Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 573: Selia and Zach

Attack

Selia enjoyed her alone time. She loved both Ryun and Dani, but the two of them were starting to get on her nerves. It felt like they were constantly watching her, worried that she might tumble over and break her neck. And while she understood their worry, she wasn’t actually as fragile as they seemed to think she was.

They needed to relax, more than she did really. She had to break them out of their current mood. So, she was glad that she managed to convince them to go out and celebrate. It gave her the time to take care of some things. She had neglected duties of their House, and there was so much to do before their children were born.

She still couldn’t quite believe that she was pregnant, even though she could feel it. The conception of new life resonated greatly with her being, with Legacy, and she looked forward to watching the three of them grow inside of her and beyond.

But for now, she had staffing issues to take care of. There was a lot to do, namely hiring new staff to help around once the children were born. She didn’t want to leave it for later, and she had sent out word and had people ready for interviews weeks ago.

So, she spent her free day doing just that, interviewing people. Serving the Sect leaders was an honor, and many had applied, but Selia was looking for people that could deal with their type of family. None of them planned on being absent parents, but they did have obligations to the Sect, and besides, she didn’t know how hard it would be to raise three children at the same time even with there being three of them too.

By the end of the day she had a list of possible hires. Most of them came from good families that were part of the Sect. Ever since they had divided the Sect into big Houses, most of the families that had called the Sect had ended up serving in some capacity or the other one of the big three. There was still some discussion on what Selia and Erdania would do with their House, if they would fully join Ryun’s or the other way around. Either way, they had to find someone to take over one of the Houses, though there hadn’t been any rush to do it so far as there wasn’t really any need. Though Anrosh had started to subtly poke around, with Ryun being oblivious to it as always. His adoptive sister had her hands full with trying to lead the Sect and wrangling Ryun to do what she needed him to do.

Selia finished the day by laying in bed, feeling tired, which she rarely did before being pregnant. Her stats made it so that she barely needed any sleep, but somehow she had the need for it during the last two months. It seemed that carrying new life did take a toll, even for people like her.

She was glad of it, if she was being honest, she had come to miss sleep. It used to be the time when she would cuddle up to Erdania and just enjoy being close to her, spending time together. Now, it was harder to get that unless she asked for it. Though, thankfully, both Dani and Ryun were almost always available when she did ask.

She drifted off into sleep.

“—TION ENGINE!”

The words blasted through her mind, throwing her into wakefulness in an instant. Her mind snapped into action immediately. Through their bond, she knew what Ryun knew in an instant, she felt through his senses and knew the location of a cylinder just on the other side of her home, in the reception room of the manor.

She let the Presence of the Eternal Hunters out, spreading it over their estate and targeting every living thing. She drained all their stats, bolstering her self as techniques burned through her body and sent her even higher. She moved out of her bed at a speed that sent a shockwave and decimated her room, cracking the walls and blasting everything away.

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It had not even been a second since Ryun woke her up, and before that second ran out she crashed through the floor, moving through it as if it was made out of paper. People in the manor were yet to notice anything, the strongest of them were only now starting to get the information that something was wrong.

Selia crashed through two walls as she felt a click through Ryun’s sense. She threw a hand out and used her perk, Echo of Laqruud.

In the instance her perk manifested, she used Soul Construct to fashion a suit of armor around the nearest person, layered as many protective perks as she could and then with Mass Projection she copied it on every other person in the manor and outside of it on the estate.

The manor exploded outward, sending even her flying through the debris as a projection of Laqruud manifested in the small room and blasted everything apart. A giant lindwurm the size of a mountain, curled around a cylinder that detonated.

The world shook.

Zach sat in the big meeting room with Bera next to him.

“I got word from my contacts,” she said as she pulled out a device from her storage and placed it on the table. The array glowed, and text appeared above it.

Zach took a close look what she had gathered, the notes had obviously been prepared for his consumption.

“There is unrest in the Empire from the factions that had been absorbed,” Bera started the report. “As you know, most chose to bend the knee because they didn’t have any other choice. The wars against the Taken had drained a lot of their resources and the Empire’s armies bearing helped liberate many of them. The others saw the writing on the wall and decided to accept their rule peacefully. Some fought, but didn’t hold out for long. Only a few factions in the core actually managed to keep their independence, but that number had dwindled in the recent years. Being surrounded by the Exalted Empire had drained them and most had succumbed since then.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “I feel like we should’ve heard about all that before now, no? They fought wars.”

Bera grimaced. “Exalted Empire is good at controlling information it seems. And honestly, after the wars everyone has been looking out for themselves. We are on the other side of the world from them, with the entire Sect territories in between us. The Sects barely care about what happens outside their territories and we interact with them the most.”

Zach nodded, understanding her point. “Any sign of… anything strange?”

Bera gestured, and the text shifted, highlighting a certain section. “There’s been a coordinated rebellion effort attempting to free some of the conquered factions, one that has been having little success.”

“And that is strange why?”

“They’ve been losing cells and having their efforts thwarted at an unusually high rate. A few of my contacts are part of that effort, former leaders among these factions, as well as a few former wardens that have chosen to return to their old homes. The way they’ve been hit, their losses and Empire movements seem to suggest spies and traitors in their midst. The strange thing is that none of their efforts have managed to root out any of them. Not any that are at the level they had to be for some information to have gotten out.”

Zach tilted his head in interest. “Oh?”

Bera nodded. “This isn’t written down in my notes, they’ve asked me not to write it down. They have a suspicion that the Exiled Empire has someone capable of gathering information that is written down.”

Zach blinked, that seemed eerily close to how the Knowledge Plane worked. Anything uttered out loud or written down was recorded in the plane, if they had someone closely attuned to the plane... Though he didn’t think that anyone less than a Sage of Knowledge would be able to do anything like that, and only with very specific perks.

He offered his thoughts to Bera and she grimaced.

“That might fit with what they’ve been experiencing,” she said. “I’ve been asked to pass on their request for aid to you.”

Zach sighed; he could’ve expected it. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to involve himself. He was… conflicted.

“I—” a shudder through space around him, a sensation that was familiar, brought his thoughts to a halt. Naha’s emotions spilled over their True Link, and Zach realized what he felt. He reacted.

—Aegis of Titanic Protection

—Arcadia—

He stepped close and grabbed Bera as his protection washed out over his academy and the floor beneath him crumbled sending him tumbling down.