The next two days, Thalion spent inside his mansion constantly working on his armor and creating one wild theory after another on how he could fuse the amulet with the elemental core.
His streak of ideas was interrupted by Pikar storming into the mansion looking as though he hadn't slept in days. His hair was disheveled and his clothes looked like they had flown through multiple treetops judging by the small sticks and leaves hanging from his robe.
"Thalion, what have you done?" he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.
"I assume you mean my little show of power?" Thalion guessed. Pikar couldn't possibly know about the massive improvements he had made to his crafting during the last few days. If he continued at this pace, he might finish the base of the armor within a few more days and then only the tempering process and giant crystals would remain.
"Little?! What in the bloody hell was little about that? They took a few resources and you brutally killed one of them in front of everyone. Just what were you thinking? Now Ricarda has to work day and night calming the elves down. Did you know they were already planning an assassination attempt?"
Pikar's voice rose with every sentence.
"Interesting. And here she told me the elves would be absolutely loyal." Thalion wondered out loud.
"Yes, they were until you murdered one of them. Elves are delicate and you had nothing better to do than kill one over basically nothing." Pikar continued shouting at him, which Thalion found rather annoying since the man was missing the point by quite a large margin.
"I don't know what you've been told," Thalion hissed. "But the situation was far from simple. The elves were treating the humans almost like slaves again. Furthermore, I don't have the luxury of simply ignoring them openly mocking me when I confronted them. To them we are nothing and you should use your brain a bit more. Tell me, what do you think would happen if I didn't threaten them or simply left? How comfortable would you feel being part of a faction ruled by elves as a human and former slave?"
"Still, killing one will only create more pressure, which isn't good for this base—"
He got no further as Thalion interrupted him.
"Pikar, I don't have time to discuss this. Also, I find it troubling that you completely ignore how the elves taking all the humans' loot doesn't create pressure. Besides that, did you find the teleportation circle?"
Thalion was really getting tired of being lectured.
What had happened to the supposedly intelligent man and all his clever theories? Had the second system event broken him or was it something else?
"Argh, fine. Another day then. Ricarda is currently calming them down anyway, so it shouldn't become too much of a problem." Pikar sighed before beginning another rant. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it was getting to that teleportation circle? I had to travel through a forest filled with spiders and ants. Both races resisted my taming skill completely. Furthermore, they chased me down and even tried to enslave me in return. I barely escaped with my life only to find that the teleportation formation has already been claimed by an incursion that's currently building a massive base exactly like we planned. I even spotted slave collars."
The slaves weren't surprising at all.
What troubled Thalion far more was the growing base.
On the positive side, he currently had a large number of stubborn elves on hand and this seemed like exactly the right occupation for the coming days. They could risk their lives dealing with the incursion while he focused on his armor.
The spiders and ants sounded more like a future farming opportunity than an actual problem.
"Thanks for scouting, Pikar. I'll take it from here. There is a lot of organization that needs to be done. You'll handle it and make sure the new elves from the divine domain behave. Otherwise, I'll step in."
Thalion spoke while deep in thought.
Hadn't Pikar said that Ricarda was currently talking with the other elves?
Wouldn't it be best to simply assign the task to them directly or send a messenger?
And once again, in only a matter of days, Pikar found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"You want me to tell the elves they need to deal with the incursion on their own? Right now? After everything that happened?" Pikar exclaimed.
"Yep."
"Oh man, this really isn't my lucky day. They'll probably be thrilled to see another human telling them what to do. How generous of you to keep bestowing one glorious assignment after another upon me."
Pikar continued complaining as he left the mansion.
Thalion had to hold back a grin for a moment before his expression turned serious again.
The elves' attitude was still a problem and it needed to be resolved sooner rather than later.
Killing one of them had bought him time, but it hadn't solved the underlying issue.
The biggest problem, in Thalion's view, was that the elves simply didn't want to change. Accepting that their race wasn't naturally superior to all others was probably difficult and admitting it would make one look like quite the loser among their own kind.
Maybe he needed to start his own belief system.
Or perhaps infect them all with his blood curse.
That would certainly give them a different perspective on the world.
On the negative side, he would then have competition when it came to blood and that wasn't something he particularly wanted either.
More scheming wasn't going to help much anymore and so Thalion fully immersed himself in crafting once again.
After so many failures, he finally began making real progress.
In fact, the only parts still missing were the shoes, helmet, and gloves.
Well, he also needed the crystals and countless rounds of tempering, but when it came to the actual shape of the armor those were the only pieces still unfinished.
Afterward he would have to spend a great deal of time strengthening the materials, but Thalion was now confident that the armor would turn out exceptionally well.
Once the design was complete and he had obtained the crystals, it would merely be a matter of time until the tempering process was finished and he could finally wear it.
That last step would take the longest, but thankfully the blood pond would handle most of the work for him.
Of course, he still intended to personally infuse more of his essence into the materials, just like Saranya's father had supposedly done, but that would have to fit between hunting trips.
Four more days passed before he was interrupted again.
This time it was ten elves and when he opened the door every single one of them looked as though they would rather be somewhere else entirely.
"Ehm... We were sent here to construct another communication circle in one of your rooms so that you can commune with the gods in private instead of always using the plaza." One of the elves muttered while carefully avoiding eye contact.
That actually wasn't a bad idea.
Thalion showed them one of the rooms on the first floor.
All of his crafting took place in the enormous cellar, so they shouldn't have any idea what he had been working on even if the metallic scent of blood still lingered faintly in the air.
He watched the elves construct the circle.
The formation was far too complicated for him to understand, but he wanted to make sure they weren't adding anything extra that would allow them to listen in on his conversations with the gods.
The construction took several hours and Thalion used the time to think about his next move.
His armor was almost complete and taking a dive into the ocean to retrieve the massive crystals didn't seem like a bad idea.
Shrinking and corrupting those crystals so they could be integrated into the armor would take a considerable amount of time as well.
So the following day Thalion gradually strolled toward the harbor, commandeered two ships to accompany him, and set off toward new adventures.
He also hoped that by the time he returned the gods would finally have sent a few beast corpses through the portal so that he could begin experimenting with new forms.
What Thalion didn't know was that the high gods of Integrated Space were facing quite a few problems of their own.
<--
Things had started off exceptionally well after the show. Many gods had sworn allegiance to their faction, which was extremely important given how the rival elven faction was gaining new members with each passing day.
Had Solan and Nyssa failed to secure new allies, the elves might have already launched an all-out attack.
For now, they were still holding back because nobody knew exactly how powerful Solarion had become after killing one of their gods.
The arrival of new allies and the uncertainty surrounding Solarion had kept Solan and Nyssa safe.
Now, however, things were beginning to change.
Fewer and fewer gods were joining their cause while, at the same time, the Oracles had started openly spending time with the rival elven faction.
This was a drastic shift.
The Oracles almost never took sides.
Across the multiverse, it was the dream of nearly every fledgling god to receive an audience with them. A single conversation could reveal valuable hunting grounds, hidden opportunities, or overall a path toward greater power.
The Oracles' actions alone would have been troubling enough.
Unfortunately, something else happened as well.
The fight between the Spider Queen and Morgana the Blood Witch had finally come to an end.
The vampire Tenebrice had arrived to aid Morgana and together they had escaped the Spider Queen's web.
For Nyssa, who knew her mother better than most, everything about that outcome felt wrong.
Many gods had already begun asking what had taken the two combatants so long. Some even suspected Morgana had died long ago.
Nyssa suspected something entirely different.
Tenebrice was only a shadow of his former self and should not have been powerful enough to alter the outcome to such a degree.
Yet even though no god had died, everyone knew who had truly won.
Morgana might have escaped, but her entire domain now belonged to the Spider Queen and had been completely swallowed by the endless web.
The Spider Queen had suffered losses throughout the conflict.
Many factions had pushed back the web and even managed to kill some of her daughters that defended it.
Compared to what she had gained, however, those losses were insignificant.
The damage could have been far worse if the other factions had focused entirely on destroying the web.
Instead, they constantly found themselves distracted by rival factions stealing resources or launching attacks the moment powerful gods left their territories to wage war against the Spider Queen.
As things currently stood, the Spider Queen had wrapped her greedy claws around one of the most valuable natural treasures in the entire multiverse.
Nyssa had a rough idea of what her mother was planning.
The problem was that witchcraft wasn't one of her areas of expertise the last time they had fought.
Then again, the two had been separated for countless eras.
Many things could have changed.
And if there was one profession that suited the Spider Queen perfectly, it was witchcraft.
The greatest problem with the conflict ending was that many factions were now searching for easier prey.
Recruitment efforts had already been ongoing before.
Now they intensified dramatically.
Especially the older gods could feel it.
Something was coming.
The only question was who would make the first move.
Especially with the System acting so strangely during this era.
First came the absolutely ridiculous trials in the new universe and then the System had begun sealing off entire regions to a single grade.
There were now countless clusters with low mana density where only E-grades, D-grades, or C-grades could live while anyone above that level was simply barred from entering.
Something like this had never happened before.
For the gods it wasn't really a loss since there were no resources within those regions that would benefit them, but it was still deeply troubling.
What would happen next?
That very question was what gave the Oracles so much power.
Every god wanted to know what was coming.
And being on good terms with Solan and Nyssa—whose mortal had offended the Oracles so deeply—didn't exactly improve one's chances of securing an audience.
On the other hand, joining the alliance with the new elven faction seemed to help quite a lot.
More and more, Nyssa was beginning to believe that Thalion might actually be onto something.
Those Oracles were playing a rather sinister game.
To find out exactly what game that was, she had already captured several weaker gods and intended to have a little conversation with them.
Dark tendrils bound all of them in place.
The strands looked suspiciously similar to spider silk and completely prevented the gods from moving.
Torture could be surprisingly difficult.
The victim could take too much damage and die before revealing anything useful.
Fortunately, things became much easier after becoming a god.
Gods were incredibly resilient and most possessed methods of dulling pain, shutting down their nervous systems, or otherwise escaping suffering.
Luckily, Nyssa possessed a poison that countered all those safeguards while simultaneously amplifying pain.
A simple scratch would feel as though someone were slowly skinning you alive.
The first god in line was a being Nyssa hadn't encountered many times before.
An Echovore.
The creature looked like a bizarre mixture between a dragon and a worm.
Its most interesting feature was its partially translucent body and its ability to feed on souls.
It was undoubtedly one of the rarest species in the entire multiverse.
Had it been a mortal rather than a god, Nyssa would have considered sending bodyparts through the portal.
Thalion had specifically requested something related to souls and there were few creatures better suited for that purpose than an Echovore.
"Tell me what the Oracles told you."
Nyssa hissed while the fingers of her right hand extended into black claws.
Dark mana slowly dripped from their tips.
The Echovore remained silent.
So Nyssa began carving away the outer layers of its skin.
The poison had already been injected and the god immediately began to screech and thrash in agony.
The dark tendrils prevented it from activating any skills, making the interrogation considerably easier.
Nyssa continued for hours.
Partly to extract information.
Mostly to demonstrate to the other prisoners what would happen if they refused to answer.
"Now that's your second and final chance."
Nyssa stopped for a moment and tilted her head.
The Echovore remained silent.
That puzzled her.
What had the Oracles told these gods that made them so unwilling to speak?
Certainly she intended to kill them regardless, but they didn't know that.
Her claw sank deeper into the creature's body and slowly carved its way toward the midsection.
For the first time, genuine panic appeared in the Echovore's eyes.
Then it finally spoke between screams.
Which, considering its condition, was quite the achievement.
"Spare them. They won't give you any experience anyway."
The voice echoed through the room as though several mouths were speaking simultaneously.
It took Nyssa a moment to understand.
Then realization dawned on her face.
"Oh. You are pregnant." Her smile widened.
"How fortunate."