The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 382 – On The Right Track

My eternal imposer has written about this, so I suppose I should write about it too. The death of Estus of Weapons and the subsequent formation of Aslana of Swords was a brilliant manoeuvre by Arascus of Pride. I have always had some fondness for the man. I will not lie. There is a certain magnetism to him that I see and I immediately know that this man is a true God. We may have debates about Divinity, we may try to throw certain beings away, but the existence of someone like the God of Pride gives credit to the most discredited theories of Divinity, from Anassa and Malam.

What is a Divine? You know it when you see it.

Whereas the man has always called his kingdom an Empire, the word finally rings true. The moment Aslana of Swords appeared on Arda is the moment that Arascus’ kingdom truly became an Empire. Others are scrambling to try and replicate Arascus’ methods. I have talked with the God of Pride, he offhandedly laughed and joked that they are merely exercises in futility. And then, as if to prove it, he showed me the level of preparation given into the creation of the Weapon Divines. Not of Aslana but of a whole host of new beings. That is when I realised that not a single Weapon Divine will actually be incarnated anywhere but in Arascus’ Empire. I am sure of it now, even if one tries to recreate the incarnation of the Goddess of Swords but make an of Axes instead, they will be so far behind that the only thing they can hope for is to unwittingly assist Arascus in the creation of his own of Axes.

Arda does not have many surprises left for me, but Arascus did. The man’s ambition is limitless. Everyone out there is thinking that his plan was to remove Estus from the equation and that Aslana was simply the wrench in the cogs that will block his incarnation when actually the man is out here creating an army of Divines that are loyal to him. And, best of all, the man is getting praised for it.

I actually agree with Anassa’s and Malam’s theories of Divinity, I just further reduce them down my own of ‘You know it when you see it’. There does not need to be any qualifier attached or any explanation given. Just as everyone knows what a horse is, everyone knows what a Divine is.

When I look at Arascus, then for the first time in my life, I feel like I am looking at someone who deserves Divinity.

- Excerpt from Goddess Irinika’s, of Darkness’, writings. Written in response to a public statement given out by Goddess Allasaria, of Light.

Lyca finished his cigarette and threw the butt away as he closed the distance between himself and the two men Eliza had encased in stone. The fight had lasted less than a minute in the span of that one minute, this gas station was no longer recognisable. Where to even begin? A charred skeleton with all wrong proportions was lying on the ground with long trails of smoke rising around it. The ground around him was just as charred and a puddle of molten steel was by one hand. Then another corpse of a man on his back. It was missing a hand and instead its arm became a stump just below the wrist. From the hundreds of deep cuts over its body, smoke was rising too. Two more bodies, these clean deaths at least.

But whereas Lyca, Edmonton and Fleur did a lot of damage, the most had been done by Eliza. The glass front of the fuelling station had been shattered. One wall had a crack running up it and had obviously been slanted to an unstable angle. The roof was sliding inwards as if it was about to collapse. The cars had been moved when Eliza had pulled up concrete to bury her two prisoners in, and several of the fuel pumps were leaking gasoline. Lyca liked the smell, he didn’t trust anyone who didn’t.

Lyca turned to Edmonton and Fleur and then nodded to the two men in stone. It was V-shape and No-neck. Eliza backed off, obviously happy with the work she had done. “Good job.” Lyca said as he put his arm around Eliza. She was dirty, her shirt was wet with sweat and juice, and her hair smelled like wet dog. Lyca leaned his cheek on her head and she leaned into him.

“Thanks.”

“Honestly good job.”

“I know what you three are like.” Eliza said cheekily and Lyca laughed as they stepped away. This wasn’t their demesne. Even back in Kirinyaa, Lyca’s interrogation technique relied on capturing a White Pantheon officer and passing him on to someone who knew what they were doing.

“And here I tried to be professional.” Edmonton as he took the stage in front of the men. “Well gentlemen, I am Edmonton, you may call me Ed.” He sounded bored and professional. Lyca could honestly believe that the man had a hundred interrogations under his belt even though that was impossible. Wasn’t it? Edmonton extended two arms to Fleur. “This is Fleur. She will be also asking questions.” When neither No-Neck nor V-Shape responded, Edmonton looked to Fleur.

“Parlez-vous Allian?” The girl said and the two men looked at her with dry gazes that said they would obviously not be answering any questions. “Parlez-vous Rancais?” Fleur asked. “Est-ce que tu parles?” Lyca did not understand a word.

Edmonton sighed and looked at the men. “We don’t have the time, the patience or the energy to sit here and beg you to talk. It would be easier for everyone involved if you just answered the questions.” No-Neck actually spat at Edmonton, although the spit got nowhere near to the man. It splashed onto the cracked asphalt that looked as if it had been a scrunched rug. Lyca rolled his eyes, that was a mistake. At least No-Neck confirmed he understood enough words to elicit spitting. Edmonton stared at the spit, then at man buried in the tarmac. He turned to Eliza and said the command with all the enthusiasm a depressed office-worker would use on a Monday; none at all. “Castrate him.”

Immediately, two men revealed that they understood everything, or at least that they understood enough. Both of them shouted: “NO-!” and “WA-!” and both of them screamed. The four sorcerers waited for a solid half a minute for the men to pull themselves back together and stop crying.

“I didn’t say both of them.” Edmonton didn’t even sound annoyed, it was more as if he was impressed.

“I castrated one and broke the toes of the other.” Eliza said as V-Shape started to cry. Was he the one? Eliza pulled out her phone as Edmonton got to questioning the men.

“Are we feeling more talkative now?” The man asked.

“What do you want?” No-Neck demanded.

“Who gave you power?” Edmonton said.

“Anarchia! Who do you think?!”

“So you’ve met Anarchia?” Edmonton said. “In the flesh, you’ve seen her?”

“No I’ve not seen her.” Lyca felt his elbow be bumped by Eliza’s and looked down. She had opened Notes on her phone and had written something for him to read. ‘Do you want to see something smart?’ Lyca took the phone.

“But she’s given you power?” Edmonton mused. “Curious that, how can a Goddess you’ve not met give you power?”

“Are you stupid man?” He asked. “Everyone knows its her chosen that hand out power.” ‘What is smart?’ Lyca typed into the phone.

“Hypothetically.” Edmonton said. “Lets say I agree with you. My friend here.” He extended an arm to Lyca. “He has a big mouth and talks a lot, but there’s a heart of gold in him. It’s not our fault the situation turned out as it has. Let’s say I want to join.”

No-Neck burst out in laughter. “Why the FUCK do you think we would let you join?”

“I don’t know, I know of far worse things than castrating a man.” Edmonton looked up at the sky and made a motion of freshening the air in his shirt. “On hot days like this, I’ve cooked eggs on car hoods.”

“I’ve seen cookies rise through glass.” Fleur added.

“A man could cook alive.” Edmonton said and shrugged as if he was merely musing. Eliza passed the phone back to Lyca. ‘For both of them I broke their toes so that they think the other’s been castrated and still think they have something to lose.’ Lyca made an impressed face and drew Eliza closer.

“Aren’t you just a little genius?” He asked and Eliza laughed. Edmonton reminding No-Neck and V-Shape of their situations, and the fact that if they were left here they would be cooked alive crushed whatever resistance they had left.

“It’s not up to me to decide if you can join or not. And you need a recommendation anyway.”

“Who could I get a recommendation off?” Edmonton asked.

“The man in charge of this area is lying on the ground down there.” No-Neck’s beady brown eyes went to Snakespine. Or rather the pile of charred bones which remained of Snakespine.

“Then higher up.” Edmonton said. “You must know, right?”

“Ranks don’t get skipped.”

“I assume an exception will be made for mages.” Edmonton replied quickly. Lyca followed along with what the man was saying, and that’s why he didn’t intervene to shut him down. Anyone who didn’t know Edmonton would think the man was a young boy, overly excited and with the power of magic on his side. Even the tone Edmonton used sounded like the sort that men who had never been in a real fight used. It was the complete opposite of normal Ed, who could see a continent split apart and then go for breakfast.

No-Neck chuckled and V-Shape finally stepped into the conversation. The other man too was buried in a molehill of cracked tarmac that had pulled itself over him. “You’re delusional.” V-Shape said. “We don’t accept mages in the first place. Anarchia has that as a rule herself. We only recruit from people at the bottom.”

Edmonton’s faux excitement was not hampered even a bit. “I’d like to see of that myself rather than trusting you.”

“See for it yourself then. You think that a little magic is enough to stop Anarchia’s blessing?” Edmonton looked at the corpses on the ground.

“I thought you were tougher if I’m honest.”

“Fuck you!” V-Shape shouted and Edmonton apologetically raised his hands.

“Sorry sorry!” He said quickly, making himself look like a total idiot. Lyca saw what the man was doing. Any information extracted from this lot under threat of pain could be false and simply said to make the pain go away. But there was one to get reliably correct information from people, and that was to get them to start gloating. Edmonton had somehow managed to build the confidence of two men who were encased in tarmac. “But I just thought I could help out!”

“You’re an idiot with too much power kid.” V-Shape said.

“I’ll tell you where to go if you break us out.” No-Neck shouted. There was no option of that happening, but let these men believe it.

“The fact it came to this in the first place is a mistake!” Edmonton said. “Of course, do you think there’s anyone out there that would leave you in there?” Lyca would. Lyca knew Ed and Fleur and Ela would too.

The man took a deep breath, as if defeated. “I can’t tell you anything because I myself don’t know, not the organisation, not the orders, not the power, I don’t know anything like that.”

Edmonton’s smile did not fade whatsoever. “The sun is looking mighty hot today.”

“But I can tell you where to go.”

“Where?”

“Go to Chateau Renee and ask there.”

A thud from behind them made Ed, Ela and Lyca turn their heads. Fleur had dropped her bottle of water and the cap had gone off. Her blue eyes were staring at the man in shock and horror. A reaction like that? Lyca was almost disappointed in himself that he guessed exactly what Fleur said next, even down to the tone. Disbelieving and bargaining and horrified. “That’s my house.”