Chapter 8-215: Setting New Courses (2/2)

He paused to think that over, an endearing habit of his, listening to the interplay of Heaven and Hell on his Pacts. -Both? What was your mindset?-

-She’s much too powerful to be an attack dog unleashed upon mine enemies. She’s a Hell Hound, and she totally understands being the dark underhand against the dark for a greater cause. She’s already Damned, she knows it, and doesn’t mind doing the work at all. She’s also going to save a lot of lives and smooth a lot of things out, all while making people think they are doing it themselves.-

-She is very good at the game,- he /admitted. -I hesitate to ask who she has Consumed in the past, but I’m pretty sure royalty is among them.-

-She’s the last four Queens of England and the Princess of Monaco,- I /informed him, and he blinked despite himself. -King Charles calls her up occasionally for advice. She alluded to being other members of royalty, taking them on their deathbeds. She also sweeps their lineages, attendants, and paramours regularly for imposters, infiltrators, and shapechangers of all sorts.-

-I imagine being able to call up and talk to your dead mother for advice is a terrible temptation for the living, as well as knowing they are not in the Shroud,- he /sighed. -Or, you could talk to the mother of your rivals. I gather she serves as an ambassador at times?-

-Indeed. She wants to recruit suitable members of the noble families in Europe under me... and possibly some not-so-suitable members under herself.-

-She’s already a Warlock Queen, and is working on being a Shadow Empress?- He identified the ploy immediately.

-Given how she’s going to be de facto ruling through proxies in Peru shortly enough, the process has begun. Having Heavenbound to bounce off solutions for all her subjects to prosper, instead of playing this off against that, will be helpful for the balancing situation.-

-Her experience in rulership alone will no doubt be useful, especially when she takes it from those who had it there previously. How did Sama take her presence?-

-She came up with the Hell Hound appellation. Shvaughn just laughed.-

-She would,- he /admitted. -Shvaughn’s driving motivation is to stay alive, it trumps all else. Being invaluable and helping run the world in a positive manner is a great way to help do that.-

-Yes. She is acutely aware that there is stuff Outside the Shroud that is inimically hostile to the planet, too, and is aware she cannot fight them alone. She doesn’t want to just run, either, as the threats never truly go away.-

-There are too many forces who will be looking for her for the Pacts she’s stolen, if nothing else.- He smiled slightly. -I understand that she’s taken to wearing a Vivic Siphon?-

-She delivered the Receptacle to Heavenbound Hall herself; it’s being used as the basis for the Master Receptacle in Penitent’s Hall. She’s effectively pouring in 11d6 to it all day, whenever she isn’t using the Wrath herself. I reimbursed her for the goldweight cost, of course.-

-Of course. That was an extraordinary idea, offering Dark Warlocks who’d had enough a potential way to gaff their Pacts.-

-That was just profiteering on my part, I’m afraid. The real power was leaking the fact that cycling Pacts costs their Patrons the souls attached to them while under the Shroud. So, get a Dark Pact, do Good deeds, die, and if the Pact gets re-used, they don’t get your soul.-

He blinked again. -The Patrons are basically putting a freeze on new Pacts?-

-And trying to make sure the ones who have them are Damned, even if they lose them. Which naturally takes a great deal more time and effort on their part, especially with Penitent Hall’s offer right there on the table. If the Pactbearer revolts, what can they do? Kill them, and then cycle the Pact, losing their soul anyways?-

-And if the Shroud goes away, and the massive net loss of power from Dark Pacts becomes obvious, the Pacts might be cancelled, and they can lose them anyways! The only souls they are guaranteed to get are the ones who have already died whose Pacts have not yet cycled!- he /realized, pleasantly impressed. -Quite cunning, Lady Traveler!-

-Not my idea, I borrowed it from Terra-Luna. They started using it to manage the populations of Dark Warlocks, much to the dismay of many Pact Grantors. While on the macro scale losing all that power is infinitesimal, in real terms, hundreds of Warlocks siphoning your power away to strengthen your enemy constantly, all the time, day and night, starts to really add up on a planetary scale.

-Allowing the Warlocks to still profit while doing so is just gravy.-

-And turns Sinbound, Hellsworn, and Demonchained into productive members of society.- He was definitely amused. -Very clever. Who thought of it?-

-The Warlock Grandmaster, Sole. He was getting tired of killing Dark Warlock cults popping up among the greedy who didn’t get any magic powers, and decided to take a different tact. The fools who took the Pacts could make money, save their souls, and piss off the Dark Powers at the same time. Killing the outraged Pact Patrons granting them juice if they came to confront the Pactbound was much more fun than wiping out balding fat men who wanted powers, or teenagers lusting for anime magic of their own.

-The Penitent are actually a fairly influential force in some ways back home. Broad vivic inundation of an area really helps with crop yields, and in making magical Architecture and such things.-

-I imagine they get idiots thinking there’s no risk in taking such a Pact if they can do such a thing, then.-

-Of course, there will always be fools not considering what might happen if the Grantor grits their teeth and just waits for you to die. It might take a century, but it does send a message.-

-And hopefully dissuades other fools.-

-Bob the Sinbound Penitent has been dutifully fulfilling his job as a repentant Warlock for thirty-seven years, and Sin has still not let go of his soul. Do you want to be the same?- I mock-quoted...