Saintess Summons Skeletons

Stebron sat on his chair, only then bothering to glance back at Suhen. “I am perfectly on time.”

“Do not think I will spare you just because you arrived after the round. You are far from perfection still.”

“I do not recall asking for your help.”

“Hah, as though I ever cared for your opinion on the matter. Please; don’t be ridiculous. And get this unsightly purple mane out of my sight, would you?”

Stebron rolled his eyes but did not answer further, his clothes began to melt into his skin as his appearance changed.

Huh?! What the– Time?!

As Stebron changed, his form warped to a still humanoid, but more demonic and draconic one, rotten, with broken scales and riddled with holes. Unlike the corpse of Time, his scales were a dark, almost black purple, but the strange state of partial decomposition and the shape of his head were really reminiscent of the giant corpse of the dead Lord.

Has his Recessed independently discovered Ser’Alhtra?

That feels really unlikely.

But then again, the Eddarinians did have a gate to the Deep quite a while ago so it’s not impossible either.

Can this really be a coincidence is the question…

Now that the Ascended were no longer talking, hushed discussion quickly warmed up the atmosphere in the circular room, but Sofia was lost in her own thoughts.

Actually, who is his Recessed? When we first heard of Stebron with Cinthia she didn’t know anything about him either… And the chat must have not said anything about it or she would have told me. To think he was one of the Apostles.

We must only share a few essences… But it still feels strange. It’s like he’s linked to me the same way Pareth and Bookie are.

But I never felt that before, even when I’m next to others who share the same essence like Leverle.

While Sofia was busy playing around with her essences trying to figure out which ones exactly she shared in common with Stebron, the room suddenly fell silent again as the stone wall had appeared in front of the last, biggest chair, between Stebron and Leverle.

Oh crap. Ha– This is even worse.

With yet another person sharing a lot of essences with her entering the room, Sofia started to feel genuinely nauseous. Doing her best to calm the shaking of the divine essences within her, she watched the massive headless black plate armor step into the room.

The demon king. The headless one…

Not even a skeleton in there. It’s probably just empty, huh. I guess that’s just what happens when you take in that many different essences. Just judging by the number of seats here, he has at least fifty!

Looking at the three Ascended, Sofia naturally began to wonder, could they beat the top three Saints and Oracles?

Ar’Zoth, Grandma and Tartaros sure make quite a team. And that’s assuming there aren’t more that I don’t know about.

… Now I’m just thankful that the two sides aren’t actually antagonistic.

Not sitting in his chair, the demon king faced the table, his upper chest subtly moving as he seemed to observe everyone present.

He spoke, his voice smooth and ethereal.

“Welcome, fellow Sons, Daughters, and allies of our vast family, to our castle. In the name of the demon king, I thank you all for answering my summons to this twelfth assembly. As you may have guessed, the subject of today is none other than the ongoing invasion of our cherished planet. Our gods have convened and decided on a plan for action, which I will now share with you.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“While everyone else, including our gods themselves, are dealing with the immediate threat the Phageid poses, we Apostles are to tackle specific tasks.”

The demon king clapped, and a small blue metallic cube appeared in front of every single Apostle present as well as the demon king himself.

“First of all, in these storage blocks, you will find a detailed report on all of our accumulated knowledge of the Phageid invaders, as well as personalized resources that have been attributed to you. They also all contain a rune, please take them out.”

Like everyone else, Sofia looked inside of her cube-shaped storage item, finding the inside to be a cubic space just about a meter large, in which were neatly placed a small handful of things, including a small rough green stone in the shape of Sorrow’s rune.

“I will now explain your roles,” the demon king announced when everyone had their rune in hand, “Holders of Golden runes, you will be provided with materials and instructions, and are expected to deliver the finished products in a timely manner. These supplies will be essential to weather the invaders’ following attacks and protect key locations, please take great care in delivering only the greatest quality.”

Sofia looked around, there weren’t many golden runes, but none of them seemed surprised at the role they had been given.

The demon king continued, “Holders of bloodstone runes, you are to track down, hunt, and fully exterminate all Phageid in your designated area which can be found in the map provided in your package. These creatures reproduce by absorbing mana, and they will no doubt congregate and feed on these major locations, this needs to be stopped. While the system agents worry about their towers and the civilian centers, you will manage these remote locations and make sure they do not become dangerous breeding grounds in our homeland.”

This, it seemed, was the major mission the Apostles had, as there were more than twenty of the red bloodstone runes.

“Holders of Azurite runes,” the demon king called next. Sofia perked up as Zerei was holding one of those blue runes. “You will join the Kleptran biogenetics research team led by our ally Ax’Ziha, to perform in-depth research on the Phageid titan corpse we have collected in the latest attack. You will find a teleportation scroll to the research facility in your package, and receive further instruction on-site.”

Ax’Ziha? I never expected to hear about her again so soon. So Zerei will be working with her? Do the Phageid titans use curses, maybe?

“Holders of Obsidian runes. You have been granted the honor to participate in helping some of our gods safely cross into our mortal realm. It will be no easy task, but you will find a wealth of supply and resources in your package that should help with each of your specific roles. The faster it is all accomplished, the better our odds will be in these troubled times.”

It’s somewhat surprising that I didn’t get one of those. After all, me not going to retrieve the Wheel of Progress from the Fairies is technically the only thing preventing mom from coming safely…

Well– Hmm… Since she can already come and the issue with that are the disasters her mere presence causes, just like Death, I suppose neither of them need any help to come over as long as it is for a fight.

Next, the demon king held up the chunk of mithril he’d gotten from his cube moments before, which only himself, Stebron, and a few other Apostles Sofia did not know held. “Holders of Mithril runes, you will henceforth follow me on setting up punitive counter attacks. Together we shall strike back at the invaders, and reduce their forces in preparations for… For later. This position will be the most perilous, so exceptionally, you are allowed to refuse if you so desire, which will not be held against you. Does anyone wish to desist themselves?”

The six other holders of the mithril runes were silent, Stebron even visibly shaking his head.

“Perfect,” the demon king noted, sounding satisfied, “And lastly, holders of a jade rune.”

Finally!

Sofia was starting to get really stressed about her role, as the stakes seemed to only go up every time the demon king spoke, and the others with a green rune included Leverle, Suhen, Pherlen, and other powerful demons like the Apostle of Taxes who was sitting to Sofia’s right.

“You are to train, and get more powerful, or die trying. Your participation will be required alongside the Mithril team when the main forces of the Phageid descend upon us, which is predicted to happen during the solar eclipse on next year’s summer Solstice, in exactly 483 days. Relevant resources have been issued in your packages, and you may seek Suhentopehrin of Unfairness, Vastemortgen of Ruin, and myself for advice whenever available,” the demon king announced, showing Suhen and Stebron with an extended hand.

Vastemortgen of Ruin? I’ve never even heard of Ruin being a Recessed at all but I suppose it makes sense. So Stebron was the Apostle of Ruin… That could also explain his appearance, but the resemblance with the corpse of Time is still a bit unsettling.

“And that is all for the official matters this time around. You can refer to the documents in your packages for more details, and will also find a return teleportation scroll there to leave this castle, should you need it. I will now be going upstairs to make some arrangements with all other allies who have answered the summon. You may find me there if you have any questions. You are now free to leave, although staying for a while to socialize is encouraged. Thank you for your attention, this concludes the twelfth Assembly of Apostles.”

Trying to maintain appearances, Sofia held back a sigh of relief.

So I just have to keep doing what I was always doing.

I was always going to fight back when the invasion happens… If anything, being in a formal organized group makes it a bit more reassuring.

Sofia looked back inside of the storage cube.

Now, what are these other things they prepared for me?