Serenity’s estimate of a week was, unsurprisingly, low. Seventeen days after Lykandeon’s death, Serenity finally reached the portal they were going to use to leave Lyka with everyone who was coming with him. It wasn’t Serenity that was the delay; instead, it was the fact that it took that long for Ekari to assemble a large enough team of trusted people that she didn’t need them to continually put out fires. The piece of Legion that would stay could do a lot but even Legion couldn’t do it alone.
Zenith was still not an available destination. The only other available locations were Ika, Adze, and Kes; Serenity remembered all three from his discussion with Duke Lowpeak. They were all significantly farther from Zenith than Mornmot was, tucked away in the middle of probably hostile territory.
He’d more than half hoped Dragonrest would be an option. Sure, he’d have to figure out how to get from the island to Zenith, but it was owned by one of the Courts. While Serenity didn’t know which one, that still seemed safer than trying to make it through demon-infested land.
Mornmot was the only reasonable choice. It came with the distinct downside of demons, but they could deal with that. They’d have to.
He could go through in his demon form; that should help. He’d have to reveal it to the people he hadn’t yet told about it, but Ita definitely wouldn’t care and he didn’t think Kerr would either. Rissa and Blaze already knew. Legion was an open question, but Serenity didn’t really expect an issue; she’d sworn an oath to him instead of to Ekari even though she was leaving some of her pieces behind with Ekari and Sillon.
If only there were some way to let other demons know they’d have to deal with him if they messed with his people. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem like a particularly demonic thing, so Serenity suspected he’d find out that he could get retribution but not warn them ahead of time.
It wasn’t like he had a Path to go with his Form anyway. It didn’t even appear as an evolution, so he might never get one.
He hoped that he wouldn’t. As useful as it might be, he really didn’t need more Wrath in his life. That was Vengeance’s thing anyway; he wanted to be Serenity, not Vengeance.
Serenity turned away from the Portal Node. He almost wished he’d avoided the word “demon” while describing the trek out from Lowpeak, but it was both too late for that worry and not something that could rightfully be concealed anyway. “We’re going to have to go in through Mornmot. That means we’ll be going through monster-infested territory. I know I talked around it while we were making plans, but I do have a bit of authority there. I didn’t say why, but it’s because of one of my forms.”
No one even seemed surprised. Why had he been so nervous?
Serenity shook his head at his own lack of faith and shifted. His armor shifted with him as everything around him seemed to grow smaller. When he finished, he realized he was at least half again the size he remembered being when he was on Zon. “Huh. Do demons get larger based on their Tier?”
“FLUFFY!” The shout came from the woman he thought of as the spokesperson for Legion; she was Legion’s only Tier Four and up until now had been remarkably level-headed. She reached out and ran her hand along Serenity’s wiry fur before he could stop her; he knew just how nasty that “fur” could be and he was Tier Eight. It should slice her to the bone.
Only it didn’t. She grinned as she petted Serenity. “So soft.”
“Uh,” Rissa stepped forward and set her hand on Legion’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t do that. Don’t pet people without their permission.”
Legion pulled her hand back and flushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. He’s just so incredibly fluffy.”
“That fluff could have cut your fingers off.” Blaze’s voice was sharp and cold. “You’re lucky he was surprised instead of angry. He just told you he was shifting to a demonic shape and you tried to pet him? I know you have more than one body but please don’t endanger yourself like that.”
Legion’s other bodies had flushed just like the spokesperson’s had. Serenity thought Rissa and Blaze had gotten through to Legion. That was probably enough of a scolding for now. “Does that mean everyone is ready? I’m not expecting an immediate fight since there’s been no sign of anyone trying to take over Mornmot but I obviously can’t guarantee anything.”
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The portal entrance to Mornmot was clear. Serenity went through first, followed in a rough order of power. It meant Rissa came through with the largest group of Legion, but it also meant she was safe.
The building housing the Mornmot City Node was the same as when he’d left it, but when he left the building, Serenity found a changed city. It simply didn’t match his memories of a largely decayed city inhabited by demons living in the rubble, even though every single piece of that was still true.
The foundations to all of the buildings - even the ones that weren’t there anymore - glowed with magic. Where there had been partial walls remaining, the first foot of the wall was smoothed and unbroken and also glowing, though anything that had been broken was still missing.
Serenity tapped the City Node; the reason for the change was obvious almost immediately.
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Mornmot [Destroyed City] Node Active
Region Inactive
Mode: Rebuilding
Style(s): Architecture of Wrath (Demonic), Spires of the Soaring Wing (Draconic)
Serenity had seen that option before, though always from the outside. It was something that sometimes happened when a city was captured. If it was sufficiently damaged and the city was able to directly build buildings, they might be rebuilt in the style of the conqueror.
Serenity had no idea how it was triggered. He’d always thought it was deliberate, but he hadn’t done anything that should have triggered it.
It was a matter for a later time. For now, he had a company of soldiers to escort to Lowpeak; they’d decide what to do after that once they were there.
The group filled the courtyard of the building that held the Node before everyone was even through. Since the only remaining transits were for Legion, Serenity led the way into the city. Legion would simply have to figure it out; Serenity had no desire to micromanage.
That was when Serenity noticed that the awareness he’d had of Legion’s locations and actions had vanished. He thought it’d disappeared when he entered Mornmot, which made sense; he was too far from Aeon. It made Serenity cheerful.
There were no demons on the route for several blocks; the first demons Serenity saw took one look at him and ran. The reaction was pleasant; he liked being feared. That was probably a function of being a demon, but it was one he wasn’t worried about any more than he was worried about the anger that still bubbled at the bottom of his mind. He’d resolved his biggest concerns and everything was good. He had the anger under control.
Twenty minutes later, Serenity found out just how wrong that thought was.
Legion’s spokesperson turned to Serenity. “I’m being attacked; a group of-”
Serenity was already gone; he’d leapt over Legion’s head and onto the pile of rubble that lined the left side of the street, then jumped closer to the problem. He’d heard something a moment earlier, so he knew which way to go and that was enough. No one was allowed to attack his people! Especially not in his city!
When he got there, it was a group of about fifteen leonine demons of some sort; Serenity didn’t recognize their subtype and he didn’t care. He also didn’t care that Legion had already killed one of the demons. He roared his anger and charged at the nearest demon, careful only to avoid hitting any part of Legion.
The roar seemed to shake the demons, but one of the ones farthest from Serenity seemed to think that this was a discussion. “Great Lord, welcome and thank you! We wish to share this bounty-”
Serenity threw a Death Magebolt at him. The weakling collapsed. “Mine! Do not kill my people!”
Another demon fell, then another. Legion killed more than Serenity did, but it was close. After Serenity’s claim, the demons ran, but only two made it in the end.
Serenity was satisfied. They could spread the word of his claim; no one was allowed to attack his people!
Wait, what was he thinking?
Now that the fight was over, Serenity shook off the rage that had enveloped him. It was clear that he definitely didn’t have full control over his wrath. In fact, this was a sign that he might never have full control; he hadn’t even had the chance to think about what he should do, he simply reacted.
All he could do was thank his luck that the form he’d ended up with was a Greater Demon of Righteous Retribution. It might rule his actions sometimes but it didn’t seem to act against his beliefs.
Of course, the even better part was that he had significantly more control when he wasn’t in his demonic form. The mindset didn’t transfer over.
There were two more attacks in the next hour, but after that they stopped. Each time, a few demons escaped; Serenity could only assume that they were spreading the word that he and his entourage were not to be attacked. He saw very few other demons before the time when they had to stop for the night. They couldn’t travel as late as he could; Legion didn’t have any way to instantly create enough shelter.
Serenity still had his tent, which he couldn’t even enter in his demon form. He shifted to his chimera form and set it up in the middle of the encampment Legion created. There was absolutely no reason not to and it was a relief to shift and not have to worry about his mental state.
The next day, they reached the outer wall of Mornmot. This time there was no way Serenity was going to fit through the tunnel. More than that, he wasn’t about to send his people through it without him. Fortunately, the gate was already open.
There were actually guards on the wall; that was different from the rest of the city, where demons had been in hiding. The guards didn’t question him; instead, one called down to the others. “Only Greater Demons may use the gate! The rest of you, head to the tunnel to your left!”
Serenity growled. “They’re my people. They follow me, they can use the gate I do. Understood?”
The guard shivered but held his position. “Yes but I can’t stop them from being killed! Only Greater Demons can use the gate because anyone else that goes through it dies!”
Serenity felt appeased. It wasn’t just a nonsensical rule, there was a reason behind it. The demon on the wall was actually trying to do the right thing. That was a strange thing to think about a demon.
Serenity focused on the wall. He hadn’t noticed anything when he came through it the first time, but that didn’t mean anything. He hadn’t looked; he’d have missed something if it was subtle. This time he wouldn’t.
This time it wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t at all subtle; the entire wall was laced with the same magic as the foundations of the city. There was a field across the area where the gate would be that served to complete the wall magically even though the gate was open.
It was obvious what Serenity was looking at: a ward. Specifically, he was looking at a City Ward. Powered by the fact that the city was inhabited, City Wards required maintenance to keep them doing what they were supposed to do but only really needed monster cores if the city was regularly attacked or in the middle of a major attack that damaged the walls.
At least that explained why he hadn’t noticed it the first time; a good ward was made to not be seen and Serenity had the feeling that this was originally a very good ward. They weren’t made to hide themselves from people who maintained or owned them, however, and Serenity was the City Lord now. It was probably making itself more obvious to him.