Chương 496: AF Chapter 495 – Interpretations of Duty

"We have spoken of the Alignments before. A wondrous and terrible thought, that such Forces hold dominion over all other things," Master Ben Ten said softly.

"Something had to. We are just irked that it isn't us," I had to smile at that. His stomach growled. I slowly lifted an eyebrow at the sound, while he looked down at his guts in disbelief.

"I do not think I have ever eaten as much in the last few hours as I have in any other whole day in my life, and I am still hungry!..."

"From what I've heard, just wait until you take your first bowel moments. You might fall unconscious from relief right on the pot." He gave me a sharp glance to see if I was joking, remembered who he was talking to, and just sighed.

"It seems I must get back to the laughing, singing, dancing, and eating some of the best food of my life."

"So tiresome, I know," I agreed sagely, tilting my head.

"The Aluvians seem to have taken over the band. Are you experienced with Black Aluvian jigs?"

"On this day, of any day, I think I am willing to learn," he had to smile.

"After another ten minutes of this sunset." He sat back in appreciation for the break.

"That I will also agree with," he nodded, taking a deep breath and inhaling the smells of life and the living denied him for so long.

"I am sure you have been thanked a thousand times for this, but on behalf of everyone, Lady Magos of the Free Peoples of Dereth, this old man thanks you for your time and efforts." I snorted.

"You haven't aged for the last twenty years, you're younger than Lord Mick is now, and you'll be younger in a week as your Matrix Levels kick in." I knew I was walking into his trap, and didn't mind.

"You can repay me by living a good life. Even wandering heroes have to settle down at some point. Duty goes further than service to the people. You also have a duty to pass on your bloodline, something you have been strenuously avoiding, if your history is any measure. Are you attracted to men?" He actually twitched.

"Ah, no. Women have been… a distraction to my path of the sword, and then to the management of the Celestial Hand."

"I will say very pointedly that one of the reasons the Matrix Levels reduce your age is not only to reward you for incredible focus, but for people to have the time to raise a family and still have the youth and energy to continue on their road when they have done their duty to humanity." His expression actually turned thoughtful at that.

"That… is a very interesting viewpoint," he acknowledged slowly.

"A duty to humanity, having and raising children…"

"Relying on others to do what you cannot is one thing. Doing so because you can and won't is something else, and a failure as a human. You were born to pass on your bloodline, in the eyes of the Land. Heaven and the gods may give you higher purposes, but having children is why you exist at the most basic level. If you can't even do that, why were you born at all?" He winced slightly.

"I just return to life, and so heavy on the morality, Magos!" he chided me lightly.

"I think you should recognize more than anyone the true value of children now." I inhaled deeply.

"Aethra has a Salute because the Long Watch is NEVER over. It never was, and it never will be. You will always be able to find reasons not to have a family, but they are merely excuses. There will always be dangers and threats, those who face them, and those who will not. Being one of those who face them, without leaving behind those who also will do so when the meek will not, is just foolishness as a species.

"Humanity is only partially made up of fools, Master Ben. Don't be one of them."

"Mmmm. Save perhaps tonight?" he teased me. I had to smile at that.

"Daring to act the fool while not being one is quite liberating at times, I must agree!"

"Ho, that sounds like a challenge!" he ventured jovially.

"I daresay I have not acted like a foolish person in much too long a time! That Aluvian jig sounds like a marvelous place to start..."

"It rather is a very foolish style of dance…" I confirmed emphatically.

"Then, I think, it is long past due that I be a fool, and have some fun. Would the most exalted Lady Magos care to accompany me?" he dared to ask, despite how light his words were.

"You did find the courage to ask me!" He blushed right down to his toes at being caught out.

"I think I could stand being a completely spontaneous knucklehead for a night, oh most foolish kensai…" His eyes almost glittered with triumph as he scrambled to his feet and offered me a hand. I took it, and let him draw me up. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Fools for a night?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, total fools," I agreed cheerfully, and we headed out of the park for some incredible stressful socializing that would be interspersed with completely inane foolishness for the rest of the night. If a whole lot of the revived fell asleep on the jakes and had to be called out for the Salute to Aru in the morning, well, that first time really was almost transcendental, the embarrassed people were reluctant to admit to me. =========== Several weeks pass as things get done in the background…

It was night-time, and the winds were blowing to the west, taking our scent away from the shores ahead. Visibility was down, and with the cooler temperatures of winter, even the olthoi were less active at night. That was good, as we needed to establish ourselves here, and that would require some time to get things in place. An hour was all we needed.

"Let's go," Kris ordered quietly, and we headed in. Briggs was not with us. He was heading up a solid push into the Olthoi North, moving our borders and Sealing olthoi Spawn Points as a line of soldiers swept up toward the Lost Wish mountain range. There were olthoi tunnels coming out of the south side of the mountains there, all of which had to be secured in the short term. Their main goal was the Paradox Olthoi Hive, the largest and most dangerous of the many olthoi hives scattered about the Olthoi North.

Our goal was much simpler: securing the tip of the Olthoi Island. We didn't need much of an area, just a beachhead, something we could hold for the moment, and abandon if we needed to. This wasn't the all-out effort to wipe out all of the olthoi, which would be an unmitigated and disastrous grind of the highest order, fighting waves and waves of thousands of olthoi Spawning in at a time. I wouldn't be able to get a Pyramid up to counter the tactic before everyone was exhausted and overwhelmed.

There had been a lot of discussion as to why the implacable insects didn't just sweep out with countless hordes and conquer everyone. The logic had to come down to the fact that they couldn't reproduce the real olthoi needed to direct the mindless Summons as fast as before, and if those controllers were identified, the swarm tactics were effectively useless. Powerful members of the opposing species could surely sense which olthoi were real and which were Summons, and had the ranged magic to take them out.

That would instantly break the Summons and send them scurrying back to their distant Spawn Points, and any pursuing defenders could easily identify any reinforcing commanders by simply waiting until any retreating olthoi slowed down and banded together to fight again. In short order any swarms would be chased back to the vicinity of the hives, the exposed real olthoi would be vulnerable, and things would return to a status quo. It was why the olthoi had only sent the one swarm and matron against Bonecruncher.

The Prodigal Drudge had killed her and all her living subordinates despite all the numbers trying to stop him, and broken the horde rather swiftly that way. He hadn't been able to chase after them, but his lieutenants had, picking off the non-Summons carefully time after time, chasing the olthoi all the way back to the mountains and the Olthoi North in doing so. Briggs had to move forces into position to press into the Paradox Hive for what was about to go down, and that was that. So, he wasn't here.

There weren't many Spawn Points on this island, at least from what we could tell by distant and Invisible surveys with Eagle Eyes and Masks of Clarity. That meant more erratic patrols, constantly moving olthoi, but not so many just parked forever in one spot and serving as effective decoys. There was also a certain someone with access to IX's who had gone dumpster-diving for some spells effective against Hiveminds, which would buy us some time without the deaths of random drones alerting them all of our presence.

Psilence was one of those spells. It basically stopped telepathic contact over a large area, which was a brutally effective tactic against hiveminds and swarming creatures. By Casting it over an area, the hivemind quietly lost all awareness of anything within, and wouldn't even realize it was missing anything unless alerted by other contacts. That, then, was the Interdiction-type effect which accompanied us as we breached the Shoreward and came ashore. The olthoi didn't normally breach the Shoreward.

Instead, they had dug large and long tunnels underneath the channel between their island and the mainland, and olthoi moved back and forth along it frequently, as far as we could tell. At one time those tunnels might even have had Portal Magic somehow mixed into them by the Hivemind's ability to allow the olthoi to tunnel through dimensions, but those had been lost some time ago.

Thus, the hives closest to the island had direct connections to Olthoi Island and the Mother Queen hiding out here, which was important for part of the next step. With the telepathic interdiction up, quietly eliminating the few guards in the area wasn't that difficult. We had to make sure any alarm pheromones went out to sea, but that wasn't hard with a good stiff wind, and then it was a simple case of setting up guard positions under cover of the night and me getting to work.

I had to use illusions to conceal it, but I could get a small ten-stepper Pyramid up fairly easily in eight hours, and use it to power what we needed to do. Multiple Illusionary Walls ringed the whole thing, and I got to work.

Olthoi weren't the brightest creatures under normal circumstances, and the missing bugs weren't missed. Bugs don't suddenly wonder where Neighbor Joe is and if they should go check on them, leaving that for the boss bugs to take care of, after all. Hivemind creatures just did what they were told, and they didn't have the experience or initiative to go out and check and see if those nasty mammals crawling all over the landscape over there were up to something in their nice safe haven.

After all, no mammals had ever made it over here, had they? That said, there were still flying Lacerators and the like wandering around in the skies, and if they pierced the Walls around the Pyramid I was putting up or wandered into the Psilence they had to die with all speed. As long as they stayed within the Walls, they came buzzing in, paused in shock as the world changed and a bunch of humanoids were looking up at them with ready missile weapons, and were sitting ducks as they screamed alarm at the hivemind…

and there was Psilence. Five seconds after that they were spiraling down to the ground, pincushioned a dozen times over each, and their droning wings fell to quiet again, while I kept working.