The Godsfall Chronicles Book 8, 13 - Risky Plans

Book 8, Chapter 13 - Risky Plans

Translator: Xiao Lai

“We’ve confiscated everything the gods left behind on the moon,” Legion reported to Cloudhawk. “As a safety precaution, Belial is examining them and then the tech will be sent to Ark Base. Further study will ensure the gods haven’t left anything behind in their construction that will cause us trouble.”

So far Cloudhawk hadn’t felt anything unusual about the goods, but it was not unthinkable that the gods would tamper with it in so way. After all, these items were not explicitly used by Suru. Demons, even psychically awakened humans, could also utilize these tools.

While hardly a loss for the gods, this haul was an excellent addition to humanity’s arsenal. It was like being handed a nuclear weapon. Suddenly Greenland had an embarrassnt of war riches at their disposal.

After examining their gains, Cloudhawk brought everything back to Greenland. Several days later, Ark Base received a shipnt of resources to examine, which ultimately would serve to bolster humanity’s front lines and make them more prepared for the challenges to follow.

Next was a discussion on how to continue the fight.

Cloudhawk summoned his lieutenants for a eting. It was a post-war debrief and a planning session for their next step. Joining him were hundreds of representatives from the human race, as well as three thousand demons.

“Such is the power of the gods. Our victory has given us motivation and montum. With Gehenna at our side I believe we will stand a fair chance when the gods strike again.”

“Yes, so long as Greenland stands we can hold Suru at bay.”

“The front holds. Erald Star, Gehenna and Ark Base are safe so long as we remain firm.”

Everyone was swept away by the joy of their triumph. Following their victory, morale was high. Despite their brave words, deep in every heart was doubt that they would survive. Victory had shown them otherwise, and it was a victory where they had lost little.

These were the gods! The almighty, illustrious gods! Immortal, mysterious, capable of walking across the surface of the sun. Although they wielded power to make mortals tremble and weapons from the depths of nightmare, still they had failed to take the southern wastes.

Two thousand godly soldiers, dead. How could such glorious success not make n excited? Yet in contrast to the blustering humans, a grim silence hung over the demons. They did not sing words of praise or celebrate the victory.

Legion spoke up. “Now is not the ti to pat ourselves on the back. We have defeated their vanguard, yes, but this was rely a test by our enemies. Without Gehenna’s aid the Southern Capital would have fallen.”

Demons rembered the Great War. Their long lives and keen mories wouldn’t allow them to forget. It had left an indelible fear within them, of the gods and what they could do. No one knew the terror of divine genocide better than they did. Suru might have lost a Marshal, but this small defeat was insignificant.

They understood that their species would not escape destruction a second ti.

Their enemy was led by the aweso and frightening God King. Though no one knew why the God King hadn’t shown itself before them yet, the mont it did there was no known way to defeat it. Overall the rebellion’s chances remained bleak.

“Focusing only on defense, we will fall. With only one planet at our back we can’t defeat the gods.” Cloudhawk’s voice rose over the others. He trained his eyes on Legion. “We have to switch our stance from defense to offense.”

That was not the plan others were expecting. Defense to offense? He had to be joking!

Greenland and its soldiers were safe because of Belial’s defense system. If they went out and faced the gods on neutral territory humanity was dood. Everything from their demon forces, to human troops, to all their technology was inferior to Suru.

In total, there were roughly ten thousand demons still alive. If every single one of them took the field and fought, they would only equal a few thousand gods. Even if you added up every scrap of technology from Ark Base and Gehenna, maybe Cloudhawk’s army could match thirty thousand divine troops.

No doubt that sort of power was strong, enough to wipe out a moderate civilization. But to rely on that for an offensive against Suru... wasn’t that madness?

“My King’s idea has its rits, but with our current strength a direct confrontation carries little hope for success.” Legion carefully chose his words. “However, there is reward with certain risks. In the midst of darkness we may find a silver lining.”

This piqued Cloudhawk’s curiosity. “Where is this silver lining?”

“Where else? Suru.”

Humans and demons alike were not sure what the Elder was proposing. Suru? Silver lining? His enigmatic words seed foolish. Suru was ho to thousands of powerful enemies! It was their well-defended ho and, so far, no one even knew where it was.

Cloudhawk’s face bore no expression. “Explain.”

Legion obliged. “From everything we know, the gods have laid the groundwork for this mont for a long ti. Imagine the universe today; countless intelligent races, enslaved by the gods. Even the greatest civilizations brought low. The reach of the gods extends far out into the cosmos, beyond comprehension.”

“The Grand Elder’s aning...” High Priest Pelagius paused for a mont in thought before proceeding. “You suggest we find and ally with the remnants of those civilizations. Picking up the pieces of thousands of races all across the universe to help us fight Suru?”

“A fine plan in theory, but nearly impossible to execute.” Legion shook his head. “Even just your Milky Way is vast beyond asure. Unless one has dominion over space and ti, traversing these distances is impossible. Indeed, the combined mighty of all lesser species would be more than the gods could suppress. But to see it beco reality we must traverse the stars – billions of light years – as well as overco any inherent differences. It is too difficult, too dangerous to attempt.”

Unifying all the races of the galaxy... It would definitely turn the tables on the gods, but how were they supposed to make it happen? What reasons did any of these species have to trust humans even if they could communicate? The most difficult was also the most important; how were they supposed to even find them?

Mankind’s understanding of the universe only scratched the surface. When it ca to the universe, space and ti beca insurmountable obstacles. Humanity’s capabilities weren’t up to the challenge.

Legion went on. “As was noted, the gods control a large number of civilizations. It is also naive to think ours is the only race at war. We can then surmise that most of Suru’s forces are, at any given ti, away from Suru.”

People were finally beginning to understand. Here on earth the gods left six Supres to watch over their crop. Say the gods had a thousand other planets to shepherd, all things being equal that would an six thousand Supres. Furthermore, if the gods feared other civilizations may rise in rebellion, they needed to have forces mobilized and ready.

Whether it was keeping watch, squashing a rebellion or outright war, it was all drawing on a relatively limited number of forces. Perhaps strangely, while the gods produced frightening creatures like chaos beasts they did not appear to use robots. All told they were few in number, compared to their flock.

The conflict on Earth had drawn a lot of attention from Suru. Its reaction would surely be to send a show of force, enough to wholly dominate and exterminate this troubleso race. Unless Legion was mistaken, Suru would not be heavily guarded. Why would it? The gods were incapable of imagining these insignificant humans invading their ho.

“My King possesses incredible powers over space. He is the only living thing who can hope to enter the land of the gods. If we are quick, there is a chance we can take Suru.”

Incredulous words mixed with exclamations and thoughtful discussion. The entire council was a chorus of voices. Undoubtedly, Legion’s sche was a bold one. Bold ant unexpected, and with a force equivalent to thirty thousands divine soldiers there was a real chance they could succeed.

“Two problems.” Selene interrupted. “First: Suru is the God King’s ho. With its powers, why should we assu it can't foresee an attack on Suru? Second: We don’t even know where Suru is. How are we supposed to find it?”

Legion offered his response. “As you say, if the God King foresees our arrival then we are throwing ourselves into the fisher’s net. But its powers over ti is not true clairvoyance. Every ti you peer into the future it changes. Perhaps the God King did witness a future for Suru. At the ti it would see eons of prosperity and dominance. However this future was not written in stone. Over a thousand years of playing with the threads of fate, it is invariable that things should change. Things like the invasion and conquest of Suru. So you see, there is a lot more unpredictability than the God King’s powers might portend.”

The explanation was not hard to understand, and it made sense. If, for instance, a man had access to a ti machine that brought him anywhere in the future – two days forward, say, where his wife had a fatal car accident. Knowing this, surely the man would react to stop it? He would do anything to ensure it didn’t co to pass. From the very instant he witnessed that possible future it was forever altered.

Perhaps he saves his wife in this scenario, but in doing so carelessly throws himself before the vehicle and is instead killed. Were the flows of ti left undisturbed the man would live, at the cost of his wife’s life. The actions he took to change fate brought on sothing new he had not foreseen.

Was they were discussing now was the sa. The God King was able to fast-forward or rewind any period in ti. With it’s power it can even peer a thousand years into the future and attack a target. But every ti it did so the picture changed.

Indeed the God King had incredible foresight into the future of the universe. But perfect manipulation of fate was impossible. Even if there was only one percent chance that the God King missed sothing, it was worth the risk. For facing the God King head on, there was not even one percent chance of survival.

“As for where Suru is located...”

“I can upload my consciousness into the Divine Matrix. Through their network I can locate the ho of the gods.” Cloudhawk completed the thought.

He’d perford the feat twice already with the help of the Cloud God. They hadn’t tried since the Supre’s death, but the Cloudhawk of today was very different. If they could capture a god, perhaps they could force their way into the Matrix once more.

Selene frowned. “I still think it’s too risky.”

She had personally experienced a fragnt of the God King’s power. Hoping for such a creature to maybe overlook such a glaring flaw seed foolish and unlikely to succeed.

“We’re in a war for survival. It’s a risk worth taking.”

“Yes, we should attack Suru instead of waiting for the divine army to kill us little by little. We should take advantage of our montum! Invade Suru and bring death to our foes!”

Better to pull off a band-aid in one quick move, rather than bit by bit. No long as Suru still stood, the gods would not be defeated. Legion’s plan was certainly risky, but there was glorious opportunity in burning one’s escape route.[1]

1. This is the phrase 破釜沉舟 – break one’s kettles and sink the boats. If the story about Xiang Yu’s victory is true, then that is incredible.