The Power of Ten

Chapter 15-408: Stoking the Fires Inside

Legion got slowly to their hooved feet, at first moving slowly to savor the exquisite rush of power and sensation through themself, but then realizing it was just another emotional wave that had to be dealt with.

Also, the fact that they were thirty feet tall right now was something to note.

They extended out wings reaching a span of easily a hundred feet, black wings tinged in sullen red and other subtle hues, but blazing celestial Runes still shining upon them.

They were also as razor-edged as knives, spiked like spears, and as hammering as weighted staves.

They had to burn off the extra energy and its obsession, so there was nothing to do for it but to turn to new katas to try out and dance to.

Had to work with the tails and stuff, too.

The Cohort was very rattled by all this going on, and definitely needed some layered interference from the overwhelming sense of power and sensation, but that was just more mental tempering. They began to flow through the forms, and started adding on ersatz stuff from demonic memory on how to use multiple limbs.

Perhaps not too oddly, both Lightning and Fire Dragon styles had higher Forms that deal with extra limbs and attacks, although they were largely meant for multiple parts of a standard humanoid body, not having sixteen or more additional striking surfaces!

Legion definitely wasn’t trying to wreck the island, but it was difficult not to score it as they danced around, given the sheer amount of physical power running through them. They were absolutely sure they could push this cloud island across the sky without perceptible effort.

Thirty feet tall was three size increases. +24 to Strength. Eightfold carrying capacity with magical bolstering of Might to offset the cubing of mass. As Strength at this level was telekinetic, even small increases had multiplier effects when it came to something unliving and non-resistant like mass, although mechanically in the real world getting hit by something with a 90 Might was not that different than being hit by 110, despite being four times stronger in physical ability to lift. To a normal mortal, it was just tearing steel like paper and organic bodies exploding.

Well, they had a great deal to concentrate on. Oh, and they could ask Sama if they should develop some sort of Foxtail Style for everyone else to learn with the tails. Not all of them had managed to get the hu-hsaio tails Weaponized, but if they could and did...

Sama immediately got right on that with a few of the Cohort. It all worked especially well with Warshaping able to extend the reach of their Tails... and, yes, the Manticore Tail Toy would only work better now...

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It took hours of katas and dancing to burn off the sensualist energy going through them, and shrink back down from being so damn big.

The extra mass was tied to their Bloodline, so getting the Bloodline under control meant getting high Jotunic Stature under control and gradually working down to something that wasn’t such a fine display for target practice.

They could also probably have tracked down an Old God or a Titan and made out for hours and hours, but that probably wasn’t a good idea. This was just more of a chance to work quietly at a task.

-Greater Jotun size on demand? We all should be able to eat our draconic progenitors!- Traveler’s unsympathetic and highly amused /voice came in. She had been providing the Sublime Chord for them to listen and dance to, and it had proved incredibly helpful. Rising moons over serene lakes, gentle breezes over fields of flowers, cold mountaintops looking down on the clouds, and auroras shining in the starry sky; Traveler Sang it all for them to listen to while she mapped oceans and dumped loads of data into the Map, spelling doom for a lot of things that thought they were untouchable...

-He confirms Ughril’s opinion of Guiogg. There are actually multiple Worldenders appropriate in the Abyss, but with the Shroud here, they could not be used. Something Outside Creation is a better choice, without calling up the true Elder Gods, as those are completely unpredictable.- For instance, they might snack on the whole solar system accidentally.

-A second opinion of confirmation is good. Did he know the Summoning Ritual?-

Legion shared it with a squirt of thought. It was high-end Binder stuff, but those Ranks of Knowledge had been the things they were most intent on picking up... and Binders were the other side of Pact magic, after all.

-Mmm, that’s a little different from what I was shown, but I think it’s because it has to do with sources. Let me run it by the Commander.- The variant from Ughril was shared with them, and Legion studied it with great interest as they sat there cross-legged in a meditative pose, letting the physical and emotional surges slowly spend themselves into the weight of thousands of souls and a truly impressive physique at this standpoint.

Mmm, desire levels too high. The damn dragon was interested in experiencing this enhanced reproductive experience. Dragons didn’t get nearly the pleasure out of copulation that humans did. Really, not many creatures did. Succubi vastly preferred Possessing men and women to have sex than undertaking such themselves. Too many negative emotions around the act for them, and their Lust could never be satiated by their own efforts...

Traveler was back only minutes later. -The Commander concurs that the alterations are a result of who is pulling the Devouring Moon in. A true Aberrant doing it and an Undead creature would probably have alterations like this.-

They studied the alterations, referencing Summoning diagrams and resources from some impressive Abyssal sources in their conjoined memories. Having thousands of minds looking through those memories sped up the speed and accuracy of the recollections tremendously, too.

Legion offered up their own alterations, which were analyzed and swapped back and forth. In the end, it was more about understanding what the differences were and could do then getting them totally right, because there were going to be differences regardless.

-Now, the key question is... How would we go about modifying them to totally screw over the undead and the Devouring Moon?-

Commander Haru’Ara had the Spellcraft Ranks to access the Source Code of Magic, and the interesting experience of having two mortals who were both smarter than him helping out with the calculations... along with reference sources from the Fey, Diabolic, Demonic, and Draconic side to compare and contrast against, as well as wickedly clever viewpoints that sent them all moving this way and that in sometimes inspired, sometimes nasty, and sometimes very unproductive ways of doing things.

It was also something that was going to take a lot of time. Magic at a level beyond Archmagicks was not an idle thing.

Also, working out the mechanics of multiple Miracles at once was also something the Commander was using some help and computational power with.

Genie Wishes could normally only benefit mortals, even indirectly. Using their Wishes to manifest a magical Tome that could enhance Stats was basically still useless to Soulborn, be they Elemental natives like Windgraf Mochtal, or Celestials like the Angelos and Commander Haru’Ara.

There was no such restriction on Cast Miracles, save the suppression of the Shroud. The Commander would be able to use said Miracles to enhance anyone he wanted to.

Traveler had directed him to first enhance himself, the Angelos, and the Windgraf. This was a very unusual step, something that would normally take a deity’s permission... but under the Shroud, the only determining factor was the Will of Heaven, which was not opposed to it.

+5 to all Stats was a nice little power-up all three of their extraplanar allies deserved. Thirty Miracles to pull it off, at two a day. Once they were done, using them for deserving mortals was another reward, the best use, of course, being if it allowed that mortal to begin their Double Helix...

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Legion got to their hooves, breathing deeply, only a little fiery now, and even that would be tempered down soon enough. Else, they might injure someone when exchanging kisses... although happily most of their lovers were immune or very resistant to fire...

A lot of Pure Wrath was circulating through them, tempering the effects of becoming a Bloodline Progenitor of the Demon Dragons, exposing it to the power of Heaven and igniting and rendering down the Sin that bolstered their strength.

The Demon Dragon Bloodline was going to be quite something else by the time it was done, as would their layers of succubus Bloodlines and others. Those watching closely could easily see the pulsing of golden Runes under their skin, the Wrath constantly at work devouring Sin.

Their draconic frill had merged with their succubi and erinyes horns, much more colorful now than the sullen crimson-chased black, although the curving ram’s horns of their lilitu status were still extant.

Their wings were bristling with power, and they knew they could fly much faster than before. A base starting speed of 200 a-wing was quite impressive.

They had a full draconic breath weapon, a 20d10 cone of Primal elemental fury, all shot through with Wrath and stuff for additional effects. Elder Grobiundlarsh had a great deal of experience wielding that breath weapon, experience they were going to be using and modifying for themself.

The biggest benefit was the extremely fast recharge with their Wrath super-charging their fundamentallum.

The benefits of the Demon Dragonpact also stood outside their normal Pact progression. There were naturally Dragonpacted among their souls, and the powers and skills that could be used were apparent and added to their versatility, if not overmuch. A natural fundamentallum also clearly exceeded the normal power of the breath weapon granted the Dragonpacted... and the additional energy of the Pact stacked, which could be very useful, indeed.

Dragon tails meant business, Fox tails meant pleasure. They smiled to themself as they scanned the world, settling on a tall line of snow-capped mountains a third of the world away.

Killing Snows laired right about there. He was the fifth of the Empire’s elder dragons to come here, a Hoar dragon of uncertain temperament at the best of times, and in a continually foul mood ever since the Shroud had trapped him here.

The Amethyst, Topaz, Storm, and Demon dragons had all been disposed of. The white-scaled Hoar dragon would be next.

They flicked a finger, and the glittering pear-cut Diamond, fully Energized to cold, balanced perfectly on one delicate razored claw, appeared before them.

It would house the Hoar’s Dragonheart. They would also have to Itemize the carcass and take it to Heavenbound Hall for dissection.josei

It was good they had not informed the alchemists of what they were doing with Grobiunlarsh, or they might have been bothered by peripheral complaints about all the dragon parts the eager vivisectors hadn’t gotten to test out.

Mmm.

Line of sight was established, dogleg peak of the chain there, second-highest of the mounts because the top of the highest one had some annoying Elemental entity residing about it Killing Snows didn’t care to offend directly.

It would not be an issue soon. They also knew Killing Snows was going to have a hoard, because the Hoars were the most feral of the Elemental dragons, and he simply could not help himself from gathering one.

The idea of being a dragonslayer was entertaining, although Grobiunlarsh had killed scores of rival dragons over his thousand years. It was time for them to earn the status, and start using Dragonhearts as another source of power for mortals.

Dragons treated humanoids as unimportant disposable assets. It was time to return the favor, and show them what intelligent simians could do to arrogant winged lizards...