40VOIDLANDS
Zora led Vir through the maze of tunnels, away from the Undercity, descending as they went. Vir rightly grew anxious as they descended deeper into the bowels of the earth. Vir’s history with deep, dark places hadn’t exactly been stellar—first with the Prana Swarm, then again with the Narapazu.
It was almost as if the realm’s most horrifying denizens claimed the abyss as their territory.
And yet, the well-lit hallways told a different tale, as did the dozen checkpoints they crossed.
As if this maze isn’t enough… Vir thought. He’d given up on memorizing the tunnel network’s layout after the twelfth junction. Not only did it stretch far and wide, there were also several layers.
He pitied any poor souls who gained access to these tunnels. They’d die of dehydration long before they ever found an exit. That was assuming they somehow entered the Undercity in the first place.
They walked for so long that Vir began to suspect Zora had lost her way, but the steadily growing levels of prana told him otherwise. The air remained devoid of it, but the ground? Vir couldn’t recall if he’d ever seen such density in his life before.
Zora eventually halted in front of an unassuming door.
“Through here,” she said in her gravelly voice.
Vir followed, expecting to enter another tunnel, or perhaps a small room.
What he found was an enormous domed cavern, easily stretching six stories in height, and nearly that in girth.
The bare rocks were well-lit, with non-magical light going all the way up, highlighting the enormous contraption that sat in the center of the room.
Having seen Valaka Amara and the Hiranyan Vimana, Vir immediately recognized the cylindrical device as Imperium technology. Its blue-white rings spun faster than the eye could track, and it wasn’t its physical appearance that stunned Vir, but rather its pranic signature.
At the very top of the device, Earth Affinity prana flowed into it, along with a smattering of other affinities. Life, Water, Wind, even Lightning were present in trace amounts.
How can those affinities be present in the ground? That makes no sense!
Then he spied the dozens of holes in the ceiling. Like a honeycomb, hundreds of tiny holes had been drilled into the earth.
Holes that lead to the surface!
Vir doubted the Order had the means to pull off such a feat. Which meant it was the Imperium’s doing.
But while the top of the device was surprising, the bottom was downright shocking. Prana exited the bottom of the enormous cylinder, but there was only one affinity—Earth. All the other affinities had disappeared.
It’s converting prana! Vir thought. He’d never have imagined such a feat could be possible. So that’s why the ambient Earth prana density is so high. But wait, if it can convert those affinities… Does that mean Ash prana can be converted as well?
“Behold the Pagan Order’s greatest weapon. The Prana Siphon sucks prana from the air and deposits it into the earth. Not on a local scale, but a regional one.”
Regional? No. No way…
“Then,” Vir whispered, barely daring to ask. “The Voidlands… are your doing?”
“Did you know? The Voidlands were once called the Voided Lands. Voided by this very Artifact. Since the Age of Gods, this device has siphoned prana. Anyone who knew of its existence has died off, and now, people believe the Voidlands to be a natural phenomenon. Helped along by our own misinformation, of course.”
Hadn’t Riyan theorized something similar? Vir had barely registered it at the time, but now it struck him just how astute the old warrior really was.
Vir could scarcely imagine what it must have taken to accomplish such a feat. Riyan once mentioned that strong mejai acting together could drain the prana from a battlefield. But to do so for an entire country? Once again, the might of the Prime Imperium left him in awe. To have attained such great heights… Vir genuinely wondered what they were like.
What calamity could have brought down such a powerful civilization?
Vir wasn’t sure if he truly wanted to know.
“But… why? You’re starving your people of prana. How can that be of use to your people?” Vir asked.
“Have you ever wondered why the kingdoms and empires leave us alone?” Zora asked. “Why they allow us to raid their countries and steal their demons?”
“They allow you to?” Vir asked. “Wait. Does that mean… Do they know of the true nature of the Order?”
Vir doubted such a big secret could be kept from other nations. No matter how good the Order’s security was, leaks were bound to spring.
“They know, yes,” the gangly Ghael replied. “Though it is a tightly kept secret among royalty.”
Why would they… Oh.
“Nobody likes demons,” Vir said. “By allowing you to steal them, they avoid having to keep them in camps.”
Or kill them off, Vir thought, his stomach growing queasy.
“Some demons become slaves. Those are the lucky ones. Or the unlucky ones, depending,” Badal muttered. “Most die, some violently. But genocide isn’t a great public image for a country. Even if we are just demons.”
“Sheltering and feeding demon prisoners burdens the country. They neither wish to commit mass murder, nor are they keen for demon slavery to become too widespread. Not after the demon uprisings and rebellions of the past. They have learned that their despicable practice works best in moderation. With our agreement, we rid them of this problem while allowing them to maintain their image.”
“But why would they just let you build your forces?” Vir asked. “Isn’t that dangerous for them?”
“We can’t hide who we are from the other kingdoms, but we can deceive them, to an extent. They all believe the Order to be a pranaless dumping ground for demons and nothing more. They see the Upper City, and they content themselves knowing we are no threat. Yes, Upper City residents live well, but there is no army there. No danger. Without prana, we are nothing. Or so we have them believe.”
“And the reason they don’t come to destroy you is because doing so would give them a demon problem. They’d have to figure out what to do with all those demons they’ve sent to you for so long.”
“Not quite,” Zora said. “Were they to invade, we’d simply slip into the shadows, infiltrating their society. Then they would have assassins wearing human faces, living in their midst. I can assure you the thought terrifies them. With the Pagan Order exerting influence on demons throughout the Known World, we can keep such behavior to a minimum.”
“Interesting. So they think the benefits of sending demons your way outweigh the downsides.”
“Yes, but insurance is always welcome. The Prana Siphon ensures no mejai can siege our lands. Only warriors with Talents, but they would not have mejai support.”
“And you have your own Talent warriors,” Vir replied. “It’d be really hard for them to attack you. Really hard.”
Without magic, countries would lose much of their offensive combat potential. Talents were powerful, but A and S tier magic could kill hundreds or thousands in one go. Without that, their invasion would become a painful siege.
“We survive by making our downfall difficult for our enemies. Both during the invasion and after,” Zora said.
It’s genius, in a way, Vir thought. Not only would it be a pain for the invader, resulting in a large loss of life, but there’d be little benefit in doing so. In fact, there would only be downsides, since the Order actually provided the other countries with a valuable service.