Chapter 248: An Imperial Overture (1/2)

As the cometelias darted around us, they danced among the stars, adding to the moment. I gathered my composure, calming myself down. I turned towards Obolis,

”Thanks for sharing all this with us. It's incredible.”

Obolis gestured a hand to me, ”Perhaps in our next meeting I may share even better scenery. For now, however, you no doubt are curious as to why I wanted a meeting with you in the first place. You withstand a strained schedule, no doubt, and conceding me your time is a valuable concession. I have no intention of spitting on the favor.”

I nodded. Torix paced up beside me, ”Indeed we are, though this is a rather extraordinary method of meeting us. Perhaps it's a diplomacy tactic?”

Obolis carried the natural confidence of a ruler. Obolis stepped up to us,

”It is, though, I relish in the same scenery even when doing something as simple as reading. One day, both of you may choose to do so as well.”

He turned to Helios, who remained to kneel at his side, ”Onto the matter at hand. You remembered to write the contracts I mentioned?”

Helios kept his gaze low as he lifted his hands. His status appeared, showing several documents detailing arrangements between factions. In this case, our factions.

”These are written well. Excellent work as always.” Obolis turned towards us, ”I've actually been wishing for an arrangement between both our guilds.”

Staring around, I murmured, ”What could you want from us?”

Obolis scoffed, ”You both carry an otherworldly level of humility. Disarming as it is, I need you both to understand the resources you have to offer. Think of this as a gesture of goodwill on my part. Few would inform their dealer of a fortune beneath their feet.”

I shrugged, ”Unless it benefited them, of course.”

Obolis chuckled as the multi-layered obelisk above his palm shimmered for a moment, mana coursing through it. A frosty projection appeared, showing edited footage of our last battle in Fausel. This hologram layered over the more realistic, materialized memory.

In the sub-layered video, cataclysmic detonations echoed throughout a familiar city. I recognized the growing voids and detonations of my singularities. The footage demonstrated the Adair family's fall in absolute clarity. Obolis gestured to it,

”Perhaps the Empire could create a far vaster impact throughout a war. Our resources are vast in that regard.” Obolis clasped his hand into a clawed fist,

”However, we could not rival this level of martial might on such a small scale. That is invaluable to my aims in particular.” He met my eye,

”I say this in seriousness - this is devastation the likes of which even solar-scale guilds fear.”

A chill ran up my spine. I kind of knew we were getting good at fighting, but I didn't understand how good exactly. In a way, knowing this built my confidence but also put even more pressure on me. Having this kind of influence meant any of my mistakes might result in mass havoc.

I didn't want more massacres on my shoulders.

Helios turned to Obolis, the blind ice mage mouthing, ”It's remarkable that he's progressed to such an extent since we met. He was an oddity at first.”

Obolis turned to Helios, ”Caprika informed me of your treatment towards the Harbinger's Legion. We will discuss it in detail later.”

I expected Helios to wince. He cowered, his hair standing on end.

Damn.

”Onto more fruitful discussions,” Obolis said with a knowing grin. An image of Polydra exploded on one of the projections,

”I've been viewing your battles since the first in Polydra. You've access to several forbidden technologies and techniques. I am curious if you would perhaps share your knowledge with me in that regard.”

Obolis, ever curious, pointed at the point of impact for my Orbital Bombardment,

”No matter how many times I survey the broken fragments of footage from your landing in Polydra, I cannot dissect how you created such devastation.”

Obolis waved his hands, staring at them for answers, ”My mind wanders to nuclear weaponry, yet you're not exiled from the system.”

Torix scoffed, ”We would never even dwell on such callous tactics.”

Obolis pursed his lips, ”I expected as much. You both likely know that certain species of eldritch feast on radiation. This gives them a tremendous growth potential after nuclear weaponry has been used. After uncovering that, Schema illegalized them. With that option gone, I wondered if it was a kinetic bomb of sorts.”

I pointed at him, ”Bingo.”

The Emperor's eyes widened at the prospect of learning something new,

”Ah, so my presumption was correct. Allow me to guess how you accomplished the feat.”

He covered his mouth with his clawed hand, ”Perhaps you took an orbiting chunk of solar debris and pulled it towards a planet's surface?”

I bit my lip for a moment, thinking it over. I mean, technically yeah.

”Uh, yeah, pretty much.”

Obolis tapped his chin, ”You then created a warp where it would land, redirecting the force?”

Torix laughed to himself, ”Essentially, yes.”

Obolis narrowed his eyes, ”I dismissed such a proposition given more thought, however. Even with unlimited resources, calculating the descent of the celestial body, and within the time frame necessary, was all but impossible.”

Obolis shook his head, ”And that's assuming your portal creator can get in the required position in time. The frictional heat from the descent of a meteorite can ignite creatures dozens of miles away. The more I dwelled on the topic, the more curious I became.”

A look of hunger came over Obolis's face, ”How did you two work through the logistics involved?”

I pointed at the city then at me. I raised out a flat palm then smashed my other fist into my other hand. Obolis raised an eyebrow. I shrugged,

”I smashed myself into the ground.”

An awkward silence passed through the living memory and the group in it. A look of disbelief crossed over Obolis,

”Wait a moment...you smashed yourself into the ground? That's it?”

”Yup.”

Obolis jaw went slack, ”And...you lived?”

”Yes.”

”You didn't utilize a complex and coordinated series of magical bombardments?”

”No.”

”Or perhaps a synchronized portal warping to transport a solar flare?”

”No.”

”You just...smashed yourself into the ground?”

”Yes.”

Obolis crossed his arms before giving me a slow nod. He shook his head while raising his eyebrows,

”Well...Here I was hoping for some replicable scheme. In many ways, this is even more impressive than trickery, however. You don't need tricks. You simply accomplish your goals with brute force. I admire that, though I prefer different methods. In my long life, I've found that at times, brute force is all but necessary.”

Obolis gestured at the contracts, ”That's precisely why I wish to create an alliance between us. As you've already surmised, we each carry different talents that are specific to each of us. My information network is vast, and I own decades of experience within Schema's system.”

Obolis gestured an open palm to each of us, ”On the other end of this spectrum, you both are isolated yet overwhelmingly powerful in a direct confrontation. While I may maneuver myself through different situations using information and resources, there are times where I need a hammer. I'm here asking for your guild to be that hammer.”

I raised my eyebrows, ”You want to hire us as mercenaries?”

Obolis cupped his hands together, ”You saw through my political wording in an instant. Rather blunt, but that's precisely how hammers should be. Heavy. Hard. Unstoppable. I'd be contracting your guild to handle insurrections of my Empire, along with a few specific goals further down the line.”

I frowned with my eyebrows raised, ”So you'd be like a boss?”

Even with his mask on, I could feel the glare coming from Helios. Obolis peered at me, undeterred. He gestured towards Torix,

”Tell me, are there entities you fear?”

I turned to Torix, who gave the question some thought. I wanted to say there was none, but that'd be a lie. Instead, I let Torix answer,

”Perhaps there are a few enemies in the distance we'd rather not face head-on at this moment, yes.”

Obolis nodded, ”A wise decision in many respects. If you lack fear, then you'll crash against something you cannot kill before it kills you. Case and point - Lehesion. An Old One. Schema. This concept is precisely why your guild is hiding from prying eyes.”

My eyes narrowed, my voice harder than iron”You're going to threaten to expose our guild's location to the Adair family?” A jagged maw tore open across my faceplate, a red miasma leaking from between the teeth,

”That's a dangerous road, friend.”

Torix's burning, blue eyes shifted to a blood-red in an instant. Obolis raised his palms,

”Perhaps unwarranted accusations aren't the most amicable means of continuing a discussion?”

I calmed myself down, shaking off the sudden spike in anger. Obolis was right about that. Torix did the same as Obolis gave us the benefit of the doubt,

”I understand your wariness, given your violent situation. To be certain, the answer to that accusation is no. I carry no such intentions, and Schema would eviscerate any guild that did so.”

Obolis tilted his head, ”However, there are many spies that are attempting to discover your guild's location at this very moment.” Obolis turned towards Torix, ”You act as the logistician, general, and resource manager, correct?”

Torix lifted his fingers, counting on his fingers. At nine, Torix stopped, ”Among other things, yes.”

I winced a bit. I had to take some workload off the guy.

Obolis gave Torix a knowing nod, ”Surely, you must be struggling under such burdens?”

I turned to Torix, a bad taste lingering in my mouth. I bit my lip, taking a deep breath. Obolis was right about that. Torix managed dozens of positions in our guild, literally. Hell, even when working on the lich circle, he still maintained his duties. I fell behind, overwhelmed by the tasks at hand.

Even if Torix didn't fuck up further down the line, it wasn't fair putting so much work and stress on the guy. After all, you can't be perfect at everything. Obolis spread out his hands,

”Before you is an offer to alleviate much of the tedium in those tasks. We would give you access to one of the galaxy's widest information networks. Security and secrecy would be an issue of the past, allowing you to look towards the future.”

I turned to Torix. The lich considered Obolis's proposal for a bit, but Torix seemed unconvinced overall. Obolis grinned,

”Unconvinced? Understandable. There's more I may offer. You'd gain access to resources your guild couldn't even dream of, such as relics lost to time. These artifacts could result in enormous boons for your guild.”

I considered Obolis's offer, but after thinking of what I may want, I came up blank. I tilted my head,

”Like what exactly?”

Obolis gestured to Helios. The World Ruler lifted his hand, taking off his gauntlet covered in the cipher. Obolis grabbed it in his hand,

”Given the cipher carved into your own skin, I'm guessing you already know the nature of these runes. You understand the implications of giving you this relic, no doubt?”

I stared at the markings, my entire mindset giving way to greed for a moment. Obolis noticed the subtle shift in my face. As I tore my eyes from the relic, I shook my head in disappointment. It was unlike me to want something I couldn't just make for myself. This right here though, this was an incredible offer.

Within these gauntlets hid the secret for matter conversion. It was the secret Yawm used for his near-infinite mana production, given to him by Etorhma. Wielding this gauntlet, Helios did the same, shoring up any concerns for mana he could possibly have.

The process for that tactic was deceptively simple too. With just a tiny bit of mana, the cipher inscription auto-piloted the splitting of atoms. It then converted the resulting energy into usable mana. Of course, wielding the resulting mana was a volatile, dangerous, and challenging task. I was confident I could control it with a bit of practice.

No, not confident. I was certain.

You'd think I lacked much use for the gauntlet considering my mana generation. Quite the opposite, actually. If the resulting energy from those transcriptions fed into the runic markings of my cipher, I could rapidly augment my stats. As great as my current cipher inscriptions were, I hit a wall in my progress recently.

This would give me another way of breaking through to that next level.

It was an offer I never expected, and Obolis was well aware of how valuable this artifact was. The Emperor turned it in his hand,

”It's a miracle in many ways, isn't it? I discovered this while searching through several fringe worlds outside of Schema owned space. It's interesting to see how the development of the eldritch is viewed in those isolated areas. The entire timelines of the species are different in nature.”

Obolis handed the gauntlet back to Helios, who dawned it on his clawed hand again. Obolis turned back to us,