Of course, this was not presented as conquest but as an expansion of the habitat. The first thing scientists designed was a long-range aircraft capable of staying in the air for months. Its engines operated on magic, powered by workers on standby. Extended ‘autonomy’ was achieved by having a portal onboard that could transport crew or supplies across any distance directly to the base.

The aircraft itself was built in a quadcopter design. Four engines could change orientation in space, providing decent cruising speed and vertical landing. The engine design was also horrifically mundane. It was a wide ring artifact with a spell that propelled air in a given direction. As a result, this type of engine functioned as a propeller but was silent and devoid of moving parts.

Magic made solving many problems not just simple but extremely simple. The only challenge was obtaining sufficient magical energy. I addressed this by breeding a special type of worker with exceptionally developed magical cores. These were perhaps the most respected and free members of society. Each of these spiders carried a battery on its back, where it deposited the generated energy. Every two hours, this energy was released into a communal network and directed towards societal needs. Meanwhile, the worker could engage in any activity of their choice until it was time for the next battery discharge.

Unfortunately, I never managed to create sufficiently large storage devices to accumulate a significant amount of energy. It was similar to electricity: one can create a battery for a phone, but it’s impossible to store enough energy to power a city for a year.

After building the first two aircraft, I sent them to map the planet. The initial results came in a week and were... disheartening. The planet indeed had only three continents. Two were located at the poles and were currently covered in several meters of snow. The third continent was half the size of Australia and boasted impenetrable jungles covering its entire area.

The only peculiar thing was a relatively small desert in the western part of the continent. What struck me as strange was the perfectly straight border between the lush jungles and the barren wasteland. When one of the aircraft flew closer to investigate, an even more astonishing picture emerged.

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Thousands and millions of humanoid beings walked along the border of the jungle, methodically destroying all vegetation and animals. Moreover, they were using magic. Through binoculars from the aircraft, it was clearly visible that spells like fireballs or earth spikes were being employed. Descriptions of this magic had appeared in the chronicles of past wars.

I decided not to act hastily but to observe the mysterious invaders. What else could these beings be but those destroying the biosphere? After a couple of days, it became clear that the desert’s border was advancing further east. By making some calculations, I concluded that the invaders had begun their work no more than six months ago. If they continued in this manner, they would clear the continent from edge to edge within five years. This prospect was unacceptable to me.

First, I dispatched a reconnaissance group into the jungle. Dangerous wild beasts inhabited the area, but they posed no significant threat to trained warriors. Afterward, an operation was planned and executed to capture one of the invaders, however strange that might sound. The hastily conducted autopsy revealed that we were dealing with undead. Specifically, I had a corpse of an orc that had been possessed by the spirit of a forest elf through magic. Unfortunately, the mental magic available to the warriors could not penetrate the consciousness of the undead, and my clone involved in the operation did not achieve better results.

However, there were positive aspects to the operation. The characteristic signs in necromancy spells indicated that demons were behind the invaders. These creatures were one of the factions in the past war. They preferred not to engage in direct combat, instead sending undead in front. They could not reproduce but received reinforcements through portals leading to their demonic world.

I reviewed all the information I had about this race and then tasked the warriors with finding and capturing a demon. The ratio of undead to demons was usually no more than one to a thousand. Fortunately, the undead paid no attention to the aircraft hovering at an altitude of eight kilometers, especially since the flying machine was covered by camouflage. So, my forces only had to hover in the sky and observe.