Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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"Ah, damn! Finally made it!"

"I need a break!"

"I'm tired, wanna sleep."

The team released their accumulated tension by complaining as soon as they arrived at the nearest base. Their trip lasted roughly eight hours from start to finish, and because of the shocking incident a few hours earlier, the team was tensed and a little bit shaken as they continued the rest of the way.

It wasn't until they arrived here that they could finally relax and let the tension leave their bodies.

The scene of that Raging Mountain Bull Demon being reduced to a mere skeleton by the tide of insects remained fresh in their memories. It will probably give them nightmares for the next following days and there's nothing they could do about that.

"...almost three years in this gig, yet I'm still surprised by the horrors of the Black Lands." Elric smiled helplessly as he sat on the ground, not minding that its corrupted.

"Thank god you told us to not engage the herd. Otherwise, we would've shared the same fate as that bull demon." Floyd replied, sounding shaken still.

"I hate bugs. I hate bugs. I hate bugs." Erica chanted lile a prayer, looking a bit traumatized too.

"I'll admit. I was feeling a little confident back then." Darwin smiled wryly. "I couldn't help it, we've got three Planar Travellers on our team, I thought we'd have a much easier time with this mission because of that but it was humbled real quick. Damn, this world is scary."

The rest didn't have anything to say to that but they all silently agreed. Even after years of being in this job, they are still sometimes surprised with how hostile the world has become against humans. Such scenes really grind at their resolve to continue on this career.

"Still, it's nice to see that there's at least one of us who's not affected by it." Elric grinned as he looked at Cedric who's already making himself busy.

Cedric stood in the middle of the base, his expression was serious as several runes emerged all around him before turning into streaks of light that fused with the formation around this base, improving its quality to an entirely different level.

Not even fifteen minutes later, the team could already feel the density of corruption lessening, causing them to involuntarily release a sigh of relief.

Additionally, Cedric was multi-tasking. As he was making the modifications to the base, he's also improving the tents and preparing food for the team. None of them even had to do anything since Cedric basically covered everything. Besides, none of them could even come close to Cedric's skills.

Erica and Chrissy had been learning from him, but they still have a long way to go before they could do the things that Cedric could do. That said, in case of emergency, they could cover for Cedric and do the modifications instead if he wasn't available.

"...the bathroom's ready, guys." Cedric told the team, "If there's any problem with it, tell me right away."

"Nice." Francis whooped before unceremoniously removing his bone armor and making his way to the new bathroom.

The girls said nothing but they did the same. The scene of those bugs crawling and devouring the bull demon whole was still fresh in their mind, they even felt as if a few of those bugs were crawling on their skin. They wanted nothing more than to soak in a warm bath and scrub the disgusting sensation away.

It's a pity that they can't use any strong fragrances to drown the stench of corruption because that's a risk here. Demons have sharp senses, any strong scent they put on their bodies could be used to track them down and cause the demise of the team. But oh well, they'd just make do with what they have, no big deal.

Once the team freshened up and was visibly relaxed, they changed into a new set of clothes made by Cedric from the silk he harvested. By the time they were done changing, Cedric was almost done with the modifications on the base.

The formation was already modified and was now releasing the misdirection mists, the monitoring tablet was also assembled and was now working. The tents have been upgraded and could now provide warmth for humans who'd use it in the future.

Now, Cedric just had to make the base defenses and he'd be done with everything he's tasked with.

"...ah, comfort." Francis muttered as he clutched the empty bowl of food he just downed. "I wish everyday's like this."

"One hell of a wish you've got right there, friend." Floyd replied as he leaned on the chair while patting his stomach.

"Must you put my hopeful optimism down?" Francis complained.

"Nah, he's just telling you to be more realistic." Darwin commented as he sighed in comfort too.

"Stop arguing and rest." Elric ordered. "I'll keep watch this time. We leave after eight hours."

The majority of the team groaned but still followed the order nonetheless. There's really nothing they could do about this. They're on a tight schedule. If they want to have that vacation they so deeply desire, they'd have to be on the move most of the time to finish this mission as soon as they can.

As they went on their respective tents, Cedric looked at his girls and said: "Sorry, girls. I've got something to do this time, can't pamper you two for the time being."

The girls just looked at him for a bit. Chrissy then sighed and said: "At the very least, get some sleep, yeah? Don't overwork yourself."

"I won't, I promise." Cedric smiled as he gave them both a kiss before going to his tent.

Once he's inside, he placed several runes that isolated him and all the possible commotions that will happen inside, making sure that not even a trace of it will seep out of the tent.

After he's done securing the space. He sat cross-legged and summoned a sigil from the depths of his body.

This sigil looked mystical. It shone with a bright silver light and was seemingly the reflection of the heavenly bodies that has been hidden from humanity since the dawn of Superhumans.

It's none other than the 『Aspect of the Stars』, the same one that Headmistress Lissandra gave to him.

Cedric set aside a few of his thought chambers to serve as a reminder that he only has limited time to study this. The rest were all used to focus on learning all he could from the sigil.

See, Cedric didn't have enough time to sit down and analyze this inheritance. It was given to him on the same day that he was forcibly enlisted. Things had been hectic since and it was only now that he had some time to actually take a look at it.

It was mesmerizing to say the least. Truly a work of art. There's so much knowledge, discipline, and profundity contained in this sigil.

As expected of a Sage, Cedric supposes. This sigil was created from decades of hard work and ceaseless research. There's a boat-load of inspirations he received just from scratching the surface.

It didn't take long before Cedric fell into a trance. Several runes gleamed around him, releasing a flickering silver radiance that illuminated the space within the tent. This was the product of his harmony with the sigil, meaning that it recognized him as the new Sage and showing him all the secrets locked within.

This method of inheritance was something that the Demon Race could never hope to replicate. This kind of knowledge is something that's out of their reach. Sure, they could try to destroy it or cut off this path, but so long as Humans exists, someone who has the aptitude to understand the profundity of symbols and runes will eventually appear to revive it.

A couple of hours passed before Cedric gently extricated himself from his immersion. He kept the sigil away and sealed it to his soul, making sure that its secured and won't be sensed by Demons.

Unlike the 『Aspect of the Sun』 which he already mastered and even perfected. The 『Aspect of the Stars』 was new to him. Although it recognized him as this era's Sage, it has yet to completely submit to him.

He has to uncover everything it has first. Once he learned all of its secrets and applied to his duty as a Sage will only be when the sigil submits to him and become a part of him. At that point, he doesn't need to keep it safe anymore since it'd be a part of him forever.

Still, with Cedric's absurd aptitude, even a few hours of studying yielded him immense results. This much was obvious with how his Astral Energy churned within him.

Using the virtue of the sigil along with his knowledge of Astral Laws, his control over his Astral Energy improved to the next level. He even learned a few tricks to refine it and increase its purity even more, allowing him to expand his reserves even further.

There's more for him to learn. Unfortunately, he had to pace himself because they're in the middle of a mission.