Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 17

Prince Herius was still busy with Lady Velicia when news came of an incoming Black Beast Sect attack.

“To arms, to arms! The enemy is just outside the city! I saw them with my own eyes!” one of the soldiers shouted at the top of his lungs. He was from one of the less well-trained legions, which was probably why he was just screaming the news into the streets instead of reporting up the chain of command like he was supposed to.

I jumped from where I stood on the walls and used my fancy new magic dragon wings to drift down to his position. I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into the shadowrealm. After that, I took him to the modest corner mansion my legion was using as our headquarters. It was smaller and less impressive than the abandoned manors the other legions had claimed, but it had good foundations, and with a liberal application of magic, it was already more comfortable to live in than the other ruined manors.

“Start from the beginning. What did you see, where did you see it, and who else knows?” I asked.

The soldier clumsily gushed a story about coming across tracks in the forest with his unit. All of them were low-level soldiers who’d previously been farmers, so they were sent out to gather food from the abandoned farms. Even though the crops weren’t being tended to, enough had been planted that the crop was worth harvesting to help feed the army.

“--and then that’s when it happened! A bunch of black-clad cultivators popped out of the cornfields and slaughtered everyone. I was near the back, so I got away before they could catch up to me.”

I drummed my fingers on the table before coming to a decision. “I’m going to drop you off near where Prince Herius is staying. I want you to tell him everything you told me.”

I dropped the soldier off, then started giving orders to my own troops. A few knew scrying spells, so I had them looking over our surroundings. Nothing turned up, so I went out in person to where the soldier I’d interrogated said his comrades had been killed.

There were no bodies, but there were clear signs of something happening, and the dirt was overturned like somebody tried to cover up blood stains.

There was more to it than that, I was certain. There was an odd feeling in the air, and space was folding in on itself strangely. Had somebody tried to hide the evidence with spatial magic?

Ordinarily, looking around suspiciously was all I could do, but my sensitivity to mana had increased a lot as of late, and I felt certain somebody had used mana here recently. I felt around with my senses and soon found the source of the disturbance. It was well hidden, but not well hidden enough to hide from me.

I bent low to the ground, turning my senses inward and trying to focus. Like finding a loose thread in reality, I pulled on the strange spatial magic in the air. The reaction from the other side of the spell was immediate.

“Attack!” someone yelled. Cultivators seemed to pop out of nowhere as the power shielding them came undone. Clearly, they’d been hiding to take out anyone who came to examine the area after hearing the battle report. At a glance, though, all these would-be ambushes were only D and C-grade in strength. They hadn’t expected someone as powerful as me to come out in person.

If any other B-Grade legate had come, they could have kept hiding. But their trick wasn’t worth much before me.

A few fire punches and mama-empowered kicks struck me, and I slid off. I grabbed my two nearest opponents and smashed their skulls together, then flicked my finger to slice another in half with an Arcane Blade. Blood splattered all around me as half of them died in an instant, and I grabbed the leader of the group by the throat.

“Let go!” he squirmed in my grip.

“You will return as my prisoner. Cooperate, and you’ll be treated fairly,” I offered.

He spat at me in response. Hand of Fate blocked it for me like any projectile, and the wind blew the spit right back into his eyes. He squirmed in my grip a while longer before the energy in his core began swirling uncontrollably.

I realized what was coming and quickly tossed him aside. An instant later, he self-detonated like he was wearing an explosive vest.

“Damn suicidal madmen...” I grumbled as I turned to the two remaining Black Beast Sect cultivators.

Both scrambled backward, running from me as best they could. I grabbed the nearest one, this time using my aethersmith powers to attempt to stop his self-detonation. Despite my best efforts, he exploded as well.

Affecting the mana inside of a living body was tough. Not everyone had my aethersmith abilities, but every cultivator could do something similar with the energy inside them, where their minds and souls held greater sway. I was fighting them on their home ground over their own mana, which put me at a distinct disadvantage. I’d only win at it with a substantial level difference.

Thankfully, the last of the ambushers was only E-Grade, and not a particularly remarkable E-Grade at that.

“Got you! Hold still...” I growled as I wrestled the young cultivator girl into submission. She closed her eyes, tears streaming down the side of her cheeks as she tried to kill herself in a self-detonation.

“You won’t capture me alive!” she said while gritting her teeth.

“Sorry, but this is going to hurt,” I grunted as my hand went to her stomach. She winced, and I was starting to feel a bit bad about the compromising position I’d caught her in. But I needed access to her abdomen, which was where the central mass of energy that she was trying to kill herself with was located.

It was a rather interesting intersection of nerves and mana that wasn't present on human bodies from Earth, nor the other races I was familiar with. It seemed to be some sort of nexus where the body connected with both the young woman’s soul and the Kindling dimension. A normal person wouldn’t have been able to perceive anything other than the physical mass of nerves in her body, but my extradimensional senses showed me the full picture.

I activated Arcane Blade off the tip of my middle finger, cleanly impaling the dense energy cluster straight through the center. The young cultivator’s eyes went wide with terror as she kept trying to self-detonate without success. The incision I’d made was like a pressure valve, and she was leaking badly.

Much to my surprise, her level even started dropping as energy leaked out of her. She started at mid E-Grade, but then dropped down to F-Grade, eventually hitting level 1.

“M-my cultivation! You destroyed my dantian!” she said in panic.

I stood up and dusted myself off. Without that dense reservoir of mana, she wouldn’t have much luck running away from me. All the cultivator abilities I’d seen used mana of some sort, and this girl was now completely empty. And if her level was to be believed, she no longer had the ability to blow herself up.

“If that’s what you call it. Anyway, I’ve got some questions for you. Don’t worry, you’ll be treated humanely for the duration of your stay with me. When I’m done with you, I’ll make sure to--“

“Ahhh!” she started screaming so loud and fiercely that my ears started hurting. It wasn’t an ability or magical technique, just really loud and high-pitched enough to rattle my skull.

I waited patiently for her to let up, but the moment she took a deep breath, she returned to screaming. I ended up holding a hand over her mouth until she passed out, then brought her back to the manor in the city. I met up with Cyra there.

“Finally caught a prisoner. I think this is the first Black Beast Sect member we’ve captured alive.” I handed the girl off to her.

“You want me to get answers out of her?” Cyra asked.

“If you can.” I turned to leave, then hesitated a moment. “Ah, one last thing. I’m pretty sure her level dropped to nothing when I captured her and I stopped her from blowing herself up. Don’t be rough with her. In fact, treat her well, I think my interrogation methods are more reliable than yours in situations like this.”

“Understood,” Cyra shrugged.

“I’m off to share the news with your brother.” I changed into a Dragon Lodge wizard’s robe, which is what passed as uniforms for the bulk of my legion, and then left to see Prince Herius for the first time in a week.

***

Prince Herius’ manor hadn’t seen as much touch-up work as mine had, but as the residence of the former city lord, it had been much more impressive to begin with. While the plants were still dead and the stone steps shattered from the battle that had led to the city’s fall, the grounds were swept and otherwise clean.

I landed on the front steps and made to enter. Two of Prince Herius’ elite troops stood before the gates, and I nodded to them as I tried to pass.

“I’m going to see Prince Herius,” I said, stating my intentions as a courtesy.

But the guards hoisted their spears and crossed them over the entryway.

“Lady Velicia’s manor is not accepting visitors at the moment,” said one of the guards.

I scowled. “I understand the need for protocol, but this is important. I have urgent news to deliver to Prince Herius. Did the witness I sent earlier get through to him?”

“Prince Herius is currently entertaining Lady Velicia. None may disturb them,” the guard repeated.

I felt my jaw clench. I liked to think I normally had the patience to deal with obstinate idiots. But right now, I had confirmation of enemy activity outside the city. The sooner the prince knew what I did, the more time we’d have to implement countermeasures.

So I jerked a thumb at the badges on my shoulder. “See these? I’m a legate. That means I outrank you. I’m ordering you to step aside so I can see the prince.”

"You have no jurisdiction here, Auxiliary Legate Carter," the guard said. Then, they guards shouldered their shields and leveled their spears, looking ready to fight me.

I shook my head. I didn’t have the time for this. Strictly speaking, I had no authority over the other legions, since I wasn't even a member of the Glacian military. But this was too important for me to let protocol stand in my way.

The two guards were only D-Grade, so slipping past them without a fight was elementary. I had no idea why they thought they could stop me.

I slipped into the shadowrealm, vanishing from their sight before they could raise the alarm, then bypassing the rest of the manor’s security. Using the bendy and twisty nature of the shadowrealm and my own greatly enhanced sense of mana, I entered the manor and searched for signs of life.

Naturally, I found Prince Herius and Lady Velicia in the manor’s master bedroom. Both of them were together and engaging in vigorous exercise. On top of the bed. Without their clothes on.

Maybe the guards had been stopping me for a reason.

I appeared before the outstretched door instead of suddenly appearing inside their bed-chambers. This probably would not win me any favors. But if the roles were reversed, I'd want someone to give me this news immediately, even if it meant interrupting my recreational activities.

I emerged in the physical world on the other side of the door.

“Prince Herius? I have urgent news. One of our units sent to gather food was ambushed during their excursion. I went to the location and confirmed Black Beast Sect cultivators were lying in wait there. They are definitely closing in on us and may be preparing something big. We need to gather the legates and discuss options as soon as possible.”

At first, there was no response on the other side of the door. But I recognized a disappointed feminine sigh, followed by a bed’s creak and fabric rustling.

A second later, Prince Herius opened the door wearing just a tunic. Behind him, I could see Lady Velicia sprawled on the bed. She blew a kiss at Herius’ back, not bothering to cover her nakedness.

“What’s so urgent it couldn’t wait until morning?” Prince Herius grumbled.

“Morning?” I raised an eyebrow. “It’s late afternoon.”

I gestured to the window, where light was streaming through.

Prince Herius looked surprised, then a little smug. “Huh. Perhaps I inherited something from my father after all. What a wild night.”

Truthfully it had been far more than one night. The prince must have really gotten carried away with himself, but I couldn't judge, since I'd done the same more than once. I waved to move us on to more important topics.

“Anyway, while you were occupied, we started sending out former farmers to harvest the crops outside the city. You and I can go pretty much indefinitely without food, but the F and E grades need it regularly. One of our units was ambushed while they were out, but a survivor returned to the city and explained they were ambushed by Black Beast Sect cultivators. I’ve gone to the sight of the ambush and personally confirmed the truth of his words, and also captured a low-ranking prisoner our people are interrogating.”

“Ambushed outside the city? Perhaps the cultivators succeeded in calling for reinforcements after all, but we took the city fast enough they couldn’t aid their comrades. What’s the state of the city’s defenses? I know we did a number on them when we attacked.”

“Fully repaired,” I replied. Truthfully, I’d even upgraded the city barrier beyond its previous specs, but that was more a function of my Mana Overload ability that let me push enchantments beyond their limits than any extensive work on the barrier.

Prince Herius blinked in surprise. “Already? Impressive work, Legate Carter. I’m sending out a message now to call the other legates. If we use Mundwise as our base of operations, we need the surrounding area safe and secure. I imagine there are nearby towns just as much in need of liberation as this city was. Over the next week, I want to wipe out all cultivator strongholds in this region.”

The prince pulled on the rest of his clothes as we talked, and within moments, he seemed back to his usual self. The rest of the day passed in a flurry of activity, and the legions who were just starting to settle into a familiar routine were now roused for battle once more. I thought about mentioning his guards doing a less-than-stellar job sorting who should have access to his manor, but we had more important things to deal with at the moment.

A few minutes later, the other legates had gathered in the courtyard of his manor. The former city lord had a good meeting place that was perfect for our use. The area was warded against sound and mostly intact, though I spotted three enchanted listening devices hidden in various corners and disguised by illusions.

They were likely left over from Mundwise’s internal politics before the local government was destroyed, but there was no sense in taking unnecessary risks by leaving them active. I disabled all of them with a wave and reinforced the soundproofing enchantment as we gathered.

“Time is of the essence, and we can not rest on our laurels any longer,” Prince Herius declared, not even allowing us to sit down before he rolled out a map of the surrounding region. “Lady Velicia was kind enough to provide me with her family’s maps and resources, and Legate Carter has warned me of hostile activity on the outskirts of the city. We will spend the next few days sending out parties to clear out the surrounding farmland. After that, we will secure the nearby towns. Within the month, I want to secure these three cities nearby. Yarris, Kanton, and Tinsburg. None are as sizable as Mundwise, but together they make up the bulk of what was formerly the Mundwise Trade Union.”

“T-these are bold moves, my prince. And sudden moves, too. Are you certain?” asked the lean bald man, commander of the seventh legion. Recently, I’d learned his name was Maximus.

“I am as certain of this as the hammer at my side and the spells at my fingertips. We came here to crush the enemies of the System and restore order to this broken world. We will not do that from here. Besides, you saw the horrors the Black Beast Sect wrought upon the people of this city. Each of these other towns and cities have no doubt met a similar fate. Only we have the power to save them.”

The legates seemed cleanly divided between those who felt uplifted by the prince’s righteous words and those fighting not to roll their eyes. I felt the prince’s heart was in the right place, even if he came off as a little incautious and overeager for glory.

But this at least was a direction, which was more than we’d had for the past week. Once again, I threw what influence I had behind the prince.

“We have our plan. Now let’s sort out the details. Who will secure the farmland around the city, and who will take the nearby towns? And when should we expect to march?” I asked.

With the decision settled, Prince Herius began handing out assignments. The third and thirteenth legions were by far the weakest and wouldn’t be very good at seizing anything, but they would remain weak if they didn’t get more combat experience. Prince Herius decided they would sweep the farmland outside the city.

To ensure they had enough firepower, and since I’d already proven my magic could see through whatever power the cultivators were using to hide from us, I would be providing backup to them. The seventh legion would remain within the city to maintain order and would rotate out with the third and thirteenth if the job proved too much for their weak troops.

The other legions had a series of towns as their targets, with the prince’s first legion going directly for Yarris, the largest of the three nearby cities the prince wanted to secure. He and his elite troops would attempt to breach the city's defenses alone. Even if they only laid siege to the place, it would hopefully draw enough attention away from the nearby towns that the weaker legions could sweep over them.

Many of the other Legates seemed nervous, but I felt excited. A week of idle hands was more than I was used to, and I was happy to get back out there. Even if two of the legates I would be working with didn’t seem too fond of me. But I put on my winning smile and hoped a bit of one-on-one time with each of them would change their minds and smooth over any ruffled feathers from our initial meeting.


<Note>
I was checking word count, and we're actually a pretty substantial amount into the book already, if you can believe it. Somewhere around 150 pages. It still feels like we're just getting started.