Chương 169: Chapter 4-168 – Only Humanity can do This

There was total silence as dozens of territories not inhabited by Humans began to expand toward the seas. As they did, they naturally overwhelmed Human lands in the way, wiping them out of the way as the Beast Emperors prepared to fight the endless hordes of the Oceans. Humanity... was caught between a rock and a hard place!

Human territories would become the battleground between Beast Emperors, and our expansion into the 'safer' inner lands of the continents would simply be crushed in passing before what was coming!

"As you can see, the nations with higher elevations are actually in the most danger, because they are going to be sandwiched between massive Hordes coming from the centers of the continents, with the Emperors thereof casually wiping them out in passing." Now the tumult broke out, as detractors whined about inaccuracy of predictions and how I could not possibly know this was true, and others were panicking at the news. My Voice cut through them all nicely.

"Thunderbird Emperor relayed that of the nineteen times He has seen this come to pass, this was the pattern of the conflict! Humans have only been involved in the fighting for ONE of them, the most recent prior, and were naturally a very minor Tribe without much power at that time, relying on the protection of greater Beasts to merely survive however they could.

"The Great Beasts are not going to change the way they respond simply because we want them to. There is also a problem with this entire scenario." I took a deep breath, and blew the news because it had to be blown.

"Humans are responsible for triggering this Great Flood Event!" The uproar that sounded was great, and suddenly multiple Auras were flaring up, trying to lock on me and suppress me. The two strongest of those Auras instantly winked out, then three more faded abruptly away. Shocked, the remaining two turned to those responsible, and saw their unconscious and bloody compatriots on the ground...

and suddenly their own Auras were completely repressed as a smiling Hag and a towering Brute stepped in on them in the crowd, before they could get away. The hasty circles that cleared still weren't fast enough to save those men, as the two Forsaken were on top of them, bones cracked, and broken men fell to the ground. Silence greeted the cracking of bones and knuckles.

Sama and Briggs looked all around, while the downed men were dragged over by non-descript members of the crowd and deposited into the Auras of the two. Nobody was going to be healing them up. Sama did reach down and smoothly pull out their identification, holding them up for everyone to see, and politely shouting out the names. Mage Association enforcers...

"This is hush-hush information that the powerful don't want us to know, and will likely crack down on. That's okay, it's going out on multiple media platforms, so they can whine, bitch, moan, and complain as they like," I informed everyone coolly. Anticipation hung eagerly in the air, amazed at my chutzpah.

"A group of Ice Sages, gathered by the Synod and the Mage Associations, recently made an expedition to the Forbidden Zone of Antarctica. Some of the very, very well-informed among you might have heard whispers of an 'exploratory mission' into the territory there.

"Well, it's a Forbidden Zone because it's the personal domain of the single most powerful Beast Emperor of our entire world, The Ice Emperor. A being who could bury all of North America here under an Ice Age if He desires... and which He's done at least twice in the past." The people all swallowed at the implications.

"Said group of mighty Ice Sages, the penultimate champions of Humanity, somehow managed to make it all the way to Him." I let the silence drag out.

"It seems only one of them has come out, somehow. I expect he is a puppet or messenger of The Ice Emperor at this point. The rest... well, the Ice Emperor casually unleashed His Great Flood to show what He thought of their temerity in daring to confront Him."

"These are the names of the Sages involved." I listed them out above me, and where they were from.

"The sole 'survivor' is Mu Hangtian of the Great Family of the Mu in China. I doubt he survived as anything but a pawn of The Ice Emperor, who is not known for His mercy." I let that drag out for a moment or three.

"So, the trigger for this Great Flood... is Humans bothering the most powerful Beast Emperor of the world. Moreover, this fact is probably already known by all the Beast Nobles and Emperors on the planet.

"The reason I am telling you this is because the blame rests on us Humans. The Synod and the Mage Association naturally do not want to be blamed for this. They want us united against the 'mindless aggression of the Beasts', working together against a great threat, and they want to be seen as the uniters here, not the cause of the whole thing.

"But it is not the Beasts who were the aggressors here, and they are Not Happy with us. They see no distinction between Human nations and Human organizations. As we call them all Beasts, they call us all Humans, and we all get to shoulder the blame. If you don't like it, they simply do not care.

"We are ALL guilty of what is happening, in their eyes!" I let that sink in for a minute, before continuing over the empty protests. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Now, I know, I know, who cares about the desires of the Beasts?" I waved my hand airily.

"We are the mighty Humans, we are better than all of them, and we can fight!..." There were even a few proud call-outs in support of my words. I just laughed, the sound laden with scorn.

"Another thing the elders of the Mage Association are not telling you is that there are more Beast Emperors on the land around than there are Human Sages. I'm sure you also know the general wisdom that an average Human Sage is incapable of killing a half-Emperor, let alone a full one.

"The number of Emperors in the oceans and seas is at least double the number of those upon the land!

"Humanity... is now sitting squarely between them! And if you think that is not by design, you are fools. Humanity has been the main force keeping the Aquatic Kingdoms from bothering the Land Emperors for the past three thousand years, at least. We were permitted to expand where we have, to grow to the strength we have gained, because the Beast Emperors knew this time would come again. This is not the first, or even the tenth, Great Flood."

Hundreds of overlapping territories of Beast Emperors and their attendant Nobles, from Barons to Kings, popped up behind me. Faces began to fall in horror as people realized what those territories represented.

"The Ocean Tribes are excited, and they will be coming. First, at the Littoral Zones, testing and pressing. Then, they will start on the coastal cities, while randomly laying siege to thousands of miles of coastlines, slaughtering and feeding upon all they can as they do so.

"As the waters rise, they will become bolder and bolder, and finally the Beasts on land will begin to move. And if we Humans are in the way, so be it. They'll wipe us and our lands away as readily as they'll kill the Aquatics." I let that trail off as the wise among them swallowed, realizing the implications of being caught between a literal world war of Beast Emperors.

"There is a solution to this catastrophe, of course, and I have already shown it to you." The Ritual Pattern rose up again behind me in Holo.

"Humanity alone is capable of breaking this spell. No force of Beasts can do so. When these Great Floods happened in the past, they would last for a century or more, because there was no way to stop them.

"Humanity, and Humanity alone, can break this spell and stop the Flood!

"In doing so, THIS is where Humanity proves itself. We won't prove ourselves by fighting back, because there is no way we can win, only endure. Historically, The Ice Emperor will ensure that His spell will last a century. By the time it is done, Humanity will be smashed back to the Bronze Age! There won't be anything left of our civilization!

"We MUST BREAK THE ICE EMPEROR'S SPELL. It's the only way!

"We must do something none of the Imperial Beasts can do, and in doing so, prove both our worth and our power, and justify our place in this world!

"We're going to suffer, all of us. The Aquatic Tribes are going to be coming everywhere, they do not care, and if you can't take care of yourselves, you are going to flee or die. We know who to blame for starting this, and they will want you to fight, to cover their asses and misdirect your attention, then they'll try to ride in and save the day.

"I am telling you NOW... that you have to break The Ice Emperor's spell! Nothing else is going to stop this, and if people start dying to the invasions from either side, it's because the Spell is still there, people didn't step up to stop it, and they will keep dying until The Great Flood stops!

"That's it. That's all there is to do. You can send people and civilians to die haplessly by the millions, or you can come together and get rid of the damn spell, and damn the costs for doing so. Who pays for what you can hash out after the fact. But The Great Flood needs to be cut down, and the faster you do it... the mightier Humanity looks in the eyes of the Beasts of the world.

"I know, I know. A lot of you are powerful mages, and this is an opportunity. You can head to somewhere vaguely safe, and take advantage of this to make a lot of money, lean on Families and force them to join you, and if a few million civilians die, what's it to you? It's a price someone else is paying, it has no effect on you. Hold out, up your price, let them know they are coming to YOU for YOUR power, you aren't just going to clean up someone else's mess...

"Yes, I can see it in the eyes of some of you, that's exactly what you want to do. You're going to drag it out. You're going to make the common people realize that you're the important ones, that they need YOU, you don't need them, and you're going to make them pay for it in one way or another.

"It's what the Synod and the Mage Association are planning on doing, after all. When enough people have died, they'll send down the order, marshal the resources, and save the day, praise them, praise them for solving the problem they created, and for which millions of non-mages are going to die for.

"I can't stop you from acting like that. But now everybody knows. The problem is the Spell of The Great Flood. The solution is to break it. I will have the Ritual to do so worked out within a week. I will disseminate it to the whole world, and I doubt I will even get paid for it.

"And then, because I can't possibly do it alone, I'll just sit back and watch as you do nothing.

"Oh, and I've already informed Thunderbird Emperor that Humanity CAN break the spell. He was a bit startled, but then I told Him what it would take, and He sort of laughed, knowing what idiots we are.

"But He'll tell His subordinates and neighbors, who'll gossip with their neighbors, and in no time all the Ruling Beasts will know, and they'll be watching, knowing that Humanity can do the job, and is just too stupid to do so.

"It's going to be entertaining to see. We'll be able to solve a problem the Great Beasts could not fix with even a century of work, and we could do it by the end of the month." My Holo went down, it was obvious I was pretty much done, when another voice spoke up, "Lady Fae, if I may ask... what do you stand to gain out of all of this?" I glanced up at the speaker, who had a smug grin on, as if waiting to make this point.

"Oh, Mr. Newford. Are you attempting to make some play on moral rights that would cost me money, now? How I don't do anything without adequate compensation, or somesuch drivel?" His smug smile hardened a little.

"You are not making your spells free to all those who desire them now, are you?" I just lifted an eyebrow.

"Interesting words from a man who just negotiated a million-dollar contract with three radio stations just to listen to you sound off on the aggressive military goals you espouse that you have to live vicariously because you were drummed out of the American Army for conduct unbecoming a serviceman." His face promptly fell at my words.

"Perhaps you should make your pontificating services free, Mr. Newford? And go find a real job? Or perhaps you should work that job for free, too? After all, you're independently wealthy by now, you don't need to work... except that if you don't, you don't get invited to places like this and get to hobnob with the truly powerful."