Chapter Thirty-Nine: Exchange and Freedom
2016-08-23
Author: Floating Tower
Soren’s figure instantly appeared inside the Astral Fortress.
The pressure belonging to the deities enveloped all the Gisz. Since the birth of the multiverse, the gods have always been above everything. Whether during the Mindflayer Empire, the Silver Era, or the Arcane Era, although mortal power could develop to a certain extreme and briefly reach the peak of the multiverse, in the end, it was still impossible to truly compare with the gods. As a consequence of the Mindflayer Empire, the birth of the Gisz avoided deities, but ultimately they were still mere mortals.
“Respectful Lord of Shadows!”
“We did not mean to offend you! … We… we did not know you were also… did not know…”
The leader of the Gisz appeared before Soren. Facing a deity with medium divine power, especially with the Astral Fortress already sealed, he finally gave up all resistance, stuttering, “We did not mean to offend! …”
“Please…”
Before he could finish, Soren interrupted him. He gently waved his hand, and, accompanied by the brilliance of a spell, an energy warrior that had been hiding in the corner attempting to launch a sneak attack was instantly killed.
A finger of d*ath.
Given Soren’s current spellcasting ability, it was nearly impossible for mortals to evade the instant d*ath spell he cast.
The energy warrior of the Gisz quickly lost all his life; the power of the spell snatched away his soul, leaving behind a pale shell.
“You live by plunder, and when robbing others, you should have prepared to be plundered, right?”
Soren’s attitude was very cold, with not a hint of pity, and upon hearing his words, the other Gisz felt a twinge of despair. Not everyone dares to directly challenge a true god. Even existences like Ascendant Eugene would only dare to face off against a Lesser Demon Lord, and they were only able to confront the Lord of Shadows because Soren acted alongside them. Apart from that, Eugene had not dared to confront any deity to date, even a weak divine being.
Though the Gisz did not believe in deities, they knew how terrifying a true god could be!
Let alone Soren, who possessed medium divine power.
It was easy to recognize Soren’s presence, as the power of shadows had already enveloped the entire fortress.
“Now you are all my captives and slaves.”
“Everything you possess is my loot; I have the right to dispose of your lives as I please!”
“Of course.”
“This is also according to your customs, in accordance with the rules of the astral realm!”
At this point, a mocking smile appeared at the corner of Soren’s mouth. The Gisz were a relatively brutal race; due to their experience of being enslaved by Mindflayers, they treated other races with extreme cruelty.
Killing and plundering were merely parts of it.
Because of their history of brutal enslavement, the Gisz loved to use energy to control and enslave the minds of other races; they were a band of robbers wandering in the astral realm.
Soren was a deity of the law and order alignment.
So he would not engage in meaningless killings. After the power of the shadow divine profession enveloped the entire fortress, he decided to treat them according to the laws of the astral realm and the Gisz’s own style, turning them all into his slaves.
Since they were slaves, their lives would be entirely under his control.
“You can try to resist!”
“I know you are adept at dealing with rebellious slaves! … However! … Similarly, I will deal with those who attempt to resist in accordance with your methods! …”
Soren’s calm voice echoed throughout the fortress, and the battle on the side of the floating tower had long ceased.
The Gisz did not dare to make any rash moves.
Because any of their actions could provoke Soren’s merciless killings. Evil gods sometimes would reason with you, but those were all their reasons; you could only choose to obey or d*e.
Soren would not forgive them.
The Gisz should have prepared for failure before launching their plundering attacks; mercy had no meaning, and resistance would only serve to bring Soren some killing experience.
“Then.”
“Now bring the fortress closer to the floating island.”
Soren looked at the sweating leader of the Gisz. As a warlord beneath the queen, this leader possessed high-level legend power, but in the face of Soren’s divine pressure, he seemed like an ordinary person. This was the most fundamental difference between deities and mortals. Soren used his divine power to alter space to seal all teleportation spells, leaving these Gisz incapable of even fleeing.
Moreover.
If Soren were to cast a mass divine power shockwave, the outcome would likely be a massacre.
The massive Astral Fortress began to move.
Soon, Gloria and the Fallen Witch also appeared within the fortress. At this moment, Gloria’s expression was slightly shocked. Although she already knew that Soren’s power had surpassed her own since his investiture, seeing him suppress a Gisz tribe so easily still left her profoundly shaken.
This is the power of a deity!
Even during the most glorious times of the Arcane Empire, the strength of the entire arcane civilization only sought to stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods.
A sense of distance made her feel pressure.
Because when she first met Soren, he was merely an inconspicuous thief, but now his figure had grown to a point where she had to look up to him.
Iron Golems began to enter the fortress.
Groups of Gisz were escorted inside the floating tower. This Gisz tribe had more than five thousand members, of which nearly half were combat personnel. The entire Gisz tribe was dispersed this way; the one at the highest position was the Queen of the Gisz, something close to an undead being, below her were many leaders resembling warlords, each controlling their own astral fortresses while constantly raiding other races for their livelihoods.
The Gisz leader watched helplessly as the Iron Golems escorted his tribesmen together like slaves.
He wanted to resist Soren, but he knew that this would only lead to the destruction of his tribe. He continually tried to summon his allies, the so-called “Red Dragon Covenant” from mortal legends. Essentially, any Gisz astral fortress had at least one Adult Red Dragon as an ally. The current astral fortress had three Adult Red Dragons as allies; when they encountered powerful enemies, the leader could use the power of the covenant to summon them to aid, and the wealth obtained from plundering was also shared with the evil red dragons.
There was no response from the covenant.
Even though the leader of the Gisz kept calling, not a single red dragon answered his summons.
These evil and cunning giant dragons abandoned the ancient covenant. Upon discovering that the enemy was a deity, and a deity with medium divine power at that, the three red dragons that had signed the covenant chose not to assist them in battle.
Because coming over would merely mean d*ath.
………………
Soren was also waiting.
He had actually been along for the ride as the Gisz leader resisted him. This astral fortress was not particularly large, meaning that the space available for a red dragon to operate was quite limited. This implied that the red dragon ally of this tribe existed under contract, rather than being directly raised inside. He was waiting for the other party to summon the red dragons to appear. While a Gisz fortress indeed possessed considerable wealth, if he could also slay a dragon along the way, that would be even better.
Dragons in the Material Plane were becoming increasingly rare!
Most of the dragon race lived in Dragon Islands and Dragon Nations, and even deities could easily enter, as that was the territory of the Dragon God.
If the enemy’s leader could summon a few red dragons, Soren would likely earn another windfall. Unfortunately, it seemed the cunning red dragons were aware of Soren’s presence. After waiting for so long, he had not seen any signs of resistance.
The Red Dragon Covenant could not summon allies for assistance.
Despair caused the Gisz leader to give up on resistance, and Soren’s plan seemed to have fallen through. It might be related to revealing his divine power too early—those red dragons were all too frightened to come.
Although he had captured these Gisz, how to deal with them was also a problem.
This race was inherently imbued with energy, and to control them as slaves required very powerful beings, such as naturally high-tier species like Mindflayers.
The High Priest should have a way.
However, before branding them as slaves, he likely needed to prepare some shackles to seal their power.
“Great Lord of Shadows!”
After confirming that the Red Dragon Covenant had failed, the Gisz leader finally abandoned hope of resisting Soren. However, he still did not wish for his tribe to lose their freedom. With a troubled heart, he approached Soren and humbly bowed his head, saying, “To offend the great you is our fault!”
“According to the rules of the astral realm, as the defeated, we ought to become your captives.”
“However.”
“I hope to make a deal with you to exchange for my tribe’s freedom.”
Hearing this, Soren smiled and said slowly, “You are now my captives; everything in this fortress is my loot.”
“I am curious as to what you still have to trade with me?”
The Gisz leader said in a deep voice, “I have.”
“I have a piece of news.”
“I believe you will definitely be very interested. I hope to use it in exchange for my tribe’s freedom.”
Soren’s brow rose slightly, slowly asking, “What news?”
The leader of the Gisz looked at Soren with determined eyes, saying firmly, “The corpse of an ancient god drifting in the astral realm.”
“I hope to exchange one piece of the drifting ancient god’s corpse for my tribe’s freedom.”
“We Gisz have been adrift in the astral realm our whole lives; only we know where some ancient god corpses are! If you are willing to grant my tribe freedom, I am willing to tell you where one ancient god’s corpse is located.”
“If you are not willing.”
“Then even if you k*ll me and torment my soul, you will gain no information.”
“The minds and souls of the Gisz have already endured the trials of the Mindflayers; I believe you should know which is more important—a piece of the ancient god’s corpse or a group of insignificant slaves!”
…………… (To be continued ~^~)
