Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

The caveman Borg was quite informative, answering almost all my questions as he had been an assistant in the project. I finally understood the general details about this so-called Galadra's Eye experiment.

As Blanche described, the original purpose was indeed to launch a sneak attack from the back to change the battle situation at the front lines. But unfortunately, it was discovered too early and all initial efforts were wasted.

Fortunately, although Borg was just a back-end staff providing support and logistics, his duties were quite diverse - covering food, lodging, hygiene etc. So through my interrogation, I still managed to uncover many inside details.

"So after your sneak attack army was surrounded and wiped out at the Atrlu Gorge, you guys decided to go all out and march south straight into the kingdom capital for revenge?"

I asked while levitating Borg in mid-air. If I sensed even a tiny bit of hesitation from him, I wouldn't mind letting him try out my new rapid free-fall tower invention.

I'm sure the experience would be exhilarating for him.

"Yes yes!"

Borg fawned obsequiously.

"I was against this. No no, I've always been against such invasive actions. They are too inhumane!"

"Oh please..."

I rolled my eyes. His acting was too exaggerated.

"Then why were you all so ostentatious along the way, summoning so many monsters before even reaching your destination? You even clashed with garrison troops in towns along the route."

This was one of Selene's earlier questions too. Back then, no one like Adrian could figure out the reasons behind revealing themselves so openly. Some even suspected ulterior motives.

"Well...there weren't many left on the other side. I heard only a few lizardmen and werewolves escaped the encirclement. So higher-ups were worried about the lack of manpower. They specifically sent a small force to protect and to retrieve the Celestial Weapon. But that ended up attracting even more kingdom troops for the purge..."

So it turned out to be a blunder? Looks like Adrian and co. were overthinking things.

"So no more reinforcements were sent later on?"

I deduced based on the subsequent situation at Tethys Town.

"Yes. Higher-ups felt concealment was more critical afterwards. So they sent a level 6 snake demon and level 5 werewolf to take over the transportation of the Celestial Weapon. The guards stationed on the other side were also pulled back. No more troops were summoned until the destination."

A level 6 snake demon and level 5 werewolf?

I was shocked. That was pretty high level!

"Why didn't you all just use flying monsters? Getting the Celestial Weapon flown straight into the royal capital would have been much faster right? Why still traverse treacherous mountain routes?"

The fact they could change transporters gave me this idea.

"I heard spatial turbulence around the Celestial Weapon was too chaotic. It affected flight."

Having followed the project from the start, Borg had probably seen the Celestial Weapon before. So he answered quickly.

"And higher-ups explicitly ruled out air transportation too. Can't conceal in the skies. The kingdom also has aerial troops. Interception would be disastrous. Land was the only option."

"I see. Then what happened after?" I asked with concern.

If that was the case, something must have occurred on land for such high level monsters to end up bested by a level 3 mountain village brute like Kane. And I think he only encountered one monster right? Unsure if it was the snake demon or werewolf.

"During one handover, the cavemen and lizardmen stationed outside the transfer zone to coordinate reported loss of contact with the transportation crew from the kingdom side..."

According to Borg , they were not too worried initially. Search zones in the mountains could be large. Losing contact briefly wasn't uncommon.

But when there was still no movement after a few days, they realized something was wrong. Personnel were sent into the zone to investigate, only discovering a small town other than the missing Celestial Weapon and transporters.

That small town was probably Tethys Town - where Selene and I got transferred to that day.

With the Celestial Weapon still unfound, and the royal capital not too far from Tethys Town, the invasion plans were changed. Forces would march directly from Tethys to attack the Astralrealm Kingdom instead.

"What did you all do to the people in that town?"

My voice sank as I asked gravely. After all, those monsters couldn't have turned the town upside down without alerting residents.

"I didn't kill anyone! I'm just a support staff. I got transferred to the kingdom side too. Impossible for me to meet the townspeople!"

Borg waved his hands frantically to clarify.

"The town also got transferred to our Dark Continent side. So the search teams stationed outside should have done it!"

If that was the case, Sister Hila and church leader Simon could have perished...escaped unlikely with so many monsters around.

To rescue and heal Gavin and so many other injured townsfolk had expended tremendous effort from me. Yet they got massacred that very night. Unforgivable.

"How are the invasion troops sent the past two days?"

I asked heavily.

"I heard not too good. Still yet to reach the royal capital target. Got discovered enroute already. Unsure of exact details."

Borg understood it was good news for me and quickly revealed what he knew.

"Reinforcements were planned but orders came from Val City two days ago about suspected angel invasion there. Suspected from our side's experiments. So immediate relocation ordered. No chance to send help yet."

"Suspected? Don't tell me you all have concurrent experiments elsewhere too?"

I picked up on a key term from him. Logically, Selene and I did get transferred here from their side, so why were there still suspicions? Could it be...

"We aren't sure if you came from the earlier experiments still ongoing in Val City...or after the relocation here!"

Upon hearing me, Borg hurriedly explained.

"There's only one experiment site! Mainly conducted in Val City initially. But some cavemen corpses were found near the outer perimeter trenches. Unknown perpetrator. So it got moved into these mountains afterwards!"

"Unknown perpetrator?"

The term intrigued me even though internal strife amongst monsters wasn't surprising.

"Don't tell me Astralrealm Kingdom forces aren't the only enemies of you Val City dark creatures?"

"Uh...we used to be quite united."

At first, Borg didn't seem to want to talk about this. But under my gentle persuasion, he finally came clean.

"But after our Val City got special top-level backing, some external forces got jealous. So they often send spies to sabotage and disrupt the missions assigned to us."

"What exactly is your 'top level'?"

While their internal conflict was unexpected, even more interesting was how often he used that term.

"Of course, it's the Goddess of Fire Flames Michelle whom all dark creatures revere, as well as the Dark Council she leads!"

Borg looked towards Val City with a devout gaze. Clearly he was absolutely faithful to this so-called goddess.

"The Dark Council?"

Not sure whether to feel familiar or silly about the term.

It sounded rather silly for this fantasy world. Yet also somewhat fitting based on the world structure I now understood.

More intriguing though were the actual words. The term "council" connoted some national alliance entity rarely seen outside science fiction works or games...and even then, mostly like the UN in my Earth.

Yet here it was popping up unexpectedly when the Astralrealm Kingdom was still feudal, with nearby nations seemingly similar. Strange indeed.

"What is the background of your Goddess of Fire Flames Michelle anyway? Don't tell me she's yet another aloof deity barely showing herself?"

I asked disdainfully. From Vivianne's earlier explanations, I roughly knew this world's beliefs around gods. Yet suddenly another Goddess of Fire pops up on this Dark Continent leading dark creatures...probably just acting behind the scenes like the True Church.

"Who says so! Lady Michelle is nothing like the aloof gods you humans believe in - disappearing for millennia, no clue if dead or alive. She currently presides right in Val City! This Celestial Weapon is bestowed by her. Your actions here are crystal clear to her..."

Once mentioning the Goddess Michelle, Borg's eyes gradually turned fanatical and he grew unsettled in my grasp. He even began yelling instead of answering politely.

How frightening to be blinded by faith...oblivious to your own plight!

I rolled my eyes before letting him enjoy yet another round with my spinning aerial free-fall tower contraption. By the time I fished him out again, he was foaming and out cold.

My interrogation was largely complete and he seemed unlikely to provide anything more useful for now. Despite earlier cooperation, I couldn't bear to kill him.

However, letting him return as an informant wasn't feasible either despite nothing to expose now.

After some thought, I left unconscious Borg by the mountaintop lake at this volcano's apex. The sheer ninety-degree drop here prevented his lowly caveman self from descending anytime soon.