Leveling up the World

Chapter 948: The Seventh Conqueror

Jeremy and Tiallia looked at each other. It was safe to assume that talking about their past experiences might come with the respective punishment, but discussing general notions had to be alright. After all, Simon had done a lot of the talking and he hadn’t been punished by the Moons.

“Five against a Moon,” Tiallia said. “Have you prophesized the outcome?”

“It gets difficult when dealing with deities. Dallion was only part divine, and he was still able to mess up things. It took a lot of effort to pin him down in one flow of events.” The archbishop’s left eyebrow twitched. “Oh, and I’ll need all your Moonstones.”

“Here we go again.” Jeremy sighed, as even his dragon snorted in disgust.

“Let me correct that,” the archbishop quickly added. “I need to see your Moonstones. I know you’ve been keeping a few for a rainy day. You’ll still get to do that. I just want to see the types you have.”

“You mean he doesn’t even have the full emblem?” Jeremy’s pity turned into anger. “What the hell are we talking about, then? If we had the entire set, we—”

“Would have done nothing,” Simon’s tone suddenly became as hard as diamond. “I gave up my chance. You surrendered the moment the Red Moon asked if you wanted to go through. The rest,” he glanced at Tiallia and Pan, “have already used up their chance. This isn’t like a low-level trial. You only get to use the shortcut once. Dal’s the only one who can turn the key, so show what Moonstones you have.”

Here it was. The first in a chain of moments of truth that would lead to one of them becoming a Moon. Simon had hinted there was a high chance that Dallion would succeed. That wasn’t much of an assurance, but it was, supposedly, better than the alternative.

Tiallia extended her hand, palm up. Three rough purple gems emerged.

The slightest of frowns appeared on Simon’s face. Whatever he was searching for, this wasn’t it.

“Don’t look at me,” Jeremy said, before the question was ever asked. “Dal already cleaned out my piggybank. Whatever I had, he’s got it now.”

“I see…” The regret in Simon’s voice was palpable. Extremely slowly, he reached out into the air, as if to grab something. As he did, a large blue gem materialized. It was as big as a fist, emanating divine power.

“You kept one unconsumed?” Jeremy asked. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Astreza’s Sapphire,” the archbishop said, holding it with such tightness one would think it was a part of him. “The first Moonstone I was given. It was never meant to be used…”

That was an unexpected twist. It seemed that when Simon had said that there were enough for a full set, he had included himself in the calculation. There was no telling how many had passed through his hands: thousands at the very least, possibly a lot more. And all that time, he had still managed to keep the first untouched.

“Here.” He went to Dallion and reluctantly shoved it into his hands. “Now you have enough to complete it.”

“I guess we wait till his condition wears off,” the nymphs said. “Any bright ideas on how to spend the time?”

“Maybe stop your armies fighting,” Dallion couldn’t keep himself from saying.

“That?” the nymph split into a dozen instances, looking at the distant ocean with half of them. “The order was given. Just some people are too enthusiastic for their own good. It’ll be over soon, one way or another.”

Mages, Dallion thought.

It was obvious that anyone with the magic trait would have a huge advantage over anyone else. At the same time, that made them cold. It was ironic that the only other domain ruler at their level—who wasn’t a mage—considered the people of the world of even lesser importance. With the potential exception of those around him, all of them cared for nothing else. Had Pan been the same way, too? More importantly, was Dallion? He had killed thousands, led thousands more to their deaths. He could say that he never forced anyone to do it, but he’d offered a choice that, in most cases, was no choice at all. March, Hannah, Adzorg, Diroh, Vihrogon, Veil, Gloria, Falkner… everyone whose life he had affected had joined him in the battle for the world—a battle they wouldn’t gain anything directly from. Being a hunter, and later a noble, he knew the reality of the world and the necessity of death. Unlike the others, though, he liked to believe that he still gave a damn.

“What if more appear?” Euryale asked, to everyone’s surprise. “What if more than one Moon appears?”

“You think you know more than us?” Tiallia smirked. “We’ve been through this personally. What could a little girl like you tell us that we haven’t seen?”

“You challenged them alone. Now you’re challenging them as a party. What’s stopping them from doing the same?”

The silence was absolute. Dallion had considered the possibility, but since the archbishop had come up with the plan, he was fairly sure that they’d be able to handle it.

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“I may not be a contender, but I’m still a gorgon empress, and the closest thing you got.”

“She does have a point.” Jeremy scratched his chin. “What if all of them appear? A one-on-one challenge is one thing, but when it comes to parties, who knows? It’s not like this has happened before.”

“In living memory,” Pan added.

“In any memory,” Jeremy ridiculed him. “Five against one is great. Five against seven—not so much.”

“Six against seven isn’t great, either,” Tiallia rejoined the discussion. “Even if we pick one to take down, I doubt the other Moons will let us do it before they join in.”

More and more emotions bled out: disapproval, disappointment, anger. Dallion could see everything unravel before his very eyes. So much for Simon’s ability to foresee everything. His prophecies were nothing but potential outcomes, which he peeked at thanks to the Moonstones’ power. Since that particular resource had been lacking lately, his visions were likely only partially true. It was all up to Dallion to offer a solution that would keep things together, thankfully, he had something in mind.

“We make seven as well,” he suggested. “Seven champions against seven Moons.”

“You’re thinking of adding your fury disciple?” Jeremy laughed as he said it. “Maybe she’ll be lucky to reach the level of her father in a few decades. And that’s not a given. I’ve toyed around with furies enough to know that even the promising ones hit a limit around level seventy.”

“I don’t mean furies.” Dallion gritted his teeth. “I’m talking about the other conqueror who challenged the Moons and lost.”

“The dryad emperor? He’s banished.”

“Two of the people here were banished.”

It was somewhat curious that no one had suggested the idea before, least of all Simon. Everyone knew that he knew the spell to unbanish people—he had been doing it for millennia. Could it be that there were certain risks involved?

“I’ll bring him back to the real world and then we’ll have seven,” Dallion stressed, confirming that he agreed with Euryale’s proposal. “You two might be the strongest, but everyone else is on my side. If you’re unwilling to take the risk, I’ll try on my own. Go ahead, leave.”

Dallion had gone a bit too far, and he knew it. Yet, both of the conquerors chose to stay. While no one voiced it, there was the implied opinion that everyone involved would become a Moon… or at least those that survived. This might mark the greatest change the world had ever known: in a single day, the seven Moons that were could be replaced by new ones.

“Okay, you win this one,” Jeremy said. “We’ll go on with your plan, but I’ll add a condition. If you don’t get the dryad in three days, I’ll form an alliance with the nymphs and you and everyone else, before we settle things between us.”

“As you said, we’re the two strongest,” Tiallia added with a vicious smile. “And taking you on will be a lot safer than taking on seven Moons.”

A blink of an eye later, Dallion and his group were the only ones standing on the mountain peak. Jeremy and his dragon had transformed back into air, and the body of the nymph had transformed into water.

Water copy, Dallion thought. He did wonder that Tiallia had arrived so unprotected compared to the emperor. How come you didn’t catch that, Harp?

I did, the harpsisword guardian replied. But I didn’t think it mattered.

That could be argued, but in the grand scope of things, it had the same result as if she had been there. Real or not, those were the nymph’s words, and she had agreed to the plan. Now all that Dallion had to do was deliver.

The first thing Dallion did when he got back to Alliance was go to sleep. Close to five hours remained before he could enter the awakened realms. During that time, he could use a brief respite. He held on to a faint hope that he might have another Moon dream, but that didn’t occur. He still had a dream of sorts, but it had a completely different visitor.

Dallion found himself back at the peak of the mountain, only this time he was alone. All seven Moons were visible in the sky, just above the sun setting beneath the horizon.

“Aren’t you setting the wrong way?” Dallion wondered. He was lucid enough to suspect that this was a dream, yet was still fascinated how real it felt.

“It’s so you can pay attention,” a voice said nearby.

Calmly, Dallion turned to his right. A slime was standing there. The form made it impossible to distinguish this specimen from any other member of its species. The bouquet of emotions in his voice, though, was rather unique.

“Pan?” Dallion asked.

“Sorry for visiting like this, but there’s something you must know.”

Dallion nodded. He wasn’t aware that copyettes could enter dreams, though at the same time found it perfectly normal.

“Simon already knows a way out. He was the first to bring anyone out of the banished land. Even during my time, the concept was unthinkable. That’s why he’s so eager for you to go.”

“He’ll help me bring back the dryad?” Dallion asked. His surroundings had changed, turning to the archbishop’s island. The smell of the ocean filled the air, along with the relaxing sound of crashing waves.

“He didn’t gather everyone in order to win. He gathered you in order to lose. Anyone who challenges a Moon and fails is banished along with their entire race. If the entire party fails, everyone will be cast into the banished realm. Only Simon will be able to return, after which he’ll bring back only those he wants.”

Sneaky was one way to describe the plan. Despite not being able to feel anger or fear in the dream, Dallion acknowledged the machination. As plans went, it was rather smart. If the Moon challenge succeeded, Simon would become a Moon, same as everyone else. If it failed, only he got to repopulate the world with those he saw fit. Even if the challenge didn’t take place, there was a fifty-fifty chance that the archbishop would end up victorious. Dallion was the one perceived as a threat and that was who Jeremy and Tiallia would target. In doing so, they’d become weaker and potentially turn on each other, leaving Simon in a good position to mop things up.

“He’s smart,” Dallion admitted.

“Not the word I’d use,” Pan took a step forward, stopping at one of the massive trees that had surrounded them. “He’ll probably offer to help you in the summoning process. Don’t trust him.”

“I don’t need to trust him. I already know how to bring the dryad here.”

The dream abruptly ended.