Isekai Magus: A LitRPG Progression Saga

by Han Yang

  “I demand that you -”

  “Suppress memories,” I commanded, and his eyes glazed over. “Tell me where your army is?”

  “The army is returning to the kingdom before winter fully sets in,” he replied.

  “Where is Bell?”

  “The Head Priestess for the demon is being flown to Litroo.”

  “Demon?” I asked.

  “You.”

  “Ah. Are there any more hidden surprises coming?” I asked.

  “My knowledge of Prince Tao’s tactics are limited. I assured him that I would kill you in Arax’s name.”

  “Didn’t go so well, did it?” I asked. “What was your plan?”

  “I used an air mage. She bubbled us in thick air, and we flew higher than ever before to avoid detection. We dove down with your army but a tiny speck. And no, our plan failed because of your shield mages,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  I nodded, waving him out of my sight. A thousand things needed to happen after the fighting.

  “Yermica, set up a triage center and rotate mages. Use excess Zorta for healings if we have to recover mana. Nee, work on securing both North and South Teska. We will camp here for a few nights to recover and regroup. I’ll have Asha and the goblins work on dropping the orbs on the rest of the dead.” I paused. “Yeah, there’s another 821 lidka dead at around a dozen each. Score.”

  I walked for the back of the banyou, seeing my dwarven guards unfolding the ramp. When I walked down, there was no cheering or triumphant feeling. War was brutal and not worthy of celebrating in the way Hollywood glamorized.

  My boots squished in blood while I walked to a clearing the minotaurs had landed in. Even with the savage nature of all the death, I grinned. Deep-down, I knew the victory would change me and our fortune forever.

  CHAPTER 69

  Xastriban Court

  “How did you talk me into this again?” I asked, glancing up trepidatiously at Oskatriver.

  Nick snickered at the banter between his father and I. My friend was comfortable waiting in the hall between the stands while I was clearly nervous, palms slick with sweat.

  “I offered you three hundred humans,” Oskatriver said dryly. The librarian always had a simplicity to his ways. “And you have been summoned by King Hartinger. My liege does not take no for an answer.”

  I peered out from our staging area, seeing the mighty king perched on a massive throne.

  “He looks just like General Karde but in fancy armor,” I quipped.

  This earned a chuckle from Oskatriver. “The larger we get, the less distinctive we become. But I didn’t tell you that.”

  While we waited on the side of the majestic courtroom that went fifty feet high, I absorbed the scene. The ceiling’s intricate murals were painted between hieroglyphics. The colorful images didn’t depict battles or war heros. Instead they were landscapes from distant places. If I had to guess the artists would venture the planet and return to give the King’s Court an image of the greater world.

  The court itself stretched for a few football fields long and at least two wide. Everything inside this ornate building held fine details and the scope had it clearly built for giants. All the guards, noble minotaurs, and casual observers were on the larger size. Only Nick stood out because of his youth.

  The stands were packed, the King debating with a lidka. Based on him complaining about his plight, it was the general or alpha I defeated.

  The immense King’s horns likely scrapped the ceiling if he wasn’t careful. The sheer mass of the minotaur required a special chair. The marbled seat held purple cushions and the King himself wore metal that shone with a silvery blue glint. His guards wore the same heavy armor and every one of them ignored the lidka, fixated on me.

  I felt tiny, for numerous reasons, and may have let out a squeak that I tried to cover with a grunt when the King slammed a meaty palm into his throne’s armrest.

  “By Mezonia’s golden tits, you know our laws. You do not fight freely for another force, regardless of the promises. There has to be payment involved and we get a percentage. You know the rules and be grateful we allow our loyal subjects to live freely without our lands. We offer protection from invading armies and trade that is a boon to both sides. This -”

  “The Prince said he had your blessing!” the lidka snarled.

  The King shook his head. I watched him tap his three large fingers while he mulled over a proper response.

  “I can crush you like the lizard you are, and I should. However, I have a mission for you. A way forward to stay in our lands,” the King said, venom in his voice, and a loud huff of his snout made it crystal clear; the fifty foot tall minotaur was furious.

  The lizka swished his tail nervously. “I’ve been deceived oh great and wise King. How may I restore faith.”

  “In Seqa Valley there is a mine. We need it open. A foe greater than we’ve ever faced before has revealed itself. By this time next year, we will be… concerned.” The King tempered his words and I gulped. He was frightened.

  “Are the demons from Leo coming?” I muttered quietly.

  Uh oh.

  All eyes shot to me.

  Damn, how good was their hearing.

  The King glared at me with his hate softening. “Finally, a person worthy of my presence. A mover and shaker, a champion of the gods. Come forth, necromancer.”

  I hesitantly stepped forward, growing confident when he smiled. His asshole guards, yeah, their stoic nature intimidated me, and the dangerous intent in their eyes was concerning.

  The lidka seethed at my sight and shouted, “This is the abomination who -”

  A blinding light forced me to stumble as I lost vision. I cautiously halted with hands out, blind as a babe in the womb. I realized I may not be the only one blinded and I stood still and said, “May I heal us, your Majesty?”

  A wave of healing fixed my vision and I saw the minotaur King glowing green. I gulped, clueing into what he was, a champion. This made sense in a way. The minotaur was literally half the size of a cyclops and five times smarter.

  “Thank you,” I said, noting that a pile of ash was being swept up and an orb hovered in the spot the lidka once occupied.

  “Can you revive that idiot?” the King asked and I shook my head. “Pity, I need him. Seqa Mine must open. General Karde, lead the invasion, I want the spider queens evicted and their minions transformed into workers. Oh… oh, and use the lidka to bear the casualties, if the refuse, you know what to do.”

  “Your will shall be done, my Liege,” General Karde said from the stands, storming out with an entourage of military personnel.

  I went to talk but the King waved me down. He reached into a pouch and stuck some odd item into his bovine ears. I frowned until the drums started only to get louder with trumpeting added.

  For almost five minutes different trumpets blared across the city. A final triple squeak from tired lungs ended the long signaling. I almost felt bad for Nessio and the town of Seqa… No, I actually didn’t, not in the slightest. I smiled happily.

  “What has you grinning like a pleased ape? Surely not the lidka’s demise,” the King asked pointing to the orb that hovered.

  “The mine was my home -”

  “Ah, the betrayal by your ally. It does happen, even if we prefer it didn’t. Now, tell me about Leo,” he commanded.

  I spoke of Caitlyn, Earth, and the Six. He held a finger up, occasionally pausing to talk to thin air in mutterings. Clearly his god wasted Z to speak with him outside his church or this courtroom was holy to his god.

  When we both finished our back and forth, he smirked down at me.

  “Leo is not the threat. Have you ever heard of the ratkin?” he asked.

  “Gas bags about this high,” I held a hand to my chest level. “Killed three of them on my second day here. Thin, weak, and easy to defeat.” My tone was filled with curiosity as to how the easiest foe I’d fought was considered a threat. Hell, even the goblins were tougher.
>
  “The slavers. That describes their basic class of the slavers. Yes, yes indeed. The slavers can have children, like any other species. A one in quarter million or so chance will be born beautiful, and those are called the ratkin queens.

  “Their queen breeds a slave and then a unique unit, and occasionally breeding other queens at a much higher production rate. Starting to get the picture?” He asked and I nodded, still not getting the issue. “Those queens breed more queens and this starts a chain effect not too different from a necromancer turning a battle into the undead reaping life.

  “The difference is, the queens can birth brilliant engineers, massive ogres that explode toxic acid they are impervious to, scouts that can stealth into their surroundings, female lessor queens known as breeders that will bear six soldiers every month, a bunch of slave units and then, of course, more queens. The race is so populous that random slave variations are sent throughout the realm to die,” the King said and he chuckled heartily at my frown. “Confused?”

  “Missing information, there has to be a reason they send them out to die and I am missing how this is a threat. Surely you can rain down mighty magic and smite their formations?” I said.

  He slapped the chair’s arm, creating a thunderous boom in the courtroom. “Mischa, mischa for all in celebration of this day.”

  The attending crowd stood, slowly exiting the courtroom.

  “That’s a mix of brandy and wine,” Oskatriver said, arriving at my side. “It also means the court is being dismissed. Come.”

  I followed the bruiser, Tarla and Nick joining us as we headed to a side chamber. We arrived in a war room with a lavish balcony. Minotaur servants offered us drinks and I glanced at Nick who only barely shook his head no, prompting me to politely decline.

  The table held a massive map that was so large I could never reach across it. To a fifty foot tall champion, minotaur, well, it was also big. The balcony that rested outside the strategy area held comfy looking recliners so vast ten humans could sleep in them.

  A bare breasted minotaur joined us before the King. Her face was smooth, her eyes hazel, and her ears perked attentively. She wore excessive jewelry and smiled down at me in the same manner that I glanced down at Lumpy. Mild curiosity in her eyes spoke volumes and I waved meekly.

  “Princess Amana, this is my son, Freninick,” Oscatriver said, nudging Nick toward the Princess. She was almost double his height, telling me enough about his chances.

  “Always a pleasure, Freninick. The King,” the Princess said when her father strode into the room. “Close the doors, Freninick.”

  The King didn’t waste a second once the doors snapped shut. “Our gods don’t know each other. Mine cycles in and out of the top hundred, yours cycles in and out of becoming mortal. However, you’re proving capable and have caught my eye. Before I make an offer, let me inform you of the situation.

  “I’m friends with Ginli, but not her liege, King Dimus. She sends my… agents reports. Her latest reports speak of the Igornia Swarm. Ignoria is here,” he stuck a nubbed finger to the southeast of Karn Kingdom, “and it failed to do the smart thing. A ratkin queen is a threat that must be immediately squashed. If not, the tide builds.

  “Ginli said Ignoria has been defeated. Both Ostriva and Nordan sides have fallen to the mighty armies. Ogre ratkin in the hundreds of thousands leading the armies’ shield lines, engineers for building their siege weapons in the thousands, and soldiers being converted into mages or archers based on the needs of the army.

  “We’ve found the scouts already, and back to my earlier point, the slaves are sent out to die. When the dead slave class decays, their scent tells of foes worthy to fight or flee from, depending on the size of the army,” the King said.

  Tarla cleared her throat and the Princess said, “Females may speak here, diligently. Go ahead.”

  “A massive army is coming and you’re concerned even with your mighty army?” Tarla asked.

  “Yes, the ratkin can eat bushes to persist. They can eat even rich soil and survive. With that a known factor, they still farm in their cities, slowly converting the land to their needs. Due to their rapid breeding, they need constant conquest and even their most notable cities overflow. To win, you merely have to defeat their armies or outlast their food supplies - the latter almost never happening.

  “Yes we’re concerned, because I may be able to smite a thousand of them, but how do I handle the next three hundred thousand. They are literally everything a king should worry about. A relentless foe you can’t negotiate with, they reproduce rapidly, they fight with poisonous claws, exploding acid, and actual tactics. And let's say we fight a battle and win. Make no mistake, they always come back if the swarm is not defeated at its core,” King Hartinger said.

  I understood the basic premise. “Kinda like goblins, but instead of upgrading with Zorta, a rare subset of the species unlocks the advanced variations. Kill the queens, kill the means of producing the vital species upgrades.”

  The princess shook her head and said, “Almost. The breeders have a higher ratio of producing a queen. We have ratkin slaves here, they are food for the goblins, and we’ve never had a queen born. This is exceedingly rare for them to reach a fully functioning society. The engineers will seal off the queens in hidden sections and even breeders will be hidden. It really is a battle of sheer willpower. All the texts say to react before it reaches this stage.”

  “And how far away are they?” I asked.

  “Six months. I wouldn’t have sacked Tarb if I’d known, and now your invading Karn. I revealed this information to Prince Tao, offering Zorta for your Head Priestess to avoid further conflict,” the King said and I raised my eyebrows in shock. “Yeah, declined because of a false devotion to a Nordan god. While he’s not a complete imbecile, this was an error.”

  “I’m going to free my Priestess, as you -”

  “Would do the same, I know. I can and can’t help you. I signed a treaty forbidding my troops from taking up arms against Karn for a few months still. I also signed that I wouldn’t finance an expedition by the cyclops, or centaurs, or any other force until the treaty is over, leaving my hands partially tied,” the King said.

  “Ah, smart of them,” I said.

  “I agree,” the King replied. “But I have slaves, wagons, armor, weapons, and everything besides mercenaries that I can sell at an ally’s discount.”

  “But why?” Tarla asked.

  The King eyed her with a hint of disdain. “You Lady, be careful with your words. The why is clear. If you go south, conquer Tarb and free this High Priestess, what happens? I just said I was going to conquer Seqa Mines.”

  I snapped my fingers, picking up on his cue. “You want me to stay in Tarb and brunt the invasion. I’d be between your kingdom and this Instaban Swarm.”

  The princess cocked her head in confusion, and Oscatriver said, “He’s bad with names. Ignoria Swarm. Yes, Damien. You would be the necromancer that King Karn won’t be able to march on until the swarm is dealt with, and our guess is -”

  “Karn and Fraunt will fall. Refugees are already arriving in both kingdoms, desperate for safety and many will continue north likely seeking Nara or further. The swarm will come, capture human slaves that will be pulled back into the Ignoria region. Once there, they will be bred to be farmers and food when they age. Humans tend to farm better than even ratkin engineers,” the King finished for his advisor.

  “And what do I have to do to become an ally and what do I have that you find worthy of trade?” I asked.

  All the other minotaurs stared at Nick, who had zoned out in thought.

  “Right, right,” he muttered. The minotaur reached into a satchel on his side. “These are the documents I was going to get you to sign. We want the metal. All the metal. In exchange father showed you the old warehouses filled with goblin and troll armor and weapons.”

  “Six hells, right. I remember those warehouses of endless junk. Why not smelt that? The orc, centaur, and lidka g
ear is barely better?” I asked in confusion.

  “Barely better is a start. Moths can carry your captured gear in, we weigh it, and then you trade. Unfortunately, you need to transport all the stuff you acquire out of the city. Expect to be swarmed by goblin recruits as well,” the Princess said. “The slaves we have keep escaping because of your army’s scent in the distance.”

  “I fought Naga tot far from here, there’s a lake with hydras-”

  “Off limits,” the Princess said.

  “Your cat teams are allowed, and be grateful I don’t ban them,” the King said.

  “So you fly in my spare metal, assign a value in tradeable…”

  “Gold, and yes you can spend your gold here, and you leave on foot with whatever you acquire,” Oscatriver said firmly.

  “And if I wanted nothing but Zorta to level up?” I asked. “My next necromancer level is expensive and if I get ten I can probably do wonders.”

  “We’re going to be clearing out all the filler species that are worthless in a fight, like the naga, the hydra, and the spider queens. We’re doing so to enhance all our costly upgrades. Zorta may be cheap, but due to the circumstance it is off limits. Your gold will go north to Koor and Zorta will flow to my forces from my farmers,” the King said.

  “Ah, makes sense, didn’t know they were your subjects,” I said. “You’re not mad I defeated the lidka?”

  “Unwise of you to ask, but I understand why you wish to know,” the King said, taking a big swig of a large mug. “They violated our rules and paid the price. They’re lidka, they’ll be put on a breeding program and kept close. This valley and the northern jungle will be converted into lidka, minotaur, and orc breeding. Even Torro is halting his advance into Nara to spin south. He’ll probably occupy and build Teska into a proper city with actual defenses.”

  “I’m starting to see your plan, and if I have to retreat, will you let me hold the line with you,” I said.