Chapter 800: Miseryth
Knights and mages of the Magus World had always subtly oppressed the aquatic races.
This likely stemmed from the inherent distrust land creatures harbored for those of the sea.
The sea races were members of the Magus World and had even joined the Magus Alliance, enjoying near-equal rights with humans under the alliance’s regulations.
But was this equality genuine?
Avril, the Mermaid Queen and a powerful force in the Magus World, had long strived to elevate the status and power of the mermaids and other sea races within the Magus Civilization.
In certain respects, Avril succeeded.
Through her efforts, the sea races were accepted into the Magus Alliance, securing a seat among the powerful vested interest groups at its upper echelons.
However, from another perspective, she had not fully succeeded—the sea races’ had never been fully accepted by the humans on the land.
The reason could be traced back to the history of the Magus Civilization in the primordial era when a war for dominion between land and sea raged.
In that conflict, the sea races lost, and the victors of the Magus World had shown little inclination toward leniency for the defeated.
Yet, in the new era, times changed, and with them, attitudes must adapt.
Even planes dependent on the Magus Civilization could now count on the Magus Alliance for support.
There was no reason for the sea races, as native counterparts within the Magus World, to remain marginalized.
Over the past hundred millennia, the sea races had indeed thrived.
They had witnessed the birth of powerful overlords, population growth, and the accumulation of vast riches.
It was no exaggeration to say that even a large-sized plane within the Astral Realm might not be able to match the wealth of Magus World’s sea races.
The Magus World was a top-tier plane with oceans covering more than half of its expanse.
Therefore, even though the development of the sea races had been somewhat restricted in recent years, they remained formidable.
Nevertheless, Avril, the current leader of the sea races, was not content with the status quo.
She was willing to explore every possible avenue to expand the influence of the sea races.
Her alliances with influential figures like White Stella and her family provided the leverage needed for the sea races to assert themselves further.
Of the millions of aquatic forces White Stella had brought with her, nearly thirty percent were from the “Royal Sea Guard”, a unit under the direct command of the royal mermaids.
Other than that, the remaining elite troops came from various renowned sea races among the higher echelons of the Magus World oceans.
White Stella’s arrival could be perceived as the second and third waves of Magus World’s combat legions.
With so many forces converging in the Wild Gorilla World to claim their share of war spoils, the profits from this medium-sized plane were no longer as lucrative as they had been in previous campaigns.
Although the Wild Gorilla World controlled over a hundred planes, the spoils had to be divided among numerous tower masters and grand masters.
This reality significantly lowered the per capita share.
The reduced earnings prompted Rank Six powerhouses, led by Feylis, to fully open the connecting channel between Wild Gorilla World and Verdant Wilderness World.
This would undoubtedly lead to even smaller individual profits in this interplanar war.
However, Feylis and the others saw this as an opportunity to gain immense political favor.
As the primary initiators of this war, while the profits of others might be significantly reduced, Feylis and the others would likely still enjoy substantial gains, even after any reductions.
The Magus World powerhouses already involved in the division of Wild Gorilla World’s riches were vexed by the growing number of new participants.
Yet, countless other powerhouses, desperate to join the fray, continued to push their way into this world.
This was all the Wild Gorilla World’s fault!
Why did it appear on Magus World’s radar at this moment?
Why was it only a medium-sized plane?
If it had been a large-sized plane, perhaps there wouldn’t be so many complications!
***
The current phase of the war had concluded by the time White Stella arrived with her legion.
The influx of millions of sea creatures compensated for the earlier losses of over two million magic beasts, surpassing them in strength.
Lorianne had informed Sein that she had given her approval for Hephaes, the centaur god, to lead an army of centaurs into the war.
Sein promptly conveyed this positive news to the Maya Tribe, who expressed their deep gratitude upon receiving the message.
As far as Sein was aware, not only would Hephaes participate, but so would the Order of the Steel Fist and the Order of the Thunder Knights.
It seemed Wild Gorilla World was on the brink of being transformed into a vast battleground.
As the sea forces arrived, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring pushed deeper into Wild Gorilla World, coordinating with other war zones in their combined offensive.
This time, their target was a city known as “Miseryth”.
Not all Wild Gorillas were simple, uncultured creatures living in mountain highlands and valleys, crammed into short stone huts.
As a medium-sized plane, Wild Gorilla World also boasted large cities and towering structures, including megacities with populations numbering in the millions or even tens of millions.
Miseryth was one of them.
It was named after a late female Gorilla God, a rarity in the male-dominated, strength-obsessed society of Wild Gorilla World.
The emergence of a female Gorilla God was a momentous event, and each one left an indelible mark on history.
Of the more than seventy Gorilla Gods in the current Wild Gorilla World, including those that had perished, only three were female.
Two of them were known to be involved with the most powerful Gorilla God, the Wild Gorilla God itself.
The third was rumored to be the exclusive partner of the White Banisher Gorilla God.
In Wild Gorilla World, it was common for females to align themselves with more powerful males.
Miseryth City, home to five million inhabitants and surrounded by vast lands supporting tens of millions more, was a critical megacity that Wild Gorilla World could not afford to abandon.
This city was currently defended by two Gorilla Gods—the maximum force the Wild Gorilla World could allocate at this time.
The need to defend against the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring while monitoring the movements of the Magus World Army in other war zones was stretching their resources thin.
The metal robot had correctly pointed out to the Wild Gorilla God that its best course of action would have been to abandon its home plane and use the entire star domain as its battleground to wear down the Magus World Army.
But by now, it was too late for such regrets.
BOOM!
The blue-violet space fortress’ main cannon heralded the first wave of the Magus Civilization Army’s assault on Miseryth City.