Kodria.
After much time ruminating over the new secret mission Akira had made up his mind on what to do. The Cult of Science must be stopped… and maybe he could clean up the hotbed of demigods while he was at it.
With his mind set on this task, he had called for a meeting with all the other major alliance leaders and local Demon race tribe leaders. Luckily there was no need to worry about waiting for them to arrive as they were still in Kodria for the celebration of Akira’s triumphant return after his successful adventures with the Ancient alliance, Aeviuns, and the Oni.
The major powers of the allied demon races were now gathered in the royal meeting rooms of Kodria’s castle and were deep in discussion on the current events that had happened.
Even Balue deigned to come to the meeting in his humanoid form. His daughter Fluer had also come to Kodria with him to enjoy the festival but was now helping Mileena and other family members keep his son and daughter company after such a traumatic event near the river.
“We have cleared our lands of most of the demigod scourge but yet they still came here and attacked Kodria… and my son,” said Akira, his rage building as he remembered holding his son’s near lifeless body in his arms.
Everyone’s faces turned grim at the mention of the attack on his son, especially Zundar who took it the hardest as he had failed to stop the attack and had almost died himself.
“The demigods will not stop their attacks if we just keep going like this…”
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Take the fight to them!” said Akira as he slammed his fist into the large wooden round table.
There were audible gasps heard from several of the leaders.
“But…”
“If we do nothing to stem the spread of demigods on the old continent we will forever have to deal with large packs of demigods pests sailing here to cause problems. We must cut them off and eliminate them there as well! Then we can deal with any other factions that may want to cause us harm.”
“There are too many of them and they always reappear like cockroaches!” said one of the smaller clan chiefs who was skeptical of the idea.
“We need people to stay here to keep the whole continent and our cities safe. We can not send over large armies without care,” said another hesitant clan leader.
“There are still other demon races that are being hunted on the old continent as well as our people who decided to stay behind. I intended to return and retake our abandoned lands and free our fellow demon race brothers and sisters from the terror of the Demigods,” said Akira.
“You only just returned!”
“Kodria has the grand-elders to keep it running properly. This is an important mission I must complete to keep everyone here alive!”
There was a lot of hesitation for several minutes. As everyone listened to Akira lay out his reasons for bringing up this issue.
“We will go!” said Burdmun not hesitating after hearing Akira’s plea.
“As shall we!” said Spearia, her speech still rough.
“I would lead a portion of my Orc warriors to help! We left so hastily I am sure that the other orc clans still need help even more now,” said Varbu.
“Giiii, Giii! Gii gi giiiii,” said Prince Gobbers, slapping his chest. His sister looked on with worry but did not say anything to stop him from offering help.
“The Prince agrees to lead a force of goblin warriors, while his sister Princess Gobalina stays behind to keep everything here running correctly,” said Varbu.
“Currently we of the Iskald kingdom will be unable to help as we are currently dealing with issues in the south. Even if we wanted to we would be unable to go to such a hot place with large forces,” said Yukiona. “But… we are more than willing to offer our help to keep the peace in Kodria and the rest of the continent while also offering material and monetary support.”
“We of the southern werewolves will do our best to muster forces to join your great hunt!” said the grand elder who was here to represent the southern werewolf clans.
“While the main forces of the draconians under my command are currently tasked with a mission, there are still other lazy warriors that I can send with you to help you with your task. I Balue will lead my disciples and other underlings to join them in the future but I still need to clear up a few issues with other rivals in the south…” said Balue.
“We Ramia do not have massive armies like many of your clans but we are skilled in the hidden arts of secrecy and have heard that there are similar kin of ours living over there but who are accustomed to heat instead of the cold. We can offer some of our warriors for scouting and secret intelligence missions,” said the Ramia clan chief.
Many of the other smaller demon races part of Kodria will join the fight with the main Kodria army.
They spent the rest of the day arguing over whether they should stay or go along with Akira’s plan. Although they were split on the idea of facing the demigods again in the end Akira managed to win over the majority of them which was enough to enact his plans without much hassle.
“With your help, we will be able to retain the Earth clan’s territory, save the other demon races, and clean up the demigods!” said Akira.
Although he said all of this he had not forgotten about the secret main quest he had received. From the way it had been worded the Cult of Science was even more of a threat to the Demon race and Humans than the Demigods who were constantly growing in power and being a nuisance. Gathering such a force of allied warriors would be able to help further the goal of completing this task.
With the meeting completed Akira stood on the balcony in the dimming daylight and looked out over the inner island city. He watched as the citizens on the streets went about their lives unaware of the troubles that plagued Akira and the leaders of the main demon race factions.
“Do you think it will work?” asked Zundar as he walked out onto the balcony followed by Spearia.
The two of them had entered into a relationship shortly after the end of the civil war and had become a power couple in the sphere of the Minos groups. They were given lots of political power to go along with their newfound fame.
“It will not be easy. To make our task as smooth as possible I will be leading a group of warriors and craftsmen to help pave the way for the main allied army when it sets sail and joins us,” said Akira as he turned his head to look at Zundar who gave off a far different look and vibe now that one of his horns was shorter than the other.
“It could be well over half a year before everyone has gathered their forces and reaches the continent… will you be able to survive such a hostile place while keeping everyone else alive and holding onto your old land?”
“I have no other choice! I must survive so that I can take revenge on those who attacked my son!”
***
“…again our main task will be securing and fortifying a location for the main army. Followed by reaching out to the local and even far distant Demon races to join our ambitious cause!” shouted Akira as he walked up and down the docks where the gathered warriors and craftsmen all from different demon races had gathered with their equipment, tools, and other items for the long trip and stay on the old continent Halrverold.
The group contained several Minos warriors from the ancient alliance who were all still fresh-faced but now better experienced after fighting the Oni and a few demigods.
“Yap!” said Fluffball joining Akira in lecturing the gathered people.
“We must hold our position against any enemy while we wait for the allied forces to arrive and reinforce us! The lives of everyone are at stake if we do not complete our given tasks!”
Behind Akira one of the ship’s captains fidgeted with his hat before speaking up.
“Um… your majesty? The ships are fully loaded and ready for everyone to board… if you want to, that is.”
Akira only nodded to the captain before turning to the gathered expeditionary force, “Everyone hop to it! Get on the ships you have been assigned to, stow your gear, and listen to the ship’s captains. They know what they are doing.”
He stood to the side and watched as everyone passed by and boarded one of the main ships that would be transporting everyone across the long stretch of dangerous ocean waters.
He was surprised at how many volunteers had agreed to join this deadly voyage and also how quickly everything had been gathered to allow them to set sail.
Unfortunately, the main armies and navies of each of the factions would not be so quick to gather their forces and resources since they needed more time to prepare for such a long protracted expedition to the main continent.
“Delgar? What are you doing here?” asked Akira as he saw Delgar and a few other elderly dwarves with heavy packs filled with the tools of their trades.
“You don’t expect to get anything done over there if you don’t have anyone to help with the construction of fortifications and creation of weapons and armor?” asked Delgar.
“Or is it that you don’t want us ‘old’ geezers tagging along with you?” asked one of the old dwarves.
“It’s not that, I thought that Kodria would be the place that still needs you.”
“We have trained the young dwarves well enough that they should not shame us with their works. They are also happy to not have us looking over their shoulder all the time.”
“Well… if you want to come I will not say no as we need all the help we can get.”
When nearly all the expeditionary forces had boarded their ships Akira was surprised by another person showing up.
“Captain Pegleg, what are you doing here?”
“I heard that you will be going on a long trip so I decided to join you again!” said the bony captain.
“We are not going to a safe destination. There will be many hardships and dangers there.”
“That is exactly why we must go with you! This place has been lacking far too much prey for a while now. From what I heard from your shup captains, the waters where you are going will have many sheps to capture!”
“Ah yes… of course there are a lot there. But there might be too many of them and the powerful forces behind them are…”
“EVEN BETTER! I will take all my ships and my underlings with me to help capture everyone!”
With Captain Pegleg joining the first wave to the old continent Halrverold their force doubled in power. It also soothed Akira’s worries about encountering demigod ships that might cause them issues.
While Captain Pegleg played with the demigods at sea Akira and the other demon races could focus on the demigods who infested the land!
