Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 493: Unwilling Spy

That Thalion had no patron caused quite different reactions. Cassandra burst out laughing. Most of the gods simply shrugged it off—they didn’t really care. But Solan… Solan was one step away from exploding.The fact that a human had come this far on his own was more than impressive. Nyssa had a skill that allowed her to determine whether someone was telling the truth, and it confirmed that Thalion wasn’t lying. Otherwise, Solan would never have believed him.

All the resources he had spent chasing rumors. All that worry—for nothing.

The only positive thought was that Thalion would become a very annoying problem for the other elven factions.

Cassandra, meanwhile, was visibly excited.

“Please, can you ask him what other forms he has—and what rarity they are? A wyvern of that strength at E-grade is already impressive.”

Unfortunately, Thalion kept his answer short. He only mentioned a sea serpent and an Eclipsari.

For Cassandra, that was disappointing. For Nyssa, however, it was a revelation. As a goddess partially aligned with darkness, she had encountered the Eclipsari many times and knew quite a bit about them.

“Impossible. Tell that whelp to shift into that form. I won’t believe he has an Eclipsari form unless I see it with my own eyes.”

Nyssa’s voice sounded more like a hiss than speech. Her mere presence caused the weak goddess before her to tremble violently.

The message, however, didn’t come across as intended.

Together, they watched as the Chosen swallowed hard and repeated Nyssa’s words. With her stammering voice, it lacked all menace.

Still, Thalion wasn’t in the mood to reveal more of his secrets. He simply replied that he would do so at a later time.

His plan to deal with the elven base, however, seemed solid.

“I have to admit, I’ve never been this interested in a new universe before,” Nyssa said, swallowing her irritation at being effectively denied by a mere human.

“Perhaps. For the future of our new empire, it will be necessary to have strong mortals. Dominating the other elven Chosen in system events will also be essential,” Solan added through clenched teeth. Then his expression darkened slightly. “Next, I will make it public that Thalion has officially joined our faction—and remind the others that one of the strongest mortals now stands with us.”

<--

After the connection broke, Thalion briefly considered flying straight to the elven base.

But that probably wasn’t the smartest move.

With the Chosen at his side, things would be much easier.

Pikar had already suggested taking over the base entirely. That way, they could use the incursions and the already established teleportation portal to integrated space. Cutting off the normal teleportation circle connected to the other elven Chosen should be simple enough. After that, nothing would stop them from turning the island into a full outpost.

When it came to plans, Thalion had to admit—Pikar hadn’t disappointed him once so far.

The man was likely already thinking about the rewards Solan and the others would provide. He had made it very clear what he wanted. The Chosen would probably receive a few new plants as well, though far weaker than the ones she had used in the fight.

There was only one real problem.

Time.

The next system event was approaching fast, and before it began, they needed full control over the elven base.

The good part was that no other Chosen had found them yet. The only connection to the outside world were the teleportation circles.

Thalion felt a bit bad that he couldn’t inform his friends before the system event—that he was forming his own faction and that they could leave Eric.

They would need strong defenses. If other Chosen found him—especially at D-grade—fighting them head-on would be nearly impossible. At least with his current level.

But with the builders from integrated space, strong fortifications should be possible. With multiple outposts, they could move between farming areas—or even travel directly through the teleportation network into integrated space.

All in all, the future was looking much brighter.

Not just for Thalion—but for the humans as a whole.

For the first time, he had powerful divine backing—without being forced into a blessing.

And more importantly…

He finally had something to work toward.

The plan itself was simple:

Take over the elven base.

Win the next system event.

Bring his allies over from Eric’s camp.

Follow the item to the teleportation formation.

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From there on…

He could focus entirely on growing stronger.

He only hoped the war was going well for his friends.

<--

The war was going terribly for Eric. His base was close to an elven stronghold, while Ethan faced the vampires and Ryan was up against an orc tribe. Without their fortified bases, they would have fallen long ago. Now, however, the first elves had reached D-grade—and that changed everything.

Not only the war, but also access to the teleportation portals. Eric could now visit his god’s faction to grow stronger. The problem was that the elves—and the other factions—were increasing the pressure, trying to prevent him from ever reaching D-grade or making contact with his patron.

Eric wasn’t the only one struggling.

Thalion’s friends were in trouble as well, each for different reasons. Sylas, for example, was still tasked by his patron to kill Evelyn—but so far, he hadn’t found an opportunity. Kargul and Vorlok were almost always nearby, making any attempt impossible.

Then there was Athilrion.

They had lost him during a particularly dangerous mission, where he had fallen behind and pretended to be a fallen elf. Luckily, information gathering was still unreliable at this stage, so no one knew that an elf was actually working with Eric. Because of that, he had been taken in by the elves—and was now acting as an unwilling spy.

Currently, Athilrion was moving through the elven base of the Chosen Liraeth, constantly fearing that someone would recognize him—especially Elaria, who knew exactly what he had done.

That made things even worse. Back on their home world, Athilrion had been an advisor to the king and queen. Many elves knew his face. The only reason he hadn’t been exposed yet was how much he had changed over the past months.

Still, if someone uncovered his true identity, it wouldn’t take longuntil Elaria found out. Then it would be over.

Athilrion currently bore five deep slashes across his chest, and poison still lingered in his body. The healers hadn’t been able to fully cleanse it yet. It would take time before he could fight at full strength—or, more importantly, leave the base.

The outer walls of the settlement were made from dark stone, rising over fifty meters high. Embedded within them were glowing blue pearls from the ocean, used to power the massive dome shielding the city.

This was also why every faction hunted for natural treasures like pearls and crystals—the portals to integrated space couldn’t transport such materials.

The humans were still behind in that regard—but not so weak that they could simply be wiped out.

The walls weren’t the only defense. Eight massive towers rose above them, each over eighty meters tall, with powerful cannons mounted on top. While the walls handled ground threats, the towers secured the skies.

Inside, the base was packed with shops and living quarters. The “living areas” were little more than barracks—places to sleep, nothing more. There were no restaurants, no bars… nothing like what Athilrion had grown to enjoy among the humans.

At first, he had thought them all fools.

That they would die quickly.

But that hadn’t happened.

And looking back… he had felt more alive in the past few months than in all his years back home.

He missed them.

The stupid giant turtle. The boy with stone skin. Josh, Jack, Kargul… the ridiculous competitions they used to have. At first, he had thought it idiotic—counting how many burpees one could do in thirty seconds. But once he joined in, it had actually been fun.

He even missed the evenings when he and Kargul would sneak into the kitchens with Vorlok and completely destroy the supplies while grilling everything they could find.

Before meeting humans, he had found their behavior crude—the way they greeted each other, their lack of formality. Now… the constant bowing of elves and their stiff manners only annoyed him.

It was hard not to show it.

Something he had once been very good at—hiding his thoughts while scheming.

But this Athilrion… was no longer the same elf.

And when it came to organization, the elves were even worse than humans. The communication crystals from integrated space had helped, but there were simply too many elves.

Once, there had been far more humans on Earth than elves on their home world.

Now… most of those humans were gone.

Compared to the human base, this place felt like an anthill—elves moving everywhere, constantly rushing around.

Athilrion had left the healers about twenty minutes ago and was now wandering through the base, trying to look busy enough to avoid being assigned work.

Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

A young female elf with long violet hair noticed him.

“You—with the broad shoulders. We need a fighter. Come with me. We’re short one for the front line.”

This was very unwelcome for an elf—but Athilrion wouldn’t give in so easily. He had learned to embrace chaos from the best.

“I’m terribly sorry, but my team needs me. Good luck with your mission.”

“I don’t care. You’re coming with us. If your team leaves, they’ll do so without you. The honored patron gods have ordered us to check on Ferniel’s Chosen and her base. It appears she may be a traitor to the elven race. Now follow me.”

Her voice was like steel, leaving no room for argument. Athilrion had no choice but to obey.

Traveling to the other base could actually work in his favor. It would get him away from Elaria—and once he returned, he could immediately make his way back to the human base. He trusted the others to watch out for him, and he still had his communication token.

The woman moved quickly through the crowd. Athilrion briefly considered slipping away, but that would only draw attention. If they started looking for him, it would become far too dangerous.

Soon, he met the rest of the group—all highly capable fighters, around level one hundred seventy. He had to admit, the elven elites were stronger than most humans. There were simply too many teams that could rival his human friends.

The leader didn’t bother introducing him and simply motioned for them to move. They soon arrived at the teleportation hub.

More than thirty teleportation circles were embedded in the ground, each activating with a brief flash of blue light. Groups constantly came and went. Athilrion quickly noticed that they weren’t the only ones assigned to this mission—over a hundred elves had gathered, all of them above average in strength.

“Listen carefully,” their leader said. “We will eliminate every elf on the other side and secure their resources. Once the base has been successfully taken, we return.”

No one asked questions. They simply nodded. Nearby, other team leaders were giving similar orders.

The teleportation circles began to power up, and everyone prepared to move. Athilrion’s wounds still hurt, but he was strong enough to handle something like this.

Then—

Instead of the usual blue portal forming, a loud crack echoed through the area. The circle flared once… and died.

“They must have deactivated their teleportation network,” their leader muttered.

It didn’t take long for the other groups to reach the same conclusion.

“How did they know about the ambush?”

“This makes no sense…”

Voices rose—irritated, confused, angry.

Athilrion stood quietly among them, unable to hide a faint sense of relief. At least for now, he wouldn’t have to fight.

Their leader, however, kept them in place.

A few minutes later, the elven Chosen arrived. Her face was pale with fury as she landed in front of their leader, who immediately dropped to one knee.

“I’m sorry that your patron’s plan failed, but the teleportation has been cut off,” she said.

“Try to reestablish the connection. It may be a malfunction. My patron insists that Ferniel should not have been capable of predicting this—she lacks the ability to make the correct decisions,” the Chosen replied coldly before shooting back into the sky.

Athilrion watched her go, his thoughts racing.

Something was happening.

And maybe—just maybe—this could become the humans’ chance to survive.

If the elves began turning on each other… everything could change.