Clearly the wall was hastily built As Randidly peered at it flaws quickly began to emerge There were gaps for small groups of people to slip through But none were large enough to allow any more than ten or so people to proceed through unmolested It would carefully control the flow of any army that attempted to attack
Grimly Randidly followed after DecklanÆs shadowy form Not the construction matter Even if it was well constructed it wouldnÆt be hard for Randidly to break the wall with brute force to send a message to these fools as to what would happen if they fucked with Earth As they walked forward Randidly glared around and saw that a small group from the army was heading up toward the castle
Good timing Decklan said idly Then he upped his speed
RandidlyÆs eyes sharpened It would be good to see these frog people up close and have the chance to scan them with his Aether Detection Because he dearly hoped that this situation wasnÆt so dire that he would need to postpone his challenge against Donnyton in order to conduct a campaign here
RandidlyÆs new left arm flexed experimentally It certainly would be a good opportunity to test the limits of his new equipment Even if he had to miss the challenge fighting here getting an understanding of his strength would be a positive outcome
Randidly and Decklan were moving much more quickly than the small detachment from the lower army so they arrived at the castle gates at the same time as them The frog people were well basically what Randidly would have pictured if asked to picture frog people They were squatter than a human and had rubbery blue skin but otherwise looked a lot like people
What threw Randidly for a loop was that the frog people flinched and ducked their heads when Randidly and Decklan arrived Decklan didnÆt say anything so Randidly scanned the group
None of them were particularly strong above Level Fifty Five yet why had this group come to this Frogpeople Fortress Could they be messengers or scouts sent to report Then why
With a creaking groan the castle gate slowly lowered before the group that stood waiting And flanking the opening gate were two of RandidlyÆs Riders and a dozen people wearing the regalia of one of DonnytonÆs Squads
You may enter The woman who seemed to be in charge intoned and the frog people scurried forward
Frowning Randidly checked what his connection to Neveah was telling him That Neveah was directly forward deeper within the looming castle that seemed to ooze an evil villain vibe A strange suspicion began to emerge in his chest as they proceeded deeper into the castle
The hallways were ornate and dim leaving the frog people to stumble around into archaic furniture At the very least they were out of the constant rain Somehow Randidly suspected it wasnÆt often in this world that it wasnÆt raining That might be why the intelligent life had evolved from frogs
Finally after almost ten minutes of watching the panicked frogs they reached a grand hall Upon entering the room the frog people flung themselves on the ground Their leader a rather rotund frog called timidly Great Demon King Please have mercy upon this humble messenger but the Toad Lords refuse to surrender Please
If I do not get what I desire Neveah slowly stood as she spoke She was in her natural form at the moment a twisting evolution that combined human features and that of the bone wyrm Wide bone wings spread behind her back hanging above her open maw and burning red eyes
But most annoyingly she was wearing on her head a crown that was clearly a cheaply made imitation of RandidlyÆs Crown of Upheaval and Gloom
It was honestly kind of insulting
then I will bleed this world dry to teach these fools a lesson Neveah roared triumphantly
Blinking Randidly tried to rationalize what he was seeing The frogpeople flinched and begged for mercy pleading with Neveah that they be given more time to convince the other Toad Lords of the Demon KingÆs power
Randidly just watched the whole thing play out He had quite a few questions
Chapter 889
It was a good plan Neveah said almost defensively Randidly readjusted his stance so he wasnÆt just staring at her with folded arms He wasnÆt criticizing her he was just shocked They are stronger than humans Overall much stronger than Earth If they knew that fact no matter how peaceful they were they would eventually invade So I decided to play the part of evil being invading them Pretend that Earth was a terrible place to be feared where monstrous demons are common
The two of them plus a lounging Decklan were standing in the master bedroom of the castle which Neveah had constructed after sampling the many preserved horror movies from before the System arrived Apparently she had developed quite the taste for gothic architecture In addition she apparently had vastly increased her language proficiency through repeated exposure to media
Randidly was just glad her brain hadnÆt melted from watching too much TV
But if she is pretending to be a Demon King Randidly thought sardonically Can I really say that her brain wasnÆt melted WhatÆs that term for 8th grade syndrome in Japan Chuunibyou
Randidly rubbed his temples What he wanted to ask was why she decided to use his very respectable Crown in such a nefarious way Would this action influence his image The two of them were closely connected But he knew it wasnÆt very mature to ask that So instead he said And How has it worked
“Well ” Neveah said as a pleased smile spreading across her face Now that they were in a private area she had returned to using an illusion to create a rather androgynous human visage that looked like she could have been Randidly’s sister “They are a rather fractured people that are led by these Toad Lords I killed the two nearby to the opening but they were extremely weak in comparison to most of this world’s people Therefore the threat of me has bought time but more and more Toad Lords are sending agents to investigate Plus “
Decklan harrumphed “Plus the reason they found the portal so quickly was because after he opened it that Undying Hero fled inside and encouraged some individuals from the most powerful faction of Toad Lords to invade The irony being that what Roy said was the truth humanity would likely lose a war against the Frogpeople ” Then Decklan spared Randidly a glance ” provided that certain individuals move on our behalf “
To that Randidly didn’t respond But he did frown as he considered that conjecture From what he had seen from the Ogre Ravine World there were people within the depths of the world that would be more than capable of standing up to him Sure Randidly would be able to massacre the armies but they were never the threat
The real threat was those ancient things that had been biding their time in a world slowly draining of Aether They wouldn’t move lightly because their age made them cautious But when they did move
Neveah tsk’d “I have not been able to track him down because my presence is required here But until the Undying Hero ceases this foolishness more Frogpeople will gather And therefore I will be forced to kill larger and larger groups to keep my threat fresh enough to dissuade them It is dangerous “
That was the other fact that Randidly had realized as he listened to Neveah’s brief explanation of what had happened For all that they were acting to protect Earth what they ended up doing was coming into a dying world and killing indiscriminately to protect their own interests Of all of the options available to them this was the one that they had chosen
And the sad truth was the more they killed now the more likely it was that there would be so much bad blood between them that the Frogpeople might decide to go to war anyway
Yet what could Randidly say Elegant and peaceful solutions were nice but they simply didn’t have time or the strength to enter into a protracted war with a starving world that wanted the Earth’s energy like a drug Peace would be the goal down the line but it would only be possible where Earth controlled the portal And yet no doubt the frogpeople would think the same if they understood the circumstances