Tree of Aeons

Year 261 (Chapter 263)

Estimated 8-9 more years to impact 

The heroes mourned the death of their own, the Valthorns mourned the disappearance of so many Valthorns. About three hundred Valthorns vanished when their attempts to teleport back to my Clone were interrupted by the fluctuations in the fabric of reality.

Death.

But we had to prepare for the next stage.

There were now smaller Meteors headed our way. Demonic Meteors that we have to destroy. My council summoned the builders and mages, to prepare our countermeasures. 

Our countermeasures largely fell into three groups. .

The first, would be our void mages. These void mages would essentially jump to these meteors once they are detected, plant bombs, and leave. With their smaller size, we could knock them out fairly easily. 

The next defense would be our ‘space’ based defenses. We need to shoot them down the moment they cross into Treehome’s bubble of reality. 

The main anchor of this would be the moon base and the various asteroids around Treehome. I’d need to reactivate the moon base, and then transform it into a space-based weapons and projectile array. According to our trackers, some of those meteors will be faster than others, so we should be seeing some of these space rocks a lot sooner than the rest.

Some of them will carry the smaller Demon King Multipus on them, which means we need a way to destroy the demon king in space. Our initial plans for this is to construct weapons platforms in space, redirect these smaller rocks to them, where we can then engage the demon king in combat.

My builders all sketched out multiple wild ideas. Space based ballistas, guns, cannons. Space ships and tugboats. At this point, we decided to go with all of them. Some of these meteors are uninhabited, without the presence of Multipus, and are essentially moving on momentum. Magical ships could then apply an opposing force to bring them to a halt, and then guide them into a safe ‘orbit’ around the sun. 

Those where we detect the presence of Multipus have to be destroyed, because Multipus would attack our ships, and these ships are unlikely to be hardy enough to withstand a demon king’s strike. 

We would also like to construct special suits for the heroes. The ranged heroes like Prabu, Colette and Chung should be able to destroy these smaller rocks. All they need is the ability to fight in space. Because this remains solely within Treehome’s bubble of reality, we don’t have to cross the void sea, and use void magic portals, so conventional magical portals will be sufficient. 

The third layer of defense would be our Treehome-based defenses. Shields, more cannons, magical weapons. These should catch those missed by our first two forces. 

Most of our efforts will be focused on the first two layers, because once they enter Treehome, that’s already a little too late to prevent destruction. Instead, it’ll be just damage mitigation. For these, we would need to construct massive shields and barriers in all our major cities, along with magical weapons to destroy these space rocks, or deflect them away from large inhabited areas. 

***

There was a small little funeral for Kelly, the Mountainworld heroine. She stuck around in my soul realm for a bit, and then vanished when it was time.

Death seems frequent, lately. 

**

“Happy?” Ken asked, coughing. He sat in a chair filled with my vines, those vines ensured that he lived. I had to intervene frequently over the past few months, his condition worsening. 

In a way, he was chained to his chair, and it was a miserable existence. I was ready to let him go. Chung was next to him. “Fuck it, Ken. No.”

“The comet’s done. Let it go already.” The former hero said. “It’s time I go.”

“Aeon- don’t you-”

“Goodbye. I can feel it.” Ken smiled. He knew I wasn’t planning on letting him live even longer. This was it. Prabu and Colette stood nearby, and held his hand.

“Aeon, save him!” Chung roared. Angry. Frustrated.

“There’s not much I can do, if he doesn't allow me to meddle with his soul.” I could force it, but I wouldn’t say that part out loud. In a way, I was allowing him to die.

I could keep him alive. I could undo it, with far more intrusive procedures. But there was no point.  Ken smiled, and I reckon he had fun. “You weren’t this mad when Hafiz died.”

Chung fumed, as Ken closed his eyes for the last time.

Ken’s body gave way. 

His hero friends watched him die, and I felt his soul slip out of his body. I tried to catch it.

just like Hafiz, he appeared briefly in my soul realm.

“It’s this place again.” Now, it was his turn to be a soul, a floating ball of light. 

“Well, this is the middle ground, before you go to where you are meant to go.” I told him. “This is the final station, before the unknown.”

“Is it really the unknown, or you just won’t tell me?” Ken asked.

“I really don’t know, but goodbye, Ken. You’ve been helpful.”

“Thanks. I wish you well, and I hope you do not stray too far from your goals.” 

“I’ll try.” I answered. 

“Try harder. The myriad worlds suffer from your neglect.”

I felt that sting a little. “That’s harsh. Neglect is-”

“It is only true.” Ken said. “There is always more to be done, and that weighs on you, far more than anyone else.”

It was hypocritical coming from him. “Says the one who fled from his duties.” 

“I’m weak. Fragile.” Ken admitted. “I only hope that you, and those around you, can be way stronger than we ever were.” 

***

At this point, we had a few years where there’s nothing we could do. The smaller meteors are now in the depth of the void sea, and they are mostly invisible to us. At most, we could hit some of them once they enter within 1 year of Treehome, but that’s a fairly small sphere of influence to destroy hundreds of meteors. 

So, there was an annoyance that I wanted to deal with. 

One that I’ve tolerated for a while.

“Let it go.” Zhaanpu said, as Khefri soon informed him of what I intended to do.

“No.” I answered. Khefri herself seemed pleased. 

In every world, in every land, if there is a gun, it must be fired at least once. Not because it has a target, but to show the world that it is real, and that it can be fired. 

***

The magic city of man, Maelga. Seat of the Immortal Crystal King’s power. 

An immortal. A domain holder. 

An irritation.

Four of my domain holders volunteered to deliver the message. Lumoof, Edna, Roon and Johann. We made a statement, as we appeared in a highly visible portal of magic.

My four landed on a vast open field on the outskirts of the city. 

The army of Maelga scrambled to action, as a scout immediately rode towards the four.

“Stop. State your business.”

“We’re here to settle a score with your Crystal King.” Lumoof answered, as our aura of power radiated outwards. Lumoof’s presence was like a tsunami of magic that propagated outwards, and smashed into the city’s own little sphere of influence. Everyone in that city immediately felt a strong discomfort.

The air turned tense, charged with our aura pushing against the Mountain’s own. He would know we are here. 

I found it ironic to think that he was right, really. 

How unfortunate. 

It is a beautiful city. 

“I once stood right there to look at the city below.” Lumoof said. 

“Well?”

“And now I’ve come again to break it.” 

The four were soon at the edge of the city. There were soldiers at the gate. All armed to the teeth. 

They were prepared to fight. A brave captain shouted. “Leave! You are not welcome here.”

“We do not need your welcome.” Lumoof countered. “We’ll find our way easily enough.”

The captain shouted back. Even from a distance I could see him quivering in his place. “Leave!”

“Consequences.” Lumoof declared, ignoring the captain’s statement. His voice wasn’t loud, he didn’t shout, but the entire mountain shook. “Did you believe your actions had no consequence?”

The forces of the Crystal King marched out to face my domain holders

One of the Crystal King’s officials wore armor made of crystals. It was powerful, and definitely would have cowed any lesser foe. But today their enemies are not lesser foes, because they were the ones shaking. 

“YOU DARE CHALLENGE ONE OF THE THREE?!” The leader of the defenders said, clearly juiced on some kind of potion. 

Lumoof stood forth, as my avatar form descended on the city of magic. The entire earth shook, and people began to flee. There was panic all around, but we waited. There was no need to begin the attack yet. 

We wanted them to remember this.

We wanted the survivors to remember the cost of raising their arms against our goal. We want this tale to be spoken for all of eternity. 

When the Tree broke the Crystal Mountain.

Lumoof smiled, and gently responded to the man. “Yes. We dare.”

Through Lumoof our roots cracked the earth, ripped the grounds, the crystals cracked. The mountain glowed. Magic-

And it met my own aura of anti-magic. The weaker magics crumbled. 

Gigantic roots and vines emerged throughout the city’s walls, and it met with crystals. The citizens of Maelga seemed in shock, but soon discovered that we didn’t intend to harm them. 

My quarrel was with the Crystal King, and those who stood with him. 

The people fled, as my roots climbed over their magical walls, and pierced their magical shields. My roots poked through their shields easily, it wasn’t hard to coat my roots with a bit of anti-magic sand. 

Lumoof stepped closer, the three others followed closely behind. 

“Aeon always wanted to know what the Crystal King really looked like, underneath all that rock.” 

The defenders of the Crystal King raised their weapons. Fully equipped warriors, in the best armor and weapons they have. Power flowed through them, but they fainted the moment the weight of my presence pressed on them.

And it was foolish.

The Crystal King will be punished. And nothing will stop me. 

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