Chapter 711 - The World Waits for No One

“Everyone benefited greatly from the recent campaign,” said Silik, his hands behind his back.  His breastplate glimmered in the light while his shield and spear leaned against the nearby wall.  He was a soldier through and through, and he’d never be far from his weapons. 

Many of the others in the room were of a similar mind – not surprising, given that it was a military conference.  The goal was simple – to plan the next step, which was to kill the now least-powerful greater god.

“We believe we match up well with Terra’s forces,” the kobold stated confidently.  “His people are strong but immobile.  They also lack numbers.”

Zeke leaned back, barely noticing the death grip Talia had on his hand.  She’d clung to him like a second skin ever since his recovery.  For more than a month, she’d been his shadow, but rather than her presence becoming cloying, Zeke found it comforting.  She didn’t judge him.  She didn’t try to change him.  She simply accepted him the way he was, vowing to support his decisions. 

That wasn’t to say that they always agreed on everything.  They pointedly did not.  But she had the uncanny ability to accept a difference of opinion.  Sometimes, neither of them could be swayed, and the best course was to simply agree to disagree.  Talia accepted that, and not because she thought it was what he wanted.  Rather, because she felt that disagreements were natural and needn’t be destructive.

After Zeke’s previous relationships, that was a novel and welcome attitude.  Abby had looked at every discussion as an opportunity to win an argument, while Adara had simply adopted his opinions as her own.  It probably wasn’t conscious, but she had fallen into his orbit.  And she wasn’t strong enough to escape and chart her own course.

Talia was.

She’d proven that over the century when she’d been alone, and she continued to make her own strength clear every single day.  That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t devoted to Zeke.  She definitely was, and with a vehemence that sometimes scared him.  Obsession was the word that often came to mind. 

But maybe that was just her expression of love?

He had no idea, and if he was honest with himself, he had no interest in trying to poke holes in the evolution of their relationship.  As far as he was concerned, his time was limited.  Waiting for perfection would just mean that he would have to forego love altogether.  Once, he’d been prepared for that, but after spending the past month or so with Talia, his resolve had wavered.

He would still do what he needed to do.  That had not changed.  However, he had chosen not to fight against the simple pleasures that came with having a woman who loved him. 

Even if their feelings for one another were a little lopsided.

It was a fatalistic way of looking at his life, but Zeke knew good and well that he would be moving sooner rather than later.  And where he was going, few could follow.  So, he’d resolved to embrace what happiness he could while it was still a possibility. 

“What about Terra himself?” Zeke asked.

“He is reportedly a creature of earth, though information on the specifics of a greater god’s powers are…difficult to obtain,” Silik stated.  “We believe he is more powerful than Simeon, though weaker than Oda.”

Oberon spoke up, saying, “That’s true.  It’s been centuries since I’ve seen the others, but I doubt the pecking order has changed much.  Divinity does not lend itself to change, and progression comes very slowly for us.  Very little can challenge us sufficiently to affect said change.”

“Can I take him?” Zeke asked.

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation in Oberon’s answer.  Zeke found himself wondering if the dwarf was truly that confident or if he was simply telling him what he wanted to hear.  Or maybe it was what Oberon wanted to be true. 

After all, the nature god had already revealed that he knew he wasn’t long for the world.  He couldn’t stand up to someone like Simeon – not even in his own domain.  What would he do if he was challenged by Shar Maelaine?

Die.

Quickly and without leaving a mark on the world, Zeke suspected.

“What is the plan?” he asked Silik.

“There are no convenient temples to destroy.  Terra is a god of earth, and the focus of his domain is in the core of his planet,” the kobold general answered.  “The only solace is that none of his people live there.”

“Not many, at least,” Tucker interjected, his feet propped on the table as he leaned back in his chair, smoking a pipe.  Smoke wreathing his head, he went on, “There are a couple there.  Peak lesser gods.  But most of them are off colonizing any rock they can find.  That’s how they spread his influence.”

“And it is how we will destroy them,” Silik stated.  “There are nineteen major population centers for his followers.  Our plan is to strike them all at once, killing as many as possible while you attack Terra in his domain.”

“Seems similar to how we took out Simeon.”

“It’s not,” Oberon stated.  “You won’t get to Terra unless you destroy the planet itself.  Even then, he will only be weakened. Maybe it will be enough for you to fight him on an even footing, but not unless his worshippers are significantly diminished.”

“I’ll have to open with [Primordial Wrath], then,” Zeke stated.  It was not ideal.  The power of the attack would be cut by a significant margin by Terra’s domain, which would allow him to survive.  The planet would likely still be destroyed, but the skill would not be a fight-ender as it had been with Simeon.

But that was okay.  He had other skills, many of which were almost as powerful as [Primordial Wrath], though expressed in vastly different ways.  Still – if hell had taught him anything, it was that he was more than his skills.  He could overcome long odds with or without them. 

“How do we coordinate?” Zeke asked.

As it turned out, the best route was a combination of using Iris’ skills as a captain and traversing the Ways. 

“It’s how we usually conduct war,” Oberon stated.  “Breaking through the initial chokepoint is always difficult, but that is simply a price we must pay.  I suggest that you leave the captain as a quick reaction force.”

“And me?”

“You will go through the Ways.  Terra has no guards who can bar your path.  Punch through, then immediately destroy what you can of the planet,” Oberon answered.  “After that, you only need to hold on long enough for us to kill his followers.  The longer the battle goes on, the better your chances will be.”

“I see,” he said.  Then, he asked, “When?”

“Timing is up to you, Ak-toh,” Silik answered with a bow of his head.  “We move when you order us to move.”

“One week,” Zeke said after a moment’s thought.  “That’s when I’ll go to the Ways.  Time your invasions accordingly.”

After that, the discussion turned to logistics.  Mobilizing an army – even one as efficient as the tower’s – came with a lot of moving parts.  Zeke listened as they discussed splitting the army into equal parts, then settled on a slightly less congruous arrangement.  Some Terran outposts – as they were called – were stronger than others, so destroying them would require many more soldiers. 

Zeke remained silent as the conference went on.  His people were all extremely capable and well experienced in the prosecution of war.  They’d been doing it for more than a hundred years, after all.  By comparison, he was a novice commander. 

If they needed someone to come in and destroy a hard target, he was the guy for the job.  But if they expected him to organize an army and get them where they needed to go, they would be waiting a long time for him to meet that standard. 

Talia and Pudge volunteered to lead the largest forces, while Tucker made a big show out of not wanting to fight at all.  Of course, it was all bluster.  He would show up when and where he was needed. 

After a few more hours, Zeke had had enough, so he excused himself and headed out.  The Pillar was still located in the center of the Residential District, so he soon found himself walking through the surrounding city.  It was almost entirely composed of the odd apartment-style buildings that characterized the floor, but there were other variations scattered here and there.  Some were even more densely populated, but others were dwellings meant for single families.

And then there were the shops that had sprung up on every corner.  They were reminiscent of bodegas, and he found himself wandering through more than a couple, sampling the goods on offer.  The mostly-kobold shopkeepers refused to take any money from him, which was a good thing, because he didn’t really understand the system of beads they used as currency. 

Zeke also couldn’t ignore the teleporters that dotted every other intersection.  They offered access to every floor – save for the Lord’s Manor and the Dungeon, which were only accessible by Zeke and a few select people. 

For a while, he just wandered.  The kobolds noticed him – because of course they did – and his passage came with choruses of “Ak-toh”.  However, he did his best to ignore them.  Still, after only an hour or so, he relented and returned to the sanctuary that was the Lord’s Manor floor. 

There, he was confronted with the idyllic grounds that had become so familiar.  Blue skies, green lawns, and ancient oak trees – it was as peaceful an environment as he could hope to find.

With that in mind, he settled in, his back to one of those oak trees, and let out a sigh.  There he sat for a long while until a ball of light flickered into being next to him. 

“Miss me already?” asked Eveline.

“We spoke this morning.”

“I know.  It’s been forever.”

After having Eveline in his head for what felt like an eternity, Zeke had grown accustomed to her input.  Now that she was gone, it had left him feeling more than a little morose. 

It was worse for her, though.  She wouldn’t admit it – not aloud – but Zeke knew her well enough to recognize her distress. 

“I’m guessing you were there in the meeting?”

She bobbed up and down.  “I’m everywhere in the tower all at once, Ezekiel.  Of course I heard your little plan.”

“Any thoughts?”

“You should leave your thoughts of universal domination behind and focus on the girl who hangs on your every word.”

He shook his head.  “Not the thoughts I wanted.”

Over the past month, it had become abundantly clear that Eveline didn’t really approve of his quest to reach The End and assist in the defense of their reality.  Maybe she never had and had only pretended otherwise because she didn’t have a choice in the matter. 

“You get what you get,” she said smugly.

“Seriously, Eveline.  What do you think of the plan itself?  Can it work?”

“Everyone else seems to think so,” she answered.  “And for good reason.  The army is even more impressive than it seems at first glance.  Those kobolds really love to train.  They spend more time in the Hunting Grounds than they do sleeping.  It’s practically a religion for them.  I do wonder where they got such crazy ideas.”

Zeke didn’t miss the sarcasm in her voice.

“The plan, Eveline.  What do you think?”

“It could work.  You could also end up floating in the Void where you will go insane.”

“I don’t think [Primordial Wrath] will completely destroy the planet.”

“Based on Oberon’s word,” she said.  “I don’t know if I’d trust that.  I don’t even want to leave him in the tower, but I was overruled on that.”

“He has to be here to help with the planning.”

“I remember your argument.  The point is that if this plan goes wrong, you won’t just die.  You will be driven mad by the Framework.  If you think that’s an acceptable risk, then by all means, go forward.  If, however, you are sane – go find Talia, take her somewhere special, and –”

“Enough,” he cut her off.  “I don’t know why I even asked.  I knew what you were going to say.”

“Yes.  Yes, you did. Maybe it’s your subconscious telling you not to do it.”

Zeke went silent, but he couldn’t argue with that assessment.  Regardless, he had already committed himself to the plan.  The kobolds and the rest of his army would stop if he gave the word, but he wasn’t worried about them.  He’d committed to it in his own mind, and he wasn’t one to turn away from a plan he’d already accepted as inevitable.

Hopefully, that wouldn’t come back to bite him when the time came to put it into practice.