I became a legion lich

254 legends of giants

He looked her up and down, taking advantage of the fact that her face was a mass of light to observe her without being discovered. Then his gaze finally rose and reached her eyes, belatedly realizing that Ariel was also staring at him after feeling his gaze and unlike his, her eyes held only a silent promise of pain if he continued for a second longer.

“So what? What’s so important for you to call me so suddenly?” Ariel asked as she glared at the cherub who looked away terrified.

“As you are already aware, the demihumans of the continent of Doravon are somehow recovering their giant bloodlines and are invading the continent of Caprio.” Eishin started to narrate, but Ariel interrupted him.

“Spare me the rant, dad. Just cut to the chase.” Ariel cut Eishin’s speech short as she scratched her ears irritably.

“The battles ended with our victory, but we realized that the first wave of evolved demihumans were just the continent’s rejects. I want you and your spies to investigate the Doravon continent and find out everything you can.” Eishin summed up irritated by his daughter’s behavior.

“I thought we were prohibited from interfering in the war because of your agreement with Illum. Has anything changed?” Ariel raised an eyebrow questioningly.

She had already suggested that they should spy on their enemies instead of just mindlessly waiting while other seraphs suggested that they should attack before the demihumans became true giants, but Eishin had denied all her suggestions.

“The non-intervention agreement still stands and that’s why your mission must be done in absolute secrecy. I have my suspicions that something is going on after watching the battles and I want you to investigate the demihumans, especially the different species of demihumans evolved and how they managed to recover their ancient lineages.” Eishin explained, surprising Ariel.

“Do you really want to risk an all-out war against the gods just on suspicion?” Ariel asked doubtfully.

.....

“I don’t want a war, at least not right now and that’s why you’re being ordered to keep quiet. Even if you’re discovered, we can use the argument that you’re just investigating without interfering, so make sure you don’t. not create confusion or be discovered by enemies.” Eishin warned her and she was immediately disappointed.

“I’ll do my best to try and contain myself. I’ll leave as soon as I finish all my tasks in the palace and at home.” Ariel nodded, understanding Eishin’s point.

“Do it. We need to find out as much as possible as quickly as possible.” Eishin ordered and dismissed Ariel.

***********

On the continent of Caprio, on the west coast of the savannas.

Hundreds of ships were embarked on beaches or rocks, their crews leaving the ship and watching the surroundings, prepared to face any enemy or threats that appear.

Fortunately for them, there was no army or soldiers waiting for them, just monsters that lived nearby and fled as soon as the demihumans appeared, but the evolved demihumans chased them down and hunted them down for food.

They had faced much more powerful sea monsters while sailing and they had all turned into food for them. Their ships barely had room for them and there was no room to transport food, so they mostly ate raw sea monsters the entire voyage.

The evolved semi-humans began to set up an improvised camp on the beaches, ensuring a safe area for them and their brothers who would arrive later.

Everyone was aware that they were just a separate force and that the king’s main army would be arriving soon, so they had to prepare a suitable camp for their arrival.

Similar scenes were taking place all over the coast of the savannas, with the exception of a single place where they found a small tribe of ogres that lived by the sea and slaughtered them all before occupying the tribe.

Evolved demihumans considered normal demihumans to be nothing more than slaves and the moment the tribe tried to resist, they were considered rebels and killed on the spot.

As there was no army waiting for them or anyone to stop them, so they were able to settle on the mainland without much trouble.

The human armies knew that the demihumans would manage to invade the continent and spread across the uninhabited regions, but they already had their hands full and just internally hoped that the monsters and demihumans would try to resist and not join the enemy.

It was known that it was only a matter of time before they marched north, but there was nothing they could do.

***********

Continent Doravon at the same time.

The continent Doravon was extremely similar to the southern continent Caprio, its biomes being mainly large deserts and savannahs.

The continent was shaped like the head of a hammer and a gigantic river more than 5 kilometers wide ran east to west, splitting in two after reaching the middle of the continent as if it were a y on its side, before reaching the opposite coast and empty again into the ocean.

The river was called Balut, after one of the ancient and deceased giant Gods, who was said to have cut half the continent with a single stroke of his sword, the river forming in the wake of destruction the attack left.

Until fifty years ago, the entire continent was divided into over a hundred different demihuman clans, some clans being species that existed only on Doravon and warred brutally with each other.

Unlike deserts and savannahs of Caprio, there were no territories ruled by intelligent monsters and the only dominant species were demihumans, at least until the arrival of the conquering king.

His origins were unknown, his species was unknown, even his name was unknown to everyone. The only certainty that everyone had about the conquering king was his absolute power and that he had purified his own bloodline and done the same to anyone who joined under his banner.

The conquering king’s power grew immensely and absorbed the other clans one by one, purifying the bloodlines of those who surrendered to him and enslaving those who remained resistant even after being defeated.

Demihuman clans had a culture of accepting to join a clan after being defeated, but many resisted after seeing how the conquering king treated his own people.

Demihumans treated each other like brothers, but the conquering king did not value brotherhood and the only thing that mattered was strength. Those with power would be allowed to do whatever they wanted and the weak were wrong just for being weak.

Everyone was forced to join his army and those without power would receive the worst possible treatment, having the same status as cattle.

Men would be forced to do any work that was considered undignified or below the status of a warrior, sometimes even being killed and used as feed for livestock, while women would be forced to constantly have children to produce new soldiers for the army.

His enemies tried to resist his madness, but the conquering king’s power was absolute and no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to even harm him in combat.

Those who joined him and had their giant bloodlines strengthened would also join the vision of the strong trampling the weak, though they believed otherwise just a few months ago.

In less than fifty years, the conquering king has taken the entire continent under his banner, a feat almost unheard of in the world of Elbon and only accomplished once in the past.

In the center of the Doravon continent, where the Balult River split in two, stood the highest mountain in the world known as the Hump of Atlas. The mountain was named after a famous champion of the giants, who was said to have carried the tallest mountain in the world on his back and toppled it into the middle of the river, splitting it in two.

During the time of the giants’ glory, the mountain was used as a gathering place for the gods and giant champions, but it was almost completely destroyed after the fall of the giants and demihumans had no ability to manipulate the earth, so it has been abandoned since.

At least until the conquering king came along and the evolved demihumans under his command restored the mountain. The interior of the mountain was rebuilt to resemble the interior of a castle, but its size was sized for giants up to 30 meters, so its interior space was immense.

Among all the great rooms that were built inside the Atlas Mountain, the biggest one was the throne room and it was in the deepest and most protected part of the mountain.

The throne room was almost 100 meters high and 300 meters wide, with enough space inside to accommodate dozens of pure giants. Pillars made of marble quarried from the mountain itself were spaced at regular intervals, while the walls were carved to depict all the different species of giants that ever lived.

His intention was to demonstrate what the giants were like during their heyday and all the power they possessed, serving as an inspiration for the demihumans who entered the throne room and a reminder of how precarious their current situation was.