The Golden Throne

"Wait a minute! You talked about different continents like the continent that the demons are from. So does that mean that mana of Dicain will be lost if a human who had absorbed a lot of mana from here dies in another continent or something? Will it be beneficial to that particular continent?", Liu Feng asked curiously. These were thoughts that had been lying around his head ever since he found about the existence of multiple continents. Especially after the appearance of demons, he looked through books to look at this particular matter. After hearing that the continent's mana had decreased, the thought had resurfaced.

"Yes, you catch on early. That is true with most continents. You are wrong about one thing though. When a mage from Dicain dies in another continent, Dicain loses mana, yes, but the other continent cannot exactly consume the mana of the person who died. A portion of it can return back to the continent source. But the problem with the continent of the demons is that the mana there is very polluted. If residents of Dicain die there, the continent will get more mana that will get polluted slowly, but when the demons die here, the mana is too polluted for us to use. It takes a few years for the polluted mana to slowly become clear. That is why the ancient battlefield between the two continents is like a dead zone for anyone who has a contract with us. Even now, there are traces of pollution, and just staying there for an extended time will corrupt your mind, and eat away at your mana.", Primitus sighed as he said this. It was truly a tragic matter, that the demons had such an advantage.

"Then does that mean that demons are at an inherent advantage right from the get go? We should have an easier time defending, right?"

"Well, life is not fair. Defending against the demons is not that easy. They do not have a concept of attributes. They just use whatever mana is in the air, and they can corrupt it very easily. It is their inherent skill. They can use this corrupted mana as easy as they can use their limbs. At least be happy that the demon king does not leave the demon continent. Demons conquer multiple different continents. The demon king holds the fort of the demon continent."

"The demon king? Who is he?", Liu Feng asked curiously. To hear about such a threat was indeed, very troubling.

"The demon king? He is a terrible existence that should not be alive in this world. The demon continent is very different from ours, and we know very little about it. But, the Lord of Spirits has told us one thing, and that one thing for sure is that the demon king is a person with the ability to destroy worlds. If he moves from the demon continent, even fighting against him is futile.", Primitus said with a very serious tone.

"If he is that powerful, and is the king of the demons, then why can't he just conquer the continents himself? No one can go against him, right?", Liu Feng asked. It was very curious that someone like the demon king would be staying in the demon continent like that.

"Well, according to what I know, and a few stories I heard in the mortal realm, back in the day, the demon king is a spirit like us. He is a spirit of his own continent. He cannot just leave the continent like that. If he does, the continent's mana system would collapse immediately. Did you think that we as spirits were just figure heads? We are responsible for ensuring that the mana in the continent would stay in the continent."

"Interesting. So you think that the demon king is constrained by the continent itself? Why does he want to conquer the other continents then? It makes no sense to me. Someone like that will not benefit from it.", Liu Feng asked.

"Conquer other continents? I would totally understand that. Conquering a continent is not as easy as you think it is. One must have to be the lord of the contine-"

"STOP! Primitus you have spoken too much.", Liu Feng could hear Zeus' voice thundering in his ears.

"My Lord? Forgive me, I did not know that I was supposed to withhold this information.", Primitus said meekly.

"This is not the time for you to know anything else, boy. Leave, Primitus. I shall speak to the human myself.", Zeus spoke, apparently to Primitus.

"Yes, My Lord.", Primitus replied, and his voice just disappeared.

"Human, you interest me. You have taken a small conversation so far as to get him to speak about such sensitive subjects. You better focus on the problem at hand. There is a horde of demons right outside, yet you are chatting leisurely. Do you really think that your toys will help against the more powerful demons? Focus on the task on hand, boy.", Zeus warned him, as if reprimanding a small boy. 

"I have only one question! Can we go to other continents? Will I lose all my current powers?", Liu Feng interjected.

"That is what is expected, yes. We usually do not know, because our powers do not reach there. When a contracted mortal goes to a different continent, then they lose all contact with the spirits.", Zeus said, and his voice just disappeared from Liu Feng's head.

Liu Feng was processing all this information slowly, and he sat down in a slump, when the phoenix called him out. 

"Are you done with your preparation? The demons are showing signs of movement, and it looks like there are is someone in the army that even I will have difficulty fighting.", the phoenix reminded Liu Feng.

Liu Feng nodded, and he went to the center of the formation that he had put up. He sat down, and started circulating mana through the formation. But nothing happened.

"So this is what you have done? Ah, it compares so well to your promises.", the phoenix said sarcastically.

"The formation will start when the demons enter the formation. It will attack them with great power. To power this, I even used a magic crystal instead of a normal stone."

"Well, do whatever you want to do. I just spared you because I felt generous. I despise these creatures, and I am just fighting them instead of taking care of small fry like you."

Liu Feng looked at the ground with his teeth clenched. But he looked forward again with a renewed glow. He wanted to get stronger, to the point where he could actually fight alongside the phoenix, instead of cowering behind it.

The sky above started darkening at a visible rate. Liu Feng could feel that the mana in the air was depleting. He looked at the side of the demons. He could feel the mana was moving towards them for some reason. The mana went to the horizon, as if it was being sucked into a black hole. Out came something else. Out came the black mist that he so despised inherently.

"No wonder the demons are so difficult to defeat. I knew that I was not fighting to my fullest power. The mana is gravitating towards them, and they are corrupting the mana so that I won't be able to use it. Oh god, how troublesome.", Liu Feng realized the true reason why the demon situation was more serious than he thought it was.

Liu Feng saw demons till the horizon, and it seemed like more were coming. His face changed. Although he saw the encampment below the cliff, there weren't this many demons there. It seemed like he had underestimated the number of demons that would be coming. He got ready, and the phoenix, which was resting on the ground, also flapped its wings to fly to the sky.

The demons ignored the phoenix , as if they did not even see it. They did not make any attempt to attack the phoenix and kept moving forward, as if they were coming for Liu Feng.

"I was the target? You have to be kidding me. I thought that they were outside for the phoenix. I came here just today. Why are they coming at me?", he thought to himself, cursing his bad luck. But, he accounted for this as well.

The demons were standing in an array, like an actual army. They clearly had a hierarchy, and they had sentience. They took a few more steps. inching closer to Liu Feng by the second.

"No you don't", Liu Feng shouted and he activated the formation at once. A huge hand of fire formed and it started cleaning out the demons. Most of the demons were just as powerful as second and third order mages, and it was easy for Liu Feng to handle them. But, he found difficulty killing any demon who was more powerful than that.