After having confirmed that Ponde wasn't going to regenerate, Gi returned to the ship. The Stonereach guards for some reason were all on their knees as they stared at him from the wall in a way that he wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"Show off," Ellen said.

The King did a very lukewarm slow clap. "That looked more powerful than my ultimate Skill. Impressive."

The rest of his Elites were nowhere to be seen, having left to go deal with whatever the clan's needs were. So it was just the three of them on the ship.

"I didn't expect it to be such a show, but I needed enough Aether flooding the space to drown out the Wild Aether around Ponde."

"Sometimes, it's good for a ruler to show their power." The King was continuing to be very specifically magnanimous, but Ellen just rolled her eyes. Gi not so subtly coughed and changed the subject.

"I received quite a few Soul Orbs from the battle. I assume Stonereach has an Encampment Crystal that we could use?"

"I'm sure they do, but I would wager that it might be easier to find an abandoned one along the coast instead of parading all of your monsters into Stonereach."

"That's not a bad idea, but we won't be travelling along the coast much longer."

"Oh? I thought the Midnight Grove was our next target. It presses up against the coastline further north."

Gi glanced quickly around to make sure that no one else was listening in. "Yes, but I've been thinking about why Matar and the other gods told us about Cedrick. We need to lean harder into that opportunity."

King Rellington was a shrewder hand at politics than Gi would ever be so he understood his implications instantly. "We need to go to the capital and be seen. In fact, we need to make a point to let news of our success here move ahead of us. That will make them more amenable to our proposition..."

Gi nodded. He'd really only had the gist of a plan, but the King was already plotting it out as he worked through the ideas.

"...instead of us going directly to Midnight Grove, we get them to ask us for help clearing their flank. It's a good way to entwine ourselves. I agree that's a good plan."

"Then first, we need to get Cedrick and go see the whoever leads Stonereach."

"Madame Dathna," Ellen added. "She's an... interesting character."

***

It was well into the night by the time Gi got back to the ship. They'd secured foodstuffs for their army as well as agreed to help ship food back. Madame Dathna had been very interested in the King and his martial status despite being at least twice his age.

So much so that she barely noticed the monster in her midst. King Rellington swore that her interest in him was an act and she was better at the game of politics than she let on.

That might be the case, but Gi suspected it wasn't all an act especially considering how Ellen hated being there. As a devout follower of the First One, she seemed to have little interest in the more mundane parts of life.

Cedric had also been able to send his report. Their person with the flying Skill- Targen, Cedrick had called him- had remained grounded during the fight so he could take word of the outcome.

Since he hadn't met Targen or read Cedrick's missive, Gi could only hope that they said the kinds of things that would ease their future request for fealty. While he and the King might have had bad history, it was still history.

Emperor Veritas was a stranger.

He turned his thoughts away from human politics to those of monsters and he made his way down to Galvina's room on the ship.

A couple of Samba's templar were hanging outside with their Wavecrest partners. The humans wielded spears while Gi knew the Templar would have maces in their extradimensional pockets.

They gave him a nod as he walked up to the door which was surprising considering how both Samba and Tala felt about him.

The clan's split still weighed on him, but it was clear that it wasn't so simple of a matter to resolve.

Everything always needed more time.

Gi knocked gently on the door to Galvina's room and then opened it. The demon in question lounged back against her bed, head resting against the wall. She still wore her embroidered white shirt over tan trousers that she'd had on during the fight.

His memory for her clothes wasn't particularly great. Instead, the blood stains that marred it made it obvious. She'd been healed, but the damage to her spirit was as obvious as the stains on her clothes.

"Hello, Galvina."

She cut her eyes to him, but didn't respond.

"I've come to talk to you about a partnership. We worked together once and I would like to do so again."

She laughed but there was no humor in it. "Me? Work with you? To do what? Kill the Emperor? You have no idea what you're up against. You might as well have just killed me and then yourself to save us both the time and trouble."

Her stubbornness had always been a point of annoyance when she'd been his backer during their times in Igna. Now, it just seemed to be her going through the motions.

He'd have to dig deeper.

"Surely, you're not satisfied with working under the Emperor? Always being forced to appease his slightest whims?"

She gave no response.

"...and no matter how hard you try still losing rank."

That made her sit up. "How do you know that?"

"Galvina, I returned from the dead. What do you think I saw on the other side. What do you think I brought back?"

Gi wasn't sure whether the truth or her imagination would be more impressive, but he needed the mystery to pull her in - to assume his strength. That mystery would need to be backed by some truth however.

"I hear your brother is stationed in Midnight Grove despite his lack of success in clearing out forests."

"And? You're dancing around something. Spit it out."

Gi stepped across the room and unceremoniously dumped some dirty clothes from a chair onto the floor and sat down.

"I intend to kill the Emperor and all his heirs except you. What do you think happens at that point?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I inherit the empire and you... You're aiming for the God Stage too. You really think you can beat the Emperor..."

"I have to. Far more than this world's fate hangs in the balance. If I fail, we all die. If I actually thought I could convince the Emperor, I'd ask him to bend the knee now, but-"

"He would never."

"I know. So I came to the only heir that I thought I could trust. The outsider, the neglected, and the one with the most to gain."

"Me."

"You."

She rested her head back against the wall again and her eyes searched the wood grains of the ship as though what answers she sought would be inscribed there.

Without finding anything, she sighed deeply. "I'm dead either way so what the hell."

Gi smiled. "Glad to have you on board."

"I know I didn't let you finish your pitch, but I do still get to kill my brother, right?"

***

General Rowan,

I've found our unexpected allies and have found them to be unexpected indeed.

From my attempts at gathering information, a Monster King named Gi saved King Rellington of the Thousand Island Kingdom's life and he has sworn allegiance to him.

I know that sounds dire, but strangely, it has not proven to be.

This was the group the ended the demon company that had attacked Thornridge, and at the time of this writing, they've just broken the blockade on Stonereach and slain the demons there.

From speaking with Gi, they intend to help us.

I believe him.

It's possible that I'm wrong or my judgement has been compromised, but I truly do think we can trust him. As such, I will be returning to the capital with him posthaste with fresh supplies.

Please do not attack them outright. At the very least, he deserves to be heard.

In closing, you have always told me to "trust my gut" and "to let my ideas" be heard. If not for that, I would not include this last suspicion of mine, but it is my belief that Gi was sent to us by the gods.

The things that I've seen and felt wouldn't make sense from a human or any mortal let alone a monster.

I will provide a full report once I arrive.

B-980122

- Commander Cedrick

General Rowan lowered the letter back to his desk. With the siege, many things called for his attention, but he couldn't stop re-reading Cedrick's letter.

He was a good, reasonable kid. He never took to flights of fancy nor an overlarge ego. In fact, the only flaw that Rowan knew of was his propensity to not speak his mind.

Their current code was "mead" and the "B" was short for "bee" in the code so it implied that he hadn't been compromised. Cedrick could be subtle in his references compared to the other commanders, but that just made him more confident it was truly him.

No other codes were present to imply that he was under duress or anything of the sort. He supposed that was good, but did that mean this fantastical story he'd weaved might be correct?

The reports that came back with Targen only made things worse. The blockade had been broken by a combined force of men and monster. Targen had seen that himself - though there were tales of flying creatures so he hadn't flown close himself.

Then there was another event just after that was described as "sunlight from the heavens" and "a smiting by the god of mercy."

Those too Rowan was led to believe were about this Gi, the "Monster King", as Cedrick dubbed him.

Rowan leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his eyes. His Vitality should still be staving off the effects of old age, but he swore at times like this he could feel all eighty of his years settle into his bones like someone who'd never done an ounce of cultivation.

If Cedrick was to be believed, Rowan had an army of monsters marching towards his less protected western wall while another army of monsters was already sieging him from the east.

If he made the wrong choice here, the city might fall. So the question was, did he trust Cedrick or not?

And no matter what he decided, what the hell was he going to tell Veritas?