Chapter 1171: The Double Plan
Every eye in the hall turned to the Nightmare.
So did Hackzord’s.
Valkries was the most singular of the nine lords — the first among them, and the one who had shepherded most of the others through their upgrades. During the first Battle of Divine Will it had forged a closeness with humanity that bordered on the unsettling; rumor still circulated that believers knelt to it somewhere in the human cities. It was not the strongest lord, but it could alter its own flesh at will. It seemed, however, to prefer what the upgrade had made of it: blue skin, a single horn, a third eye watching from the center of its brow.
Nothing about its appearance was human. Everything about its manner was.
Its white robe fell in immaculate folds, each thread visible, the whole garment radiating a remove that set it apart from every other creature in the room. The Nightmare was the Silent Disaster’s exact opposite — where the Disaster was armored darkness and coiled menace, Valkries sat with an ease that should have read as insolence.
The king did not seem to mind.
Hackzord watched it and felt the familiar unease. It could read most lords. Valkries it could not. And beneath that apparent ease, Hackzord knew, lived an understanding of the Realm of Mind that bordered on the incomprehensible.
“What did you find?” the king said.
Valkries straightened — unhurried, precise. “I’m considering a possibility. Whether or not an unknown upgrade method exists, suppose a male human possessed an ability like a witch’s. That ability would have to be rooted in the Realm of Mind. Nothing else could have shaken the Silent Lord so badly.”
A red fleck pulsed beneath the Silent Disaster’s helmet. “I have guarded the legacy shard for nearly 200 years and encountered many humans. Most fled or drowned. Two years ago, one person confronted me — but she was a woman.”
“Witches might achieve that, yes. I don’t particularly care about the gender.” Valkries’s voice carried no more weight than idle conversation. “What concerns me is the ability itself. The man may not even realize he has left a mark in the Realm of Mind.”
“I agree,” Hackzord said. The Realm of Mind was its own domain, and it felt the pull of professional interest. “But I don’t see where this leads. The Realm is vast. Finding one specific mark would be nearly impossible.”
“Perhaps.” Valkries neither confirmed nor denied. “But I want to try — using the connection between the legacy shards. What do you think?”
Hackzord blinked. “You’ve already learned to sense those connections?”
The defeat of the underground civilization had flooded the entire race with magic power, enough to perceive the Birth Towers. In time they had understood that both the Birth Towers and the legacy shards could only be reached through the Realm of Mind — and that, in theory, one could follow a communication line to whatever waited on the other end.
Theory only. The Realm of Mind churned and shifted like a deep sea, and the connection lines were threads submerged far below the surface, bent and dispersed by every current. Hackzord could barely hold its own position within the Realm. Searching for a faint, foreign mark there was another matter entirely. It had never even considered the approach.
Had Valkries already surpassed it in its understanding of the Origin of Magic?
“Maybe,” Valkries answered, unhurried as always. “I won’t know until I try. If I can find the mark that man left, we may have our answer.”
Hackzord doubted the mark would tell them much. The mind was labyrinthine — even a mind of their own kind required sustained study, feeling, and layers of deduction before yielding truth. A human mind was another order of difficulty altogether. Force entry and you invited madness. It wanted to say so. But when it looked at that white robe, the words stalled somewhere in its throat.
Perhaps the Nightmare Lord already knew the way through.
“The Sky Lord guards the legacy shards,” the king said. “Ask him when you’re ready.”
“As you command.” Valkries placed its hand over its chest. Then: “That said — there is no guarantee we will find the answer before the humans upgrade. The search is slow, and there are many variables. A human upgrade could damage us severely. I trust the Sky Lord has a contingency plan for the loss of Taquila? If that plan fails as well, everything we have built will be wasted.”
“You’re being too cautious,” the Blood Conqueror said, voice scraped rough.
“I held the upgrade ceremony for Ursrook.” Valkries closed its eyes. “Afterward, it learned a great deal from me about humans. It was gifted — genuinely so. I do not believe its warning was delirium. I support sending additional forces to the Fertile Plains.”
“Seconded,” the Silent Disaster said.
The king let the silence breathe for a moment, then swept his gaze across the commanders — the Blood Conqueror among them. “Can you increase your forces tenfold to support the Sky Lord while holding the current defense?”
“Sire—”
“I’m asking whether you can or can’t.”
Silence sealed the hall.
The Mask broke it. “Yes, sire. Give me more resources for my research and I can breed more powerful symbiotic demons — freed from the constraints of their parents, far stronger than junior demons. Ten times the strength. And they won’t compromise the front.”
“But the God’s Stones required—” the Resentful Heart began, its voice tight with anxiety. “If we lose control, the damage would be catastrophic.”
“When we’ve wiped out those creatures, we’ll have God’s Stones to spare!”
“Can you actually deliver in time?” the Blood Conqueror cut in, blunt with irritation.
The Mask paused. “Producing that volume at once would be difficult,” it admitted. “But humans won’t react quickly. We may be able to break them with half the suggested number — which would save half the resources. Better than nothing…”
“Enough,” the king said.
The room went still.
“Do what the Mask proposes. We cannot allow the humans to occupy the Land of Dawn for another 400 years. After this Battle of Divine Will — the entire continent is ours.”
“As you wish!” The lords bent their heads as one.
Chapter 1171: The Double Plan
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Everyone rested their eyes on the Nightmare.
So did Hackzord.
The Nightmare Lord, Valkries, was the most special lord out of the nine lords. As the very first lord, it had led most of the lords on the floor to their upgrades. During the first Battle of Divine Will, it had established a close relationship with human beings, and it was even rumored that there were still some believers in human cities. Although the Nightmare was not the strongest lord, it was powerful enough to alter its physical appearance. However, it seemed to prefer the look after its upgrade — blue skinned, with a horn sprouting from its head, and a third eye on its forehead.
Although the Nightmare did not look remotely human, its fashion style and act of demeanor were quite manlike, and it was also the first lord who had learned to speak the human language.
In other words, the Nightmare was the complete opposite of the Silent Disaster. Its sheer, delicate white robe displayed every single thread of fabric and afforded the Nightmare a sense of aloofness that separated it from the rest of them.
The Nightmare looked relaxed and indifferent, but Hackzord knew its understanding of the Realm of Mind was astoundingly profound.
Hackzord would not have complained about anything had the Nightmare Lord been startled earlier.
In fact, it was the only lord that Hackzord failed to understand.
If any of the other lords had seated themselves so unceremoniously like the Nightmare, Hackzord would have doubted its loyalty.
Surprisingly, the king also appeared to be perfectly fine with the Nightmare’s attitude.
“Well, what did you find?”
“I’m just wondering if there’s such a possibility,” Valkries said as it straightened up. “Whether there’s an upgrade method unknown to us or not, let’s just suppose that a male human possessed an ability like a witch, then this ability must have a lot to do with the Realm of Mind. Otherwise, the Silent Lord wouldn’t have been so petrified.”
A red fleck glimmered underneath the Silent Disaster’s helmet. It said, “I’ve been guarding the legacy shard for nearly 200 years and have seen many humans. Most of them either fled or drowned. Only one person I met two years ago managed to confront me, but she was a woman.”
“Witches could possibly achieve that, but I don’t really care about that person’s gender. I’m actually more concerned about the ability itself. Perhaps, this man hasn’t even noticed that he’s already powerful enough to leave a mark in the Realm of Mind.”
“I agree with you,” Hackzord rejoined. After all, the Realm of Mind was one of its expertises. “But I don’t really see the point here. The Realm of Mind is vast. It would be almost impossible to find a mark left by a specific individual.”
“Perhaps,” Valkries neither approved nor denied. “But I still want to give it a shot, using the connection between the different legacy shards. What do you think?”
Mildy taken aback, Hackzord asked, “Have you already learned to sense the connection between the shards?”
The defeat of the underground civilization significantly increased the magic power of the entire race. They were thus able to sense the Birth Towers.
Gradually, they realized that both the communication with the Birth Tower and the legacy shards had to be completed through the Realm of Mind. Therefore, in theory, they could always search along the communication line for what was connected on the other end.
Nevertheless, this was simply a theory. The Realm of Mind was chaotic and random like the whirling sea. It was extremely hard to look for a thin thread hidden underneath the surface of the water. The deeper this thin thread was, the more susceptible it was to the influences of the currents. Hackzord could barely maintain its position in the Realm, let alone looking for a faintly discernible “connection line”.
It had never thought of using this method.
Did Valkries already surpass it in the understanding of the Origin of Magic?
“Maybe,” Valkries answered leisurely. “But I won’t know until I try it out. If I could find the mark left by that man, we could probably know the answer.”
Hackzord thought the mark would not be much of help. The mind was complicated. Even for the mind of someone of the same race, they had to do a lot of research, feel, and make numerous deductions to learn the truth, not to mention that they were now going to search for the mind of a person of another race. Forcing its way into someone’s mind would lead to madness and disorder. Hackzord wanted to talk sense into the Nightmare, but when it saw Valkries’ white robe, his words somehow rested on the tip of its tongue.
Perhaps, the Nightmare Lord did have some feasible way to achieve this.
“The Sky Lord is now guarding the legacy shards. Ask him if you want to try,” said the king.
“As you command,” Valkries said while placing its hand on its chest. “However, it should be noted that there’s no guarantee that we could find the answer before human beings upgrade. There are many variables, and the search requires a lot of time. There’s a possibility that the upgrade of human race would cause substantial damage to us. I believe the Sky Lord has a Plan
B after we lose Taquila, right? If Plan B fails again, everything we’ve done so far would be wasted.”
“You’re being too cautious…” the Blood Conqueror said gruffly.
“I held the upgrade ceremony for Ursrook. After it upgraded, it learned a lot about humans from me,” Valkries said mildly as it closed its eyes again. “It was definitely gifted, and I don’t think its warning is a word out of delirium. Therefore, I uphold its suggestion of sending more troops to the Fertile Plains.”
“Seconded,” the Silent Disaster rejoined.
The king lapsed into a short silence and looked toward the other commanders including the Bloody Conqueror. “Are you able to increase the forces by ten times to support the Sky Lord while maintaining the current defense?”
“Sire…”
“I’m asking whether you can or can’t.”
There was a brief silence in the hall.
To Hackzord’s surprise, the Mask broke the silence. “Yes, sire, I can manage. As long as you could provide me with more resources for my research, I can develop more powerful, diverse symbiotic demons. They won’t be restricted by their parents and will be much more powerful than junior demons. Ten times more powerful! More importantly, they’ll not affect the battle at the front.”
“But that’ll consume many God’s Stones,” the Resentful Heart said apprehensively. “If we lose control, the consequences will be devastating.”
“When we wipe out those low lives, we’ll have plenty of God’s Stones!”
“Are you sure you can make it in time?” the Bloody Conqueror retorted irritably.
The Mask paused for a second and said, “Well, it’ll be a little difficult to provide so many symbiotic demons at a time, but I don’t think human beings will react that fast. We may be able to vanquish them with just half of the suggested number. In that case, we could probably save half of our resources. It would be better than nothing…”
“Enough,” the king interrupted the conversation. “Let’s do what the Mask said. Anyway, we can’t let human beings live on the Land of Dawn for another 400 years. We must take the entire continent after this Battle of Divine Will!”
“As you wish!” chorused all the lords as they bent their heads.