I tried to explain the concept to Yasmin without much success. The meeting had to be a honeypot, a fly trap. There was an underlying promise that would attract all kinds of bugs.

And we would eradicate them.

It was, in my mind, quite straightforward. Attending our convocation could be for either of three things.

First of all, loyalty to Yasmin. And not any loyalty, only those that followed her even after she had broken her relationship with the The Congregation. People that trusted her for who she was.

Second, those who looked for a challenge. The message we sent was clear: we are building an empire from the ground up. There is much to do, and we will face opposition.

And lastly, those who were fervent followers of the Sanctum and would take matters into their own hands. Meaning, people who would bravely die by my hands as they tried to capture me in a futile attempt to catch the Order's attention.

The first group I didn't care much about. Their motivation was too volatile and flaky, and at any moment they could become dissidents. I hoped our [Architect], Pol, would fall into the second group. Finally, I wished we got a few people on the third group; some culling would be great.

We had set out early with the intention of being first to the forest. We chose a clearing, the first one after the ancient tree that marked the entrance of the forest.

We left the dungeon unattended, but I was not worried about that. The only settlement capable of attempting to clear the dungeon was currently ungoverned—and even then, they would barely manage. The monsters in there would make sure to keep the occasional bystander out.

I was closely monitoring the situation via longer than usual pulses, so I quickly noticed we wouldn't be the first ones. Three people had already made it to our agreed-upon place.

They only noticed us when we finally made our appearance. Judging by their faces and reactions, which stayed practically unchanged, they were not surprised to see me there. All things considered, I had rescued Yasmin, so it should have been expected.

I delegated the social aspects of our meetup to Yasmin and just walked to the very center of the clearing. My role here was that of a guardian. I sat cross-legged and maintained a slightly draining pulse that covered twice the size of the clearing.

If anyone tried to attack me from the distance, trying to camouflage with the dense vegetation of the woods, I'd see it.

The time was slowly approaching, and people began arriving. Not in big numbers when you consider how densely populated the city was, yet certainly more than I had expected.

There were at least a hundred people nervously talking among themselves while throwing looks at me and pointing their fingers. None of those showed up as enemies on my senses.

But I can’t say the same of you.

I smiled as I pinpointed the ten [Rogue] waiting in the forest’s shadows.

It was too early for us to make any movement. I had to lure out the remaining enemies. I was convinced that they had their own plan and that they would strike when the time came. Only then would all their cards be revealed.

It was almost time, and I was getting worried. While many people had gathered, undoubtedly some of which would be useful, I had yet to find Pol. It turns out, though, that he might just have been one of those freaks that need to show at the very exact time.

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[Architect]

A pulse sent one minute away from the time finally relied.

The time came. All ten enemies and any other hidden ones had not acted yet. Yasmin had done an amazing job gathering all these people; it was now my turn to brief them.

“Everyone,” I clapped my hands as loud as I could while I got up. “Thank you for coming here. Listen carefully; what I am going to say I'll only explain once, and those who choose to follow us will have to accept it.”

Yasmin had moved to my side and was wearing a serious face.

“We will go to war with The Sanctum, The Congregation, and the System itself.”

I started strong, and I got the reaction I wanted. Five people in the crowd started flashing an intense red in my skill and one of the [Rogue] in the woods became a focal point.

I read their intentions like an open book. My energy scattered before they even acted, and solidified in front of Yasmin. A second later, a loud thud emanated from my impromptu shield as a thunderbolt struck it.

[You have lost 11 energy]

“Protect Yasmin!” Shouts were being thrown all over the place.

An empowered arrow, by its green glow, shortly followed suit and got itself stuck on my energy.

[You have lost 4 energy]

I didn't have the patience to go after each of them personally, so I reused the same trick I had used for the [Oracle].

I jumped and let go of my concentrated energy. A chaotic black mass of energy blasted its way to the bed of trees. They saw it coming; some attacked it, others tried to run. But it didn't matter. My attack disintegrated everything it found in its wake, trees and people alike.

Around me, four [Soldier] had been reduced and killed by an angry multitude. Certainly, in that moment, the loyalty they exhibited for Yasmin seemed unbreakable.

I was happy with the results, but not particularly ecstatic. Clearly, the only people who had come today were weaklings. It was to be expected; the reinforcements couldn’t have just made it here.

“You,” I pointed my finger to the blood red humanly-shaped spot on my vision. “You can not hide from me.”

He was visibly shaken when I unexpectedly blew his cover.

“Do you think that will work!?” He yelled at me defensively. “The Order already knows; they will come and reduce all of you to ashes!”

“By the time they come here, what they will find is a dungeon. Yes,“ I looked at him, unperturbed, smiling even, ”there is something that they don't know. I’m an error, corruption made human. I'm free of any ties.“

A cacophony of voices erupted. These were not easy news to process; surely more than one was deciding if that made me a monster.

“Today, now, you can choose. You can come with me and be freed of the System, or you can flee the city. Well, not you.”

I accusingly pointed at the fifth and still-living enemy—if only for the one second it took me to cast a blade of energy and separate his body from his head.

“I will not have mercy for those who oppose me, but I also don't intend to be a tyrant. What will it be? Will you close your eyes and live under the threats of the Sanctum and the Congregation, or will you wage war against them and live a free life?”

Enough was said; the ball was now on their court. Whatever they decided, I would honor my words, even at the risk of them rattling my secrets to the Sanctum.

Sooner or later it would be known that I'm corrupted. I was willing to sacrifice a few days of secrecy in exchange for being seen as a true leader and someone they could voluntarily choose to follow.

I sat down again while Yasmin joined a few discussions and played the social butterfly. It took a while for everyone to decide, but after some stressful hours where I had to explain multiple times my origins and my corruption, about three-fourths of the people remained. The [Architect] being one of those who stayed.

“Alright! I will not ask you to move to our base already, mainly because it is not ready and because it is a dungeon. You will help out in growing and fortifying it, moving between the city and the base until I can safely rid you of the System.”

I started walking towards my dungeon.

“In three days, I will take over the city. I'll show you our base; after that, go home and take care of your family and friends. Nothing will happen to them if they don't oppose me.”