Chapter 660: Crushed From Within (Patreon)

“Just from initial reports, I can tell you as many as one thousand people killed themselves yesterday.”

King Argrave of Vasquer hung his head upon hearing that news, and his black hair briefly concealed his gray eyes. He lifted his head up again with determination, then looked to another person of many in the room for guidance. His wife’s amber eyes displayed as much alarm as he felt, and Anneliese braided her long white hair in a nervous tick Argrave hadn’t seen as often anymore. He looked back to his sister, who had given the report.

“And after initial reports?” Argrave pressed.

“…could be twice that,” Elenore admitted quietly, pulling at the sleeve of her green dress. “It’s difficult to tally rural villages, even with the army permeating the nation. And as it is, the army is stretched thin. Disorganized pockets of undead and automatons have begun to rally under the banner of silver-armored knights similar to the ones that assaulted Blackgard many weeks ago. Fortunately, they’re not as powerful, or we would’ve lost entire cities by now.”

“And these reports are regional. We’ve not yet begun to account for my wife’s homeland, the Great Chu,” his brother Orion said, shaking his head in dismay. “I suspect Gerechtigkeit’s mental malignance is a global phenomenon, with global consequences. We were warned of as much, yet I never dared imagine it might manifest in this callously indifferent way.”

Count Melanie of Malgeridum, a red-haired former mercenary, noted, “I spoke to some people on the ground. It seems as though will plays some part. People report a crushing sense of self-hatred, anger, isolation, and… well, what you might imagine. No one wearing a mental-warding ring crafted by Artur has shown the same signs of suicidality.” She held up her own hand, revealing one such trinket. “We haven’t lost key members of government, like… me,” she finished meekly, perhaps not wanting to sound callous or arrogant in the face of tragedy.

“That’s part of the problem.” Anneliese pried her hand free from her long braid of hair, trying to gather herself. “If you were an average member of the populace facing the threat of mental assault ending in suicide, would you be pleased to learn that we distributed bands warding from such an attack to the elite, long before it came?” She rose to her feet and walked over to the window, pulling back its curtains.

“It’ll be chaos,” she continued as she looked throughout the streets. “Fear and panic will set in. Even if local government manages to quell the chaos for a time, when people see their loved ones taking their own lives before their eyes, they’ll revolt. They’ll turn on each other, hunting down anyone and everyone who has a ring. Who is that?” She turned around, early morning sunlight illuminating her from behind. “Everyone we found important enough to give one. We practically marked our most vital people for death.”

Though it was warm inside this room, everyone felt a collective chill after their words. Gerechtigkeit had efficiently weaponized their solution to his mental attack. Even now, Argrave didn’t think they’d done wrong—the mental assault of some would do far more damage to the well-being of the world than others, so they’d prioritized those people. It didn’t change the fact they’d been writing up a hitlist to give to Gerechtigkeit, in effect.

It was silent contemplation until Durran stood up and slammed his fist against the wall. Blood dripped from his tan knuckles, but his body enhanced by the Fruit of Being quickly healed the wound. “What are you supposed to say to the people about that? What are you supposed to do against that?” His golden eyes were furious.

Argrave couldn’t blame him for that outburst—just from glancing at what Elenore held as her reports, he could tell the death toll was worst in the Burnt Desert where Durran’s people lived. It wasn’t a deliberate attack, only logistics—the Burnt Desert, just like the Archduchy of the North, was further from Blackgard, and so had greater loss of life stemming from lesser distribution of the rings.

But if it was that bad in their own territory…

“We’ve made no secret of our invention of this protective technology,” Argrave began, looking between the members of his closest counsel. “And we’ve made no secret of where it’s being produced. Immigration to Blackgard slowed slightly after the attack by the silver knight which Orion defeated. Now, however, we can expect a torrent of people from around the continent—perhaps the entire world.”

“Good,” Raven spoke from the corner of the room. He maintained his traditional form—a hulking humanoid wrapped in silken black robes, concealing gray skin and crowned with a noseless, horrifying face. His splintering voice was as harsh as his words as he said, “Stretched thin defending a kingdom, we’ve become slow and clumsy. Packed tightly, we could be mobile and dynamic. You should bring the best and brightest to this valley city—all of the useful people you’ve identified throughout your journey. Bar the rest entry—the ignorant masses are not needed to fight against Gerechtigkeit. People can be replaced. This battle will happen only once.”

Orion turned his head with a fierce expression about his face, while Durran walked up and said brashly, “Didn’t you learn your lesson after annihilating one continent, you de—”

“Durran, Orion,” Argrave said in a firm voice, raising his hand. “Anger only plays into what our enemy wants. You know me well enough to know I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“I didn’t suspect so,” Raven continued, entirely ignoring Durran. “If you’re unwilling to loosen your grip on any of your people and let them fall, then your actions are greatly limited. To maintain order, you’ll need far more power than you presently have. You’ll need to contract mercenaries. Specifically…”

“The gods,” Argrave finished for him.

The army that Argrave had built up was composed of a little more than thirty-five thousand fully trained soldiers, with about a fifth of that still undergoing training. They were largely protected by the mental-warding rings. That made them prime targets for the soon-to-come revolts—revolts which, with such insufficient numbers, they would be unable to quell.

The gods could keep the peace, however. Their servants were unaffected by the mental control that Gerechtigkeit imposed, as most didn’t have minds in the traditional sense of the word. They were far more physically powerful than humans, and more capable of suppressing things peacefully. It seemed like an easy solution, but it came with its own equally dangerous problems.

Argrave had largely preserved the Kingdom of Vasquer’s autonomy from divinity, barring a select few who he’d joined hands with out of necessity. Many gods didn’t especially value people—they valued power, and pursued it at every turn. The Blackgard Union was a stabilizing force preventing such power grabs, kept whole by the White Planes—a plane of reality wherein contracts made inside it were enforced by a mystical power in the mortal world.

Yet the White Planes were collapsing at Gerechtigkeit’s hands, and all gods would soon be free of its binding scriptures. If Argrave prevailed upon the gods to help keep order in his kingdom, he invited risk of betrayal. Once they were no longer bound by contract, Vasquer could be partitioned between the gods as quickly as it had been united.

Argrave lifted his head and said decisively, “This isn’t any time to twiddle our thumbs in fear of what the gods could do if granted authority in Berendar. This is the world against the enemy. We need to make that clear. Raven is partially correct—we need a dynamic and mobile powerbase that can respond to further situations as they arise. We should bring everyone we can to Blackgard to prepare. I’ll contact Law and other trusted gods. His servants will spread throughout the continent, helping to ease the flow of people and prevent any destabilizing revolts. Elenore—I trust that you can handle the finer details of how they should act, and what they should do.”

“Can I? I don’t know. This is a mess beyond reckoning. Will I? Certainly.” She nodded.

“As much as I can ask of you.” Argrave looked next to Anneliese. “Anne. You’ve been keeping apprised on the research team. Do you think that we’re anywhere near coming up with a large-scale magical solution for the problem of mental corruption?”

His queen seemed to lose herself in thought for a long few moments, biting her lip almost as though she hesitated to say something. Finally, she said with a large degree of certainty, “No. We’re no closer. Druidi—excuse me. Soul magic is particularly fussy. It needs direction interaction with the soul. The only reason the rings work is because they contact with skin, allowing it to interface with the wearer’s soul to protect it.”

Argrave gave a deep sigh, then said, “Thank you. Then, Orion. I assume you’re no closer at unlocking the latent potential of our bloodline, elsewise you’d have mentioned it before now.”

Orion almost looked physically pained as he ground his teeth together and managed, “No, Your Majesty. Even with the resources you generously allotted, it eludes me.”

“Don’t worry. If it were so simple a task, our ancestors would’ve succeeded long ago.” Argrave turned his head to the last. “Raven.”

“I’ve had no luck reinforcing the White Planes.” He shook his head, having anticipated the question. “How they were created is beyond my ken. The gods that I consult are similarly clueless. If Erlebnis’ vast store of knowledge truly has nothing on the subject, then their fate is inevitable collapse. Gerechtigkeit assaults it artfully, pulling together the thread that ties it precisely where it needs to be pulled.”

“And nothing can be made to replace it?” Argrave suggested.

“I believe its original creators have long perished.” Raven held out his too-long arm. “It is a fruitless endeavor.”

Argrave looked to the ground, having run out of options. He looked up at Melanie. “The opening to attack the Gilderwatcher nexus. It remains untroubled?”

“Cooperated with dwarves and Dario both to build it,” Melanie confirmed with a serious look in her green eyes. “We’re ready to assault whenever we’re… ready to assault, I suppose.” she repeated herself. “Only thing worth mentioning is that the miners are certain there’s been something gathering on the other side. Likely they’ve got a defending force stationed.” She pointed at Elenore. “I’m sure it’s manned by those silver knights your sister mentioned.”

Argrave clasped his hands together and squeezed tightly, until he heard his knuckles pop and felt some pain shoot up his arm. “It has to be this way.”

After the very objective survey of their options, none could contest that point. The Gilderwatchers and their authority over the mind were being harnessed to an incredibly dangerous end. Though it wasn’t their fault, and they never wished for this… for the sake of billions of others, they had to be mitigated. Whether that meant complete extinction or something more amenable remained to be seen.

“We’ll depart in one day,” Argrave declared.