Salloe Engrogeos

The patriarch of the Dereka Race and Emperor of the Engrogeos Empire sat on a throne of gold and jewels. He wore a diaphanous gown made of an Archangel tier spider silk, flowing over the marble steps that led up to his ornate cathedra. Small green protrusions ran down his red-scaled body. Though; his face was one far more humanoid than that of his descendants.

His snout, once the pride of his Race, was reduced to nothing more than a pocket in which to hold his tongue, as he had evolved into Godhood, and further from the mortal races.

He looked around the Cathedral of Wandering Tears. Ancient and beautiful, built by the earliest gods of the Cirice Pantheon, it was a piece of art as well as a place of worship. This was all ruined by some sniveling Master tier begging for help from some disaster or another.

Uniting the multiverse with aid and support was the motto of the church, which saddled Salloe with all those too weak to help themselves, begging for someone more powerful to come and fix all of their problems.

Salloe loathed this part of his obligations to the church. His subservience to them always ended in a net gain towards his endeavors no matter how he ran the risks however. With his official title of Bishop, superseding his status of Emperor. Fulfilling his duty had gotten him the resources necessary to finally find what he had spent eons searching for, unable to locate it with what, to most, would be an unlimited pool of wealth and power. But it had not been enough alone.

He knew he could do nothing himself at the moment regardless, he was to hear back within a few years as his forces made their way across galaxies, back to the closest anchor point to deliver his prize.

When he felt the token in his pocket ping once, the Master tier shuddered and fell silent as Salloe momentarily lost control of his aura in a moment of shock.

"If you would excuse me, I have an urgent matter that requires my assistance. Please wait here, I will be back momentarily." He said to the shaking Orc, before teleporting to his private study and taking out the token reserved for only a situation that may put Salloe's own life in immediate danger.

Vordamir had carried that token for the better part of a millennium along with five other captains of his forces. He was only barely Ascended, but he showed great promise and a strong head on his shoulders for someone so young.

Infusing Mana into it, a connection formed and an illusionary image of his Company commander kneeled in front of him.

"Bishop. I open my mind to you, please it is of great urgency." Vordamir spoke quickly while remaining respectful.

Salloe peered through the connection and grabbed a cluster of memories and thoughts directly from his mind. It took almost no time to organize and parse through the information and what he found made his heart race for the first time since he had been a Herald.

"Oh, I would say that is quite accurate." A man Salloe recognized from many lifetimes before, appeared next to Vordamir, who jumped at the sight. He seemed to be on the other side of the token with his commander, and only here as an illusion just the same. This did not make it any less frightening.

"Curator Osipheos," Salloe said, lowering himself to his knees and touching his forehead to the ground. Vordamir caught on quickly, his eyes widening at the realization, as he did the same.

"We have a few points to discuss before I can move on to other matters elsewhere. Let us have a friendly chat Sally, and reminisce."

Salloe winced at the nickname he had been given when Osipheos had taken a liking to him in Expert tier.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to interfere with an initiate," Salloe said, still pressing his head to the floor. "He appeared on the island of his on volition."

"No, it was unforeseen. In fact, your actions led me to this boy in the first place. I have decided to take him under, as I did for you once. So I must thank you."

"Thank you, Curator. But I do not understand. My actions?" He said, looking up at the Elder.

Osiph gave a knowing smile, making Salloe's face fall.

"Precisely. As you know from this young man here." He said, gesturing towards Vordamir. "Your array-point placed in the island nation was unsuccessful. It was disrupted before it was put into full effect, most likely by some talented Master tier specialized in Time arrays. Unlucky for you, but infinitely more unlucky for my new disciple. He was caught up in this broken array, I do not understand how yet, but he survived. I found him nearly sixty million years in dilation by my readings, watching what I later found out was his family dying to your troops. That experience caused some soul damage, which I'm sure you can imagine just how bad that was for him."

Salloe paled, which was particularly visible on his scales, as they faded to dark pink. He knew better than anyone, that if Osipheos had taken an interest in the boy, he would be a threat in the not-too-distant future, and if he had caused damage to his soul, he personally knew that kind of pain would motivate anybody to search for revenge for the one responsible.

"My dear Sally, I do not come to tell you all this so you may wait in fear for the next few eons. I wish to set some rules in effect, to stay fair. I will not let him seek you out while forbidding you to fight back. I won't let you squish him either." Osiph said, smiling.

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Salloe said nothing confused, waiting for him to continue.

"I will overlook your acts against the treaty, and I will not put my findings in my report. Even though I know why you have done this and would do the same, this will not be for your sake but for my own."

"You may send teams to try and deter the boy under one condition. You must keep the forces small, and they cannot be above the world's tiers. Master and below only, lest you draw attention from the Enforcers."

Confused, he asked the old man, "You will not forbid me from killing him?"

"I do not wish to see either of you die, Sally," Osiph said, shaking his head. "If he makes it to Herald he will kill you, of that I am sure. I will not build up a weapon to slaughter one of my favorite disciples. Nor will I prevent my new one from seeking his revenge. Well-deserved revenge, I might add. You have quite a lot in common and I would hope to have seen you both on the same side. That is up to you though."

"Up to me, Master? Did you not say the boy seeks my life?"

"He is complicated. He thinks himself above the pain and grief but he is still mortal, and he will not be rid of it. With that said, he is quite adept at the compartmentalization of his emotions. I believe that you have two paths forward in front of you. One is the path of brute force. You may send a team to deal with him but if you fail, it will fan the flames of revenge higher."

"And the other?"

"One of understanding."

"Understanding?"

"If you can convince him that you are not the evil he imagines you to be, you both may benefit from an unlikely union."

"But what of the array? I need to complete it." Salloe asked, worry clear in his expression.

"You may finish it after a decade, once he is dead or has already Ascended."

Salloe did not mind this, he had spent centuries planning the breach, and another decade to complete it was trivial. "Of course, Master."

"If you do kill him, however, know that I can not stop the Hall from seeking reparations. I am not the Branch head yet so I cannot speak for them. If you attempt it and fail, you may regret making yourself a direct enemy. I do ask that you give some thought to making amends with the boy. This would be ideal for reasons that will reveal themselves at the appropriate time."

"I will think on it, Master," Salloe said, bowing once more. "I will not disappoint you."

"You never do Sally. Day, boy." Then he was gone, leaving both Salloe and Vordamir genuflecting to a space.

"Stay off the planet, but nearby. Your task will be to observe and not be seen, you will report any findings to the team I send once they arrive. I must meet with the other commanders."

"Yes, Bishop."

With the connection cut, Salloe sent out a message to his general via a telepathic link, to organize his weaker company commanders and their captains.

A short wait later and he received confirmation that they were ready, as he teleported into his personal palace, on one of his many colony planets. The hall he arrived in had thousands of soldiers standing in rows. These were all of his weaker troops, and only those in leading positions on this one planet.

"We greet you, Bishop." One of them said as he arrived, stepping forward and kneeling.

"Name and designation?" Salloe said with little emotion in his voice.

"Company commander Eriqk Linne, Angel tier." The man bobbed his snout in a show of respect.

"Organize a small team of your best men, Adept tier through Master, two of each. I want them mobilized and ready for debriefing in ten minutes."

The commander bobbed again before closing his eyes. Moments later six soldiers stepped forward. Each man was Ascendant, so he knew they must be putting forth a subordinate from their teams.

"These captains have the most qualified candidates for your needs. A Fae and Orc Adept. Two Novarians in Expert, a High Elf Master, and one of the Dereka team leads. Will this be acceptable Bishop?"

"It is." He reached into a dimensional storage and pulled out two letters and six vials of immense power and cost. They looked ordinary, with clear glass and a cork on top. A colorless liquid that appeared to be water, swished back and forth within.

"Bishop?" The Eriqk gaped at the bottles.

"Please have the team each carry one vial on their person at all times, when you return I will expect the remaining vials back. The letter in the red envelope contains coordinates and instructions for your mission. The white is for the Dereka Master to keep on his person along with the vial."

"You will be searching for a boy, your objective is his death, but an honorable one if possible. He is an initiate of Pinnacle Hall, so he is due the respect of the Hall itself. That does not change your mission. His death is a priority but if fate does not will it to be so, an ally is what we must seek in him. Be prepared for their deaths as he is a disciple of the Curator himself. "

"Yes, Bishop. It will be done. Is there anything else you command of me?"

"Emphasize that this is to be discreet. You are going to a planet under the Accords, if they attract the attention of the Enforcers onto the planet, I can do nothing. I wish this to be quiet."

Eriqk bowed and took the six captains with him to get started, and Salloe appeared back on his cathedra, gripping the armrest. Lost in thought as the Master tier that had waited for him did not hesitate to jump back into his plea for assistance.

Splitting his mind was a simple task, as he mulled over everything he had learned in the brief encounter today.

The circumstances the god found himself had not been on the list of risks when he had conceived his plan for the planet. Even now, the boy was not the biggest danger, but he would be lying to himself that if left unchecked, he eventually would be.

With the boy hating him already, there wasn't a feasible path to an amicable relationship. The smart thing to do was kill the boy and then finish his array on the planet undisturbed. But with Osipheos's warning, he could at least try to make amends and lay a foundation if he failed. It would be likely that all those he sent would die.

It was dishonorable to kill anyone under your own tier and was seen as cowardly. A talent lucky enough to be chosen by the Curator would be a match for anybody in the same tier or in some cases a tier higher than their own. Osipheos saying he would be a match for Salloe at Herald, vindicated his theory. This boy would be a great ally or a terrible enemy.

He would have to wait to find out, as the trip into Mana desolate universes such as his would take at least three years to reach.

He hoped his gifts would not go unnoticed once they arrived, and would introduce some goodwill with the boy.