Book 6, Chapter 138 (1/2)

Advancement

The root of Nyris’ resentment was difference in power. He and Agamemnon had been about equal when they were below the saint realm, but Agamemnon had broken through first. The Fourth Prince didn’t mind— it was precisely his intention to delay his own growth as much as possible to focus on technique— but the problem was that Agamemnon had grown too fast. By the time he had broken through himself, there was a wide gulf between them.

As for Richard… Both Nyris and Agamemnon knew that there was no way for them to beat Richard at this point. His transformation had been almost freakish, strength no longer measurable by pure level. Although they hadn’t fought yet, the outcome was predefined.

The prince had still been somewhat unresigned to the fact, wanting to duke it out with Richard for the sake of closure if nothing else, but Richard had rushed into battle the moment they met in the Forest Plane. Agamemnon had even mentioned that Richard in the Land of Dusk had been stronger than he himself was now. The meaning was clear: you can’t even beat me, why bother trying against Richard?

If not for Richard’s blinding light, people would be discussing Nyris’ own advancements. He had gotten another private plane from the royal family, opening up a joint venture with Agamemnon. They had already secured their forward base and were firmly rooted, en route to total domination. Of the ten thousand men in the army Richard had assembled, a thousand each came from their own private forces. Another thousand each came from the royal family and the Orleans Family, while the rest were Richard’s troops.

The night was dark, but the camp was brightly lit by bonfires all around. There were flames to heat up the soldiers’ meals, but every tent also had a small personal fire for warmth. The stonewood had been hacked down from the forest right around them, while every soldier carried enough fuel to last a month. Richard knew that the best way to maintain army morale was by keeping them warm and well-fed, so he spared no expense in doing just that.

The round of inspection proved Richard’s conjecture to a degree he hadn’t even hoped for; every soldier was laughing happily while talking to comrades, and there wasn’t the slightest of annoyance from having marched such a long way only to turn back. He decided that he would immediately order the Deepblue to increase production the moment he returned. However, it was but a pipe dream; the Deepblue didn’t have the resources right now to scale up.

Nyris and Agamemnon quickly realised the utility of the fuel as well, but Richard could only spare a few tonnes for each. He had no qualms with selling more, but most of his reserves had already been shipped to the Forest Plane and used on this expedition.

The army finally returned to Emerald City a few days later, immediately turning right around and starting to widen the road that they had opened up. The golden world tree had grown a second life in this time, an event that sent a ripple of energy through the entire plane once more. The first leaf of the sapling represented birth, while the second represented control; the tree now had its own region of influence where even a tree of life could not challenge its authority.

The core territory of the golden world tree was now a kilometre in radius, wherein it had absolute control. On the other hand, it could still exert a modicum of control all the way up to a hundred kilometres away; Richard couldn’t help but sigh at its power when he learnt it; this tree certainly qualified to be the base of an empire.

The will of the forest was extremely weak now within a hundred kilometres of Emerald City; in fact, the will had been warped into the control of the golden world tree. Now it was the forest elves and their treants who would be suppressed upon entry, turning the tables on the power dynamic completely. When the tree matured, it would even be able to suppress the original world tree of the plane.

Richard currently had tens of thousands of bird-eating spiders, while the cloned broodmother had 2,500 worker drones. Thinking it over, he decided it was time for his tree of life to advance. This time he wouldn’t be caught off-guard: mobilising three hundred rune knights and two thousand elite warriors, he even transferred Senma and Olar from his other planes just in case. The bard still wasn’t a saint, but he still had great influence on battles of this scale.