Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 170: Conquest

”Alright, what’s next?” Ogras said with a sigh as he cracked his neck.

It was just like that god damn man to go gallivanting just when he became a Lord, leaving all the boring work for others. Now Ogras found himself stuck with Adran, who was starting to look more and more disagreeable by the day. A quick look at his new watch told him he’d been stuck in this room for over three hours.

At least the new government building was far better than the stuffy old tent that Adran used before. It was a large four-story structure with quite a few rooms, all nicely ventilated. It was one of the first things they finished outside the wall, as Ogras believed that the growing population needed feel the power of the government.

“There have been a few complaints by the so-called experts, citing bad working conditions. A few have requested to be sent back to New Washington,” the stocky administrator said after looking at his docket.

Ogras only snorted in derision, showing clearly what he thought about that.

“Everyone is making do with what we have. Cease work on those people’s homes and focus on those who are properly integrating. No point in wasting effort on those kinds of people,” the young demon lord said with a shrug.

There had been some general dissatisfaction amongst the humans after the third wave. The fact that they were almost overrun by three incursions had frayed their nerves, causing some unrest. The fact that they won in just a few hours didn’t seem to be much of a comfort for them either.

Ogras had to admit that his actions right after Zac left hadn’t helped much. As soon as Zac went on his journey Ogras gathered every single demon, having each of them swallow a piece of the Springroot. There actually were two who refused, and they were summarily killed without trial.

Next, they walked over and rounded up every single human, who counted over a thousand by now. They were herded to the large square of the Academy, mainly to keep people from running away with the help of the gravity array. The same procedure happened there, though Ogras used a bit gentler methods. He only slightly tortured the first ones who refused to eat, instead of outright killing them.

It had turned out that a total of 8 people were infiltrators, and Ogras still couldn’t be sure if that was all of them. However, having some spies in one’s midst was noting uncommon, so he decided to not waste any more effort on it. Just take those two incessant women who kept pestering him. However, some of the humans had been crying about “human rights violations” or the like, making him want to show them some real violations.

Still, he knew he had to keep himself in check for when Zac came back. The man was still a bit too soft for Ogras’ taste, and the demon knew Zac would cause a ruckus if he handled the little humans too roughly. And Ogras really needed to stay on his good side for now.

“Finally there is the issue of the town who calls itself Refugee Harbor. Since they are located on one of the closest islands and quite populous we aimed to integrate them into the array network first, getting access to their manpower. However, two parties have been rebuffed already, refused access to the town. The second time they were even attacked and forced to flee,” Adran continued with a small frown.

“Oh? There was such a thing?” Ogras asked with some interest. “How strong are their forces?”

“From what we can tell not overly powerful, their strongest elites are perhaps slightly stronger than the Valkyries. We still have no information about the leader either, as he hasn’t shown himself,” the administrator answered.

Ogras mulled it over as he tapped his fingers against the metallic mold that he had stretching out from his missing forearm. He looked forward to see the results of his little experiment.

“Ready the large ship Zac, uh Lord Atwood, bought and 50 soldiers. Ah, bring 2 squads of the girls as well, might as well give them some experience,” Ogras said as he roused himself with a small smile. “My ass is getting splinters from sitting here day after day. Conquering a town sounds like fun.”

“We did receive reports of something odd going on there,” Adran hesitantly said. “It’s the place with the missing children and adults acting weird.”

“Oh, I’ll bring Janos and Alea as well. They’ll be able to counter any mind-altering things, if that’s what’s going on there,” Ogras said with a shrug as he stood up and left.

As Ogras walked out of the government building he couldn’t stop himself from throwing a glance at the gaudy tower on the other side of the wall, still spewing out its nauseating rays of light. Just looking at the place made Ogras pissed off. He’d never met as annoying a construct in his life.

Clearly, being stuck in some forgotten pocket of the multi-verse had turned the tool spirit insane. However, he really needed to ingratiate himself with it, as he felt that the ticket to his current problems might be through the repository.

Ogras still remembered the soul-wrenching feeling of standing in front of the Nexus Crystal, realizing the system deemed him unworthy. He’d walked the path of the elite, struggling in the shadows all these years, yet it wasn’t enough.

Not a single upgrade path was available to him at the moment, locking him to the F-Grade. He always knew this might happen as he followed an incomplete heritage, yet having it confirmed was a real blow.

At first, he’d lived in denial, hoping that it was the System holding him back with its restrictions, but he knew now that wasn’t the case. He knew that perhaps all 3 of the leaders who invaded the island already had evolved, and were only waiting for the system to release the shackles. In fact it was quite normal to send people right at the precipice of evolving.

It would allow passage through the Incursion, and the second they got through to the baby world they could take the last step into E-Ranks. From there they could properly spend their time to solidify their foundations until they could burst out with unprecedented power as soon as the last restrictions were removed. That was one of the reasons that these humans hadn’t been erased so far.

Yet he was stuck where he was, unable to take that step. Who knew how long it would take for him to gain whatever was needed to improve. The Fruit of Ascension wasn’t enough. He even sacrificed a hand in order to rack up some god damn achievements, hoping that would allow him to evolve. But not even that was enough for The Ruthless Heavens.

At least he was lucky enough to be able to hide behind a human netherbeast. He needed Zac to keep growing into a true monster until he could solve his current conundrum. Ogras knew that more promising men than him had been stuck on this very step for their whole life until they died, consumed with regret.

Yet Ogras refused to succumb to that fate. His eyes once again moved to the towers in the distance.

The Umbra.

He had been despondent, desperate even, until he saw that inheritance. A new path opened up to him as he read those two words. Those two words might not mean much to others, but to Ogras it represented the difference between dying a nobody and defying the heavens.

A full inheritance of someone who walked a very similar path as himself. Such a gift was something that essentially everyone in the multi-verse thirsted for. It was far superior to some Dao fruit or heritages. It could save hundreds, perhaps thousands of years of effort, depending on the grade.

Perhaps it could even give him a large enough boost for him to dare go through with his quest. He had thought that he wouldn’t get any quests for a long while due to his actions in forfeiting the invasion, yet it was there, staring at him.

[Doubling down (Unique): Slay an Incursion leader. Reward: [Tower of Eternity Token], restrictions removed. (0/1)]

Ogras saw it as sort of a test by The Ruthless Heavens, a chance for him to prove it wasn’t cowardice or weakness that made him give up on the invasion. However, until he saw the inheritance he simply ignored it. He barely survived a fight with one Church’s generals, how the hell would he survive the big boss?

And don’t even mention the Tower. He barely survived the desperate push that got him to the entrance of the third floor. He still had one chance left, but as he was now he knew that going back was suicide.

But armed with an inheritance? That was completely another matter. Even more, if he managed to drag a certain human with him to walk in front of him to take the brunt of the trial…

Ogras couldn’t help feeling the universe was paving a true path of supremacy for him, and couldn’t help whistle a tune as he walked toward the house of the old goat. He was thinking of bringing him along. Not because he really needed an experienced sailor, but rather that he enjoyed Sap Trang’s company.

“… So anyway, don’t mention that… appearance… to lord Atwood, or you will be spending the rest of your short life on the toilet,” a familiar voice could be heard from inside the small hut the fisherman had built for himself.

Intrigued, Ogras melded into the shadows as he slipped into the house.

“Little lass, no need for threats. But you know, you shouldn’t keep secrets from your significant other. If he truly likes you he won’t mind you are a swamp monster,” Mr. Sap said, looking troubled.

Alea looked extremely annoyed at the fisherman’s comment.

“He’s not... Well anyway, I am no swamp monster, it’s just some complications from my class I am working out. Lord Zac doesn’t need to know about it until I’ve fixed it, ok? And you, why are you hiding in the shadows?” Alea said as she swirled around to the shadows in the corner.

Ogras was a bit embarrassed but didn’t let it show as he walked out of the shadows.

“Let’s go. We have a town to conquer. And the old goat’s right. Why not just stay in your real body for now, instead of wasting all that Cosmic Energy? He’s not even here.”

“It’s NOT my real body!” Alea raged. “And I can’t have people talking. Whatever, let’s go.”

With that, she simply grabbed the collar of the old fisherman, who helplessly followed the two.

Next, the three walked over to the Academy, intent on bringing a few of the little spear girls. They had just gotten their classes, and some real battle might remind them they weren’t immortals just yet.

“We only take orders from lord Zac,” one of the leaders simply said after Ogras told them about the mission.

Ogras didn’t know her name since he hadn’t bothered learning any of them, but he couldn’t help cursing Zac as he looked at the small army. He had all these girls willingly entering contracts with him, yet he only stayed by himself in his large empty castle. Perhaps he really was a monk.

“Well, that might be true, but Illvere and Alyn take orders from me,” Ogras said with a small smile. “I hear you want to go to the Ratman incursion in a week? It would be a shame if those two said you weren’t ready.”

The Valkyries angrily glared at him for a bit, before they reluctantly started to get their gear.

“Don’t be so glum, we’re going to liberate a town that refuses to acknowledge your great Lord,” Ogras said with a laugh after seeing their faces, which actually seemed to improve their mood.

In just two hours the awe-inspiring Carrack set out, slicing through the waters. It was manned by a group of eager demons and two squads of Valkyries who not only balefully glared at Ogras but at Alea as well.

The girls were in a generally competitive mood against the poison mistress, as she went over to the Academy every now and then to “improve their natural poison resistance”, as she called it. Ogras knew it was more about marking territories, but he didn’t really care.

It took a few hours but soon they found themselves outside the gates of Refugee’s Harbor. Ogras considered just blasting a hole in the whole thing with the ship’s weapons, but reluctantly decided against it. He was sure it would end with some dragged out lecture from Zac when he got back.

Instead, he anchored some distance away from the town and only left a skeleton crew to man its cannons in case would be needed after all. The rest followed him toward the gates. Ogras threw a disdainful glance at the scared-looking guards standing on top of the wall, and with a shake of his head took a step forward.

He guessed he’d have to at least give them a chance to surrender.