Eminent Domain (1/2)

Year 102

Nothing of significance happened. I met the two heroes, they seemed bored, and well, the demon didn’t show them anything new either. I’m still trying to fix my shit, and improve my pain endurance even more.

Year 103

Would the next demon king pop out around now? I mean... no? I sensed some magic flying here and there, but I have no clue what else.

Year 104

I had a dream. Usually dreams are divine or oracular in nature, since they often foretold or spoke of divine intervention, so this one was strange. There’s like... 5 asteroids, bright red. They crashed on the world. And... that’s it.

But it felt different. I wasn’t quite sure what.

-

“Still nothing?”

“Nope.” The two bored heroes responded. “Same imagery.”

“Ah.”

Based on when the previous demon king battle happened, the demon king should appear again in another year, and so the world should be facing demonic attacks already. But there’s 5 heroes remaining, I suppose they should be doing alright. Even if one of those heroes was somehow expelled.

I’m sure they are doing fine.

Year 105

This year is the year the demon king is supposed to descend. After all, it’s been 10 years, and so, in the 2nd half of the year. It did.

[Demon King Phenex has descended]

I wonder what happened this time..

Year 106

4 months after the demon king descended, I felt it again.

A huge, huuuuuge surge of magic, so overwhelming that it’s disgusting. Even when my limbs are torched and burnt I could feel it. It even resonates with my very soul.

I’m sure it’s blood magic. There’s something really sickening about this magic that makes me feel like puking, if I could. A tree can’t puke, sadly.

I felt whatever it was headed towards its intended target. Like how you could feel the sun even with your eyes closed, I could feel it move, the change in it’s angle.

But the demon king lived.

[The Excommunicated Hero, Astra has died]

Huh.

That... was not expected. Indeed, not expected at all.

About one to two days later, the demonic corruption around me started behaving erratically. As if supercharged, I felt the demonic corruption surge through my body, my roots. I felt it push strongly against the root-walls of my valley.

I felt cracks in my root-walls. More cracks.

Here. There.

The demonic sludged that stabilised over the past 20 years suddenly started moving, flowing, and it pushed against my root-walls.

More cracks! I feel like I’m trying to use sandbags to hold back a tsunami, and there are pockets where the levee broke. The demonic corruption rushed in, together with the sludge.

And then.... All at once, it stopped.The sludge stopped.

[Madeus has died]

[Yvon has died]

[34 other familiar-users have died]

[You gained two levels. You are now level 149]

[Skill : Pain endurance upgraded!]

[Obtained new skill : Root Fortress]

[Obtained Yvon’s soul]

[Obtained 7 experience seeds]

And on top of that, I received a long string of notifications about class seeds and skill seeds. From the many that died, there’s [wizard], [swordmage], [brawler], [druid], [knight] and a whole list of many other classes.

I felt... sad.

What happened out there.

“Monsters.” A voice. I recognise that voice.

“Yvon?” I turn to face a glowing blob. It is in fact, Yvon.

“Hi.” I said. I mean, I kind of miss talking to someone that’s not a demon.

“Happy to see you, Aeon. We... really could’ve used your help.”

“I’m not sure if you can see, but I’m stuck in this state holding back the demonic energy.”

“That’s what we thought too. You look like... a tree. This is the ‘soul’ realm that Jura told me about? He said that you have this ‘space’ where it’s where the dead linger.”

“I am a tree, why wouldn’t I look like a tree.”

“Mistress Yvon!” Eriz’s soul detected her previous mistress’s soul. “Oh no. You died...”

“Well... it was inevitable. Things were looking really bleak for us. We have barely enough food and water, and every time we lose someone with familiars, a bit of our food supply goes along with it.”

I’m very curious what’s been happening outside. “Stop. You two can catch up later. Tell me about what happened outside.”

“Uh... well, we’re in this valley where your roots are holding up the hardened sludge. But, every now and then cracks in the sludge appeared, and those cracks would spit out demonic hybrid monsters. They attacked us almost every other day.”

Yvon paused a bit.

“And well, what happened was, a huge crack happened, and sludge flowed in. On top of that, larger monsters came in and attacked us, so well... I died killing a few. Many of us did.”

“Any idea what happened to the outside world?”

“We have no contact. The demonic sludge causes magic to decay, so all our attempts to communicate with the outside world has been unsuccessful. Our attempts to use other means of communication, like... climbing up that hole on top of you, have been unsuccessful as well. So, I have no idea.”

“Darn.” I sighed. “Well, the demon king appeared again. And it somehow amplified the effects of the corruption temporarily.”

“Fuck.” Yvon cursed. “That explains it.”

“How many of you are left? I’m blind at the moment, the demonic corruption robbed me of all my senses.”

“About... 3,000? Maybe less after today. Perhaps about 200 died today.”

“That’s not... bad?”

“We're at a higher level now. Many of us leveled tremendously over the past 20 years to survive this. But things are still bleak, with food in short supply, and our equipment limited. At least, none of us were dying to the demons for a while... Until today.”

“I see.” I mean, I felt kind of sad. “What about the forest? The trees?”

“Uh... oh. Erm... Quite a bit of the giant trees are still there. Some of the weird trees are still there. We managed to locate a few surviving flower-bushes and herbal spots, so that’s our spices. We also found quite a bit of potato buried, so we’re also eating that...”

“What about water?”

“A few of our druids are able to use their mana to create water. So... that’s our water supply.”

“I see. Let me think.” I let Yvon and Eriz catch up a bit. They spoke about Roma, and generally about life in their new environment. It’s been a long time since they last met, almost 20 years, and so they have much to talk about.

But I have a new skill. [Root Fortress].

So, when I was awake again, I quickly activated [Root Fortress], and felt, for a brief moment, all the roots strengthen. It’s like a sonar pulse, and at that moment I knew exactly how many trees survived, as I felt the effects of my skill spread throughout the valley.

And I stayed awake, longer.

I think it’s my two new levels.

Now, if only I could get more levels.

“I can see why you can’t help us now.” Yvon’s blob of light sighed. I briefly explained my situation of being trapped in this demonfire. “You’re not even awake most of the time...”

“Not exactly ideal, but I hope I’ll be able to break free of it soon. Tell me about who’s left.”

Lausanne, Laufen, Roma, Jura lived. Two of the Valtrian Order’s captains survived too. One of the herbalists and quite a big chunk of the druid-in-training Valthorns also survived, by sheer coincidence that they were foraging in the forest during that time. It’s a day they remember, the day when the Valley sank.

-

At the later part of the year, the demon king was slain.

[Demon King Phenex was defeated]

[Becky has died. You received one fragment]