Devourer

I nodded in satisfaction once this dunce in my hand gave an affirmative on passing on my message to Nemesis. Alright, now that just left getting him on his way back to his dark mistress. As I looked at him he really still looked pretty irked. Well, I suppose getting manhandled and having his men slaughtered would sour anyone’s mood. But still, he did ruin this patch of forest, someone has to pay for the lost property value and it sure as hell isn’t going to be me!

“Alright I’m going to send you on your way but first I need to tell you something. Consider it free advice.” I said. Theseus predictably remained silent and continued to try to drill a hole in my head with his glare.

“Remember to roll.” I said simply and I saw his demeanour change slightly in confusion.

“What?” Theseus asked, breaking the silence.

“For when you land, remember to roll.” I replied with a smirk and I saw his brow furrow for a moment before widening in realisation.

“Have a nice flight.” I said with a laugh before I flexed my arm and chucked him up over the tree line towards Averlon. We were quite deep in the forest so he should land somewhere along the forest edge. 

“Pretty good throw if I do say so myself.” I said as I watched him soar off into the distance. His spear and shield that were lying on the ground trembled on the ground for a moment before shooting into the air after their master.

“Huh now that I think of it, that’s a handy trick… pretty dramatic too…” I muttered as I watched the two pieces of war gear fly off into the distance.

“Now then are you alright?” I asked as I turned to face the angel named Ariel. She visibly flinched as I faced her, I could sense the jolt of fear.

It made sense why she was afraid she was almost overwhelmed by the Syndicate and I defeated all of them like I was swatting flies. 

“I could have sworn you High Angels were stronger the last time I was around. Or are you just not a very good fighter.” I said as I approached.

“I’m a scout. I’m not as well trained for combat.” Ariel replied cautiously.

“So stealth then, still you could stand to be stealthier. I mean you got knocked right out of the sky from what I heard.” I said and I saw her awkwardly shuffle her feet at those words.

“Anyway, it looks like you’re injured, one of your wings got clipped. Turn around.” I said as I motioned for her to show me her back. She didn’t move, she just stared at me suspiciously and I sighed in response.

“I’m going to heal you, your wings are mostly ether circuits. It’s just a matter of repairing the circuit. You probably don’t know this can be done since humanoids don’t have the fine control to do it.” I said and Ariel furrowed her brow in suspicion. She glanced at the hive soldiers around her before turning around and showing me her wings. I saw one of her wings had a slash in it and the ether circuit there was fried from the ensuing short circuit.

It was a simple fix, clamp the ether flow and fix the circuit. Then the wing should fill itself back up. High Angel wings, although looking to be made of feathers, were actually more ether than flesh. So as I did the quick fix I noticed the circuits on her wings seemed atrophied from lack of use.

“You walk everywhere?” I asked and Ariel turned her head as she shifted some of her wings so she could get a good look at me.

“What?” Ariel asked in confusion.

“Your ether circuits are atrophied, if you don’t use them enough they tend to degrade over time. When was the last time you really used these wings?” I asked and Ariel furrowed her brow at those words.

“I spend most of my time in the palace, I don’t get to leave much.” Ariel replied softly.

“Huh, bird in a cage then. Well, I’ll fix that too, you should get more exercise or you may end up grounded.” I said as I repaired the last atrophied circuit and power flooded into her wings. 

Ariel let out this weird gasp as her wings fluttered for a moment. She took in deep breaths of air as she gently flapped her wings as if to test them.

“Better?” I asked and Ariel nodded slightly in shock.

“Yes, much better… is this happening to all of us? This atrophy?” Ariel asked, her voice filled with concern.

“How the hell would I know? I need to see more of you angels before I can answer that. But if all of you are cooped up indoors all the time then yes, most likely. You humanoids were never that well-designed. All of you are too vulnerable to the passage of time. Crappy high-maintenance designs.” I said with a shrug.

“How do you know all of this? What are you?” Ariel asked suspiciously.

“You are the progeny of something that was created by a Firstborn. I was personally created by a Firstborn. The skill difference in construction and the lack of random mutations make me far more resilient to the ravages of time. 

If you really want a clear answer to that question, how about you call your mother down here for a chat? I was meaning to speak with the angels for a while. Since you are here we might as well get on with it.” I said with a shrug.

“Call my mother…” Ariel muttered in response.

“What? Would you rather call your father or some other trigger-happy angel? I know what you lot did in the north, some of your victims ended up here in Elysia by the way. Like I said I rather Daedelus stay in its sheath, your father’s sword doesn’t play well with population centres.” I said dryly.

“I will call her, although I am unsure if she will come.” Ariel replied with a nervous nod.

“Afraid that the Syndicate will do something? I have just the place for a meet-up. Don’t worry she won’t fight alone; it's one of the most well-guarded places in the Empire. I won’t suffer another stunt from the Syndicate but I assume your mother would be rather well-guarded too.” I said.

“You assume correctly.” Ariel replied with a stiff nod.

“Come, follow.” I said as I spread my wings and I saw her do the same. I took off just as I told the hive to clean up the mess and send word to Cecilia to come over. Then the two of us headed off to Cecilia’s old prison. One of the reasons I kept those demon-possessed idiots alive was for this. If I told the angels that a demon was fucking around in the region they might be more willing to team up or at least not make an enemy of me.

It didn’t take long to reach the tower and once we arrived I saw Ariel look around at the strange surroundings. This prison has gone through significant renovations. I used many of the old designs I had stored in my head to construct it. Since I didn’t have the means or time to construct it in the normal way I had to “grow” part of it. Most of this facility was made of stone but the structure was covered with growths that pulsed with ether. 

The facility still had the original tower but from the base of the tower now there was a stone structure with plated mithril running along the walls with enchantments. This structure was about as large as a mansion. It wasn’t that large of a structure but most of it was underground. It was a troublesome facility to build but I guess top-secret black sites always were troublesome to build. I had to rewrite the memories of so many workers…

I even had to build a dummy facility closer to the main city which was just a giant warehouse so that I had a cover story of what the workers were building. But regardless it was done, and I now had my top-secret prison and testing facility. There were some humans here, mostly mages who were researching the more dangerous and secretive stuff. Of course, the real secrets were stashed away in the Black Box but this place also made a good red herring. It helped draw attention away from the Black Box as a secret location.

As for the living parts of the facility it was actually a giant creature that lived underground. It was rather expensive to maintain, it ate about a town’s worth of wheat but with the increased harvests it was certainly sustainable. Its main purpose was to act as the prison guard and also a protector for the personnel inside in case something went wrong. The protection was warranted considering there was some experimenting with the darker schools of magic like Necromancy and Hemomancy. You never know when you might make something that wasn’t that obedient towards the summoner. The undead do tend to be violent and if the summoner loses control it would be nice to have the room itself attempt to defend you.

“This place is certainly strange.” Ariel muttered as she looked around.

“I’ve never heard of the ancients building anything… from what I heard the building was always thrown to the humanoids.” Ariel said as we headed for the main entrance. 

The entrance wasn’t your conventional door, it was just this layer of thick carapace with a large eye keeping watch. When an authorised individual approaches the creature named Bastion will lower the carapace granting entry.

“Most of my peers do not appreciate the things Humanoids create. As for me I do quite enjoy them. I do love a good sweet wine and your novels are pretty good too, they are a good way to pass the time. City planning is pretty fun too, kind of like solving a puzzle.” I said and I could sense the ever growing bewilderment from Ariel.

“Have you ever tried your hand at trading? It’s pretty fun doing risk trades. It’s like gambling but more complex.” I said.

“I see…” Ariel replied, her voice filled with confusion.

“Most of the ancients would find little joy in such things. You are truly a strange one.” Ariel said as she turned to look at me just as the entrance opened up.

“Well I can assure you there is nothing like me, the Eternal Mother ensured that fact.” I replied with a smirk as Ariel tilted her head in response.

“You mentioned that earlier, so are you a creation of the Firstborn?” Ariel asked.

“Yes I was created by a Firstborn, as to whether I am a failed or successful creation that depends on who you ask.” I replied with a playful smirk. Honestly this was pretty fun, yes they do say the Firstborn are unreadable by most means. However, I am still playing on the safe side. The whole cover story of me being a rogue hive leader from the Eternal Mother’s hive was a good cover. I’ve got to hand it to Mahaila, this cover story was perfect. It gave me a lot of flexibility to say misleading truths.

For instance I am technically made by Firstborn because I came from a Firstborn egg. There is indeed nothing like me because each Firstborn was unique. The Eternal Mother did ensure I was quite different considering she gave me a piece of her power which interacted in strange ways with my baseline abilities. As to whether I am a failed or successful creation, well that depends on if I survive and win this grand game. After all the show isn’t over till the fat lady sings…

Actually, why do they say that? The show isn’t over until the fat lady sings? What fat lady? Why does the lady that ends the show have to be fat? Ah well, I’ll ask Cecilia later.

We continued through the facility towards this main atrium. I could tell Ariel was still extremely cautious. Which was a good thing, if she wasn’t she was a fucking idiot. To be fair she didn’t really have a choice but to follow me in here. Ariel was almost killed by the Syndicate and I swatted that attack team like a bunch of flies.

“So how will you contact your mother? Or will you not contact her?” I said as I turned to look at her just as she flinched.

“You are brave, I will give you that, but you should know that I can tell when you are lying.” I said and I saw Ariel fidget in response. It was obvious to me that she was hesitant on calling the Archangel here. 

“You know if you want to leave you can just go, I just thought it might be best if our factions at least started to have some level of communications established. I know what’s happening in the north. Now a high angel is here alone and the Syndicate attacks her. I’m sure you can understand why I want to talk.

So if you really want to leave I just need you to answer at least one question…” I said as I faced her. I saw her tense as if preparing for a fight. This was just an instinct to a perceived threat, nothing more. To her this was hardly unexpected. If she followed me in here, she was prepared to die in here.

“Why are you here?” I asked and Ariel averted her gaze for a moment. No doubt contemplating how much to tell me.

“I am a scout, the north is in ruins so my mother wished to ensure the south was stable.” Ariel said after some hesitation.

“Alright, in truth I just brought you here as a little test and also to have a private chat with the Empress. After which you can be on your way, or you can walk the city and decide for yourself if what is happening here is acceptable to you and your fellows. 

If you want to call some extra security or clear it with those up there that’s fine too.” I said and I saw Ariel give me a funny look.

Yeah, surprising right? The giant monster being soooooo acommodating…

I saw her gaze shift her eyes darting all across the room. She was expecting some kind of trick and I could tell thoughts were racing through her mind. Honestly, I kind of like her, she’s earnest and honest. Which was another way to call someone naive but honestly I don’t like shifty types. She reminds me of Beatrice in a way… yeah she was definitely sheltered as all hell…

It didn't take long but soon I could tell she was ready to answer so let’s see what she is going to say.

“I would like to speak with the Empress first, I assume she is on the way here?” Ariel asked in an attempt to look calm.

Yes, I think I can work with this, if she was some mindless brute I would have to kill her…

She’s on the way…

We have a lot to talk about…