While most of the population of Skyview nurses a hangover the following day, having heard the good news that their slave-trading neighbor is no more, Cain says a short goodbye to Misha. He intends to take today and tomorrow off with Laura and Vala to inspect the Ancient city of Petros, waiting for them in the mountains to the east.
The Echoes have been told to take turns doing whatever dungeons they like, with one guarding Misha and the Manor at all times, in case of retaliation for the events in Niman Territory, so he is free to explore for a little while.
Even at their incredible maximum speed, racing above the clouds, this wasn't going to be a short flight, so Cain called out the Dark Phoenix to get them to their destination today. The travel through the void is much more efficient, bringing them to the city disguised as a mountain a few hours before sunset.
The city looks the same as before, abandoned but perfectly preserved. The door in the outer wall must have closed when he left, though. It is shut tight against intruders, so there is a good chance nobody has been here at all unless they found a way through the barrier further up the cliff face.
"Remind me again why we are here?" Laura asks, looking around the empty city.
"Because I should still be the Mayor here, even if the city is empty. I want to make sure everything is set up and then question the ley line enhancement device below the city. I don't know exactly what it does, but there is a possibility it will greatly increase the power level of this world." Cain patiently explains.
"In that case, let's get going. There aren't any challenges left now that I made Mythic anyhow." Laura cheers.
"Just wait. I saw the system mention allowing us to access Awakened areas now, and we should be among the weakest things there." Vala consoles her but that only gets the competitive Opal Dragon more excited.
[Welcome Back, Mayor. Petros has welcomed three visitors since your last update.] The floating text greets Cain when he sits down next to the city control coffee table.
That's three more than he expected, but the link to the Demon King's Palace is still open, so it was likely them.
Cain checks the log to see who has been here, just in case it was someone unexpected.
[Visitors identified as Aggron, Aggramor, and Manila.]
Two Demon Kings and the Gnome Princess, as expected.
"Hey, who is this inside the bubble thing in the back room?" Laura calls, exploring the house.
"A person? There might be an inactive Puppet here; nobody has lived here in a thousand years or more." Cain calls back but shifts into Ancient form and makes his way through the house.
In the back is a room that Cain hadn't noticed as being anything special before, labeled first aid supplies. The door has been splintered by whoever broke in, but an impenetrable purple barrier still fills the hole. Inside, on the smaller table, meant to be used by human-sized operators, lays an an Ancient, frail and gnarled Gnomish woman.
The room keeps her in stasis on the table, and Cain wonders how much energy the Demon Kings had to expend to get through the barrier.
Cain checks with his System, seeing that it is indeed Manila and that she never had a system. Her age is listed at 198 when placed into stasis, which is a long time for a gnome, as far as Cain knows.
A tap of the table shows that the emergency function was auto-activated to save her life, and it is waiting on input. The diagnostic scan said she had a very severe case of cancer that had spread through her whole body and had suffered a heart attack at the time of stasis.
[Revert to saved form] Cain selects, as he had met Manila once before.
It returns her to a gnome's body in the prime of her teens, healthy and vital, and Cain smiles.
If he is right, this is Aggramor's mother or possibly grandmother, since Cain heard almost a whole generation of the Demon Royal Family was lost during the war, but he isn't sure if former King Aggron still lives.
Cain checks the [Census] that Aggramor gave him to help with his Demon forms count and sees the name on the list as a Demon Patriarch.
"New plan, we are going to visit Aggramor first. Be very careful not to wake the gnome; I want this to be a surprise." Cain whispers, bringing her out of the room.
The travel circle is in the building in the yard, and Vala smirks when she notices the layout.
"Do you think they ever noticed that the link to their palace is in the doghouse?" She chuckles.
"Probably not. But look at this, I can lift the lid to get at anyone inside; how convenient is that for someone with Tentacles?"
Cain lifts the roof to show what he means, then settles it back into place and transforms into the smaller version of his Ancient form.
When he passed through the travel gate this time, he didn't even have to wait for someone to notice them. There are guards stationed right there in case someone enters.
Cain mitigates his aura to level 1 but doesn't entirely turn it off, knowing that Aggron will still remember it if he is nearby.
"Ancient Cain and company here to see Patriarch Aggron. Please inform him that I have brought him a most precious gift." Cain says softly, and Vala hushes the Guard's reply, pointing at the sleeping gnome.
"We will inform him, but the Elder Patriarch rarely accepts guests." A guard confirms before leaving the room.
They wait nearly fifteen minutes before an old and crippled Demon comes into the room with the aid of a walker.
"Fearless Young Demon, you look terrible. What happened to you while I was gone?" Cain teases, and the older man's eyes light up.
"You locked the damned medicine cabinet when you left, and it nearly killed me trying to get it open." Aggron complains, then smiles
"I never thought I would see you again."
"My apologies; a few things came up. I was going to begin by giving you a gift today, but I think I will need to patch you up first. You don't mind, right?" Cain didn't wait for an answer but began reverting Aggron to how he looked the day they met. Only this time, he is a level 341 Corpse Master, an advanced form of the necromancer.
"There, that's much better. You are going to love the present I brought you." Cain smiles as Aggron looks himself over in shock.
