire, high on its legs and with a thick upper body. As I watched, the wood morphed as it had with Barry, and the ugly, angular cuts smoothed out slightly while fur and scales appeared across its body. Short stubby wooden wings grew from it's back, and the long scorpion tail uncoiled and bent forward until it pointed towards me.

"Was that your doing?" I groaned at Rathica.

No, we'll have to check it later. I can't spend the energy to investigate it now. All I know is that it's far more powerful than it should be. Rathica's voice shivered with anticipation. Make more, fast!

I pushed myself up, seeing Laurel and Haltir stare intently at the Manticore, weapons drawn.

"Don't worry. He's on our side."

Laurel looked at me and hissed. "How can you be so sure? It looks like some pet of Cinderage!"

I laughed and moved towards the next branch. "It's not, now hurry and remove the smaller branches!"

I heard Laurel mutter something about one of Cinderage's more disturbing customs but ignored it and focused on carving the next Manticore.

I hope the next one will be like that too, I thought.