Chapter 493.5 – The End is Nigh.

"And so the time for battle approaches. All the pieces are in place." Gale said as he inspected a group of 'Angels' assembled at the foot of a mountain within his domain. With his mighty forges running at full speed, Hilare had created tens of thousands of automatons in record time. The Eridal's creations were already powerful enough, but when combined with the Gods' advanced magical knowledge and decades of Imperial research, they'd been made far more dangerous. "That Demon Lord might believe that she's already won. But the look on her face once she realizes that it's too late to stop us will be... Well, I wish I could be there to see it."

{That's what you get for trying to make a fool of me, girl. You may be a Demon Lord, but I've been playing this game for far longer than you can even imagine. By the time you've realized that everything is going according to my plan, it will be far too late. And then we'll crush you and that foolish arrogance of yours. Contrary to what you might think, I've taken steps to ensure victory against a subsequent Demon Lord, and once we can fight without fear of reality itself collapsing, you won't stand a chance.} (Gale)

"Eridal technology always disgusts me." Hilare commented as he walked up a set of stone stairs behind Gale. "But I have to admit they were brilliant artisans. To make such powerful and yet simple automatons is truly nothing short of a miracle for it to have arisen within mortal minds."

"Feeling a bit shown up as a craftsman?" Gale chuckled as he turned to face Hilare, from behind whom a small, young girl with orange hair appeared. She was quite unassuming, and one could easily think of her as little more than a small child. Her bright blue one-piece dress matched her eyes perfectly, and the blue ribbon on top of her orange hair only added to her cute appearance.

"Hah! As good as the Eridal's were, do not forget that I was the one who refined their ideas and improved upon them so quickly." Hilare said with a bit of smugness in his voice. There was no better craftsmen on Enoris, and he took pride in his skill. "Their foundation was good but incomplete. The mortal engineers who created them lacked a complete understanding of the magical intricacies at play, so they were always far less than they could've been."

"If you're talking them up so much, then I presume they meet all my specifications?" Gale said, wanting to steer Hilare away from technical jargon since the old God would easily derail the conversation if left to do so.

"I've increased power output by over three hundred percent while doubling their overall combat ability. While they won't do much against the Demon Lord, they'll be a hindrance in combat, and against her servants, they will be more than a match." Hilare explained. Though while Hilare mentioned their ability to annoy the Demon Lord, Gale had no intention of wasting them in such a way. Their primary use would be sieging the Dumetor HQ on Enoris and accompanying Rehael as elite shock forces.

"Good, good." Gale said as his eyes turned to the 'young girl.' "And I see you've managed to pull Marret out of her domain. "It's been some time since I last saw you."

"Well, when the old man here told me I'd get to smash a Demon Lord, I couldn't very well stay cooped up in my room, could I?" Marret replied with a bright smile that heavily conflicted with her brutish tone and coarse manner of speaking. She was the member of the Pantheon that Gale interacted with the least, and even now he didn't really like dealing with her. "I haven't been this excited for a scrap in a long time!"

Marret was the Goddess of Passion, though most would refer to her as the Goddess of Emotion due to how her abilities and blessing tended to act in practice. Chief among them was the tendency to have extreme mood swings, which could vary between fiery rage and complete lethargy. She'd been in a slump for the last five hundred years, sleeping in her domain and rarely moving due to a depressive spell, but upon hearing that Gale wanted her to fight a Demon Lord, memories of her battle with Vikes shocked the Goddess back to life and got her itching for battle.

There was debate about her actual strength, though most considered her at the very top of the the pecking order when talking about raw strength. The Passion Goddess' power could wax and wane with her mood, and at its absolute peak, a single swing from her hammer was more than capable of wounding one of the other Gods if it made a clean hit. While Elariel, Reflia, and Gale considered themselves more powerful there was every reason to believe that a sufficiently angered Marret would give the combat-focused Gods a run for their money. Additionally, the Passion Goddess was notoriously fickle and two faced, even more so than one would think. She was generally seen as untrustworthy which was part of the reason Gale hadn't called upon her until now; that and the fact that she wasn't part of any faction within the Pantheon. While he didn't think she was an outright traitor, she'd never taken any direct action to hinder overall divine plans, there were always concerns about where her loyalties lied due to certain past coincidences. Thus he didn't fully trust that she wouldn't become a problem if the tides of fate turned against him, though given the circumstances he was left with no choice but to deploy the Emotion Goddess.

"Well, it's good to see you so enthusiastic." Gale chuckled as if he were a grandfather happy to see his grandchild, which she did not appreciate. Marret absolutely hated being treated like a child or spoken to in such a manner. That her form made her look like one did not help, but any time someone told her to take a more 'mature' appearance, their face typically got intimately acquainted with her hammer. "Your power will be needed if we're to defeat the Demon Lord."

"Is Rehael ready?" Hilare asked as Marret skipped to the balcony to see the 'Angels.'

"Yes. Meldor and Lira are with her, and the reports I've gotten since she felled the Titan tell me that Rehael's army has swelled in size greatly." Gale replied. He had no idea how many undead troops his Demi-God had amassed, but his last count put it somewhere over a million; though that was decades ago. "Taking into account that the Demon Lord may have forces stationed on her home world that may be equally as powerful as that Warlock, it should be more than enough to break though and activate the tether. Once a sufficient number of the Spirits have been killed their essence will be channeled into the device I've provided her." The Spirits lives were special for a multitude of reasons, though the primary reason to target them over the Humans of Earth was simply because the Spirits had actually been to Enoris and developed a connection. This connection would act as the bridge needed to transfer the Gods over, and thus their lives being forfeit was mandatory if Gale wanted the ritual to go off without a hitch.

"I'd imagine Rehael herself would be more than sufficient for such a task." Hilare commented. "Though I advise caution. We have no idea what lies beyond the veil between worlds, and the Demon Lord may be well prepared for such an attack."

{No, she absolutely must have. She's too cunning not to. As lax as she may seem that monster has outmaneuvered every attempt to capture or kill her servants. Its almost as if she knows what we're going to do before the ideas even form in our minds.} (Meldor)

"Hence why I've had Esquire send two additional Demi-Gods with her. Meldor and Lira are powerful and loyal squires. They won't settle for anything less than total victory." Gale replied. He'd only met the two a few times but was assured of their ability, team work and dedication. He'd considered trying to send more but doing so would delay the transfer further, and thus was too great a risk. "The only thing I can foresee causing Rehael a problem would be the Demon Lord herself."

"But with us distracting her, she won't be able to." Hilare nodded. "It's a reckless and bold plan, Gale..." He sighed. "But at this point, we don't really have a choice."

{If we keep waiting around the Demon Lord will either find a way to reach us here or force the world to destabilize and collapse. I do not like the idea of meeting her in battle directly, but we have no other choice.} (Hilare)

"No, we don't." Gale shook his head. He knew full well that Enoris had a few centuries at best, and that failure here would doom them all. "You, Korex, Esquire, Cheofla, Marret, and Teiera just need to keep her busy until the connection is made. Once that's done, retreat back here so we can quickly transition between worlds." Gods returning to the Heavens did not cause the same level of distortion that incarnating into the material world did, thus the one off nature of the collars wouldn't be an issue.

"She won't stand a chance against all of us!" Marret cackled. “I'll give her such a thrashing!”

"I still worry." Hilare hummed in thought. "Vikes was powerful enough, but this new Demon Lord is even stronger. I fear that even with all our training and preparations, we may not be strong enough to face her in a head-to-head battle, even with all of us combined."

{And we won't have Elariel or Halifax this time, both of whom were key in the destruction of Vikes.} (Hilare)

"I know, this is not what I'd want to do either, but we have no choice. These are not ideal circumstances." Gale replied. "She's already made it abundantly clear that this as an either-or situation, and I can't say that I disagree. This will end with either her or our destruction, so we must do everything in our power to win. Everything we've ever worked toward depends on the outcome of this battle, so we cannot afford to lose."

{And I've still got a surprise in store for the Demon Lord. Rehael was merely the test of such a fusion, and when I wield such power, then none one will be able to stop me. I can only hope that I don't need to use it before the transfer, else....} (Gale)

"It would seem that the Demon Noble's preparations are nearly complete." Esquire said as she appeared in the air before floating to the ground beside them, interrupting Gale's thoughts. "Though I will note that her force is little better than a ragtag group of farmhands with pitchforks and torches." She sighed.

"I can't be helped, the Demon Kingdom's main army was crushed at the battle of the Simoea Plains. All they have left are small local forces and whatever they can muster on short notice. That she can gather anything at all is more surprising." Gale replied.

"It would appear that Northwind has also moved some of its forces, so it seems things are proceeding according to plan." Esquire continued as she showed Gale a small 'video' of the Republic's soldiers marching through thick forest roads. "They crossed the border just a few hours ago and should arrive at Zoltan within a matter of days."

"Excellent. Have our agents instruct them to begin their advance toward the Demon Capital as soon as they are ready." Gale nodded. "The Demon Lord will have no choice but to respond if she wants to protect her puppet government, and then we'll spring our trap."

"I will do just that, but I am concerned that the Elves..." Esquire shook her head.

"They are of no consequence." Gale put his hand up to stop her. "It would've been useful to have their aid, but those isolationist fools in the Whistlewoods can be left alone. We won't have to suffer their indignant nature much longer anyway." Their King had spoken with Jacabey about joining the Alliance with Northwind and the Empire, and at this point had not given a proper reply. Gale took this as a rejection, though he assumed their intention to remain out of the war from the start. "Ultimately, we have what we need already." He continued. "I'd originally wanted the Dark Elves and Dwarves as part of my plans, but the destruction of the Demon Army and the invasion by those underground monsters forced me to cut a few corners. Luckily, we were able to supplement the missing forces with the Eridal automatons."

{Not that it matters anyway. Their troops would've been nothing more than fodder, so it really doesn't matter.} (Gale)

"I suppose there is nothing left to do now but wait." Esquire nodded. "And it will not be long a wait either."

{And then finally, I can try and make amends for everything. Miz'ri, I only hope that my intuition about you was right. Your power... It's the only way I can start anew.} (Esquire)

Spoiler

Marret!

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