November 8th, 627
Vetsmon walked down a hallway, finding himself in the training facility.
He heard an explosion soon after opening the door, his eyes catching Feiden snap out of position and appear elsewhere.
Unfortunately for him, there was still the sound of John’s bullet hitting the metal of Feiden’s armor.
Vetsmon glanced at John, seeing him holding a new weapon. It looked bulkier than his other weapons yet more streamlined at the same time, like the technology had been perfected.
He remembered that John was not of this world. The existence of Versals was a tightly guarded secret, but one that could wield the technology of their original world through their summons was unheard of. It answered as many questions about summoners as it created.
John looked at him, setting down the weapon. He could see complex devices around its body, technology that he was only barely beginning to fathom due to how Aerials were evolving.
Vetsmon spoke first.
“Umara said you wanted to see me?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some questions to ask.”
“What about?”
Vetsmon moved to the side, watching Feiden take off his helmet, his face sweaty.
John sat down on a bench, motioning for him to sit as well. After Vetsmon sat across from him, he took out a cigar and started smoking.
A few puffs later he asked.
“How much has the Church told you about the fact that I’m from another world?”
Vetsmon’s heart pounded, nearly floored by the question if not for the fact that he knew how smart John was.
“...How did you find out?”
“The Order gave it away through their actions, but ultimately it remained speculation. I appreciate the confirmation, though I’m not happy that one of my greatest secrets was being handled without my knowledge.”
Vetsmon glanced at Feiden, noticing no surprise on his face. He obviously knew about this.
He decided to set aside his surprise and run with it.
“Well, I assume you’ve told the others.”
“Feiden, Umara, and Tana know. Umara was naturally the first but back then, circumstances compelled me to reveal it. Since then I’ve brought those closest to me into the loop. Except for you. The Church beat me to you.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Nothing to apologize for. As I am now, a secret such as that can hardly affect me even if it got out. You of all people would know how unconcerned I am about secrets and security.”
Vetsmon nodded with a chuckle. The Order had taken John’s guidances on counterespionage and reshaped the way they conduct nearly everything. He had been grilled on all of it, victim to every obsessive summoner who got a hard on while thinking about how tight of a hold they’d be able to exercise over information.
His smile quickly disappeared though, John’s gaze suddenly piercing his thoughts.
“Unfortunately I need to determine where you stand though, Vetsmon. You could say I’m questioning where your allegiances lie, but that’s not quite a good way to put it.”
“What do you mean?”
John took a large breath of smoke, releasing it all in a smooth stream.
“You and Feiden are my best friends, my brothers. Nothing that happened at the end of our time at the Magisterium has changed how I feel about you. I trust you two and Tana as much as I do Umara. But you and I, Vetsmon, are a part of two different worlds. You’ve been trained and adopted by the Order, the Church’s strongest and most covert force. They’ve instilled in you blind obedience, because you trust that they will lead you in the right direction. This is on top of your religious affiliations and your mutual moral fight against the Scourge.
“Now, the Church and I align on almost all issues. There’s a reason I gave them technology that’s now enabling their push toward the Pillars of Creation. Technology you’re using to hunt down others like me, aliens who fight for the Scourge instead of humanity.”
Vetsmon’s heart rose into his throat, his body fighting every urge to react.
He wasn’t sure how John knew about one of the Order’s most secret operations, but it was clear that he had eyes in places the Order did its best to veil.
It made him wonder just how much John truly knew.
“But I’ve got secrets of my own. I’m doing things not even the Order can guess at. Things that will secure the demise of the Scourge. I think we’ll always align on that goal. But that doesn’t mean I can trust the entirety of the Church. There are certain things I want you to know, certain things I want your help with, if not now then in the future. I want an ally that I can trust to keep a secret, someone smart enough to keep their mouth closed when it counts. But my trust demands that yours in me is higher than that of the Church.”
“...You’re not asking me to place you above God, right?”
“Do I look like the fucking antichrist?”
John gave him a dumb look, Vetsmon’s face falling flat.
He sighed and leaned forward.
“Vetsmon, if the day comes that a head from a Paladin Peerage, or someone like Anderson, comes and attempts to accuse me of being heretical or tries to take something that I’ve built for a greater good, whose side will you be on?”
Vetsmon went silent, pondering what such a question meant.
It was difficult to believe that the Church, a nation founded upon Christ, was capable of being led by people who would attempt to subvert someone like John for their own personal gain.
Vetsmon had seen what John had done, what he had built, the devastating blow his Iron Legion had already dealt to the Scourge. His deeds would go down in history merely as they were now, let alone the impact he would have in the coming years.
And that wasn’t mentioning the fact that he gave his technology in its entirety to the Church, effectively free of charge, purely out of the desire to see humanity succeed against their existential enemy.
His subjective flaws be damned, John deserved the highest honors the rest of humanity could give him just for what he’s done thus far. For the first time in history, the Scourge’s eradication could be fathomed.
It was difficult to believe that anybody could possibly try to take advantage of him, strong-arm him into giving up more than he has. Vetsmon expected the Kingdom to do so, but not the Church.
And yet, he was incapable of denying that it was possible.
The raging rationalization in the back of his psyche kicked his ignorance aside and pushed doubt to the forefront. It forced him to believe that not only could it happen, but it would.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Anarchy permeated his brain and forced his thoughts in directions he didn’t normally think possible.
Thoughts about how even the Church could be shortsighted, how even the leaders he revered all his life could be stubborn or so arrogant to believe that they could wield John’s own inventions better than he could.
It left a miasmic taste in his mouth, but he didn’t fight it. He had already rationalized Anarchy. Now it was just doing its job, following the rules and ideologies that he himself had rationalized it with.
He glanced at John. He had his own faults. He had his own arrogance, his own stubbornness and recklessness. Anybody could find fault with him. He had his own vices and biases and prejudices, some of which probably didn’t align with Vetsmon’s own.
Vetsmon had already heard a few stories from Tana over the last few days. Stories about what they were forced to do during their retreat from the Treehouse. Stories about what John had done. They were secrets that couldn’t ever be uttered, but being so pivotal in Tana’s life, she had confided in him anyway.
He had known that the things John had done, even before they had met, had drenched his hands in blood. He was far from perfect, far from innocent.
But they were friends, and if there were any two things Vetsmon could believe in, it was that John would always have his back, and he was hellbent on eradicating the Scourge from this world.
Despite it not being his own world, despite him being dropped in this place with no explanation or reason and thrust into a position where he had to fight for his life, he took it upon himself to use his intellect to develop technology and try to save the world.
He believed in John’s convictions.
So he decided that it was only right to believe in his best friend before leaders with their own interests and potential greed.
Vetsmon couldn’t help a smile.
“I think you’re the last person I’d ever doubt, John. If there’s some idiot, from the Church or not, trying to take what’s yours, I’ll be the first person to step forward. We may not be around each other much these days but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to be your most trusted.”
“As would I. A few years apart will hardly change how I feel about my strongest shield. I know someday we’ll be fighting together again, but until then both of us will only grow. You’ve been doing so under the Order, and I’ve been doing so on a little island called Continuance.”
John pulled out a hilt, inert until it suddenly produced a blade from distilled Psyka and Vigor.
The blade looked like solid light, glowing purple with the mixture of powers that gave it form.
Vetsmon felt his brain tingle, his skin crawling when he felt the subtle malice within that knife.
He remembered Tana’s words, suddenly understanding what she meant by ‘no mere knife’.
“Allow me to let you in on a couple secrets, so you can let me in on some of yours.”
……
…
I sighed and kicked back into my chair, the setting sun glimmering off the pool before me.
The others were hanging around in swimsuits, either sipping drinks within the refreshing embrace of the water or around the bar where one of the butlers served alcohol.
I glanced at the side where one of my new summons was sitting on a small table.
It was an old-tech radio, capable of playing any song I wanted, even ones I didn’t know existed. Unfortunately it could only play for me, for none of those around me besides Aki knew English.
But I played it anyway. They didn’t need to know the language to enjoy the song. That was the beauty of music. Plus, the only other alternative was to listen to theirs, which took Orbs we didn’t have and taste I hadn’t developed.
Funny enough, the radio came from my 7th dimension. It had been hidden so deep that I came across it by sheer luck while projecting on a whim.
Good thing I did, because it gave me new life. My exosuit also developed the ability to play music on its systems. It felt like a void in my soul had been filled when I heard it play.
Now I was all smiles, excited about every new song that came on as if I’d forgotten about them.
I watched everyone chat away, smiles on everyone’s faces and the joy in the atmosphere driving away what seemed like perpetual gloom in our collective Aura.
There was always something to worry about. Soon we’d be back in the midst of battles none of us wanted to fight. It was easy to get lost in these highs of life.
Unfortunately I was never good at ignoring what was ahead, even while trying to preserve my good mood.
After my little talk with Vetsmon I quickly painted a picture of the situation with the Church.
As I figured, they knew about us otherworlders, which they called Versals, and knew about both the good and bad ones. What I hadn’t guessed was that their explanation for the transmigration was that angels brought us here to fight for humanity while demons brought others to fight for the Scourge.
Vetsmon’s upcoming missions involved killing the evil versals in the Pillars of Creation. As for the Church’s attitude toward us Versals, well, Vetsmon wouldn’t know anything about that.
They knew Vetsmon was deeply affiliated with me. They may not suspect just how much he trusted me but they had no reason to take the chance. Vetsmon would do as he was told with or without information and they kept him in the dark. But that in itself told me plenty.
The Church was wary. If not people like Anderson and the Pope, then everyone else lacking absolute power was worried about us. They wouldn’t hinder us. They’d even support us. But they knew that we were all protected by Guardian Angels and had amazing talent. If we were angered, then it would risk our turning against them.
They preferred to take a mild approach, not getting too close to us but also keeping us close enough to both protect and monitor.
But even that was only because the Scourge was compelling them to. They desperately needed the firepower, so despite all their power, and despite us being foreigners from another world, they set aside their reservations and welcomed us.
But how far they would let us go, how much of their power they’d let us take, was still up in the air.
There was no winning against political caution. I could give them all the technology in the world and they’d still hold me at arm's reach. My question was, if I not only pulled away from them, but tried to take a slice of this world’s pie with me, how would they respond?
I was pretty sure they’d do everything short of killing me. I trusted the Pope, and I trusted Anderson, but I didn’t trust any of the other Paladin Peerages, nor did I trust the Order’s leaders and the Templar military generals. Those who didn’t know me personally, only knowing me through my infamy, could only be wary of me.
With Vetsmon coming to my estate, the Order was likely reevaluating his potential relationship with me. Were we merely school friends, or blood brothers? They weren’t sure but I was willing to bet that Vetsmon would be kept on that hellish continent for the foreseeable future. He wouldn’t return to his peerage to take it over. They wouldn’t let him, because of me.
An assumption, of course, but I was willing to assume the most pessimistic outcome.
Now I just had to figure out what to do from now on.
Discontent was brewing throughout the Kingdom. Nephilim were growing in number by the day and the longer they went without being dealt with, the harder it would get to do just that. Over time people would begin to accept some of them. They were previously friends and family, after all. Unfortunately, there was no reversing Corruption.
I knew what would have to be done, but knowing the Kingdom’s elite was driving this, and therefore in the hands of the Scourge, I’d be slapping faces and forging enemies should I do anything in the open.
Which left me just one avenue.
Covert warfare. Espionage, sabotage, spying, and assassinations.
The Nephilim couldn’t be dealt with yet. But if their protectors were eliminated, they could be too. I knew it was impossible to get rid of the true source at the moment, but as Umara said, it was better than doing nothing.
However, after some time to ponder, my thoughts on how to conduct myself, as well as Sector 4, started to shift.
I couldn’t solve the source of the problem. I wouldn’t be able to in the near future and that meant the Nephilim and Scourge would get what they wanted.
They would take control of the Kingdom, and people like me, who didn’t bend to their new societal norms, would be driven out or eliminated.
But not everyone thought as they did. Even when they took control, chances were they wouldn’t be the majority. Quite the opposite.
So instead of trying to stop the inevitable, I figured I’d need to go the opposite route.
I needed to sow so much discord and rage in the wide populus that the Kingdom was driven into two. Although I would lose the battle in the end, I was one of the few people who could see the entire war.
I knew what I had to do. I knew what role I needed to play.
No, I knew what role I wanted to play.
I wasn’t completely sure what I’d lose doing so, but I was being left little choice.
Thankfully I hardly had to prepare. The Nephilim was a wildcard I hadn’t expected, but my perpetual paranoia had not been for nothing. I had been ready for the King himself to suddenly find me guilty of some bogus charge and attempt to take me down, let alone a slow takeover like this.
My pawns were everywhere. My eyes were all-seeing. My ears were behind every wall.
With my newest technology, my enemies were effectively blind.
They didn’t know that the lives of all those below a Duke were in my hands, to take according to my will.
“What are you thinking about?”
I heard Umara’s voice, turning to her as she came to lounge next to me.
I got an eyeful of her swimsuit before accepting her hand, snaking it into mine.
“Just about how much fun we’ll be having soon.”
“Now, when you say things like that, it makes me think we’re about to encounter another cataclysmic event like Purple Sky. Tell me we’re not.”
“Well…”
I gazed out beyond the pool, attempting to quantify just how much blood I was going to be soaking my hands with.
“...In a way, for everyone else, this is going to be much, much worse.”
I tipped my glass, clinking it against hers as she stared at me with an anxious face.
“Cheers, darling. To the end of the world. May the Scourge remain naive in thinking they’re the ones shaping the future.”