Chapter 175: The League
“They’ll deal with this easily, you said. We’re allowed to defend ourselves when attacked directly, so let’s crush Thoma and his pet flatfoots, you said. It’ll make a statement, it won’t matter that we’re not allowed to go on the offensive unless directly attacked because no one will dare go after us now.” A man wearing a stone mask growled “And what happened? Pestilence is dead. War died, and Thoma didn’t even have to lift a bloodyfinger, the coppers did it without needing help. This is why we let Fox handle the plans, not the berk with the name everyone misunderstands when they hear it.”
“Kronos, shut it.” Another figure, face covered by a serpent mask, hissed “It’s not Utgardloki’s fault that you’re ignorant of mythology. Also, calm down, a couple of [Aspirants] died. We already had one [Aspirant for the Mantle of War] die, we know that others can gain that [Class] if they hit the fourth Evolution with the right mindset, feats, and Aspects. Sure, it’ll be a pain to replace them, but we can replace them.”
“Besides, you’re looking at this all wrong.” This time, the speaker was wearing a blue-ish rocky mask, showing a grinning face “Kronos, Kronos, Kronos, you’re treating this like it’s all about the material. Deaths, broken materials, and so on. They’re scared, they’re scrambling, and now, they’re going to fuck up massively.”
“Utgardloki is right.” A mountain of a man sitting at the head of the table, a jet-black mask covering his face, rumbled “Powerleveling politicians to save the nation? That’s going to be a shitshow for the ages.”
“The real question is: how stupid are you?” Utgardloki asked, “You’re trying to rules-lawyer a divine decree, do you really think anyone will choose ‘oh, you’re right, I didn’t phrase that right’ over turning you into a smear on the pavement, eh Surtur?”
The flames burned higher, the only thing keeping the room from turning into an oven being the fact that they weren’t real “Ah yes, let’s hide behind ‘logic’ and pretend you and Fox aren’t shitting your pants at the thought of having to fight?”
“Behave, all of you.” The figure at the head of the table cut in “We will obey the decree as it was issued. But we will not sit idle. We will plan, we will prepare, and the next person who has the audacity to raid us will be met with an army equipped and trained to counter them specifically. The world will burn, and we will gain life eternal!”
The behemoth in the black mask was the first to raise his voice in assent, but it didn’t take long for the others to join in, the cheers shaking the very room itself. N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.