A small squirrel with two tails sat on a granite outcropping, its expression blank as it chittered and gnawed on the severed finger of a yeti. The small trophy was all that remained of the being that had previously held sway over the North face of the mountain. With this last challenge vanquished, none would challenge it for supremacy in the area.

The squirrel’s eyes traced the horizon as it considered the limits of this grand planet, known as Expira. The glitter in its eyes was not necessarily wisdom, but definitely the seeds of ambition had been planted as it had rose to the absolute apex of the surrounding plateau. Now it saw how its dominion could expand.

Adventuring humanoids occasionally passed through its domain, but the squirrel saw these interlopers as the positive sign that is was. Based on the extra fur layers they hung across their persons, the humanoids came from rich lands. If the squirrel could expand its territory to include all the nut and fur producing lands in the entire world-

A portal wrenched open nearby, spitting out hunks of sizzling blue Mana. For a second it wavered, before settling down on the stone top of the mountain. The squirrel-king chittered angrily and hopped sideways to avoid the discharge. When a humanoid figure stepped through the portal and glanced around, the squirrel-king decided to change its nonaggression pact with these fools. No longer could they rely upon its generosity for safe passage.

It drew itself up to its full height, two tails fluffing up to double their usual size. If they believed that this king would allow foreigners to walk all over him-

“Alabaster Finale.”

A gleaming feather flashed. An overwhelming image of destruction cut down, unwilling to brook any alien elements in its path. The two-tailed squirrel king only had a split second to react to the most powerful attack it had ever seen. With its max Level and the bud of an image burning in its chest, it just barely managed to twitch sideways and avoid the strike. Its body twitched sideways as it wrung every drop of potential out of his wiry body.

It turned out that it would be the last movement of its life.

Its life as a two-tailed squirrel king, that is.

With one of its tails severed and dribbling blood, the squirrel fled. The tall humanoid with arms covered in ivory feathers noticed the squirrel avoiding the killing strike, but it acted like the squirrel king was beneath its notice. In open mockery, it turned away from the clear blood trail. Instead, the being folded his feathered arms and observed the surrounding plateaus, with their meandering crags, their small streams, their harsh rock outcroppings, and scraggly pine trees.

Even these wild lands seemed beneath the being’s notice.

A few seconds later, the portal spat out more energy and additional humanoids appeared. The squirrel king chittered out his plans for revenge, at least a dozen trees away and hiding in the foliage, but his chitterings fell off as humanoids just kept coming through the horrible portal. Soon, more humanoids had appeared than the squirrel king had ever seen. They spread out and covered the entire mountain. Several used small motions of the hand in order to cut down some of the tallest and finest nut-producing trees.

One of the latecomers moved to stand next to that warrior with alabaster feathers, who clearly represented the pinnacle of humanoid attainment. The squirrel king’s impression was reinforced as the other individual bowed. “Sir, all our troops have made it through the portal. No threats of note were detected in the surrounding area. And this… is to be our new lands? Truly? A higher Nether content is worrisome, but the quality of the Aether…”

“The Nether King said that an area… almost the size of the entire Aetherlands around this portal is uninhabited. It is… hard to consider, but I doubt he lied. Even so, arrange for both patrols in the immediate vicinity and far-ranging scouts.” The Alabaster warrior spoke with the tone of one who knew he would be obeyed. “It is for the best if we can make contact with the locals as soon as possible. The Nether King might have positioned the decision to put us out here in the isolated area as generosity… but I suspect he hides something. We cannot remain blind.”

The squirrel king observed the regal bearing of the feathered humanoid. He stood on his back legs and straightened his spine, waving his paws around imperiously in imitation. He promptly fell on his face, his balance thrown off by the missing tail.

The subordinate shivered. “The Nether King… did you sense the tightly contained fury of his expression? Some of the soldiers… they whisper about walking past the Nether King already, on their way to enter the portal. It felt more draining than hours of battle. A few will need some time before they have recovered.”

The alabaster figure closed his eyes. “A warning, I have no doubt. Even though the energy only churned within his body… it was apparent the force there would be overwhelming if unleashed. Which is why we must now move cautiously. From his explanations of what he will do next, his attention will be largely focused outward… and under no circumstances do we wish to be the reason he needs to break that vigil.”

Further discussion was interrupted by the portal once more acting up. The alabaster warrior waved a hand and all the humanoids rapidly began swarming both up and down the mountain. All of the domain that the squirrel king had claimed, as well as the territory of the squirrel-king’s rival, the fire-eyed hawk, was soon covered in the footprints of the invaders. And then more humanoids streamed out of the portal.

Their numbers seemed limitless, enough to completely map a hundred mountains.

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Despite the alarming developments, the squirrelking was quite cheered by the situation. The humanoids would not merely be his problem; the whole of the surrounding Unstoppable Monster Alliance Mountain Range was threatened by their presence. The squirrel’s eyes began to gleam. If the humanoids spread to the edge of the plateau, perhaps even the vile, slimy lowland savages would be annihilated-

The familiar screech of the fire-eyed cracked the sky. The air rang with its rage. A familiar silhouette shot upwards and began to circle proudly above its domain. One of the humanoids, a minor character that the squirrel king hadn’t even noticed previously, raised a palm and unleashed a piercing blast of frost that clipped the circling hawk.

The squirrelking’s great rival fluttered and thrashed, before barely managing to turn its a life-threatening skydive into a wobbly glide to escape these aggressors. As with the squirrelking, the humanoids did not seem to care enough to pursue.

At least their arrogance could be used against them, the squirrelking reflected.

The squirrelking’s senses tingled only a moment later— a horrified insect of dread ran up and down his spine. He whipped around, taking in the new, hunched figure that had walked through the portal. It was a skeleton in the shape of a lizard, surrounded by an azure aura that pulsed and blazed. Yet perhaps the most ominous part was that the raptor thing stilled right when the squirrelking looked at it.

Slowly, the head pivoted sideways. Lanternlike eyes fixated on the squirrelking, even through the intervening foliage. Even the wind on the mountain seemed to fall still, nervous before that attention. The raptor’s mouth opened. “How fun. A whole new world full of foolish prey to explore. Predation.”

The distance was further, but the attack was even more horrifying than the first he had faced today.

Luckily, the squirrelking didn’t underestimate the new arrival. As soon as their eyes met, the squirrelking leapt sideways, planning to dash as quickly as he could down the scramble and run straight down the mountain. The attack slid closer. He managed to get his torso out of the way, but-

The pain of the attack landing was sharp, but the squirrelking scrambled down the tree and blinked back his tears. The whole top of the pine creaked and groaned for a second, before collapsing sideways from the hunk chunk hewn out of its trunk. The falling branches and rush of movement created just enough distraction for the suddenly tailless squirrelking to bound down and flee.

Only when it had proceeded down the entirety of the mountain and bounded along the river did it relax its vigilance. It must warn its fellow woodland critters. These humanoids were a Calamity that would destroy them all if they were not checked.

“Good on ye, lad. I like your spunk.”

The squirrelking drew up short, radiating horror at the stocky figure that appeared in front of him. It was a humanoid, but not like those from the portal; this being possessed a body made of dirt and stone. Its blunt features smiled down at the squirrelking. “No need to be afraid. We need a few levers of balance, just in case. And you… I feel like you will serve our purposes perfectly.

“If you wish to resist the incursions of these refugees, we, the Pantheon, will provide a Path.”

*****

As the thirty-sixth wave of pain finally receded, Randidly heaved out a sigh of relief. At the end there, he only had a hazy awareness of what occurred around him. At this point, the Dread Homunculus was no longer pulling its punches.

Neveah moved to stand next to him, a smirk on her face. “Most of those individuals almost shit themselves when they needed to walk close to you. Little did they know… you weren’t sending a message, you were just engaging in a positively cruel Path. Just one more example of how your legend can grow from the strangest of places.”

“Hopefully the reward I receive for this will be worth all the suffering it took to get there,” Randidly grumbled. Even now, the marrow-chilling wave of pain lingered in his body. Yggdrasil channeled warm flows of energy to recover the damage, but Randidly didn’t dare underestimate the pain provided by the Path. Not only did it positively immobilize him for several minutes, but it also inflicted lingering damage.

Yet that only made Randidly show his teeth. The worse the pain became, the better the benefit he would receive for the Self-Vivisection Path. Even now, the normally reserved Dread Homunculus practically thrummed with anticipation. The longer the Path continued, the more ideas it seemed to have as it experimented on itself.

Congratulations! Your Skill the World Tree Sips from Every Realm (P) has grown to Level 1120!

Congratulations! Your Skill Homunculus’s Monstrous Tenacity has grown to Level 1015!

His body continued to repair the damage inflicted by the image’s enthusiasm. While Randidly possessed full control of his faculties, he also waved a hand and adjusted the Alchemist’s Passport portal; the next group was the former slum of Homewell, and Randidly didn’t particularly want to inflict them with the unfortunate curse of having Westrisser and Cerulean as neighbors.

Under the direction of Charlotte, the group rapidly proceeded through the portal. The Homids and other formerly-poor carried their belongs as they could and brought the seeds of the Homids’ sacred plant. They had been disappointed that they couldn’t bring their current homes along with them, but Randidly didn’t trust himself to maintain an opening that large while suffering through the Path.

He clapped Charlotte on the back as she walked past him. “Help them establish themselves. Maybe even provide a rough map, in case they wish to trade with surrounding populations. And then prepare. I wish to provide you a gift… and after that, we will need to fight.”

Charlotte Wick saluted him, her furry expression serious. Then she proceeded through the portal.

Randidly turned and regarded the next group. Kethope led a group of Turtlelines forward, but…

“Only sixty? The population of Homewell…” Randidly said.

Kethope lowered her head, ashamed and frustrated in equal measure. “Yes, it nears a hundred thousand. I could compel more to follow me, but the other factions are already using the alliance with you as a wedge to attack my supporter base. At least I know all these individuals are fully loyal to me.”

Randidly gestured for her to move forward, sensing that the thirty-seventh wave of pain approached. However, the ancient Turtleline hesitated. “Are you… are you entirely sure? There is no mistake about what will soon befall my people? Many are ignorant, I know, but…”

Sighing, Randidly shook his head. “I cannot prevent them from posturing above the edge of oblivion. And if they fall off the edge…”

Kethope’s face folded in anguish. She walked without any further words, leading her group through the portal.

When they had passed through, Randidly waved the portal closed. All of the Aether forces that wanted to take advantage of his offer had proceeded through the portal. Now all that remained was situating the Nether beings on their own planet.

But before that… Randidly gritted his teeth as the next gauntlet of pain arrived.