Tree of Aeons

Chapter 346. Border Patrol

Neiran Peripheral World XI 

The land gave way. The walls too. The spawning pools drained. Demon worlds after demon worlds tasted the fury of the domain holders and the Order. The flames of war and demonic slaughter should've left the demons reeling in fear. 

But their opponents did not know fear. 

It was a word that they did not comprehend, even if they used it excessively in their own methods. 

They were monsters made for destruction with some limited sense of false emotions. The consumption of worlds drove them to expand, and what worked was improved on, so that it worked more on the next world. This constant gradual improvement to the demon's cabinet of war tools had made them too effective against the peripheral worlds and so they crumbled.

Until now. 

Over fifty worlds now sung the songs of their saviors, the claims of praise could fill books and tomes. 

Across the peripheral worlds, Lausanne felt the Order turn the tide of the war and appreciated the praise. She looked at her warriors, those who supported her, and knew they needed it. The war took them away from their homes. They didn't need to be here, but somehow, they were compelled by a drive within them to fight.

Few could fight for long periods without recognition. But it was not so hard to fight forever if there was constant recognition, support, and a team. When the entire crusade felt like a just cause with just rewards, armies could fight forever. 

The elven warrior knew it was foolish to hope for the exceptions. Only one in a thousand could fight on even when the world abandoned them. It was true that these folks were true heroes. Their willpower and drive were the sort that changed the tide of battles and sometimes wars.

But campaigns against the demonic god spread on thousands of worlds could not rely on the strength and willpower of these one-in-a-thousand exceptional cases. It needed to be an institutional affair. 

The Order needed to be an institution geared to promote and reward constant struggle against the demons, and now, Lausanne could very comfortably say that it was fit for purpose. The warriors were motivated. They were incentivized and selected for those who felt rewarded when they received the thankful, grateful words of those they saved. It amplified the feedback loop, where they felt a sense of achievement for being rescuers and heroes and caused them to pursue the cause with passion. 

She looked around, and while the warriors and front line combatants basked in the joy and gratefulness, she could also feel the presence of the Order's more 'hidden' operators. People who snuck around and did data collection. Studies. Plans. They were not so directly rewarded, and the types of personality suited for such roles were also different from those who went to the front lines. 

A few came to greet her, and she talked with them for a bit. Many helped her in the background. Sometimes they arranged resources to arrive at the right time. Sometimes they found a demon's location for a hit. On other occasions, they arranged for another force to fend off another group of demons. 

A well lubricated machine that clearly had experience. 

But Lausanne also knew something very clearly. 

In the years she lived amongst the people of Freshka, she knew that warriors like herself would struggle to re-acclimatize to society. They built their entire strength on combat, with most of their skills geared towards power and violence. 

In a society, there couldn't be too many like the Order's elites. The qualities that made people like Lausanne and the high ranked Valthorns exceptional were rather toxic when left undirected. In civilian life, there was no clear direction, no clear grand objective. For these high leveled individuals, it could feel frustrating to have all these capabilities, but unable to direct it coherently at something. This was especially jarring for military personnel that spent long periods away from civilian life. 

So, the Order tried its best to ensure most of the Order's members were familiar and regularly existed as a part of the social order. 

More than that, the work of fighting demons needed to be just one aspect of the Order's life, even if they devoted long hours and minds at this goal. 

It was a contradiction.

A difficult one.

To wholeheartedly pursue power, and at the same time, remain a part of society. 

It was never more true for those who were level 125 to 149. They were the closest to the levels of power that they felt so strongly compelled to pursue power the entire time, and yet the Order insisted that they took breaks, maintain relationships, and make connections with their family, friends, and acquaintances.  ṙâꞐОβΕ§

These were also a group that was hardest to control, simply because of how powerful they were individually. 

Lausanne spoke to a few of them. Nothing in this peripheral world could threaten them,  except the demon king. If some wanted, they could go wild and cause untold death and destruction. 

A few more Order folks came by. They were level 130s and 140s, and high up in the skies above was the gigantic beetle carrier, the 2nd one named after a venus flytrap, the Dionaea.

"We have three days before we're leaving for the next world, you can kick back for the next two, but on the last day we are leaving." The commanding officer declared to the Order operatives on that rescued human city. "Some of you are on your home trip, so keep that in mind. I know I've said this a few times every year, but I must remind you that if you brought any souvenirs, please ensure that they are checked by the magical research division for safety before you take them out of our premises."

Lausanne overheard them talk. About a quarter would be rotated back to their home worlds, while a fresh team would come on board to take their place. The rostering was frustrating to some, but in the end it was what worked for most people. Many looked forward to it. 

Family. Some of these warriors came from other peripheral worlds that were still under heavy reconstruction, and so they had large families waiting for them back home. 

"I'm going to try the local booze." One of the dwarven agents from Darkgard declared. The dwarven warrior was likely in the level 80s. As of now, the strongest Darkgardian Dwarf was only around Level 120, even though they'd been part of the Order for two to three good decades. 

The peripheral world was filled with humans with medieval magics and weaponry. It was surprisingly plain, though the people were industrious and hardy. The human agents of the Order found it fairly easy to infiltrate their ranks. 

One of them approached her. "Lady Lausanne, would you deign to join us?" 

And she did. 

She thought of Magisar as she sampled some of the local's best remaining drinks and food. This peripheral world did not have much luxuries to offer. 

Not yet.

She was certain it would happen soon. It took just about half a year to a year for luxury food and beverages to emerge, mainly because the locals found it a good idea to sell higher end goods to the visiting Order officials and operatives. 

Even on Magisar, the investments into high-end goods happened quite quickly once the demons were liberated. 

The economies of the various peripheral worlds, in peacetime, were geared towards the fulfillment of the various needs and wants of the elite. It was a natural rebound, only this time, the elite class also included the Order. 

In most magical societies, power and wealth were concentrated in the very few, and so most services and businesses had no choice but to target the only segment able to sustain them as a business.

The local brewer came by to greet them and claimed how their beer was the only thing keeping the people sane during the years when they were under siege. 

The surviving local militia also came back to mingle with the Order. Many of them would need to find themselves again.

One Landasian elf nodded, contrasted their world with Landas, and explained their experience with reconstruction. "Landas was in a far worse state than this, and I cannot help but feel that our survival is a miracle. But the reconstruction is just as important. The war was won, but our society was so badly damaged that we had to fight a different war. A war about what type of world we wanted to build." 

The humans listened. Their world wasn't as badly damaged, so most of them expected it to revert back to what it once was many many centuries ago. A world filled with various kingdoms and empires. 

The same half-drunk Darkgardian then warned. "Once we leave, when the agreed-upon ceasefire is over and with the demons gone, there will be a large power vacuum. The powerful and crafty amongst you will use this opportunity to seize power and use the opportunity to build their own rule. Expect bloodshed, and war with each other."

Some of the humans asked for them to remain, and on some level, Lausanne saw the merits to it. The Order operative negotiated for a ceasefire with the various surviving cities and leaders for reconstruction. 

But would everyone respect it? The Order implied that if there was a threat that they would return to enforce the ceasefire. Some would see this chaos as the best moment to change the pecking order and the risk was worth it. 

"Can you and your people drop by once every year?"

"A year." Lausanne answered, if they had ten teams visiting a world every month, they could theoretically get through a hundred peripheral worlds once a year. "It still is more than enough time for your people to fight and slaughter each other." 

Truthfully, she also knew it was not the military that was the bottleneck. The military is merely a weapon. An enforcement tool.

A Valthorn force that arrived once a year might not know who or what happened in that world. A year was a lot of history, and the nations' political structures could have changed. 

Collecting intelligence and figuring out what is the right thing to do was what consumed far, far more manpower and resources. This was a conundrum faced by the Order throughout the peripheral worlds, and unfortunately, as of now, the Order did not have the resources to maintain a continuous presence on so many worlds. 

The Order needed at least ten to twenty individuals to have a basic, functional office in a single city just to get decent quality information and monitor the major political players in that city. In just one of these peripheral worlds with tens to hundreds of nations, there was a need for a large intelligence force in the thousands just to keep track of all the various political players. Scale that to a hundred worlds, this number was now in the millions. 

But, it was not a hard limit. The Order could reach that level through recruitment, after all. Lausanne looked at the pleading eyes of the locals and knew they really wanted them to stay. 

At the heart of it, was a matter of direction.

Lausanne, of all people, knew that contradiction innately. Did they, the domain holders steering the ship, want the Order to be that sort of organization where they kept track of all these 100 worlds? 

Did they want such an outsized influence on the lives and governance of so many?

Her gut veered on yes, but maintaining an information network and all that was going to be painful. 

The locals prodded and begged. 

They all could feel the brewing chaos. The power struggle slithering and waiting in the darkness, waiting for the Order to leave. 

It was not uncommon, and Lausanne saw enough worlds to know that the Order's absence would cause them harm. Many of these worlds were, and still remained largely lawless, the institutions that once maintained order crumbled under the attacks of the demons.

Lausanne remembered the founding of New Freeka and Freshka and knew that these worlds needed powerful, dependable institutions. The Order could facilitate that, but it was also important to find good people. 

Institutions, Aeon once said, were centered around finding and giving the right type of power, to the right type of personalities, and supported by the right type of arms to enforce rules. Even if it was hard, and there were not enough tree nodes to ensure all these worlds maintained a direct connection to Treehome, these worlds needed them to stay. 

She nodded at the locals. "I'll see what I can do to keep some of us around." 

Treehome, Threeworlds, Mountainworld, and many others prospered in Aeon's presence. It is time to spread that prosperity to many more worlds. 

***

Lausanne needed to make the case, before bringing the matter to Aeon. She knew that Aeon watched where it could, but Aeon's ability to watch what happened in the faraway worlds, like the peripheral worlds, was fairly limited.

She didn't feel Aeon's presence there, in most of those faraway worlds. Sometimes, she missed that familiar watchfulness that loomed over everything. 

Twinspace, on the other hand, felt very much like Treehome. 

"Matriarch Hoyia." Twinspace was familiar and had become Hoyia's de-facto center of operations, just like how Darkgard became Alka's new homeworld. There was already chatter within the zealots to rename Twinspace to something more benefiting their status. 

A name fairly popular floating about was Newhaven. The new promised land for the faithful. Her office was located right around the heart of the capital city at the heart of the continent, even if Expedition's Landing was still larger in terms of population and overall economic activity. Expedition's Landing was the primary immigration hub where those hopeful, traveling from the old continent, arrived.

It was a tall but simple structure, made from one of Aeon's Giant Attendant Trees. Its inner chambers were converted into multiple floors of offices. There was always a need for paper pushers, even in a world of magic. Someone to look after contracts, agreements, new rules, taxes, and payments. One of the larger divisions that employed many people was the Valtrian Bank, and that bank took up two full Giant Attendant Trees, all for the explicit purpose of maintaining and reviewing accounting ledgers. 

"I hear you wanted my views on some things." Hoyia offered the elven woman a seat. There were a few advisors around Hoyia, other members of the Treeology faith. "What can I do for you?"

"If I listened to the summary reports correctly, Twinspace now has over three hundred thousand operatives?"

Hoyia squinted as her body leaned forward. "Yes. That's correct. Do you wish to borrow some of them for the peripheral worlds?"

"Yes. In truth, I believe that the Order has a responsibility to maintain a presence on the various peripheral worlds, at least up till they've survived and recovered from their long destruction. Currently, outside of the Hawan peripheral worlds, Aeon maintains no permanent presence on the Neiran and Aivan side. That should change."

"A clone or a node has been-"

"No. I want to go beyond that. I want the Order to be in and on every peripheral world, and right now, Twinspace's massive growth means it is the perfect place to supply the necessary manpower. For a persistent intelligence and deterrence force to ensure that these peripheral worlds don't slaughter themselves in their own crazed fight for survival. These forces will nurture and protect what's left and get them to recover. It will also prevent massive political and social upheaval by acting as a safety valve to ensure a reasonable political process of their worlds is properly followed." 

Hoyia looked at the priests and back at Lausanne. "This is your opinion? This is a far larger expansion, and I recall much earlier you were one of those reluctant to stretch the Order."

"I changed my mind. I've seen these worlds, and they need Aeon to be there." Lausanne admitted. She was initially rather surprised that the Order would expand its operating scope so quickly. "We have an opportunity to save many, many lives from the cruelties of their fellow warriors." 

Hoyia leaned back, and stood. There were windows in her floor, the Giant Tree's bark and walls reshaped themselves into almost circular shapes. They had a beautiful view of the mostly untouched landscape. She walked to take a look at them, but her mind was elsewhere.

Thinking.

The city was still fairly small, but it was growing quickly. 

"You must have a story, Lady Lausanne." Hoyia countered. "You must find a tale, a narrative to sell to the denizens of these peripheral worlds and also to those tasked to watch over them. That story must also encapsulate what you want to achieve. If you have a good tale, a mythos can be made, and you will find it much easier to get the Order's support. I believe those aspiring for the domain are also looking for a mythos." 

The elven warrior got up from her seat to join Hoyia at the side of the window. 

"Do I have your support?"

"If you have a story worth selling, Lady Lausanne, you will have all of ours."

***

Mythos. 

It is a goal and a dream turned into a story. Hoyia's Promised Land whipped her people into a frenzy. Alka's War of the Gods brought the dwarves into his fold. 

Not all domains needed a story. 

But Lausanne, the [Unchosen Champion], walked the new city and her mind thought. 

These peripheral worlds were a collection of broken worlds. 

She remembered Lumoof once said that the Order at its heart aspired to be a Warden. A caretaker and sustainer of the current balance of power. The demons were an outsized, outside influence that upset the order of nature. 

But she did not get it. Their tale was already compelling! It was a cause that was just and worthy!

They were rescuers of those abandoned by the fading gods! They were those that reached out to defend the forsaken! 

"But make it more. What of those that you've rescued? Are they damsels in distress that cannot do anything on their own?" Hoyia's words echoed in her mind. 

Then the next step was also obvious. They may be forsaken. They may not be the chosen ones. 

But just like her, they too, with a bit of a helping hand, could rise up and be the army that actually completed what the gods had long given up on. From the ashes of these abandoned worlds, an army of the forsaken. An [Unchosen Army]. 

"That's not half bad." Hoyia clapped when she pitched the story back to the Matriarch. "Now, let's go sell it to the rest of the domain holders and get their support."