Defiance of the Fall

On a second look a town would be a slight misnomer . The buildings were quite large and rectangular , reminding Zac rather of barracks than civilian domiciles . He noticed that the missing trees had been processed into houses and fortifications . There were a few structures that seemed more refined , maybe for the officers and generals of the army . Those buildings did use both stone and lumber in its construction , and had a quite elegant atmosphere .

The whole settlement was surrounded by a wall that was a few meters tall and at least thick enough to have watch towers and a large amount of guards patrolling . Zac couldn’t fathom how they set up such a large wall in only a few days . He could only explain it with magic , as even hundreds of individuals with Zac’s strength would have to work for months of gathering stones and setting up the wall .

Finally , in the middle of the town a grand structure was being erected at a speed visible even from his great distance .

Chapter 34 - Conspiracies

Ogras Arh’Rezak was already starting to tire of this whole enterprise . The humidity of this baby world was far higher compared to what he was used to , and the two blaring suns forced him to keep squinting through the day . The terraforming was helping , but it would still take a long time until the climate got to the point that was comfortable .

He somewhat regretted exhorting his ancestor to let him lead this invasion . With his status in the clan , he still would have been entitled to any good items they could seize on this world , even if he stayed at home .

But he knew this invasion was his opportunity if he wanted to stay alive . If he could find enough goodies for either himself or the clan he’d be safe until he was strong enough to protect himself .

But who would have thought that The Ruthless Heavens placed them on a godforsaken island? It had rendered his tactic of unleashing his packs through the portal seem like a joke . There had already been voices of disagreement in the clan to such a cowardly tactic , but Ogras had only sneered at their snide remarks .

While most baby worlds were disorganized and paralyzed from the huge changes , some were quite dangerous . There were many anecdotes of new planets resisting and even sometimes completely massacring all the different invaders .

Of course , it was usually the forces behind the other incursions on the planet that were the real enemies , rather than the weak natives .

In any case , he wasn’t about to stick his neck through a portal before increasing his odds of survival , even if it was considered cowardly .

His seven elder brothers had been heroic warriors , always charging into the fray , leading any charge in skirmishes . And now they were all food for the maggots . Some were killed by their enemies , and some died from machinations of their own clan members .

The path to power was ruthless , and even among kin benefits preceded loyalty . There had been a large amount of dissatisfaction towards his branch of the clan for a long time . His great grandfather was originally a normal soldier who managed to rise to his great power through a few lucky encounters .

His prowess had allowed his progeny to enjoy great benefits and resources , even matching that of the main branch’s youth . Ogras suspected that was why his siblings kept dropping dead one after another . He had voiced such concerns to his ancestor , but being a warrior for the clan his whole life his thought patterns had become rigid . He had bled and fought for the clan for over a thousand years , and couldn’t imagine that they would backstab him and his kin like that .

That’s why only the two of them were left , not counting his great aunt who disappeared to become a wandering warrior two hundred years ago . That was also why he kept this ridiculous persona going , pretending to have become a pampered wastrel not interested in cultivation . The fewer of his clan members believed that he was a threat , the lower was the chance that he’d wake up with his throat slit .

That’s why he walked around in his gaudy outfits and surrounded himself with useless sycophants . It was another type of armor . And if he could further his ambitions while it looked like he was just being spiteful and stupid , then all the better .

He had almost laughed out loud when the news of the death of Kevoran arrived at his desk . That little prick from the main branch was one of his largest contenders for any potential goodies that would be found on this planet .

While Kevoran was afraid of his ancestor , only the youths and unevolved were able to go through the portal . So his attitude had progressively gotten worse with each day since they arrived . Ogras had used a snide remark as a basis for ordering him to go with a scout’s squad to canvas the whole island , in order to solidify his position while Kevoran was gone .