Chapter 226: Against the Tide (1/2)

The group went silent as each of us contemplated the consequences loaded in Krog's words. Harvest, in particular, rang quite a few alarm bells. It sent shivers up my own spine even. It meant they looked at the gialgathens as a resource, and I understood good and well the impending dread that came with that.

When Torix and I first met, he mentioned how I could be used as a mana battery. Even now, my skin crawls at the prospect. Knowing what the gialgathens were up against, a fate even worse was waiting for them.

Still, I wasn't about to let myself get caught up in the moment. Before letting the situation get out of hand, I walked up to Krog,

”Now wait a minute...You're telling me they're harvesting you. How do you know that?”

Krog shook his head in disgust, ”The way they ensnared us...No one was killed. They were put at the brink of death yet left to live. That isn't the act of someone without the intent to use us whilst alive.”

I cupped my chin, falling deep into thought, ”Yeah, that makes sense. That means our priority should be getting you guys the hell off of Giess. That shouldn't be that difficult. I can get about ten of you out at a time. We can get of Giess before Elderfire is crushed by Lehesion.”

Krog showed his teeth, ”That, that's incredible. I'll trust you in this then.”

I glanced around, my hands on my hips, ”This should only take a few hours at most. Who wants to go first?”

Krog narrowed his eyes, ”Wait one moment. How do you intend to move all the gialgathens on Giess in only a matter of hours?”

I leaned back,”Wait a minute, all the gialgathens? There's a misunderstanding here.” I pointed around, ”I'll help those here. The strangers off in the attacked cities are on their own though. I'd like to help, but I have to look after my guild.”

Krog shook his head in disbelief, ”What do you mean strangers? They are our people, our kin. Are you so heartless as to abandon them?”

Yeah that stung a bit to hear. I crossed my arms, ”Heartless is a bit of a stretch. I'm still here to help out. I'm no saint though, so you got me there.”

”You...we believed you to be the champion of our people. You were to lead us when we needed help. Why do you admonish the responsibility now that it beckons to you?”

Yeah, it was a responsibility Krog was thrusting onto me. I tapped my chest with my hand, a metallic ring echoing,

”I'll help fight Lehesion since he killed members of my guild. I'll also get the gialgathens in Elderfire off of Giess. I'm doing quite a bit right there. Roaming the entirety of Giess and fighting enhanced Hybrids to save total strangers?”

I shook my own head in disbelief, ”You're asking a lot more of me than I can afford to give. Think about my situation. What if Lehesion attacks my own guild? Everything I've worked for and helped create will be destroyed if I'm not there. You can't expect me to drop all that to save you all. I wish I could, but I can't. It's just too risky...”

I winced a bit, realizing how cold I sounded,

”I'm sorry.”

Krog took a breath before glancing back to me, ”But surely our kind deserves a better fate than this one?”

I looked up at him, my gaze hardening ”Calling this fate is an excuse for the gialgathen's inaction.” I glanced around, ”None of you are helpless. You all waited until this situation spiraled out of control. That's not on me. That's on you. All of you.”

In my eyes, that was the hard truth. Yes, they needed help. That didn't mean they deserved it without even trying themselves. When Yawm came crashing down onto Earth, I wanted someone to save me too. No one did, so I saved myself. The gialgathens could do the same.

Despite how standoffish that sounded, I did want to help them. Doing all this for nothing though? They were taking advantage of my goodwill. Yeah, I wanted to help. I also wanted to help people back on Earth. I couldn't save everyone though.

As those thoughts raced through my mind, Chrona leaned her head back,

”Perhaps some sort of deal can be arranged then? We are not so ungrateful and needy that we would ask for such assistance without equivalent compensation.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I crossed my arms, ”Thank you. That makes this situation a lot easier for me. What kind of terms are you thinking of?”

Chrona and Krog glanced at each other, speaking out a telepathic conversation only they could hear. As they finished, they turned to me, and Krog spoke out,

”Chrona and I will serve without question over the next century, as will any gialgathens we save. Is that appropriate?”

My eyes widened as I scoffed, ”What the hell kind of deal is that? A Hundred years?”

Krog's composure showed a few cracks as he scrambled out a few words,

”Then...then make it three centuries of enslavement...And Chrona and I will serve till our deaths. Surely that is enough?”

I facepalmed, ”Good god, did you think I'd ask you to flay yourselves alive then parade around your skin? I was thinking more like, I don't know, a decade or two of service. Maybe more from you two.”

Chrona's eyes widened, ”That's all?”

I shrugged, ”Yeah, that's about it. We can grind out the details later, but it would probably involve taking out dungeons, defending Earth, and educating yourselves. That's about it. You'd be free to do whatever outside of that.”

Krog peered at Chrona before turning back to me and giving a vociferous nod, ”We accept your terms. We absolutely accept.”

I turned to Torix, ”Alright, we're helping the gialgathens. Any thoughts on how?”

”After my initial presumptions, the most efficient avenue of assistance involves going towards these warzones. Once there, we may assist the gialgathens held within them. It seems the most effective course of action.”

At this point, other gialgathens grouped around us. I glanced around, ”Yeah. That sounds solid...Hmm.”

The gialgathens drooped their heads, much of their pride shattered. It was an understandable reaction. They're god turned on them, twisted into a war machine. They lost their stronghold to that warped creature, and now they were getting harvested by an unknown force.

Yeah, they needed a pep talk to shift morale. That would come after we got our own counter-attack organized. I rolled my shoulders, ”It's time to get this operation started.”

Torix cackled, ”Excellent. What would you recommend?”

I began cracking my fingers one at a time, ”Alright, we'll round up the gialgathens here. I'll be using a blue dungeon core to make this place safe while we're away. That should give us the time we need to get back if this place is attacked.”

Torix nodded, jotting down some notes, ”That's quite the resource to spend on securing a base of operations. Are you certain it's worth the investment?”

I waved a hand, ”I have three blue cores at this point. I'll need to use them eventually, and having a safe zone like this is just too useful. It makes the logistics involved with this kind of plan infinitely simpler.”