Longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, but this was a Sylunar-centered Ritual, not Aruan. While the Priests of the Sun God were happy to argue about getting their own Ritual going off at dawn, Highmoon was the height of Silver Magic, not Highsun or Dawn, which were the heights of Light Magic and Natural Renewal, respectively. Different things, even if the moon meant all sorts of things for good and ill in various ways and means.
This time ALL the Morningsun family came Teleporting in to join in the Ceremony. They joined literally hundreds of new Nines... and more than a few Tens of multiple Races, all eager to help and participate.
There was energy crackling all around. The air was charged with emotion and power, magic drawn by a lot of very powerful people all gathered in the same place.
A massive percentage of them belonged to The Jet and Silver, which was heartening. The First Banner behind the Temple of Stars was closing in on four thousand meters high... which would be sixteen million people sworn under it.
I didn’t expect them all to stay if Kings came about... but on the other hand, I had multiple potential Kings Sworn under me. If they became True Kings, their absolute Duty became to their Land and its people, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still be in Allegiance.
I was somewhat surprised when The Mick and over fifty Tomb Clanners arrived to participate, frankly shocking a lot of the snootier people, especially with how enthusiastically I greeted them.
Fifty Tome-Tainted among the Tomb Clans was a massive shift in mindset. It was worth celebrating and recognizing. If I was happy they were participating, that only shamed those that thought this was a display of the elitism and power of the Churches and whatnot.
To the surprise of many, I even let Uruthi and some Neutral adherents participate... as long as they were Nines, meaning they’d done their reversions and re-Leveled by the Double Helix. If they were willing to do that and wanted to participate, I had no issues with them.
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Legion popped in next to me smoothly. With little hisses and pops, eight Penitent Warlocks popped up beside them, matching our pace.
“Busy day, Warlocks!” I noted for them, and they all murmured a bit tiredly in response.
The security teams were running their asses off. There were so many different forces looking to make some moves during or before the Ceremony, generating some free publicity.
It really did not make those people’s day to open up a door and be confronted by people with the black of Sinbound eyes, the deathly Aura of a Pact Morituri, and guns leveled at their faces, the white cloaks of the Penitent proclaiming their status.
Nine Wishes had been expended just to stop any mass killing events from going off today. There’d already been explosions in a few factories, boats, empty warehouses, and residential homes, where munitions intended to be set off during the Ceremony had been returned to their owners and gone off.
“This is the largest such showing ever,” Legion agreed grimly. “We’re up to twenty-nine incidents of note, and another dozen independent parties.” The Heavenbound were naturally at the heart of security, but given the sheer numbers of things happening, they’d asked the Penitent if they wanted to help... making very sure to note that this could very well be a move to draw the Warlocks out of Penitent Hall.
The Penitents had all agreed to pitch in, combined hunters and bait, and to their surprise, had been placed in charge of the teams assisting them. Just one more show of trust in them and what they were trying to do.
Things like this were why Shvaughn was here. It was a prime event for attracting random Warlocks and members of Dark Churches or other organizations, who she could Consume and then follow back to other targets for disposal.
Alas for them, there were now literally dozens of people in town who could Teleport, enabling them to get places VERY quickly... and they were all quick to volunteer to help out with a little excitement, too.
When The Mick and Amaretta dropped in on a bunch of Blooded hailing from one of the Clans down South ready to make a quiet massacre among the tourists coming in, there were some eager Whites and Bones with the duo who were totally capable of and very enthusiastically ready to manhandle their ‘betters’ with them, and well, things did indeed get a bit bloody there...
But it was all fine. They were VERY good at cleaning up after themselves now...
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“AHEM.”
They nearly jumped out of their skins. Given the number of people gathering at all sorts of places to see the skies open up, one more gathering of pick-up trucks and vans and people at a farmhouse wasn’t enough to attract anyone’s attention. Parties were going on all over the place.
They might have been a bit more concerned with the number of Caucasian male humans, the amounts of liquid fortification, and the number of firearms.
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Magic lit up all around. It was humming off everything metallic, with a pseudo-lightning vibe that had people dropping firearms and knives in hand rather abruptly, afraid they were about to get shocked.
I was hard to miss, wreathed in black flames burning as silver as my eyes as I came down from the sky, right into the middle of their gathering.
“Given the many, many statements about me, curses, suppositions, insults, smears, and insinuations at me, I believe you all have things you wanted to say right to my face.”
About a hundred middle-aged men swallowed rather abruptly as I stood there in midair, rotating slowly to meet each and every one of their eyes, totally unafraid, and completely invulnerable.
None of them dared level a firearm at me. Enough adrenalin was giving even the drunken ones enough sense to realize that if they did so, they were likely going to die instantly.
Some of the smarter ones were looking around to see if I had brought any help. The really smart ones just swallowed again, realizing that I didn’t need any help to kill them all.
“This, this is a private party!” one of the organizers called out, his voice falling remarkably flat.
“You were calling out my name and daring me to come here, declaring all sorts of things you would do to me if I arrived, Master Hopkins.” He went absolutely white as I identified him. “I accepted your invitation. What exactly did you and your friends want to say to my face?” I encouraged him with not-a-smile.
He definitely wanted to be anywhere on the planet but here. “Uhhhh...” he managed in the face of my Presence.
“Now, you should know that Heavenbound Hall has been totally aware of what you’ve been planning for, like, months now. If you and your bunch of drunken selves had piled in your trucks and gone roaming downtown shooting off your guns, it is entirely likely that most of you would be dead within the hour.”
They all flushed and grabbed their firearms harder, trying to refute me, but Truth in Oratory is really hard not to believe, especially at +64. It pounded in their blood, blowing through the alcohol and suddenly making them very Not Drunk when listening to me.
Knowing you were going to be dead in an hour was quite a frightening thought.
“Allow me to make some observations.” I steepled my fingers as I floated there a foot above the ground, limned in black and silver. “You are afraid. Don’t deny it, I can smell the fear. The absence of Hope and Valor is evident.”
They gasped and sobbed, and crumpled. They were dumb and small-minded and mostly Neutrals, just not caring about the bigger picture, only the frightening speed of the changes taking place, and me being at the center of them was a convenient place to focus their ire.
Seeing that utter lacking within themselves was a harrowing experience.
“You are disappointing me.” They almost swooned. “You are disappointing your grandfathers, and all those who watched their blue sky get swallowed by the unending grey of the Haze.
“What did they do? Did they sob and whine and moan and complain and point their fingers at someone to blame when the sky was stolen from them? Did they? Did they take out their guns and try to shoot it down?
“Did they blame the hundreds of millions of dead trapped in it? Are they trapped up there themselves? Did they die outside holy ground? Are they up there, watching you, and how you are acting as the entire world moves to set them free?”
Most of them were outright crying as the magic of the Heartsong swirled around them, and they looked up, and could feel the gazes upon them, looming out of their memories.
“Your parents, grandparents, and theirs before them built this entire nation by hard work. They endured the generations without technology, doing with horse and plow what you lazy bastards do with combine and tractor. When magic came, they knuckled down and shot down the dead, they sanctified the graveyards, and they prayed so that everyone would be strong.
“And you... want to swill booze and go shoot the people trying to set them, the salt of the land, free from their Torment, and let them go onto the rewards they have earned.
“Cowards.”
They all jerked as the word stabbed them in the heart, and they could not deny it.
“Rise up, gentlemen. Rise up, and be something more.”
They didn’t know how they got to their feet, but they were there... and the guns were left on the ground.
“This nation wasn’t founded on men shooting men; it was made by those working the land, by hard work. When there was only horse and plow, you worked hard, and you made it. When the Haze came, you worked hard, and you made it through.
“Now, the Haze is going to come down. The sky is going to be yours. It is going to be a new world, but guess what the solution is?”
“Hard work...” it came out reluctantly, but deep down in their hearts, they knew it was true.
“Yes, hard work. No more, no less. Everyone, working hard, not being lazy, and not thinking a gun is going to solve what is coming.” They all blushed hotly again. “Indeed, guns are going to be nigh useless, if what we suspect is true is coming.
“I am going to ask you to watch Heavenbound Hall’s website for the results of the testing we are going to do. We are probably going to lose easy access to firearm ammunition. You will need to get rid of any black powder ammo, if that is true. If you donate it to the Hall, we will send it on to those who are using it to fight the undead.
“If not, shoot it all off. Be ready for the day the Shroud comes down, and get rid of that gasoline and those chemicals.
“It’s going to be hard, and that means for everyone. Everyone! Not just YOU!
“You will still be able to use your guns, but that ammunition is going to be expensive. Alchemical ammunition is not cheap! It will be something for dire emergencies, not for hunting.
“So, be ready to get a bow or a crossbow, and pick up a few shells for your shotgun for the real emergencies.
“Now, what the world needs from you is for you to get your heads together. You know what you’ll need. All that stuff needs to get made anew, and we don’t have everything.
“You’ll need to get rid of stuff so it is not just sitting around rusting and taking up room. We’re going to be melting stuff down and making new things, simpler things, out of them. Get ready to haul it all away, clear up room.
“And you know what? It’s going to be a time for hard workers. A world with magic is a world based around the power of the individual, not the latest machine. Based on the strength and work ethic of the common man, like those who came before you.
“Your world is coming, gentlemen. You can either rise to meet it, or hide in fear. Enough work can overcome everything.
“Find your Valor. Find your Hope. The Truth of what you have to do will follow.
“Heavens bless you as you find your path.”