Universe's End

Chapter 271: Diplomacy?

It’s a real city.

It was the first thing that passed through Allison’s mind as she and her small entourage of Eric, Tom, and Garfunk entered the Architect’s Ehkorrus city.

Not that their home of Tidal Grove wasn’t a city, but it had been first and foremost constructed with the training of ‘recruits’ in mind, as Garfunk liked to call them. The civilian sector existed, and they weren’t without artisans or education, but through and through, they were essentially a military base city, if viewed in Earth terms.

Tom and Eric, their home within the High Crest Mountain, now that was more closely aligned to a ‘city,’ but it also had its own deviation, very shaolin and eastern xianxia inspired.

But Ehkorrus? It was a weird collision of modern sensibilities with the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. She saw some people walking about in what looked like regular t-shirts and pants, and others who looked as if they were about to start in Romeo and Juliet.

“So,” the man guiding them fidgeted, clearly nervous. “Welcome to Ehkorrus, city of the Lord Founder.”

“Why do you call him that?” Eric asked, purposely poking at his teeth with his dagger like a toothpick.

“Because he is both one of the Founders, such as yourself, and he is responsible for founding Ehkorrus.”

“Huh, fair enough,” Eric grumbled as he put away the dagger, the intimidation factor looking sillier than anything.

“And do you all worship him or such here?” Tom asked the question they’d all been wondering.

“That’s… a bit of a complicated question,” their tour guide, Morales, from what Allison recalled, shook his head. “You’ve got some that do, the Circle Votaries primarily. They worship the rings of divinity, as they call it. First ring, E.O.N. Second ring, the World Spirit Aelia.”

“And the third ring being the Architect?” Garfunk grumbled.

“No, the third ring would be the Founders as a whole,” Morales answered. “But the Lord Founder is the Founder closest, so you can understand a bit where they come from.”

“So, you don’t worship him,” Allison repeated Tom’s question.

“Well, complicated. Even those who don’t strictly worship him as a true divinity, it’s impossible not to have some reverence. He tends to keep to himself, so only those who have interacted with him personally are more… experienced.”

“I take it you would be one such person, given how you were put in charge of keeping us distracted with a tour,” Tom pointed out.

Their tour guide winced, what would have been a blink-and-you-miss-it moment for tier sevens, but something each of the tier eights easily caught.

“Well, you aren’t wrong,” Morales finally sighed.

“It’s sensible at least,” Garfunk grumbled. Perhaps it was being around such a purely ‘citizen’ environment that made the Osferian seem extra grumbly. “Even if giving opposition leaders a guided tour is a strategic error.”

“Ehh, lighten up,” Eric snorted, his eyes gleaming as he looked around. “I mean, look at all the fun stuff to nab- I mean buy. You guys take I.O.Us?”

“What’s an Eye-oh-yu?” Morales slightly frowned.

“Nabbing it is,” Eric sighed, a wistful look in his eyes.

“Given the nature of our agreement, it would be our mistake to act, so I can understand the Architect’s willingness to show off his city,” Allison said. Without her sister there to break her brain, she felt back to her usual self, perhaps even better now.

They were currently allowed in under ‘guest rights,’ so as long as they didn’t cause trouble, they were totally safe from whatever secrets they had up their sleeves. What interested Allison most was how the whole thing had apparently been set up using the Sovereign System, which she herself only had passing knowledge of, as it had been delegated to others. She could feel certain external ‘rules’ pressing down on her, but at her current level, she could ignore them as suggestions more than anything.

“Oh, a question for you, Mr. Tour Guide man,” Eric said in an almost sing-song voice.

“Morales,” the tour guide sighed. “Yes?’

“Is that coffee I smell?”

“I don’t think distracting them with a tour will last long,” Apostolos sighed.

“Probably not,” Rory agreed. “But that’s okay because we’re mostly ready at this point. I was going to have Morales bring them here shortly.”

“And it’s just meant to be us leadership present?” Apostolos asked. The room was mostly empty, with Apostolos, Rory, and Zoey, who was dozing off in a cushioned chair.

“Just a small gathering, yes,” Rory nodded. “Irene is taking care of some last-minute things, but she will be showing up with a small entourage of her own. She explained she was roping in a few crafters of certain skill to bring in with the hopes of impressing the benefits of partnership over conflict.”

“Leave it to Irene to be thinking about that,” Apostolos sighed. “By the way… Where has Eia been?”

“Contingency plan,” Rory said, keeping it simple. “I want her on the down low.”

“Because she probably could have turned the tides of that scuffle earlier if she were with Tsarina and me,” Apostolos pointed out.

“A scuffle that was occurring outside of our walls. If things really went south, I would have nabbed you guys and gotten you to safety. Also, I kicked the hornet's nest to begin with.”

“I mean, you didn’t punch Zoey.”

“No, but I also didn’t consider the why until after the fact,” Rory muttered. “But neither here nor there. She is currently in hiding.”

“Impressive that she can remain hidden from the senses of other Founders.”

“She’s got some pretty seriously developed camouflage skills at this point,” Rory answered. “You ready? I have a feeling that shortly after I send the message along to Morales, they’ll be here.”

“Should I wake up the Vanguard?”

“Oh, she is awake, she’s just pretending to be asleep so she doesn’t have to do anything yet,”

“You don’t have to tell on me like that,” Zoey sighed, her eyes snapping open. “Yeah, I’m not shocked that her first reaction was to punch me. I did pull a dick move and abandon my baby sister after all. I’m honestly surprised she’s grown up to be so calm and collected otherwise.”

“Meanwhile, you became the wild child,” Rory pointed out.

“We were different flavors of wild. As much as Alice was a little demon brat, I won’t pretend she wasn’t fast on the uptake. Our father was probably happy when I ran away. I was only mostly good at things, which wasn’t enough for him. They tried to rope me in with the allure of being a globetrotting political savant, but it didn’t take.”

“Hence why you play the dunce now,” Rory snorted.

“You’re damn right,” Zoey smirked before it faded a moment later. “My point is, the little sister I once knew, that was over a hundred years ago. Technically, more if you count the in-between from the Collapse to our present-day reality, thankfully, she hasn’t completely changed from what I’ve gathered in our short interaction. Still, she’s also had others around her and has been responsible for her own people. And unlike me, I doubt they ran away and got stuck in some god-forsaken upside-down hellscape.”

“Yes, well, that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes,” Rory noted. “It would be unwise of us to assume that just because Ehkorrus is doing well, that they are highly primitive either.”

“That feels like a jab at me,” Zoey frowned.

“Hey, at least you didn’t get conquered by a bird,” Rory shrugged. “So, you technically aren’t the worst.”

“I know that was a backhanded compliment, but I’ll pretend it was pure in intention, so thank you,” Zoey said smugly.

“Alright, well, with that, any last words before I send the call?”

“Did you have to phrase it so dramatically?” Apostolos grunted.

“Yes, just because I knew you’d catch on,” Rory chuckled, as a moment later, he sent a message. It was one of the lesser-used features that had existed since near the very beginning, but it was surprisingly limited: the inviolable rule was that one could only send a message to someone they’d met directly before; after that, it also required a ‘network’ to be established, and there was a bit of a cooldown. The only beings those rules didn’t apply to were those who were messaging the World Spirit of the planet, but those who had actually met Eia directly could be counted on two hands.

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The wait was, unsurprisingly, rather short, as a knock came at the door.

Glancing at Zoey and Apostolos, everyone took their positions in the sparsely decorated, glorified office.

“Enter,” Rory said.

A moment later, the door was pushed open, as a rather drained-looking Morales nodded to them.

“I come bringing our esteemed guests,” Morales said. “The Honored Founders.”

With that, the door was pushed open fully as The Woodsman, The First Monk, the Primordial Rogue, and perhaps most importantly, the Spear of the Precursors walked in.

“Just letting ya’ know, I stole some of your shit already,” The Primordial Rogue said nonchalantly as he flopped down in an office chair.

The First Monk visibly closed his eyes for a moment, as Rory could imagine the man mentally pinching the bridge of his nose.

“He’s jesting,” The Monk said a moment later.

“Oh, hah, so you did miss that,” The Rogue said as a black ‘portal’ appeared and random knick-knacks one could buy throughout the city began to spill free.

“…never mind,” The Monk shook his head and sat down after the Rogue.

“Your city is sloppy and runs like a headless icocix,” The Woodsman announced as he took a seat as well. “No patrols, no nothing.”

“Icocix?’ Zoey arched an eyebrow, confused.

“A bird from their planet,” The Spear said instantly, responding to her sister as if it were natural.

“Ahem,” Rory coughed into his fist. “Morales, you may leave.”

The man, looking rather confused, nodded and walked away.

“If I may ask, let's avoid topics involving the before while non-Founders are around,” Rory said.

“What about him?” The Rogue jerked a thumb toward Apostolos.

“He is an exception,” Rory stated. “He was my first, and so he’s had it all laid out to him.”

“Ahh, got it, got it. Tom there avoids the subject anyway because it takes away from his image, as he likes to phrase it,” The Rogue said before propping his feet on the table. “Me? They think I’m kooky or speaking in tongues or something.”

“I apologize, finding out that my sister,” The Spear stared directly at Zoey, who glanced around as if she had no idea who she was talking about, “is not just alive, but another Founder, has been somewhat disorienting. Otherwise, I tend to follow a similar view.”

“Oh god, you sound so stiff now,” Zoey snorted.

“Wait, going to interrupt the family bonding for a moment,” The Rogue said, earning a glare from the Monk. “But seriously, what the fuck are the chances of this?” He pointed between Zoey and the Spear, making a face as he did.

“Not as unlikely as you’d probably think,” Rory mused, speaking some internal thoughts he’d had on the matter since discovering the Spear was Zoey’s sister. “If we consider that proto-Aelia chose us all for having a specific attitude and behavioral traits, snatching two sisters makes sense.”

“But out of every other possible living person in the old universe?” The First Monk countered.

“You’re thinking of it like a total variable consideration. She probably didn’t look through every living being, but enough until she maxed out. For all we know, they were the last two chosen.”

“Sounds like something that one of the Big Heads would have thought up,” The Woodsman answered. “Those Varasians had some real smart folks, and don’t even get me started on those Daeshi.”

“Varasians are around,” Rory said, remaining otherwise vague on how he knew as much.

“Oh, well, long as they get their heads out of their asses,” The Woodsman snorted. “At least you're human, so your head is probably only halfway up your ass. As for you,” The Woodsman turned to face Zoey directly. “So, you’re the Spear’s sister.”

“The one and only,” Zoey shrugged.

“Your head up your ass?”

“I don’t know, you’re short enough to look up there for me,”

“Hoh!” The Woodsman smiled widely. “I like her. Though I don’t know about that one, you’ve got maybe two human inches on me.”

“Yes, that’s all well and good,” The Spear sighed. “But I believe we should be discussing the real purpose of why we are all here.”

“I agree,” Rory nodded. “So, should I lay out the facts, or you?”

“Your home, you may start,” The Spear waved him on.

“You four are strong,” Rory waved at the four Founders. “But, let’s be honest, you aren’t strong enough to take Ehkorrus by yourself. I can say that with certainty after Ehkorrus went through the Bird fiasco. Your best shot would have been with the tip off of wave one hundred of the Siege Waves coming at us, but that’s passed. An attack on us now would require throwing your people into a meat grinder that you still might not win.”

“To which, my counter,” The Spear said, staring him down, her eyes hard. “You have no way to best us. Your power is concentrated defensively, with only you and my sister; that’s not enough to face four Founders. You have some strong people, I saw as much during the earlier scuffle, but so do we. How much of your advantage is mobile enough to be used for anything other than a defensive posture? Even if you could find our home bases, what's to say we wouldn’t capitalize on an attempted assault to attack this city? We have the information advantage in that area. We also have the advantage of being able to outmaneuver you, so in the interest of avoiding bloodshed, it should be your faction that surrenders to ours.”

“You say that, but could you really crack Ehkorrus that quickly?” Rory verbally parried. “And just how well defended are your home locations? We have better gear and more people.”

“Not that many more people,” The Spear countered again. “We have four Founder factions' worth of people.”

“A misdirect,” Rory said with his eyes narrowed. “Your factions joined together early on; it wasn’t as if these were full-fledged factions of tens of thousands.”

“And? Perhaps we receive four times the yearly population,” The Spear responded with her riposte.

What had been a rather casual first meeting had already turned surprisingly intense, as the two Founders stared daggers at each other.

“Sheesh,” The Rogue coughed. “You two going to fuck or fight?”

The reaction was instant. The First Monk turned to the side, acting as if he were quietly coughing into his fist to hide the sputtered snort. The Woodsman didn’t even bother hiding it, chuckling out loud. Finally, there was Zoey, who looked disgusted, like she’d bitten into a fruit only to find a rotten core.

Before anything else could be said, there was another knock at the door, a moment to deflate the tension further.

“You may enter,” Rory said after sharing one last glare with the Spear.

“Apologies,” a voice that Rory recognized as Irene said before she entered a moment later. “My name is Irene, Esteemed Luminary of Ehkorrus. You may think of me as one of the governing leaders of this city who manages it in the stead of our Lord Founder.”

“She means she does all the work,” Zoey added.

She isn’t wrong.

“While there are differences between our people, I believe that before the honored Founders continued their talks, it would be wise if perhaps we had some figures speak who represent some of the benefits of Ehkorrus, our skills as artisans, and whatnot, and perhaps that will help inform any decisions before any rash decisions are made without a complete picture.”

Smart.

Feeling confident in Irene, Rory watched as several Adepti entered the room. Crossing his arms, Rory was glad to have a moment to-

Oh. Fuck.

All at once, the world froze, a moment that had nothing to do with magic as a certain horned woman entered the room.

Instantly, Rory completely uncapped his Cognition, letting the oversaturated attribute ‘freeze’ the moment for as long as possible as his mind scrambled.

I fucked up.

He’d purposely wanted to avoid having Roxy anywhere near the other Founders to start. His mistake had been that he had never once mentioned to anyone else the need to keep her away; after all, if he wasn’t bringing her along, there was no reason for anyone else to, at least not without mentioning it first.

Except someone had, if indirectly, he’d just not considered the implication. When Irene had mentioned that she would introduce some of the crafters from Ehkorrus, Rory hadn’t even thought that Roxy might be one of them.

Wait, maybe the reaction will be muted.

Cognition fully unfurled, Rory was a few beats ahead of the rest, as he began sensing the instant reactions.

Well, not great.

Confusion, surprise, and sudden disgust.

Not great.

But at the very least-

And then it hit.

The response from one single figure in the room was slower than the rest, as if his aura needed a moment to encompass the extent of what he felt.

Bane.

It was the same feeling Rory had toward his Bane. No, perhaps even darker, a festering tar pit that not a single ray of light could escape from, the true darkest feelings of the heart, festering and rotting and feeding into itself and looping back over.

He is going to kill her.

It wasn’t a guess, a hypothesis, or a feeling.

It was a fact. As long as Roxy lived, he would hunt her to the ends of the universe.

Within the space of the moment frozen in Rory’s mind, things were still moving like time itself was trapped in syrup, but the instant the Woodsman gathered himself, he would kill Roxy. That was the only possible outcome of such ugly darkness coloring his aura.

And so, Rory had a choice. The other Founders had been afforded guest rights, but if they hurt one of his people, he would be able to bring the full force of Ehkorrus, of every defense or magical feature within, to bear. They’d be like mice in a trap, and the Founders event would be Rory’s and Zoey’s to win.

It would only cost the very real risk that his daughter would be killed.

Or.

Or he could strike first. Betraying their own guest rights that they had afforded, Rory did not doubt that Eon would lock them out from drawing on the power of Ehkorrus in almost any fashion. It would turn into a two-versus-four just like that.

No question.

In the utter foulness of the Woodsman’s flaring hatred, he’d totally forgotten Rory, or really anyone else, for that matter. His guard would never, ever be lower. Rory would have a single shot at what he was about to do before he was locked out, and so he had to make it count. Within his inventory was a single item that he had held onto over the years as a conceptual representation of sharpness, a shard of the sky that he'd been cutting through space with long before he had the skill to do so independently. Now, what he was about to do would require taking his manipulation a step beyond anything he’d ever done before; it would be the only item capable of pulling it off.

Grabbing hold of every bit of power he could from Ehkorrus, every bit of authority he had over the local pneuma and fabric of space like the Khans in their local territories, Rory even threw in whatever stigmata he had regained since the defeat of the Bird.

The moment of frozen time ended as Rory was forced to limit his cognition once more, necessary if he wanted to do anything other than think. Yet time still seemed frozen, as eyes turned in slow motion toward where the Woodsman had suddenly lunged to his feet, only to teeter over and fall on his face in the same moment.

Sticking out from the back of his skull, and buried through his brain, was what looked like a glass pane, a literal shard of the sky.

Founders were, to most beings, almost like demigods, if not outright divine.

But, in the end, they were still only tier eight. They were as far from immortality as any other tier eight, be it enlightened or monster. A well-placed attack through the brain that instantly ceased all higher functions was about the best way to take out someone on the level of a Founder. It was something Rory himself had been thinking about as a contingency from time to time. The issue was that it was something far easier said than done.

But the Woodsman had ironically been the architect of his own demise, with every ounce of his being thrown into utter hate, into the crystallization of the Bane emotion; he’d let himself open, even his aura of self had flagged during that moment.

To anyone with eyes, the culprit was immediately obvious, as Rory remained seated, panting and sweating. The sheer volume of pneuma he’d needed to channel to override the very internal protections that prevented magic from being manifested inside another person had been staggering, something he would not have been able to do without drawing from Ehkorrus in a single sudden surge.

The stunned moment held for only a second longer before shattering as the aura of every single Founder present flared to its max, and the Spear spoke two bone-chillingly cold words.

“Kill him.”