Arterius masked his surprise as best he could as he stood, floating in space with his arms held behind him. He knew that the enemy had to be quite powerful for them to attempt to steal away such a high-profile catch from the Grand Order. But when he left his ship to go meet with the opposing three that had arrived, he had not been expecting, not in the least, to have three Monarchs emerge one by one from their respective ships. And each of them was infamous, notorious in their own right. As powerful pirate captains of equally notorious pirate crews, they’d staked their claim on vast swathes of open space. They had risen to a point where they didn’t even need to raid passing ships anymore. Instead, they simply collected tolls from merchants, as if it was understood that safe passage through their space was a privilege that needed to be paid for.
Individually, they were undoubtedly powerful, but not to a level where they would ever instigate a conflict with the Grand Order. There was more of a tacit understanding between the Order and pirate crews of their level; one of mutual avoidance. But both parties knew that if a single crew was to go against the Grand Order, the Grand Order would always come out on top, albeit with some sizable damages.
However, if three of them were to form an alliance, then they would become a real problem.
The Grand Order had a total of four Monarchs within their ranks, but due to their level, they were usually spread out across the entire universe. Gathering them quickly for a fight would be nigh impossible. So Arterius knew, as he stood calmly and watched the Monarchs emerge from the ships, that there was little hope left for him to keep the Insect Monarch out of the pirates’ hands, if he was truly what they were after. Even with Aya and the Cloud Saint with him, he didn’t stand the slightest chance against the joint forces of three pirate Monarchs. Not only were they each in the same realm as him, they had also reached that level as pirates. That, above and beyond anything else, proved just how dangerous they were. To reach such a level in a profession that boasted such a high mortality rate was more than testament to their incredible battle skill.
“Ah, Arterius,” the first of them said as he arrived before the Archbishop. “It’s been far too long.” The man was aged, with the wrinkled, rough skin of a man who’d lived a long, hard life. Arterius knew that it was unlikely the man would ever ascend to the next realm at this point. At the higher realms, the longer a mage spent in a realm, the more they physically aged. And the more they aged, the harder it got to ascend. Arterius had heard the man was getting desperate now, spending copious amounts of the treasure he’d amassed looking for ways to cheat his way into the next realm.
“Mace,” Arterius responded by way of greeting. “It’s a pleasure.”
The next to arrive was a younger woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She was clothed in a sea blue robe, and the elegance she carried herself was at odds with the dirty image of most pirates. Her most notable feature, however, was the pair of wings that sprouted from the center of her back, covered in sleek blue feathers: the mark of her proud Storm Falcon lineage.
Arterius immediately narrowed his eyes with distaste as he saw the woman. Although the woman was a much more pleasant sight than the dirty old man beside her, the Archbishop was far more unsettled by her presence. The man, Mace, was a typical pirate, in every sense of the word. Wild and unrestrained, cowardly and evil. But the woman was different. She was intelligent, ruthless, and manipulative. She was incredibly young for a mage in her position, likely only around twenty-five hundred years old. She’d risen like a meteorite, with vicious rumours surrounding her every step upwards. Rumours of assassinations, blackmail, and kidnapping, among other underhanded crimes.
Arterius despised the lifestyle of all pirates, but he especially disliked criminals like her. Intelligent, patient people like her were far more dangerous as enemies than people who would openly hate you. At least normal pirates fought openly, face to face.
Admittedly, that was largely because the majority of them weren’t intelligent enough to fight the wars of information and manipulation, but Arterius stood by his opinion. He respected stupid pirates more than the smart ones.
The last of the Monarchs to show was another of the stupid, more respectable ones. It was a young man, in the prime of his career, and the most recent Monarch of the three. He was cleaner than the old man, but still carried himself with the laidback nature that plagued most people of his profession.
The four mages stood in silence for a moment, each side studying the other. The two men on the pirates' side had smug grins stretched over their faces, content in the knowledge that they were guaranteed to win the fight.
“So, Arterius,” Mace began, smiling. He was one of the few pirates in the universe who would dare refer to the Archbishop of the Grand Order so casually. “I think we are all aware of why were are here. And as much as I’d like to sit down and chat like we used to, I’m afraid we don’t have the luxury of time today. Those damn snobs at the–”
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“You idiot!” came the other man’s voice, cutting Mace off before he could finish his sentence. “I swear, is there even a single thought that goes through your fat head before you speak?” The man was clearly incensed, but there was a slight undertone of fear that Arterius did not miss.
“Both of you, shut up,” the woman finally spoke, ending the man’s tirade. With a sigh, she turned to Arterius and addressed him instead. “Ignore these two ignoramuses. We are here for one reason, and one reason only. Hand over the Insect Monarch, and we will be on our way. Resistance will only end with needless casualties on your side, and the result will be the same.” The woman spoke matter-of-factly, almost robotic in her lack of emotion.
Arterius sighed in dejection, but an idea was already forming in his head. “Well, you’re right about that. As wounding as it is to my ego, the fact is undeniable that I won’t be able to stop the three of you from taking the Insect Monarch – but," Arterius paused for a second for effect, "I am the Archbishop, after all. With Aya behind me, even the three of you will never be able to kill me, no matter what. And if I decide that I will resist with everything I have, you will win, but your victory will be painful. Who knows, I might even take one of you out before you all manage to remove me from the fight for good.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed at Arterius’ words. “What are you trying to say?”
Arterius smiled finally, the smile of a man in control again. “Well, I’m thinking that it would be better for all the parties involved here if we just came to an agreement instead. One that doesn’t involve so much violence.”
The woman was silent for a moment, clearly considering. The fact that the other two men remained silent still was all Arterius needed to see to know that they were only here as muscle. The woman was clearly the one making the executive decisions.
“And what is your proposal?” the woman finally asked.
“I will hand over the Insect Monarch to you, willingly and with no resistance. In turn…” Arterius paused again “I want to know why you want him. An action like this will make you an enemy of the entire Grand Order, and I don’t see a single benefit in this plan for you all. Not to mention, three Pirate Monarchs working together is unprecedented. So, satisfy an old man’s curiosity, and you’ll get what you want without having to lose a limb for it. How does that sound?” Arterius ended with a harmless smile, but the three pirates present weren’t fooled. They could sense the terrifying power that hid behind the friendly smile; after all, humble as he was, an Archbishop of the Grand Order was no easy opponent, even outnumbered three to one.
The woman entered a contemplative silence again, before letting out a small sigh as she came to a conclusion. Divulging the information Arterius was asking for was dangerous, but she’d take that risk over having to deal with an Archbishop determined to stop her, even if she was sure she’d win in the end.
“Very well,” the woman said, making her decision. The thought of Arterius not following through on his end of the deal didn’t cross her mind for a second as she did. The man had a reputation, after all, and she knew all too well just how much the man deserved it.
“You’re right about our alliance. We did not choose to work together, nor do we care for the Insect Monarch. We are here not of our own volition, and act at the threat of our lives.”
Arterius raised an eyebrow at that, a reaction far more subdued than any normal person in the universe would have. Monarchs had reached a level that might as well have made them deities in the eyes of the common people; to hear that one, let alone three of them, feared for their lives was a shocking statement, to say the least.
The woman smiled grimly at Arterius’ reaction, blowing out a breath as she began her story. “The three of us were individually approached by members of the Seven Petals, who informed us that we were to jointly intercept this fleet and retrieve the Insect Monarch while his core was still warm. In fact, we were given explicit instruction that we were to keep the man’s core warm until we hand him over to them.” Her voice, as always, was temperate, completely at odds with the information she was revealing.
Arterius’ eyes widened as the woman spoke. “You mean to say that they plan on reviving the man?!” he asked incredulously.
The woman shrugged, her reaction noncommittal. “They didn’t say anything about it, and it is not my responsibility to make any conclusions on what they did say.”
Arterius shook his head, barely even listening to the woman’s response. His mind was reeling, preoccupied with the potential ramifications of the information he’d just heard.
The possibility of the Insect Monarch returning to life was problematic enough as it was, but the added factor that was the Seven Petals involving themselves in the mess made everything so, so much worse. Arterius was getting a headache just thinking about it.
“Now then, why don’t you let us through, let us grab the man, and we can call off our ambush and each go on our merry little ways,” the old man, Mace, said with a laugh as the woman stopped talking, wanting to get on with the deal before Arterius could get back to his senses and decide to change his mind.
Arterius sighed deeply, clearing his mind. Something big was afoot, he knew. A feeling had been nagging at him for a while now, ever since he’d first started noticing the strange actions of the major players in the universe. Now, that feeling had been confirmed, but fighting it right now would be futile. For now, the best course of action was to rally the powers of the Grand Order together – which meant getting as much of the fighting force that he had with him back to the main army alive – and prepare for future developments, whatever they held.
“Aya,” Arterius said aloud, speaking directly into her ear even though she was sitting on her bed, all the way back in the ship. With a heavy voice, Arterius issued his command. “Release the Insect Monarch.”