Year 147

Jura took 14 experience seeds, a whole bunch of skill seeds until he vomited, and that moved his level to Level 114.

“These experience seeds are so overpowered.” Kei protested. Truth was, she was just upset that it didn’t work on heroes. It was also my first time using so many of them, and I soon discovered there was a time-restriction to the experience seed. Jura couldn’t take another more that 15 experience seeds in total.

The additional levels gave Jura more power, speed and abilities, but still, against Kei’s [Fortress of Guns], it’s still lacking. Kei was still absurdly strong, and even if Jura could get close, the guns would all bombard Jura’s armor to smithereens.

“Today’s practice is a little special.” Jura explained. He was next to Edna and Faris, both Level 80s. “Aeon will be joining in our fight.”

Kei paused. “Aeon?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Instantly, her array appeared, and it seemed like she still had some cards to play, as she activated two more arrays of cannons and guns. I wasn’t going to let this chance slide, so I’ve activated [poison roots], [mist] and [constrict]. She levitated out of the way, and her cannons started to shoot the ground beneath her.

Jura. Edna and Faris all spread out and attacked from separate directions, hoping to capitalise on the sight-dependent targeting function of the arrays. Still, the guns just carpeted her surroundings. I tried to buy time and space, I created multiple [steelwood barriers] in many places just so that the three have some cover.

Then she had large cannons shooting some kind of magical bullet. It blasted the barriers to smithereens in a single shot!

Yet, Jura got close, his spear almost grazed her, but it was blocked by an array of cannons, which crumbled from the impact. At that distance, some of the cannons managed to land a point-blank hit on Jura, and Jura was flung to the distance. I had to immediately block with more [steelwood barriers].

“Ouch.” Jura was hurt, he bled a little. At the same time, Edna’s new armor-skill also proved relatively useless against the hero. It lasted a good 12 seconds, and then her armor was entirely destroyed.

Vines popped up as she tried to regain her footing from the explosion, some of them managed to entangle her array of magical guns. We pulled in all directions, and increased the number of vines. I kept spawning as many vines as I could, and Kei’s guns kept firing, she used fire-attacks, bullets, explosions, and this was when I discovered I could spawn as many vines as she could destroy, and more.

I had the mana of the entire network of trees at my disposal, and I was going to use all of it if I had to.

It was a tug of war, her cannons kept shooting on the ground around her, destroying the vines, trying to create space between her and the ground beneath her. The vines were exceptional with my energies regenerating them.

The vines drained at her mana but she had so, so much! It felt like Alexis again, back when she was that demon-possessed fire elemental form. I had beaten Alexis then, but that’s because she was a weakened hero with demonic energy possessing her.

Kei struggled and then her body glowed. Then she emitted an explosion that torched all the vines. At that moment, her array of guns vanished.

Edna and Faris were a distance away, they were horribly outmatched by her cannons and guns. Their armor didn’t last. Jura too was nursing his wounds in the distance.

I had more vines appear. Kei took a deep breath and summoned another array of guns. She had different types of bullets, and the ground was covered in exposed roots, my roots, she fired more bullets at them. But somehow, regenerating roots and vines were proving to be quite a bad matchup for a gunner like her.

This constant resistance went on for a good two hours, and then she was slowly getting tired.

I didn’t want to push her further, and I still think she has a lot more to go.

“Let’s stop.” I mentally signaled, and Kei relaxed.

-

“What? You didn’t tell us you’re in the central continent!” Alvin and Hans were on the other side of the magical call.

“I did, but somehow both of you seemed to have just ignored it.” Kei frowned. “Why?” She was feigning ignorance.

“Never mind. Then help us sabotage the Central Continent’s defenses. The temples want to launch a 2nd crusade soon, this time with us as the main force.”

“Why?” Kei frowned. She already knew this much. Back when they were on the Eastern Continent, she already knew of the temple’s plan for a 2nd crusade after the war. The plan was only foiled when the first batch of heroes died.

“Because the cursed tree is actually an evil spawn of the demons! Think about it, how else did it survive the demonic corruption for so long? It must be actually a clever ploy by the demons to create a tree that appears to be on our side! The gods have decreed that a war must be waged against it.”

Before Kei could respond, I mentally whispered. “Play along. If we want to win, it may be a good idea to just let them think you’re on their side.”

“Hmmm...” Kei just acted.

“Is the demon tree aware of your presence?” The other two heroes said.

“Yes.”

“Beware of the things it tells you. The temples said the tree has somehow managed to convince and cheat past heroes as well.”

“Really?”

“They suspect the tree may have some mind-controlling abilities, psychotic substances and drugs, since it managed to convince the heroes to part with their hero items last time. Don’t take things from the tree. Be careful of what you eat and drink.”

Kei paused. “You mean it’s been drugging me?”

“Yeah. Maybe! You have to be careful Kei. It’s a very crafty tree. It managed to defeat the first crusade!”

“It must be quite crafty.”

“Why don't you escape? And rejoin us back in the Southern Continent? The three of us can launch the crusade together!”

“I... uh...”

“Has it gotten to you? That evil tree! I won’t forgive them.”

“I mean... I met someone who’s probably from earth.”

“Oh no. The tree managed to catch someone else! Can you free him too?”

“Her.”

“Ya. Her. Can you free her? Both of you, can you escape? I’m sure the temples will be happy to host all of you. They’ve been treating us really well.”

Kei rolled her eyes. “You mean girls, right?”

Both Alvin and Hans blushed. It seemed that the two heroes are serviced by a harem of gorgeous temple priestesses.

“I knew it.”

“I’m sure they have handsome good looking boys too!” Alvin responded. “Come back here, Kei.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think. That tree must be sowing doubt in your mind. Be careful of what you think, Kei.” I wonder what the hell were the temples feeding the heroes. But then, maybe the gods have some kind of godly surveillance ability, so it’s not a surprise if it could see what kind of powers I have, though I suspect my later domain-protected powers remain a secret.

Kei found it hard to play along as it went on. “Okay okay. I’ll need to hide. Before he finds me.”

“Good. See you.”

“Alright.”

The connection cut off, and Kei stood. She asked. “Do you have mind control powers, Aeon?”

“No.” Well, Patreeck’s not exactly mind control. It’s... influence and mind-reading.

“Do you have psychotic drugs?”

“Yes.” If a hero wants to investigate, I’m not surprised if it can find the truth. So it was better to just be upfront about it. “I have various kinds of psychedelic substances, generated by my plants and organs.”

“I see.” Kei walked away. She spent a few weeks fighting demonic hybrids in the Rottedlands.

-

I spoke to Lausanne about the heroes’ plan for the crusades.

“Hmm, I didn’t realise the two of them were so deeply influenced by the temple’s demagoguery. When I met them, they seemed... ordinary.”

“It’s been many years since the last hero summoning, and the temples are still formally at war with us.” Jura opined. “The rhetoric and propaganda is in full swing. Surely you’ve seen the tales that the people spin about us.”

The propaganda divided the world. Those on the central continent think they are so absurd, to the point that rather than improve the local’s view of the temples, it merely made them look ridiculous. In fact, the fervour and passion of the locals to defend the central continent increased every time some ridiculous propaganda got circulated.

It’s even a point of comedy.

On the other continents, they seem to believe the propaganda. It wasn’t a stretch for them to believe it, somehow.

The only ones that react nonchalantly to the propaganda are the border nations. The island nations that trade with us, and the kingdoms that secretly made trade arrangements. For them, the propaganda, on either side, seemed like just a sidenote. Money, resources were more important.

“The Valthorns won’t be much help against the heroes.” Jura admitted. “Unless you make more of those limit-breaking things... And even me at Level 114 now....”

“You’ll need to reach at least Level 150 to hold your own against them.” It’s a simple concept, that the system recognises level 150 as the tier of ‘champions’. Thus, level 150 must be like an entry level hero. If they also unlock their domain powers at that point, I could see them gaining significant strength at that level, which would allow them to catch up to the heroes.

“Wow.” Jura just said. “Level 150 seems so...”

“Crazy.” Lausanne added. “Seriously, I didn’t know Aeon had the ability to break level caps. When did that happen?”

“Uh... some time ago. Still, it’s insufficient. In our spar with Kei, we lost badly. But, Aeon suggested the implementation of multiple high speed attacks would be sufficient to weaken the hero. But they also have incredibly high base defense and stats, so it also need to pack a bit of a punch.”

“Crystal bombs then. We charge up hundreds, or thousands of spell matrixes, and plant them as mines. Detonate them when the heroes get near.” Lausanne suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” We could try that out.

We gathered that the heroes will approach from the sea, and chances are they will come with a fleet of ships. The temples will give full backing and won’t half ass this crusade, with the heroes in the lead. It’ll be a sizable force, a coalition from all the continents. The temples will be eager to demonstrate their power, and redeem themselves from their prior loss.

In short, a lot of bloodshed.

That said, if I couldn’t nuke the demon king, I could nuke the heroes. I think that has a far higher chance of success, but I think I would make Kei an enemy. As it is, the chances of success for me, Kei and my other high leveled talents against these two heroes are quite good. Almost 50-50.

If I could trap them properly, and Kei doesn’t defect, we have a very good chance of winning.

“Then let’s get to it. We should start preparing what we need for the traps. All the crystal matrixes we can make.”

This required better enchanters and crafters, and so, I used my class fusion abilities to create a few [High Enchanters] and [Master Crystalworkers]. They would work on the base of the crystals to store our ‘lightning bombs’, and then I would add some of my own runic carvings to enhance it further. Production of these crystal bombs required rare materials, and also the skills of my workers, so even after giving out the new classes, we were making 30 to 50 crystals a month. Hardly enough to mine the shores, or prepare a weapon.

-

The Continent was in full war-preparations mode, and at the same time, I’ve recalled Hytreerion back. I needed to outfit him for a different sort of battle now, no longer anti-air, but anti-hero. He needed all the high-speed weapons I could make, and the change in the loadout had to reflect that.

The heroes were all dedicated anti-air specialists, but from what I’ve seen with Kei, their detection abilities and other ancillary abilities such as defense, healing skills are relatively strong, but not insanely overpowered. It’s still possible to capitalise of these lagging abilities, and pretty much turn them into weaknesses.

Also, there’s only two of them, and Kei’s movement speed is just slightly faster than Jura at his top speed, so these two heroes would be at a similar pace. That meant, their invasion fleet will not be as well protected as they think.

If we can hold the two heroes off and keep them occupied, the rest of our forces could cut off their supply lines and force them to a retreat.

A continent turned into a machine readying itself for war.

-

“Lord Kraviek.” An assistant bowed to the Treefolk Lord. “This way.”

He nodded and was led to a fancy meeting room. A few others were waiting. The Lords were gathered for a meeting in one of Freshka’s largest mansions, organised by the [Trade Lord]. “My humblest apologies to my esteemed peers.” Kraveik said. “Pardon my time, treefolks do not move very quickly.”

“No matter, no matter. Come.” The Dwarven Trade Lord nodded. There were 10 Lords in that room, all graduates of the FTC. “Come. The 2nd Crusades will be a storm that will soon sweep our lands. We, the noble class, have much to deliberate.”

“Go on.”

“I have been in contact with a few kingdoms on the other continents.” There was a gasp. “The heroes will lead the charge, and they say the female hero in our midst will turn against us.”

Whispers in the small crowd. “It does make sense that a hero summoned by the other gods would turn against us.”

“Indeed a worrying thing. Aeon may not be able to hold against 3 heroes. Few things in our known history have managed to hold the heroes back.”

“You speak like you have a proposal, dwarf.” A centaur lord immediately cut in. “Let’s hear it.”

“Indeed, indeed. We must decide whether we should defect.”

Kraviek slammed the table. “I oppose that wholeheartedly.”

“Or pretend that we are defecting. It would be wise to play along and hedge our bets.” The Dwarf said. “If Kei, the hero really is defecting, I will make contact and suggest that we switch along with her.”

Kraviek again slammed the table. “Enough. I will have no part of this nonsense. Do you all have no shame to even consider it? We were given power by Aeon, and now we turn against him?”

The dwarf immediately retorted “We earned our classes by performing as the best in our cohort. Aeon has done much for us, but our class is our own, and we must plan for the inevitable. Our survival must matter.”

“And I would rather burn than defect against my patron.”

The dwarf took a deep breath. “Calm, Kraviek. We are peers in this room, so please, hear me out. Aeon very well knows that our present loyalties are because of the role his divine plays.. If he falls, the glue that holds this entire continent collapses together. He would not begrudge us if we planned for that inevitability.”

“Again, I would rather burn.”

“I would love for Aeon to win, Kraviek. But we are dealing with heroes. Heroes have reshaped the political landscape of the world many times already. Remember, elven heroes subordinated tree spirits too. Aeon’s superiority in our continent is dependent on his ability to withstand the heroes’ pressure.”

“He would stand better with us on his side.”

The dwarf sighed, and the discussion was heated. One of the later graduates spoke. “I suggest we keep our options open at this point. We do not know whether Aeon will lose or not.”

“Dwarf, you may be a master of trade, but it is my view this is a trade you should not make.” Kraviek warned.

The dwarf could only sigh. “If it is only so easy. Should the tree fall, are we going to be crushed under it, or step aside? What is loyalty if it is death to all we care for?”

“There are times you should have conviction in your positions, not constantly weigh the shifting odds.”

“What if?” The dwarf retorted. Another lord spoke up. “It is best whatever we discuss never leave this room. The Valthorns will have our heads if they know we even considered defection.”

“I will keep my silence, but I fear it may be too late. Aeon’s ears are everywhere. Pray that he does not mete out preemptive punishment.”

The dwarf’s eyes widened. “You mean...”

“Yes.”

I chose to do nothing. The entire continent has always wondered what would happen if I were to suddenly die or disappear. Every king, every lord worth their salt have been planning for that possibility, and so far, all I needed to do was to send a nice warning letter if they take a step too far. I even let them make contact. It wasn’t a problem for them to communicate with those on the other side. Who knows, the defection may even go the other way.

From what I could see, the Dwarf’s concerns are entirely from fear. Fear of my eventual destruction. It is valid, and so long as he does not participate in plots against me, or reveal sensitive info, I would grant them some leeway.

If I were to execute everyone for even having a thought of betrayal, I would soon slaughter everyone. Everyone has thoughts of change. I can accept reasonable dissent and discussion.

“Patreeck, just keep an eye on them?”

“Certainly, master.”

But we will always be watching.