{RUBICON’S POV}

That diminutive [Human] is a monster in the old sense. Those were the honest words that kept going through the [Guild Master]’s head.

During those brief weeks when Dulcet was under his care, he tried to break him, to find his limits, and then push him even further beyond.

If that guy had limits, they weren’t comprehensible from a mortal’s point of view.

No matter how much he struggled, that guy somehow grew strong enough to just barely cross any obstacles he met; and if Rubicon hadn’t known better, he would have thought that the [System] was actively aiding him.

But that was impossible, the [System] was an uncaring machine, that didn’t make preferences, and even the [Gods] couldn’t alter the imposed rules: They made them in the first place for a reason.

And that reason, clearly, was that they wanted nobody to abuse their powers, themselves first of all.

And he was sure of so, since if anyone was supposed to know, it should be him, having been a [Demi-God] for a short while long ago.

A position that left him with an incredible amount of uncomfortable knowledge, and even more promises to go along with them.

Oh, how he wished to just be able to disobey the [God of Creation], but alas he was bound by the same rules those in his same situation found themselves with.

Some knowledge just wasn’t meant for a mortal’s ears.

But it’s not like it applied to the [Monster] in [Human] form, oh no; Rubicon had offhandedly talked about how [Runes] could be an explorable path to power that Dulcet could look forward to. And what did the kid in question do? He developed an unhealthy fixation on it and the very next day used them during their practice.

You did not just study a bit about [Runes], from merely the theoretical point of view, and then use them. [Runes] were a discipline that one normally started learning about once they wanted to work towards becoming [Demi-Gods], because it normally needed a monstrous amount of dedication and practice to start getting them right, without even thinking about the difficulty of ‘writing’ upon the fabric of reality only through one’s will… but Dulcet could somehow get them to work on almost his first try.

Not that mortals weren’t allowed to study them if they found the material to do so, but to his knowledge, it was unheard of that one so low-[Level] could make them work.

Damn that [Human] and those bewitching eyes of his. If the [Guild Master] didn’t know better, he would have thought that it was all just an illusion that he had been under since meeting his gaze, and yet he knew that wasn’t the truth.

He merely had met the newest weapon that the [Gods] would surely use during their stupid war.

“Sir, you wanted me to reseal the isolation chamber?” Doris asked from the massive doors, now slightly ajar.

Rubicon really had to take it into consideration: He could just leave it all behind, and go back to do his own thing, consequence be damned.

But he didn’t get to be where he was by being that kind of man.

“No, I think I’ll hang around for a bit more. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last time I’ll be needed in the near future”, the [Guild Master] said, releasing a sigh at the end.

“Understood. Good to have you fully back then Ruby”, the secretary cheekily acknowledged before shutting back the door between them.

“I wish I could say the same, Dory. I wish I could…”, were Rubicon’s last words, before he started plotting his next move while rubbing his frowning brow.

* * *

{MERGLOBTH’S POV}

Merglobth was fidgeting, and for one of their [Race], it meant that they were making their tentacles wriggle in an uncomfortable manner.

They had failed to stand up in front of the [Guild Master] for the sake of their charges.

In their mind, at that moment, they had failed as a handler, and they ended up ruminating over what they were supposed to do. Until that day that is.

Mr. Dulcet was being freed from Riverfist’s grasp, and at the same time, Ms. Fyratta was being reinstated as an active [Adventurer].

The Chthulian entity was elated to know that the younglings were being released from their punishments without any other problems, but they couldn’t help also being worried about what that meant for them.

Would they keep their position as the handler for the two prodigies?

They didn’t know, and it was mostly up to their charges to decide their fate.

As already stated, it was unsettling, to say the least, that the cosmic horror had little to no power in the decision. Besides outright resigning out of their own volition, that is.

But no, they wouldn’t do that, they wanted to protect the daughter of their old friend, and they would stand by that decision.

That the [Human] had so easily complicated the situation should have been accounted for before it had gotten to that catastrophic point it ended up reaching.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Thinking along those lines, Merglobth started devising a way to get around Darwin’s difficult traceability, because even if they would lose their position, whatever method they find could be used by whoever replaced them to keep the younglings safer than they did.

* * *

{JEOFFERNEYS SENIOR’S POV}

The time was at hand, and the cards had been dealt.

Everything was going according to plan, clearly shown by the presence of his useless son in front of him, and yet tensions couldn’t be higher.

“Finally, I was getting claustrophobic in that tiny cell!” The young lad exclaimed, obviously unsatisfied with how long it took to get him out of the troubles he had created himself.

The patriarch arched a lip in disgust, but didn’t further acknowledge the heresy that an [Eart Mage] could be afraid of confined spaces.

“Stop your sniveling whines and make yourself useful for one, why don’t you!?” Senior said angrily.

“Whatever, just remember that the mortal Undine is mine! I’m going to see if they need any more hands for the assault, and only because I wanted to begin with, not because you said to!” Junior archly replied, storming out of the room.

Once the door slammed, Jeoff senior was again alone with his tower of paperwork for the upcoming battle, both political and physical, that would soon inevitably happen.

At least, as alone one of his standings could be at any given moment.

“Anything new on your end?” He tiredly asked the shadowed corner of his office.

From which promptly stepped out a black leather-clad individual, still too cloaked in shadows to discern any meaningful detail.

“If you’re asking about isolating the [Temple], I was able to acquire the help of the [Temple of Purity], with the noise of the [High Priestess] letting an [Anomalous Demon] go helping greatly in the matter”, the Hunter replied.

“Finally, meaningful allies at last. They will no doubt want a cut of the profits, but that can be arranged. And what of the other… enterprise?”

The Hunter gnashed his teeth from the frustration, “somehow, we either lost track of our agents, or they came back only with inconclusive rumors”.

“That was not our agreement. I was expecting for better-“, the patriarch started reprimanding the hired man, but was interrupted by an unexpected outburst.

“I know! I know… it seems that I’ll have to go in person to have this handled in a timely manner”, The Hunter calmed himself after the beginning of his bout of anger.

“After you’re done digging the [Demi-Goddess]’ dirt, I hope”, Senior asked with a note of danger in his voice, displeased at having been interrupted by one lower in standing than him.

“Of course, I wouldn’t dream to do otherwise”, the shadow bowed, showing more formal respect than normal, realizing that he had overstepped his boundaries more than expected.

“Naturally!” The patriarch said with not so concealed snide.

“Am I to be considered dismissed then, sir?” The shadow asked after a moment of silence.

“I was wondering why you were still wasting our time…” Senior looked at the Hunter with an arched brow.

This time, the message was obvious, and the shadows dispersed, leaving behind simply another empty corner in the room.

“Why are competent people always so hard to come by?” The powerful [Earth Nymph] wondered aloud, whilst still skimming the various paperwork that he would present to the [Elemental Thrones] to have the [Temple of Water] repurposed under new management.

His management, if everything kept going according to plan.

* * *

{UNDINE’S POV}

The situation was evolving as expected: Which means that it just kept devolving, seemingly spiraling out of control.

By now the [Cleaners] and the older [Priests] were the only people still fully on the side of her [Demi-Goddess] mother, but at least it seemed that the number won’t keep on decreasing, for now.

She wasn’t one to usually keep grudges, but the Jeofferneys had been after her family for too long a time.

She thought that when the first son of that annoying family had asked to be accepted as a [Priest], it would have been the first sign that times were changing. But then it became clear very quickly that he was just lusting after her, for some reason.

She understood that her form was physically pleasing, but she never understood that: Wouldn’t it make more sense to judge a person by what they hid inside their heart, instead of what they showed plainly on the outside?

But it was whatever, she didn’t really care about that stuff, she never really saw the point of going beyond friendship, and she wasn’t interested in exploring any of the parts that it entailed.

Going back to the present, she was standing in front of the fulcrum that anchored her mother to both the [Nexus] and the divine plane, the [Heart of the Temple], while having quite a heated discussion with her mother.

“No, I’m not going yet! Everything is still quiet enough, and I’d honestly be more helpful to have around to show the masses that I’m not afraid to appear in the open!”

The watery apparition of her mother sighed, clearly feeling that she didn’t need to reiterate her point, but she would still do so for her beloved daughter.

“And what I keep saying is that if you leave earlier than expected, you’ll throw our enemies off their game, making them panic that they might have missed something, while at the same time dissuading anyone that might get the stupid idea of using you to get to me”, the [Demi-Goddess of Water] calmly explained.

“But if I leave this early it might not even work the way you intend it to, and it could just reflect poorly on you both as a [Demi-Goddess] and mother!” Undine argued with her stubborn mother.

Just as soon as it started to look like the argument would never end, the only other person in the room cleared his throat.

A bearded [Priest], on the heavier side, that the more energy-receptive might find repulsive, given the aura of [Death] emanating from him.

“If I may?” He asked, earning the attention of both the projection of water and her daughter.

“Yes, old friend?” The [Demi-Goddess] gave him the word, all too happy to have someone else helping her reason with her daughter.

“Am I to understand that you intend to send the [High Priestess] where the [Anomalous Human], Darwin Dulcet, the suspected [Fulcrum], is?” He asked.

The [High Priestess] looked at him funnily: She was the one to have proposed to go with Darwin as a last resort, while he made it sound like it was all her mother’s idea.

Also, she had no clue of what a [Fulcrum] was, and yet she was supposed to be the [High Priestess].

“Fortunately, she seems to be drawn to the new [Fulcrum] all on her own, so at least I didn’t have to push her for that. All we’re arguing about is the timing”, the [Demi-Goddess] Undine clarified.

“Then may I ask why are you pushing someone that could subconsciously feel the pull of the [Fulcrum], when she tells you that it isn’t yet time?” The old Nymph asked with a cheeky grin.

It was at that moment that the [Demi-Goddess of Water] understood that the [Necromancer] wasn’t there for her benefit, but for her daughter’s.

“Yeah, whatever he said!” Exclaimed Undine, leaving the topic of the [Fulcrum] for another time, since it seemed like, while both were so casually mentioning it, neither felt the need to explain what it was. All she could guess from context was that Darwin would be the center of something that would naturally attract important people.

“Ugh, fine. I know when I’ve been beaten, and I’m definitely better off not wasting time arguing with both of you at the same time. I’ll relent for another few weeks, but not any more than that”, the [Demi-Goddess] relented, but not without setting some terms.

“That’s fine, it should be long enough to protect both of our images”, Undine agreed.

“Now, if we could pass over the topic of the expenses that the [Temple] is going through-“ the old man started changing argument, but was interrupted by the watery apparition lamenting about the time and promptly disappearing.

“Nice job, we avoided more of her rants about being ganged up upon!” The ‘normal’ Undine said, happy about how things had turned out.

“I’m glad I could help. But the discussion about our budget was real”, the [Necromancer] deadpanned.

“Darn it”, Undine cringed.