Mad God

Inside Heaven's Gate's main hall Zelig stood alone. Behind him, from a glowing crystal, Frode's voice echoed out with a bit of distortion as he was explaining their losses so far and how the war was going on both fronts. The Sect Master was only listening to him with one ear while looking outside at the night sky, thinking about multiple things at once, feeling more frustrated than ever before.

"We lost 8 out of 11 sentry posts. The whole alert system in the north has been crippled. We don't know if they are preparing a full-scale invasion or if they are just trying to draw our attention. Yet we can't take them lightly; if they send a tide of beasts down, we could lose our food supplies for the armies!"

"I'll deal with the demons. You don't need to worry about them." Zelig responded with a cold voice, "You focus on breaking down the two traitors."

"It will be done," he answered after a bit of pause. "I'll go for Paoma first. The Astrans' capital is on a flat field. It will be easier to conquer than Ludwigh's city atop that reinforced hill of his."

"I don't care about in which order you do it; just do it."

"I'll need to deploy people from Heaven's Gate. I need their prowess to break through their defenses while conserving the numbers of the army for later skirmishes."

"I already told you… give. Me. Results. If you even start asking for permission to go and take a piss, I'll castrate you through this FUCKING crystal!" Zelig said that with balled-up fists, even if Frode was thousands of kilometers away, he felt a dreadful chill run down his back.

"I'm on it…." Frode answered with a dry voice, cutting the feed quickly.

"DAMN IT!" Zelig stomped in place, making the whole building shake. He felt things were starting to spiral out of his control as nothing was going as it should be. Since Aerthus returned, he thought everything would be like 2000 years ago. For a little bit it was; he even had fun seeing how things were playing out… yet a new variable appeared. That was not there back then… "And it shouldn't be here now! There shouldn't be someone like her living at all! HOW?!" He groaned, grabbing onto his hair, unable to comprehend how someone reached the same stage as him. And doing it so quickly. What made it even worse, she should be on his side. She carried a part of his own bloodline! How did it all come down to this? "Is it all true?" he murmured, thinking back at Rumira's words, but in the end, he just shook his head, throwing every troubling thing into the back of his mind.

…
….
…..

While Zelig was throwing a tantrum, at the same time, in the city of Rozex, the High Council was having their first meeting, welcoming Rumira into the city, and listening to her explanation of what was going on inside the Kingdom of Ten.

"So we should attack the four kingdoms in the back?" Keina leaned forward while crossing her fingers, resting her chin atop, watching Rumira's eyes.

"Most of their forces are at the border of the Elroth Kingdom, trying to break through the defensive lines supported by the Immortal Wonders Sect. You underestimate your own powers, you know!" She smiled, looking at them. "You are strong. All of you!"

"What can one human do against an army?" Rabout asked as he shook his head, "However strong one person is, he or she would be drowned in bodies if they stood against a thousand warriors!"

"This is where you are wrong." Rumira chuckled, explaining it slowly, "I know this is hard for you. Aerthus told me the exact same thing! He only realized how strong someone was in the true Harmony Realm when he traveled to the other side of the desert. Armies? They are nothing more than a waste of money!" Rumira laughed, quoting his words. "The same amount of money to build up an army and maintain it can produce true cultivators who would easily wipe the army out. Over there, soldiers are only kept to keep the peace among civilians. Not to wage wars! Yet at this side of the world, seemingly time stopped and money, resources get wasted on archaic things." She explained, quoting Aerthus's words right down to his tone.

"He is truly an interesting man…." Rabout murmured, listening to her words carefully. "So you say a few of us would be enough to topple a city?"

"For you… half a dozen, maybe. A bit more?" Rumira said, sniffing at the air, feeling his injured lifeforce. "One would not be enough," she answered honestly, watching Rabout, making his mouth twitch, while Milly, sitting beside him, held back a laugh. "For the disciples of Ren?" Rumira continued quickly, "Ariana here could do it! Alone. I did not fight with her other disciples, but I am sure if two or three of them worked together with a direct plan, then yes! They could conquer a city by themselves."

"You are starting to seem like you want to set us up like Gods!" Keina laughed.

"Why not?" Rumira tilted her head, silencing her laugh and drawing a surprised look onto her face. "Why do you cultivate? What is the goal of your daily struggle to grow stronger and stronger? In the past, for humans, it was to become Gods themselves, no? Did it change? Now they can even become Immortals!"

"Inflating people's egos like this could have a nasty outcome." Rabout's voice turned really stern when he directly questioned Rumira with his words.

"I know. I said the same when I heard it first from Aerthus. His answer was simple; That is why a Sect is needed. People who aim for great power need something that keeps them in check! A family that teaches them the value of life. The morality of good and bad. That is why they need to be taught from an early age, so when their power rises, their personality doesn't get twisted! They need to be taught patience above all else! Especially because they live far longer than any normal human or demon." She replied directly to Rabout before silence fell onto the room, broken by a firm voice.

"I'm willing to do it first!" Ariana interjected.

"This sounds like suicide…." Nuray murmured, standing nervously behind Keina.

"It is not." Rumira shook her head with confidence. "The best proof is what is happening in the south of the Elroths' territory! 200 disciples were dispatched by Aerthus, led by a handful of Elders and Grand Elders. They are keeping more than 300.000 soldiers at bay as they cannot advance into their borders!"

The room quickly fell silent as they realized that what she was saying was the truth, not some grand speech to raise their confidence.

"Let me ask you this…." Rumira smiled, showing her canine teeth. "The human armies are made mostly out of body refinement cultivators. They are usually below the 5th stage, no?"

"Yes." Rabout agreed quickly. "Historically speaking, anyone above that stage is an officer in the army, and if someone successfully became a Harmony expert, even at a lower stage… they were rarely dispatched onto the front. They are treated as unique resources for the ruling families. Those people are kept to fight against other kingdom's Harmony level agents."

"I see." Rumra stretched as she leaned backward, "So an army can't fly. Yet you can! All of you!" She stuck her tongue out, "You know, the Immortal Wonders Sect has many different artifacts that enable even their Body Refinement disciples to fly! What can an army do to an enemy they can't reach?"

"Nothing…" Keina whispered with a serious voice.

"Exactly!" She clapped with a broad smile, looking like a real beast in their eyes now.

"Demons are terrifying!" Keina sighed, not masking her voice. "You know more about us than we do!"

"Ahaha, no, no! What I am telling you now is what Aerthus taught me! After meeting with him, I became increasingly interested in you, humans! Learning your history and, by that, our history has given me a lot to think about!"

"So…" Ariana grabbed back their attention by clearing her throat. "Which kingdom's capital should I choose?" She looked at Rumira, patiently waiting for her answer.

"Do we have a detailed map?" The foxes' Queen asked. Seya quickly stood up, laying out a complete map with the territory of the Kingdom of Ten on the big, rounded table.

"Here." she pointed at their biggest neighbor, the Pilta Kingdom's capital city of Kovartz. "As I see, they have the largest border patch with us. It should be the first to fall. But…”

"But?" Seya asked, looking at her as Rumira's eyes wandered around, looking at the other three, the Kadence, Olgor, and Jakart kingdoms' capitals.

"It would be most effective to assault all four capital cities simultaneously. Capture their royalties, and bring them back to Rozex. Cutting off the heads of the kingdoms would result in chaos at the front lines. Also, doing it at the same time, they would have no time to learn about it and plan for something to counter us! It would make our job harder than it should be if we leave them enough time to prepare!"

"You really are a fox…." Keina said as she clicked her tongue.

"Can we pull it off…?" Rabout leaned forward, seemingly convinced by her words.

"We can!" Rumira nodded immediately. "Ariana would have no problem with taking out Kovartz! I can go and attack Capri, the capital of Jakart, as it is the furthest away from us. I can get there quickly with my speed. How many people do you have in the true Harmony Realm? I mean people who took the tribulation when at the 9th stage." She asked, looking at Keina.

"None." She answered honestly, "Nuray is my strongest subordinate, ascending at the 7th stage. The rest are between the 5th and the 6th. Only I did at the 9th, and that was with outside help..." She murmured in the end, glancing at Rabout, who smiled softly.

"I see." Rumira crossed her arms below her breasts while her fox tails gently swayed behind her. "If you gather all of your elite warriors, you could take on one capital. If nothing else, you should be quick, violent, and precise! Swoop in, grab the royal family and leave! Destroy everything that is in your way in and out!"

"I can do that!" Keina nodded, smiling back at her in the end, somehow feeling really excited now.

"So, I-" Rabout spoke up, but Rumira shut him down immediately.

"You are injured! You have to stay here."

"Ugh…" He flinched, but Milly sitting next to him, also put her hand on his shoulder, keeping him seated. "Fine… fine… you reap what you sow… no need to rub it in!" he threw his hands up with a sigh. "Then what about the last city?"

"Leave it to Levictus and Ren's subordinates. They can take care of it!"

"I'll notify him. He is in my library, looking through books to find something to help out Ren." Rabout nodded, looking at the map on the table. "Who would have thought that one day, a handful of people would decide the future of four kingdoms… hah…! I start to realize how Zelig must have felt 2000 years ago when he drew up these borders!"

"He must have felt like a living God!" Keina nodded.

"He wouldn't recognize a God even if he stood before one!" Rumira shook her head with a sharp laugh.

"What about the north?" Seya asked as her eyes wandered upwards on the map after they decided on what to do.

"You don't need to worry about it! Thunder Valley is organizing a demonic army."

"A wave of beasts?" Seya tilted her head as, in their mind, a demon army could only mean that.

"No." Rumira shook her head with a chuckle "A real army! We already got the attention of Zelig. After we disrupt the south, I will have to go back to our forest and lead the army. I need to be there to protect them from him! Aerthus and his disciples will keep him in check by helping the Elroths and sending more disciples to help the Astrans and Lotharinians. I'll do the same by invading from the top!" She pointed it out to them. "Then I'll make sure he can't move out from Heaven's Gate, and that would be another check!"

"You sound like you are playing chess!" Rabout said, looking at her while Rumira smiled with closed eyes, her almost wagging tails speaking for her.

"And which move is going to be the checkmate?" Seya asked the question that the others now also had.

"The one which will come straight from her golden cocoon~."