Trope World - Volume 1 Chapter 50 Juggling Plans

Melchior POV

A black hourglass hovered in the air. It absorbed light from its surroundings and displaced time itself. It was a happy accident. Shape, intent, and power were deciding factors when using magic. I wanted to create an environment that could quickly and efficiently advance my cultivation into the negative numbers.

Dark qi flowed into the hourglass condensing and changing. That dark qi gathered into a central point before dropping as a grain of black sand. It was the equivalent of a monster core. The grain of sand dropped onto the top with the rest of the sand. Then a single grain fell to the bottom and the room’s gravity increased.

Piles broken, misshapen, and faulty hourglasses were piled in a corner of the room. The finished product was the result of days of trial and error. I was glad to do it. Working with wood created by Gwen felt right. Glass was easy enough to make with dragon fire and sculpt with push and pull. The result was a treasure of the dark. I wouldn’t call it equal to Lucifer, but its utility was phenomenal. By using deep scripts, I enchanted the hourglass delving into item crafting. The hourglass held its own power making it a talisman. Yet, I could infuse my own mana into it increasing its power to greater heights. It’s purpose had almost been fulfilled.

Golden bolts of lightning danced across my flesh as I emerged from my isolation in triumph. A smile danced across my face tugging at my beard. Light from the sun glanced of my bald head spreading radiance further from my body. I took a breath and let it out. All around me gravity increased flattening pebbles, cracking stones, and fracturing boulders. With a breath my cultivation base could exert its own gravity. This was the true power of black qi merged with the negative numbers of the dark angels. My current black cultivation base was -5 to 9. Each new level increased my control over gravity. It also strengthened my nobody skill further.

The golden bolts of lightning flashing off my flesh were not from my cultivation base. They were from my sudden increase in strength. My body was out of order. I wasn’t ready to venture out of the safety of my monastery. Last time I exited my isolation. My clone had decided to escape this battlefield. Instead of attempting to reabsorb him, I assisted him in escaping. I sowed good karma into him, so that in turn, he would bare good karma to me. Cause and effect, that is a fundamental grand Dao called the world. I wasn’t ready for such a Dao, I was far from the path of causality.

As strong as I’d become in a short time, I’d hit my limit soon. My body was already showing the signs. My base stats couldn’t surpass 99,999. The milestone of 100,000 wasn’t reachable for anyone below the angel or demon level. That’s what I’ve come to believe. My dexterity was reaching a limit as well. That didn’t mean my skills would stop advancing, I’d simply have no gain from them.

This conclusion had come to me after days of meditation. The signs were obvious. The lightning bolts shooting off my skin and the lack of physical advancements were telling. Well there was another way.

It wasn’t a sure thing only a guess. That’s most of what I had at this point guesses. If I gained, 99,999 points in every stat, I might break through.

I laughed to myself spontaneously. I was drunk on my own power. With no fear, I used a skill that called upon the unknowable repeatedly. Then, I took eldritch creatures and placed them in my home. With no fear, I took them in and placed them around me. I took eldritch larva and tossed them in a blood stream. I blew a hole in the earth into an underworld wasp hive for my own dark well.

After working on my hourglass, I gained a deeper understanding of the deep. I wasn’t quite using the unknowable anymore. I was starting to understand it.

I was much stronger than I was then. “So are you fully prepared to go out and kick some ass.” Gwen asked. My dragon within roared with hunger for war and riches. He flashed me images of the destruction of the angel Apophis. We could do it; we were stronger than ever.

“Why hasn’t Apophis cracked the walls and taken the city yet?” I asked Gwen. She replied with confusion.

“I don’t know or care what are enemy’s motives are. He is of the earth and my roots will suck him dry. What does it matter what his goals are?” Gwen asked. She floated next to me in her petite form. Her hair was orange and cut short. She wore a light blue robe to cover her body, for me.

“Why have you become a prude? I recall times when you’ve f.u.c.k.i.e.d centaurs and pounded an orc into submission.” Gwen said.

“You’re the one who asked for the steamy details of my life. I’m not a prude, I plan to see my lady before I head off to break Apophis.” I said. Now what was Apophis after. Why have a computer based upon undead? Why go to the trouble of bending time for near infinite processing power? What was that unique undead that Wrath fought?

This place was old, and its library was still somewhat full. Ancient books of lore littered this place and I skimmed a few. None of them helped. I had enough to go on to speculate some of what was going on. The castle was a treasure. That was public knowledge. It had a consciousness like Lucifer. I believe it has an AI. I believe the AI uses the near infinite processing power of the undead computer to control the undead army. I don’t believe that’s the only use for it. I’ve read a lot of lore books. Grand rituals were a staple of the angel and demon play book.

So, let’s say I was an angel, I had an AI connected to a vast computer. I wanted to destroy a city in a way that benefited me the most. Mass sacrifice came to mind. Another thought was a ritual using the war as a cover. The skeletons had little trouble opening a portal to the fire plane. What would be the benefit of opening a portal to the earth plane?

I thought about Low Port. The city was protected by a barrier. It was like a balloon once it burst the spirit energy cultivators needed to function would flow out. The undead army and the natural forces of entropy will suck the spirit energy out of the area. Then the starving will begin and then cannibalism.

I’m going back there. I want Od to be safe. I want Atlan, that little centaur librarian. It would be better to come bearing gifts if I’m going back there. Och and my little harem came to mind.

I put on my best robe. It had only a few holes in it. Just as I was about to step off the plateau, I turned my head to see five large men in butler attire. Each was at foundation level. They gave off auras of unknowable energies. They were denizens of the blood pond. They were the spawn of ancient deep ones.

“Greetings our magnanimous overlord. We’ve noticed the state of your attire and humbly request that you allow us to assist you.” I raised an eyebrow. Why were they so polite? Could it be gratitude?

“Why would you serve me?” I asked them. They posed in a heroic fashion.

“You are our great overlord Melchior. We have sensed your power grow and your connection to our kind increase.” I raised and eyebrow and flexed my cultivation base. The cut stone floor cracked in places under my attention. “We are grateful to you for summoning us from our mother. We are horrid children of the great mother. You could call us some of her lesser thousand young. Without your interference. We would have been devoured.” One of the black suits wearing eldritch monsters said.

I looked around admiring my private training ground. It was guarded by vicious sentient plants, eldritch, dark, and blood hungry. The stream that encircled the plateau and flowed down the dark well was mostly blood. A large crocodilian creature covered in yellow eyes lazily swam upstream. Its scales the color of blood hid it well in the stream. It was small.

Zarina continued to feast. She had grown much larger since I’d last seen her. She was at the peak of the condensation stage and seemed to be on the verge of ranking up. What she would become was up in the air. Rarely was a golden calf allowed to reach any level of power. She fed on the surrounding eldritch plants and drank from the blood pond regularly. What she ranked up to become was a mystery. She looked up at me and stretched her black tongue out and stuffed it in a nostril. Little horns had sprouted from her head. I rolled my eyes.

This whole plateau was small time. Time was needed to carve out the mountain, deepen the stream into a river, and build upon the monastery. Maybe a few butlers could hasten advancement.

Going out on the battlefield wasn’t going to happen. I needed to use this war to my advantage. Breaking the siege now wouldn’t give me much in the long run. If I was to the build a civilization and a sect at that, then I’d have to think politically. A bit of diplomacy was in order.

I planned to remove the collars of some human slaves and transmute their gratitude into loyalty to my sect. Twilight Communion it sounded like a hippy orgy. That wasn’t something, I could get behind.

I looked over at my five butlers. They were still bowed and prepared to follow my orders.

“Alright, I’m giving you names. You the ringleader. You’ll be Sebastian, Seabass for short. Short one on the right, you’re now James. I’ll call you Jimmy, Jim, Jimbo, and Johny but rarely will I call you James.” The eldritch horror nodded his head in acceptance. “Middle right Markus will be your name. On the far left, I’ll name you Arthur because you’re blonde instead of the black hair of the rest. Middle left your name is Louis and if I catch you speaking in that blasphemous tongue, I’ll discipline you.”

“The French language?” I nodded my head and left it at that. One Against All threatened to unleash itself from my disposition. “I believe we can abstain from such a language. As the leader of our group it goes without saying I’ll take responsibility for any slips of the tongue.”

“At least he didn’t ask us to transform into French maids. That would have been an interesting experience.” Arthur said in dread.

“I’m sure you would have made a great Arteria, but we have no time for games. I need to be in low Port within the hour. So, we are taking a short cut.” I stepped through the black doors leading into the underworld wasp nest with my butlers behind me.

After a series of turns, I stopped moving. “It seems we are lost my lord.” Seabass said. I nodded. We were under a shroud of dark and we’d already made a second wrong turn. Now we were heading down.

I needed to find Margrett! I froze up seeing the wasp girl I was looking for. She saw me and buzzed over to me. I waved off my butlers and moved to an empty room to talk with her. It was weird seeing myself from her forehead.

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger boss. Its barely been a week and your already back. Did you learn what caused the earthquake. The queen mothers are furious and the Matriarch well she’s beyond angry. Its not every day a beam cracks open the earth and a waterfall of blood pours in. Have you heard about the parasite seeds? They burrow into the carapace and drains the body dry.” Margrett exclaimed. Her mandibles were twitching, and her orange hair was frizzy. Clearly, this new threat wasn’t agreeing with her.

“Want to f.u.c.k to take your mind off it?” I asked.

“What!” She exclaimed. I reached down and grabbed ahold of her ovipositor. Muscles clenched as she moved in closer. “I’ve never done this before. How will we?” She held up two fingers and made a ring with her other hand and pushed her fingers through. I rolled my eyes and pulled her forward by her chitinous ass. Her armor bent easily under my touch. Her ovipositor swelled and its four petals opened wide before clenching shut.

I looked at the tube for a moment. It was basically a v.a.g.i.n.a that stretched out of her body. Hopefully, I wouldn’t rupture it. I pulled the rope binding my robe revealing my body for all its glory.

“I’ve never seen a human body like that. The huge muscles, those rippling abs, and your shear jawline.” I placed the mushroom of my member against her opening causing her to hiss.

“What’s wrong it can’t be dry?” I asked confused. Her opening didn’t squirm away like I expected. Instead it lurched forward and wrapped its four petals around my tip. I heard Margrett gulp before looking down at her ovipositor. It was squirming forward on its own accord taking my member inch by tight inch. My eyes met her yellow orbs.

“This is amazing, but I don’t know what will happen if you splash my eggs with your seed. I don’t want them to eat their way out of my body.” Her ovipositor wasn’t listening. It gulped another inch and tightened more than ever. Margret hissed and jerked her h.i.p.s forward. I placed a hand under her and lifted her off her feet. All four of her arms wrapped around me as I finished my descent.

“It looks like we did this a bit quickly. I don’t think I can pull out in time.” I said before rearing back and pushing myself deep inside of her. My words were coming sluggishly. Her bubblegum hair fell upon me. Her face was beautiful in an alien way. Her eyes had dark circles around the solid golden yellow. She moved her mandibles in opened my mouth and forced her long thick tongue between my lips. She tasted like raw steak and sweet honey. Her antennae flicked about as she delved into what information she could.

Then something rose from her throat into my mouth. I tasted it before I pulled away. It was honey. She was feeding me honey in the weirdest way. Through our bond, I felt that this was an extremely personal act. Why we barely knew each other.

I pounded her harder than I’d normally dare and felt myself get close. I looked into her eyes giving her the sign. She circled her tongue around my mouth tasting her own honey while I smashed into her with great force. Every spurt she tightened around my member and milked it. Once I was empty, I heard a pop and she pulled her ovipositor away. A rush of our fluids dripped out as it pulled itself back beneath her chitin.

“That was fulfilling. Now you needed directions right.” I nodded and she gave me a run down of the renovated hive.

“Before you go, there is a problem. A powerful creature called a Pure Steel Hydra has nested in our hive and its territorial and powerful. We believe its at the early Nascent Soul stage, but its breath attack is fatal even to demons. Show me you are more than a human manipulator. Keep me safe.” Margrett said. I opened my mouth and closed it.

“You’re cute but you’re not slick. Melchior, I let you manipulate me for fun. It gets boring here. Now am I your mate or not?” She said looking at me with her almost golden yellow eyes. Margrett was manipulating me. I felt amused. My strength was many times greater than hers. That wasn’t the point.

“So, what will happen to our fertilized eggs?” She glared at me her mandibles twitching.

“They will need to be laid. Some will be workers, warriors, pretorians, and queens. I’ve the makings of a second Matriarch. Only you gave me your unorthodox human s.p.e.r.m. They won’t be mere underworld wasps. My young will carry your DNA.

I chuckled a bit at her words. The prospects of becoming a father didn’t bother me. Those who cultivated lived long lives and had many children. “So how will they survive in this place. Aren’t most wasps born after devouring the memories of their host.” She nodded.

“That won’t be the case for our young. I can already divine some of their nature. They’ve inherited the human weakness of having to grow and experience things themselves.” She said.

“How terrible.” I said in my driest voice.

“Don’t be like that, it’ll be fun to play house. It’s just not convenient. They are a new species. I’m going to leave you to take down the hydra. Its close to the bottom with our treasury.” My eyes gave away my excitement. “Our treasures are gone. The monster ate them all.” She looked at me unsure of what to say.

“I’ll see you after I kill the hydra. I said with a smile.” Darkness surrounded me as I took off down to the depths of the hive. Broken structures littered the area some hive buildings were turned from paper to hunks of iron. Large bites were taken out of them.