B4 Chapter 50 - Empire Of Laziness

The Songwinds outside Ythar’s chamber welcomed their god in two stiff, nervous lines. At first, they gaped at him, likely seeing him with their own eyes for the first time. They then lowered their heads like the guardsmen lining the red carpet before the king.

Ythar’s aura extended into his surroundings, subtly making contact with each hunter in the room. “Ah, the Songwinds, still in charge of the palace.” He smiled as he examined the chandelier and the artwork on the walls, seeming much more interested in those than any of the hunters in the room.

The Songwinds stayed silent. Their fear wasn’t surprising, considering none of them had lived long enough to actually see Ythar awake. His demeanor didn’t match what the priests preached.

Finally, the gold-lipped woman, who stood at the end of the line, said, “Welcome back, My Emperor. Praise the God Emperor Ythar.”

“Praise the Emperor!” everyone else said in practiced unison.

Ythar finished eyeing the artwork. He spared a second to glance at the Songwinds, before turning back to Vivi. “Vivian. Lead me to your people.”

“My people?”

“Your followers,” Ythar said. “The strong must be located and gathered for the survival of our species.”

Lucius grinned at that, as if they’d received a compliment. “He thinks we’re strong. He thinks you’re the leader of humans!”

Not good, Vivi thought. Runeblessed currently had one official ether hunter alongside her, Essi, who wasn’t any stronger than any of the Songwinds. The rest of Vivi’s allies were demons. She absolutely couldn’t show any of them to Ythar.

Just as concerning was Ythar’s dismissal of the Songwinds. He hardly looked in their direction. Ythar is implying that a lot of people will die, isn’t he? He doesn’t intend to save his empire.

“I think he plans on saving what can be saved,” Lucius said. “Only the strong survive.”

The god was waiting for an answer. “I’m afraid the hunters are weak,” Vivi admitted. “That includes my hunting company. I have not had the time to train allies.”

“Interesting…” Ythar said, his smile fading. “A problem indeed… You qualify, Vivian. Your armor is enough to survive a typhoon. It is hunters like you I seek.”

“I am a… unique hunter,” Vivi said. “You will find the strongest hunters in Paradise.”

“The majority of my spirits are nearby,” Ythar said. “I feel their presence. Let us examine this city. Show me what Surchester has turned to.”

“Yes,” Vivi said with a bow.

It seemed Ythar wanted her to lead the way. With calm steps—outwardly calm, at least—she walked out the same way they came. The Songwinds had picked arrows from the walls, doing their best to clean any signs of battle, though some wisps still remained from discharges of ether.

“A squabble?” Ythar asked, amused.

“The Songwinds didn’t want me to enter your chambers,” Vivi said. So far, honesty had worked with Ythar. “They tried to guard your cocoon and stop me.”

“They are weak,” Ythar said. “Even weaker than the founding hunters a hundred years ago. The Songwinds have grown unfit to guard my palace.”

Vivi tried not to make a wry face. If the Songwinds were weak, ninety percent of every other hunter would be deemed as just as much of a weakling. The Songwinds seemed average to Vivi, if slightly inexperienced after spending so much time defending a palace that never got attacked.

“The truth is,” Vivi began. “Humanity has grown lazy. Hunters fight to obtain ether for wealth, not strength.”

I should have practiced formal speech, Vivi thought. In Shivenar, she could always be herself, and even the most formal nobles would accept that. She had no reason to pretend to be someone more important than she was. She couldn’t help but feel like her choice of words sounded illiterate.

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Ythar was listening, however, and he showed no signs of feeling disrespected. Vivi continued. “The world has strong hunters, but they’re not humans. They’ve invaded Ranewal, attempting to kill a sub-sovereign. This leads me to the reason why I have woken you up.”

The god’s brows already formed a slight scowl. “Has the king of demons broken our pact?”

“It’s not Demon King Ingfried. It’s the fifth elevation hunters of Freimar.” She hesitated before saying, “Their goal is to kill you.”

Ythar paused his stride. His aura pulsed, though his expression remained hard to read. Vivi stood as respectfully as she could, trying not to incite any unpredictable reactions out of him.

Then the god laughed. “How incredible the world is. The strongest hunters of the world, the smartest wielders of ether, and they’ve decided to doom themselves with the idea of killing a god. And these creatures, you say, have taken over Ranewal?”

She lowered her head. “They have.”

“How very, very… vexing,” he said. “It seems this generation has raised no more than vermin. Perhaps a small lineage of elites can yet be salvaged. Let us examine the state of the world, and then we will deal with the problem of maniacs invading my city.”

A sick feeling was welling up in her throat. She’d avoided the worst outcome; Ythar hadn’t killed her for waking him up, but the way Ythar spoke about his empire, as if this was all just one big experiment for him…

Would it be a good idea to work with him?

It was too late now. Ythar was already awake with an idle aura of tens of thousands of wisps burning within him. That couldn’t have been even close to his most powerful state. Even if it was, Vivi would have had to go all out for a chance to even escape from him. If Ythar truly was evil, nothing short of teaming up with the sixth elevation hunters could stop him.

Regardless, she led the way out of the palace, onto the streets of Surchester. A line of sunlight lit half of the street, the other shaded by the ring of stormclouds. Hundreds of hunters had gathered on the gardens by the palace with a clear division between classes. The Gemseekers, Swordblessed, Greewitches—the more influential hunters—stood on the side of sunlight, with the weaker hunters in the shade. Their reactions were surprisingly less nervous than the Songwinds’. Hunters stood with their hands behind their backs, postures straight and afraid to look Ythar in the eye.

Ythar’s aura spread into the air as he examined each and every one of them, seeing right through their souls and into their cores. He scanned them with a distasteful look in his eyes, like looking at a buffet where nothing fit his preference.

He turned to Vivi. “You have not lied. I have seen enough. Laziness broods in my empire. Distributing spirits has been a mistake. None here are strong enough to survive the draining.”

Vivi lowered her head, feeling another twist in her stomach. Something about this felt very wrong. The hunters were weak—she agreed on that. They needed help, or they’d all die.

Surely, Ythar would provide that help?

“Where was Ranewal again…” Ythar began, his eyes closed. “The north canton, westward… There. We shall teleport there now. Take off your armor.”

Surely, humanity’s god, the one everyone in Fellwater had worshiped for decades now, wouldn’t just abandon everything he thought wasn’t worthwhile?

Vivi had the urge to refuse, but that would have probably been suicide. Piece by piece, she placed her armor pieces to spatial storage. Is this right? she asked. Are we destroying ourselves?

Lucius glowed with awe, hardly listening. The treatment they received blinded him. Vivi bit her lip.

Wisps extended out from Ythar to Vivi’s core as he pulled her into a teleportation. A forceful one, like Shilman Fried squeezing her unconscious. She almost instinctively formed a protective layer to fight against him, but stopped herself. His wisps made contact with her two cores, drawing a satisfied smile on his lips.

Her vision flickered from the teleportation.

***

The scenery at the other end was eerily familiar. A cliff overlooking a field full of clumps of mud, tossed about by a violent whirlwind with a sizable dip in the middle. This was where the storm had broken outside Ranewal. The area was calm now with just a few mud monsters wandering about aimlessly.

The clouds drizzled rain, but none fell on their heads. Ythar pushed rain aside with some weird effect. Not really an umbrella—it felt more like he was directly steering the droplets to fall away from them. A thick line of rain was created at the perimeter of the effect. Under her feet was some sort of invisible barrier protecting her from the mud. It looked like she floated in the air, but the ground felt solid. She immediately put her armor back on.

“Ranewal, huh,” Ythar said as he examined the city walls in the near distance. “A very old city. The old capital, in fact. Its walls were built before my empire. I saw no reason to destroy it, and the people were happy to live under my rule, letting me rename the city. The city had walls, and it rains a lot, giving it an obvious name. Yet, for full cities, a name like Rainwall is too simple. It needs more class.” He grinned. “Ranewal. The perfect name for such a place. A shame it’ll be destroyed.”

Destroyed? Vivi thought.

“This city is where my supposed murderers live?” Ythar asked.

Vivi’s throat was as dry as a desert. “Yes…”

“Then, it seems I must show them a reminder of what it truly means to challenge a god.”

His core exploded with wisps, hundreds of thousands burning in a beautiful controlled cascade. His foot lifted off, floating in the air, and his eyes glowed gold. He held out his arm like a child trying to move a kick ball with his mind, except Vivi had no doubt he could do just that.

The mud rippled around the city like water in a vibrating cup. Ythar’s wisps formed a globe around the city walls, growing thicker and thicker, until the walls were hard to make out through the cloud. A terrible grinding followed, a sound louder than any storm she’d witnessed.

Ythar raised his hand, and the city walls lifted from the ground.