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It had been months since the end of the demon invasion.
Saho had been hailed a hero, and Rio became a great celebrity, quickly retiring to be a painter rather than an adventurer. Saho loved it. The feasts, the parties, the mood. After the depressive atmosphere of the world during his arrival, this was like stepping from the shade into the sunshine– something he had a lot of experience with.
Unfortunately, not all was well.
The fall of the beastkin capital and subsequent death of its royal family meant that beastkin were a rarity. And with rarity came value.
Beastkin weren’t officially a slave race yet, but royals of all other races had quickly snatched up any beastkin they could for new servants. Even Fuyuko had been grabbed before Saho or Rio could do anything.
Saho wanted to fight them, but what could he do? Certainly he was powerful, much more so than any other adventurer or soldier, but he was only one man, and even with Rio backing him up, they would lose. So when his patron offered to turn him into a god, he accepted, and left Asyke behind. He would have used his newfound power to smite them, but he doubted that would help. It would likely only cause a new war, one far bloodier than the last.
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Fuyuko was livid.
She had returned with Saho and Rio to the human capital only to find out that apparently now beastkin were essentially a slave race. Sure they weren’t legally, at least not yet, but she knew that was only a matter of time. So of course, she was grabbed by a royal’s hired goons in order to be given to some brat as a late-birthday gift. "It’s disgusting," she muttered under her breath. The orc beside her, shackled by chains thicker than her own body, rumbled in agreement.
"You sure you don't want to?" the orc asked.
"I won't. Just because I've been enslaved by their followers doesn't mean I'll abandon the path I've chosen." Fuyuko snapped back
The orc’s rumbling hum shook her bones like an earthquake. “If you do decide to–”
“I won’t.” She declared pointedly.
The orc grunted, its huge frame softened by a glimmer of respect for her resolute spirit, and it resumed its attempts to find sleep. Fuyuko huffed in exasperation, her tail swishing irritably behind her. She didn’t even know where they were going.
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The months of imprisonment had taken a heavy toll on both Adachi and Sou.
Within the confines of the demon's castle, they were kept in a well-furnished room, and the prosthetic limbs allowed them a semblance of functionality, if not freedom. Sou was never the most observant. But even he could see what was happening. Adachi had started to align herself to their captors, even if it was only as small as helping around the castle, and she had gotten him to do so as well.
Sou made a vow where he stood. He would protect Adachi, and keep her safe even in their captivity. He did not make this vow to the Great Creator. Their power could not reach them there.
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He made it to himself.
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Why should my invasions be focused on a single planet?
I mean logically, as the opponent of Akira, I wouldn’t be assaulting a single planet and none of the other millions of inhabited systems across thousands of different galaxies.
But I don’t want my demons to get overworked. So I suppose I should make some other kinds.
I’ll take one of the unoccupied planets in the same system as the first demon planet and use that.
I don’t want the exact same type of demon though.
So instead I’ll make them a living mist, similar to shades, capable of shifting their shape and solidifying into a malleable liquid form. These will be dream demons. Seeping into the heads of those sleeping, controlling them. There will still be higher and lesser demons, mainly in function, with lesser demons turning their hosts into functional animals.
No barrier can hold them back. No weapon can stop them. No strength of form can keep them away, only strength of mind.
Perfect. I’ll send them in a couple decades. Not to the same planet, but to another one.
But what about the demon King?
It’ll be the same basic frame of these new kinds of demons. Immaterial, misty, control your mind through dreams, the classics. I’ll pick a ruler on the planet, send the demon king after them, and bam, demon king. Or queen. It's not like there aren’t female rulers, and the dream demons don’t really have a gender. They’re mist. And unlike the other demons, these ones won’t really have any sort of social hierarchy. They’ll run things Athenian democracy style.
I’ll inform the classic demons about the dream demons, and vice versa.
. . .
Now I’m on a creating spree! Shit.
Alright, what else? I guess I can make more races. There are plenty of classics I haven't made yet.
Let’s start with the most simple of the simple. Slimes.
Essentially enormous single-celled organisms. Immortal acidic sacks of slime that’ll consume anything in their path. No higher thought, only eat, grow, split. I can respect that. It's how I got through college. They’ll be able to grow in size the more they consume, and in theory they could grow forever if left alone.
What else? Kobolds of course!
Although kobold is just the german name for goblin, in nerd culture it means something different. Mini dragon humanoids, or basically hobbits crossbred with dragons. Kind of like goblins, they have a reputation of being decently smart, and in this case they’ll be more open to show it.
I’ll try an experiment with this new planet, and try to integrate my races into the races made by Akira.
Their cover story will be that they come from a different continent, or something similar, with their own religion, beliefs, and technology. Does this mean that my demon invasions will have to attack my own creations? Again, yes.
How’s Avai and the terran galaxy? Only 191 thousand years since I began the time dilation?
Fuck. This is gonna take forever.
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Fuyuko was led by chain into the bowels of the castle. She would be dressed nicely at least, which was a relief after months of wearing her leather armor, but this was not how she wanted to be wearing nice clothes.
During her escort, she saw some of the other servants in the castle. Goblins running around underfoot, carrying various amenities and taking them to the more visually appealing servants, mostly elves and humans. She wasn’t surprised to see an orc among the servants, and the week she spent in the cart had granted her a surface level understanding of orc culture from the stories they would share to keep their spirits high. The orc had been clothed in a fine dress, although Fuyuko could see the outlines of thick chains hidden below it. Then Fuyuko was pulled away to be educated on how to serve.
But before she went, she got a good look at the orc’s eyes. Few living beings could have recognized it from how well covered it was, but the memory had been burned into Fuyuko’s skull even as she was swatted aside like an insect. The orc’s eyes burned with veiled hate and power. Glowed with hidden malice and hate. Not leveled at her, but at her master.
Fuyuko felt a shiver run down her spine. Those eyes reminded her of the demon King as it towered over Saho, ready to crush him like a bug.
It wasn’t the anger of a mortal.
It was the rage of a god.
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