Chapter 5-129: No Future in This Job (2/2)

Even Master Fred was hearing this for the first time. “Please continue,” the Firesword asked in interest.

I inclined my head slightly. “I have indeed been chewing over this problem. Consider if you were a would-be Dark Hierophant on this Shrouded Earth. You are marvelously attuned to the Shroud, your weapon against the interference of the gods. You can sense the presence of your rivals, the other Dark Clergy, mere minor players who have no background, and who cannot hope to match you, as they know nothing, coming from this isolated world of no-magic, fat with souls and corpses to make your servants.

“And then suddenly, those future servants and their dead start vanishing.”

Both of the Brothers blinked, and suddenly looked very thoughtful. I prompted them with an eyebrow.

“If someone were killing my rival Dark Clergy, and repeatedly... that means they could kill me,” Brother Shadowknife thought aloud. “And I, I am stuck here, inside my Shroudzone, incapable of escaping, and can only await the fate coming to me...”

The Firesword looked back and forth between us. “They would be looking to escape, but they cannot. So, they would be seeking another solution...” I nodded slightly, “and the fake psychopomp has a solution for it!”

I lifted an index finger. “But although it looks ideal, it is not a solution for the Dark Cardinal there. It is a solution that benefits it. Indeed, the solution must come from a source that is outside the Divine, in order to pierce the Shroud!”

“From Outside Creation... a thing of Mythos...” the hyn whispered grimly.

“Furthermore, it must be something that the Dark Cardinal is capable of bringing here, but the creature is not. It needs the Dark Cardinal to initiate the process, and provide the power for it.”

“Some sort of mass Summoning Ritual?” the Firesword hazarded instantly. “The amount of power under the Dark Cloud of Russia is IMMENSE. What could they Summon with that much power?” he had to ask.

“Something capable of destroying the world, because that’s what the undead want to happen, and they can probably confirm that,” I answered. “What, precisely, I don’t know.”

“But... that seems to be redundant. The goal of the Dark Cardinal is to slaughter all and become Hierophant, according to you. Why not simply arrange things to make that happen? Break the Curse of the Sun binding them to their Shroudzones, as it were?” the Firesword asked, seeing the illogic in that.

“Indeed, that would be the case, if that was the goal...” I agreed with him.

The child-faced hyn looked at me, seeing the sleight of hand at play. “The goal isn’t to Summon something to destroy the world. The goal is to Summon something...”

I tipped a phantom hat to him. “That... is what I believe, as well.”

Master Fred stepped forwards. AND THEN... DO SOMETHING TO THAT ENTITY?, he asked suspiciously, getting everyone’s attention.

“That is also what I am thinking.” I gave him a thumbs-up for a suitably treacherous frame of mind. He was pretty familiar with treachery...

“So, you are meant to be a clueless pawn with power, doing the hard work of getting the undead motivated to perform this Ritual, while it uses the Ritual to its own benefit...” The Firesword sighed. “I hate dealing with extraplanars.”

I gave him a thumbs-up, too. “Wise!” His grin was a little bleak.

“I have to ask... given this artificially strong connection to the Shroud... what do you think will happen to you when it goes down?” the Shadowknife asked.

“The situation I am in is... unique, to say the least.” I flicked up a fan of flames for them to peruse, nigh-invisible Helices swirling out to taste it, and both their eyebrows rose.

“Wait, that is Druidic power... but not, it’s mixed with arcane power?” the Firesword asked. “But... I don’t sense the residue of you eating power the way a Blighter would...”

Which meant he’d sampled that before, meaning he’d met a Blighter before, and said Blighter was probably not around anymore. “Elemental Theurgy merges Druidic and Arcane power. I can draw on Druidic power through Arcane channels, I don’t have to take it from the land. Only my first Valence, of course, I have yet to take it to Five.”

Both of them were astounded. “That is extraordinary!” the Firesword complimented me.

“Not really. It’s all just magic to you, right? I imagine not being able to mix it is almost counterintuitive to a Void.”

His mouth opened, closed, and he looked rueful again. “It is not easy to have secrets from someone who has read so much about us on another world!” he half-laughed.

“That is true. I know mystery is one of your strengths, but perhaps it is time you should be extending a little trust to those reasonable of heart. Not all Powered are out to corrupt the world for the sake of power. Some of us are actually trying to save it... and even the Druids can go off their rockers. It’s about people, not being Powered...”