Chapter 259: Coming to Terms (1/2)

I turned to Torix, and the necromancer's eyes burned a brilliant, white flame. He, too, stayed silent, unable to process what he just heard. The Emperor kept firm,

”I understand the absurdity of the request. To offer a commission to your guild one day, then ask for its assistance the next...Shameful. Despite my pride, my Empire requires immediate aid.”

He turned a palm to me, ”Your guild can give it, having faced and conquered this foe on several occasions. That would be invaluable to our people.”

His eyes narrowed to slits, ”Whether they believe they need it or not.”

Wondering what that meant, I held up my palms, ”Give me one moment to think.”

I tapped my chin with a fist, giving it some thought. It wasn't that surprising that the Adair's chose to attack the Empire. The Emperor and Helios mentioned rebellions for months now, and the Adair's grip extended across several planets. One of those planets being in the Empire's worlds wasn't much of a stretch.

I shook my head,

”Dammit. Did they use the rebellions on your planets to do it?”

The Emperor tilted his head, ”They did, in fact. How did you know?”

I shrugged, ”It makes sense that they would join forces. The enemy of an enemy is a friend.”

The Emperor's face stayed solemn, ”That's a good phrase. I shall steal it for my own use later. Useful idiom's aside, I can offer much in exchange for allying with us. You know their tactics, and your skills are necessary to cleanse our populace.”

He weighed his hands back and forth, ”I understand if it will require coaxing. I am willing to relent our resources as necessary-”

I waved a hand in front of me, ”Don't worry about it. Like I said, and enemy of an enemy is a friend. That phrase works for them, but it also works for us. We'll send you some files on how they fight, how the Hybrids work, and how to combat them.”

Grizzled and skeptical, the Emperor furrowed his brow, ”Hmmm...Perhaps you may enlighten me as to why you would offer the Empire such kindness?”

I scoffed, ”You guys took a risk associating with us. I'm no genius, but even I know that. Consider this repaying the favor.”

The Emperor stared with piercing eyes, the kind searching for the motivation behind what I said. It was a strange feeling, and Torix eyed me with a bit of skepticism as well. Even without talking, I could tell that the lich disagreed with allying so quickly. At the same time, he would never disagree with me in front of someone like the Emperor.

Even if we disagreed, Torix respected me enough not to do that.

Obolis crossed his arms, his gray armor thudding with a dull ring,

”Hmmm, that's rather...altruistic of you. Surely you understand I'm skeptical of your goodwill? It's difficult to find, more so than relics and treasure. Of that, I'm certain.”

I raised a hand, ”Come on, let's not overthink this. I'm here to help. That's a good thing.”

I frowned, ”We don't have time to argue about something simple either. People are dying. Let's get to it.”

The Emperor nodded,

”Fair points. Perhaps not knowing the origin of your helpfulness is good - it too is a puzzle I wish to find the answer to.”

He sounded much more like the Emperor I knew, his panic fading. Even he could react with emotion when the stakes were high enough. The white-furred albony nodded,

”I'll take your earlier advice and accept the alliance. We need your help in several of our major cities immediately. It is as you say; the Adairs have used the rebellions on several of our worlds to attack us. They've joined with the locals, somehow armed them with Hybrids, and they are attacking the ruling classes of each city.”

Obolis raised a fist, ”Help us, and I promise you, the Empire will be indebted to the Harbinger's Legion. As its ruler, I guarantee you this - the Empire pays its debts in full.”

I nodded, ”Alright. We'll need to finish our sieges on Giess, but after that-”

Obolis's eyes widened, ”What? You want to save the ruined cities that remain on Giess?”

I raised an eyebrow, ”Uh, yeah. That been our plan over the last few months.”

The Emperor paused, changing his tone, ”I...excuse my interruption. It's just...I watched your last battle, and it was tremendous in its own right. However, you did not save more than a few dozen gialgathens, many already heavily Hybridized.”

He lifted his hands, trying to keep himself calm, ”Our cities house billions of civilians. We may save far more lives by tackling the assaults on our worlds than those on that dying planet. It's not that I question your virtue. It's that I question which would lead to the greater good.”

He squeezed a hand into a fist, ”To me, that answer seems obvious.”

I grimaced. The Emperor's argument was sound, and I had to agree. Despite wanting to help the guy out, my guild promised Krog and Chrona that we would support the gialgathens as much as we could. I needed time to train skills for my Sovereign class too, and we were already stretched thin as it was. Fighting a war on two fronts was out of the question, given our resources. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

At the same time, if I was actually trying to help people, then the Emperor's offer was superior. He had more resources, more people to help, and we could stop the Hybrids from ever getting a firm grip on the Empire. That alone hurt the Adair's goals more than saving three ruined cities on Giess.

I wrestled with the idea for a moment, and the Emperor viewed my struggle. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Calmed down, Obolis announced,

”You've promised those there that you would help them first, and now you're struggling with a difficult choice. I understand. It is no easy thing to choose one life over the other, and these decisions take time. Speak with your confidants, and after coming to an accord, inform me what you will do.”

Obolis lifted a loose fist, ”I will appreciate your decision regardless of what you decide. Your help is invaluable, and we appreciate it. Goodbye.”

I winced,

”Thanks for understanding.”

We closed the call before I turned to Torix. The lich shook his head,

”I would normally never question your judgment, but I would enjoy an explanation in this instance. We could've gained a plethora of resources for a modicum of effort. All his knowledge, the credits, even the elemental furnaces, all of that would've been ours. You just...threw that opportunity away.”

”For now, yeah.”

Torix shook his head, ”Why did you do that?”

I shrugged, ”I'm looking to make an actual ally, not a business associate. Besides, it felt like the right thing to do.”

Torix held back a colorful variety of curses as he gawked at me. Even if Torix disagreed, this wasn't something I was going to back down on. The Empire needed our help. Perhaps they could've been a bit easier to negotiate with, but they never treated us poorly. If anything, they were the only guild of any size that so much as interacted with us.

I didn't see other guilds offering invitations to talk or form negotiations. The reason for that was simple - they didn't want to become enemies of the Adairs. That was the exact same reason no other guilds helped us when Yawm attacked. The big tree man was too big an enemy to make for a small, unestablished guild.

Well, the Empire didn't let that stop them and for a bigger fish than Yawm. Whether associating with us caused the attacks on the Empire's cities or not, they showed a willingness to help out. We'd do the same in return.

Torix didn't share my viewpoint as he pinched the bridge of his nose,

”I see you've taken a sudden turn towards a more ethical agenda.”

He said ethical with exasperation oozing from his voice. I raised an eyebrow,

”Those resources you mentioned before, the Empire will give them to us regardless. The difference is that by not taking advantage of the situation, we're speaking with our actions, and they tell a lot about our character as a guild.”

I made a circle, ”That goes for other guilds watching. They'll know we're good to have as allies, and that means more negotiations and opportunities. Think of this as an investment.”

Torix pulled back, cupping his chin, ”Those...are good points.”

I turned my palms to the necromancer, ”Exactly. We'll get everything mentioned earlier, but we'll get it along with a genuine friendship. Those are hard to find, and from my experience, they matter most when you need them.”

I lifted a hand, ”We don't need a friend right now, but we might in the future. In all honesty, though, this is more about doing the right thing for me. Well, trying to at least. I'm just letting you know it isn't a bad idea from a more resource-driven standpoint.”

Torix raised a hand as if to argue. He pulled it back, staring down while deep in thought. A moment passed before he shook his head,

”I...Perhaps you're right.”

He peered back up at me as if staring at someone else,

”Excuse my silence. For a moment, you sounded like my son, Alfred. I was taken aback.”

It had been a long time since I heard his name mentioned. Torix didn't like talking about his past or his son, and I respected that. Anytime he did bring it up, he held my rapt attention. Even if I chose not to ask, that didn't mean I wasn't curious.

So as Torix spoke, I leaned close.

He stared into the distance, ”Alfred and I argued on many occasions about these differences. They were of the sort you'd expect from one young and the other old. He, being inexperienced and naive, wanted to act out a sense of morality. I, being cynical, wished to act with a practical stint.”

Torix winced, ”Those differences in plans led to our...eventual separation. I still regret that our last words were harsh. Alfred, he was undeserving of my scorn.”

I remembered the young mage and what happened to him in Bloodhollow. He and Baldag-Ruhl created the runic carvings that eventually led to my armor. Alfred did that by trusting an eldritch, which was pretty naive, and that matched what Torix was saying. That's why the guy died, deformed into an abomination.

At the same time, Alfred created a living multiverse. To me, that sounded pretty damn impossible, yet Alfred got it done. That kind of ambition probably took a bit of naivete. Either way, it wasn't a one-sided kind of issue, so I kept listening as Torix spoke from memory,

”You sound more like him now. When we met, we were very similar in how we did things. Practical, ruthless, and self-interested. Those were the pillars we used to support our lives, and they have kept us that way. Alive. Time has passed, however, and we no longer need to focus on only surviving. We may focus on thriving.”

Torix stared at a skeletal, umbral hand, ”You've outgrown surviving, yet I have not.”

He was right about the survival aspect. When I was introduced into the system, it was a bloody, brutal welcoming. I stayed in fight or flight for literal months at a time, and it didn't really stop until after Yawm died. Since then, I've been trying to walk out of his shadow. I still had a long way to go.

Torix still lingered in the darkest part, the necromancer more at home in the shadows.

I shook a hand,

”Here's the thing, there's a balance. You keep that cutting, efficient edge, and I'll make sure we don't go too far down that line and forget why we're doing what we're doing in the first place.”

Torix scoffed, ”Are you telling me to continue over-analyzing and coming up with evil solutions?” His eyes flared a bright blue,

”Because that's precisely where I shine.”

I smiled,

”Exactly. We'll keep each other in line.”

Torix nudged me with his elbow, ”Speaking of in line, that was a rather politically suave way of handling the Empire. The more I think of it, the better the outcome becomes. For instance, asking for a proper reward would've been difficult. In this situation, he shall give us a gift.”

Torix cupped his chin, ”That gift will likely outdo anything we would've asked for. Going about it this way ensures a solid relationship, but it also ensures we won't ask for a reward far below what we deserve.”

Torix tapped the side of his head, ”That's excellent foresight. Well done.”

I scratched the back of my head, ”Eh, I didn't think it out that far.”

The lich continued, lost in his thoughts,

”And I doubt the Emperor would give us a reward unbefitting of our help. Hah, we reap more rewards while gaining a firmer ally.”

I shrugged, ”Sometimes, I get lucky. Either way, do you think we should save the gialgathens or help the Empire?”

”Pfff, of course we should assist the Empire. There isn't an option to the contrary.”

I narrowed my eyes, ”What do you mean?”

”Daniel, excuse my curtness, but this is a simple exercise in mathematics. One side is numbered in the billions, the other in the hundreds. One side has access to innumerable resources, the other has lost everything. We would be wasting our time attempting to save more gialgathens.”

Torix's shoulders sunk ever so slightly,

”For lack of a better word, there is no one left to save.”

I stared Torix down, my mindset more heated than I expected. Something about the situation made me feel helpless, and for some reason, I found that infuriating. I shook my absurd frustration off, reasoning to myself it was unfounded.

Even if this was tough to accept, Torix and the Emperor were right. I turned towards the temple wall and kicked a loose stone. It shattered to powder, billowing across the room. Rolling my eyes, I siphoned the cloud into a gravity well, creating a swirling ball of dense, dry dust.

I collapsed it back into real rock, compressing it back into a solid. I let it fall back down, the object returned to normal. Torix gawked at the magical display,

”That was a rather casual display of potent magic.”

I stared off, ”It's just a bit of compression. I'm just thinking about what I'm going to tell Krog and Chrona. 'Hey there, guys. Sorry, but your race is dead. Tough luck, buttercups. We're heading off to fight another war while the rest of your kin are killed. Get ready.'”

I shook my head, ”Being a guild leader has its cons, that's for sure.”

Torix sighed, ”It is an unfortunate reality. We've done more for the gialgathens than they could have ever expected. You remember what Krog said when the Emperor initially offered his artifact search?”

I did. Krog was ok with us stopping our assaults. Even though he knew I wouldn't agree as he said it, the sentiment was real; Krog understood what we were putting on the line here. Chrona might be different in that regard, but she could still be reasoned with. We put a damn good effort in already as well.