Book 9. Chapter 19: Sanctuary
Jake stood in the State of the Sage, his Heroic Beast minions fighting alongside Fhesiah, Tanda, and the rest of their allies. Various types of demonic Rift monsters had gathered. There were demonic wyverns, heavily armored demons, robed casters, and some form of hellhounds coming from the different Rifts.
Six Rifts had formed near each other in a hexagon, or perhaps six-pointed star, something Jake hadn’t seen precisely before, with the landscape largely empty of them.
This was, likely, one of the last clusters of Rifts the enemy might form. Jake had learned that the enemy often made a large grouping of Rifts like this when they were trying to make a last-ditch effort to form a more advanced challenge, such as a Greater Rift.
But it didn’t matter. If they cleared them fast enough, their enemy wouldn’t even get the chance. Part of him would want to let it establish so that they could farm it for loot and experience, but he understood the truth of the matter.
By leaving Rifts open long enough, Tartarus would get its own version of Conquest Points, even if it never slew a native. And it would use those to spawn more nonsense elsewhere.
Perhaps not even on this world. It was irresponsible to leave them alone for long.
Tanda fired her bow as the Highlands jungle appeared around her, her summoned spriggans casting spells and disorienting the incoming horde of armored demons. The Sons of Rome, Warrior Brotherhood, the natives, and Love and Justice worked beside them, fighting through the large number of planar demons, a type that Jake hadn’t run into too often.
The demons were much larger and stronger than mere orcs or beasts. The earth cracked with every step from the monster’s mass. The giant infernal demon in heavy plate crashed into Longwei’s Valor-covered form, its four arms with blades slashing at him.
But the deadly weapons just scraped off uselessly, unable to penetrate the armor even without his Valor cladding. With a laugh, Longwei punched the demon powerfully, denting its armor and sending it stumbling back. His Tiger’s Fury had built up, and his body was being enhanced by covenant-enhanced armor, the fiery-red energy pulsing through him.