V12: Chapter 5

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Interlude: Riegert

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My eyes opened beneath blazing Citadel lights, and the blissful dream faded away from memory.

Still, I had to wipe tears from my eyes as I sat up.

A singular glance around the room validated my suspicions.

"Welcome back." Jack sat in his white uniform with a long coat over his shoulders and stood to greet me. I gave him a nod while Iterants came forward to offer me robes. "You were gone for two months. The rest of your expedition will be arriving here in a few days. I had them take leave after returning."

I found my memories clear as I donned the robes. It felt too rough, despite being spun by the Citadel. The floor felt unbalanced. Even the air did not feel correct.

But the feeling of wrongness was fading.

The bliss of paradise was frightening indeed, but the thought of dying and reaching the capital ahead of my own troops?

That was a sobering thought.

"The Guardians were able to retrieve their Divine Engine, then?" I steadied myself and accepted a glass of water. It was almost too bitter to drink. My tongue was somehow used to something far more filling and sweeter. I forced myself to drink, and it became what I once knew. Shaking my head, I did my best to dispel the sensations of paradise. How was I to react to pain and toil if I could not bear with the mundane? "It is with them now?"

"She is, and they found something else, too. You saved two expeditions. Not one." Jack reached out with a gloved hand, and an Iterant produced papers from him. Looking at them, I almost expect my mind to be filled with knowledge. Sheepishly, I accepted the papers and deigned to read them instead of simply willing their information to fill my mind. "An ancient crystalline substance that turns waste and common metal into more of itself, which can be altered by simple alchemical processes for fantastical materials. It should be enough to ensure that they have some advantage against the Ascendant and the Sahuagin."

I raised an eyebrow at his words while considering the information.

"I don't suppose that they shared that thanks to my demise?"

"They did not." Jack gave a snort before gesturing at me. A pair of sandals was given to me. After a few steps following him, the sense of wrongness faded away. Every step that I took in reality made paradise feel farther and farther away. By the time we exited the room, nothing felt wrong anymore. The Ancients were wise to have such memories and sensations fade away swiftly. "They're hanging on to that advantage for dear life. Thankfully, they're holding up their end of the bargain. The Forgers have been pushed back to their Citadel already. Guardians are flooding their capital's streets."

"Two Citadels against one… the Wardens haven't moved to assist them? If only to prolong their own hold over their Citadel." I questioned, and we reached a familiar medical room. I moved before a medical pod, and its light washed over me. It showed that I was whole and hale. When Jack shook his head, I felt a frown on my face. Worry for Ilych filled me. My daughter should have come to mind right away, but she hadn't. The succor and pleasure provided by paradise were far too great. "We're holding their forces and Guardians with our old forces? How many have we lost?"

"Not many. They throw themselves at entrenched forces and battle lines within our territory. Their Guardians are outmatched in quality and quantity by our own. They can resurrect all they want, but our forces tear their own apart."

"Then, why put our people in harm's way?" I asked and felt the familiar sensation of lethal gazes on my person. The Iterants. I almost forgot their absolute loyalty to him. Questioning Jack, even after dying for him, labelled me as a threat. They did not change. "Why not have the Wardens die for us? As much as they can, anyway."

Jack's answer wiped away any vestige of paradise that remained in my mind.

"I fear that if we wait too long, the waves of fanatics we face will be filled with children if we do not act now." He told me simply, and I grimaced at the words. It felt almost foolish to ask such a question. Spending even such a little time in paradise led me to forget the horrors of reality. Now, it all loomed over me, and I needed to summon courage to confront it all. Thankfully, old habits easily resurfaced. "Do you need time to rest before you return to service?"

Of course, Jack noticed my discomfort immediately.

"No, I need to train and fight. Regain my bearings and find my footing." I looked at my palm, covered in calluses, and closed it into a fist. Power flowed through me easily and loosely. A measured breath filled my lungs to their maximum. Not a single ache nor an ounce of pain, as though I was fresh from being rejuvenated. In my current state, I wouldn't be able to defeat my killer. "What deal did you make with Khalai to secure his aid?"

He told me, and I grunted.

"He is much too charismatic. You send onto him skilled and educated physicians who will fall to his wiles. We should consider killing him." I told Jack bluntly, and he agreed with a nod. The thought of allowing Khalai any measure of leverage upon our lands unnerved me. His faithful died hundreds of times, experiencing paradise each time, and returned to battle mere moments after dying. The fanaticism that ran through them was without question. "If they enhance themselves, if they get their hands on Scarlet Mist, and decide to use clandestine stratagems, the suffering they can inflict will be immense."

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"I'll have Khanrow's people, Iterants, and more keeping an eye on them. With the strength of our coming foes, I simply cannot ignore the need for his talents." Were he a lesser man, he would have leveraged the possibility of Ilych dying to silence my concerns. Instead, he stood tall and spoke through his own convictions and beliefs. He was ensuring that Khalai could not do as I feared and conveyed that resurrection was a necessity. "Rest assured, I will not be using this miracle save for Champions. I will limit his influence as much as I can. My hope is that he will not be needed again."

I bowed towards him and dismissed my concerns.

"Then, I leave that in your hands, your majesty. Now, I need to work on regaining my strength before my next mission." A fight against several Conquerors would do the trick. Barring that, then I would need a few Iterants after me. The best choice would be to fight against another Champion. Ilych came to mind, but she was undoubtedly facing the Wardens' Remnants now. "I will be ready to fight once again soon, my king. Rest assured of that."

Jack gave a nod at my words before departing.

The child I once met was gone.

Completely subsumed by his role as a leader.

It was good that the Ancients opened paradise to all peoples, not just their foes.

For what I've done to Jack and countless others, I surely would not have been permitted into Paradise if they had not.

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Interlude: Celia

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The weight of the sigil on my hand felt like a leaden glove. It was a simple sigil. A sword and an axe crossed over a straight spear.

With it on the back of my hand, I could command the Divine Engine of War to do as I willed.

An ancient, powerful individual who could reshape entire regions within a day was now mine to command.

It should have brought me confidence, yet it only drew my mind to the gloves that Jack wore.

"Your two sisters are with the King of Wisdom. He commanded the warrior that allowed you to reach me." Catherine relayed what had happened to me upon her arrival. She came with weapons forged from a new material that my elite forces were ecstatic to use. Swords that did not dull and could cut through steel. Shields that stopped projectiles but did not shake the user. Our gambit had paid off. We found a Divine Engine and an Ancient Wonder with our nigh-simultaneous expedition. "Do you believe that you can fight against them?"

"Death and life? Sure, I can fight against them. Win? It would take a miracle. Then again, that's what I'm meant to do." A self-assured grin spread across the woman's face. She was as tall as a Conqueror but had the form of a Descendant. Deeply tanned skin and blazing red hair were held in a braid. The pelt of a massive tiger was draped over her shoulder; its snarling visage was a pauldron for her right shoulder, while her left had a clawed paw. She wore bands of woven metal across her chest and a loincloth with leather sandals. She was a better fit for Conquerors than us… or so she seemed at first glance. "Hm. The barbarian guise doesn't occlude your gaze, I see."

"I've been fooled by more cunning foes than you. Each time I try to improve." I told her simply and took a seat behind my desk. The faint roar of artillery resounded in the distance. We blitzed through the lands of the Forgers, their many outposts deprived of militia and drafted troops thanks to Jack's efforts, and so we now put their capital under siege. I was receiving reports from people he had within their lands of their efforts to stop them from sabotaging the Citadel and causing it to fall as the Scholars once tried. Thankfully, when strengthened so much by joining with other Citadels, they were almost impossible to fell. "I intend to use you as a line breaker. You will shatter their defensive line and allow my troops to take the capital of the Forgers and the Citadel. Can you do that?"

A calculating gaze replaced the feral smile that had been aimed my way.

"I can do that, but I can't hold ground. I need more strength, more faith, and more adherents. Death has a whole continent of believers. Life is glutted by the efforts of the King of Wisdom. Me? I am avoided and feared." I listened and planned in accordance with her own words. How did he control them? Why did he not use them? Life was said to be held in a cathedral in the heart of his regions. Death was being used against the incoming threats. If he used both at once against us, then this continent would be his. "Hm.I see that you have the same question as I do. If the King of Wisdom has my two sisters, why did he not use them against you when I am so strong?"

I knew that she pretended to be some crude barbarian, but her discerning of my thoughts gave me pause.

She laughed as I evaluated my chances of defeating her if the sigil did not work.

"I believe that I know the answer. After seeing your forces, after seeing your will, he knew that you would fight to the bitter end and cripple this continent's chances at victory." Like a bullet piercing through armor, she spoke, and I found the unfortunate truth forced into reality for me to acknowledge. They were his own words, but repeated through a Divine Engine of War that never met him. A being built by the Ancients for conflict clearly understood his intentions. "But you knew that already. You would've fought until nothing was left, until the continent was just prey for the rest of the world."

Her eyes were predatory, and her smile was more like bared fangs.

"I like that. That defiance against all odds. That desire to win no matter the cost. You're allies now, but if you survive, if you fight well, you can take everything for yourself." She nodded, and I wondered if she was speaking to me or to herself. "Empower me, my lady. Throw me into battle. Use me against these Forgers, against the Wardens, and against the rest of the world barreling down upon us. When the dust clears, I will fight for you against the King of Wisdom, against all that he can muster, and settle the matter."

I looked at her and knew it was my turn to speak.

"Because you crave strength yourself. If you are under his control, your leash will be too tight. He's not desperate enough for you. You will be kept under his control." A look of surprise crossed her face, and the rictus snarl of fangs turned into a gentle and sublime smile. I felt comforted by it. More than the sigil on my hand, the knowledge that she chose me because I needed her and she needed me gave me the confidence to make use of her. "Very well, then. Divine Engine of War. I shall give you the freedom that you desire. Go forth, lay waste to the Forgers, and seize their Citadel for me. Run rampant, gain strength, and when the end comes… fight with me against the man who would become ruler of the entire world."

Her answer was to stand and bring the palm of her hand to her maw, and with her teeth she drew blood from her palm.

I took a knife and did the same, then met her hand with my own.

Perhaps, now, there was a chance that this world would return to what the Ancients meant for it to be once the dust settled.

A world ruled by its people and not by an immortal emperor.

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