The central high elf gathering was in a bit of an uproar. A sweat-soaked scout had returned, spewing unintelligible gibberish at the checkpoints along the way.
As seldom anything interesting ever happened this close to the capital, it didn't take long for the common populace to learn of the danger. Word of mouth travelled especially fast with the aid of magic and chatty elves.
So did of course the council members, interrupted in their weekly meeting. Summoning the scout after hurriedly dismissing formalities for the day which alone took them a few hours still, they listened to her report.
It also didn't take long for the two leading elders of the war faction to call her names and warn of ridiculous consequences. Hurt in their pride, they didn't believe for a moment that a single unknown daemon had this much power.
Rather, thoughts of the scout's cowardice or a deal in exchange for survival were ripe in everybody's mind, not just theirs. After the scout was put in detention until further notice, the five elves talked up a storm.
The representatives of the war faction wanted to see blood, those of the development faction the closing off of their borders while only the last remaining elder suggested asking Elfriede to clean up this mess. Yet that option was shot down the fastest.
After another three hours of emergency tho and fro, the war faction emerged victoriously, much to the chagrin of the lone neutral elder. Elfriede was in secluded cultivation and the majority of the elders wanted to keep it that way.
This close to the centennial World Tree Prayer, summoning the Great Prophet would only dilute their power and ruin a promising scheme whose preparation had already consumed decades and countless resources.
But the bigger reason of all was the widespread belief that a single daemon shouldn't warrant so much of their precious time. If word gets known that only one stinky failed experiment of the Abyss is needed to put them on tenterhook, where would the council members put their face next?
Into the gutter, they believed. Even the lone supporter of the Great Prophet didn't see the need to handle this situation this carefully. Three hours of oral confrontation was mostly politically oriented anyway.
It was just like already knowing the ultimate direction this was heading towards, yet not how to satisfy the need for formality and various expressions of self-respect. At one point, they came to an acceptable conclusion anyway.
"As per majority vote, the daemon is to be disposed of swiftly without disrupting preparation for the prayer." "I'm content you've seen reason once again in my and Duwende's opinion. You shall not end up disappointed."
Elder Eldacar felt this day was not that bad, considering he'd earned the eye-rolls of two beauties and a deadly stare of a third one from this single intervention alone.
"Once the Great Prophet learns of your sins, she'll end your career! Mark my words, the truth they hold." No one seemed to take Elfrieda's last staunch supporter seriously.
This was especially evident as Duwende cast a spell to convey their decision to the strike force while she was still threatening them, her speech in full swing.
The ignored elder, Ozma was her name, felt her head flush red with shame and stared in embarrassment at the floor. These wooden tiles, she'd come to remember the tiniest details.
"Now that this little daemon problem is solved and the prayer around the corner, we might perhaps discuss what to do with that disgusting group of intruders.
Can't ultimately have them trash our holy ceremony." "Before that, shouldn't we better eliminate the closest threat? Once the Great Tree's roots have been damaged further, your hated intruders are of no concern any longer."
"There is abundant truth in Avelyn's words. I don't hold any hopes for Duwende to understand, but aren't you different, Eldacar?" "Lefaye! What is that supposed to mean? Do you doubt my intelligence?!"
"Not at all, fellow elder. It just means what I said. Your goals are what I question." "Are you sure you should walk this path? Our qualifications rest on—" "Peace, Duwende. You too, sister.
We have better use of time than engaging in childish squabbles." "...you're right, Avelyn, so let me take the word. I ask you, brothers and sisters, what direction should we pool our forces in?"
The door was opened in a hurry, interrupting Eldacar who was about to subtly help convince Duwende of the other camp's great idea and hope to impress his first flame in the process.
Seeing his intentions trashed, he gave the stink eye to the poor messenger gasping for breath. Any sarcastic remark on his tongue was forgotten soon after.
"Emergency, council members! The breach widened all of a sudden, the worms came through in batches." A vein almost popped on Eldacar's distinguished face. "Explain," he barked, trying to unsee Lefaye's meaningful glance.
"The seals held up until moments ago. But suddenly, the intensity increased dramatically. Looks like nothing we've ever seen. We need reinforcements as soon as possible, cannot keep them out on our own."
"A sudden increase? Don't tell me a Bug Mother has noticed the breach?" "No time to dawdle then, Avelyn. Not only must reinforcements come, but we should also all be going too."
This time, the other elders had nothing against Lefaye's demands, knowing that impeding disaster was guaranteed should the bugs overwhelm them at any one moment.
"Fucking Daemons. Wherever they go, misfortune follows. Cursed cretin, why isn't it dead already? And most important of all, who let the creature in here in the first place?!" All the way down, Duwende's curses rang unabated.
The Great Tree was shaking in forebodance. It's ancient wood sending signals of distress and warning plain to hear for all who had the right attunement. Which were remarkably few.
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"Waaaahhuaahiehiehie~." The baby crawled merrily on the soft bed of moss with impressive speed for its small body, its chime-like laughter a divine gift to lose one in.
Thoth moved the ball he'd compressed from the clothes taken off the statues, rolling it towards the baby, slowly. The little thing saw his actions and tried to imitate them, but instead fell to the side as their proportions weren't comparable in the slightest.
It didn't please her one bit and she tried again. And again. Tirelessly, she rolled on the soft ground. After a dozen fruitless trials, she eventually came up with the idea to use her furry tail as a crutch, keeping her from tumbling over while she finally rolled the ball back under pleased squeals.
Her erect ears were twitching madly, as the eyes shone with delight and pride. C-cute...my dearie, just cute. Thoth chuckled happily, ready to answer with a new challenge. He took the ball, walked some steps back and dropped it to the ground.
The baby didn't quite get it and looked at him with questioning eyes. Thoth took the ball again, imitated her crawl, waddled some steps and dropped it.
This time, the baby seemed to infer some meaning from his actions, but it was quite evident she considered this kind of play uninteresting. Seems to be a bust. Aww... There was no reward for Thoth. No peal of laughter, no ever so down-tuned giggle either.
Just the same scrunched-up face he'd seen when trying to feed her the wrong nutrition package the other hour. As expected, human feed is not welcome here.
I just have the right idea of what might be better by miles. Brimming with energy as she was, the baby failed to keep calm and crawled towards the ball, kicking it with enough force to make her and the ball roll over the moss.
There it was again, the sparkle in her eyes. Same for the small tail, it too swung like a pendulum. Dropping the ball and running after the same are games the young's not impressed with, obviously. Duly noted.
Thoth didn't mind being delegated to run after the ball. Not when a simple barely modified gravity spell made it float back on its own. The baby didn't like it. Looking towards her teary crestfallen face, Thoth's heart wasn't ready to forgive him.
He felt pangs of guilt. Thoth let the ball roll towards her and waited until she half-heartedly kicked it again, a begrudging look in her bright eyes. This time, he used no spell and ran after it instead. Excruciatingly slow.
Turning around, he rolled the ball back to her with a flick of his wrist, which earned him big eyes bereft of any tears, followed by happy squeals and madly twitching tail and ears.
Thoth felt great. I've saved the day single-handedly. Critical achievement, old hand. Splendid! In an overwhelming moment of happiness, Thoth exerted less control over his claws than optimal and the ball burst, shredded to pieces.
The baby had a reproachful shine to her eyes that almost made Thoth rip off this sinful hand and imprison the good piece for eternity.
Yet it was also the same heavenly creature that readily pardoned his crimes. He was relieved when he actually heard her stomach growl, an indication that playtime would've come to an end all the same.
Connecting to Devizon, Thoth soon posted his order and gave away his coordinates. He picked the baby up in his arms, keeping her from unreasonably escaping at a bad time while they waited.
She reacted quite annoyed at her lost freedom. A few odd minutes later, the air over a tree stump oscillated and a delivery imp appeared, holing a bag much too big and heavy to easily carry around.
The devilish critter moved slowly towards the duo, its grotesque face distorted in pain. Thoth growled in annoyance and the imp was seen giving more than just its best to deliver the goods speedily.
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Once there, Thoth made the bag float, grabbed the imp with one free hand, headbutted the air with his horned head and threw the devilish dweller through the opened crack. One can never be too careful with devils and their servants.
In the bag was a month's worth of cow god's milk. If it wasn't so rare, he'd have purchased centuries' worth of the nutritious liquid in one go. Sadly, Devilzon was out of stock.
In any case, it absolutely wouldn't take more than a week until the hawkers he'd...hired...were successful in convincing that stingy god. They wouldn't pull punches, so much was certain. Not with the whole platform's continued existence at stake.
The baby didn't really like drinking milk very much, Thoth found. But with some slight cuddles here and nuzzles there she begrudgingly drank her fill. Thoth was damn sure she'd need all the nutrition she could get to grow up splendidly.
Any less he couldn't stomach. This was also the first time ever the baby consumed something that wasn't the mana he passively exuded, which made Thoth very happy. If the young can even do that, that is.
Having had her fill, the baby showed signs of dozing off. Thoth was happy to comply and tucked her away in the soft moss, enveloping her with as much enhanced linen as he could get away with.
This way, she'd be a tad bit safer and he wouldn't need to fear her rolling off somewhere she'd get hurt. Suddenly, the booklet shone in a flashy red, his earlier gentleness nowhere to be found.
Enemies had intruded into his sphere. Thoth was made known that they, first, were high elves and, second, had nothing good in mind. On the one hand, he could scantly believe Elfriede was so stupid as to make an enemy out of him without rhyme or reason.
On the other hand, he felt his temper flare up as the baby was by extension in danger too. The only silver lining to the deplorable turn of events was that the baby had soundly fallen asleep, so he could teach them a lesson, bloody if needed be.
Verily so. But first things first. Thoth looked one last time at the baby, his inverted pupils radiating off more warmth than they ever had in the last dozen millennia. Waking up to reality took a couple of minutes. "[Greater Summon Elemental III]," this was for protection.
"[Greater Abyssal Retribution III] and [Greater Information Transfer III]." Missing something? Protection's there. An abyssal lord comes after a braindead offender if that one somehow overcomes the summoned elemental and I'll get informed straight away if things look dire.
Thoth found no loopholes. The nearing of the enemy made him do away with the most rudimentary protection enchantments haunting his consciousness. But in doubt, he took off one of his many bracelets that left no scale uncovered until his elbow.
Laying that particular item of choice on the sleeping innocent beauty, he was sure nothing could go wrong. Even if the entire realm got fucked up badly, the baby would be safe. Thoth approached the incoming menace, his thoughts startlingly calm.
He crossed a long distance in a flash as he had no desire to wake up the sleeping beauty. Babies have their own biorhythm. Gotta respect that.
It wasn't long before he found signs of the incoming elves. The moment he laid eyes on them was when he understood that talk had not the greatest chance of success.
He remembered the insignia they were sporting. Not the people or this specific line-up to be sure, but who this squad was. What they represented. The Maple Leaf. Professional cutthroats, in other words.
Seriously now, what are you up to, Elfriede? One last chance is all you get. Thoth crept upon them, close enough to allow for a fast and decisive reaction but far enough to not make them lose their nerves.
"Are you looking for me?" Aaaaaaand yes. They are here for me. There was no denying it any further as the group as a whole beat down their surprise with professional ease and enclosed him while readying their weapons, sharp shives shimmering in green light.
The bows were enchanted too, as were the staffs the mages held in their hands. Nonetheless, their shine wasn't even comparable to what the unassuming shives sported.
There was no hesitation to their moves, nor did their blank faces betray any iota of emotion. Never thought the elves' sharpest blade in the capital would be one day after my head. Elfriede must've gone bonkers.
Out of cordiality that would soon cease to be, he waited for them to make the first move. Part of him still believed this to be a misunderstanding, be he could soon bury the thought.
"That's one hell of a mistake." Spells and arrows came raining on his face in response. Argh. Nothing goes my way these days. Better let off some steam.
Embracing his anger, Thoth empowered his favourite spell and cut loose. While darkness swarmed all over him, increasing his mass as it did every other physical aspect of his body, Thoth noticed the surprise on the face of the elf he believed was the leader.
Infused spell. Though to master, I know. Let's just say you lucked out pretty bad. All over his body, strange tattoos lit up, painting him in a menacing picture. Much eviller than he normally looked.
Yet the elves were not granted precious time to admire the brutal beauty inherent to the crisscrossing lines featuring some sort of nightmarish beast. The ground shrank and distance became meaningless as Thoth appeared in front of his first victim.
Before the latter processed the sudden change, his arm went through the woman's chest, crushing both lungs and the heart in one fell swoop.
The other rangers quickly got ahold of themselves, trying their best to keep him there and occupied while the mages prepared some nasty surprises.
Arrows made the rounds, some skillfully twisted to hit extra hard, others making random turns before they hit their target. An unknown kind of rather poisoned projectiles releasing loads of toxic mist upon impact found use also.
The air grew rather inhospitable and various streaks of conjured elements flashed all over the battlefield. Yet Thoth's physical resilience had grown so much since the spell's activation that he could ignore even the mana-infused arrows aimed at his vitals.
They, however, couldn't say the same about his occasional sweeps, kicks and punches. Surviving members of the Mapple Leaf found their options constrained by Thoth's exceptional durability.
Nothing got past the eerily glimmering scales. No amount of effort held him there, Thoth waltzing straight through their barrage, reaching the next enemy in little less than two seconds.
That one had the flash of genius to jump down the tree, trusting the pull of gravity with his life. Thoth however was by far faster and heavier, so the elf found himself impaled on his extended claws during mid-fall.
Only a dead body hit the ground as Thoth kicked the nearest knob of wood, propelling him towards his way to his next target. This time he wasn't as lucky, for the pressured mages weren't entirely useless.
Their casting had come to an end, the powerful invocation demanding change from the very tree they stood on, now melting and the mass gathering at a point.
An unstable ball of neon-coloured liquid appeared on their outstretched palms, soon seen hurling his way. They had masterly calculated his trajectory and the spell's speed, Thoth concluded.
But a lack of knowledge ruined many precious seconds bought with the life of their companions in one fell swoop. The very nature of infused spells had escaped them, contributing greatly to the blunder.
In that realm of mastery, casting time and upkeep limitations had lost their meaning altogether. Diligent practise made muscle memory remember the spell, burning the invocation on the skin in the form of a tattoo.
The mana necessary for upkeep would come from the body directly while the mind was freed of the burden of cumbrous control. To Thoth, this spell had become second nature a long time ago, greatly increasing his pool of choices.
His mastery went so far that everything enveloped by his infective darkness was a loyal subordinate of his whims and desires. The very same stuck to the clueless mages in the early beginning of combat.
The darkness ate up the charge of acid mid-way through and the spell crumbled. Thoth had to make sure the elves perceived a chance where truly none existed.
Else, even he with dozens of clairvoyance spells at his disposal wouldn't have the slightest inkling which sort of crooked tomfoolery they might come up with in the face of despair incarnate.
As far as he was concerned, this fight was mostly a play. One he'd have to keep somewhat under control for fear of waking up or, worst still, adversely impacting the baby in any way.
Thoth didn't care further about the offenders as he stood before his next target, an elf whose eyes widened in horror and fear. After crushing another head, he was still on time to deal with the two mages, delirious from the backlash of a failed spell and bleeding from all orifices.
On the way, having done in whatever ranger they'd thrown at him, he cleaned up each melee fighter he could get his claws on. Doing so turned out to be easier than expected.
For some reason or another, their movements had frozen, destroying their seamless coordination and playing him right in his hands. A dozen more bodies dropped to the ground.
Haven't seen many fights, this squad. Or at least not against intelligent foes boosting of a bit of punch. He couldn't help but think of a snarky comment while readjusting his stance.
Next, Thoth targeted the last member alive beside the leader, but an all-out attack from the two remaining elves at a perfect time pushed even him to the ground.
Mostly due to his self-imposed restrictions, but it was an achievement nonetheless. Nearly losing control of his mana while tanking the blow, Thoth focused against the aftereffect, his legs impacting the ground as he trusted his magic to take him to the destination.
An unexpected, successful short distance teleportation ruined the duo's trained collaboration. Appearing behind the unsuspecting female elf, her head was ripped off before the leader in plain sight could utter a warning.
Now that the task was almost completed, Thoth allowed himself to calm down for a bit. Not so much that he would fail to react in time to whatever surprises spring at his back, but enough to engage in meaningful conversation.
"All in all, your display wasn't half bad. But you're still green behind the ears if you ask me. Never partook in challenging fights against resourceful foes, that much is clear."
Thoth wiped the blood from his claws with a flick of his wrist. There was no other blood on the rest of his body, testament to his superior skill, experience and micro-control.
"You think you've won, dirty daemon?" The elf wasn't about to beg just because he'd follow the rest of his squad soon. "Aww...her your lover or something? Because you sound like it. Condolences...rather no.
I never provoked you nor did I do anything warranting bloody retribution. Now even the hostages will die because of your stupidity. That Great Prophet of yours I asked to meet in peace can do nothing about it.
More than anything, I will have a word with Elfriede and you can be damn sure it won't be a peaceful one." The elf laughed in mockery. Thoth got some bad vibes.
"Bring it on, beast. The Great Prophet shall be the last of your worries." "...[Greater Implusion III]." Ignoring the wide-eyed elf who seemed so terribly surprised he was able to actively cast spells too, Thoth ended him painlessly.
His instincts were tingling and he had no intention of ignoring the warnings of his subconsciousness. Many a time in the distant past, that unassuming tingle saved his hide.
No chance he wouldn't remember the sensation! Thoth raced back to where the baby was at the fastest speed he could muster. It didn't even take a hundred of a second.
Behind him, a straight smokey hole extended all the way to the battlefield, piercing through wood, stone, hill and some unlucky beasts alike. It smelled burnt. Within him just as much as out there.
At first glance, the baby was safe and everything as it used to be. At second, his rage knew no bounds. "Elfriede!!!!" Thoth snarled, his holler travelling a long way, scaring the animals.
Not that far off the most beautiful furred treasure, the melted remains of an assassin floated in a pool of liquid. Thoth was sure this was what the devious elf had meant back there.
The only thing the good leader lacked was proper information. If he'd known of the traps, he wouldn't have been nearly as sure of victory as he'd made Thoth believe to be.
The only reason [Greater Information Transfer III] hadn't been triggered outright was because the baby remained ultimately untouched and the damage to his cast enchantments turned out to be rather minimal.
Releasing the spell, Thoth got all the information he desired and then some. Race, gender, size, weight, fitness, intelligence, strength, dexterity, vitality, health, character traits, habits, names of close family, friends, state of mind, intentions...he lacked very little.
To think this all happened before I even engaged the bunch. My awareness needs sharpening, as does my presence. Taking the baby and stomping the elves' way, Thoth laughed eerily, his ash-coloured inverted pupils constricted even more like a reptilian's, unfeeling.
I swear. You'll get to know me better this time, Elfriede. And if time made you senile, I'm happy to do my part as the eternal dustman. Of that, you can be damn sure.