“I’ll do it,” I said after time started again with a thrum. I ignored the glimmer of celeste watching me with concern. “I’ll be the prosecutor for this trial.”

“That’s what I said,” Nanny Shank took a few more puffs from her pipe. “We need to get this done today. Who’s gonna help him?”

“What?” Grimset and I asked at the same time.

“The defense gets a goblin. The prosecution gets a goblin,” Nanny Shank insisted.

“I’ll-” Philip started

“No,” Nanny Shank cut him off. “Not you or your kid, Spine, either.” She turned her baleful gaze on Helen and Toad.

“Nope, I am not going to do public speaking,” Helen said, moving her hands like she could wave the idea away.

Toad nodded, “Then I shall do it. As a neutral party I will assist this pursuit of justice.”

“Neutral?” Grimset asked, his question sagged with doubt.

Toad met Grimset’s gaze for a long moment, “My loyalty is and always will be to the goblin people. I do not care if the entire world wants to force us down into the Dark. I will do what I must to ensure my children see the sun and stars.”

“Then it’s settled,” Nanny Shank spoke over Grimset.

“Well…” Janie spoke. “Not quite.”

Things got chilly in the tent.

“I’m gonna be honest. I want to say something spiteful and mean, but if that is coming from the system, then I have to listen to you.” Nanny Shiv broke the silence.

“Thank you,” Janie began

“Shut up! You hateful stick figure!” Nanny Shank cut in. she sucked in a deep breath, “I mean… please continue.”

Janie nudged Zarina, “You wanna handle this.”

Zarina leaned forward, “We would like to ask that you only try the murderer.”

“Funny that didn’t sound like a question to me,” Nanny Shiv observed.

Zarina considered, “We would try the accomplices. You would be welcome to observe.”

“With all due respect, how can we trust your case will be fair?” Nanny Shiv pressed.

“We could ask the same question.” Zarina pointed out. She wasn’t picking a fight.

I am going to skip past the long obnoxious argument that followed. It was basically the last exchange over and over again. At some point things were getting a lot less polite.

“How about this,” I spoke up. “The trial will be conducted by the goblins. Half the jury will be goblins, half your people.”

“I hate that,” Nanny Shiv said.

“It feels like the worst of both worlds,” Zarina sighed.

“Then it must be a good compromise,” Nanny Shank said.

“Not to be a negative nelly,” Janie cut in, “but what happens if someone we bring over tries to start some shit during the trial?”

I blinked, “You stop them.” They were her people. I was busy trying to manage a literal horde of goblins. Admittedly, for the most part they had been agreeable enough, but I didn’t have it in me to oversee anyone else.

“Let’s make the arrangements,” Grimset cut in. “What evidence do you have and what witnesses will you call?”

“What?” I managed.

“He wants you to outline your case,” Nanny Shank said.

“Okay.” I went over the timeline of events. After that I outline the interviews with Waldo, Chet, and Madigan. For evidence I didn’t have much beyond the marks on Chet and Waldo, the burnt harmonica, and Tazia’s body. “Brand is also talking to them. I would like to call him, Minory, Giselle, Howard, Chet, Waldo and Madigan as witnesses.”

Grimset frowned, “I object to his lover being a witness.”

“Huh?” I gazed at him

“Ha!” Angelica stifled a laugh.

“You and Brand,” Janie pointed out. She was studying me intently.

“Brand and I aren’t big on labels.” I replied without thinking, “Besides he would tell the truth in a situation like this.” goddammit. That was stupid. Helping a friend is good and all, but this was a murder trial.

No one believed me. Well, maybe Angelica.

“I would like to believe that,” Sunit said slowly.

“It doesn’t change the fact that this Nameth Brand is a close ally with the Titan Spawn. His testimony cannot be trusted,” Grimset insisted.

“I agree,” Zarina adde.

“Sorry Doug, No Brand.” Nanny Shank said.

Damn. I would have liked to have him talk to the crowd. Brand had an absurd Face Attribute. He probably could have swung most hold outs from the Mandir.

“Any objections to the others,” I asked Grimset.

“None,” He admitted.

“Howard likely will not attend the trial,” Zarina said.

“Make him. He is a witness to a murder.” I was less than diplomatic.

Zarina shook her head, “Doug, no. The Mandir doesn’t hand people over. The stunt you pulled with the Chimeras is already more than we should tolerate. He doesn’t want to come to the trial and we will not force him. What next, force him to talk, or maybe force him to say what you want?”

“He saw it happen,” I said quietly.

“And if you had just talked to us-” Zarina started.

“No,” I cut her off. “You had a chance to hand Madigan over. You didn’t take it. Lola had to tap the Chimera Corps. You would have done anything. You would have simply wait for us to leave for the tower and let it slide.”

Zarina looked to Janie. Janie shrugged. I could tell I wasn’t wrong.

“I am hearing no Howard,” Nanny Shank said. She clearly didn’t like it but she couldn’t do anything about it.

That was a problem. Shit.

“I plan to call the Chimera, Rachel,” Grimset declared.

“Why?” I asked.

“As a witness to the defense,” Grimset didn’t explain.

“Why?” I said again.

“To explain how the accused were taken into custody by you,” Grimset said.

“I object,” Toad said.

“On what grounds?” Nanny Shank asked.

“That woman is off putting. People don’t like her. Her talking is bad for my case,” Toad said.

“Not good enough,” Nanny Shank sighed. She looked to me, “You got anything.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“No,” I said, trying to figure out where Grimset was going with that.

“Then Grimset can call on Rachel, if she will come.” Nanny Shank said. She slammed her pipe on the table like a gavel.

“Doug? Am I allowed to enter the tent?” Brand called from outside.

“Yes,” I answered.

Brand crawled into the tent, and almost had trouble on the stairs but he managed to not actually stumble or fall. He read the room for a split second and decided to sit next to Janie by me. This seemed to be a political statement of sorts because the goblins all exchanged looks and reassessed their understanding of the dynamics.

I am sure that stuff mattered, but I just didn’t care, “Hey Brand. You said something about the Demon’s Tower.”

“Yes, Miss De Leon should still have Seren’s Journal. In it are the translated notes Seren observed about the Tower.” Brand started.

“I would like to see this journal,” Toad piped up.

“I do as well.” Grimset said.

“I am gonna have to see it too,” Janie chipped in.

Sunit’s mustache twitched from an apologetic smile, “I will admit to a polite curiosity.”

I sighed. I opened my inventory and broke down a snow lion corpse. I then pulled the skin out of my inventory.

Craft Check… Successful

400 sheets of Vellum created

“Let me see it, please,” I asked Angelica.

She handed me the book.

“The notes begin on page 87 and continue until the end,” Brand said.

I opened the book and realized I needed Ink.

I pulled another snow lion skull out of my inventory and set it on the table. It warped into a large pot with a successful Craft check. I then pulled some blood from my inventory and let it drop into the bowl. Another Craft check and the crimson blood darkened into black ink. After that it became a matter of paging through the journal and crafting a dozen copies. This should have been harder than it was. Maybe a minute after starting , I had the documents.

“Everyone take a copy,” I said

“I am not going to be satisfied with a copy you produced,” Grimset declared loudly.

I glanced at Brand. Seren was his friend, and the journal did contain more than just her observations of the Demon’s Tower. I waited until Brand gave a nod, before I handed Grimset the book. Everyone else took the copies without complaint.

For a long moment everyone read through the papers.

Nanny Shank was the first to talk, “Christ on Sunday! All three of the fuck-mothering devils?”

“There are only two devils left. The god of hope killed Angor Crux,” Angelica insisted again, still looking at pages. She had spread them out in front of her. They were a mess, out of order and somehow a few were folded randomly.

“Why then would all three sigils be powered?” Toad asked. He was adding his own notes to his copies.

Angelica shrugged, “Not sure. I doubt someone new could take the title of devil though. Not without it being news. Some sort of global event kicking off like when Nadia formed the Cradle of the All-Death.”

“Demon’s aren’t exactly known for playing fair, are we sure we can trust anything about this?” Helen asked. She had a calculator out for some reason.

“The notes mention digging into the Deep. We know that to be true.” Toad held up another page, “This one talks about them having a camp north of the tower. We know they have that and launch raids on us from it. “ he held up a third, “This mentions the gate at the top. That is the baleful light our healers keep talking about.” He held up another, “This one talks about a blue goblin…”

Philip's head snapped toward Toad.

Toad handed Philip the piece of paper and continued in a more subdued tone, “most people are not aware of such things. No, we should not trust anything in this as gospel, but it can confirm or deny our suspicions and help us build a truly effective plan of attack. Give me the soldiers and I can break it… with the help of our Titan Spawn friend of course.” He added quickly.

I kept quiet and listened.

Zarina wasn’t really looking through the notes instead she was watching the goblins, “You actually plan to head up to the tower?”

“Yes,” Philip answered immediately.

“That hasn’t been decided,” Nanny Shank put down the papers, “For the sake of this conversation let’s all talk like we are going. If there is a problem, point it out. If you see a weakness, speak up.” She shot Helen and Philip a glance, “Even though it isn’t decided.”

Zarina considered that, “We don’t have a lot of resources. I desperately want you to succeed, but I don’t believe we have any really material assistance to offer.”

“If they plan to go to the Tower, I will follow them,” Sunit said.

“You’re going to the tower?” Zarina asked.

“If they will have me,” Sunit nodded.

“What do you bring to the table?” Nanny Shiv asked.

Sunit grinned sheepishly. I am pretty sure. He had a hell of a mustache. “A few weapons. But I am a level 29 Heroic Scale gish with a specialty in fighting demons. I believe the term you would be familiar with is … Paladin. Last but not least the full backing of Goddess Lola.”

“Gish?’ I asked

“Fighter and caster combo,” Angelica said.

Sunit eyed me. I shrugged, “Maybe you should make the offer.” I told him.

Sunit considered that. “Goddess Lola, if willing to offer her protection and support to any who will follow her, goblins included. War is her purview.”

“No,” Every goblin in the tent said.

Philip continued, “We are distrusting of… living gods.”

Sunit nodded, “The offer still stands.”

We dug through the journal. The quick summary is that the tower was massive. The structure was a massive cylinder 1100 feet in diameter and fifty stories tall. That worked out to just under 950,000 square feet per level. Let’s say you lost 50,000 square feet to walls and stuff. That meant that if each level was actually one story tall this place had 45,900,000 square feet including the roof. That is a lot of room for fuckery, and we were going to have to wade through those floors to get to the gate on the roof. Because the outside was covered in anti-air weapons. The tower was also surrounded by a 40 yard wide… moat… or pit I guess that was at least reaching into the bottom levels of the Dark. The land around that was stuffed full of landmines both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle. This was all contained within a half mile sphere of warped reality. The event horizon of which would likely be destructive to projectiles launched from outside of it.

Angelica shrugged, “I think I should just run in.”

“You would just… run in?” Toad asked, in complete disbelief.

Angelica shrugged again, “Basically. I can get past the mines, hop the gap, then scale the outside. Then from the roof I can find the Demon of Frost. I should be able to kill him quietly.”

“And what will you do when he comes back through the gate?” Toad pressed.

“He won’t come back. I can permanently kill him.” Angelica didn’t elaborate.

“You can?” Sunit asked.

“Not the way you think,” Angelica said.

“Is it the way I think?” I asked. I was thinking Celeste as an angel could kill demons forever.

Angelica shook her head, “You’re closer but no.”

Huh, I wonder what that is.

“But how does…” Philip realized he was nearly shouting, he continued more calmly, “How does that free the prisoners.”

“It doesn’t,” Angelica admitted.

“We will need a means of approaching the tower,” Toad said. “Trying to sap our way through the minefield is a fool's errand.”

“Are you, Toad Badkiss, suggesting we go into the Dark?” Grimset asked.

Toad stared at him for a long moment, “To break the tower, yes. Those tunnels will no doubt be a twisted nest of traps and monsters, but we can control them and break through to the tower. Crossing the gap will be the tricky part.”

“Get me close enough and I can build a bridge,” Brunhilda spoke up. She had been very quiet till now.

“How fast?” Toad asked.

“Out of stone, five seconds. Another twenty and you could drive a tank across it,” Brunhilda said.

“Could I do that?” I asked.

“Yeah, buddy,” Brunhilda said.

“Wait if those stupid mines are below the ground, I could maybe push the dirt with the Construction skill.”

“We do have mines to test that,” Helen piped up.

“We will after the trial,” Toad agreed.

“What about the reality warping field?” Brand asked.

“The controls for it will be on a lower floor, maybe the third,” Angelica answered. When she realized everyone was watching her she said. “I have been fighting demons for years now. I know how they work.”

“So you could turn it off?” Zarina asked.

Angelica didn’t have a great poker face, “Probably. Entering the tower, especially through any main entrance is a bad idea. The reality warping outside is uncomfortable and disorientating. Inside it is mind bending and possibly lethal.”

“I do have Mental Resistance,” I said.

“Holy shit, that’s awesome,” Spine said.

“Would you be able to turn off the field?” Philip asked.

“I can sure try,” I said, looking to Angelica.

Yeah she still had a bad poker face, “It… could work.”

“You do not have faith in the idea,” Toad observed.

“This is going to be dangerous. Fighting directly will get a lot of people killed,” Angelica explained.

“We are dying everyday. I would prefer to die for a cause,” Toad insisted.

“I would prefer to not die at all,” Helen spoke up.

“We will need to attack in force,” Toad insisted again.

“Agreed,” Philip said.

“I still say a small team of…” Angelica pointedly ignored Brand, “High scale individuals hitting the tower in a surgical manner could result in the best outcome. I get Doug on top of the tower, he might be able to close the gate. Then we could clear it slowly if we need to.”

“Why not do both plans at the same time?” Spine asked

“Because a small team doesn’t need an army,” Angelica said.

“An army does draw the eye,” Toad pointed out, “You could sneak in rather easily with all eyes on us.”

“I do think this idea has merit,” Brand agreed, “I could use that opportunity to try and free prisoners. Several of them are my squadmates. They could be very helpful.”

Angelica could see her idea of everyone just letting her deal with this was being ignored. I shrugged when she met my eye.

“Ideally we would want Doug to clear a space large enough for us to get the vehicles with rockets through,” Helen said.

“Why?” Zarina asked.

“We could use those to take out the Anti-aircraft defenses and then we could use the helicopters,” Helen explained.

“The what now?” I asked.

“The helicopters,” Helen looked at me before continuing, “it is like an airplane but different.”

Good to know where she gauged my intelligence. Then again considering the amount of incorrect assumptions I was making… yeah she had a point. I don’t know how food works.