V9: Epilogue

V9: Epilogue

…

Interlude: Khanrow

…

I've seen warbands destroy budding nations before, typically funded by the Academy.

They broke defenders from range with powerful magic, rode into towns on horseback, and slaughtered people without giving quarter. The fear this caused would make any outlying settlements rush towards strongpoints and places held by their army. Infiltrators will follow the mass of hungry and fearful crowds, sowing chaos by fomenting riots and spoiling supplies, and attempt to kill anyone who can take control. The defenses will then be put to siege, the lands they hold incapable of feeding or supporting all the mouths, and an offer of surrender will be given.

Most take it, then the defenses break, and the leader, their family, and their officials are put to the sword.

All who survive it spread the tale of how foolish it is to try and raise a nation besides that Academy.

I thought that our campaign against the Warden of the Caverns would be similar. After all, we did not seek to eradicate them as we did the Children of the Elm.

That point had yet to be reached.

Our goal was the destruction of their culture, so that they may be taken in and assimilated. To achieve that end we needed to break their spirit, destroy their temples, burn their literature, and put their clergy to the sword. It will shatter them as a people, scattering them to all corners of the continent, but with time and effort the extremists can be waylaid and cut down while the rest absorbed into all other nations.

We used the Academy's own methods to achieve our goal, which were already like how we campaigned against the Scholars years ago.

But the army that we had then was different from the one that we had now.

Now, I watched as a whole countryside burned from horizon to horizon with flames taller than buildings waving in the air.

Mages from strategic positions had prepared the area, casting waves of heat across the land, and creating kindling and drawing out moisture. Nothing more than a stinging sensation to the common person, and a drying of the air, the simple change prior to the arrival of the sky-fortress allowed the creation of a fire storm. Lances of heat had come forth from the now-equipped flying fortress, along with our regular aerial cavalry dropping incendiary bomblets from beyond the reach of any defenders. The lances of heat, snaked through the lands we approached, unable to melt rock or penetrate armor, but in their passing it left kindling aflame. Small fires that were fed by dry winds, while incendiary bomblets dropped from the skies above, and eventually the whole region burned.

Five days ago, we faced a region on the defensive. A temple of resurrection in a fortified city with militia and Guardians. Initial patrols had to retreat as they encountered Guardians buried in forest trails and many bridges, roads, and signage were destroyed. A quagmire that could only be solved through manpower lay before us… and it was solved with the assets and tools we've been developing for years.

On our first march so many years ago, Jack had shown his competence and ability by solving so many troubles that we encountered on our march.

Now, with all our efforts since then, whole battles were being solved in the same way.

With as few casualties to us as possible, while what might harm us was completely, utterly destroyed.

"Grandfather." Morgan's words took my attention. Since the capture and internment of the High Justiciar, something had changed in my granddaughter's eyes. There had always been a hidden edge to her, something plaguing her and driving her forward, that had abated when she met Jack. After he proved his worth when solving the crisis with the Conquerors, she changed for the better. She allowed herself to live, to teach others, and rise the ranks as a Champion. However, now I saw that edge had never disappeared. It had merely been reforged into something far, far more deadly. She had once been afraid and summoned immense courage to confront that fear. Now, in her eyes, there was conviction and drive to see something to the end. "You seem ill at ease. Perhaps, you should retire if the work displeases you so?"

Work.

Indeed, that was what became of the region of ten thousand ready to fight us to the death, to delay our advance, and to prevent us from burning down their temple and killing their clergy. There was no battle here. No grand counter-charge and reversal of fortune from our foe. The spear lines were steady, the rifles were ready to fire, while the artillery thundered and the mages fed the flame. The militia and enemy Guardians were dying, while we were killing them.

Morgan was correct.

This was labor. Not a battle.

And, of course, she saw through me as well.

"I shall. Would you see me away? You need a break too, after all." Morgan blinked at my words, before some of the hardness in her features faded. When it did, she blinked once again and her brow furrowed. Once her grasp on herself slipped for a moment, she felt it. The fatigue. "You haven't been keeping track. It's been more than eighteen hours since you last slept."

Immediately, she summoned a smile onto her face.

"…spying on a young woman, grandfather? I thought you above that." Morgan glibly replied, but when I did not smile back, she let the false cheer she summoned fade. Her frown from moments earlier returned. The false cheer faded. "I can't tell you what happened there with the High Justiciar. Only that there's an unfortunate truth that, if revealed, would mean far harsher actions against the Wardens than now."

"Harsher than this? All over the continent, we're being called betrayers and butchers. Their words are trite, of course, their armies are here and they're aiming to take the Citadel themselves." They were going to take the Citadel, because we were going to allow them to do so. It was the price for us to take the prize that the Wardens had. I could only wonder if the truth was known, if the other nations knew that we had another divine machine with us now. They gain a Citadel and they show the rest of the continent that we are not to be trusted. That was the price, but I wondered if they knew what we were buying. "If you cannot tell me why, then how about the harsher means that our king would've employed instead of this?"

Morgan considered my question for a moment, while we both moved away from the command post to retire into white halls of the flying fortress from where we looked upon the burning region from above. Down there, the officers were at work, along with her apprentices. If we were needed, we would go with heavy troops and Conquerors ready for battle to the lands below. The Conquerors were ill at ease with this conflict, but the truth of the matter was shared with Conquest, and that truth was enough for her to call for her warriors to fight as they were commanded… and to call this war just.

What truth could we be fighting for that the Conquerors would believe burning religious texts, smashing temples, and killing clergy would be just?

The answer was within my reach, but I didn't reach for it.

Or, perhaps, I didn't wish to know.

So, I simply asked Morgan what other path we would take, if not this one, if that truth was known to others and not contained.

Morgan looked over her shoulder at the firestorm engulfing the region. A firestorm taking thousands of lives and turning a whole town to ash, while any who ran was captured.

Then, she spoke.

"If the truth his majesty discerned reached all the Wardens, then we would have no choice but to do to them as we did the Children of the Elm. Kill all who know, spare only those who do not know, and hunt down all who survive. It would be a war of complete annihilation." Morgan's words were calm and controlled. Her gaze turned upward to the low roof of the halls we walked to reach a place of rest within the vessel. We kept to the right side, as others passed us by on another lane. Even the layout of this vessel was carefully structured and planned. "We would have to kill them all to keep them from spreading their religion, grandfather. All of them… and all that would hear the truth of it and not revile it. If I told you, and if I feared that would you would accept it, grandfather, I would kill you."

Her gaze was hard and her mind was set.

She truly believed that.

And, she believed in the possibility that it is better to not know and not suffer the chance that the Wardens will manage to spread the knowledge.

I was curious as to what that truth was, but I shook my head.

"I won't pursue it. I'll leave it to your capable hands, Morgan. I swear on my honor." After many twists and turns within the flying vessel, we reached an officer's room adjacent to the kitchen. In just a few strides away, there was a hall for eating good enough for a hundred people to eat side by side. The crew of the ship and its complement of soldiers demanded the kitchens work nigh endlessly. They only ceased in the evening to clean and restock. We sat together at the end of a circular table and we were attended to. Plates, cutlery, and a selection of meals, along with wine and chilled juices. This flying fortress was meant to venture for long periods away from civilization, requiring only resupply and reinforcement in the air. Food was one of the few luxuries that it can afford its crew. Within it… it was almost difficult to believe that a war was being waged below. "I'll be leaving this theatre to you and the rest to pursue the Scholars in the north. If you have need of some advice, Morgan, never hesitate to call upon me for aid."

Morgan's gaze slightly softened at my words, before she nodded and we ate.

I had experience in forgetting things with my old age, and thankfully being rejuvenated did not rid me of that skill.

It was easy enough to entrust the future to the King of Wisdom.

Who was I to doubt the decision of a man who can turn the conquest of a nation into a mere expenditure of time and material?

…

I pinched the bridge of my nose and did my best to keep from yelling.

"Ilych, please explain to me again why Sirena isn't dead."

"I spared her life to retain a skilled, powerful Champion in the coming battles ahead. We have need of someone of her ability."

On the surface, that's a perfectly reasonable statement to make. Sirena is a super-strong unit from the Wardens factions. One of their premier units that wouldn't look out of place in an overpriced DLC that invalidates other Champions, if the devs were a bunch of hacks. Nope, the Sword Saint was a baseline Champion for the Wardens that all new and old Champions were compared to. If you're not a lateral upgrade from her, or slightly better, you need to get tweaked.

Sirena also happens to be a Champion that can't get captured and turned over to your side.

But she's right here, in front of me, and not gutting me like a fish.

She's not armed and has chains on her arms and legs?

Yeah, that wouldn't stop her.

Honestly, the fact that I was alive was already convincing me that my concerns were not warranted.

However, I haven't gotten this far in life by not being a paranoid piece of shit.

I looked at Sirena, who was clad in white robes, was chained up, and surrounded by Iterants and Ilych.

Alright, I'll give her the plain and simple truth.

"I'm destroying your people now, because the truth of the matter is that the Ancients opened paradise up to every soul before they fell to their enemies." I watched Sirena carefully. Signaling to Ayah and the Iterants present in my office to be ready to just turn her into chunky salsa, while also extracting me as fast as possible from this situation. I barely stopped myself from signaling to them to prepare to kill Ilych, too. It's not betrayal. Not yet. "If this truth is unleashed, if the Wardens continue to research ways to connect to their ancestors and resurrect people more swiftly, then your people will become a cult of death that will ravage the continent."

I waited for the same mad smile that Khalai had to form on Sirena's face, but I was surprised to find her take in the words and frown.

"Not all the of the Wardens would accept such a path. There are those who would refuse such a path for our people." Hm. Okay. Maybe this tracks a bit. If you were playing the Wardens and if you go down that quest line, rebel Warden units come up before you go on your holy crusade to annihilate all life. The objectors to your new, glorious purpose need to get killed and sent off to paradise first. They never had a Champion, though, but that may be due to gameplay limitations. If one of your Champions at midgame rebelled if you followed an event chain, that event chain wouldn't get followed. "Oh, King of Wisdom, I beg of you. Grant mercy to my people. Accept my loyal service and permit us to at least worship our ancestors."

Sirena got onto her knees and pressed her head against the floor with her wrists and ankles bound while making her plea.

Could I really tell this begging woman, no?

Yeah, but should I refuse the opportunity to get someone as powerful as Sirena as an asset?

The answer was no.

Not when the first wave is set to arrive in just two years, and the events that preclude them need firepower to solve properly.

"You and your people will be watched carefully. One mistake and death await you all. I would rather rid myself of the possibility of an uprising, but I have need of warriors to hold against the coming threats." I shook my head and signaled for the Iterants to stand down. Sirena raised her head at my words, and I met her gaze from my desk at my field office. "This is not a mercy, Sirena. There will be no more resurrections. No more searching for paradise on this planet. You may venerate those who have passed, but if one word comes forth of restating the religion that I am now destroying… nothing but death awaits your people."

Sirena lowered her head at my words… and suddenly a familiar sting came upon my hand with the seal of the Life Goddess.

Checking it, as I should've expected after I promised that there would be no more resurrections, there was an update to seal.

The circle of vines with small leaves now had black lily flowers growing on them.

Who would've thought the Goddess of Death would support me for going against the practice of resurrection?