Caracas was a left to right Assault, people were forced to leave the City and when they were at the outskirts, Demon's and Truthers would whisk them away. There were a lot of people dead, not by the forces of the Empire but by flagrant trampling and stray gunfire. A hotbed for Arms Dealers, Caracas was well known for being a haven and safe harbor for killers. Nothing was left of the City, not even its trade routes were spared, Maiquetía was next.
Three Cities burned and disappeared from the map, Bogota, Caracas and Dhahran were no longer. As fiefdoms for terrorists, they were turned to ash and even the ash was gone, swallowed by the molten sands and paved over with spikes. As the city of Caracas was still cooling off beneath him, Wu Hai was glad to see another video drone. He grabbed at it and began to address everyone that was listening, "My stay on this world is coming to a close, those we've captured will stand trial before the eyes of the world. In one hour, I will speak to you again."
Wu Hai left the demons in charge, his first objective had been met. The Terrorists, or at least the figureheads responsible for the death of thousands, had been uncovered, captured or killed. Channeling in his hands, he took his time and took one last look over the smoking terrain. With a flick of his finger, he disappeared from view.
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In Japan, Ying Wu and Bazingah were still watching the footage from the other cities. Noyuki was devastating to watch, her four colored fire was not as brilliant to watch as Qingchi's but the force of her attacks were beyond what the Ying Demon Family had to offer. As one of Zao's branch families, they were actually close to the bottom in strength. Only the Ying Demon King and Ying Royal Family had that sort of strength.
Wu Hai disappeared from the footage and reappeared next to the throne. He was dragging a human by the throat and tossed him to the stone floor. Some of the priesthood came out after feeling Wu Hai's arrival, they chained the terrorist to the floor and set up two more spaces for the others. Ho and Noyuki would arrive shortly with their own prisoners.
"Today, you see a spec of our power.. Its not meant to terrorize you but prepare you for a stark reality." Wu Hai sat down on the throne, he was being projected across the skies. "Humans are at the bottom of the food chain. If you don't understand this, you will shortly."
It was at that time that Qingchi and Ho came back ahead of their group. The operations in all three nations were ongoing and they had many prisoners.
When Qingchi saw her Uncle, she ran up and hugged him again. Ho shook his hand then embraced his brother, he looked over and a video drone was still attentively watching them. All three of them smiled toward the Camera and then went back to talking among themselves. They were waiting on Noyuki.
When she arrived, she brought Kuzunoha, Vira and Mursayade along with her. They had made a trip back to Zao City during the raid for supplies. A large portion of the Empire's stockpiles were gathered together and prepared upon their arrival.
The Priesthood knelt in prayer around them, they were quietly filling the room.
Breathing deeply, Wu Hai had the others sit down so that he could speak. The prisoners from the other nations were chained to the floor beside the first. "Today.. Everything changes." He held up his hand, "These three, they are the people at the top of the HRMM terrorist group, responsible for so much death and destruction across this World." Vira, Kuzunoha and Mursayade tapped each of them in the back of the head softly. All three of the terrorists were smashed into the stone floor face first, blood trickled from their wounds.
"Mercy? On the path to Godhood, I have come to a conclusion, peaceful gods are always killed. Mercy comes for those that deserve it and these three do not." Wu Hai walked in front of the three men, he was going to make an example out of them.
"How many more bombs do you have?" All three of them had their freewill robbed away, they each spoke a different number but it was clear that they all still had plenty of bombs. "And where are they?" Wu Hai waited for them to give up the locations, he nodded to Ho.
The Camera drone captured Ho disappearing then panned back to Wu Hai. "I've been told you attacked because you think I destroyed China. It still exists, they have a chance and in another 900 years, perhaps they will have earned their freedom."
"Igenzo." Wu Hai called out a name, Hana wasn't sure what was going on. "I require your expertise, what sort of tortures can you perform on these three that will be both long lasting and painful to bare."
"Feeding them to beasts is too quick, but you request a slow death? Perhaps soul worms and a shower with Death's River water but the most satisfying form of torture is always the self-inflicted kind. I could compel them to slowly eat themselves, would that be to your liking?" Igenzo immediately understood what his Father-in-law was doing, he went all in.
"Eat themselves, that sounds particularly nasty.. now, If I give you a healing potion. How long do you think you can keep them from dying as a result of their wounds?" A Grin crossed Zao's face.
Igenzo laughed. "Of course, of course. If we use a drop of healing potion on a human, it can regrow entire limbs. The 'feasting' could last a lifetime."
Hana shook her head at the two of them. 'At least they are laughing together.'
"Then I leave them in your capable hands. Please have them suffer for the remainder of their sad, short lives." Wu Hai passed the chains to Igenzo and nodded. He placed his hand onto his shoulder and whispered. "Hana looks happy."
"Today I am leaving but before I do, I will lay out a plan for this world's future. I suggest you consider my words carefully, as it affects your lives entirely. These are Crystals." Wu Hai held one up. "You can only eat one in your whole life. These crystals will be available to every truther, only they will be allowed to distribute them and only to registered travelers. If you register, you'll be allowed free travel to and from Shiyan. As I speak, members of the Empire are placing teleportation arrays around the globe. Those that wish to register with the Truthers need only place a hand upon them and you will be sent to Shiyan."
"This is my act of mercy, I locked the Earth away in a bottle in hopes that you would all learn to get over your petty differences. I was on the path to godhood, but the whole time I should have been making my own roads. I've heard the prayers of the Priesthood, they plead for salvation of the Earth and now I've answered." Wu Hai stood with Kuzunoha, Vira, Mursayade, Noyuki and Vector. "I want Earth to join Shiyan but those who carry the thought of conquest are entirely unwelcome."
"What you make of your lives on Shiyan will be your legacies, send your best and brightest or don't send them at all. I shall return to the Heavens, perhaps, in the future, we might even meet again. Live your lives like you mean it." A teleportation circle appeared in his hands and vanished.
Cheonquq was left behind and wondered what he was going to do with his life. Bazingah sat down beside him and ruffed his hair. "It'll be okay kid, this place isn't bad."
Qingchi walked over to the projector. "Zao has spoken, at this moment every truther in the Empire has been summoned. They will be at the teleportation arrays for the next month to accommodate the First wave of people who wish to travel to Shiyan."
Ying Wu came to his mothers side, then Demon King Ho stood next to them. "All Hail Zao!"
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The Group arrived in the Tower City Courtyard to retrieve Misozi, in retrospect, Wu Hai felt it would have been more symbolic for him to have flown away on a spaceship but he couldn't change the past. "Remind me not to come back to Earth for a hundred years, at least. Every time we go there I end up feeling like the bad guy."
"I'm okay with that." Kuzunoha kissed Wu Hai on the cheek.
"I would have liked to see Earth for a bit but we got sucked into all of that." Vira kissed Kuzunoha and dragged her into the bedroom. "Are you two coming?"
Noyuki looked at Wu Hai and tilted her head. "Yeah, are you?"
Vector had Mursayade with him in the cockpit, they were going over routes. "I think we should go directly to the second level but since we all broke through right before we went to Earth.."
"I think I understand what you mean." Mursayade hugged at Vector's back while he hunched over the HUD. "We should take a nap before we go out to hunt, besides.." Running her two left hands down Vector's chest, a zipping noise could be heard.
Vector had appetites but it was like he was rubbing off on Mursayade, her own tastes had grown.
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More than a month had passed in a flash after their return, the group was out hunting and discovered a building. It was carved into the side of a mountain, on the sides were depictions of beasts and creatures from divine realms. Entering it, they felt the space was a bit ominous, there were illustrations of fire beasts across every wall. Everything from bugs to rats, tigers and gods, each filled the complex with their own sorts of heat, their auras recorded down. The Recorded Auras all held a trace of power, like they were being fed by something. The further along the murals they went, the more the group realized that they were being watched. Dark passageways became lighted and fire sprang from the walls on the second level.
Inside the mountain, far below them a figure sat beside a mirror. From within its glass, all things under the mountain could be seen. "~Its been a long time..~" A spark ignited, the red figure disappeared.
Noyuki was scanning the walls, she wanted to record everything for the database. "There are a lot of creatures I've never seen.. just from the feelings I get from this mural, we can presume these creatures all possess fire abilities."
"That's nice." Mursayade wasn't too interested in knowing all the beasts but she was rather warm already and the temperature inside was rapidly rising. "Its fucking hot in here, I thought we wouldn't be affected by heat anymore."
"~Depends on the Heat.~" A voice came out of the darkness and then a being comprised completely of fire came out from around a corner.
"Vector!" Mursayade yanked out two shields and slammed them in front of her.
They had all just recently been in battle, their emotional states were high. Vector flashed toward the fire creature by instinct but it was a terrible idea. The heat was scorching his body and it was badly burned.
"~Guess you're in the wrong place buddy.~" The Shields were knocked away and the Firebeast's steps were heavy. "~Why have you come!~"
"Oh? Very interesting. A Fire Elemental." Wu Hai came up and stared the Fire Elemental down. Sparks were exchanged between their eyes and then something strange happened.
The Fire Elemental sat down, "~You are the first..~" The Fire Elemental stopped moving for a moment like it was thinking something over. "~Company is rare, have time to share..~"
'Does this guy have a screw loose?' Vector was still dealing with the pain in his arm, he took out a healing salve and smothered the wound. "What's going on?" he whispered.
"No idea." Vira threw her hands up. She walked over to the Fire Elemental and sat down beside him. "You've been here by yourself? For how long?"
"~Always.~" The Fire Elemental stood up.
'!well that was quick.' Vira had just sat down but it had only said one word and was already moving again.
The Fire elemental came to a blank spot of wall and began charging its energy levels. A stream of fire came from its fingertips and slowly, an image began to form on the wall. Broad strokes and small chunks were taken out, soon, everyone could see the picture that was being carved into the rock. It was an image of Vira, beside her were Kuzunoha Mursayade, Noyuki and Wu Hai.
Vector was not in the image at all. "Why only them?" he asked, not upset but curious.
"~Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire.~" The Elemental pointed to the picture.
"Okay, Okay, I get it." Vector took a few steps back and reapplied the ointment to his arm. The burn marks were disappearing but it was a slow process.