Master Of None



This sent many of the scouts back out again. They had to be sure that there was nothing left around them. The fact that five lord earth slimes had been seen was a major deal. Even though they had been defeated, they had not been transporting anything. That just meant they had roamed the desert with a group potentially. 

There were also those that thought the demons were just setting the slimes up in random places to distract them, but since the slimes had been moving away, it was a more important delta. That was what sent the idea home that the slimes had already done their job. 

"I hate to say it out loud, but, if they were somewhere near here and even checked an outer tower then I bet they were here for false death runes." Gil really felt that this was the best guess. There was his own desire not to say it though, it was worse imagining what the three criminals could do with this knowledge. 

"And if they have those then we might have to fight an undead wyvern king sooner than later…" Gil also finished off his thought by making a small show of checking his bow. It was the undesirable conclusion that they had more or less all reached. A conclusion no one wanted because it could be a lot more trouble. 

"I hate to say it, but you should be right. We know nothing about the last of the three demons. It might be a necromancer of sorts. If it has that kind of system then that demon would be able to use the bodies of any monster. Add in the knowledge of false death runes to manipulate some death mana…" Walker trailed off wondering what the slime breeder and the other demon could be doing. 

That also left the end goals of the demon kind up in the air. If it was power, then he should have come here himself. There were powerful undead that had lasted for too many years. They had even built a very hard to attack city buried in sand currently. There was the downside of a curse though. The question was, would the one that raised the wyvern king to an undead also have this curse? Would another desert start elsewhere? 

Too many possibilities seemed to be moving around that it was hard to keep up with. At the end of it all, they were all left with less information than what they had before. The only positive was that they were not missing the demons entirely. They were still somewhere nearby. It was just a matter of searching in the right places and the right times. 

"I would say that we let Ventus take the lead here. She can scout with the scouting team and be able to find us as we leave the underground river." Su took the lead when it came to planning. She saw that Walker was focused on thinking about natural mana. He definitely wanted to be able to attack and use it better to defeat the demons before they had to fight them again. 

"Demon's aside, Current and the party will explore the river bed. I will take the lead over the Genesis forces." Mordant looked around and saw that no one had any issues with this. "We can learn more about this palace before we march back to the embassy. If anything is to happen, I will use darkness mana to travel through the shadows and find you all again."

The promise that he would do this was important. It was a warning to both the Rize and Fel angels that at the drop of a hat, he could find the party. That he could bring them to the embassy or wherever there was trouble. It would help ensure that the two empires did not act out against one another while their issues had been solved. 

This was not probable though. The forces of the two empires that had worked together had clearly developed a joint bond. Their new relationships would be the perfect way to start a growing tie between the two empires. If this was left to continue, then there was a lot more hope to fix this messy disagreement. 

That didn't speak to what the higher ranking angels thought though. They had remained more or less hidden. The only archangels that the party had seen were in the embassy. That meant that there were either very few of them, or they did not see this as important enough to act. 

Either way, it meant that the highest ranking angels might push the lower ranking angels to maintain their opinions about each opposing empire. That alone could keep much more conflict than anything else. "Then it should be clear what we are doing now." Walker looked around and saw that Current had lost patience. His dragonkin were also gathered with just this bit of conversation. 

The water mages and a few demi-humans with water affinities had prepared themselves the moment that the idea of a dried river bed had been found. They knew that they would be able to finally utilize their skills. The fact that the river bed was dried up didn't matter. Where water once flowed, water would flow again. Some would even be able to draw out the water that was buried deeper underground than one could normally see. 

"Then that will be the plan. I am sure that where we landed has already been well built." Walker made the casual comment while thinking about how Terron had originally stayed to build up the spot they had left the ships in. but had come to join them later because of the events going on. It was very important that they all united again once they had followed this trail. 

When the entire party, army, and dragons were together they were at their strongest. With a potential battle against the most powerful demon in many generations, it was very important to ensure they could win. Especially since they would need to fight the two demons that had been brought with the demon king. 

These demons were definitely stronger than the others. The slime breeder was already clearly powerful enough to manipulate too many slimes. The varieties in them and the fact that there were many lord slimes just enhanced that fact. 

Without more thoughts like this, Walker made sure that they started to prepare. The desert had taken a large toll on everyone. The sooner that they moved out and got to the the remains of whatever the race that escaped the better. It would answer many questions and also bring them more solutions to issues they faced. 

The reason it would bring solutions was simple, the race that had been here was more advanced than what the angels had shown to a degree. The angels of the current time could not fix their floating cities or make mire. Their wars with opposing empires had caused them to decline in a way. They just clung to their ideals and values. Therefore, this race might be the same since they lost many of their people to the undead evil. 

Uniting the two empires and whatever people were left form this race could be an amazing thing. It could be a permanent force that joined the empires together while also advancing their knowledge base. This would be able to solve some issues with rebuilding the angel empire territories. 

"I just wonder how the Fel angels might have missed some of these things. Like, they missed a massive underground sandstone cave system and also the race that might be living on a beach somewhere?" Remey had her own worries. She looked annoyed that it might be the case that the Fel empire could have hidden these things. 

"The desert's cursed nature probably hid the deep sandstone caves. They are older than a lot of things and even fell underneath a dragon ruin that the race couldn't access. But if there are others on the beaches or something then they might have left the mainland too. If they noticed a threat, They could have fled further. I would consider it." Walker thought this to be the best example of what might have happened. 

It was easy to figure that this could happen too. If the race remaining had imagined that the entire continent they lived on would be taken over by evil undead, then they would flee elsewhere. They would do anything to avoid the land that was cursed. Furthermore, they would never leave their safety area keeping them isolated from the Fel empire or even the Rise empire's eyes. 

"I just hope that they really are out there." Walker mumbled a little as he prepared the last few things he had set up around their temporary resting area. It was time to take a long trip through a dried riverbed. 

  ….

If you are not reading this at Fire.net, then sorry the content you're reading is stolen!

Please say no to piracy! Don't take part in crime! Don't patronize thieves! 

Repent now and go here, http://wbnv.in/a/ccfhAus

Drop those golden tickets!