Chapter 51 - We March! (2)
From distance, one could see three big armies numbering hundreds of thousands, followed by heavy artillery in form of futuristic-looking Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries. Each of these armies, had its own direction, as each of them was aiming at different.
One was going to the south, another to the south-east and the last one was going to the south-west. Each one of the targets of these armies was located where one of three major barbarian tribes in the southern area of the Ewor Sub-continent was located, and soon enough would be annihilated.
Sometime later, Southeast of the Southern Area of the Ewor Continent, Human Barbarian Tribe, Code Name: A
High Command of the Conquest Expedition named three local human barbarian tribes as Tribe A, Tribe B, and Tribe C, not every creative name, but why should one be creative for something that would be soon turned into a sea of blood and corpses.
"General, we are nearing the Tribe A, your orders."
Said Lieutenant of General Amyke to him, as they were nearing the main city of the Tribe A after they slaughtered several smaller settlements.
"Surround the city and use Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries until the city is destroyed. These primitives are of no challenge. Ultimate-Class ones are only in Tribe B and Tribe C, so we could go with an artillery bombardment solely."
Said General Amyke with an uncaring voice, as he preferred to sleep rather than deal with these primitive humans, who were not any kind of challenge. Though he was glad, his colleague Borke Zagan and Lady Venelana Bael got tribes where were Ultimate-Class barbarians, meaning they would need to fight personally. In regard to Zagan, he was a bit battle maniac, and Lady Venelana was Bael, so it won't be a problem.
"Yes General!"
Saluted Lieutenant to him, as he went to organize artillery troops. Shortly after that, three legions of devils, numbering six hundred thousand surrounded the entire city, and Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries were strategically placed around the city and started firing.
When the first salvo fell, walls of the city were blasted straight into oblivion, as they never existed. The combination of Anti-Matter and Magicule Particles proved to be especially destructive. And these were cannons that were firing at their lowest power, as they were just testing them.
"Good, now put it to max power and annihilate it."
Said General Amyke with a satisfied smile.
Around the same time, South of the Southern Area of the Ewor Continent, Human Barbarian Tribe, Code Name: B
Three legions led by General Borke Zagan were nearing their target which was Human Barbarian Tribe B located at the south of the Fortress Gremory where the portal opened.
General Borke Zagan, stood proudly on his griffon who served as his mount and looked around, searching for signs of enemies. Similar to Legions led by General Amyke, they too encountered some smaller settlements, that were exterminated to last child.
Suddenly, he saw the city and a large number of enemies marching in their direction.
"Excellent this will save us time. Prepare Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries and start firing in their direction, when they are close enough stop bombardment and engage in combat, I will go and kill their commander."
Commanded General Borke Zagan, as he jumped off from his griffon and this time used his own wings to fly, searching for enemy Ultimate-Class being. As he flew he heard and saw Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries as they were firing at the incoming barbarians, taking hundreds of lives with each shot, until they got close enough to Legions, only the artillery quieted down.
"Oh, here you are."
Said General Borke, as he saw the biggest barbarian that looked different from the rest, as he wore more ornamental armor than rest, and radiated more power.
As he descended down, he heard something that was the Ultimate-Class barbarian shouting in a language he didn't recognize, while devils had Omni-linguistic ability, it wasn't for all languages, but only those existing and being used in Draconic Deus.
He then waved his hand, summoning several huge shadows, which were actually golems, created through Clan Trait of Zagan, Fleshcraft. It allowed him to use biological matter to craft golems or something similar. The stronger the base material, the stronger the final creation.
He ordered his flesh golems to attack the Ultimate-Class barbarians, as he continued supporting them with his magical attack from a long distance.
Around the same time, South-west of the Southern Area of the Ewor Continent, Human Barbarian Tribe, Code Name: C
The last three Legions were being led by Venelana to destroy the Barbarian Tribe C in the South-west of the Southern Area of the Ewor continent.
Contrary to the two Generals, Venelana left commanding completely to her adjutant, as she wasn't suited for all this senseless slaughter that was happening. She could understand the inevitability of it, but she didn't enjoy taking innocent lives. Something her fianceé admired a little bit, as foolish as it was.
Annihilation of the entire civilization was the core of the Planar Conquest one could say.
As they were progressing in the march, soon enough they found the Barbarian Tribe C, where the last Ultimate-Class barbarian was located.
"You can do whatever you want... I am taking care of the leader."
Said she to her adjutant, as she spread her wings and flew high in the air, as crimson-dark Power of Destruction circulated around her, creating countless star-like orbs around her, as they started falling down on the city, mainly at the place, that leader was, obliterating everything from the realm of existence.
The aftermath of the battles, Fortress Gremory, Top Tower
"My Lord, we have received reports from Lady Venelana, General Zagan, and General Amyke."
Said servant that came.
"And?"
I asked without even looking at him and continuing reading my grimoire.
"Excellent. All three human barbarian tribes were completely annihilated without leaving a single soul alive, now the entire Sothern Area from Wastelands till the Skull Valley Pass, belong to your Lordship."
Chapter 52 - Never Ending War (1)
One Day Later, Skull Valley Pass
The Skull Valley Pass was a place that was dividing the entire Ewor Sub-Continent into two parts. Smaller Southern Area and larger Northern Area. While the southern area was inhabited by human barbarian tribes, the northern area was mainly inhabited by various goblinoid species, that were extremely populous.
Each year, they attempted to enter the southern area through the Skull Valley Pass, but due to territorial disadvantage, they couldn't pass through the Valley and were always repelled.
Thanks to that, Skull Valley Pass was immediately secured by Devil Legions, who went directly there after the destruction of the Tribes A, B, and C. It was a strategic location, that needed to be secured as soon as possible.
Currently, it was guarded by nine Legions, which were worth 1,800,000 soldiers and sixty Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries that were stationed on various positions with good angles, so they could be used to their maximum potential.
Currently, General Amyke, General Borke Zagan, and Lady Venelana were in the war tent, that served as the temporary command center.
All three of them weren't looking exactly happy as they listened to the report of the scouts.
"This isn't good... though the question is, how they found out about it?"
Asked General Amyke.
"They probably have Ultimate-Class shamans or warlocks, but now that isn't important... right now more than six million large horde of goblinoid tribes is going here... that is a problem. This is bad, we need to prepare for defensive. We are severely outnumbered, and the enemy has even a few General Level Monsters."
Commented the situation General Borke Zagan.
"As long as we properly block the Valley, with Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries with could deal them a great deal of damage. Our main point should be using defense to lower their number and kill their commanders and beings on the Ultimate-Class. Then the horde won't be much of a problem. The real problem would be taking care of General Level goblinoids..."
Stated Venelana calmly, as both of the generals looked at her mildly surprised hearing her tactics, but nodded in agreement.
"The horde will arrive one hour later, while our reinforcements will take at least three hours from the Fortress Gremory. Probably Lord himself will arrive with reinforcements, taking three legions with him, leaving only one Legion wat the Fortress guarding the portal. Right now, as the southern area is clean, our concern is Skull Valley Pass."
Said General Borke Zagan after.
"Then send message to Zeo, to arrive as soon as possible, until we will play defensive."
Said Venelana as she went out of the room. She took the role of unofficial commander, because of her status as fianceé of their Lord, she held the last word, and both Generals were aware that she herself was no pushover. In terms of destructive power, Venelana may be weaker in Class as she was newly advanced Ultimate-Class, but in terms of combat prowess, she was in a higher league.
"My Lord horde of more than six million goblinoid species is advancing with tremendous speed at the Skull Valley Pass. Apparently, tribal chieftains of largest tribes defeated by someone, that unified north and started advancing to the south, concurrently, as we were conquering human barbarians."
I heard a report from one of my servants as I was reading grimoire in the library while conversing with the Architect from time to time.
"Interesting. How many beings on Ultimate-Class are there?"
I ask.
"Around seven, My Lord. One of them is even Eldricht Giant, that appears to be the leader of the horde... what is weird, the detection spell found signs of Divinity on the Eldricht Giant."
Said the servant, as my eyes sharpened.
"Send a message to three Legion Commanders to prepare for march, we will go with the fastest speed combined with large-scale teleportation, within three hours we should arrive at the Skull Valley Pass."
I commanded as the servant bowed slightly, and run off to carry my orders.
"Divinity... so this plane is already starting giving birth to the God Slots. Damm, this is getting problematic, we need to act fast."
When the plane developed to a certain level, it started creating God Slots.
God Slots, were or was limit on how many gods, could the plane hold. Higher leveled plane, a higher number of gods. Newly birthed planes usually didn't develop God Slots, not until several hundreds of thousands of years have passed till the birth of the Plane.
Based on records that were brought by Aesir and Kindreds in Astral Boundary was a classification of Planes. Planes were Graded from Grade 9 to Grade 1 based on how strong entities could planes bear. Of course, this applied only to the Astral Boundary and not other Universes, the other Realms of Existences, where were different Universal Laws.
For example, Draconic Deus was Grade 5 Plane according to the Planar Classification of Astral Boundary Realm of Existence. Meaning, Grade 5 Plane could hold maximally Apocalypse-Class beings and around 5,000 Gods, though that could be bypassed, by the creation of Dimensional Worlds, by combining Divine Kingdoms of Gods, to create something like a super divine kingdom.
It works like this. A Pantheon of Gods that ascended in some Plane want to bypass this, so they all fuse their Divine Kingdoms, to create a Pantheon's Dimensional World, from that moment, their existences as gods, are tied to that Pantheon's Dimensional World, which is a collection of countless Divine Kingdoms and other special materials, and God Slots are then freed. Though the danger of this is that, after this transiting, from Plane God Slot to Pantheon's Dimensional World, God would be weakened drastically, for a long time, unless he used special means to hasten recovery.
Of course, the disadvantage of this, is when the world is low on population larger number of gods, will result in that, all gods would be weaker. As they would be forced to fight for worshippers, so Gods usually won't artificially increase the number of Gods.
Chapter 53 - Never Edning War (2)
This method was employed only in planes where there was an overwhelmingly high population or was ruled by a single Pantheon as the existence of Pantheon's Dimensional World, was a great defensive mean. Or the Gods were preparing for an invasion.
Now Yestera Plane showed signs of Gods, so this world should already be a proper Grade 8 Plane, where the limit of Gods, should be 10.
Meanwhile at the Skull Valley Pass
"They are coming."
Said General Amyke as he looked at the incoming horde of millions, leading them was a huge figure. It was Eldritch giants had skin tinged with a faint purple and light-colored hair, it had grey colored eyes. The giant was nine meters tall and looked fierce.
The giant was armored in spiked armor, wielding one huge double-edged ax and broadsword. It also had various arcane tattoos upon its body.
"Eldritch Giant... damm this is problematic."
Muttered Venelana quietly.
Venelana was aware of this species. Especially those on General Level and higher were fearsome existence. Eldritch Giants was a race that had innately fearsome physical strength and high magic resistance. Additionally, upon reaching General Level, their innate magic allowed them to dispel magic on the same level or weaker, which made them a nightmare opponent for any magician.
"Who will fight that Eldritch Giant?"
Asked General Amyke.
"I will go, although he has innate magic to dispel magic, my Power of Destruction would be most effective against its defensive abilities."
Said Venelana with a hint of uncertainty. While General Borke would be a better choice with his clan trait, he was needed at another place. He needed to command soldiers, so only Venelana was remaining. While General Amyke was also a choice, it was not a good one.
"What about the rest of the General Level ones?"
Asked Venelana.
"From Fort Gremory we got info that there should be seven of them in this horde."
Responded General Amyke.
"I will send two of my Flesh Golems to take care of two of them, I just finished making them from Ultimate-Class human barbarians."
Said General Borke Zagan.
"Minus Giant and these two, there leaves four General Level enemies. How we will deal with them? If left unchecked, they could decimate a large number of our army."
"We concentrate the power of Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries and try to assassinate them and then maybe use the magical formation to trap them in one place."
"Hmm... that could work... hopefully."
"Then everyone go to your positions."
Soon enough, the entire Skull Valley Pass was on highest grade military alert. Everyone was waiting for the incoming horde. Two Generals along the Venelana were standing on the top of one watchtower.
"I sense only five energy signatures on the Ultimate-Class, meaning two of those aren't here, but magical scan clearly sensed them. Either they departed to somewhere else, or they are planning something."
Said General Borke Zagan.
"If they are scheming something it may be problematic... send message to the Fort Gremory to keep detection magic from Magic Tower Formations activated."
Having two General Level enemies hiding in the shadow was a problematic thing, fortunately, magical detection from Magic Tower Formations could find them, and send a magical message to Skull Valley Pass.
"Start charging Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries and attack two of General Level enemies, target two Orc chieftains."
Commanded General Borke Zagan, as all sixty Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries were being charged to maximum and aimed at their targets. Thirty Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries at each one, hopefully, it will be enough to kill General Level being that has physique on Ultimate-Class.
"Fire!"
Shouted General as all sixty Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries fired, aiming at the two General Level Orc Chieftains. As they hit their targets, a huge explosion happened and took tens of thousands of goblins, orcs, bugbears, hobgoblins, and other creatures that were marching.
As the dust settled down, it showed half-destroyed corpses of the two General Level monsters.
"Good. Now rise the defensive magic formation and after five minutes take it down and start firing Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries once again."
As Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries were being used to their maximum power output, they needed some time to cool down. Fortunately, it was only five minutes, until they could fire once again.
After five minutes, Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries started firing once again, taking the lives of thousands of goblinoids of each shot of each Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batterie. Still, in regard to such a huge horde, it was a small loss, but alas still a loss.
When they were close enough, Venelana spread her wings and flew directly at the Eldritch Giant, that was leading the horde, and shot at him several orbs created from the Power of Destruction, as Eldrich Giant swung his humongous weapons defending against them.
The arcane resistance of the Eldritch Giant was showing its full might, as he defended against the majority of the Power of Destruction effects. After being hit by several orbs of Power of Destruction, he suffered only minor injuries.
"Damm... with this it will take a long time before I will take down the giant."
Muttered Venelana, as she kept flying around the Eldritch Giant dodging his attack with his huge sword and ax. Meanwhile, she was dueling the Eldritch Giant, army of goblinoids started attacking the Fortress walls, only to be attacked by soldiers that were throwing random spells at the goblinoids.
Soon on earth, bodies of devils and goblinoid species were gathering as blood started flowing. After half an hour, General Borke Zagan has released two of his flesh golems, crafted from corpses of General level barbarians.
After he released those two flesh golems, it attracted the attention of two General Level entities, two Orc Shamans that were commanding the goblinoid army, which left space to General Amyke, who then flew in the middle of goblinoid and released his full power and started slaughtering them like cabbage.
Most of these creatures were only of Minion Level and Warrior Level, which was the same as Low-Class and Middle-Class.
Chapter 54 - Never Ending War (3)
Now all General Level Monsters were being occupied, the main fight was between soldiers of two sides. Slowly, corpses of goblinoids were gathering faster compared to those of devils, thanks to devils being individually stronger and also geared in best armor.
Fortunately, they didn't manage to breach the even first defensive wall. Alas, slowly they would with wave tactics, destroy several defense layers.
One has to admit that the goblinoids were fighting with ferocity, not seen in devils or many races. Especially the more aggressive species like orcs and bugbears were comparable to the Asgardian Berserkers in terms of ferocity and brutality. Their physical prowess was also superior to that of most devils, even if they were of the same Class.
"Restart the Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries and start focusing the fire on the back lines of the horde."
Commanded General Borke Zagan as he looked around and ordered to use Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries once again, as currently, due to close combat engagement, they stopped firing them. But due to possible wave attacks, General Borke wanted to prevent it.
"General, we have detected those two missing General Level Monsters."
Reported General's adjutant.
"Damm... how far are reinforcements?"
Asked General Borke Zagan.
"Probably one or two teleportations."
Reported adjutant.
"I will personally take one of them... Amyke will also take one of them perhaps."
Said General Borke as he spread his wings and went to fight.
When he flew high in the air, and two General Level monsters appeared. Both of them were Orc Shamans, who were proficient in some kind of elemental magic or spirit magic or whatever.
One of those orc shamans went directly at General Borke Zagan and started casting spells at him, which he dodged rather easily. Another Orc Shaman went to attack Venelana that was fighting the Eldritch Giant and attacked her with his spells.
"Dammed creature!"
Shouted Venelana in anger as she dodged attacks from Eldritch Giant and at the same time she fired orbs created from Power of Destruction at the Orc Shaman, that controlled several nearest bugbears to use them as a wall.
As they were all fighting, suddenly portal opened high above, and a man in dark armor appeared with his long crimson silver hair reaching his back as he gripped scythe in his right hand.
As I appeared high on the battlefield, I looked at what happened below me. Fortunately, my forces were steadily holding their ground, if not having an advantage in the fight, as I observed the situation.
Then I started casting the spell of Strategic-Tier called Hell Flame. It was based on Clan Trait of Phenex House, though it didn't have its properties, the only one it had was its darkness enlightenment.
Soon enough massive amount of dark red flames were conjured as I wawed my scythe that acted also as a mystic code and the sea of flames was set free on hundreds of thousands of goblinoids down below me.
As I controlled the spell to not cause any kind of damage to my troops, tens of thousands of goblinoids were burned to ash, as even more were injured by the terrifying heat radiated from the Hell Flame. It wasn't a Strategic-Tier spell for nothing. Fortunately, my soldiers, thanks to their enchanted armor, were protected from the heat.
Then I flew directly to Venelana and started firing Dark Light spears at the Orc Shaman, that was barely dodging them, but after several seconds, his speed slowed down, and he was already being injured by my attacks.
I spread my eight pairs of devil wings and opened several Dark Light portals, from which chains of Dark Light flew out, and coiled around the Orc Shaman like a snake, until one of my Dark Light spears pierced his skull, killing him on the spot.
I quickly stored the corpse of the Orc Shaman in my dimensional storage, as it would be a great source for my Devour Clan Trait, and flew to Venelana who was fighting against the Eldritch Giant.
'Scan.' I commanded Architect in my head.
[Level: General
Magical Power: 250
Strength: 289
Agility: 60
Vitality: 236]
I looked at the scan and was mildly surprised. This Eldritch Giant was pretty strong. The only downside was its speed, as it was rather slow, but in everything else, it might be unquestioned. In terms of physical state and energy reserves, it was far superior to Venelana or my.
When compared to intellect or mastery over arts, it was as low as or even lower than the average soldier in Underworld. From what I saw, Venelana managed to injure it with her Power of Destruction, unfortunately, not enough to kill this creature.
I was almost salivating when I thought about using Devour on the corpse of such a strong creature. The gainst from it would be enormous.
I looked at Venelana, who noticed my gaze and nodded, to which I started casting tens of spells, mainly those with high destructive capabilities, such as Dragon Lightning, Thunder Death Lightning of Tactical-Tier or even Combat-Tier such as countless Magic Missles were being created around me, as all of them shot at the Eldritch Giant.
Unfortunately, for my spells, they weren't enough to break through the terrifying magical defense of Eldritch Giant, but that wasn't even my main aim.
Thanks to my distractions, Venelana could condense a large amount of Power of Destruction in several orbs and attack Eldritch Giant when its defense was regeneration, causing him many injuries.
"I will try to immobilize it with Chains of Dark Light while you will gather as much as possible of Power of Destruction to break the magical defense, so we could kill it."
Eldritch Giants were a pain in the ass of any kind of magician. Their arcanic defense regenerated extremely fast and was very high. So I planned to use Power of Destruction as a catalyst to bring it down, and then I will finish it off with Dark Light spears.
Hopefully, it will work.
Chapter 55 - Never Ending War (4)
As we were flying around the Eldritch Giant who was in anger trying to attack us in vain, it was apparent that the Eldritch Giant looked troubled and pretty pissed off. He couldn't defeat either of us, as we were pretty good at dodging his attacks, and we were also constantly restraining him, so he couldn't command the goblinoid horde around.
I looked around and saw that the two Flesh Golems that were created from corpses of the Ultimate-Class human barbarians were at a disadvantage against two General Level Orc Chieftains, but that was understandable, as they were just brainless zombies with huge power.
Fortunately, General Borke Zagan managed to kill the Orc Shaman in a rather short time, and started commanding directly his two Flesh Golems. At the same time, General Amyke was wreaking havoc among the goblinoids, shooting spells here and there, massacring them like cabbage, making rivers of blood.
What I didn't like, was that my soldiers started dying faster. Something not pleasurable, but inevitable. Most of the men and women, never participated in the war, so this would at least steel them to a certain amount, but I saw that I have lost already tens of thousands of soldiers, so that was enough.
I have created several Dark Light portals, as Venelana got behind me and started concentrating Power of Destruction in three orbs. Suddenly, as the Eldritch Giant was closing, chains of Dark Light shot out, coiling around the Eldritch Giant like a snake, not allowing it to move an inch.
The Eldritch Giant looked angry as he tried to break the chains to no vail, in turn, he was even being burned by the Dark Light Chains. As he was struggling in the trap I cast on him, Venelana was done with her Power of Destruction orbs, and I started creating a highly compressed Dark Light Spear with a large part of my reserves.
It wasn't huge, rather small, only two meters long, but had a concentration of energy worth 80 Units, which was a terrifying amount. As the orbs of Power of Destruction hit the Eldritch Giant, he screamed in pain as I saw how his skin and muscle tissues were dissolved, apparently, the Arcanic Defense was broken for some time, giving me precious time.
As I saw the Eldritch Giant wriggling in pain, as he screamed from the pain that his injuries were causing him, I released the Dark Light Spear at him, that I even boosted with a lightning spell, to give it even higher speed.
The Dark Light Spear shot with speed and ferocity like tribulation lightning, as it aimed at the head of the Eldritch Giant, piercing his head in one go. After several seconds, when I was sure that the enemy was already dead, I released the Chains of Heaven, as I called that technique, dropping the corpse of the mighty Eldritch Giant on the ground.
As the corpse hit the ground, deathly silence took over the battlefield. Remaining General Level goblinoids, two Orc Chieftains looked at each other, before silent nod, they started retreating as other goblinoids started screaming and then running away.
Altogether five General Level powerhouses fell here, including leader that was General Level Eldritch Giant, so as the horde lost its leaders, they did what they were best. Run.
Run as hell.
But I wasn't giving any chances. I looked at Venelana and General Amyke who stopped his onslaught and flew to my position, as all of us flew to two General Level Orc Chieftains giving them pursue. It would be best to kill them here, so they can't return back and reorganize their forces, giving resistance when conquering them.
Meanwhile, with heightened morale, my Legions started pursuing fleeing goblinoids, killing them with ease. Bodies of goblins, orcs, bugbears, hobgoblins were being accumulated in small hills with tremendous speed.
After pursuing for several minutes, Venelana managed to kill one of the Orc Chieftains by blasting his head with Power of Destruction, while General Amyke killed another one, as I restrained it with one of my chains. I must admit that they were pretty good at fleeing.
In regard to what to do with two corpses, I left them to General Borke Zagan, as they would be useful, and could create another two Ultimate-Class Flesh Golems boosting his power by several times.
The siege of the Skull Valley Pass was finished, and we have won. With the death of all those General Level powerhouses, practically the entire Ewor Subcontinent would be under my rule within several days, at the slowest.
Now the only thing was to clean the battlefield, I went and stored the corpse of the Eldritch Giant in my dimensional storage, as I wanted to use Devour on it, that one would greatly increase my power.
Chapter 56 - Aftermath
After the last of the goblinoids were killed, we started slowly cleaning the battlefield. I ordered to collect all corpses on Commander Level, as they would serve as good food for my troublesome familiar.
I didn't bother with lower leveled corpses, as they would be of no use, for as fast as possible growth of my familiar, I needed corpses of the strongest beings. What was troublesome, after it evolved to Devouring Thorny Flower, which has a strength limit of General Level, then it would be strengthened only of corpses of Commander Level and higher.
From my limited understanding of that species, they needed an enormous amount of food to reach the higher level. Even from Commander Level corpse, their progress would be slow. I had an idea, that if their limit is set to for example Commander Level, then that level would act as base material, and lower leveled ones won't be effective anymore or will be effective with the efficiency of one hundredth they were before. I need more data.
I flew through the battlefield, as I watched my soldiers and Arcane Mechanical Automatons cleaning the battlefield, with General Amyke and General Borke Zagan giving instruction and overseeing the battlefield.
"My Lord."
Said both of them as they watched me came.
"Order all soldiers to stop the cleaning works, and go to rest. Tomorrow take all 11 Legions and conquer the rest of the Ewor subcontinent... kill anything that breathes, I want to have a clean subcontinent."
I ordered. Now was the best time to attack the rest of the subcontinent, as their leadership was crushed and dead. Also, the majority of the northern tribes of various species were drastically weakened, as they lost their numbers here.
"Yes, My Lord."
"Also, what are our loses?"
I ask as I looked at them.
"Around 100,000 dead. For many soldiers, this was the first large-scale battle, My Lord."
Answered General Zagan slowly, to which I grit my teeth.
"More than I anticipated, but remaining ones would be steeled with fire and blood."
I said with frustration. Still, with such a numerical disadvantage, it was a good result. Not to mention goblinoid tribes have more combat experiences than my soldiers, who were mostly freshly recruited to increase numbers.
Fortunately, with the right training methods, and top-noétch weapons and armor, losses were far less than they would be if not for my precautions.
"When we return from the Conquest Expedition, we will start the recruitment process once more and adjust military drills by tenfold."
I said shortly, as I watched both of them bow and then leave. I also instructed Arcane Mechanical Automatons to finish the cleaning works, delivering the corpses of Commander Level creatures to me, as I stored them in my dimensional storage, rest was left to rot, after Arcane Mechanical Automatons, extracted the magical power to recharge themselves.
It was another function that Architect created, based on my Devour Clan trait. It allowed any kind of Arcane Mechanical Automatons with the right runic matrix, to extract magical power from the deceased foe, to recharge itself, or to store energy. Thanks to that, they could work faster and without needing short breaks for recharging with ambient magic.
This would also boost up the efficiency of the Arcane Mechanical Automatons several times.
Next days, my Legions started marching through the Skull Valley Pass to conquer the rest of the Ewor Subcontinent, while I stayed here, in the fortress and oversaw the cleaning process. Surprisingly, Venelana tagged along, in case they encountered more Ultimate-Class beings.
Fortunately, after two days, I got the message, that half of the north already fell into our hands, as Legions marched and annihilated every village or town they found. With such speed soon enough, the entire Ewor subcontinent, within exactly five days altogether fell under my rule.
In some corners, some goblinoids survived, but they were mercilessly hunted down, as I ordered complete clean-up from any even bit intelligent forms of life. Yestera Plane must be stripped clean, as an entire plane would be turned into mining type, and even core would be mined.
Now after an additional week, I was creating some plans for basic fortifications of the subcontinent, and also a means to reach other lands of the Yestera Plane. All continents were divided by huge bodies of water, and from magic scans, there were some really nasty things living deep within the depths of the ocean. This was troublesome, but I left it be as now I am not prepared to deal with sea monsters.
To bring my Legions to other continents, a teleportation array was the best option, but that could be only constructed if we were already there. So to safely cross the large distances, I ordered the Arcane Mechanical Automatons, to firstly, replicate and build more of Arcane Mechanical Automatons, and afterward, they would start building first Voidships.
For the first Voidship to be built, I chose a Cruiser type, more precisely Lunar-Class Cruiser. Not to mention, each Voidship of the Solar Federation has fearsome firepower, now that I have the entire sub-continent at my disposal, that would be used as resources for my new weaponry, something not possible in the Underworld, as most resources went into factories to make supplies for war.
Arcane Mechanical Automatons, started mining works immediately, as they attacked all deposits and worked non-stop to mine countless ores, and then started working to manufacture more Arcane Mechanical Automatons, and this process repeated and repeated.
I even ordered soldiers to help with various tasks to boost up the production rate. I wanted everything to be done maximally within 2 months of time.
Chapter 57 - Progress of small break
Two months went by from conquest of the complete subjugation of the Ewor subcontinent.
Last two months I have mainly spent surprisingly training and experimenting with magic. I finally trained with the specialized automaton, to learn a scythe mastery more, as I sucked at the close combat pretty bad.
I have also used Devour on corpses of the Orc Shaman and Eldritch Giant. The Eldritch Giant gave me the biggest surprise, as not only I increased my reserves a bit, but more importantly, it helped my physique tremendously, as currently, I was almost on the pinnacle of the High-Class in terms of physique.
Currently, I was in the Fortress Gremory which became the command center for an entire expedition for time being. I finished the last exercises with my scythe, as I spent some time practicing, to not look so bad. While I preferred magic, as it was everything for me, it was good to be prepared for Anti-Magicians or begins with the ability to negate any energy types, which was troublesome.
Thus the close combat became more important. I had a great advantage in my physical strength, so it would be foolish to not use this advantage to the fullest and learn some weapon mastery.
'Architect scan.'
[Class: Ultimate
Demonic Energy: 183
Strength: 98
Agility: 96
Vitality: 90]
Most of my increase went to my physical attributes, mainly because of using the Devour Clan Trait on the Eldritch Giant. On one hand, it would be better to have increased energy reserves, but on the other hand, to increase physical state was far harder.
I then went to the balcony of the Fortress Gremory, to see what was happening down below me.
Three humongous voidships were being tended by tens of thousands of Arcane Mechanical Automatons, as construction of the first Voidships of my future fleet would be soon completed.
My current number of Arcane Mechanical Automatons shot up to the number of 750,000 within two months which was a very nice number. With such a number, I could finally start many construction projects and other things.
Even a small plot of land in this newly birthed plane was far richer in resources than my own territory. Though that was understandable, as most territories in the Underworld belonging to the lords were already explored, resources found and mined.
For resources "regenerate" could take tens of thousands of years or with some special means but that would be pointless talk.
No wonder most of the factions that could do it, will explore the Dimensional Gap and search for some weaker planes to conquer them and take their resources. With this trip alone I have saved several years of worth of time.
With a constant flow of resources into my factories, production of the Arcane Mechanical Automatons went with tremendous speed. I even got to have three Voidships constructed already, while each of them was of the only Cruiser, it was still better than nothing.
Though, even Cruisers of Solar Federations have fearsome firepower. Main canons, which were practically Anti-Matter Magicule Canon Batteries of the higher model, firepower comparable to Ultimate-Class.
As I looked at the works being done on the voidships in satisfaction, I was thinking about started constructing combat-oriented Arcane Mechanical Automatons of the Arachne Type.
While Drones were useful in supportive and construction areas, they were not so suited for the battlefield, even with their combat prowess of Low-Class, after I ordered to install small Magicule Lasgun onto them.
I already have several models that I will construct for Combat Oriented Automatons.
The future lied in Voidfleet. During the Stellar Exodus, and Age of Technology, the majority of power, if not all, of the Solar Federation came from the Voidfleets, that we have constructed.
While our land armies in terms of strength were inferior to Aeldari Empire or Ork Warbands and Orkish Empires, in terms of Naval Fleet, we could hold our own against Aeldari and even Orks... if not for Orks using numbers against us.
In past decades Solar Federation was being more and more militarized, something that I truthfully approved, as High Admiralty and Marshalls poured more finances into the research of weapons and things for the Military.
Some things, that weren't finished like human enhancements, and various transhuman projects were still in the database of Architect. Many of the Marshalls of the Solar Federation wished to create transhuman warriors that would be able to slaughter in combat the Aeldari Exarchs or Orks, from ordinary Boyz to mighty Warbosses.
"It is really impressive how efficient and at the same time terrifying your Arcanotech is."
Said Venelana as she stood behind me.
"Yes, indeed. The Arcanotech I believe is the future of the Devil Race. Look at it, at its wonders. With Voidships able to traverse starts and conquer worlds, with Mechanical Automatons, we could raise fortresses, castles, and cities within days. And when combat-orientated Automatons are manufactured, the blood of enemies would baptize them as a most terrifying army to face in battle."
I said dramatically while imagining millions of Mechanical Automatons of various shapes and forms, orderly marching underneath thousands of voidships that were high above them, to the battle. Bringing down every foe, and killing every enemy.
Devils had a good predisposition to develop Arcanotech. We were an extremely magical species, meaning magical power, magicule particles were our root. We are also long lives species, and could easily learn through time, develop, and many others.
That was something I had learned from my past life. Take an Orks for example, they were primitive, even beyond that, barbaric and savage species. Even they used their weird Teknology that was created by Tekboyz. Orks were a pain in the ass even with primitive weapons due to their fearsome physical strength, which I would say is around Middle-Class for weaker ones, High-Class for stronger ones.
But Orks, armed with advanced technology was a nightmare for everyone that fought them. I remember that they were like the plague, that destroyed everything in their path... and when they were armed worlds and stars burned.
Chapter 58 - Preparations
"We would be having War Council soon, so be so kind and stop admiring your metal machines that look creepy."
Said Venelana from behind me.
"They are not creepy... their design is to maximize their potential in everything they are doing, that is why Arachne Type Arcane Mechanical Automatons were created."
I said that but Venelana didn't bulge even, and we went to the War Council.
We went through the halls of the Fortress Gremory, where Generals Zagan and Amyke together with Lord Mephisto Pheles already waited for our arrival.
"Gentlemen, we can start."
I said as we entered the room.
"Of course, My Lord. At first, the state of our army is well, and we have replenished the losses, so we are on a number of 1,3 million soldiers, ready to march on the Ihor."
Reported General Borke Zagan, as Lord Mephisto turned or holographic projection of the Ihor.
"As we can see, the next target of the conquest would be the Ihor subcontinent, leaving the mainland of Yestera Plane as the last one. We have sensed a large amount of Ulitmate-Class beings on the Mainland so before we have manufactured enoágh weaponry from Arcanotech, it would be best to go there as last."
Explained General Zagan with a short break, as I nodded my head in approval.
"From magical scans, it seems, contrary to the Ewor subcontinent, the entire Iwor subcontinent, is dominated by human tribes, a more developed than barbarians than here, probably due to lack of a large number of various monster species or goblinoids as in Ewor subcontinent."
Continued General Zagan.
"About how many Ultimate-Classes are we talking about?"
I asked while looking at General Zagan.
"More than fifteen probably."
Reported General.
"Hmm... soon three Lunar-Class Cruisers would be constructed with firepower that is able to kill Ultimate-Class being. With a specifically prepared ambush, we could kill a large amount of them, maybe even all if we lure them to battle."
I said.
With the construction of three Lunar-Class Cruisers, the first of my Voidship fleets I wasn't too worried about numerical disadvantage against more Ultimate-Class beings. With Voidships and advanced Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries, I could prepare some kind of ambush and dispose of even several Ultimate-Class beings in one sneak attack.
And if I have more than twenty Voidship, I could even let them got head-on.
"We will use Voidships to cross over the sea and build teleportation array on the Ihor subcontinent, and through the teleportation array, our army and together with Mechanical Legion will cross over."
My plan was to cross with Voidships and their construct array to bring my legions.
"That is a good plan, Lord Lucifer. During my magical scans, I have found that within depths of the ocean, there are entities on the Satan-Class."
Said Lord Mephisto Pheles. This was something I have already predicted when we first came here. It was only a matter of time until I will have enough power and military strength to conquer the sea inhabitants and mine the entire plane through and through.
"Sea exploration would be done much later, now our focus is on continents."
I said.
"My Lord how many soldiers could one Cruiser transport?"
Asked me General Zagan.
"If they are packed densely, then maximally 100,000. Altogether, all three of them could transport one and half of Legion, and in storage space, a probably unknown number of Mechanical Automatons, but probably even more."
Answered shortly. Cruisers weren't suitable in the transportation of a large number of troops, that was a role for Battleships, Dreadnought, Flagships, or Space Fortresses.
"Then it is decided. Voidships would be finished in the upcoming days. Lord Mephisto, you would be coming on this expedition with us, as Fortress Gremory with all advanced Arcanotech isn't in immediate danger for now."
I ordered. With new additions to the defense of Fortress Gremory, the fort with all Arcanotech it could easily defend against the attack of many Ultimate-Class beings. Especially thanks to new models of Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries that were also used in the Lunar-Class Cruisers were mounted onto walls and towers of the Fortress Gremory.
"Yes, My Lord." "Yes, My Lord." "Of course Lord Lucifer."
Responded two Generals and Lord Mephisto Pheles together, as they left the room and I was left alone with Venelana.
"So what do you think Vena? In the future, this would be our lifeblood."
I said to her as I sat down on the sofa.
"It is too bloody but probably necessary. From two months you have obtained resources worth of several years of production in the Underworld."
Said Venelana slowly as she came to me and sat on my lap and hugged me. My hearts beat very fast as I felt her soft body touching mine. This was really something new to me, I felt uneasy but also comfortable for some reason.
[This is just a biological reaction of you meatbags have, or in other words, you want to mate with this woman, so mate with her.]
Said the voice of Architect in my head.
'Crappy machine.'
I cursed in my head.
After several seconds, I hugged Venelana with my hands and held her close to me, as her head rested on my chest. It was apparent that even though, she was masking it perfectly, she didn't like the environment here.
This was a military expedition with a minimum amount of luxuries, or other necessities for nobles. I personally hated it, so I didn't take anything that wasn't really needed for expedition or battles.
"Thank you for your help."
I said quietly to her.
In truth, I was really happy that she came, it may didn't seem like that, but she was a great help.
Chapter 59 - First Flight
The next day, I was standing in the command center of one of three Lunar-Class Cruisers. I was sitting on the throne that was installed in the middle of the room, while General Zagan and Venelana were sitting beside me, as my ship was in the lead of the other two.
Finally, after a long time, I was once again sitting in the voidship. During my time in the Solar Federation, I have designed many of them, especially oriented for battle. Entire Voidship was controlled by simple A.I. created and controlled by Architect.
This was the advantage of advanced artificial intelligence technology. In Solar Federation, all fleets were solely controlled by A.I. while Captains of Ships, or other Navy Officials, were only doing final decisions, where to shoot, if shoot, where to fly, and other things. In other things, A.I. was more precise than the human factor.
We were passing through the ocean current, and we would be for several hours.
"How much time until we reach the Ihor, Zeo?"
Asked me bored Venelana as she was sitting there and looking bored as hell, even I was a bit, of course, I could read some magic tome, but due to sitting here with General Zagan and Venelana that would be considered as rude to them.
One was my fianceé, and the other was my most loyal vassal.
"Three or four hours, we are flying at the lowest speed, to not waste much energy, as we need it for weaponry, and also, the entire ocean is full of many strong monsters and sea beasts, we don't need to attract attention."
I answered her. Deep within the depths of the ocean, there were many strong entities. I set the speed of the voidships to its lowest for the reason of the lowest consumption. In turn, my ships won't be attracting the attention of more energy-sensitive monsters and creatures, that would be otherwise tempted to attack my transport.
"I see... that is indeed wise move, My Lord."
Said General Zagan from my side.
"After arriving at the Ihor, we would be landing in the west of the subcontinent, apparently, in near there is a strong tribe of humans, that would be needed to deal with, so I will be putting in test my new artillery of Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries."
I explained. Problematic thing was, near my landing-place, where I planned to construct teleportation array was some tribe of humans, liked by Ultimate-Class Chieftain, so my new voidships would have their first test.
"Why not fly and land in north or south of Ihor?"
Asked Venelana.
"It was no good option, My Lady. You see, while these three voidships may appear strong, if we are unlucky and encounter some very strong sea beast, we could be easily attacked from the sea. North Coast and South Coast are much distant, so we would need to spend more time flying."
Answered her General Zagan.
The sea beasts truly terrified me. When Lord Mephisto told me that, he found existences on the level of Satan-Class / Intermediate Divinity Stage God was truly dreadful. This plane was weird, its development and strength were drastically different between sea and land.
"Still, even if we are talking about continents, this place has far more Ultimate-Class powerhouses than we have initially predicted. That is a bit troublesome."
I said.
"Don't worry, My Lord. Currently, I have four Ultimate-Class flesh golems, and after we dispose of these foul barbarians, I hope that you will leave me some of them, so I can increase my collection."
Said General Zagan with a malicious grin, to which I nodded.
"Of course General, your collection is most helpful in this conquest."
I said.
While Flesh Golems created from Zagan's Clan Trait were weaker than geniue experts, that was mainly due to major loss of intelligence and wisdom due to their death and use of the Clan Trait to reconstruct them as Flesh Golems.
Even weaker their use was in that, they could easily block and stall genius Ultimate-Class powerhouses for enough time, and if they were to gang up on someone, they could use the numerical advantage to kill even real Ultimate-Class powerhouses.
Yestera Plane, Ihor Subcontinent, Central Region, several days before
"Chieftain, the prophets, and shamans have verified the news... apparently, the entire Ewor Subcontinent fell to the vile invaders."
Said a man in long fur robes.
"What should we do Head Shaman? Invaders should be very strong to conquer the entire subcontinent."
Asked the Chieftain his advisor the Head Shaman.
"In my opinion, we should contact other Great Tribes through entire Ihor and establish the alliance against the invaders. From what shamans prophecies and visions, told that the invaders are already coming to attack and annihilate us."
Stated the shaman in a creepy voice.
"How much of Legendaries could we gather with all support?"
Asked Chieftain. The Legendary powerhouse was in their culture name for Ultimate-Class entity.
"There are 7 Great Tribes across entire Ihor, and each of them has on average 2 Legendary Powerhouses, some have even three. Altogether, we would have probably around 17 or 18. The problem is, some of them are already part of their prime, especially Great Tribes in South, are in severe decline, and their Legendaries are already on verge of dying from old age."
Answered the Shaman truthfully. Even so, gathering so large a number of Legendary-ranked powerhouses was terrifying, so he hoped that it would be able to defeat enemies. Especially, now that his tribe was calling for such alliance, and they had three Legendary-ranked powerhouses, himself included.
"Then send a message to all Great Tribes and call them for a meeting, right now. We need to establish a military alliance as soon as possible. Do you know when will the invaders arrive?"
Said Chieftain.
"Within days Chieftain. I will work as fast as possible to accomplish these tasks to preserve our civilization and banish the evil invaders to where they belong."
Answered Head Shaman.
"Good... hopefully, we will all survive this."
Chapter 60 - Landing at Ihor, Attacking a Tribe
Yestera Plane, Ihor Subcontinent, Western Region
If one looked from the coast of the Western Region of the Ihor Subcontinent, on the horizon you could see three humongous spaceships appearing, as they were slowly flying towards the land.
I observed the area, not finding anything weird, there weren't enemies so that was good. General Borke Zagan was standing next to me in the command center of the Lunar-Class Cruiser, as we were observing the coast. It looked like a beach, with sand and sunny weather.
"Where should we go now, My Lord?"
Asked General Zagan, while observing the land.
"We shall be annihilating one of the Great Tribes in the Western Region of Ihor Subcontinent, close to the Westcoast, isn't the Tigara Tribe? I don't want any kind of disturbances during the building process of the teleportation array to Ihor. We will annihilate them with Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries installed on cruisers. At least we will see the might of new models of them in practice."
I said with a grin, as three Lunar-Class Cruisers went to the direction where the Tigara Tribe was located.
"Of course, My Lord."
Answered General Zagan, as we continued our journey where the Tigara Tribe was located.
After half an hour of flying, this time with high speed, as I was not bothered by attracting mighty sea beasts and monsters from the depths of the ocean, and soon enough, the Tigara Tribe was in our sights.
It was worthy of the title Great Tribe, it looked huge, with many buildings that were looking more advanced compared to the Tribes in the Ewor subcontinent, I even sensed two Legendary-ranked Powerhouses, that were there.
"There are two of them... start charging the Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries, including the Main Cannons."
I commanded, as everything as being charged on the three Lunar-Class Cruisers, aiming at their target, which was a settlement of the Tigara Tribe.
Soon enough, after several seconds, I got notification from Architect who was now directly controlling these three voidships, that all artillery was fully charged and ready to fire.
"Fire."
I commanded, as soon, tens and tens of Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries started shooting at the settlement of the Tigara Trige, which looked like Starfall. Including the main artillery cannons, which reminded high supernova, when it shot three large balls of concentrated energy.
Afterward, one could hear screams of pain and anguish from down below, as the entire settlement was bombarded straight to oblivion, destroying everything, leaving nothing standing or alive. Only two Ultimate-Class powerhouses of the Tribe, we right now barely standing after the first wave of artillery.
"Send them a second wave."
I commanded, and immediately, all Anti-Matter Magicule Batteries started shooting once more, the sound of firing, steel, and the fire was being spread around the three voidships, as a new wave of attacks hit the settlement, or right now ruins of the settlement.
When the supernova shots of the main artillery fell down, a huge explosion occurred, and shockwave tore out all trees in diameter of one kilometer, even ships shuddered slightly, as we experienced the aftershocks.
After several minutes dust finally settled and I looked at delight at the huge wasteland which was created by my Arcanotech, the former populous city settlement of the Tigara Tribe, populated by tens of thousands of humans.
"Splendid... what do you think General?"
I asked with a happy voice, seeing my weapons work in such a marvelous way. This was nothing more than the combination of my knowledge from Solar Federation combined with the magic of this realm of existence, creating even more fearsome weaponry.
And this was only a beginning... as I would grow stronger, so would my Arcanotech, as my possibilities would widen, allowing me to construct and recreate even more wonders from the Golden Age of Technology.
Cruisers had less firepower from combat-oriented Voidships. I wonder how strong would be upgraded Battleships or even Void Fortresses that were the pinnacle of space-faring technology of Solar Federation.
My final aim was to construct Black Fortress.
Black Fortresses weren't technology or anything created by Solar Federation, but something far more ancient, but with such huge destructive power, it eclipsed every ship across all fleets of Solar Federation or Aeldari Empire.
Solar Federation had studied one of them, and I was even head of the research team. Till now, I have all data saved in the Architects database, waiting for the blueprints to be finished.
"Send down Mechs and Legions to cleanout. We will construct the teleportation array here. The Tigara Tribe was located in a suitable location with good defensive possibilities. Secure the location, and build a simple fortification."
I commanded as General Zagan began shouting commands to his subordinates.
The only loss I have suffered was that the bodies of the Ultimate-Class humans, can't be recovered as my artillery blasted them to oblivion.
Soon enough all three Lunar-Class Cruisers started landing down, and soldiers together with Mechs started marching out of them and started their specific tasks, such as cleaning, building, and other things.
Just in three hours, the entire place was cleaned perfectly, as if nothing ever happened here, thanks to magic and mechs. Then, the building process of the teleportation array started, which would take approximately 12 hours probably.
I then retreated to the Cruiser to spend some time with Venelana and drink some tea, maybe I will go sleep before I dumped overseeing duty onto General Zagan. Another advantage of being a Lord, I have subordinates, that are doing things instead of me. On the other side, I was inventing new Arcanotech gadgets, that eased life for everyone, my people included, so it is even.
When I was back, I already saw Venelana preparing a tea for me, albeit a little clumsily, it was apparent this was the first time she was doing something like this, to which I smiled lightly, as I sat down.
And after a very long twelve hours, I was notified that the teleportation array was already finished, which was fantastical, and terrible. Fantastical for the conquest, as it could continue. Terrible for me, as I wanted to sleep a bit more, as I was tired.
