Seronia says “You may be right about that, but we have a different sense of time than you do. Years can pass in a blink for us, at least when you aren’t around causing trouble.”

  Krenocia says “What makes you think that the southern pantheon wouldn’t try to wipe us out and take over the peninsula?”

  “Three reasons. One, they are run by a woman so they won’t be after you as wives. Two, the empire is my ally and I don’t think the pantheon will go against that. Three, me.”

  Seronia says “I understand and mostly agree with the first two, but what do you mean by you?”

  “I am a wildcard. They know of me and know that I am powerful, but they don’t know how powerful. For all they know, I am as strong as a dragon and that will deter them from making me an enemy. I expect them to act much smarter than Holos did. They will want to figure me out before making a move and the longer they take to decide, the better. There is another factor, the demons have started to move and they should be aware of that.”

  Krenocia says “That actually makes sense. The southern pantheon was actually an ally of ours back before the demons arrived. Maybe they could be again. Still, it is a big risk just so you can make some money.”

  “It isn’t about making money, I already have more than I know what to do with. It is more about improving relations with the southern empire and the sharing of ideas. Trust me, it will be good for the peninsula.”

  Seronia says “I was leaning towards agreeing with you, right up until you said to trust you.”

  Krenocia says “I do agree that we have been isolated for too long. We have already proven that we have been losing knowledge. The isolation of the peninsula could be a big part of that.”

  “I think that was mostly due to the dragons burning everything on the peninsula. Isolation more commonly stops, or slows down, the development of new ideas.”

  Seronia says “It sounds like you are pretty set on setting up this gate. Is there even a point in discussing it?”

  “If you have a good argument that isn’t based on fear of being discovered then I could be convinced not to open the gate.”

  Krenocia says “I don’t know about you, sister, but I don’t have such an argument.”

  Seronia says “No, I don’t either. I think we have both gotten too used to how things are. Change is scary, but we do need things to change.”

  Krenocia says “I agree. So, I guess that means that we are going to trust Ash?”

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  Seronia says “Did you have to put it that way? Yes, I guess we are.”

  Krenocia says “Well, Ash, you heard her. We are going to let you continue with your plan and hope for the best.”

  “Thank you. Don’t worry, it will all work out. Even if it doesn’t, I will find a way to protect you both. Honestly, the worst that I expect to happen is for the church of the pantheon to come over and try to convert people.”

  Seronia says “I hope that you are right, that is something that we don’t need to worry about. Thanks to you, we have lots of new followers amongst the beastmen and I doubt they will be easily stolen.”

  Krenocia says “That’s true, especially as long as Ash is their king. In fact, we will probably get a lot more followers among them as more tribes submit to him.”

  Seronia says “That is entirely possible. With the way Ash has been helping us increase our powers, we may not need to fear the southern pantheon.”

  Krenocia says “I don’t know about that, they still outnumber us by quite a bit and we aren’t exactly specialized in combat. We would both need to be on the level of pantheon leaders to stand a chance.”

  Seronia says “I’m not talking about fighting them. If we become strong enough then they won’t want to start anything with us.”

  Krenocia says “That’s true. Power is a good deterrent. Even if they know they could win, they would have to consider what it would cost them.”

  “That’s the same reason that me being a wildcard will act as a deterrent.”

  Seronia says “We will just have to hope for you both to be right. The runes are done, so I will be taking the mountain now. Ash, go ahead with your plans, just be careful please.”

  “I will. I have thought things through this time. I am planning out my moves instead of just making things up as I go.”

  Seronia says “That’s good and it’s about time! Now, you just need to learn to value your life more and take less risks!”

  “No promises on that one. High rewards require high risk.”

  Krenocia says “Don’t start that argument again, sis. Just take the win and leave the rest to Lin and Myria.”

  Seronia laughs at that and then in a blinding flash of light both she and the mountain disappear. Once I can see again, all I see is a massive crater where the mountain used to be. The crater is really deep, in fact it is so deep that I can’t see the bottom of it.

  “Wait, does that hole go all the way through the realm?!”

  Krenocia says “Yes it does. Seronia took everything inside the circle of runes.”

  “Well, I wasn’t expecting that, but I guess it makes sense. I just hope that it proves useful to her.”

  Krenocia says “Oh, it will. She is already planning to turn the top half of the mountain into a city for the angels.”

  “That’s a good idea. She isn’t planning on making human souls do the mining, is she?”

  Krenocia says “Are you kidding? With how soft-hearted my sister is, do you really think she would do something like that?”

  “No, I don’t, but I had to be sure. Holos using the souls of his followers as basically slave labor is the main reason that I am glad that he is going to suffer.”

  Krenocia says “Going to? He already is! My sister taking the mountain will have felt like someone ripped a piece out of his body. She knew that it would hurt him, but if it isn’t mentioned out loud it is easier for her to justify it to herself.”

  “Good! I hope that whatever you are going to do is going to hurt him just as much. As for Seronia, whatever she needs to do to be at peace with it is fine by me.”

  Krenocia says “Oh, what I am going to do is going to hurt even more. I am going to slowly steal all the remaining power in his realm. To him it is going to feel like his entire body is slowly being cooked!”

  “That’s perfect! Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Krenocia says “No, there isn’t. The level of divine power I am going to be dealing with would turn you into charcoal in a second.”