Chương 112: BECMI Chapter 111 – Intervention of the Elders

"You should stop this unseemly destruction of your inferiors," a gravely wise voice spoke up from near me, as magic flashed in the sky. I turned in time to see his eyes widen in disbelief when his Dispel utterly failed to stop the Meteor Swarm coming down out of the sky atop the last of the camps of the Khirifi before reaching the western vales and hills of the Mountains of Myth, the first areas conquered by the Khirifi in their crusade to the east.

The eight giant black flaming skulls detonated in massive spheres of rose petals and flames that swept across the camp, blowing apart earthen fortifications and buildings, frying Khirifi in screaming blasts, and creating a wondrously beautiful and extremely deadly field of growing flaming rose-vines and thorns as they did so. Any survivors were rapidly covered in fields of rampant and lethal burning flowers, entwined, and burned alive.

Their panicking horses could run right through the flames, however, even as their riders were dragged off their backs. I flicked up a coil of black roses around my right hand, Dread tingling alertly in my left as it felt Immortal Power on this flying seemed-to-be-a-Wizard. Barbs lengthened, Holy Vivic flames wrapped around them, and down they lashed, threading their way through the camp in darting Chains that seemed to coalesce in extending black vines.

The holes they made in running Khirifi erupted with black roses in white flames the plants grew from with breathtaking speed as the corpses toppled and fell down.

"Elder is a long way from home," I noted, turning my attention back down below.

"How is Elder known among mortals?" I inquired, my speaking somehow not interfering with the task of launching more Chained Barbs and their trails of winding vines and thorns sprouting black and red flowers. That checked him as he watched what I was doing, not interfering again.

"I am known as Jillius among mortals, young elfin," he stated after a moment, watching what I was doing in fascination.

"Your hate of the Khirifi must be great, to hound them so, Lady Edge."

"I have no more true hate for them than a farmer does the deer eating his wheat, or the crows raiding his corn. They are a pestilence, and the best way to deal with a pestilence is with blood and fire. As they treated others, so they are being treated in turn. As they are fanatics of Gulguz who all should bow down before or die, the Chosen only He favors, so the scum of Gulguz should bow down before all other gods and die, anathema and chattel spurned by all of them.

"As they sowed, they reap, and they have been fantastically poor farmers and are just now understanding what it means to Feed the Land, instead of the Land feeding them.

"Now, what business has the Immortal Master of the Waves, Patron of Trade, Merchants, and Seamanship among the Iberon Pantheon, have with me? My business is with the Immortal who bade his servants Summon Soul Eaters and work with the Entropic Lord Thanatos, not with your decadent and crumbling empire, Elder." He pursed his lips at the show of disrespect, and I could see he was thinking of revealing his Aura and really putting the fear of the gods into me. He would be disappointed when that did not work, either.

"It… is more the example you are setting, than anything else," he eventually stated, grimacing as my slaughter of the Khirifi continued, anywhere from ten to sixty of them dying every time as my Chained Barbs ranged out for them. Duum was out in the distance, picking off riders and scouts who thought they were safe, getting rid of them with silent swoops from above.

None closer than a mile away, Korshwa riders were waiting grimly for me to leave, and were also rounding up the rest of the Khirifi fleeing in all directions. What slaves they found were to be escorted to and released into the North or back to Iberon, or even accepted into their own tribes, as they preferred. If they did not care to do even that small favor for me and spite the Khirifi, well, I would be coming back this way, too, and I'd treat slave-traders exactly the way they treated their merchandise.

So far, they'd been very conscientious about bringing any survivors and sending them in the direction of Darkmoor and Elb, and absolutely killing any Khirifi who survived, except maybe some of the very youngest children. The old wagon wheel rule...

"What I choose to do with my time is my own concern, Elder, and I am ready for the consequences, as the Khirifi most certainly are not. Are you going to take direct action?" I kept my voice flat and neutral, mostly unconcerned with him. He raised his hand, then lowered it with a sigh.

"Who is your sponsor?" he demanded firmly.

"I would have words with them."

"They do not know you, you do not know them, and they are not interested in speaking with you. You would have been far better advised to spend your time speaking with your own mortal servants to save Iberon, but we both know the Empire is largely past that stage now."

"You said that Thanatos is involved. How do you know this?" he asked again, looking rather uncomfortable at my pointing out his failure. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"He very confidently sent three Screaming Demons to ambush me, who were happy to boast of their status as His minions. They might have been lying, but considering that they thought I was going to die without a chance, I am perfectly certain their boasts were legitimate. Screaming Demons are not subtle thinkers looking to misdirect someone about to die." His face was a bit grim as he processed that, agreeing with my assessment.

"And your patron slew them instead."

"They died in great surprise. It was quite heartwarming," I said coldly, my bombardment still not ceasing, the living Khirifi still standing out in my Detect Evil IX+1, not a single one of them Good. Gulguz was good at his indoctrination methods, perhaps unsurprisingly.

"How far do you intend to take this genocide?" the Immortal pressed me.

"Exactly as far as the Khirifi were willing to, and they were directed to make it to the Empire of Iberon and bring it down in fire and blood." I paused momentarily, turning to glance at him.

"You are taking action against me, and not them, despite them coming to act against your own worshipers. I take it you have given up on Iberon, and had agreed to let things play out among mortals and the Empire die due to its own infighting?" He sighed for my benefit, but his expression held resignation, not regret.

"A thousand years is a long time for a human empire to stand, by any measure. The rot always starts within, and it takes a fire from without to wipe it away… or a civil war that is even more fiery and regretful. There is a chance this full-blown invasion might be enough to unify the nation… or finally finish tearing it apart back into its component elements." I had to remember that he didn't know the Cataclysm was coming, and final destruction of Iberon would happen at that point.

The fallout from the eruption, the shift in the poles, and the devastating weather would all combine to bury Iberon in history.

"I expect there will be changes in Imperial policy coming, stemming from my annihilation of the Khirifi. Someone has already lured one of your High Archmages out to test the waters here. Egranzier the Manifold sent in a Simulacra tricked out with suicide spells to see if it could deal with me. I presume a High Archmage is on your watchlist?"

"Egranzier never risks himself personally if he can help it, always sending minions and servants of one form or another, and his price is not cheap. Sacrificing a Simulacra would have cost someone a great deal of gold," the disguised Immortal noted thoughtfully.

"I will also note that he's a known Conjurer powerful enough to bring in Demons past the Veil, and the other way to motivate a potential Immortal Aspirant is for his Patron to set it as a goal." He blinked at me, and I could see mental dominoes falling into place.

"He Summoned the demons at the behest of Thanatos, who made it seem like the Khirifi brought them in…"

"The three great paths of magic that lead to tyranny and corruption are, in order: necromancy, conjuration/summoning, and enchantment/charm. Of those, conjuration occupies the central position, and deals the most with darker powers. Necromancers deal with spirits, but they value their own souls far too much to bargain with most Immortal beings, where Enchanters prefer to be the king or the power behind the throne pulling strings, not the idiot face being used by others.

"I know little of the High Archmage save for his being active in the shadows, but I doubt not he's had a hand in weakening the moral fiber of Iberon, probably by killing anyone trying to save the place or those with noble hearts, and seeing other rivals blamed for it." He wasn't admiring me finish up my lethal and swift killing, although he was tracking all the great stands of flowers blooming all over the place now.

His expression said he was thinking about a certain powerful mage and what the man was responsible for.

"Would you… be willing to strike against this Egranzier, Lady Edge?" he inquired of me with great false smarm.

"Are you trying to position me as the Next Great Threat to Iberon, Divine Elder?" I inquired of him icily. He actually smiled in appreciation at the observation.

"Perhaps? You make a very good dire threat at this stage…"

"Then trick him into attacking me again, and I will retaliate. Or wait for his master to prompt him to do so. Or bribe me, if you want him disposed of with certainty and haste." He was starting to let some of his Immortal vigor come through, now looking more forty than sixty, and putting on weight and muscle. Probably didn't even notice it. He was obviously enjoying himself talking to me for some reason.

"Bribery, is it? I had no idea you were so mercenary, Lady Edge, given that you seem to be engaged in a rather epic task without any hope of proper remuneration for what you are doing." I could almost hear him rubbing his hands in expectation of a deal.

"Obviously you don't want to waste your time manipulating a High Archmage who might be in service to Entropy and end up caught at it, you don't want to be patient if you don't have to be, and you are a Patron of Merchants. You believe you will be able to get me to work for you for effectively trivial compensation, given that material resources are something you can conjure up with a wave of your hand as needed.

"Naturally I care nothing for those material resources."

"You are after information, or a trade of favors, then," he deduced promptly.

"Come, tell me what you seek!" he asked magnanimously.

"I have done my research, but I would verify it. Delineate to me the requirements for the Path to Immortality for all five Spheres," I iterated promptly. He tilted his head slightly at the price, not knowing whether to feign interest or surprise.

"Your own Patron would not tell you of these things?" he asked quickly, sensing a weakness in our relationship he might be able to pounce upon.

"I am technically not at the proper level of spiritual advancement to make a run at Immortality, and so informing me is something that is properly done at a later date. We are both impatient, and I like to prepare for things before they happen, instead of responding to them after they happen in confusion and haste," I just sniffed. He considered that, and nodded slowly.

"Knowing what you must attain does give you more time and direction to focus your attentions in… and you want all the paths, even those of Entropy?" he asked archly.

"I want to know what to look for in those seeking Entropic ascension," I replied coolly.

"I've a feeling we will be crossing paths frequently." The Immortal Wavestrider Jillius couldn't fault that reasoning, either…