She sat herself down closest to Umbra, bouncing on the seat to determine its quality. Once satisfied, she sunk into it with a satisfied expression.
“Respite at last. I should introduce myself first. My name is Moses, an Iron Star of the Chained Theocracy. This is the first time many of you are meeting an Iron Star. Don’t look so afraid. Stars of our nature were only sealed away for centuries because of our undying loyalty to the Nexus.”
“To a destructive degree, I take.” Frost ventured a guess.
“Is that so unfortunate?” Moses’ tantalizing voice carried no sense of guilt. “No matter. I take that you are curious of our Ark of the Covenant. It’s merely a transportation device. Or a mobile prison for various threats we come across on our voyages. The latest would have been a certain wandering woman and an Angel, but alas, they’re not threats.”
“Uriel?” Galia wondered.
“No. The Abyssal Mother and that Angel of Lust. How carefree of them to wander the seas. But extraordinarily, they handed me an item that may pique your interest.”
Moses retrieved a tattered scroll and rolled it across the table. Frost unraveled the object, the grime and blood cleansed away with magic. It was an ancient scroll made from papyrus, attached to an unpleasant umbilicus. It depicted only a part of an unidentifiable image.
The scroll was, after all, a piece of something larger.
Dead Sea Scroll
< Related to the Advent of Wrath >
“This is what the Abyssal Mother has been searching for?” Frost asked. At the same time, she asked Nav for any information about this. Neither she nor Lailah knew, aside that it was closely related to the Advent of Wrath.
“One part of a larger whole. Just something to think about. Of course, only an Angel of that time would know of the whereabouts of such an item. Before you ask, no, I am not from that time. But I know of it.” Moses already knew of the things they wanted to ask, cutting them down as she leaned on the table, her face smooshed into her palms. “What do you need, Amalgam? Say the word and I can do your bidding. Iron Stars and Black Moons have been waiting for the day that a Star of our own appears. There is no need for others.”
A powerful asset had arrived. But could Frost trust her? Frost had more than enough Moons and Stars to utterly trample over the Impuritas.
However, this was when Jury brought up an important question.
“Are we sure that we know the Impuritas are there? What I mean is, how do we not know that we’re not being lured to the 1st Branch?”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
All eyes went to Jury.
“If Iscario knows Galia’s war philosophies – then what if Northern Grandis is a red herring?”
“The problem is that we don’t know.” Galia sighed. “I was hoping you would not dabble into this. All leads point to Grandis… but it is as you say. They may be false leads.”
“I wonder.” Frost said, countering Jury. “I was there disguised as an Adventurer. The ambience of Grandis pointed to weird things occurring in the north. Unless every single person I came across were somehow working with the Impuritas, then it’s safe to say that something does exist up there…”
She trailed off, suddenly doubting her own judgement.
“… but if there isn’t, then we’d be left open to a major counterattack.”
Jury then elaborated with:
“We haven’t seen Impuritas activity in Brandar for months. If they’re consolidating power, then where are they going to release it? The moment we send everything we have there, months of amassed Impurites could be unleashed into Brandar.”
No one had enough information to work on, aside from the ‘consolidation of power’. Different interpretations led them to different outcomes. Jury threw a wrench into their plans, causing Frost to wrack her mind.
“We’d have to split ourselves up then. There’s no other way around it.” Anna spoke for Frost.
A full-scale assault was difficult when the enemies could emerge from anywhere in the world. Frost ultimately had to rely on one last thing.
“Then Galia. Jury. You two will be levying your personnel with us into Grandis. I want some Iron Stars and Black Moons as well.” Frost ordered.
“We’re both coming with to Grandis?” Jury tilted her head.
“Two Beholders and an Archetype should be enough. We need a bigger force to remain in case this ends up being a trap. My Stars can alert the other Beholders. For now, we just need to prepare for all outcomes. What matters to me the most is that we strike first. We need them to react to us, not the other way around because by then, the damage has been done.”
Frost drilled this into them.
“Then we can begin an assault plan.” Galia began drawing a draft onto the table, circling three major areas of contention. “A land-based assault is our best course of action, with limited coastal pressure. We have four key points. The southern entrance, the northern plains, the mountains, and their coastlines. The latter is the least likely to be defended. Historically, coastal assaults are far and few in between.”
The theatre of war already occurred in Galia’s mind. She just needed to translate it in layman’s terms for them.
“Exalted can conduct a deep investigation into the Bellum Empire. I am assuming you will also be there as well, Amalgam. Admittedly, it would be easier to fully commit. But we will lose many that way. Time Reverberation, Justica Arms, Stars, Moons, Exalted, Beholders, and an Archetype… Grandis may never recover from this.”
“But if we win?” Anna spoke innocently, wishing for the best outcome. The Star Child drew an equation for Galia, to which she surprisingly recognized.
“The Grandis will usher in a new era under the Light of the Nexus. It will be another Region liberated from the Impuritas… If we’re lucky, it will be able to prosper like Brandar.”
Hope filled their eyes. The prospect of Grandis being freed once and for was a pipe dream. How could that place of nightmares ever recover? How could the withered plants grow in a place where there was no light?
“Grandis is overgrown by evil and impurities. We can hack down the canopies and weeds thar robbed them of their light. Only then can Grandis thrive.” Magus announced.
Frost’s lips curled into a radiant grin.
“If that’s possible, then we can do what Iscario couldn’t.”
She rose from her seat, her eyes twinkling with a primordial light that no star could dare to outshine.
“We can rule over Grandis.”
* * *
Before the closing of the Amalgam’s Summit, Michaela offered them her parting words.
“Uriel will be a significant threat that I doubt any of you will be able to face. She is an Angel capable of matching even my own power. The Broken Thorn will not be as straightforward as dealing with the Impuritas. Regretfully speaking, Oboros Infinitas knows this the best.
That is why I will step in to personally see the end of Uriel.”