Chương 107: Chapter One Hundred and Seven – Losing That Religion…
"No. Their churches, religions, the flow of mortal faith and belief. A corrupt religion is one that needs to be cleansed. An alien one must be purged. False gods, worship of things outside Creation, lies spread as true words… the Light and Scepter is there to keep faith true, be it devoted to good or evil. They will purge true corruption in the ranks of Skulos' own as readily as false lawyers claiming to do the work of Harse, or shysters claiming they do the work of Tiirith as they scam and steal from their audience.
"They extinguish religions and police the influence of gods here. They don't walk up to gods and pick a fight. They are Voids… religions just go away, or are purified, around them." Briggs' hand darted out, snipped off a passing grass tip, and negligently put it in his mouth to chew on. Obviously, their breakneck pace didn't bother him at all.
"So… someone who thought they were a Paladin and was committing sins in the guise of doing what is best for all?" Estemar watched a small waterfall, and the startled fox drinking at it, zip by, there and gone.
"Off him without a second thought," Briggs confirmed.
"I imagine that many in such Churches loathe him tremendously." Estemar shook his head at the strange wonder of it. A Void who no god could hear, judging their religions… as silent as the forest giants towering around them…
"Ya think? Some outsider telling you that what you believe in is wrong and killing you for it? Or everyone in your cult, sect, order, branch, fraternity, or the like?" Briggs snorted. "The Lightscepter doesn't make a big show of things, of course. Their job is to kill, not explain themselves. The Firesword often ends up working with them, and tends to get the fallout, as I understand it."
Estemar reflected that the Firesword must be the Void Brother he'd heard the most about, then. "The Mindring?" A flight of grouse erupted out behind them, a little late to be alarmed, but amusing nonetheless.
"Sensitivity to psionics. Both jRaztl and Amourae have strong influences on those with mental powers. Not common around here, but very difficult to fight. The madness, insanity, nightmares, and mental chaos that has to be accompanying this intrusion among the Psensitive would draw him here," Briggs informed him. "Brother Wayfist is concerned with chi-users and the profound way, not exactly something going on hereabouts. The Night and the Scythe is about necromancy, undeath, death, the smooth transfer of souls to the afterlife, and so on. The death magic the enemy is tossing about and sheer amount of killing may bring him up, maybe not."
Estemar opened his mouth, closed it, then asked, "Are there no female Voids?" Even his own Order had several female members, and certainly there were women Paladins running around.
Briggs grunted, and let Sama answer it. "Potentially, yes. But the Land won't Trigger them. Having a Helix destroys a woman's ability to carry a child, and that goes against the nature of every living thing. So, the Land never Triggers a female Void."
"Oh." That sounded like the exact opposite of chivalry, with the same result. "Void Brothers seem to mess with everyone equally…"
They were going up a narrow hill, and abruptly leapt off the other side, falling freely as Sama slid down through the air, as if it was making itself into a winding slide for her. They didn't hit the ground so much as level out and keep moving again, with Estemar wondering how his stomach had moved around so much.
"Waterspear looks after the fresh water and ocean shores, their purity is his main thing to follow. Probably every innovation in sewage treatment and clean water policy is driven by them. Very doubtful he'd show under normal circumstances, but he may come up to get a Mark and a Weapon, as might the others." Briggs shrugged. "And yes, they piss off a lot of people. That's why Voids are so damn deadly, and so sneaky… there are a lot of people after them." He seemed completely unmoved by their ups and downs, totally ignoring the bounce as Sama went over a fallen tree and came back down, and the Disk stayed right with them.
"With so many foes, how do they survive?" Estemar asked. "I mean… they have entire religions up against them!" He almost ducked a passing branch, saw Briggs didn't, and steeled himself as it passed them by less then an inch, and if anything, was even closer to the cabinets riding low behind them.
"Same way high-Level Powered would. You can't scry or divine them, so you can't track them with magic. As for tracking them physically… all stronger Voids have the ability to Run the Veil, sliding along the edge of reality to get to some place quickly. It's impossible to track them, so you can only try to lay a trap for them. And for people who are so incredibly sensitive to magic and profound forces, laying a trap for them is an excuse for them to kill you, not to be killed," Briggs mused aloud, leaning into a turn that brought them to another small stream, which Sama ran right into the middle of and followed, skating in long sliding strides along the top of the burbling waters.
"Messing with Void Brothers is an excellent way to die quickly," Sama agreed, but winked. "For normal people, anyway."
Estemar considered that these two were anything but normal, and two of these Void Brothers were essentially working for or with Sage Sama now…
"Ah!" He blinked as if he'd forgotten something. "Lady Sama, what if the warbands have Summoners, and we are not there?"
"The Brotherhood can deal with any Demons brought in easily, they just can't Feed the Land with them, yet," Sama replied instantly. "And remember, elves, magic. They know what to look for, and our enemy simply does not have the sheer amount of low magic the elves possess, and does not seem to have easy access to anything as basic to wizardry as flying, invisibility, and Detection spells."
"The elven scouts will identify the Summoners, and simply make a flying, invisible Kill Team to goon them, or sneak up enough cloaked archers to do the job," Briggs agreed. "If there is a Void Brother there, he will instantly assess the threat and remove it. All the major forces moving have been briefed on what to expect, so Banishments and Dispels can also remove the Summoned as a threat." He wasn't worried. "It would be best to Feed them to the Land, but there are many alternatives to Summoning Magic other then just fighting what is brought in.
"What magic we've seen them wielding is broad area and powerful... but also seems unstable here and particularly vulnerable to Warding magic of all types, and Holy power. The Warped don't actually face Good powers very often in their home realm, and so aren't going to have much experience with what they bring to the table." Briggs was already in a Chatbox with officers and coordinators, who were finding his ability as a Warlord, knowledge of the foe, and concise analysis clearly helpful.
Goon them. Estemar smiled to himself at the term, picturing the definition of a surprise, dying with those expressions on their faces.
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Tremble came down, and impaled the huge flaming Axe.
A vivic explosion erupted for the second time in less then a minute, jolting the entire battlefield once more.
Unfolding from the shell of the massive Axe it had been bound into, the eight-meter bat-winged, flaming figure of the pseudo-balor Massacre Demon howled in impotent fury at the image of the Sword driven in between its great horns.
The Axe shattered into untold shards of corrupted metal, trailing streaks of vivus as they hurtled in all directions, consumed in midair. The spirit of the Massacre demon had time to look down and scream in immortal fear, just like its predecessor, as the jaws of the Land came up to Feed.
The battlefield was already thigh-high with vivus, and this new gout was a waist-high burst blowing past everything... and naturally turning on the most unnatural creatures there.
The Carnage demons, chest-high things with black skin like embers, howled as the vivus ate them away like acid, and several volleys of arrows poked holes in them to let the fog in.
The Slaughter Demons, tall as ogres and armed with great flaming blades, red of skin with flaming horns and burning eyes, also shrieked and writhed as vivus crawled over them.
Briggs gave them no time to realize that doing such in the middle of a fight was not a good idea, and Endure crashed and slammed into their ectoplasmic bodies. Vivus exploded, and serpentine waves billowed up to consume them as he plowed through them. Burning blades skirled over his armor, shocking these things who thought the steel would part like cotton before their magical blades. Briggs wasn't about to inform them that Energized Armor was the hard counter to such effects, and shattered chests as heads blew apart under the whirling, arcing, non-stop blows of Endure.
Any that didn't die with one blow, Estemar finished with one blow, Thunder rolling through him, and a dire song that promised death to all these things.
Tremble, oh tremble, we come...
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Sama was at it for another six hours, another seventy Borderguard Tatted, starting with Shvaughn herself, and their chakra points opened. Briggs found himself fielding a lot of advice on how to use Soul Magic, totally new and alien to the elves, while patiently working some alchemy and getting ready for some smithing.
Estemar had taken a Favored Level today. It worked off his Charisma, and gave him a lot of Spell Slots to use, which he was spending on healing spells unstintingly. Five hundred rep counts didn't make themselves, after all. After all, with Doc in hand, he didn't have to save them for himself.
A tall and rangy human, six foot in height and the tallest person around, came gliding out of the forest nearby with the quiet of a very experienced forester. The Rangers around who saw him fell silent, a mixture of awe and fear in their eyes.
His attire was dark, but not black. Careful observation found it the deepest of browns, darkest of reds, shadowed blues, inkiest purples, and umbral greens. No true black, but it would fade into any background like an errant shadow. It seemed mere comfortable attire for a traveler, cloak and high boots, tunic and tight trousers, but those knowing could see how everything was dusky and lacking reflection and polish.
This was a hunter of men who thought themselves arrogant and above all others.
He wore a single longsword over his shoulder, slung there for travel.
Briggs glanced up, noting that the newcomer's footsteps didn't register in his Tremorsense, which was a very good lightfoot, indeed. His eyes were darker then his hair, and while they had dancing lights inside them which would doubtless bewitch quite a few women, they held a fire and killing intent which could not be hidden.
"The Fire and the Sword graces us with his presence!" Briggs said, not attempting to hide his amusement. The brows of the Firesword rose in some surprise, especially when Briggs offered his hand. "Sorry to drag you away from wizard-killing in civilized places, but alas, the Warp wasn't so considerate of our comforts. I'm Briggs."
The grim lines of the Firesword's face eased into a polite smile. "Definitely the most erudite Ancient I have ever met," he proclaimed, taking the big hand easily, and his eyes widening as he felt the fire of a Source burning against his palm, and a Diamond Vajra. "My elder Brother was not lying," he remarked, clearly impressed.
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