I cursed out loud when the Overseer was well and truly gone. God damn it! I never felt so helpless in a battle of wits before. That piece of crap had the right answer for any of our concerns, and I didn’t know enough about the laws of Central to refute any of his claims. Worse yet, he had all the time in the world to prepare for whatever shitty schemes he had up his sleeves, while I had next to none.

The only assurance I had was that I had Noe up and functioning again, but I wasn’t sure if all the luck in the world was enough to offset the advantage the Overseer gave himself. Not only was I unable to rely on the Regressor to help with the actual fighting, but I also had to work with an administration that had my worst interests in mind. They may say that I have full control over resources, but I was willing to bet anything that they’ll try their best to misinterpret my orders.

I cursed again but forced myself to calm down after that. I was thankful for my innate skill at a time like this because I could see myself as an emotional wreck after hearing all this bad news.

“Well, that went poorly,” Rogue muttered, “But I guess there’s a reason he’s in charge of one of the biggest organizations in the multiverse. That man doesn’t forget a grudge.”

I had to agree there, he had gotten the best of me this time, but I wasn’t going to just lie down and admit defeat.

“So what are the chances for our Aspirants making it out of this one alive?” Beelzebub asked, “Because, no offense, Lord Arbiter, their chances doesn’t seem good on my end.”

“I’ll have to agree,” Skuld added, “I’ve seen the fates of some of the humans here, and the vast majority of the futures are bleak ones. It’s not hopeless with the Arbiter here to intervene, but…”

“But the outlook is not good,” I finished for her, “Look, we still have a month to figure things out, and you can bet that I’ll do everything in my power to help the people of Pandora. I’ve been in worse situations before, but I will need your help this time. I just need you three to contact the other local Sponsors and have them help out their Aspirants as much as they can. I don’t know how the program works, but issue more quests, give more rewards, whatever you can do to help.”

“I’ll see it done,” the Lord of Flies nodded, “A few of my friends have already established contracts with some of the Aspirants here, but I don’t think I can convince anyone else to invest in Pandora. It’s… it’s not the safest bet, even with you in charge.”

“I can get my sisters to pitch in,” Skuld added, “But that’s about the best I can do, I’m afraid to say it, but the Trials are still too early for very many Sponsors to have made their decisions.”

I nodded, “It’s probably why the Overseer chose this time to act. He’s squeezing any little advantage that he can get.”

“Well, he’d need to if you wants to best you,” Rogue said, “You’ve gotten the best of the man in every meeting that I can recount, and I don’t see how that’s going to change now. To be fair, he has stacked the deck against you rather well.”

It’ll change because I’m not W! But I couldn’t voice that out loud, no matter how much I wanted to do. Instead, I put on a fake smile and assured the others that I had everything under control.

“Just get me a list of all the Sponsors who have invested in Pandora by the end of the week,” I said, “I need to know what resources I have to work with. Leave the rest to me, and I’ll see your Aspirants rewarded heavily once all of this crap is over with. Not even the Overseer can skim out on rewards for winning a Clan War that’s this lopsided.”

“Thank you, Arbiter W,” Skuld answered, “I’ll choose to believe in you. I can start to see why you’re so famous.”

“I’ll do the same,” Beelzebub said, “I mean, who am I to say no to being a part of W’s saga! Just add me as a footnote once this is all said and done.”

I wish I had even a fraction of the confidence they had in me, but I doubt the two Sponsors would share the sentiment if they had the full picture. Not only was I dealing with a hostile administration, but the Overseer even managed to destablize the Regressor’s base of power. We couldn’t possibly win a war, much less a battle, when all of the Aspirants in Pandora was divided.

What all that meant was that if I couldn’t get everyone in line before the start of the war, then I was thoroughly fucked. Failure wasn’t an option if it meant losing access to the Regressor, and in turn, my ability to act as an Aspirant. I had to expedite my plans for the new guild or else no one will survive, and that may mean some extreme measures that I wasn’t looking forward to.

“Okay everyone,” Rogue finally said, “Let’s let the Lord Arbiter do his work, we’ve taken up enough of his time as is, and he still need to meet up with the Overseer’s lackeys.”

That was true enough, I had to excuse myself rather quickly after that. Rogue was polite enough to send me straight to the new staff via a portal. I landed right in Q’s old office, although nothing in its interior showed any signs that the man had occupied it.

Gone was the utilitarian design and on every wall hung gaudy pictures of Central propaganda. The bare floors were replaced with an expensive looking rug, and even Q’s old table was gone. In its place sat a huge, almost comically large desk with what looked like a throne behind it. And on that throne sat a woman.

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The being was as perfect as Q had been in his human guise, but just in the opposite gender. She even had similar features as the old site manager, with the same blonde hair, same unblemished skin, and slightly rounder features. It was like she chose this human guise to piss me off. It was working.

She got up and offered a hand to shake, “Welcome, Lord Arbiter, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I apologize for the unforeseen hiccup you experienced in that last Trial, but as you know, accidents happen when you take over a position and are saddled with the old incompetent staff. I’ve already fired the employees responsible for that mess, so something like that won’t happen under my command.”

“Thank you, and it’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” I lied, but I kept the spite out of my voice. We both knew where our true feelings lie, but it was pointless to show open hostility.

“Please call me Jordan, I quite like this Human name,” she replied with a practiced smile, “The Overseer has already informed me about the situation.”

“So I will have your full support to get the people of Pandora ready for the upcoming skirmish?”

“Absolutely!” she answered, “As he said, you have the entirety of the resources of this Site at your disposal until the start of the war. I will just implore you to allow me to introduce the changes to the people of Pandora first before you take charge. Just the basic information of course, you can have the floor immediately after. I wouldn’t want to overstep my boundaries.”

“And how would I go about address the people?” I asked, “Go as a Xollon and have half of the Aspirants go mad from looking at me?”

Jordan chuckled, “The Overseer has thought of that as well, he’s sent over his private tailor to fit you with a new guise. I have come to understand that your current form is as close to an actual Aspirant as is possible, but the Overseer assures you that the new suit can fit over your existing form, and that no one, not even the other workers here, can see through the disguise.”

As if choreographed, a strange looking floating eyeball with eight limbs hovered into the room.

“If you would please follow me, Lord Arbiter,” it said, although I wasn’t sure how it talked at all without a mouth, “I’ll be pleased to find something that matches your esteemed self.”

I glanced at the weird creature before checking back with Jordan.

“I’ll wait for you to be done, Lord Arbiter,” she assured, “Please take your time to choose a well fitting suit.”

I nodded and followed the creature into an adjacent room. The thing took various measurements of my body before holding up a mirror-like object that showed me different human forms. He told me to choose one amongst the options, as the offered choices would work best with my anatomy.

I didn’t really care what I chose, but I did want every advantage that I could get. Just like how I first chose a weapon for the first Trial, I activated the Absolute Luck Skill and allowed Noe to pick for me.

After confirming my choice, the eyeball creature moved so fast that I didn’t even understand what had happened, but when my brain finally caught up with its actions, I was already in the new form. I looked in the offered mirror and saw that I looked like a gruff, older gentleman.

I had dark, short cropped hair with the whisps of white appearing at the roots, and a matching medium length beard that covered the bottom of my face. My eyes were hawk-like and sharp, just staring at myself gave me shivers with the intensity of that look, and I also noticed some small, faded scars that covered my face. Overall, my body felt lean, but strong. I gave off the feeling of an old, retired army general.

“Is the look to your liking, Lord Arbiter?”

“Yes,” I answered; I was a little taken back because my voice sounded wholly unfamiliar. It wasn’t like this when I turned into a Xollon or as Dr. Walter, but I guess Noe was helping me with those transitions.

“Excellent, my Lord,” the thing answered, “Let’s go back and meet up with Site Manager Jordan.”

There wasn’t any more preamble as Jordan and I headed out of Q’s office. As far as I was concerned, it was still Q’s space, just as it was Q’s Site. This Jordan woman was just keeping his seat warm. I only had time to ask her about the general resources that I had at my disposal, but it was enough information for me to formulate the skeleton of a plan, at least for my upcoming speech. I can maybe delay doing anything drastic for a day or two at most and I hope that was enough time for me to think of something solid.

Jordan teleported us out of the Site and onto Pandora. The various Aspirants were already gathered around the central meeting space when the two of us appeared on a raised platform. I had to look around a bit to find the Regressor’s group. And true to the Overseer’s words, I could see that my doppelganger had already infiltrated my friends, and no one seemed to notice anything strange about him.

“Gathered Aspirants of Pandora!” Jordan began, her voice resonating with everyone one present as they looked up at us with awe, “I am pleased to announce that everyone present here will have the glorious opportunity to set yourselves apart from the rest of Earth’s brave warriors!”

I heard some hushed whispers before Jordan hushed them all with a wave, “I am sure that you have noticed the change in Hosts, and I wish to explain why these changes have taken place.”

More hushed whispers.

“Your group, your city, represents the best of the best that humanity has to offer, and as such, the Lord has deemed it fit to accelerate your growth as awakened Aspirants. In order to facilitate this growth, He has sent His best agents to assist in this endeavor!”

I gave a firm nod when Jordan gestured to me.

“I will allow this esteemed agent of God to explain what he will do with you himself, but first, I must speak about the necessity of all these changes.”

This time all of the Aspirants looked up with anticipation. They knew something big was approaching, I just hope they’ll be ready for it in time.

Jordan continued, “As some of you might have noticed, the world that Pandora sits in is not a peaceful one. There are many others out there who want nothing more than your demise, for they are jealous of the Love that the Lord has bestowed you. News of an imminent clash with a rival faction has been reported, and it is set to start in a month’s time.”

Now that got the Aspirants rilled up, although they didn’t seem worried. I pitied their ignorance; a lot of the people hearing this speech won’t be around come a month’s time, no matter how much I can prepare them for the future.

“More information will be provided as we learn more about the foes,” Jordan lied, “But never forget that you are the favored children of God! Now allow me to step aside and allow the man in charge of your growth to speak! He will ensure your victory in the upcoming battle, so heed his words!”

I stepped forward and gazed at the crowd. With a deep breath, I went over what I had to say one last time before addressing the Aspirants before me.