Beyond SSS-Rank After Getting The God System-Chapter 236 - 235: Uninvited Allies
Illerion explained to those not aware, that Luthwynne was the currently ruling ten-star deity of the Elven pantheon. Even she, despite being more powerful, could only do as he commanded until she achieved that status for herself and dethroned him.
Illerion then went off on a tangent about how excited she was that she had been given the task of leading the Chaos-Elves against the military territories, then went off on another as she promised to make the deaths "humane" which would have made them feel a lot better if she didn’t use air quotes whilst saying it.
"...Relax, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf. This one let me watch one of those fun videos of his and I took a liking to one of the characters, a girl that is usually sweet and innocent, but is fierce in love and war."
Kyubi immediately banned Tiamutael from watching those shows with her, the idea of someone as unstable and powerful as her acting as over the top as the characters in his shows tended to was immediately.
When Illerion tried to argue, Klaire and Carl both opposed her, explaining that they barely survived acting like that while they were practically powerless. Despite their efforts, when it worked and Illerion agreed, they were still amazed by the success.
Afterwards, Illerion groaned and remembered she was sent to fetch them if they were ready to continue, then asked who was coming like a party guest inviting their own.
When the final attendees had been selected, which were Amaterasu, Tenko and Suzaku, Illerion asked Tiamutael to take them to the designated meeting place.
"Where exactly is that meeting place?" Carl asked, both annoyed and relieved that his command seemed to have been commandeered.
"It is on one of your worlds, which that delightful gnomish girl has taken over." The revelation that Alysse had taken over a world was jarring, but also something they considered an eventuality given her increasingly dangerous creations.
"What did she make for Lillim to kick her off world?"
"Nothing, but a dragon flew low and she nearly blew it’s head off when it woke her up. Then your daughter broke its jaw, it just became the safer option, but she’s been taking regular breaks back home."
The things she was saying suddenly clicked into place and they asked how long they had been gone, when she said a week they stopped asking questions and were more focused on being behind schedule.
The world they arrived on was a barren world that Carl recognised, it was the last of those he claimed.
He didn’t recognise the structure that now existed though, but the reason for that became quickly apparent when the solid wall broke apart into a countless mass of nanites to allow them entry.
"Welcome to "The Palace" or at least that’s what we call it. The kids and I have spent most of our time here since the move since they got clingy to their big sister when you guys left."
They weren’t about to ask why she had been hanging around, they were too scared of the answer, so they just entered the facility. Whilst they had been too close to properly the structure from outside, they could tell it was big, but the facility map made it clear exactly how big.
Before they ever got too far inside though a portal opened and Raziel flew through and into Carl’s arms, where she buried herself in him and told him they could use the portal to reach the others but she wasn’t moving.
She wasn’t playing favourites either, she could sense how much stronger Klaire and Kyubi had become just from being in the same room as her and was a little worried that the doting mums might crush their little girl by accident.
"That little one is special as well..." Illerion cooed as she stroked the edge of one of her wings. "...This little angel managed to beat me in a match by linking my senses with every living thing in your territory. I was unconscious for two hours."
Raziel didn’t appreciate the praise, or having her first parental embrace in a week interrupted and she left Illerion cackling again as she robbed her of her senses. Though Kyubi pushed the maniacal elf through the portal so they could get on with the meeting.
The hall they arrived at for the meeting was an immense technological construct that seemed to be fifty years ahead of anything on SATS, but appreciating Alysse’s work would have to wait, as there were dozens upon dozens of immortals.
"They finally return..." The restrained anger in Lillim’s tone made it clear how annoyed she was about the whole thing. "...Do you have any idea how many of those gathered have grudges with each other? All so eager to prove their superiority they voice every arsenine, half-baked thought that pops into their head."
Carl and the others apologised for taking so long, but when she saw Amaterasu accompanying him, she asked who actually defeated her.
"Carl did, he stole my divinity and completely schooled me in how much of my own potential I was wasting." Lillim’s attitude changed in an instant, suddenly becoming a doting grandmother as she squeezed him hard enough to make Raziel beg for mercy as she was stuck between them.
"That’s my grandson, well done, Carl. Now, I hereby relinquish my temporary command to you, I’ll be sleeping in the corner unless I’m needed."
Carl told her not to worry, that the meeting wouldn’t be dragged out by their eagerness to be involved and Lillim was impressed even further, but also a little concerned. As happy as she was to see her grandson grow into a confident, decisive leader, she couldn’t help but hope it wasn’t simply an inflated ego.
Carl gave everyone he had missed a nod that promised they would catch up as soon as they had time, then addressed everyone in the room.
"Hello everyone, sorry to keep you all waiting, but to be honest this isn’t going to be the war council planning session you think it is..."
Carl paused strategically, let them work themselves up as immortals always did and when they had reached the point that their auras started to flare, he continued.
"...To be honest, this is a personal matter. You might have grudges against Gilgamesh and all the other scum on the committee, but you aren’t the ones that have been controlled and lied to for the better part of a millenium.
The plan is simply, divide, conquer and spirit away. I’m not looking to settle this in some glorious battle that we’ll remember eons into the future, I want to save as many as of those under their control as people, wipe out those that are loyal and erase even the memory of them from existence..."
Carl could sense them laughing and judging him internally as he would have expected. He knew they wouldn’t believe words alone, so he looked back to Kyubi, Klaire and Sol-eater and gave them each a nod to release their full power as he did the same.
"...The teams will be as such:
Lillim, Klaire, Kyubi, Soul-eater, Amaterasu, Tenko and I will take on the committee. By the time those willing to surrender do so, we’ll have a two to one advantage and even as fledglings that includes three ten-stars.
Gillian, Scylla, Blanc Sophie and the vampires will be on extraction duty. Tiamutael will be the one actually extracting them, with his sisters supporting them, the others will be targeting escape routes to seal off retreat whilst dealing with any backlash.
My aunties and Majesty’s children will be hitting military facilities as a single unit with Saboteur as support. The military is made up of altered humans, that are unable to resist the will of the one they serve. They will take prisoners where possible, but I have a strong suspicion their lives are tied to the committee members’.
If the elves are dead set on helping, then I won’t stop you. You’re allies and I’m grateful for that, but you’re uninvited and I planned to do this alone, so if you do help it will be the same duty as my aunties."
One of the elves stood and walked over to him. "Greetings, I am Luthwynne, patriarch of the elven pantheon. Do you really expect such a vague plan to work?"
"What plan ever survives first contact anyway? Gilgamesh is what, six thousand years old?
Any strategy I can come up with is one he can exploit and turn into his advantage, but the one thing he doesn’t understand is a leader who doesn’t take control and trusts every individual to make their own choices.
He also has no idea I’m still alive, so the moment I show up, he will be too paranoid to take his eyes of me."
Luthwynne seemed to look through Carl as he considered his words, then asked why they shouldn’t just send everyone to face the committee members and cut the head of the snake.
Carl looked at him as if wondering if it was a trick question, but then realised that this was the reason he had even lived that long in the face of such powers.
"Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m genuinely interested. How would you kill me?"
The question took Luthwynne by complete surprise, leading him to hesitate and the moment he did, Carl changed to his Horobi-star form for just an instant. That instant was enough to make Luthwynne know he was alive only because Carl dropped the form.
As he stumbled back, Carl bowed and apologised for the rash display, then simply summarised things as he saw it. He told them that the reason they were ill-equipped to join, is because to them, Carl was making it seem easy.
"You are making it seem easy though." Luthwynne’s voice was more respectful now, he had seen a demonstration of power he couldn’t match, which earned Carl his chance to change their thinking.
Carl shook his head, then explained that Gilgamesh’s greatest strength is that he can take on opponents far stronger because he has made that one purpose the basis of everything, he then recounted how he had tricked Gilgamesh because he simply wasn’t used to punching down.
"...His biggest weakness, is that he has never fought anyone weaker than himself. He’s so used to being the underdog he needed weaker subordinates to cover his blindspot, last time I threw him off by one-upping him, when I appear with powerful allies and an ego he’ll think he can take advantage of a non-existent weakness."
Luthwynne was doubtful, but then Nergal burst into laughter from nowhere, still missing the arm Tiamutael had taken. He backed up Carl’s point, saying that when Gilgamesh appeared on Earth, he left even though it was the most vulnerable Nergal himself had ever been.
"The man is has weaponised cowardice, he uses it to create openings in otherwise impenetrable defences. Carl is another example of that, he weaponised his when he first negotiated with Bahamut and Tiamat, which allowed him to sit back and let them defeat themselves."
Tiamat and Bahamut grumbled, but couldn’t actually deny the allegation. Luthwynne took their assertions to heart, then decided that it truly was best to leave them to deal with what seemed to be a manner of battle beyond him.
The last thing Carl added was that the moment a place was clear of any non-combatants, it was to be abandoned immediately, with anyone capable of future sight ready to sound the retreat.
"Why? Are you expecting them to receive unexpected reinforcements?" Luthwynne asked, wondering if Carl might be a little overcautious for a second, but realising that was precisely the point Carl had just made.
"I fully expect them to sacrifice worlds, resources and men to hurt me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he destroyed an entire world just to do so." Luthwynne found the idea of anyone doing so unthinkable, but rather than continuously questioning him, decided to volunteer all the elven seers to that cause.
Illerion meanwhile started dancing in place, making them all feel a little nervous, then she apologised and explained that she was turning a new leaf but it was difficult to not be excited.
Just as Carl thought that would be the end of the meeting, Kitsunoko raised her hand and declared she was going to a specific world. "Hey dad! I’m going to Earth."
They all looked at her, wondering what she was up to and wanting to tell her that she wasn’t. As childish as she was though, she had a talent for being a guiding force when it mattered most.
"Where abouts on earth?"
"To the sanctuary where the fox-spirits lived."
They were left a little speechless, it wasn’t a place that was dangerous, in fact it was likely one of the safest places for her to be.
"Ki-ko, will you tell us why?"
"I can’t, sorry, but it’s where I need to be..." Rather than doubt her, they simply asked when she would be going and if she was going alone. "...I’m going with Gaia, Nergal and Sis, tonight so I can prepare, I won’t have a lot of time if I wait until tomorrow and I might mess up."
Gaia pointed to herself as if unsure who she was, then stood and asked if she needed to prepare anything, chuckling when Kitsunoko reiterated that she just said she couldn’t say.
With that she said her goodbyes, then whispered something to Illerion that made her beam with delight, though it was clear it made her a little nervous as well.
As she and the ones she had named departed, Carl called the gathering to an official end, but asked Lillim, Luthwynne and their designated commanders to remain. As well as all the householders.
As everyone else retired, Carl greeted the friends and family he hadn’t seen since they all departed, then summoned saboteur and Majesty.
When they arrived, Carl praised all they had done, then granted them a boon. Filling them with divinity in a way to forcibly evolve them, rather than the overwhelming amount that he used to burn away the system.
When he was done, Majesty took on a larger version of her usual form, the most significant physical change being that her exoskeleton took on a patterned texture. As she thanked Carl for the blessing, she felt a wealth of new genetic configurations develop.
’Master, may I return to the nest? I sense I can produce new variations of my offspring and wish to present them to you, they may prove useful in the upcoming campaign.’
At the same time, Saboteur had also finished his evolution, he remained entirely unchanged physically. It was deceiving however, as by the time it had finished, he had become vastly superior to how he had been before.
’Creator, I wish to borrow Tiamutael to send me in advance so that I can provide up to date information.’
"Of course Majesty, your tireless efforts make me proud to be your creator, but please try to grow beyond that. Saboteur, I’d happily send you ahead, but we have no way of retrieving you and analysing the information you bring before we intend to begin."
"No need, I think I can create a spore cluster that Alysse can communicate with on the go. I should also be able to sabotage computer systems and gaterooms, whilst maintaining facility operations to prevent remote self-destruction."
Carl gave his approval but told him not to do anything that might raise alarm before they arrived.
Tiamutael then sent Majesty back to her nest and began teleporting spores to every location they had information on, whilst Carl, Lillim and Luthwynne began dividing their forces up based on a 2:1 assault ratio.
His original plan was for the two to be in the enemies favour, but then he asked how many they actually had and nearly died of shock.
The elves had already counted their fighting force several times to be certain, with the final break down being 50 immortals, 100,000 fighters with 200 of those having the ability to see more than twenty seconds into the future.
The daughters of Lillim, which Carl had never heard and never really wanted to hear given the implication, numbered 63,218 not including Leanna, 43 were immortals with 5 stars and her eldest had six.
The biggest surprise though, was when Lillim slid over a slate that was specifically for monitoring the automated register Alysse had created to help Majesty relax.
Overview:
5,000 Royal Guard
10,000 Hive Nodes
15,000 Artilasaurs
25,000 Barriersaurs
40,000 Sicklesaurs
40,000 Terrosaurs
20,000 Tunnelers
5,000 Harvesters
Carl looked up from the slate and stared at Lillim in disbelief as she nodded her head. Knowing he likely wouldn’t be able to put a variation to the designation, she told him to tap on the line to open the complete file.
Carl was already familiar with the royal guard, so he skipped them and clicked on the one titled "Hive Node", which turned out to be the larger psychic entities he had only seen a few of previously.
The "Artilasaurs" were the Carrion-Eater’s version of the ranged units that had nearly killed Carl.
The "Sicklesaurs" just ended up being an Alysse-approved name for the drones.
The "Terrorsaurs" were more unique, according to the data in front of him they stood two feet tall, emitting psychic and audio frequencies that assaulted their targets self-preservation instincts.
The "Tunnelers" were a massive variation standing eight metres tall, specifically designed to create massive tunnel networks in no time at all and whilst they carried little in the way of offense or defence, the natural tools they possessed could easily tear through enemies if needed.
The "Harvesters" were also a familiar variation, so he simply passed the slate over to Klaire and Kyubi.
"And she just got more variations to breed."
Lillim laughed before replying. "Indeed, she’s actually turned The Carrion into livestock, it’s quite terrifying to think what would happen if she weren’t so devoted to you. She was so insistent on reporting everything after you lifted her restrictions, Alysse had to make a telepathic recorder for her."
Which turned their attention to the biggest topic and they congratulated Alysse on her ascension and asked about it. "...I’m a "Queen Of Constructs", in short, I can manipulate nanites like an extension of my own body, self-upgrade and increase my swarm by focusing divinity."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s not the big topic. We were just congratulating you, we want to know how things are going with Omy."
"Slow, she’s sweet, sweeter than I deserve and my ascension made me more emotional so I’m babystepping while I adjust."
They thanked her for the sentiment, but told her not to put herself down, then got back to work dividing up forces.
As they inspected Saboteur’s info, they discovered that the most densely populated military world, only had 30,000 stationed soldiers. The numbers were so low they were surprised, but then the information explained why that was the case.
The current total of confirmed human purebloods, was at around five billion and of that number, only one in three hundred were even viable for alteration which required absolute purity, a CON stat in the hundreds of thousands and an INT stat of less than fifty thousand.
