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Hello there! It's once again time for my hundred-issue call to arms (has it really been three months?). There's been something like three paperback novels of story since then!

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“THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF CONCERN AMONG THE EMPERORS AS TO THE RAPID RISE OF HUMANITY,” Thunderbird Emperor went on. “HOWEVER, MANY WERE ALSO SURPRISED THAT THIS WAS THE PLAN OF HEAVEN WESTWARD EMPEROR ALL ALONG.”

I lifted an eyebrow at Thunderbird’s words. “Ho, that Fox was being a clever one, was He, Your Imperial Majesty?” I commented, and Flowing Silver Emperor actually yipped in delight.

“A FINE SON OF THE VULPINE!” Flowing Silver Emperor agreed heartily. “HE SAW THE SPARK OF POTENTIAL WITHIN THE FURLESS MONKEYS WITH THEIR EXTREME CLEVERNESS, AND SO THE BEASTS OF K’UN-LUN WERE THE FIRST TO TEACH HUMANS OF MAGIC AND HOW THEY MIGHT WIELD IT. IT SEEMS YOUR TRIBE MUST THANK THE AZURE DRAGON FOR DEVISING THE SYSTEM OF STARS AND STARMAPPING THAT HAS BECOME YOUR MAGERY SYSTEM!”

Well, well, we owed our magery to a Fox and a Dragon? Somehow, I wasn’t all that shocked at the revelation, given that so many members of the Court of K’un-lun were already revered for teaching us magic.

“Is this one correct in assuming that we are meant to be a buffer against the Emperors of the Seas, and the High Emperors?” I asked them both.

“YES,” Thunderbird confirmed without batting an eye. “THE YOUNG ARE NATURALLY WILLFUL, FOOLISH, AND IMPULSIVE, AND HUMANS NEVER GROW OLD.” I had to turn that statement over, and realized that from the perspective of the Beasts, it was true. It was rumored the founder of the Synod might still be around, and Hera existed as the Spirit of the Acropolis, but even they were still youngsters who needed time to mature compared to any True Emperor, and even the vast, vast majority of Low Emperors.

Heck, of most Great Rulers!

“It would seem Heaven Westward Emperor’s plans have had something of a new turn to them, Your Imperial Majesties?” I hazarded.

Flowing Silver Emperor yipped again. “THIS EXISTENCE OF HEAVEN SORELY TESTS US ALL, BUT IN THE END, WE REALIZED IT WAS MERELY AN OUTGROWTH OF THE COMING OF THE NETHERWORLD AND THE REALM OF LIGHT. THE ARRIVAL OF THE NETHERWORLD CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF MANY THINGS!”

I nodded once. “May this one confirm that the Netherworld’s Breach upon the Beast Realm only happened well after they began introducing the Dark Mana here?”

“CORRECT,” Thunderbird Emperor confirmed. “TIME FLOWS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENTLY IN THE BEAST REALM, BUT THE BREACH WAS ONLY THERE FOR LESS THAN TWO HUNDRED OF EARTH’S YEARS.” That matter had obviously seen a lot of discussion, as the whole Dark Mana thing and its growth here on Earth was very important.

The fact I was famous for basically forcing back the Breach in the Beast Realm and helping purify away the ambient Dark Mana likely hadn’t been lost on any of them. That was why I was here, that was why I did what I did, and the Eye had plenty of the Vivic Eternal Flame braziers around.

Heck, I’d made some for all of the Nobles and many of the Commanders in Thunderbird’s territory, too!

“This one would learn the will of the True Emperors, and what she should convey to the Humans of the world, Your Imperial Majesties.”

Thunderbird Emperor inclined His head.

--------

One day later, the Coralost Academy Training Grounds...

I didn’t feel like going to the coasts to make this announcement, especially since improved media and internet coverage was going to be spreading the news quickly. The Training Grounds of the Academy had plenty of room to seat people, we had the mages to make the seating enough for all of them, and I could make sure both the weather and acoustics were not a problem.

Also, we didn’t have to do nearly as many security sweeps for tricks. Burt had shown a remarkable aptitude for security work, especially with a couple of Wizardry spells that allowed someone to maintain effortless heightened vigilance and focus on their job. The other lads had taken to Operator status with gusto, and they and their teams had taken down half a dozen infiltrators already, said fellows shocked they’d been picked out, and even more shocked when they were neutralized so fast.

Ah, the wonders of Improved Counterspelling and Dispel Magic with enhanced Caster Levels...

I very regularly Communed to find out wielders of Dark Mana in the area, as new ones instantly came to the attention of the Land. Clusters of them within ten miles of Coralost instantly drew attention and Divinatory investigation.

We’d taken out more than a hundred different mages over the past couple of years that way. Infiltrators just loved to use Shadow Magic, and Poison and Curse Magic were also popular...

“... and here she is, Lady Fae, the Archmage of Coralost!”

There was polite applause as I stepped up to the podium. There were some powerful people in the audience, and they could read the Aura I wasn’t concealing as clearly as anyone. It was obvious I was an Archmage equal to at least maxed out in two Elements, which was pretty impressive for only having one Element.

If they could have looked inside my Matrix and seen the additional six non-coalesced Galaxies rotating there, new Stars being formed and slowly being filled with Mana by the constant and furious efforts of two thoughtstreams with So Much Work To Do, they likely would have freaked.

My internal barrier to Sagedom had crashed and folded, the extra Galaxies spinning slowly into being one by one as my Legendary Valences coalesced, my Caster Level went up, my Stars were Refined by Magic Type, and Legendary Feats were spun into place. One new Star of fourteen thousand potential ones at a time...

New Class Levels weren’t happening every day, but they were happening. Pass-up Karma only came in so fast, after all, but that Loyalty was derived from my Duty, and I didn’t shirk on my Duties, just like Briggs and Sama didn’t. We worked as hard as everyone else or harder, and that Karma from the Allegiance underneath us was our reward.

But, nobody here needed to know I was the Sage of Coralost, until they did something stupid. After all, I didn’t even have all my Stars formed yet!

“Good afternoon,” I greeted them all. “I apologize for the lack of cushioned seating, but this won’t take all that long.”

I didn’t need a microphone, my Magevoice carried perfectly, even to the devices I was allowing to record me. “As you have surmised, the primary focus of this meeting concerns the Ritual to break The Great Flood imposed upon the world by Ice Emperor after the incursion into His territory by the force of Ice Sages sponsored by the Synod and Mage Association.

“Don’t.” The shouts that started to erupt from some hecklers were squashed and Silenced before they went anywhere. “Thunderbird Emperor has pointedly been listening to the elders of both factions speaking and trying to pin the blame on others for months now.” Those agents who’d been ready to protest and raise a ruckus paled despite themselves. “Yes, I know who you are. Yes, I know the instructions you’ve been given by them. Yes, if you try to execute them, you will be taken out, and more pointedly, Thunderbird Emperor Knows Who You Are.” I let that weigh on them.

There was a flash of Lightning, silver-violet, streaking across the sky from the west, vanishing into the east, cutting across the whole world. The crowd gaped up at the sky, waiting, waiting before the Thunder arrived, rumbling and somehow SCREAMING in the air like a distant eagle, clearly not natural, making the stones and their bones shake with its passing.

“Ah, yes, He is listening to me. Have no worries, Your Imperial Majesty, this one will not misspeak the words of the Emperors.” I bowed my head slightly as the crowd stared at my formality, and realized with ashen expressions that a Beast Emperor was listening to everything going on here...

“As for you recalcitrants, I am here to convey the words of the Council of Beast Emperors.” I tapped the stone podium, the sound echoing through the place clearly. “Showing disrespect to me is showing disrespect to them. If you think they cannot reach right across the land and show you their displeasure, please, continue obeying your orders so everyone can witness what happens to fools who think tweaking the noses of Beast Emperors at the behest of idiots is a good use of their lives.”

Those men (all men, I noted. Did women have more sense?) tensed up, moreso as I waved and they were all suddenly limned in silvery Faerie Fires, drawing a great deal of attention from those near them.

Very pointedly, those near them swiftly drew back, giving every one of those people at least ten yards of clearance all about, very perceptible in the crowd.

The waiting Earth Mages drew up some more stone seating at the sides to relieve the pressure, their faces calm and unruffled, even as the very clear sky rumbled with that shrieking, unnatural Thunder again.

“I see you’ve decided not to be paragons of rude disrespect and foolishness. Congratulations.” They all glared at me, but their faces were pale and sweat was dripping from them now. They could definitely feel Something paying attention to them!

“On to the important matters!” I waved up a Holo behind me that everyone who had any interest in the Floodbreaker Ritual was familiar with. “Let me first preface this by saying that I brought up to Thunderbird Emperor the fact that Humanity was capable of breaking The Great Flood, but would need the permission of the Beast Emperors to do it smoothly. As everyone knows, the ideal positions for execution of the Floodbreaker Seals are not in Human-held territories.”

Everyone was quite familiar with that fact. Although there were tens of thousands of volunteers to aid in the Rituals, and they could even said to be fully staffed by now, no work had been done to establish them because it was going to take a lot of fighting to secure the areas to construct them. The governments and organizations who needed to gather the will to do so hadn’t managed to scrape themselves together yet.

“Thunderbird has conferred with all the Beast Emperors of the relevant territories.” Rough territories went up on the Holo, and the names of the Beast Emperors of those territories, or the Court of K’un-Lun, went up in representation, drawing some gasps of alarm from those in the know.

I had just confirmed that the powerful Beast Emperors talked with one another...

“Suffice it to say that the Beast Emperors are very unhappy at what Humanity has done.” I held up a hand before the protests started. “Don’t bother to complain. The Synod and the Mage Association proclaimed that they acted on behalf of Humanity. Since Humanity didn’t argue the point, the Beast Emperors are perfectly fine with holding all of Humanity to blame for their deeds. Congratulations to the Synod and the Mage Association. You have successfully transferred the punishment for your deeds to the rest of us!”

My Voice might have been tripping a tiny amount of sarcasm. The looks being shot the twats picked out in silver were none too friendly at the moment, and I could easily imagine the reverberations going out across the world.

“The Emperors were at first skeptical that Humanity could break The Great Flood, but I gave them sufficient proof to believe otherwise. With that done, it became a debate over whether Ice Emperor would punish such effrontery, perhaps by starting another Ice Age; whether to take a personal hand by allowing the Seals to be established, or to make us fight for the territory; and whether or not to stop the advance of the Beast Kings and their vassals from coming to meet the incursions of the Sea Imperials.”

I let that hang for a few minutes in the grim air. Nobody said anything, as this literally concerned the whole world, and there was nothing Humanity could say about it. The Beast Emperors had already decided, and it was out of our hands!

“Thunderbird Emperor has conveyed to me the agreement of the Beast Emperors of the planet...”