RD 4 Ch 7

I stood to the side, arms crossed, as the new chapter of the Mul Branova underwent an initiation ritual. They were blooding the newbies under the watchful gaze of the more senior Mul Branova.

At this point, we were only controlling a small portion of the output from the hell gate. The military had stepped in, as had random civilians. Both groups were taking up a solid chunk of the demons pouring out.

Meanwhile, we'd been relegated to a corner, sweeping up leftovers. I was content with staying out of the masses. I had a feeling that as soon as we left, those who remained would be able to merge with the normal citizens, hopefully softening their losses. 

From where I was watching, there were a few deaths every minute. Fighters from both sides hedged towards the Mul Branova's section where our people were kind enough to cover sudden pushes or knockback waves that threatened to overwhelm them.

Simone rejoined us. The two older women watched with bored expressions, while Nyx was more concerned, her gaze fixed on the carnage and loss. 

"Where to now?" Circe asked, her smile out of place on the battlefield. 

"Well," I began, giving Simone a sidelong glance, "I met somebody who lived through this initial onslaught. She had been captured by those demons and tortured until her bloodline awakened. But around a similar point in time, a dungeon popped up, one strong enough to disrupt the demons and allow her to escape."

I noticed a small ragtag band of the new Mul Branova trailing after us, unsure whether they were coming with us to their final destination. 

"There's such a high-level dungeon around here?" Circe asked, doing a quick twirl as if she might spot the dungeon if she looked more carefully.

"Over level 100 at least," I said slowly, watching her reaction. 

A giant smile curled on Circe's lips. "Why didn't you say so before?" She let out a relieved sigh. "And here I thought we were going to have to do more before we got such a big reward."

Her words caused the lingering Mul Branovas’ eyes to go wide. The word reward always piqued interest.

"The problem is, Circe, I have no idea where the dungeon will pop up. All I know is it's close enough that the demons got overrun by monsters wherever they set up camp around the Hell Gate. And it popped up about three or four weeks after," I waffled, "the actual timing is a little tricky to guess." She hadn’t exactly been keeping track of time well and I was mostly operating by the stories that she’d told me.

"It's hard to measure time when you're being tortured," Gloria said, causing a few of the new Mul Branova to pale.

"It is, but thankfully, no one has to go through that," I said, emphasizing my words with a glare back at the mob princess. 

"Right, of course," she hurried to correct herself. "Not that any of us would have to experience that."

"Good. The other news is that the Hell Gate's going to destabilize the surrounding area, meaning dungeons are going to be more prevalent in this city." I glanced at the small army trooping behind Simone. "And thanks to Simone's bright idea, we have enough people to scout. That is, if you think they're up for it. But hopefully they have communication with other people around the city, or any other local knowledge that might be useful, as we try to find these."

I looked through them to see if there were any I’d missed on awakening bloodlines. The demons from this Hell Gate would be a good place for me to collect more, but right now the ones coming through were far too weak.

They were the mongrels of the demons, hoping to rush through first and collect what spoils they could before the more powerful demons came in and swept everything away.

One of the senior Mul Branova began repeating my words to the others, who had a mixture of disbelief and confusion across their faces. I noticed, somehow, Simone had yet again recruited only women.

"Bonus for all of you," I said, staring out of the group, while my words were translated yet again. "If you can find any instance, one of us will help you clear it." I pointed between myself and my other ladies. "It'll significantly help your levels, as well as get you ranked equipment. And other benefits," I said, noting that most of them seemed to have E- or F-rank weapons already. 

I looked over at Simone, who just smiled back at me. That woman was terrifyingly efficient when she put her mind to something. It seemed that she came prepared to recruit.

This group had been equipped, blooded, and already integrated into the Mul Branova to the point that several of their last names had already begun to change. Simon gave me a wink and then moved closer into their group, talking with them in more hushed tones and organizing.

My gaze swept along the city’s skyline. Taking in its beauty for a moment.

Wherever this instance was going to appear, it was some place that wasn't checked, or perhaps someone had found it and hidden it. Or, perhaps people just didn't know the ticking time bomb they had on their hands.

I hoped that General Janssen would use me if his people came across it. He at least knew that I had information that could be strategically important, even if he would not want to share any rewards with me.

The Mul Branova began to hurry away, splitting up into several groups, while Simone tapped away at her phone, looking at something before she gasped. 

"What is it?" I asked. 

She turned her phone to the group. It was a picture of what looked like India. Giant locust demons swarming over the populace, creating a river of blood. 

I grunted, feeling less concerned. "Don't worry. Shiva and the rest of his clan will squash that soon enough. Those demons won't last long. And it would be poor of me to go there, both because I would get in their way, and because they would identify me as being from another clan instantly.

“Besides, my understanding of the events directly around that hell gate is very poor. I never mixed well with their clan, even before it declined. Amongst the five clans, Shiva was considered the single strongest person in the world. On his back, his clan had risen well above the other four. But eventually, the demon king killed Shiva. And without his protection, much of the clan folded. They had grown too used to his protection and what was left were incredibly bitter about their new status."

Circe grimaced. “The idea of Shiva dying is beyond strange, Bran. You have to understand, he is like a god even to those of us who were hailed as the gods for the Greek and the Norse."

I could only give her a helpless shrug. "That's how big of a threat the Demon King and the First Demon War is, Circe. If even Shiva didn't survive, just imagine how bad it got for humanity before we managed to pull through."

She paused. "How did you pull through?"

"The first three people to pass the trial of kings worked together to defeat the Demon King," I explained with a momentary glance off into the distance. "It was rough, but not completely unsalvageable. As I said before, the trial of kings is an incredible danger, but there's a lot of power in those titles. That power was expressly given to humanity of this world to protect themselves from attacks of this kind. So I have plenty of time before I need to make a move and take the trials myself, but I will go eventually, and it will be mine."

Simone had a slight smile quirk up on her face before she smashed it down into a frown to hide the smile. "Of course you will, Bran. We all knew you were going to eventually kick everyone's ass.”

“That's the goal. Now, while the Mul Branova are off looking for instances, I suggest you girls show off one last time. Then we'll get out of here so we don't get too caught up in the mess. I want to make sure we are able to go after the instance once it is located." I told them.

Nyx frowned at me, however I pointed off behind the rows of soldiers where heavier equipment was entering. They were bringing in missile batteries, tanks, and generally the kind of weapons I didn't want to stick around for when they started firing off.

And I also wanted to give them a reminder of why they did not want to make us their enemies and take us out just because they were currently confused and we seemed to know more and be more powerful.

Circe understood where my thoughts were going. She swirled up into the air on a small cyclone before throwing her hands forward.

Two large blades of wind came out on either side of her before sweeping down into the roughly ring-shaped space around the hell gate that was filled with demons. Both of those blades of wind swept through on opposite sides before twirling around, churning everything that remained within that circle of bodies into little less than red mush that faded into the ground as quickly as it fell.

Demons spawned one after the other, only to disappear into those slicing winds the next second.

Circe stopped her spell and slowly brought the tornado down where she stared across the expanse at the military with a look that dared them to challenge her.

"Oh, that," Nyx said as Merlin stepped up and smashed her staff against the ground. A wave of frost rocketed into the center and then a hundred spikes of ice blossomed from it, impaling any demon that had managed to fill the space, extending all the way out to the citizens and military that had circled the hell gate.

"They'll be fine without us, won't they?" Nyx asked.

"These demons aren't too bad," I grunted. "About a week after this all starts, a gate guardian will appear. It'll be level 500. From then on, humanity's ability to sit here and farm the gates will be gone."

I paused, "We’ll be back to kill the gate guardian. And for ours, I put contingency in that tower on the chance that Thorin can't handle it or I'm not back by then."

Merlin turned slowly to me. "You put a contingency to deal with a demon of that level?" 

I shrugged. "Technically, the contingency is for anything unexpected, gate guardian or otherwise. I fully expect Thorin to deal with the one back home, and if he can't, Circe kept some of her elites in the fortress. I think between that team, we don't have anything to worry about. And then I can save that enchantment for a better use later."

Circe shook her head. "I can't believe how casually you talk about a demon of that level. Most in the Hero's Clan would be terrified that it even existed."

"Good thing there's not a hell gate near the island then, isn't it? The closest one is- oh, that's right." I gestured over my shoulder as we were walking away. "Back there. If Zeus and Hercules want something to farm, they'll have to come and get it."

Circe rolled her eyes, and I continued to lead the group away. There would be plenty of instances for us to cash in on soon around the city. We just needed to look. Really, it was kind of like an Easter egg hunt, just with a bit more gore.