Chapter 264, 1/2

Erick remained on his perch atop the middle construction of Home Benevolence, gazing out throughout the land for some time longer. The individuals of Home Benevolence lived their lives down under. Dramas unfolded and crashed and started after which got here to closure as individuals picked up the items of their earlier existences and tried to make one thing of them. Not many individuals had gotten something near closure in any respect, however some had, and that was fantastic. Most individuals obtained fairly far in that endeavor, although, contemplating they’d been enslaved little greater than per week in the past—

A drone floated excessive within the air above the geodesic node community surrounding the lands of Home Benevolence.

Erick reached down together with his [Physical Domain], by way of the command heart of the Home under, to say to the individuals there, “I see a drone above us. Proper right here.” After which he conjured a coordinate map of the drone amid the command heart.

Ruby was within the command heart proper now. She was Second to Querkooda, and she or he was a ruby-colored dragon at the moment formed like an Elemental Plasma-derived elf, her physique glowing just a little internally. She was effectively put-together, like all the opposite individuals round right here. The command heart itself was nonetheless a wreck.

There have been 5 individuals on a bunch of tech-based imagery-stations and 4 on magical scry-based stations, and people stations had been solely midway accomplished. Wires caught out within the backs of locations and other people had been working in small holes within the machines right here and there and tech guys had been in all places. 4 individuals had been studying the concentrating on software program for the weapons programs proper now, and a bunch had been in different rooms, nonetheless making an attempt to work on Erick’s [Cascade Imaging] to combine it into the traditional sensor programs that individuals had purchased from this place or that place.

At the very least all of the bugged tech was simply found with some Benevolence and scanning magics and scanning software program from the assorted technologically-inclined individuals of the Home. Erick wasn’t positive when the bugged tech began to look, however they solely actually observed it 4 days in the past, and now the entire place —which wasn’t even collectively but— wanted to be ripped aside and redone in an entire bunch of the way.

So it was kinda honest that they didn’t discover and shoot down the drone but.

Ruby turned, and her hair flowed as she moved, her eyes specializing in the video feeds and scanner tools. She flicked her aura at a management heart that another man was at, taking the controls from him for a second. “… Seems to be like a normal spybot. Hmm. That’s on the restrict of {our capability} to scan. No surprise it was missed.”

The man on the management heart regarded totally ashamed.

“Don’t fear about it,” Erick responded. “We’re nonetheless constructing the place.” After which he shot a javelin of sunshine on the bot, erasing it from existence. He turned his consideration again all the way down to the management room, and to the [Cascade Imaging] he had arrange in a particular room, anchored to some metals and the node community. Some guys had been at the moment making an attempt to put in some tech onto that working of magic, however they weren’t getting very far with it. “It seems my very own Imaging didn’t decide it up, both.”

Down within the management room, Ruby frowned on the screens. Various of the fellows working the screens cringed. They had been embarrassed. Ruby mentioned, “Your powers are… rather a lot higher than the software program we’ve been capable of finding and purchase.”

And needing to rebuild the place didn’t assist.

“Preserve at it. A lot of the spying is being finished from far throughout the shell of Margleknot, anyway.”

Erick regarded on the sky, which was just a little darkish as a result of this was ‘evening time’, although evening time right here within the spatially-expanded lands of Margleknot principally meant ‘half-light’. This wasn’t the Mortal Lands the place the solar truly disappeared behind a black sunblock; this was Slaver’s Den, within the ‘ascended’ aspect of Margleknot. And over there, within the worlds past this one, on these layers of lands on the market, far above the environment of this flat place, they had been watching this flat place.

… Welp! Allow them to watch. It was time to see in the event that they did something really determined when he wasn’t out right here, surveying every part and everybody.

Erick mentioned, “I’m taking a break now. I’ll be again by morning or in case of emergency.”

Ruby and the whole command room went on excessive alert, although no precise alarms or such went off in any respect. Individuals merely regarded tougher on the scanners, and began working them extra. They had been onduty.

All the things could be high-quality.

And if it wasn’t, then Erick may reverse time and save whoever he wanted to save lots of. He hadn’t wanted to resort to that but, fortunately. Hopefully he by no means would.

… There was most likely going to be an assault in below an hour, although. The forces of Slaver’s Den had been watching him loads.

Erick obtained on together with his life, anyway.

It was time to make some really horrific magic to appease Lord Dakka, and he knew simply the place to go to get some correct concepts for that form of shit.

Lots of people had been damage loads by Slaver’s Den.

They’d need revenge.

– – – –

Erick walked right into a classroom of his Arcanaeum, interrupting a lesson between Ta’Kamoil and a few proficient ex-slaves who had been all bent on killing slavers in essentially the most painful methods doable. Ta’Kamoil had been making an attempt to get them to calm-it-the-fuck-down with their bloodlust, however at Erick’s entrance Ta’Kamoil merely smiled and promptly shirked his duties.

“And right here’s the Wizard himself!” Ta’Kamoil mentioned, “Please ask him kill individuals extra painfully. I’m positive he can have plenty of details about all that!”

Erick was high-quality with that introduction.

The group of 27 ex-slaves had been all very quiet. Some regarded ashamed.

Stunning all of them, Erick mentioned, “I’m truly right here to get concepts for that very factor. I must appease Lord Dakka, in any case. Anybody obtained any good Blood, Carnage, or Loss of life-based concepts? Who needs to see their work on the battlefield?” Erick pointed at a girl who he was fairly positive was named Vanya, and a light-weight appeared over her head. “Sure?”

Vanya regarded as if she had been handed the keys to a kingdom. She launched to her ft, saying, “Bloodfire! It was what they did to us by way of some form of gentle. It burned us from the within out and paralyzed us as we tried to flee their seize drones.”

“Good one.” Erick pointed to a different particular person, whom he didn’t truly know. “You.”

Vanya sat down, trying faintly joyful… and but one way or the other unhappy.

The subsequent particular person was a person with deep crimson eyes and pores and skin. He was immediately uncertain, as a result of Erick may inform the crimson man needed to make use of the magic he was serious about himself. Vanya was simply realizing the identical factor. The remainder of the individuals within the class had been additionally pulling again from the hate that they had been feeling, if just for their very own private wishes of revenge.

Only some individuals had been rethinking every part about this entire situation.

Erick pulled the sunshine off of the crimson man and stoked the fires of hate, saying, “Come on! Let’s go kill individuals as viciously as we are able to! Certainly nothing dangerous will come of perpetuating cycles of violence and hate! These are slavers, in any case. They don’t should be handled like individuals! We are able to deal with them as you had been handled, proper? … Proper?”

Silence.

Erick stopped pretending, and mentioned, “It was extremely impolite of me to say that to all of you, after all. Who am I to evaluate how you’re feeling as flawed or in any manner unjustified? And anyway, warfare nonetheless has to occur. Proofs nonetheless must be made. On this explicit case, Slaver’s Den must be eradicated by way of a pure exhibiting of energy, to thus dissuade others from making an attempt to combat again and to maintain this Home Benevolence of Margleknot protected for a lot of, a few years to come back. There’s nothing flawed with you all needing revenge, however as an alternative of making an attempt to harm individuals for the sake of wounding them, how about we attempt hurting individuals successfully. So. As soon as once more.” He gestured to the crimson man. A lightweight reappeared. “Obtained an concept?”

With a good gaze, the crimson man mentioned, “Use Carnage as a harm multiplier. Add it to the bloodfire. Make individuals explode in gore shrapnel after they die within the gentle.”

Erick was not anticipating one thing so… Easy, truly. And but up to now past how Erick would have finished it. Yeah; Erick was not practically as vicious as he may have been. Erick mentioned, “Simply doable. One closing suggestion for Loss of life. Sure, you.”

The sunshine went off of the crimson man, after which appeared over a bookish lady with three books open up in entrance of her.

The bookish lady mentioned, “Have the blood and flesh explode, however go away behind the skeletons as minions of undeath, empowered by the Carnage bloodfire…” She paused. She mentioned, “However that appears laborious. Alternatively, make the Bloodfire burn away life after which, in dying, twist every part right into a Carnage minion.”

… In order that was vicious.

This had been a productive detour.

Erick mentioned, “I’ve little question in my thoughts that this suggestion might be precisely what Lord Dakka is in search of. Thanks all in your contributions.” Erick mentioned, “I suppose I shall be engaged on some warfare crime magic now. And make no mistake. These are all going to be warfare crimes. They haven’t any place in a functioning society, or within the worlds I wish to construct.”

Erick left it at that, after which he left the room. Ta’Kamoil bowed just a little as Erick left, after which he went again to the far more somber classroom. Earlier than Erick had walked in and finished all that, they’d been speaking in hypotheticals and overly-eager needs. However now, figuring out that no matter Erick was going to make was going to be horrific and used on the battlefield? That had finished loads to mood their wishes for bloodshed.

It had taken them a minute to get there, although.

When he exited the arcanaeum out the entrance door, amid college students and refugees and returners all, he merely took to the sky, remodeling into an awesome black dragon that was already within the air, his tail the final little little bit of his physique to go away the bottom.

He determined to test on the perimeter earlier than he went to make magic, and it was a great factor he did.

Excessive above the dome of Home Benevolence Erick discovered a drop ship full of horrors of assorted sorts, from flesh abominations to dwelling poisons to killers in invisibility cloaks. His regular form of assault would have pierced the place and killed most every part, however left behind the tech that he may then hand over to the engineers so as to add to their rising assortment of instruments. That tech would have been poisoned irreparably, and doubtless in a number of methods.

Erick was fairly positive that some earlier salvage had led to their present tech issues within the Home.

The issue was, although, that if he merely evaporated the factor…

Eh.

Much less considering.

Extra full annihilation.

He did test on the radiation dome and located it absolutely purposeful.

After which Erick blasted the transport with just a few traces of sunshine, piercing holes by way of shields after which by way of hulls. Subsequent got here some [Grand Reincarnation] that managed to erase each dwelling factor in there and ship it off to a different land, and since there have been holes within the defenses of the transport there was no obstacle to Erick’s lightning. The one targets he missed had been the cloaked individuals; the opposite most important menace of the assault. They had been all falling out of the air and spreading extensive, making an attempt to flee the blasts.

Erick lit up the whole sky with a [Luminous Beam].

One skinny thread of sunshine despatched out a river of atomic blasts into the transport, proving to be full overkill as the whole sky turned to brightest day. Erick’s assault ended someplace within the not possible distances overhead, manner earlier than it truly threatened something within the Margleknot’s sky. Town shields, each magical and mundane, soaked the harm. Nothing obtained by way of to the town apart from vivid lights. The invisibly cloaked individuals had been incinerated by gentle and warmth lengthy earlier than they obtained anyplace close to the dome under.

When the sunshine light, the transport was gone.

On the plus aspect of exhibiting off that magic for the fifth time, up to now, it additionally confirmed that the town under was utterly shielded from incidental harm. The dome under held very effectively; Erick actually had sufficient energy going to that factor, in any case.

– – – –

Ruby shuddered within the command heart. “Brightest stars, that’s insane. That he can each do this and survive that.”

Querkooda smiled at her aspect. “It’s a wondrous factor.”

– – – –

Vanya stared out the window of the classroom, watching the sky come again from past the blinding gentle of the Obvious King. She was not the one one. The whole classroom had rushed to the home windows to see the sunshine when it appeared.

Vanya needed that form of energy.

… However even when she was one way or the other granted that energy, proper there, she knew she couldn’t deal with it, and for a lot of causes. She would dive into dying to avenge her every part and fall each to her personal demons and the true demons on the market… And, she supposed, it wasn’t proper to… simply kill everybody.

She nonetheless recalled the painful bloodfire gentle on the market on the shores of seaside, so many ‘layers of infinity’ away. She recalled the slavers selecting her up and laughing at her as her pores and skin burned in her thoughts, however not in actuality. How they teased her for her invisible ache. How they inflicted much more invisible ache…

Erick had been proper about many issues.

The slavers deserved to die in horrible agony, however…

Erick kinda needed to discard the concept of utilizing Elemental Vile to ache individuals… However Elemental Vile was superb at concentrating on. Benevolence was good at concentrating on, too, so did he want to make use of Vile? Yeah, most likely, as a result of individuals had been below Contracts and a few Vile would possibly be capable of act as a layer of anti-reaction in opposition to these Contracts activating if Erick did it proper…

Hmm.

An concept.

Elemental Vile and Exalted had been reasonably unable for use collectively, however probably not. The issue was that there was an entire lot of overlap between the 2, so exterior of very uncommon circumstances there was no want to make use of them each. Vile needed to primarily hurt enemies and secondarily assist allies. Exalted needed to primarily assist allies and secondarily to hurt enemies. Added to this, there have been typically mana issues; one may solely forged a spell so typically earlier than one’s mana ran out —for individuals who had such points, anyway— and there was no such factor as Propagation Magic on Veird as a result of Basis Ban in opposition to that form of energy.

Erick had neither of these issues proper now; he had mana, and there was no Propagation Ban.

Added to that, Vile and Exalted had totally different focus auto-targets… When it got here to buffing and debuffing magic, anyway. That’s what Erick was specializing in now, in order that’s what he stored in thoughts in the meanwhile. Precise Vile and Exalted damaging spellwork was a distinct ball sport altogether…

However Vile was kinda Ooze-like and Exalted was positively extra Drive-like—

Ah.

It was all slotting into place.

Erick envisioned a drop of Blood, which was one of the best Propagative baseline, that contaminated an individual’s soul and locked them into that physique. That was the baseline magic. When the particular person died, for no matter purpose, their physique would maintain onto their soul and put it right into a state of suspended animation. If there have been sufficient sources of the animate-version of the lifecycle of this magic close by, then the Vile and Exalted auras of these close by animated minions would empower the useless physique to animate with them. If there have been no close by sources of Vile or Exalted energy, then the physique would merely launch the soul when the magic therein degraded.

But when there have been animated undead close by to energy the elevating of the corpse…

Sure.

Erick wanted so as to add in some [Renew] spellwork for that.

However then… Yeah. This was an concept.

An animated corpse —the primary lively type of this magic— would then begin oozing out Vile aura and wielding Drive-like Exalted weapons that carried the Blood magic, after which they’d hold killing others and infecting them with the blood. Carnage would activate if the undead noticed enemies in opposition to Benevolence…

Erick examined his ideas and located all of them distasteful.

… After which he thought of energy necessities, and management. From there got here ideas of finish this spellwork as soon as it was finished.

Possibly he may do each on the identical time? Have just a few journeys by way of Infinity utilizing resonwork to attach animate-corpse to animate-corpse in a mana-sharing node-network in order that they didn’t run out of energy and continually healed one another…

Erick paused.

“That is most likely extra horrific than that [Cascade Imaging – Luminous Beam] magic… Hmm.”

Now there was a thought.

Erick may most likely tie this magic to a [Cascade Imaging] and use this magic each to survey the battlefield from that spellwork and likewise make a selected kill-switch for the spell by way of the Imaging. The one draw back to that was that the individuals round right here knew about radio waves. That was one of many causes the [Cascade Imaging] again at base didn’t work so effectively. The good forces of Slaver’s Den had been utilizing canceling tech to erase their presences from Erick’s Imaging.

… So don’t go off of radio waves, then?

He wanted to replace [Cascade Imaging] to resonwork and Benevolence and all of that to make the most of the curve-through-infinity resonwork that Cascadio had proven him.

… Yeah?

Yeah.

That may be the primary job of this magic making as we speak. A brand new [Cascade Imaging] for a brand new period.

Erick regarded out throughout the assorted little concepts he had forged into the air, all of them deceptive and ill-formed, from fireballs that pained individuals by way of gentle to bullet storms to world breaking spellwork, after which he erased all of it from the air. They had been simply the doodles one did after they had been busy considering. They didn’t imply something.

He puzzled what the individuals trying would make of them.

… Anyway!

Time to get again to work. Some individuals had been making an attempt shit.

Erick leapt up into the air and flew upspireward, to the place his Lightning Path was guiding him proper now. He discovered an enormous abomination of rock and crabs scuttling towards the town. It was very effectively hidden. Erick landed proper on prime of it and crushed it useless below one foot. When the stays tried to cloy into his scales and flesh, he frowned at it, making an attempt to grasp what it was doing.

Ah.

This was difficult shit.

Numerous soul work in that little shit of a crab— Properly. ‘Little’. It had been 20 meters extensive, and that was quite a lot of area through which to place an entire bunch of replicating machines and undead slugs and shit. They didn’t get anyplace. They tried. They failed.

They’d have been homicide in opposition to anybody aside from Erick, with them making an attempt to burrow into Erick’s scales like they had been. That may have turned a traditional particular person into paste in a matter of seconds.

Erick fried them with copious quantities of fireplace—

Which they absorbed, after which the entire metallic slug swarm grew. Erick’s foreleg was now crowded as much as his elbow in black machine-slugs.

He tried Ice and the an infection obtained larger.

Hmm.

This was a fairly attention-grabbing assault. It gave Erick some good concepts for the spellwork he was engaged on. After all, placing Mana Siphon right into a bunch of replicating minions was most likely a really, very dangerous concept. The creators of those metallic slugs actually didn’t care that they’d finished precisely that and made a grey-goo situation, although.

Erick puzzled if they’d an off-switch?

Regardless of the case, the slugs had been making an attempt to show immaterial and slip into his soul, however his soul was a raging river and so they couldn’t swim upstream that quick in any respect.

Erick didn’t let the an infection proceed.

[Physical Aura] pulsed out like an explosion, bodily ripping the slugs away. A extra attuned aura vibrated the slugs into the air, to droop them away from the bottom. Erick continued to movement energy away from his arm and the remainder of his physique, to push the slugs away, and it labored reasonably effectively. Inside moments the slugs all floated in a vibrating sphere of energy. He even grabbed up the slugs hiding within the floor and within the sand, and one other, secondary crab hiding ten kilometers away from the primary.

The black slugs roiled in Erick’s suspension like black cables all twisted into one another.

Erick broadcast his intentions although the closest 50 kilometers, “I’m going to take these slugs to all 4 of the main cities of Slaver’s Den.”

After which Erick took to the sky and dragged alongside the slugs with him, headed towards Centrics, the closest main metropolis of—

The ball of slugs exploded like ten million firecrackers going off suddenly. Inside seconds, nothing was left apart from damaged flesh and charred equipment.

“… Hmm!”

Erick flicked some bodily energy on the damaged gray goo, crushing it all the way down to a molten ball of assorted metals, after which he did some Particle Magic separation, pulling out tens of various metals in varied mixtures; principally iron. With a bit extra flashes of energy, Erick turned these totally different metals into ingots, after which into tiny slug sculptures. Then he made all of them right into a tiny sphere of slugs with some phrases written in slugs upon them.

With a little bit of energy, Erick zapped over to the sting of Centrics, about 190 kilometers away.

The wall of Underling Chains’ main metropolis lay forward; a stable black wall 100 meters tall and topped in turrets. Towering buildings rose into the sky past the wall, and every part there was as orderly as Erick had seen again in Wraithborne’s ring metropolis, across the Evil Loss of life Solar, but in addition an entire lot worse. In some methods, what Erick noticed was simply individuals going about their lives, going from market to market, or high-end store to high-end store, or consuming good meals, or doing no matter they needed, besides there have been slaves in all places.

10 slaves for each 1 slaver—

The turrets began firing what needed to be depleted uranium, or one thing. Every ‘bullet’ was a meter throughout, too. They kinda stung. Didn’t do a lot precise harm. Erick turned on some defensive spellwork, after which there was no sting or harm in any respect.

He simply hovered there, questioning if the turrets would get bored, or not.

Erick simply survived the turret hearth, so he let that occur for a short time; 20 seconds, simply to allow them to know they had been ineffective. They didn’t appear to wish to cease firing at him, although, so he turned on some reflective spellwork and returned their hearth to them. In a flashing immediate, bullets bounced in a manner solely magic may handle and bullets impacted the shields of the 5 nearest turrets. Bullets crashed up and away, headed again into the sky. The turrets stored firing for two extra seconds however Erick tuned his reflections and made some exact return hearth that broke by way of the turrets’ shields. Bullets the dimensions of individuals ripped by way of the offensive constructions.

Individuals had been already screaming about dragons within the metropolis past.

Erick turned to lightning, went into the middle of the town, to a backyard sq. surrounded by darkish bushes and with a sculpture of Captain Shackle within the heart. With a whip of his tail, Erick decapitated the winged elf statue and put the metal-slug sculpture onto the pinnacle’s place.

After which he obtained out of there, being positive to decapitate one other two Captain Shackle sculptures on the best way out and place copies of his slug sculptures atop every one’s neck. He scattered just a few extra slug balls right here and there, simply to make certain the message couldn’t be hidden.

He puzzled what their response could be, for written in slugs, Erick had declared, ‘We’re exhibiting off Propagation Magic now? Okay.’

Erick obtained again to Home Benevolence effectively earlier than some atomic bombs dropped. He stopped these simply sufficient. Actually. Did they suppose his absence would take any greater than 10 seconds? That he wouldn’t be again in time to cease the destruction?

Slavers had been fucking silly.

The one actual protection they’d was all their intrinsic hostages.

This was virtually like that point all these years with the slave cities of Mainland Nergal, again on Veird. Erick had been concerned in all of that shit, too, however the primary contributors to ending the most important lands of slavery on Veird had been Future and Messalina. They cleaned up these lands and turned them into the Freelands, and Erick principally supported them. He didn’t do a lot of that himself.

Since then, he principally tried to overlook these evils he had seen.

However now these reminiscences had been surging again to the forefront, as a result of this place was a lot worse than how Continental Nergal had been.

And to suppose, he was truly feeling dangerous concerning the spellwork he was going to make.

… Eh. Self-replicating angel-demon carnage-blood-radiation zombies appeared about as moral as one may get with propagation-war magic… In all probability. Erick’s model had the souls trapped in their very own our bodies, quietly driving alongside for the journey and utterly insensate. If he needed, he may make the souls and minds absolutely notice what was taking place to them. That appeared an entire lot extra evil and traumatic, although.

And permitting individuals to see what was taking place to their world after they had been soul-captured would most likely disrupt the magic. Finest to not enable for that form of vulnerability; simply make the souls silent and secured.

However very first thing’s first!

An replace to [Cascade Imaging] to take away quite a lot of the present limitations on the magic in addition to add an entire lot extra performance and safety.