The change in Association.
“Lord Varain, Equatoria has fallen.”
A 4-meter-tall being with skin made of molten Lava and hair that burned like flames entered the room. Despite having such a fearsome appearance that would make even the strongest of warriors waver when in front of them, the being still bowed his head as his eyes fell on the being sitting inside the room.
After all, the being inside the room was someone almost everyone in this world and even other worlds feared.
An 8-meter, massive, hulking being whose body was made of stone and earth. He was not a being anyone could simply ignore, he was the strongest of his race and that was when his race was already absurdly strong.
The Terratrums.
Their bodies are composed of living rock, giving them defences far stronger than any other beings at their level. It is said a Terratrum could participate in a War and come out alive even if he didn’t make a
move.
That was simply how strong their bodies
were.
And that was not all. Along with the strong defence, the rocks that their body is made of also shift and regenerate constantly, giving them absurdly strong self-healing powers and also making it difficult for one to constantly target a weak point.
They were a race of terrifying beings who always had the upper hand compared to others, and the being sitting in front of him… was the strongest even amongst the Terratrums.
Usually, the Terratrums were known to be muscle brains, it made sense if one thought about it, a race with such an absurd level of advantage over others, it is only normal that they would have certain weaknesses. Their slow mind was said to be one of them.
Varain, however, was different.
His mind was exceptionally sharp, he was able to come up with schemes that even the races known for scheming and manipulating would be impressed or even terrified by. Sometimes, it even made one think that rather than his strong body, Varain’s strongest suit was his brain.
His ability to judge the situation and turn it into something that would give him an
advantage was exceptional.
Just like right now.
A few hundred years ago, three of the five Association Leaders along with their Elites disappeared, many thought that they had run away, many thought they had allied with each other and were planning to attack, but even after hundreds of years had passed, there is no news about them.
The people of the Association were confused.
They couldn’t understand what had
happened, however, no matter what it was,
one thing was clear,
Three-fifths of the Association’s total
strength had disappeared and the Association was the weakest it ever was.
No matter how one looked at it, it was a bad piece of news, even for Varain, who was one of the five Association Leaders.
However, the Terratrum was different.
The way he thought was different.
He didn’t quiver or start worrying about what happened or what might happen.
For him, it was an opportunity.
Opportunity to take over the entire Association and bring it under his banner.
And this is what he did.
The only being capable of facing him was
Lord Zalang.
Zalang was an Aetherin.
Aetherin were 5-meter-tall, luminous beings with skin that appeared translucent, revealing glowing veins of energy beneath. They have six wings made of pure energy
and eyes that shift through various hues.
Their hair appears as a constant ripple of light, never static.
It was a race that specialized in Illusions,
their Ultimate Ability was strong enough to make one forget about their sense of space and time, ultimately forgetting their ‘self’. In just a few seconds, the Aetherins were capable of ruining a being’s state of mind, turning a once strong warrior into a fool
who doesn’t even know his own name let alone know who or how to fight.
Yes, Aetherins weren’t weak, Zalang wouldn’t have been able to become one of
the Association Leaders if they were.
However, in front of Varain, it was pointless.
Varain knew Aetherins weakness, and since he himself didn’t have any glaring weakness that could be used against him, he had an upper hand against Zalang. Sure, if it was a fight where another being
strong enough to face Varain for some time stood together with Zalang, then there was a chance that Zalang could have used his
Ultimate ability on Varain and won the battle, but with all other Association Leaders gone and all other capable beings already siding with Varain or staying neutral, Zalang knew that his chances were
slim.
With his weak body, he couldn’t possibly
resist Varain, a guy who knew how to avoid his Illusions.
He was cornered, it was a battle where his
defeat was pretty much certain.
However, Varain was different. Rather than trying to eliminate Zalang and
control the Association all for himself, he decided to offer a hand.
The cornered Varain obviously took the
hand he was offered, after all, the conditions mentioned weren’t bad. It was definitely much better than certain death.
In the end, a Pact was made, a pact where Zalang agreed to come under Varain’s command and in return, Varain would give
2 of the 52 Worlds the Association had to
Zalang.
Yes, Varain was using the 52 Worlds under
the Association as rewards for the beings who would join him.
And no, he wasn’t giving these worlds away for them to rule them, they had other worlds for that, he was giving them these worlds to devour.
Varain’s thought process was simple.
They do not know what has happened to
the other three Leaders, they might have run away, they might have allied together, or… they might have been killed.
And all these possibilities, one thing was for sure,
The Association was going to face a strong enemy soon, be it the force that made the
other Leaders run away in fear, or the Allied forces of the three leaders, or the force that killed the three leaders.
And in all these cases, them trying to
stabilize the situation and wait for things to happen was a foolish choice.
It was much better to take the command in
their own hands, cut off the dead weights
they had been carrying and raise their strength.
And what’s a faster way to raise one’s
strength than to devour Worlds?
Nothing.
So this is what they should do.
This was their best shot.
Devour the Worlds, get much stronger
than before, and then face the enemies that are going to come eventually. And didn’t they already have the perfect targets in their sight?
The world that the three Leaders came
from and had the most influence in. If
there was one thing that could be said for sure from the disappearance of the three leaders, it was that the three leaders were incompetent, whether they ran away, together or were killed, in all the possible
allied
scenarios, the leaders had proven their
incompetence and who suffers because of incompetent leaders?
It is the people who follow them. The worlds these Leaders ruled, Varain
made them his first target and started devouring them.
Serpenthri, Hornari, and Eqarion
continued to die with no one protecting them, other races loyal to the three leaders
didn’t have a better fate either. It was a massacre, blood flowed like a river, more and more people and worlds were killed and devoured under Varain’s control. In the end, resistance groups were formed, the people couldn’t just accept their deaths without giving a fight, even a rat
fights back against the cat when cornered, the people did the same.
They created their own forces and fought
back against Varain and his tyranny, it was a War for their survival, a War they fought
with everything they had, resisting Varain
and his forces for hundreds of years, and today… Marked the end of this War.
The Last world of the resistance forces had
fallen, the ‘resistance forces’ all perished.
“Give it to Zalang. He is getting quite impatient since he hasn’t received the worlds that were promised to him. This would be his second world and with
this, I have fulfilled my promise to him.”
Varain spoke, his voice was heavy and domineering.
The being who came to him with the report
nodded and bowed his head again. “Yes, Lord Varain.” Saying those words, he turned around and
left.
Varain, who was left alone in his room just smiled.
After all these years, the pests were finally crushed.
He could now rule this place in whatever
way he pleased without the bugs annoying
him.
Of course, the poor being had no clue that he was currently being eyed by a monster
who… didn’t seem pleased by the news at
all.
“So you are telling me they devoured 43 Worlds and only 9 worlds are left? And 1
out of these 9 worlds is now given to another subordinate and is about to be
devoured as well?”
Vyriana narrowed her eyes, just like Nux
and her sisters, she wasn’t happy.
“I
Nux however, didn’t say anything.
He just glared at the rock monster sitting
in his office and his mouth twitched nonstop.
Oh the poor man was dead, so so dead.
