My thread had cut into the earth, killing every demon emerging from it, and it would take at least ten seconds before any demon would be able to appear. I could now see that the source of the demonic corruption was not coming from deep in the earth, but from a sort of mirror portal that seemed virtual and real at the same time.
It was weird looking at it, and I felt a cold wave across my skin, as my Space Resonance sort of tingled when I looked too deeply at these portals that were rapidly expanding in numbers.
Where did they lead, and would it be possible for me to enter them and take the battle to the demons instead of waiting?
I looked away before reaching for the threads of the Loom, and I wove them into a net, and with Lightning Edict, converted the net to a boat, before I moved all the sleeping bodies into the boat, leaving only Commander Rel behind.
I was a firm believer in reaping what you sow, and if this woman wanted to be part of the faction that unleashed demons on the continent, it was only fair that she died by their claws.
Surrounding the boat with my domain, I cast Stormstep. And I vanished alongside the boat. My domain was an extension of my soul, so I knew that I should be able to take others with me if I surrounded them with it, and I was correct.
I appeared thousands of meters away, far from my target, but I could not use too much power for fear of frying everyone in my domain to ash. I had not fully understood how to use the full range of my powers around those that are far weaker than I am.
It took three hundred and fifteen steps to get the boat to about two hundred miles away, and I dropped them in front of a small town. It would not be long before they awakened, and this should keep them safe for as long as I am alive.
I stared at them for a moment, and then I vanished. My return journey took only fifteen Stormsteps, and I arrived to see chaos.
In my absence, Commander Rel had awakened, and she was fighting for her life against a horde of Khaaz demons. With the nature of the fox, I could effortlessly stand in the air and watch it all happen.
I was not interested in the Khaaz; killing four thousand of them had barely netted me a dozen essence, since the more gates I opened, the more I required more potent demonic essence, and Khaaz were equal to Acolytes and could barely feed my ascension. Khaazim demons may give me half an essence or maybe one, and those were Adept-level demons.
My main source of growth should come from the Narghul Sorcerers, especially from the Three Horned like Vrakth and other higher variants of demons, and those would not arrive until the sixth and fifth seals were loosened, so I could wait.
Folding my legs, I sat cross-legged in the air and watched Commander Rel fight for her life. I noticed that she was trying to move towards the pyramid, most likely towards the red door, and perhaps she might have made it if she was only facing Khaaz, but I knew that it would not be long before...
[Warning... Sixth Seal Loosened... The Pale Matron Stirs.]
... the higher variants of demons emerge.
This time I noticed the ripples of space spread above the ground, reaching high into the clouds. The ripples in space were much stronger, and I wondered how I could miss something like this before, when space seemed to be screaming. Is this what it would feel like for a blind man to see for the first time?
As I deliberated on this mystery, I saw the first Narghul Sorcerer emerge from midair.
It was a two-horned, young, its red skin burning against the red sky. It hovered above the battlefield, its four burning eyes scanning the carnage below, its shadow construct already forming at its side. It saw Commander Rel fighting for her life against the Khaaz, and a wicked grin broke across its face.
Like me, it watched the Commander for a while, and when it noticed that her focus was distracted by a particularly nasty wave where hundreds of Khaaz had surged towards her from behind, it raised its hand, a lance of flame essence already gathering, while extending a long black tongue, as if it was tasting the air.
The Narghul Sorcerer’s lance struck Commander Rel in the chest, and she was thrown backward, her staff flying from her hand, and her body skidding across the charred earth. She was a stubborn woman, and she tried to rise and reach for her staff, but the Narghul Sorcerer was already descending with a loud shriek like a demented crow, its claws extended.
There were many ways that this demon could have killed the Commander, but it tore into her with its claws, and she screamed as she fought desperately, but the demon physically dominated her in all aspects, and it was just toying with its food as it ripped her apart.
When it was done, the Narghul Sorcerer stood over her body, its claws dripping with blood, and it slowly looked up at me and grinned. Its four burning eyes met mine, and I knew it had long seen me, but I was not surprised, as I had made no effort to hide my presence.
It flew toward me, its shadow construct extending like a claw, its flame essence already gathering in its palm, before it froze in the air. The demon looked confused and tried to move, but it couldn’t.
I may have sat in one place, but I had surrounded myself with threads like a spider, and the demon had just flown into one of my traps. I flicked a finger, and the demon was sliced into pieces in an instant, and I drew the chunks of its body towards me, harvesting its core and shadow essence by habit.
I had thought that my channels no longer needed these materials, but I was surprised to feel the core of Cor Telluris inside me draw these materials into my heart before it was purified by Soul Forge and assimilated into my channels.
Hmmm... interesting, it would seem that I had not seen the limits of my channels yet.
[Stored Essence: 75,000 → 75,030]
Not much, but it was a start.