Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

--

Phew...

A collective sigh of contentment was heard from the team. Comfort coursed through their bodies as they huddled near the campfire and basked in the peaceful silence.

They just finished a very hearty meal prepared by Cedric, and this might sound like an exaggeration, but it was better than any meal they had even back home, and it might also just be because of where they are. Still, having a warm and delicious meal was a blessing they thought they'd never experience out here, given how hostile the environment was.

"I take it that food will no longer be an issue from now on?" Darwin asked, breaking the peaceful silence.

"Yeah. So long as we can capture demons that bear resemblance to edible food we had back in civilization, I might be able to somehow revert them to their previous state and make them safe for consumption," Cedric replied.

"Is that every single animal we can think of?" Elric asked.

"Yes and no." Cedric sighed. "I said'might' because the success isn't 100%. It all boils down to how deeply the creature is affected by demon corruption."

"The corruption of their flesh is something that I can deal with, but the erosion of their soul due to corruption proves to be more challenging. And if a creature's soul, the very origin of their existence, was completely corrupted and replaced by a demonic seed, I'm afraid it's too late for me to do anything."

"I can try researching a way to reverse that outcome too, but, well, we're talking about the soul here; anything less than Concept Laws wouldn't suffice for something like that, and I don't think I need to reiterate just how challenging that would be."

"The fact that you could already do this much is more than enough. You don't have to go that far." Floyd shook his head. "Seriously, I wouldn't even dare to think about trying to reverse the corruption of animals; just thinking about it gives me a massive headache. Yet here you are, doing just that and even succeeding with it."

"I agree." Francis commented on the side, "I've seen many Master Scribes, worked with a lot of them even, yet not a single one could do half of the things you can do. Before, I would've never even thought that the old formation around this base could be improved. I thought it's already the best it could be and we just have to deal with the rest, but you proved that wrong as soon as you waltzed in.

Seriously, you're already doing extremely well. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Cedric smiled as he listened to the praises of the team. He wants to say that this is far from enough since he's expecting more from himself, but there's no reason to tell them that.

He then looked at Floyd and Darwin before asking, "How are you two, by the way? Any complications on your breakthrough?"

"None." Both of them replied at the same time, wearing relieved smiles.

"I personally don't think I could ever go back to using Demon Souls ever again. I never had such a peaceful and serene time breakthrough, ever. The process was so smooth that I became doubtful of it. If it weren't for me remembering that I'm using Essence Souls and not Demon Souls, I would've stopped it," Floyd commented, visibly exhilarated.

"Same goes for me," Darwin added. "It felt weird to not have mental demons whispering or screaming right next to your ears while breaking through, but damn, that felt good. Not only do we not have to worry about being contaminated, we even had a feast right after the breakthrough. I'm afraid it can't get any better than that."

"It could," Cedric commented. "It definitely could. But you're going to have to wait since the House of Light is still researching a way to purify Demon Lord Souls. They only need to crack one and the rest would follow, I think."

"That would be nice," Elric mumbled on the side, feeling jealous. "Hopefully they discover it before I reach the second change so that I can experience a peaceful breakthrough too."

The second change he's referring to are the stages of the Planar Traveler Realm. Upon transitioning to this realm, levels and tiers no longer apply to them. They instead experience 'Changes'.

Body, energy, and soul. These are the three things that will experience changes at the Planar Traveler Realm, and in that order too. Each entity will go through three 'Changes', making it a total of three changes each.

The first to third changes will be experienced by the body. The 4th to 6th changes are for the energy, and the 7th to 9th changes are for the soul. Upon completing these changes, a person's experience would be elevated to a completely different plane and be ready to go beyond the plane.

Of course, the resource consumption for planar travelers is steeper compared to that of superhumans. At minimum, they would need Demon Lord Souls for absorption.

This is something that Cedric can't handle just yet because he hasn't even touched one. But he could imagine just how much more potent the residual will was on them, and he assumed that he would need more tools to purify them.

'Or maybe I can think of an alternative instead; essence souls are malleable anyway. But I have to get my hands on a Demon Lord Soul first to get some perspective.'

The team's conversation flowed in as they spent time in relaxation. In the past, this would've been impossible since they had to be alert at all times, but because of the recent improvement on the base, they didn't have to worry as much, so they could afford to lower their guards just a bit.

Eventually, the watch cycle resumed, and it was Darwin's turn. He was fine with it since he's way too energetic to sleep or rest anyway, as was Floyd. It was truly a stark contrast compared to Elric's breakthrough because, in his turn, he was too exhausted and slept like a log for three days straight.

Cedric made a carpet for his tent and a few blankets from the silk he harvested from the silkworms. Of course, he wasn't alone in his tent; his girlfriends are with him, and if the boys outside saw them entering his tent, they wouldn't say a thing.

Just from the heated and longing looks the girls were giving him, he could already tell what they wanted, and who was he to deny them? It's been more than a month after all, and he won't lie, he missed it too.

That's why, as soon as Chrissy began stripping herself, Cedric immediately slapped runes on the tent, making it so that the noises inside wouldn't escape and their activities wouldn't be known by their teammates.

Erica felt embarrassed at first, but even she couldn't resist the temptation, not when Cedric was looking at her like that.

What followed were whimpers, screams, obsessive clapping sounds, sweat, lustful heat, musky scents, and fluids—lots of bodily fluids. Cedric wasn't shy about showing how much he missed his girlfriends, and they couldn't do anything other than take, take, and take everything he could give. And Cedric had given them a lot more than they were expecting.

So much so that they fainted from fullness while wearing blissful expressions as their bodies quivered in stimulation.

Sweaty from their vigorous activities, Cedric smiled fondly as he cleaned them and himself. He covered them with a blanket as they snuggled to sleep. Cedric eliminated all the musky smell inside and replaced it with a lavender scent they loved, which lulled them deeper into sleep.

As for himself, he sat down in meditation. Even with his numerous activities during the past couple of hours, Cedric was far from drained. He's even more energized after their activities.

Because of how much his body has improved, Cedric doesn't need much sleep anymore. At this point, he could go on for an entire month without needing a blink of sleep, and he could last a total of five days of nonstop fighting. That's how much endurance and energy his physique had, both thanks to the Sage's physique and astral energy.

But, of course, Cedric would reveal this easily to anyone. This was his trump card. After all, nobody's expecting a Tier 7 fellow like him to have this much energy. It's better to be underestimated here than overestimated.

Cedric meditated to calm down his thoughts, but he's still monitoring their surroundings. He wasn't doubtful of Darwin's capabilities, but two pairs of eyes are better than one. Besides, his range was much larger compared to Darwin's, and in a sense, this could be considered training too.

'...are there enough resources around to create defensive weapons for the base? ' Cedric thought to himself as he meditated.

He scanned his surroundings and saw that there were available resources around. The majority are corrupt, of course, but that's hardly an issue.

His musings were interrupted when, all of a sudden, Darwin started making his way towards Elric's tent with a strange expression on his face.

'Did something happen?' Cedric asked to himself as he left his tent, leaving the girls to sleep some more.