Chapter 557: Ryun
Maneuvering
The room they stood in was small, and incredibly secure. They had purchased the entire building from the Framework as they didn’t have the time to actually build it the old fashioned way.
“It is the same as the others,” Valthua announced to everyone. “Though it is not of the same batch.”
Ryun narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like where this was heading.
“Not the same batch?” Selia asked. “They couldn’t be mass producing them already? They wouldn’t dare.”
“You would be surprised by what the Exalted Empire would dare to do,” Vryull added as he shook his head. “Their only goal is to advance what they believe to be the true science. Their understanding of technology.”
Ryun glanced to the side where Erdania stood with her hands crossed, glaring at the items on the table. Anrosh cleared her throat and brought Ryun’s attention to her.
“The issue that I see is that we have them. How? They cannot be so incompetent that they lost four of them. Nor can we be so lucky that we had gotten all of those that were stolen.”
Vryull’s face tendrils twitched. “You are, of course, correct, Sect Leader. They wouldn’t be so incompetent as to lose them. One of these was stolen by someone who worked on the project. That one I believe is understandable. Betrayal from within can circumvent many safeguards. But these three,” he said, pointing at the three small cylinders in the second box. “How did this end up with the Unchained?”
Ryun grimaced, understanding what he meant. “Naha only said that the Unchained were trying to hide them when she stumbled onto them.”
“The Unchained are, were, a terrorist faction set on killing High Rankers,” Erdania started. “They had a lot of connections everywhere in the Core. They couldn’t have survived as long as they did otherwise. It is possible that they stole them.”
“Or,” Selia narrowed her eyes. “They were given them with specific targets in mind. The Exalted Empire was too far away to come in any real contact with the Unchained. There would be little bad blood between them.”
“Possible,” Valthua said. “But if they had decided to sell them, or even just provide them in return for a service, it means that they’ve reached a point where they no longer fear retaliation from the other factions.”
“They have swallowed up a large part of the Core,” Vryull added. “And they continue to expand.”
Ryun turned to look at Valthua, their resident researcher, teacher, and scientist in charge of all things related to Essence. Her school had grown much from what it used to be. The Sect had poured resources into her research, and it had borne a lot of fruit.
Valthua met his eyes. “I fear that Vryull is right, this,” she waved a hand at the miniaturized Reaction Engines. “—is not experimentation. This is the finished product. They’ve made weapons that can be mass produced.”
“How dangerous are they, did you figure it out?” Selia asked.
Valthua nodded. “Everything is Essence, and so interactions between Essence are as varied as their number. A Reaction Engine, is a bomb made out of different types of Essence, a device that compresses them and forces their shells to interact in a way that exerts a powerful influence on the core of an Essence particle, making it crack and creating a chain reaction that shatters every Essence particle it come in contact with. But it can only sustain that reaction for as long as it has fuel. Some it gets from the surrounding, the Essence that it shatters, but most of it comes from the device itself.
Anrosh nodded. “We can’t keep it a secret if they are breaking the agreements. World powers must know. Especially if there is a threat of a war.”
Ryun sighed. It seemed that there was always something.
“Send word to Hitor, tell him that I’d like a gathering of the Council of Sects,” Ryun ordered.
“A gathering of all the members will take time, months,” Anrosh warned.
“It’s a big accusation,” Selia interjected. “We’ll need time to prepare anyway.”
Anrosh nodded. “I’ll do it. Do you want to warn anyone ahead of it?”
Ryun shook his head. “We don’t know how far the Exalted Empire’s influence spreads. I don’t want us knowing about it to spread. It might make them do something about it.”
“We already have their people. They must know by now that they are here,” Erdania interjected.
“Probably,” Anrosh added. “Though from what Marianna has said they made sure to destroy all evidences of their theft. The Reaction Engine they stole was reported as used in a test. They shouldn’t know that we have it, let alone the three other ones. At most, they can accuse us of sheltering criminals from their Empire.”
“That should buy us enough time for others to gather,” Ryun said. “Once I fill them in and give them the proof it will be up to them to inform other world factions. Then it is their problem.”
“You don’t want to get involved?” Vryull asked.
Ryun shrugged. “I have no reason to. I didn’t sign any agreement and I have no real grudge against the Exalted Empire. I am obligated to let the Sects know about a possible threat, nothing more.”
“No grudge?” Anrosh asked with a look that Ryun knew very well.
“My personal feud with the Herald doesn’t extend to every member of the Empire. I am not that petty.”
Everyone in the room looked at him.
“What? I’m not.”
“Sure, Ryun, sure,” Anrosh shook her head. “Well, I’ll head out and send that message to Hitor then.”
Slowly, the room emptied, leaving Ryun alone, looking at the Reaction Engines on the table.