His job crystal forgotten, they all stepped through, seeing a scene of carnage before them. At first he thought he was seeing proper invaders killing one another, they had the red scales and violet eyes that were the trademark for the race, but something was clearly different. As much as the body types of a demon could change, letting it be born with shapes more adapted to flying or swimming or even burrowing as he’d seen in the past, they’d always only have those two main traits, and certainly nothing like the fur that covered most of them, giving each an appearance he could only describe as werewolves with reptilian limbs.
More important than their looks though was what they were doing, a seeming fight to the death with the brute of the attack being focused on one man. His body was burned and beaten, enough blood pouring out of him that Ben was shocked to see he could stand, let alone fight, as the children of his race stood behind them, screaming and crying in their parent’s arms.
“What are you waiting for?” He asked, turning to the gods. “You can’t just let this happen, do something.”
Instead though, like they hadn’t even heard him they just spoke amongst themselves, their voices quiet and angry.
“So that’s how it was done,” Baphel spat out, with Slareth agreeing to whatever he was talking about.
“It would be clever if it hadn’t just doomed the world. Hell, doomed any other planet in the galaxy that hasn’t been invaded yet. Those idiots were really this naked in their greed, it’s unbelievable.”
“At least we know who to blame,” Anailia told them, the calm goddess she usually portrayed gone as she looked ready to explode. “Helori, make sure they don’t leave Quox’s realm. Myriad, inform the other gods what happened so they can assist her. Right now the priority is the capture of the forbidden gods. They need to pay for this.”
He heard the two gods agree but ignored the conversation going on at that end, instead shaking Thera. “We can’t just let this happen, you need to cast a sleep spell or something now while we figure this out.”
The urgency was thick in his voice, enough to shake her from the shock of what they’d just walked in on as she fired off her magic to the crowd in the distance as they collapsed to the ground, unable to withstand the mana she could put into a spell. At least most of them couldn’t.
The one who’d been fighting so fiercely, seemingly to protect the others went down when the rest did, but he fought off the intense desire for sleep trying to watch just what was happening, even if he lacked the strength to do any more. He’d been pushing himself as far as he could, and while he understood that his people weren’t dead he knew that after such a display if they wanted to kill them all they could easily. He was keeping his eyes open to meet his end and see if he really had made the wrong choice.
Ben knew none of this though and instead grabbed Thera’s hand, pulling her along to them with his previous concerns forgotten as they got to Toltho, the one who was still just barely awake despite being the most heavily injured.
He leaned down to touch him, connecting to get a better idea of what was going on despite any potential dangers and felt a mind in a mess. Fear and worry for his people, anger at his gods, loss for those who’d already died and worry that he’d made the wrong choice as the skills the creature had filled Ben’s mind as well, even if they were a mere side note in everything else. It felt nothing like the invader he’d connected to in the past, nor the demons he just had when he’d been checking their skills. In every way that mattered, it felt like a person.
“Thera, heal him,” He asked as he watched her do nothing.
“Ben, I… This looks like an invader,” She told him, unwilling to act when it could be such a dangerous creature.
“Not exactly girl, but they still need to die,” Saleth told them as he picked up a thick log, preparing to bring it down on one as Ben stood in front of him.
“If they’re not invaders then what are they that deserves a death sentence?” He asked angrily, not moving from the spot and refusing to let the god attack.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
It was Anailia who answered, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did. “They’re the reason the system incorporated demons, or at least they’re what the forbidden gods created that resulted in it. It appears those fools forcibly bred demons with a gentler animal and uplifted them with what little of their faith remained. I can only imagine it was a means to reduce what they’d spend on the act since demons are already on the edge of sapience before they change themselves, but incorporating what’s essentially a demon relative into the system was enough to destabilize the safeguards that kept invaders from becoming a part of it. Those blasted idiots.”
“So that’s why they have to die. They’re made of demons, apostle of Myriad, now get out of my way.”
“No, that doesn’t give any reason to kill them. I have demon bits in me, do I need to die for that too?” He asked, casting a judgemental look to the gods before him. “All you pricks can read minds, were you seeing something irredeemable in their thoughts? I’ll admit some of them weren’t looking great, but at least one looked like he was prepared to die to protect the others. Not to mention some of them are kids, or do you guys get off on shit like this?”
Ben had no desire to protect demons, he understood that even if hypothetically they might not all be evil, they’d taken over hundreds of worlds at least and killed an uncountable number of people on each. But that was just it, these weren’t demons. He wasn’t clear on the specifics, but it sounded like they were made by the forbidden gods. As wrong as that might have been, it wasn’t their fault, and just as importantly nothing would change by getting rid of them.
“The child is right Slareth,” Anailia said, placing a gentle hand on the other god’s arm. “The system has accepted the demons, even if we kill every one on this world before the gates open that fact won’t change. Unfortunately, these are just people born from fools, they don’t deserve to die for it. That will be the idiots who made them.”
He didn’t look happy, but the god dropped the branch after only a moment as Anailia left his side to heal some of the ones around with Thera doing the same, even if she still seemed unsure.
It was only as his wounds healed that the only man who was still awake said two words before letting himself drift off.
“Thank you.”
It hadn’t been expected, but that small bit of gratitude was enough to let herself give them the benefit of the doubt as she cast her eyes around the forest filled with the injured and dying, and with renewed effort got to work healing them.
“Good. Could you two grab five of the remaining demons from before? The sooner we get this done the better.”
At her request, a new portal was opened and demons dragged through as Ben let himself lay down, the voice of Myriad filling his head.
I have no clue what you’re talking about, it’s super simple. I do what’s right as long as I don’t feel like doing something that’s only a little wrong, and come on, you have to admit killing them would be pretty damn wrong.
What an interesting point, that gives me an idea.
“Hey, since it sounds like these guys might not have their own gods for much longer, do any of you mind if I call dibs for Myriad?” He asked aloud as Anailia laughed despite herself and the other two just looked shocked that the offer even went out as they dragged the last demon through.
“I believe they’re all yours,” Anailia told him. “This works out easier anyway, as the reason they were discovered you might as well have the first choice.”
“Awesome thanks.”
Well, aren’t I just freaking great at my job? You can tell me you love me if you need to, I get it.
<...I suppose this could be worse all things considered, though I’m not exactly thrilled.>
Hey, don’t be like that, there has to be a couple hundred of them. After this, you might not even be the god with the fewest followers! This is great for you!
Oh boy, well I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.