Book 7, Chapter 29 - Victory (2/2)

His hope was to have them join Skycloud in pledging to his Alliance. Combined with Cloudhawk’s influence throughout the wastelands humanity would be united. From this moment on Cloudhawk wasn’t some wasteland warlord. He was leader of his species.

Five Elysian lands. The total population had to number over a hundred million. Adding in the territory he already controlled. Cloudhawk was master of two hundred million or more. Enough to form a global human empire. Each of these areas had their own technology and resources which, when pooled together, could be used to defeat the gods once and for all.

It was precisely what Wolfblade had been planning for.

Cloudhawk’s journey had taken him across vast differences, facing countless challenges. All of it was structured to forge the greatest leader in humanity’s history. It was the only way to convince the demons to help. Only once there was a clear chance of defeating the gods would those elusive creatures lend their aid. Everything up to this moment had only been preparation.

The real conflict was yet to come.

Cloudhawk brought Selene, Frost, Wolfblade, Abaddon and the other high ranking members of his Alliance through the chaos to its ravaged center. No trace of the Temple remained, but Cloudhawk was surprised to discover that the two god generals had not been killed.

He sensed them, or rather the resonance they produced. It helped him track their location to a spot several kilometers away from the blast radius. They’d only been a thousand or so meters from the epicenter when the bomb went off, yet had still managed to survive.

Harder to kill than cockroaches, Cloudhawk thought.

While they still drew breath, it was only barely. All their armor was in ruins from head to toe. The light that had clung to them was all gone. If not for his ability to sense relics, they probably would have discovered them days later and two withered husks.

“Let’s end them.”

Cloudhawk drew Godslayer. He’d killed one of their lot already, he had no qualms continuing the practice. Keeping them alive seemed far more dangerous.

“Wait a moment.” Wolfblade leered at the gods, unconscious from their injuries. “They are Supremes, remember. Capturing such creatures alive is no easy feat. They may yet have some use.”

Cloudhawk was unconvinced. “What use? Are you talking about removing the seal and trying to recruit them?”

“No. The seal is not so easily overcome. The Cloud God’s condition was the result of planning and being at the right place at the right time. We don’t have the time to reproduce those results. But that does not mean these gods are useless. There are ways to extract the power they bear.”

“You can do that?”

“I cannot. But Belial can.”

The old artisan’s face swam up in Cloudhawk’s memory. He’d helped Cloudhawk craft the disguise that got him into Sky Fortress, so his abilities were not in question. There were likely far more secrets he kept that would be of aid to them.

Belial had fled after Cloudhawk tracked him down, but that hardly mattered. Between Cloudhawk and Wolfblade, there was nowhere to run. It was Belial’s misfortune to be born a demon. He couldn’t avoid what was to come.

“Let’s clean up the battlefield.”

Sky Fortress’ forces were a relatively small but elite force. However, after two devastating explosions and an attack from the Green Alliance, they were defeated. It wouldn’t take much to capture them.

1. Showing off for the lady friend. Typical.