Devourer

Chapter 39: Honor Amongst Monsters

Alastor smiled as he watched the Firstborn take flight from the entrance of the nest. So far everything was going to plan, that little chat he had before with the Eternal Mother was certainly fruitful. That book he gave the Firstborn had some details on Hive type creatures, no doubt that helped to pique it’s interest.

As for the Eternal Mother her time is running out and his little chat with her helped to persuade her that sacrificing herself to the Firstborn was the ideal move. It honestly was, the Eternal Mother was living on borrowed time. If she wanted Heaven to burn this was the path forward, the only way to heal her is to return the Primordial Font but there was no way she would survive the journey let alone get past the High Elves guarding it. Or should he say the pretender High Elves, the true High Elves died off a long time ago. The current “High Elves” draw on the Primordial Font to sustain their arcane abilities and long lives. 

Their race’s power has degraded over the millennia to the point that they have created a symbiotic relationship with the Primordial Font. But regardless they were still powerful since the Primordial Font is the source of all power in the world. All worlds have a source of power known as World Anchor. Afterall it takes no simple amount of power to sustain an entire other plain of existence after all. 

His own home of the Searing Hells is sustained by the Black Heart that was forged in the primordial waters of that great font. The story is the same for Heaven with their Prismatic Aegis. Both were artifacts in the core of creation, the Primordial Font. No one knows where the Primordial Font came from, some say it was created, others say it was created by chance.

However, the only thing that was known is that the Primordial Font is inherently chaotic. Attempting to use or siphon the power without the proper techniques and inherent power will result in some grisly results. The only beings able to fully ustilise this great font were the Firstborn, the Primordials and The Watchers, the ancient precursors to the High Elves.

The High Elf legends say that The Watchers were custodians of the Primordial Font. The High Elves spin the story as if the Firstborn chose their ancestors because they were worthy. In truth no one knows but from what Alastor knows about the Firstborn this seems unlikely. The words benevolent and Firstborn do not belong in the same sentence. 

If Alastor had to guess… it would be that the Watchers were created as minions and servants. Not as a good story he must admit but considering the Watchers fought alongside the Firstborn during the war that caused their extinction Alastor could sense some hefty embellishment in that old story. The only reason the Watchers were allowed to continue to exist was because they were the only ones left that knew how to use the Primordial Font.

Well all that is ancient history, the age of the Seraphim is ending, with a little help from himself of course. The Daemons cannot overcome Heaven, the Eternal Conflict has proven that. With a foothold in Terra, Hell can no longer hope to defeat Heaven. 

So Alastor thinks it’s time for a new king…

Technically he is betraying his master but honestly… he’s a demon. What is he supposed to do? Be good, loyal and true? Now that’s the joke of the century…

“What are you doing here Alastor?” Alastor heard a familiar voice say from behind him.

Alastor felt the smile on his face widen as he turned around and faced the pair of white masked individuals.

“Ah Nox and Discordia, always a pleasureeee…” Alastor drawled as he tilted his head slightly.

“What game are you playing, Alastor? Theseus already told us about your little gift.” Nox said as she took a step forward.

“The grandest of games my little Nox. The kind that will shake the three worlds…” Alastor said as his smile widened even further.

“Why are you helping the Firstborn?” Nox pressed.

“And why would I tell you that? But I could tell you if you would like to make a deal.” Alastor replied as he extended hand, his wide smile still plastered on his face.

Alastor could feel her scowl under that white mask and his smile grew crooked as he withdrew his hand.

“What a bore. Don’t worry little heir, we are on the same side…” Alastor said as he tilted his head.

For now...

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“I’m back!” I said as I entered the large room and I saw Cecilia calmly reading a book. 

“Ah friend, welcome back, what great powers have you acquired this time? You don’t look that different.” Cecilia asked curiously as she calmly placed a feather in the book as a bookmark.

“Well a few things for myself but I got something much better.” I said as I casted [Void: Enchant] on my new [Kaiser Blades].

My [Kaiser Blades] were just slightly elongated and with a more wicked curve to them. I adjusted them to look more similar to my old blades, it sacrificed some power but it was a drawback I was willing to take. Don’t want anyone catching wind of what I actually am.

With the [Void: Enchant] my blades now glowed an ominous purple that crackled with arcane power.

“Oooo…” Cecilia said with her typical academic curiosity. 

Cecilia’s hand glowed as her eyes glowed and she walked up to me peering at my blades. I suppose it is a sign of trust that she was willing to put her head so close to these blades that could easily cut through a castle wall. 

“Now that is very interesting… this is old, very old… the magic is chaotic, almost primordial. It’s chaotic in the way that can be found in natural magic formation, not intentional construction. Extremely complex, chaotic… yet… elegant…” Cecilia said as tilted her head.

“That’s not all, wait till you see this…” I said as I slithered over to the control panel.

Cecilia taught me some stuff about runes, honestly magic wasn’t really my thing. Call me old fashioned but I liked getting into the thick of the fight and thus far I haven’t needed spells so there wasn’t much incentive to learn the crappy existing spells that Cecilia knew. Yes there was dark magic but Cecilia herself was struggling to cast it so she wasn’t really in a position to teach me. A lesser mage would have found themselves blown up by now honestly…

So now I could manipulate the room since I know the runes and how the system works. A few presses and some turns on the circular rune interface later I feel the room start to shake. 

Ok let’s see how big this place can get…

I turn around to see a stairway into a lower level has appeared in the corner of the room. If this leads to where I think it will lead, then this will be amazing.

“Come on time to meet everyone.” I said and Cecilia gave me a look.

“Everyone?” Cecilia asked.

“You’ll see.” I replied with a small fanged smile.

When I went down into the lower level I was pleasantly surprised to see how big it is. By big I meant it was really big, like you could fit quite a few football fields in here. Most importantly at one of the sides of the room there was no wall, just packed earth. 

“Why is one of the walls missing? Did you make a mistake?” Cecilia asked as she followed my gaze.

“No, I needed a way for my new army to enter…” I replied with a small excited chuckle.

“Army?” Cecilia asked.

As if on cue the earth ruptured outwards and tunnels began appearing all along the massive wall. My hive began swarming outwards, tens of thousands of them and among them emerged the seven Queens that I brought along.

“What is this?” Cecilia asked in shock.

“Well, meet what used to be the Armazaftund. It turns out the Armazaftund were controlled by a half-dead Devourer.” I replied.

“Half-dead Devourer?” Cecilia asked as her eyes widened. Her sharp mind instantly put the pieces together, if I ate another Devourer then everything else I ate so far would seem like a snack.

“You ate another of your kind… and you wrested control of the Hive from it… but Armazaftund war with each other. The broods compete and fight for territory, there are records of open battle between the different broods.” Cecilia said.

“It is a ploy…” Legiana said as she calmly stepped out of the tunnel.

“Who are you? You look… very different…” Cecilia asked as she peered at her.

“I am a creation of the Eternal King. He needed a representative for himself and my kin that would be more familiar to your kind.” Legiana explained.

“Eternal King?” Cecilia asked as she looked at me and I gave her a small smile.

“Ah I see.” Cecilia said with a small laugh.

“Well I suppose it is fitting. They do say the weak get names and the strong get titles. Still... a familiar representative…” Cecilia said as she examined Legiana.

“Ah clever, are you going for an ancient precursor look?” Cecilia asked as she looked at me.

“Yes. I think the other humans will feel more comfortable talking to Legiana rather than me don’t you think?” I replied.

“Well we do like what is familiar. But what of the warring Armazaftund?” Cecilia asked.

“The old queen, the half-dead devourer, was in command of the Armazaftund before this. So she basically made the broods look like they were fighting each other. She wanted to make them look like there was no overarching leader. If everyone else figured out there was a united hive they would try to destroy it.” I explained.

“Clever, so did you fight for leadership? Or was she not in a position to fight in the first place?” Cecilia asked.

“She asked me to eat her…” I said as I proceeded to explain how my meeting went down.

“I see, it seems the old hatreds still cast long shadows across the world.” Cecilia said at the end of the story.

“You don’t say.” I replied sarcastically with a wry smile as I looked at the vengeful princess in front of me.

Cecilia hearing this smiled as well and we shared a laugh. When the laughter ended I saw Cecilia’s face change slightly, she seemed more sombre for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You know friend, I call you that because I mean it. You do know that right?” Cecilia asked.

“Yeah, I can tell when people are lying, remember?” I replied lightly.

“Hahaha, I suppose you are right. If I may ask, do you consider me a friend?” Cecilia asked.

“Well... yeah, I don’t know what your definition of friend is, but you are by my definition. I enjoy your company and I would prioritise your needs over a stranger’s. I enjoy your company and I like our little chats. Honestly, I kind of missed you while I was gone.” I replied genuinely.

I know it may seem a little weird or even cliche for a giant monster to make friends with a princess, but hey everyone needs a friend. Besides I like to chat and honestly most people would be a little too slow on the uptake for my tastes. I don’t think I can stand talking to an imbecile. I mean I know what smart people and dumb people look like. I can tell you Cecilia is crazy smart, she would do very well for herself in my past life. With her smarts and looks, she’ll probably live a good life back in my world. She was the smartest person I know by a very wide margin, well I’m not sure how she will stack up with Legiana but technically Legiana was a part of me so I guess it wouldn’t really count?

I could sense this reveal of a new army was making her a little worried. Well it was to be expected in hindsight, now I’m not just a big scary monster, I’m not a big scary monster with and army of smaller scary monsters.

“Cecilia, could you do me a favour?” I asked gently.

“What?” Cecilia asked curiously.

“Could you always speak your mind with me? I think a proper conversation will be hard to come by around here, I would rather we continue as we have so far.” I replied with a small smile.

“Oh… yes of course.” Cecilia said as her demeanour perked up slightly.

“We’re two monsters against the world right?” I said as I held one of my arms and formed a fist.

These problems were to be expected, everytime the power dynamic changes Cecilia will become nervous. At the end of the day she was human and I’m a devourer. She can’t read people like me, I don’t need to worry about people lying to me because at the end of the day I can read them like a book. I see everything and nothing can be hidden from me, as far as I know anyway. Cecilia is the best liar I have seen so far and I can still tell when she’s lying. 

The subtle increase in heart rate, the slight tightening of the muscles, the barely discernible dilation of the pupils. When one lies they are taking a risk and that sense of danger is reflected in the body. Even if she lies to those that pose no threat to her, the signs are still there. 

“Yes, two monsters against the world.” Cecilia said as she gave me a small smile and bumped her fist against mine.

“Come on we have work to do, you have a throne to win and I have an army to build…” I said with a smirk.

“Actually, the timing of your return is opportune and with all of this available... This might work very well… would you be available for a little meet up?” Cecilia asked.

“Meet up?” I asked.

“I’m supposed to meet the leader of the adventurers guild tomorrow, originally I didn’t want to bother you with it but with you present I could make a much better impression. It’s only a matter of time before everyone knows about you. 

The best plan going forward is to convince everyone that you and your new friends are a good thing to have around.” Cecilia said.

“Yes I have something in mind for that, it’s going to be a pain to feed all these guys. They can hibernate but they take awhile to wake up and become fully functional. I remember you telling me most of the city states don’t utilise all of their arable land because you don’t have the manpower to farm them. 

So I’m thinking I could use some of these guys to help out with farming and maybe other tasks like dragging goods around or construction. These guys don’t seem to need a lot of food individually but there are alot of them.” I replied.

“That seems like a good idea, if your hive helps the people it would be a good step towards making them accept you. Also how many of the Armazaftund are there?” Cecilia asked.

“Errr…” I said as I probed my mind trying to get a handle on how many I brought with me.

“About 50 000 my king.” Legiana said helpfully from the side.

“Yeah that…” I said as I saw Cecilia give me an amused look.

“I’m still getting used to this whole hive thing…” I added sheepishly to a giggle from Cecilia.

“You are doing very well my king.” Legiana said encouragingly from the side.

“Thanks…” I replied dryly as Cecilia’s giggling intensified.

Laugh it up Cecilia…