Right after the Radiant Angel roused from her unconsciousness, she told her story.
She had great success convincing the people to follow The Way, after all, she was a real angel. However, those sitting at the top proved to be resistant. She was allowed to debate her case in front of her inquisitor peers, and she did well. They couldn't refute her point that the angels were a type of monster race, but even still, they refused to discard the misleading ways of the Holy Light. They acknowledged the validity of her points but chose to stick to the old scripture, reluctant to loosen the grasp of their power. Yes, admitting that the angels were monsters would mean that the clergy was wrong all along, and they just couldn’t do that; they even went as far as to admit that honestly without even a shred of shame.
On her mission, the Radiant Angel had amassed a small group of followers, but that was it. It was only a matter of time until the Holy Emperor recognised her as a nuisance, and she would be declared a heretic. An angel heretic, the notion by itself was ironic, but the emperor had the power to do it. In other words, the clergy of the Holy Light was pushing against her, but only gently now.
Sure, the teachings of The Way were spreading among the peasantry through word of mouth. But that too will soon be stopped by the harsh hand of the Inquisition. There was just no place for common folk to practise it without judgement and fear of future trouble.
Then she had an idea. If she couldn’t do it in the Holy Empire, maybe she could lead her followers to a new land. But of course, there was no place like that, all good spots were already inhabited. And then she remembered that there was a tyrant ruling over the Aurelian Kingdom. The Kingdom was in trouble, yes, but it was outside the influence of the Emperor. It was very risky, but if she could depose the tyrant, she could claim this kingdom for her followers. And surely the Aurelian people needed saving… Or so she thought.
The Spider King challenged her flimsy reasoning. “That would have never worked out. And we had an agreement for you to stay away from here.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I just can’t stay in the Holy Empire anymore. The Inquisition made it clear I am unwelcome.” She looked down sadly, but there were also hits of feeling betrayed. “I lost everything you know. My title, my rank in Inquisition, even my friends… And all I did was tell the truth.”
Or maybe, she just didn’t play her cards right. But to blame her now was pointless.
“If so, we’ll gladly have you here.”
“What, really? I couldn’t even defeat Aurelius.”
“Aurelius? He isn’t your enemy… The Empire is. You realise that now do you?”
She looked at the Spider King reluctantly. “Yes, I do… but my followers…”
“They will be welcome here, I don’t see a problem.”
“… But this is his land. His dutchy. Aurelian Dutchy.”
“This is also Monster Realm. If I tell him to take some refugees, he will. But of course, they would need to recognise him as their duke.”
Life returned to the angel’s eyes. “That… will work!”
“When you gather your followers, I’ll tell the spiders to give you an escort. But it's best to be quick. I suspect the Holy Empire will launch another attack.” He knew they would, Johny had told so already.
Oh, and the reason Johny didn’t know about the stupid schemes of the Radiant Angel was that after she gained her evolution, she stopped relying on Slug Jelly; she didn’t need it anymore.
“Then, I’ll fly back in haste and tell them that they’re welcome here.”
“Yes, they are.” He reassured.
The Radiant Angel, now dressed in a blue tunic with Spider Kingdom’s insignia left the Galleon Wale with haste and flew to the distant east.
“She’s crazy…” The Spider King uttered quietly. “But so, I am.” He was also aware of his own peculiarities.
He’d settled the business he needed to do and It was time for him to fly back to the MegaFarm. The celebrations in the Aurelian Dutchy will probably go on for a few more days, but after that, it will be serious business. He had left a whole legion of spider crafters and spider engineers here; they would help Aurelius prepare for war.
He entrusted the Crimson Alchemist to ramp up her production to brew an incredibly large number of potions. The task would be impossible for her small workshop so an expansion was ordered. A huge alchemical brewery was being built right next to her old shop. The mass-produced potions will be used to boost and heal the Aurelian army.
The spider engineers had brought the Blueprints for Arrow Turrets, Great Balistas and other weaponry they had developed during the Darkness War. And the spider builders were here to help with the defensive wall, watchtower, and fort constructions, but also to lay roads towards the border. The road would allow the enemy to use it too, yes, but the Aurelian Capital needed it to field a quick response when attacked. And with Centauri help, the Aurelian army would have the upper hand on mobility.
As for the hand weapons, the Drow-made bows and spears will reach the Aurelian Dutchy at a later date. There will also be a shipment of basic Magic Scrolls and enchanted weapons. And naturally, more food will also be sent.
With all of that Duke Aurelius should manage to weather the Holy Empire’s assault.
…
The Spider King sat in the captain's chair and strapped himself with belts. “Set course to MegaFarm.”
Perched on the control table, “Aye aye, Captain,” the spider navigator replied pouring the mana in.
The ship flew up steadily and then it picked more speed as it was going forward.
“Engage Spider Hyperdrive.” The spider navigator chirped a command.
On the side, on the metallic grey web, there was a bunch of black-robed spider mages. “Spider Hyperdrive engaged!” They chirped in unison pouring Dark mana into the web.
The web turned purple, and the ship jolted in acceleration. Unlike the humans, the spiders preferred to work instead of partying; they kept themselves busy all the time. During the weak-long celebrations, while the Galleon Whale was docked, the spiders with the help of Lord G Bling and his subordinates achieved the Spider Hyperdrive. A prototype of a magical device to boost the speed of the flying ship. It relied on Dark magic and borrowed the working principles of the Shadow Walk.
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The black-robed spiders powering the device didn’t come from the MegaFarm, they were Lord G Bling’s subordinates calling themselves the Covenant of the Spider Hand. Apparently, the Spider Hand was formed by Lord G Bling to fill the vacuum left by the Black Hand. As things happen, during the relocation of the Black Hand to another kingdom, they somehow misplaced a number of secret scrolls and forbidden tomes. Needless to say, the ‘lost’ items were conveniently found by spiders and used to further the knowledge of the Dark arts. That knowledge was used to form Spider Hand and then later with their help to construct the Spider Hyperdrive.
The Galleon Whale was soaring high through the sky at an incredible speed, well, not quite supersonic, but it was fast. However, there was a problem. One after the other the black-robed spiders dropped from the metallic web; Negative Mana was rendering them unconscious.
“The mana consumption is atrocious.” The Spider King noticed. “But, it’s doing the job. I’m impressed.”
The last of the spiders dropped from the web and the ship slowed down to the usual speed.
“Spyder Hyperdrive disengaged.” The spider navigator chirped the obvious.
He unbuckled the straps rising from the seat. “Give them mana recovery potions and put them into nests to rest.”
The spider mages were carried out of the cabin.
“What’s our position?” He asked the navigator.
“We’re close to. The jungle border.”
Indeed, from high above he could see the dense mass of green. There was still some distance left to the MegaFarm, but otherwise long trip had been cut to a day.
He went outside to get a better look at the jungle below. The sight was familiar, but there was something else.
“Rivers?” He was surprised. “Ah, but since it rains here now, this makes sense.”
The streams were very small, but surely, they will grow with time.
“Maybe we’ll get lakes. If so, we could grow fish.” He was jumping ahead of himself. “Wait, no. The water is Dark infused, no normal fish could survive that…” He dismissed it a bit too soon. “…but this is a magical world. Life always finds a way.” And he had some convenient perks to help.
“Hey, Centauri Champion, do you know where we could get some tasty fish?” He asked the woman who liked to always hover close by to him.
The Centauri Champion nickered thoughtfully. “I wouldn't know about the Human Kingdoms, but I’ve heard that the SapphireScale Meat is highly sought after in the Demon Realm.” She snorted. “Not that I tried it, we Centauri don’t eat that.”
“So a SapphireScale… it does sound exotic. I’d like to try that.”
The Centauri Champion gave him a curious look. “Then we could try getting it for you.”
“Huh, really?”
“Yes, we know our way around the Demon Realm.”
“But won’t it be problematic for you to return? I could go myself.”
“No… I doubt they would like you much there.” She made a soft whine. “The Demon Lord will see you as a challenger to his power.”
He had already figured that much, hence the hesitation to explore that region.
“But we Centauri should be alright. We’re not weak anymore to be taken as slaves. Actually, we could even…” There was a fiery fire burning in her eyes and she clearly wanted to say something but, “…no, that can wait. You can leave capturing SaphhireScale to us, I’ll get it done.” She said it with self-assured confidence.
“Awesome, then once we land, I entrust that task to you.”
Soon the Spider King’s eyes were marvelling at the idyllic sight. The usual green of the jungle was replaced by rows upon rows of blue. The blue colour came from blue ropes used for the TomGrape webs. The web vines weren’t placed in orderly rows, that was because they had to be attached to the IronOak and the trees were naturally scattered in random patterns. In the end, the TomGrape farm ended up looking like a supermassive maze. There were only two clear ways out of the maze-like farm: the cobbled road to the Ancestral Forest and the suspended web highway to the Oberon Mountains. It would be no exaggeration to say that the developed land stretched for a good fifty miles; that was the reason for its name – the MegaFarm.
As he flew closer to the centre, the plants of the farm saw some variation: BanditAgave, FireAgave, SteamLeaf, PurpleM and even PetalBall were growing in neat patches, all supervised by Alraune monsters. Further in, he could see the triangular purple plates lining the tops of spider nests, the newest addition which had to be made due to all the rain. And right in the centre was the Spider Palace. In comparison to the Aurelian Palace it was just a mansion, but it still was his beloved home; he didn’t need it big to feel important.
“We’ll be landing shortly.” The spider navigator informed politely.
The Galleon Whale began its descent aiming for a landing pad. The landing was so smooth the ship didn’t even jolt or shake. There was no way for him to replicate finesse like that.
“Amazing, spider navigator!” He praised the spider’s talent.
“Captain…” The spider nodded meekly hiding its face behind its spidery hands for some reason.
…
On a later day.
As agreed, he kitted out the Centauri Champion and her entourage with freshly crafted gear for her quest, the quest for allegedly delectable SapphireScale Meat. No not just meat, but a pair of individuals to start a fish farm. Like knights the Centauri wore pitch-black full-plate armour, it was sturdy and heavy, but the natural strength of Centauri and the Wind enchantments countered that issue. Over the armour they wore blue robes, the robes were enchanted giving them that much-needed extra Magic Deflection in case there was a problem of magical nature. Normally the robes would display an embroidered insignia of a black hexagon and four yellow circles inside, the symbol of the Spider Kingdom, but there was no such thing this time; the Centauri wouldn’t be displaying any allegiances during this mission to avoid trouble. Naturally, all of them were armed with Centauri Lances, a long lance enchanted with speed and piercing properties.
Maybe this was way over the top, but the Demon Realm was a dangerous and violent place, and its citizens valued strength above all else. If so, the heavy getup was appropriate. The cover story was that they were a band of heavy cavalry for hire, or in simpler terms – Mercenaries. Apparently, there were a lot of bands like these looking for employment while roaming the Demon Realm. So, they won’t be standing out too much.
The Centauri won’t need to gallop all the way west through dense jungle, which would take months, instead, they will be given a lift on the Galleon Whale and dropped close to the Demon Realm border. The Spider King didn’t need to come aboard this time, the Spider Hand and the spider navigator had a good grasp of controlling the ship already. They will be taking the Centauri to their destination.
He was overlooking the heavily armoured girls as they were boarding the ship, waving and wishing them success on their mission.
“Centauri Champion, have you decided on the name already?” Remembering he asked just before she parted.
“Yes, in honour of your favourite food, we agreed to call our mercenary band the Cream Cheese Cavalry.”
Right, that definitely sounded odd… And that wasn’t even his favourite food! If so, it should have been Slug Jelly Cavalry, but that sounded even worse. Anyway, he had no heart to correct the Centauri on that; that surely would make them sad. And he would like to continue enjoying their Cream Cheese, so, “Thant’s a splendid name. I’m honoured.” He gave them a broad smile.
As the ship was ascending towards the sky, the Centauri were waving him their goodbyes. Once again, he wished silently for their success. Actually, he had no doubt they would succeed, that’s why he already ordered some preparations.
The rivers hadn’t finished forming yet, they were young and often changed their snaking paths. The waters still hadn't decided where they wanted to go and settle. One small stream was flowing east and the one just nearby –west, as if to oppose one another. Sometimes opposing waters joined and made a bigger river, but just as often, they broke to split and dry out entirely. The river formation was rather a chaotic affair.
With the help of the Trusty Advisor, he and the spiders decided to help the rivers. The spiders began working on an incredible number of ditches and canals to join and direct the many rivers towards the preferred spot. They were trying to make all the river’s pool into a massive lake. A project was massive in undertaking and only time will prove if it will be successful.
During these efforts, the Lamia Queen and her escort came back from the Aurelian Dutchy. He greeted his wife with open arms. Naturally, she was tired from the long journey but there was also something else different about her. During the warm embrace, he felt a slight bump on her belly.
“Dear wife… Are you pregnant?” He asked hopefully.
“SSS! Finally, you notice!” She gave him a broad smile. “It has-sss been months-sss already.”
If so, then why did they have kept trying so vigorously? Even at the Aurelian Capital, when she finally arrived, he had to make up to her for the lost days! He thought he would die that night, only the Fertility Potion+ had saved him.
Anyways… “I’m so happy!” He exclaimed giving her another tight embrace.