Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 34

I dropped Mimiko off near Mundwise, then circled around to the lake where I dropped off the Sanctum mystic realm entrance.

At some point, the lake had been destroyed, probably by somebody trying to break out of the mystic realm following a climactic battle. I had to admit, I was very curious about who won.

But whoever it was, there was only one fate waiting for them.

“Cyra, Myrina, Thadaeus, and everybody else within range. I successfully trapped the enemy in the Sanctum mystic realm, but I’m having trouble finishing them. I need a full contingent of mages and fighters here on the double,” I ordered.

I hoped the mystic realm would hold that long. Meanwhile, I started throwing down various devices suitable for trapping and ensnaring B-Grades. Most of these had come from the field where a bunch of Black Beast Sect elders had tried to ensnare me. It just so happened that they’d be perfect for me to use now.

Fighters started trickling in, starting with Cyra and about three hundred of her best C-Grades. Myrina arrived next with a group of weaker and much more exhausted soldiers. Thaddeus arrived next, followed by Centurion Asimi and a few thousand of my wizards. By the time I felt like the pocket realm was about to give way, I had a squad of about twenty thousand soldiers ready to receive them.

“The mystic realm is breaking down! Wizards, channel your most powerful spells and prepare to fire on my mark!” I yelled.

What little water remained in the lake drained out, likely pouring through the pocket realm portal. Covered in a combination of mud and blood, a ragged figure emerged from the lake. It was Elder Blackhand. Despite missing an arm and looking like he was at death’s door, he wore a broad grin on his face.

Elder Blackhand (Level 387)

The fight he'd been in had clearly done him some good. Now, it seemed like he was within arms reach of A-Grade. But this was as far as his path would bring him.

“The heavens shall soon know the name of Blackhand! My might is unsurpassed, and--“ Elder Blackhand cut himself off when he saw the force arrayed to receive him.

“Fire!” I gave orders for everyone to unleash their spells.

Elder Blackhand barely had a moment to register the ambush before thousands of spells hit him all at once. My own Mana Bolts and Sunlight Spears were among them.

To his credit, he reacted quickly and raised a barrier. He might have been able to slip away... if he wasn’t standing in the middle of a powerful cultivator entrapment formation.

I also pulled the trigger on that, and strands of mana shot out from all around Elder Blackhand like ropes tying him down. Mist rose up from the ground, obscuring his view of us, but not our view of him.

“Again!” I shouted, and another volley of spellfire struck the Black Beast Sect.

The sight reminded me of the test Cyra and I had to pass to get into the Dragon Lodge. Hundreds of E and D-Grades pelted us with spells while we struggled to endure them. This was the same test, just scaled up a realm of power.

That had been a tough challenge, and only Cyra and I had truly passed it. Elder Blackhand was in rough shape already, so this many spells did visible damage to him.

We launched three more volleys, and by the time Cyra and Myrina’s melee units moved in, there was nothing left of the elder but a pile of scattered ashes. All in all, it was an ignoble end for someone most of the way to A-Grade.

His storage ring was destroyed in the constant barrage of attacks, and its contents almost drifted away, but I caught hold of them just in time and dragged the extra-dimensional space closer to the real world. With the physical tether broken, it would end up who knew where.

I tied it off to the extra-dimensional space of Morgathor’s Satchel. No doubt Elder Blackhand’s best trinkets were in there. It seemed unnaturally full, like the elder had overstocked it recently.

Taking a quick peek, I saw the storage ring contained the corpses of several recently slain heretics. A quick search revealed Beta-male’s wide-eyed severed head staring back at me.

Blackhand hadn’t restrained himself to just taking the bodies of the heretics though. He’d stuffed the other five Black Beast Sect elder corpses in his bag right alongside them, as well as the broken and shredded remains of the pillar standing before my wizard’s tower. It must have been destroyed beyond usefulness at some point during the fight, but that hadn’t stopped Blackhand from taking it.

“Hold until I give my signal,” I said as we approached the throne controlling the mystic realm portal. Elder Blackhand had forced the door open, and because of that, there was now a big crack running through the back of the throne. I imagined having something like that happen too frequently would result in the entire mystic realm collapsing, but I was pretty sure I could repair the damage in time.

I stepped through the gate, and the inside of the mystic realm was a mess. Huge chunks of dirt were missing, and beneath the dirt was a vast expanse of nothing leading to a lightless void. The walls around my little city were busted. Going further into town in the direction of my wizards tower, the barracks, mess hall, hospital, and everything else was also in ruins. The pillar in front of my tower had been torn up at the base, then someone had dug up what was left and hauled that out of the ground too. My tower was cracked and lay on its side, toppled in the dirt.

In the distance, somebody had set the woods aflame, and great plumes of smoke reached into the sky. Water from the lake had flooded the area around the portal, and I could see it running along the underside of the mystic realm. I was dealing with both flooding and fire simultaneously. But all in all, the place was in better shape than I expected.

Thanks to Elder Blackhand’s storage ring, I already had all the dead heretics and cultivators accounted for and safely stowed away, so I could call in the army to search the mystic realm, though I knew they’d find nothing.

While they nervously peered around debris and piles of broken stone, I went straight to the ruins of my wizard’s tower. The doorway was ruined, but I shifted a few stones aside. My personal vault had been opened up and torn into. It was funny to think that Elder Blackhand was probably looting my vault while I was looting his.

But I’d filled that hall with junk. The real item of interest was about a five-minute flight from the vault through the shadow realm.

I used Shadowrealm Stride and went down past the bottom edge of the world. Sanctum was a flat disk, and the underside was normally nothing but rock. There was only one anomaly that broke up the expanse of smooth stone. A patch of shiny crystalline metal.

“Looks like nobody found you. Good...” I muttered as I ran my hand along the true System Planetary Hub’s housing. Naturally, there was nothing behind the sheet of metal. I’d completely disassembled the thing and concealed the components within innocent-looking cultivator spatial rings.

I wasn’t sure what the heretics or the cultivators wanted with this thing, but this ancient machine was very valuable to the local iteration of the System if I could download the AI onto it. But that would take a little more time and a bit of work putting it back together.

I was pretty sure that was the sort of work I could do, adding an extra layer of security if all my other defensive measures fell through. Nobody besides me and the System herself knew how to put this thing back together.

The mystic realm would have to sit a while. I wasn’t sure how much attention the Vaust family had paid to my little stunt with the System’s aid, but if I’d caught the wrong sort of attention, I wanted them to search this place and find nothing but the ruined aftermath of a B-Grade battle.

I’d been warned more than once about unique fate-based abilities that let people find things. I even had an ability like it to help me find treasure. With the Planetary System Hub disguised like this, anyone looking for it would find nothing but scrap scattered everywhere, and wouldn’t even think to look at the tiny storage rings hidden in the dirt on the underside of the world.

I was certain the heretics at least had gotten messages out and would claim cultivators had taken the System Planetary Hub. And if Elder Blackhand had anyone to call, he would have said the same thing about the heretics.

While I wasn’t beyond suspicion, I’d muddied the waters enough that if I played my cards right, I could fade into the background and avoid any further conflict over this big magitech pillar. There was really only a single loose end tying recent events to me, and I would take care of her soon enough.

The disassembled pillar did not respond to my thankful words as I tucked it away, but the System did.

Hidden Quest Completed!

Repel the looters and thieves trying to steal the Planetary System Hub.

Reward: One Long-Range, Single Use Teleportation Array.

I accepted my prize, though truthfully this was a present more for the System than for me. I wasn’t done here on Ladwick, but I had a feeling my recent actions would take me away for a while. The System wanted to give me a way to return, regardless of the political situation.

“The teleportation array is great and all, but what I could really use is an area quest to get rid of one specific target in disguise. I know you can do it, since you mark cultivators as hostiles for us all the time. Same with monsters,” I said to the System.

There was no reply, so I just had to hope it heard me. Otherwise, I could be in for a rather embarrassing moment after Prince Herius returned.

After confirming the Planetary System Hub’s undiscovered components, I returned to the surface and the ruins of my wizard’s tower. I left my vault and did my best to turn my smile into a thoughtful frown.

“I take it your vault was looted?” Cyra asked as she approached.

“Afraid so. Thankfully, all my best stuff was on me at the time.” I shrugged.

“I’m sorry they wrecked your mystic realm. I know you really liked this place.”

“I’ll put it back together, eventually.” I shrugged again.

Cyra eyed me again oddly. “You’ve been acting strangely today, Carter. You gave a flurry of seemingly nonsensical orders, and now, suddenly, we’re here? Who even was that peak B-Grade we killed? And why was he trapped in your mystic realm?”

I chuckled, turning to meet her and resting a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry I couldn’t explain it all to you ahead of time. I can tell you if you want, but it might make things more difficult for you.”

“It’s fine. I know you have our best interests in mind. But all this is going to look awfully strange to Prince Herius.”

I smiled. “I figured as much. Truthfully, that’s what I’m counting on. I might have to take a leave of absence because of it, but I need to check back in on Crownhill around now anyway. I’m sure you can do just fine without me for a bit, right?”

Truthfully, I figured the rest of the crusade was going to be rather boring. With Elder Blackhand dead, along with what was probably the last of the B-Grades, there wasn’t anybody left to challenge the legion over control of this world. Prince Herius would likely have his fancy new planet as soon as he could hang his banner over the remaining major cities.

***

Prince Herius returned from Yarris by the end of the day after no major attack came. By the time he called me in for a meeting, he’d already grasped the flurry of activity that had occurred in my direction.

“I don’t really know what to think of all this, Carter,” Herius said, shaking his head. “On the one hand, you took out a powerful enemy cultivator. But how and why you did it is a bit of a mystery. How did you trap them in your mystic realm? And the flurry of orders you gave beforehand make no sense except in retrospect. It’s almost like you knew they were coming. It’s enough to make an honest man suspicious.” Herius frowned as he drummed his hand against the table.

“Remember the Planetary System Hub? Turns out the cultivators were looking for it. I lured them, sealed the place, then got the army set for when they broke free.”

I smiled and shrugged at the simple explanation. It was the truth, though only part of it. The whole scheme I’d cooked up with the System’s help had been a lot more complicated than that, and there’d been eleven B-Grades slain at its culmination, not just the one Herius had heard about.

“And how did you know they were coming? You told me the enemy would attack Yarris,” Prince Herius pressed.

I shrugged. “You know how divinations go. They’re not always accurate. Turned out the big attack I feared came here instead.”

Herius leaned back. “Well, normally, that would be good enough for me. But Velicia insists that you’re a suspicious fellow.”

“I’m unsurprised. I don’t think she ever liked me much,” I replied, suppressing a chuckle.

The Prince had let a lot of bad behavior from his legates slide. No doubt this would be the same for me, if not for Lady Velicia’s hold over him. In truth, she was probably the only living person who could piece together what really happened besides me.

“I’ve brought the witnesses, my prince,” Lady Velicia said as she opened the door. Legates Abesa and Morin walked in behind her. Both wore smug expressions, and I knew I was in trouble.

“Very well,” Prince Herius waved Morin forward first. “Legate Morin, give your report and your accounting of the situation.”

“Gladly, Your Highness.” Morin adjusted his uniform and licked dry lips. “You see, I have been suspicious of our auxiliary legate from the start! I knew he was up to no good. I saw him speaking with five cloaked figures before the battle began. He has undoubtedly been secretly aligned with the enemy the whole time!”

“And you, Abesa?” Herius turned to the other legate.

“It’s exactly as Legate Morin said. Legate Carter is clearly in league with the enemy, somehow. He must have had a bargain with them that turned bad. He should be stripped of command immediately. His soldiers and share of the loot should be divided up among those of us who remain,” Abesa said.

“And his belongings should be thoroughly searched for evidence that he might have colluded with the cultivators,” Lady Velicia added.

I pinched my brows between thumb and forefinger. I’d known Lady Velicia would be cross with me, but I had hoped she wouldn’t be ready to pull something like this.

Lady Velicia’s charisma score would no doubt be overwhelming in most other situations, but I was no slouch at charisma myself. The two negated one another, which meant reason would win the day. Normally I'd be fine with that, but this time she had a point, and I really wanted to keep the details of what happened under wraps.

“We all have cultivator loot on us. That’s what we’ve been gathering the entire war. Searching me would be pointless.” I turned to regard Prince Herius.

He looked between me and Lady Velicia, pain clear in his expression.

Eventually, he turned to Abesa and Morin with a sigh. “Both of you, get out.”

“B-but...” Morin protested.

“Now!” Herius snapped.

Abesa and Morin made a hasty escape, shutting the door behind them.

When they were gone, Prince Herius turned to Lady Velicia.

“Velicia, my dear... searching Carter would be pointless. You know how wizards are. He’s undoubtedly got storage items rigged to teleportation talismans, and a network of hidden bags of holding so deep we’d never find anything if he didn’t let us.”

I frowned. Was that what wizards were supposed to do? Honestly, that sort of thing sounded like a really good idea. I’d have to remember that for the next time, I thought I’d be searched.

“Besides,” Prince Herius continued, “Carter is a member of the Dragon Lodge. Not my father’s military. I’m uncertain if I have the authority to do anything to him.”

Lady Velicia slipped up behind Prince Herious, grabbing his shoulders from behind and giving them a familiar squeeze.

“Herius, dear... don’t let traditions from back home hold you back. Here, you’re practically a king yourself! No, an Emperor!”

“We’ll talk about this later.” Prince Herius shrugged his shoulders to escape Lady Velicia’s grip.

Lady Velicia’s seductive smile slipped for a moment, and she sent a murderous glare in my direction. I crossed my arms and ignored it.

Prince Herius stood with an air of finality. “Legate Carter, you’re free to go. Barring significant new allegations, I consider this matter settled.”

With that, he turned and left the room.

Lady Velicia remained behind a moment longer, arms crossed.

“You played me for a fool, Carter Smith of the Dragon Lodge. But I’ll have the last laugh.”

I raised an eyebrow, chuckled, and shrugged. “We’ll see...”

<Note>

So, Elder Blackhand died a bit quicker than I thought, but this was probably the most reasonable way for Carter to kill him, given the level difference. I didn't really like him as a long-term villain anyway. Yeah, there wasn't an epic battle, but fighting the torchdragon last book was like a 4 chapter 3-stage fight, so I figure we're due for something shorter this time.