V3: Chapter 13:

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Interlude: Khanrow

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A great famine loomed on the horizon, yet instead of tilling soil and dirt, mortals made weapons of war.

"Been a while, Khanrow."

"Riegert." I greeted my second-in-command with a nod. We were meeting in a small outlying town on the outskirts of our bordering territory with the Guardians. In the main house of a vineyard, I looked upon seemingly endless fields of hardy grains grown from the Citadel's gardens. It was a fantastic crop that needed less water, which could be ground into flour, and the stems and stalks could be used to make threads to weave the very packages that they would travel in. "How goes the lands between ours and the Academy's?"

"Skirmishes by the day. Many wounded. Some who need access to the Citadel to be healed." In our past life, that meant wounds which would make a man consider death after becoming a burden. Now, in the Citadel's healing rooms, limbs could be returned, eyes remade, and even wounds that harmed the brain. We had two such Citadels, increasing the number of men we could rescue from such a gruesome fate, but many of our potential foes have it as well. "They're building up mostly on the Scholar's territory, though. It's like you said, they held them afar to stab them in the back."

The Academy had moved to ostracize the Citadels when they first arose. They reasoned that they were the instigators of chaos and violence in the world, and that they should be returned to slumber or destroyed. In the face of the changing times, the Academy now marched to war to seize one for themselves. With all that they already had at their disposal, with a Citadel atop that, they will rival us… if we stood alone.

"They will take the Scholars' Citadel, but that will consign them as hypocrites and conquerors. The veil will fall away and their true colors will be revealed." The Academy held themselves as beacons of justice and righteousness in the world. For so long, they acted as though they held the brigands and warlords at bay from the heart of civilization. Behind their natural walls, with their fertile soil, and with mountain springs and underground rivers, they held an insurmountable advantage and brought low anyone else who might threaten them with duplicity. Now, though, they were brought to light. They were nothing more than a nation themselves that lusted for power. Warlords in robes and hiding daggers in tomes pretending to be better. "You will not tell Jack about this. The Scholars will never ally with us, and with the Academy unmasked, we can rally all others under our banner."

Riegert chuckled lowly at my words.

"You tell me to not help the Scholars, while he tells me to see if we can speed things up and get the Academy to attack sooner. The boy's five steps ahead of us both." A weight on my shoulders that I hadn't known fell away at my friend's words. "A fast war is always better than a quick one. But, the question is who'll be doing most of the killing."

The question made me pause.

"I believe that the Scholars will prove to be a more difficult fight, but the Academy is desperate. Not only that, but they have honor to regain and men to spare." It was the cruelty of sheer numbers and land. The Scholars were one of the last to receive their Citadel. They have only had the structure for a handful of seasons. Not only that, but those who already settled in lands with Citadels were unlikely to move once more. They enjoyed the fact that they would not make the same mistakes of those who found the Citadels, and utilize the quickest and best methods to make use of the Citadels, but everything else was depleted. "They simply don't have the time."

"Yeah, I think so, too. We aren't working with warbands anymore. Skill and pride can take its toll on the enemy, but not in the Academy's numbers against the Scholars." Riegert nodded thoughtfully and cast his gaze outwards towards our lands. There was no sign of battle, no sigh of war, and no sign of famine. Yet, in the distance we could not see, calamities waited to unfold and ravage everything we now saw. This peaceful life, surrounded by stalks of grain in every direction and roads that led to bustling towns that did not fear pillagers no hunger, will be broken in time. "I think that it doesn't matter. They're both going to lose. Even if we can't move, to take those lands, someone else will."

"True." The Merchants came to mind, but so did the Conquerors and the Guardians. The Wardens and the Forgers were too far, but if they prepared now, they could have a force there to strike when needed. A thought occurred to me as I considered that notion and turned my gaze towards the latest wagon of freight began to descend from the sky towards the small, farming town my erstwhile home had available. "But, what makes you think we can't take the Citadel ourselves?"

That question gave Riegert pause.

"If we take that Citadel, then we will lose all our allies and turn the continent to our enemies. They will fight to their dying breath to overwhelm us, even to the point of losing to the coming threats." Riegert spoke honestly, despite what I had implied as his superior. This was one of the reasons why I kept him close. He was never afraid to advise against a course of action. "We'll lose more by doing something, than doing nothing. It would be foolish, Ghor."

"If we took the Citadel for ourselves, such is the case. However, if we assisted one of our allies in doing so… or even someone who opposed us in the past?"

My words made a light of understanding shine upon Riegert's face.

"The Guardians?"

"Them or the Conquerors." I agreed with Riegert with a nod. "Preferably the Guardians, as they view us with suspicion now, but as Jack said they and the Conquerors are the two we can solely trust to truly ally with us. I agree."

"…It's similar to ensuring a warlord we want takes over a warband after the head and his second take to blows, but only time will tell if it can work." Riegert summarized the matter with ease and I nodded. We would have the Academy and Scholar fight one another, then facilitate an ally or a faction we wished to curry favor the victor's spot. Our forces would come in, alongside theirs, and settle the matter under whatever pretense we could. The Guardians were ideal, as they confronted us time and time again for our power, and we would validate our stance as peacekeepers by empowering them and entrusting them. "But, if it works, we prove that we're no budding hegemon and we make a counterbalance to us that can be reasoned with."

"Sometimes, a rival is better than a friend. Our nations will push against one another, and we still hold the advantage of having more friends than them." The Conquerors and the Wardens will both simmer at not being chosen to take a Citadel for themselves, but what choice will they have besides stay close to us when there is an opposing force that could overwhelm them without us? "Let's see if we can sow the seeds."

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Riegert gave a nod at my words, and I felt a calm wash over me.

This was what I knew, and I had confidence in my own ability.

…

Ah, shit, Khanrow's on the hardcore difficulty setting and he's going for the throat.

And, I thought that I'd just let the famine play out, but I guess the window's there.

"Hey, Ayah, looks like you made the right call to start storing some food. We're facilitating the Guardians sweeping in for the kill when the Academy tries to take the Scholars' Citadel." I leaned against my staff, while Ayah walked up to me and took the message from my hands. My guards, along with Rita and Ilych and Sirena, were scoping out the last ruin in our territory. We'd finished the Singing Stones tech, which unveiled loads of other ruins. In the game, the tech just spawned new ruins in your territory. In reality, it allowed access to ruins by figuring out how the ruins with closed doors could be opened. After we take the rest of these ruins, we'll only be getting Artifacts through trade, quests, and making them ourselves. Only quests were worth it. The other two were money sinks. "Think that it'll work out?"

It's been a turn since I returned from the Wardens' lands. Khalai sent letters very week, and every month I received a saucy portrait from him. The day photography gets figured out again, I'm sure that he'll be sending whole magazines along with his weekly letters. You'd think it'd be bad enough the Sirena was sent along to protect and 'tend' to me as an honored friend of the Wardens, but no. The very slender, white-haired, and dark-skinned leader of the Wardens still insisted on trying to seduce me through long-distance mail.

"If they are provided food, they can send more of their Necromancers into the fight." Ayah's answer was succinct. Since we were in home territory, and trusted people, the Ancient Administrator was in its usual getup as a servant. It was the classical maid outfit with the long skirt, frills, sensible shoes, the whole nine yards. After living with the Wardens for a long time, it was refreshing to look at someone so covered up. "With their current level of firearms and equipment, as well as the size of their army, they can march and take the lands with utmost ease."

"Careful, you might jinx them." I took the letter back and read it over again. While I normally played the part of king, Khanrow was my real boss, even if only a select people knew. His orders were something that I needed to make happen. Something that I needed to line up all my goals with. The fact that I had so much leeway to get whatever he wanted done was a blessing. "Hm, well. There's another way to help them that might not need our strategic reserves."

"Oh?"

"An assassination team. One that'll take a whole Citadel." Riegert and the other Champion we'd hired could hold the line and provide bonuses from our two Citadels, while Ilych, Rita, and Sirena went in with support from Citadel Guardians stored on ice. Essentially, we were going to move a ton of firepower into one location and letting it rip, until only the people we sent in was left standing. In-game, you couldn't do it against the last Citadels that just opened up for fairness sake, but those rules and a load of others weren't in effect. "Rita, Ilych, Sirena, and the rest of the transport filled with Citadel Guardians, sent straight in to decapitate the Scholar's Citadel and kill their leader. It'll keep a lot of… undead from being wasted."

There was a deep, rumbling sound and sudden movement from the ruin that we were observing. A second later, the massive stone doors rushed open, and out came flying the carcass of a troll. The three-story tall monster with a hide that could deter steel smashed into a line of trees and broke through them with speed and weight. Nothing else, of course, since the massive creature was already dead with a deep gouge from neck to crotch.

As the corpse cooled, the party I sent to explore came back out.

Ilych was covered in blood, but her sword was already drinking it and strengthening itself. Since I'd last seen her, she'd grown another half-foot. She was definitely half-giant and she'll be closer to ten feet than nine by maturity. She and Rita had kept up the artifact search and found some good stuff while going out there. Now, Ilych sported a dark black coat that gave her thirty-percent evasion and magical resistance, atop a set of plate armor that was like her sword: the more she killed, the stronger it got. You'd think stronger armor meant higher defense, but that wasn't the case. The Crow Fiend's Armor gave her more attack speed and movement speed, and the defense was 'only' standard T2 Champion level.

Essentially, she's gone from murder blender that can decide battles to an army killer that can wade into full-stacks and come out with full health after killing everything in her way. Well, she'll need to max out before doing that against endgame army stacks, but she'll get there. The rogue-like champion's either completely shit or completely broken, and I counted my blessings that the side I'm on got the latter.

Rita received some modest upgrades, too, but nothing as impressive. Better bow for higher attack values and longer range. An upgraded cloak of invisibility rather than concealment. Things like that. Sirena got outfitted too by the Wardens, and even though she got stronger, every upgrade seemed to take more coverage off her. At this rate, even though she's the trio's tank, she'll be sporting a metal slingshot bikini while holding a shield against a city-killing, fiery, demonic titan… and not be in danger in the slightest.

Meanwhile, I got nothing and was basically the pocket medic for the party.

Anyway, Ayah was quiet as the rest of the group approached us with their findings in tow.

Even from where I looked down at the group, I could see that the Ancient guns I'd wanted were nowhere to be sound, so RNG was fucking me again.

"…They will need a capable healer for such an endeavor. You are the sole individual who can suffice."

I took a moment to blink.

Ayah was right.

"Scratch that plan, then. I'm not going in on a suicide mission." Ayah nodded at my words, and I wiped sweat off my brow as I evaded that bullet. The Ancient Administrator was right. Even with Citadel Guardians supporting the three, they'd need someone to patch them up to get things done with the highest chance of success, or at least enable them to retreat if things went south. I was the best outfitted for the job… and that meant the job wasn't happening. "We'll come up with another way to help things along."

"Understood. I'll formulate a stratagem and inform you."

"Thanks."

The masculine urge to party up and kill my way to getting strategic assets was high, but I had to be honest with myself: I'm shit at fighting, I'd only slow the three down, and if I die… well… I'll die.

Too much of a risk, in all honesty, for me to tolerate.

Yeah, that's totally the issue.

Not the fact that I hadn't planned to go in the first place, nor the fact I thought exchanging my frontline champions for a third Citadel was a good trade, since it's early enough to find and raise replacements.

Gotta dial back the powergaming, even with all the apocalypses in the horizon.

Man, I'm fucked up.