Chương 391: Of the Exiles

"Matron Jysella, it appears the humans have acquired another Growth Breach," Mistress Mirax said as she knelt at the foot of Jysella's throne.

"If this is the start of a new push on their part to stabilize the Realm Breaches on their world then…"

"I understand the implications," Jysella said, cutting the younger Mistress off.

"The humans on that world have crowded around their few strongholds for eons. If this is the start of a push outward, it is possible that they may one day secure their entire world. If that were to happen, then any Realm Breach anchored to their world will become dangerous for us to use."

"I have a thought on how we might dissuade them from this action."

"Go on," Matron Jysella said with smile that revealed her razor-sharp teeth.

"The human world is plagued by beast waves. They have planned out the layout of their cities to mitigate them and to protect their three central cities. Because of this, rarely do beast waves affect their core cities, allowing them to become fat and soft."

"Do you know when the last beast wave hit any of their core cities?"

"The most recent one of note was over ten thousand years ago. It was a strong beast wave that started in the far reaches of their world, gaining power as it went. It destroyed several of their secondary cities before it was finally stopped at their core city called Argentum. But even though they managed to stopped it, they were unable to fully protect the city and millions of humans died. If we create and collapse enough pocket spaces, we can recreate such an event."

"You think with such devastation they will abandon their new project to rebuild their core?"

"Yes, Matron."

"A bold plan but flawed. You have not been informed of the other advances the humans have made."

"Please enlighten me, Matron."

"The humans have created a device that can detect beasts from a great distance. It is said, it can also detect Realm Breaches. This would account for the sudden decline of Breaches being left open on their world to relieve the mana from the Mother World. Within their core area, they have secured or collapsed every Realm Breach. Now, the only Realm Breaches connection to their world are in what they call the Red and Black Zones."

"It is unexpected of them to learn how to locate Realm Breaches so easily, but it is not anything we have not been doing for thousands of generations. Opening a large number of Realm Breaches outside of their detection zone can still have our desired effect."

"I am not so sure," Matron Jysella disagreed.

"Since the humans can detect Realm Breaches and even beasts themselves, no matter how many we collapse outside of their territory, they will be able to detect them and move to eliminate them before they can pose any real danger to their core."

"They can detect beasts? Have we been able to acquire an example of this artifact?"

"We have not. With their sudden ability to respond to Realm Breaches, I have ordered the halt of creation of new pocket spaces that connect to their core areas."

"How do you suggest we proceed, Matron?" This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"We give them more than they can respond to."

"I don't understand. Is this not what I suggested?"

"No. You want to open Realm Breaches in their wild lands, beyond their detection range to build up a large number of beasts to drive towards their cities. I am suggesting we open Realm Breaches directly in their so-called White Zones. Dozens, no hundreds of them. So many, that they cannot hope to respond to the multitude of them. When the Realm Breaches collapse, they will spew forth legions of beasts.

The devastation will be such that it does not matter if the humans keep their new city or not, their numbers will be so culled that they will be hard pressed to respond to new Realm Breaches opening."

"But Matron Jysella, what about the directive not to intentionally collapse Realm Breaches? The backlash on our world…"

"The directive applies to Realm Breaches anchored on other worlds. Ones the Mother World creates to relieve the pressure of our world's excess mana. It does not apply to Realm Breaches that we create ourselves. Our pocket spaces are not as mana rich or diverse as the ones the Mother World creates and they are also short-lived, which is perfect for our purpose."

"But the cost…"

"Is of no concern to you," Matron Jysella snapped at Mistress Mirax, but then softened her tone.

"After this assault, the humans will be shattered. We can then once again focus on creating our plantations to grow the things we need. With a few months of no human interference in our affairs we should be able to recoup the losses."

"I will begin arrangements at once, Matron."

"The Alfar are up to something," Visneer, the Iblis commander of the Central Legion said to his son, Visault.

"I believe it is because of the human I encountered some time ago, father."

"The C Rank True Mage?"

"Yes."

"With the low mana levels on their world, it will be a long time before such a weak creature is able to achieve anything. Why would they be worried?"

"I cannot say for certain, father. I have, however, heard rumors."

"What sort of rumors?"

"That the humans have developed a method of tracking beasts and pocket spaces."

"That is good news. It means they are advancing and may soon be able to come to the Mother World."

"I thought you did not believe in prophecies, father."

"What prophecy? After the war all those eons ago we pushed the human survivors away without so much as a thought about what would happen to the Mother World, and it has taken all this time for us to begin to see the error of our ways. The Mother World wants humans to return, needs them to return. Her stretching out with the pocket spaces to lure them in and bringing them back a few at a time is evidence of that."

"Yes, father. However, the Alfar hunt and kill the humans long before they can ever reach a level of power significant to interact with the Mother World. What will happen if the changes done all those eons ago are never reversed?"

"If the mana production is not returned to normal, and the Mother World becomes unable to expel the mana to other realms, as she has been doing for eons, then we, and the Alfar, will become like the goblins, unable to reproduce on the Mother World. We may even be forced to leave the world as exiles like we forced the humans to."

"We can't let this happen father, there must be something we can do."

"There is, we must protect the humans that make their way to our world through the Realm Breaches and those who the humans exile here unknowingly. Perhaps one of them will give us the clues to what we seek."

"It is difficult father, the humans we encounter view us as monsters or savages and they do not speak our tongue or the old human tongue, Tal."

"What of the one you found a few months ago? He is not a mage yet was able to reach A Rank with a faulty core. This shows he is skilled. Have you learned anything about the battle he was in? Or any news of the status of True Mages among the humans?"

"I have not, father. I have, however, discerned something from his armor."

"Oh? What have you learned?"

"The armor showed signs of having been struck by several different types of mana."

"Interesting," Visneer said, rubbing his chin.

"Was he in a great battle then? Has war erupted on their world? From what I know these humans do not usually fight amongst themselves."

"I do not believe so. The residual mana indicates that the magic, while of different affinities, was cast by the same individual."

"Ah, news at least of a True Mage. But this one was in a battle with the True Mage, that is troublesome. Perhaps there are those in the human realm that, like our Alfar, do not want to see their return to the Mother World."