PtM Book 14 - Chapter 47: Savagery (1)

3/5 this week!

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Silence reigned over Verdant Crossroads as both military and civilian personnel searched the rubble for survivors. Only a day had passed since the start of the battle in earnest, yet over a hundred thousand lives had been lost.

The rains had bought them a brief respite that both sides knew wouldn’t last. As Fendal discussed whether or not to continue the invasion, the leaders of Verdant Crossroads discussed their strategy going forward.

“The first order of business today will be to discuss the vision in the rain,” Elder Finleaf said. “Would anyone like to kick off this discussion?”

“I think it’s obvious that Mendin is in for a great deal of change,” the First Feather said. “Personally, I anticipate that in Mendin, the Daoists will benefit most, followed by the demons with weaker bloodlines, including the weakest of monstrous demons. As for demigods, we don’t have so many of them.”

“How do we know this isn’t all a hoax?” These words came from Elder Finleaf’s favorite foil from the Star-Eye Clan. “Have we even confirmed the existence of Painted Daoists and Painted Demons?”

It was Clever Dusk who answered him. “If you wish to confirm the veracity of the effects on demons, look no further than our own troops. Over a thousand demons have already converted to the Path of the Painted Demon, becoming totem-painting and totem-projection experts.

“Moreover, we’ve received news from the bestial demon preserves under our supervision that many humanoid demons have emerged, confused and disoriented. Some of the more powerful demons in these regions that have dominated their respective areas for thousands of years have vanished.

“As for Painted Daoists, it is even easier to confirm their existence. A full five percent of the humans who remained in the city have converted, and others are strongly considering it. While we have not seen any Painted Demigods, we’ve confirmed their existence in other lands through trusted information sources.”

“My only concern is how this will immediately affect the battle situation,” Merenthal said. “If Fendal hadn’t yet attacked, I would expect them to return where they came from, but since they have already committed, I think they will likely continue their aggression.”

“I believe that the appearance of Painted Daoists and Painted Demons will have a positive impact on our chances,” Aaron Shacklebolt said. “The implications of a new cultivation path springing out of nowhere are too great. What a coincidence that this method should appear now of all times.”

He shot Cha Ming a sidelong glance but did not elaborate. Everyone involved in the Painted Daoist discussion refused to speak of it, and many had even gotten their memories altered, just in case. All talismans had been burned, and no more mention was made of them. With luck, people would forget that Cha Ming ever had a hand in it.

“Should we defeat this army, I do not believe they will send another. But that is contingent on winning this battle first. I think it would be wise to first go over our losses and discuss our combat strategy going forward.”

“Seconded,” Clever Dusk said.

“Confirmed,” Elder Finleaf said.

Merenthal was still the active commander of the armed forces, despite having returned to Verdant Crossroads, so it was he who gave the rundown. “We lost ten fusion-realm demons, a thousand investiture-realm demons, and fifty thousand initiation-realm demons. Many of these were civilians, with not much practice in fighting. We also lost five thousand human bronze rankers and rune-painting-realm Painted Daoists. We lost the majority of the lesser constructs we started with and a hundred and fifty of the remaining silver-ranked autonomous golems remaining from the defense of Signstone City.

“As for enemy forces, we managed to slaughter two hundred thousand bronze rankers, seven thousand silver rankers, and a hundred and sixteen gold rankers, inclusive of their first wave. Overall, it seems like a worthwhile trade, but given our limited army, I can’t help but think they were the ones to take the advantage.”

The numbers were shocking to Cha Ming. He’d seen the blood on the streets and the wreckage of the city, but he’d never imagined so many would die in his absence, and so quickly.

“Why don’t they just attack us from above with their gold rankers?” Graceful Twilight asked. “Forgive my ignorance of these matters. Feel free to ignore any silly questions on my part.”

“It’s a fair question,” Clever Dusk said with a sigh. “I’ll answer because it relates to an intentional exchange of information between both our sides to avoid a disastrous conclusion. The first reason is well-known in Mendin. Attacking a tree of life is risky, as desperate settlements have been known to evacuate and subsequently detonate their Tree of Life rather than give it up. If I recall correctly, Stargazer City was the last location to use such a stratagem. Unfortunately, their tree of life was weak, and they had to prioritize retreating. The damage dealt to the opposing army was minor.

“The second reason they do not simply fly in has to do with us intentionally revealing our possession of at least a thousand God-Slaying Arrows.”

“You intentionally revealed such sensitive information?” the leader of the Venomous Asp Clan exclaimed. “That was an important trump card!”

“Not if you consider that they already tried to hobble production, and therefore suspected our possession of them in the first place,” Aaron Shacklebolt said. “Leaking a number was necessary, because without a sufficient deterring force, they might try to pull off a beheading tactic, sending hundreds of gold rankers deep into our ranks to execute myself or Clever Dusk.”

The Venomous Asp glared at him. “I believe that is entirely the point of a trump card, Shacklebolt. To surprise the enemy, entrap them, and deal them a devastating blow.”

“Yet the retaliation of those gold rankers would be quite devastating,” the old strategist said dryly. “Why should we put ourselves in a position where we win the war but lose the ability to defend ourselves from scavengers? Besides, I’m sure you’ve noticed that they’ve been splitting up their gold rankers quite nicely, for fear of running into our God-Slaying Battalion. This has allowed us to deploy your clan’s poison and slay a disproportionate number of bronze and silver rankers.”

“It’s for the same reasons stated that they don’t risk an all-out attack,” Clever Dusk said.

“Which brings us to the next point,” Elder Finleaf said. “It is a bit of an open secret that only Clever Dusk or I have the ability to initiate the Tree of Life’s self-detonation. Oster Fireblight will therefore be looking out for opportunities to attack the two of us specifically. What are your thoughts, Shacklebolt?”

“If I were Oster, I’d try to force a large-scale, winnable battle,” Aaron said. “With the goal of luring the both of you out to prevent heavy losses. I would then spring a trap that you would have no choice but to fall into.”

“Then we should clearly keep at least one of them well protected,” the Venomous Asp Clan leader said.

“I was thinking the opposite,” Aaron Shacklebolt said. “Only by deploying irresistible bait can we draw them deep into our territory, where we hold a decisive advantage. Note that I am simply informing you of our general strategy, so that you are not surprised when orders are given out.”

“The next portion of this discussion is best kept to a smaller group, so unless your name is heard, please vacate the room,” Elder Finleaf said. She began listing off names, and four-fifths of the demons in attendance left the meeting space. “Clear Sky. Drezil. Both of you stay.” They were now back to the original seven-member council plus Shacklebolt. “First, of all, Drezil, I understand that you’ve made progress on the constructs we asked you to manufacture. How soon will you be able to provide a combat-ready regiment?”

“Right away,” Drezil said. “Both the Runebound Clan and the Iridescent Clan have been working around the clock, and we’ve come up with a sizeable force. But I hesitate to deploy them right away.”

“Are they not functioning properly?” Shacklebolt asked.

“I just think we could give a better surprise if we wait longer,” Drezil said. “Moreover, Graceful Twilight and I have been working on a technique that might enable us to overdraft the constructs for an explosive show of power. We don’t have it worked out yet, but give us a half day, and we might be able to work something out. Or we can go ahead and start supplementing our numbers. I realize many of our people are dying, so this isn’t a decision I am qualified to make.”

Elder Finleaf gave him a long, searching look before nodding her ancient head. “Fine. I can’t say how much time I can give you, but have them ready in the Starry Road’s deployment rooms. Shacklebolt, make sure the control medallions are distributed to the right people before the battle begins. Do you have anything else to report, Drezil?”

“We’ve run into a bottleneck for silver-ranked production,” Drezil said. “That being said, we discovered secondary ores that can easily be extracted and utilized. By supplementing them with sand and low-grade roots, we will be able to field a large number of bronze-rank-equivalent golems.”

“You have my approval. Get what you need,” Elder Finleaf said.

Drezil bowed and left the room.

What followed as a long period of silence. Everyone wanted to speak but didn’t quite know how to breach the topic. After all, the changes to the realm’s Dao origins had been felt by everyone.

In the end, Cha Ming spoke first. “I don’t see the Daoists anywhere. Have they changed their minds on supporting the war, Elder Finleaf?” This was something he’d been concerned about. He no longer had anything to offer the Daoists, since the Painted Daoist process was quite independent of him now.

“Oh, I don’t think they’d dare to change their minds after that little display of yours, don’t you worry,” Aaron Shacklebolt mused. “Others might not realize what caused this new Dao to descend, but they’re crafty old foxes. They’re not stupid.”

“You should be more respectful of Daoist Clear Sky, Shacklebolt,” Merenthal scolded. “If you don’t show him proper respect, the heavens might just strike you down.” This provoked laughter from all those present.

“Since the war is still ongoing, I imagine you brought me here for more practical reasons,” Cha Ming said. “But first, I wonder if Clever Dusk could answer why we were so candid with our strategic discussion now. Are we not worried about Oster spying?”

“To answer your first question, we’ve intentionally leaked the news to let Oster know he has an opportunity,” Shacklebolt said. “This is a trap we’ve laid, one that he’ll have no choice but to walk into, just as we’ll have no choice but to walk into his. As for your second question…” He looked to Clever Dusk.

“I don’t believe it is wise to tell you how I’ve been tampering with Oster,” Clever Dusk said with a mysterious smile. “Trade secrets. Apologies, Teacher.”

Cha Ming let out a sigh of relief. “I guess I can start going to the washroom again.”

“I confess that I have also been avoiding the lavatory for the very same reasons,” Aaron said. “But now that Clever Dusk’s countermeasures are underway, we don’t need to worry about Oster creating indecent recording crystals to circulate around our camp.”

“That’s a thing?” Cha Ming asked.

“It’s quite an effective way to make strategists and commanders lose face before a battle,” Aaron confirmed. “Illicit tapes. A classic stratagem.”

Clever Dusk cleared her throat. “We’ve asked you here because your brother, Huxian, is unavailable, Clear Sky. He hinted that you might be able to help us with some advanced teleportation services.”

“Nothing as powerful as the Starry Road Network, I’m afraid,” Cha Ming said. “I could transport as many as ten thousand people a long distance if given enough inkwell jades, or alternatively, I could open up a portal through which a large number of people could walk through.”

“A portal from where?” Elder Finleaf asked.

“From the void, of course,” Cha Ming said.

“Are you telling me that you are able to facilitate travel through the void without the use of fixed teleportation formations?” Aaron Shacklebolt asked.

“Yes,” Cha Ming said. “But there are caveats. I can only do so within the territory of the Shanarah Mountain Range’s teleportation network. I cannot open portals where intense battles are taking place or use them to escape intense battles. But if you’re trying to gauge its potential… In theory, I could relocate a force behind enemy lines for an ambush. The disadvantage is that they would then need to find their own way out afterwards.

“There is also a material cost in inkwell jades. My personal energy stores are insufficient, and while I could technically use Shanarah’s reserves, I would rather avoid doing so. The cost scales to the strength of those traveling.”

The seven exchanged a look, then nodded. “Very well. Then we have work for you if you are willing to assist us. Specifically, we would like you to cooperate with these three friends of yours.”

Cha Ming looked back to see Bloodfur, Yu Wen, and Xiao Bai emerge from an inky field. All three were in full saboteur gear and had obviously been waiting inside the room, unnoticed by everyone.

“I’ll naturally do my utmost to help,” Cha Ming said. “I’m always glad to help a friend.”

“Good,” Elder Finleaf said. “Bloodfur, I want you to take your team and rendezvous with our hidden allies to execute a raid as discussed. Clear Sky, work with them to the best of your ability. When we spring our trap, their back lines will be wide open. Let’s not waste such a golden opportunity.”

***

It was a wonderful morning in the Shanarah Mountain Range. The sun was rising, and fresh mountain air blew across Huxian’s exhausted troops. The blessing was a minor one—at the cost of a bit of the dungeon’s stored power, they could replenish a lesser demon’s stamina and aid demonic power recovery, at least for a short while.

Things were perfect. Or at least, they would be if Cha Ming wasn’t such an inconsiderate bonded companion.

What a night.

Huxian had not expected Cha Ming to be visiting the plane’s Dao origins so early. That was the kind of thing you did much later on in your cultivation career. Of course, he’d known it was possible—Huxian was pretty liberal with the definition of possible—but that wasn’t something you did without first discussing it through your bond.

Huxian had only experienced a fraction of what Cha Ming had been through, but boy, was it scary. He’d personally soiled himself no less than three times, once in public, no less.

But that didn’t bother him so much. Facing possible death and attempting to change the fabric of the universe was fine. What bothered him was not knowing at least a day in advance.

“My investments…” Huxian moaned. “Crashed! All of them crashed! At least give me time to sell my positions!” Had he known what would happen, Huxian would have sold everything and shorted the entire market.

Now it was too late. No matter how powerful you were, you couldn’t turn back time for an entire plane. Or at least, he couldn’t. Maybe his ancestor could if he was inclined to, though he wasn’t sure how much that would cost him to accomplish.

Alas, you couldn’t un-spill milk. The world was now very different than it was yesterday. Painted Demons were popping out of nowhere and joining his army while others were joining his opponent’s.

Virtually every country he had agreements with were losing their marbles. Everyone was teleporting everything and straining his network to capacity. And that was after the network upgrade.

And by everything he meant everything. Personnel of all kinds, military and civilian. Merchants were relocating goods due to surprise shortages popping up all over the place. In one place, it was grain rations, and in others, toilet paper. That last one made zero sense, because there was water pretty much everywhere on demand, even in the desert.

And then there were the refugees. Forget the Daoists—he had people coming in from everywhere seeking refuge. His small but growing kingdom happened to be one of the few places where Painted Daoists and Painted Demons weren’t instantly branded as heretics.

Shanarah’s population had doubled overnight. His craftsmen were working double overtime.

And that was only the first day.

Alas, Huxian had little time to oversee such things, so he left them all to Silverwhisk. Huxian might have business savvy, but he was also an important war resource, and it was important to hammer away at the Boneshift Badger Lord while he was on his back foot.

Huxian was what he liked to call a roamer. He wandered the battlefield in beast form, clawing, biting, and destroying before teleporting to the next problem cluster.

But it was so hard, because even though he was at war, people still expected him to answer messages. He still had sixteen unanswered ones from diplomatic envoys to renegotiate treaties, establish an emergency alliance, and even cancel the current war.

That last one happened to be from the Collegium, ironically, and normally, Huxian would be willing to consider it. Except they were wizards, and he wouldn’t believe them even with a soul-enforcing contract. Also, they happened to have a need for the badger lord’s bloodline.

I’ve received yet another offer of surrender from the Boneshift Badger Lord, Mr. Mountain sent to Huxian.

Ignore it, Huxian said. If they want to run, we’ll chase them all the way. This is what they get for going so deep into our territory.

They were currently positioned in a wide valley. The rocky outcroppings on either side could not be called mountains, but they were relatively impassable thanks to the razor-sharp rocks poking out from every surface.

This was one of three passageways to Mount Skypiercer, and until less than a day ago, they’d been completely overrun by enemy forces. Now, the tide was turning.

Millions upon millions of demons charged into the pass in waves. Some adopted human forms with demon weapons, but others remained in bestial form. Some only had bestial forms.

This was a battlefield, a place that did not allow for fancy attacks or techniques. Teeth and claws and blades reigned supreme.

Everything in sight was a patchwork mess. Not just because of the many different species involved, but also the terrains. In one place, you could have a desert, and just beside it, a forest, bog, or a small lake.

No one fought for the high ground on this sort of battlefield. Instead, they fought to establish and preserve patches of favorable terrain, where they would defend and try to expand until they were forced away or killed off to the last.

The battle was a meatgrinder. The weaker combatants suffered especially high casualties. Not because of silly things like nationalism or obligation, but because of sheer self-interest. That was because a battlefield to a human was somewhere you went to kill or die. But to demons, it was a place where you went to risk your life and grow stronger, quickly. Every dead demon meant another demon core you could consume, or a bloodline you could use to surpass your limit. Every survivor of this war would be substantially stronger than when the war began.

“What’s the situation?” Huxian asked, reaching out to his bonded companions. A flash of images answered him. Lei Jiang and Bifang were currently fighting side by side. Their manifestations were practically corporeal due to the infusion of raw power from the dungeon core.

A stonespine elephant could be seen not far away from them, and it was attempting a fusion transformation. The elephant’s armored tusks pierced the sky, scattering storm clouds as Bifang’s manifestation landed on its back and latched on to it with a single foot, then began flapping its large seven-colored wings. An inferno of seven-colored flames enveloped the elephant, who roared in agony.

Lei Jiang, who’d been lurking in the storm clouds, grew angry. He sucked in the storm’s potency, causing his small mouse body to swell. He let it out in a mind-piercing shriek. His body exploded from the surge of energy.

Huxian was not worried. Lei Jiang had done this many times before.

The attack blasted everyone in the area, be they foes or allies. Bifang was used to fighting alongside him, so she quickly executed evasive maneuvers. Her flames had done their damage, and the stone spine elephant’s massive foot somehow found itself in an unfortunately placed rut, thereby negating its chances of evading the expanding ball of destructive lightning.

The battlefield was in chaos. Friend or foe, everyone was terrified. That made it the perfect opportunity for Huxian to jump into the void and teleport to this location.

“Into the rift!” he shouted to friendly forces when he appeared, then proceeded to do the same for other pockets. They didn’t have to be told twice.

Their enemies were not so fortunate, and the majority were purified by Lei Jiang’s lightning. Some were still trying to evade the slowly expanding lightning ball. Huxian appeared behind one such group of creatures, a team of ten-ton moles. He did not attack them—he didn’t need to. Instead, he erected a space-time maze to delay them. It cost them a few precious seconds, just long enough for the expanding lightning ball to consume them.

“Big guys never fall easy,” Huxian muttered. He teleported to one of the survivors, a severely wounded and irate stonespine elephant.

The elephant roared and sent spikes of stone flying at him from all angles. Huxian blinked past them and appeared beneath the elephant, summoning six spatial blades to tear into its exposed underside. He then continued digging through entrails until he found the creature’s core and struck with deadly force.

“Thanks, brother,” Lei Jiang said as Huxian appeared.

“Yuck!” Huxian said, wiping away the gore on his body. “You see it in movies when people cut open creatures and crawl into them to keep warm, but they don’t do it justice.” He grabbed Lei Jiang by the shoulder and blinked them over to Bifang, who was huffing and puffing but otherwise fine. “You ready for the next battle?”

“Count me in!” she said, giving him a thumbs-up.

Huxian first tossed Lei Jiang into a safe location to recover, then teleported himself and Bifang several thousand kilometers away, where Miyue and Gua weren’t doing so well. Millions of demons were attempting to push through a gap, and if they did, their forces would be encircled and routed.

“Retreat!” Huxian said, appearing beside them. An exhausted Gua and Miyue directed their retinue to pull back. The evacuating demons shot Huxian thankful looks as they escaped certain death.

Things were going smoothly, or at least they were until Huxian felt an eerily familiar sensation.

“He’s here,” someone shouted. “Stabilize that portal!”

A demon shot out and pierced the “frame” of the spatial rift through which they were retreating, surprising Huxian. Well, almost surprising him.

“Run!” Huxian said, said to Gua, Miyue, and Bifang. They retreated through the opening successfully, but the portal was jammed. They could not stop enemy troops from following.

Of course, that didn’t stop them from hitting them on the way out. Miyue summoned a barrier of water to slow them down, and Gua a poisonous miasma, and Bifang a wall of cursed flames.

The enemy demons were undeterred. They charged through with the determination of suicide soldiers. They were confused, however, when they emerged on the other side to discover that they’d entered a semi-deserted area. Aside from the retreating forces, only a small group of demons were here. They were members of the Runebound Clan.

“Is it time?” their high priestess asked.

“Do the thing!” Huxian yelled.

“Run!” the enemy leader said, but it was too late. The three fusion-realm demons in their ranks tried to resist by activating their fusion transformations, but it was not enough.

The seemingly tranquil desert exploded with sand spikes while walls of sand rose around them, only to fall back down atop them like a coffin. Meanwhile, the sand beneath them softened to trap them, then solidified before shooting out spikes that doubled up as bottom teeth, what with the sand closing in overtop.

Only the three fusion-realm demons survived the attack. They crawled out of the sands with bloody broken armor. The others had all died from the impact or were in the process of suffocating.

“We surrender!” the three said, and the ambush team, expecting this, moved in to accept drops of their essence blood.

“Treachery!” a voice shouted, and an aggressive gold ranker charged out at the three fusion-rank demons. Their leader, who was apparently less wounded than he seemed, cursed and launched its attack straight at Augustus March.

But Augustus was a tank, and he had a cleric on his side. He took barely any damage at all. All three fusion-realm demons were forced to attack him thanks to his provoke skill, all the while taking damage from his fiery aura while they remained in his proximity.

They didn’t stand a chance, because it wasn’t just Augustus they had to worry about, but an entire team of ten gold rankers.

The mercenaries quickly finished off their low-risk protection work and claimed their compensation: demon cores. The Runebound Clan’s Shanarah Tribe received their quest rewards.

“Well done!” Huxian said, appearing beside them. He and Bifang had been resting on the sidelines. “Good teamwork, Augustus, Insha! How long till we can bring in the next batch?”

“Maybe give us half an hour to rest?” Augustus said. He looked to Insha for confirmation, who nodded.

“It is an unconventional approach to war, one almost impossible to execute anywhere else,” Insha said. “But I approve. Traps are really underutilized. If you have time in the future, I highly recommend you journey to the Sacred Santana Desert in the north to lend your assistance.”

“One desert at a time, Insha,” Huxian said. He had plans to journey to the Santana Desert, but that would be the last sacred desert they conquered.

Huxian was about to have everyone take a short break, but alas, this was war, and there was no rest on the battlefield. Mr. Mountain was apparently in enough trouble to ask for reinforcements.

“I know we’re tired, but we should probably get on that,” Huxian said. “Maybe Bifang and I can go ahead?”

“Naw, let’s go together,” Gua muttered. “Look at that meathead. Always getting himself into trouble.”

Ten seconds later, they were fighting again.