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282 - Pay for it

    Amdirlain’s PoV - Outlands


    After Snorri vanished, Amdirlain tracked the link’s shifting sensation between planes, and Tyr nodded after a brief wait.


    “I’ll monitor from within the prison,” advised Amdirlain.


    “Might we join you?” asked Tyr.


    Amdirlain shrugged. “The cell’s interiors have some decoration to prevent boredom, but the rest is just dull stone.”


    “I’m sure we can handle that,” Tyr responded.


    Leading the way, Amdirlain ignored the pressure of the purification field across her skin and moved off to one side. Once they’d both entered the prison’s outer corridor, she closed the Gate behind them.


    “Can they hear us?” enquired Tyr.


    “No,” replied Amdirlain, but she doubled checked all the barriers were still tight.


    Just in case.


    “What will you do with the other two?” asked the Solar.


    “They have a link to Moloch. I’m considering possibilities for saturating him with corruption,” explained Amdirlain.


    “Torm discussed Moloch being a Hidden with me. Since he has a Mortal Soul, how do you think the path will react if the corruption stirs him to greater violence?”


    “I’ll avoid that approach if possible. My chief concern with it is him being about to trace the corruption flows back to the prisoners before they’ve recovered enough to sever the link,” advised Amdirlain. “Let’s see how it goes with Torm first.”


    Baiting the corruption into the link was a matter of a few notes, but Amdirlain’s focus stayed in place, monitoring the strain on Snorri through it. The first burst of purged corruption caused pain to echo through the link. Under the influence of Snorri’s pain, Torm smashed himself against the circle’s barrier, but the protections prevented him from hurting himself.


    Yet, rather than discouraging the corruption, a mass of energy surged down the link towards that echo. The waves of agony that followed caused Torm to escalate in his efforts to escape the confinement.


    Despite the flow she could hear shifting through the link, the corruption within him seemed undiminished, and Amdirlain settled in for a wait. Though the shield around Snorri’s thoughts felt unshaken, Amdirlain repeatedly reinforced it as the hours stretched on and the corruption’s density faded. With the fading static of its presence, she finally understood the corruption’s hold, and Amdirlain severed the link.


    [Resonance [S] (105->106)


    True Song Architecture [S] (95->96)]


    “Was there a problem? Snorri said the pain has stopped, but he’s feeling fine,” offered Tyr.


    With her attention still saturated by intertwining music swirling through her mind, the simplicity of words felt strange to Amdirlain.


    “There isn’t a need to continue risking him,” replied Amdirlain. She paused and raked her fingers through her hair, mentally organising her insights.


    As Tyr watched her expression ripple between hope and concern, he remained silent and allowed her to compose herself.


    “I know how to remove the corruption now; the way it locks into place has always been the key I’d been missing. When I destroyed the memories, the corruption didn’t stay linked to the souls because it needed mental energy to maintain the link. This corruption wasn’t theirs, but it’s twisted their memories and flawed their energies through that distortion of events,” explained Amdirlain.


    Tyr nodded. “Has this given you extra insight into how to undo the damage?”


    “The corruption has introduced flaws in his celestial energy,” sighed Amdirlain. “They’re going to need to form fresh memories, free of the corruption’s influence, to work on smoothing out the flaws. However, I can get the corruption to release the memories now without causing further pain to Snorri.”


    “Then we need to motivate them to follow Redemption’s Path,” stated Tyr.


    Amdirlain sighed again. “Yes; you can’t change a person, they have to change themselves. I’m not sure how the plinth will judge them. If it says they’ve nothing to make up for, they’re just going to fall again the way they are now. I’ll get working on the clean-up.”


    She set an invisible physical barrier above his head and set to work. The soaring ethereal notes sprang to life and manifested an orb of white energy three metres above Torm. As he bellowed in pain and rage, black sludge ripped through the skin and reopened half-healed wounds, forming tendrils that undulated upwards. The torrent ignited in the primordial inferno her voice had wrought. The energy conversion Sarah had devised seized the burning corruption, added it to the song’s force, and the sludge gushed forth from Torm in arterial pulses.


    Focused on the song alone, Amdirlain ignored the blood dripping from the vicious half-moons her nails had ripped into her palms and her streaming tears. A hollow ache twisted within her guts, and she pushed it back with every breath. Fighting through the agony she was inflicting, Amdirlain forced the song to encompass more corruption. The decibels within the chamber ratcheted past a jet engine’s roar, punching hard at the protective magics the Lóm? had set to nullify audible detections.


    The release of corruption’s grip flayed at her with Resonance translating twisted memories into a bitter mockery of a life well lived, with a focus on his family and Tyr’s service. Though it savaged at her sorrow, Amdirlain didn’t shut out their music and endured it; seizing her incandescent rage, she fueled the song to greater heights.


    The streams of corruption became fire hoses that yanked Torm from side to side; her unyielding grip emptying the corruption from his twisted form. Only when no more sludge came forth did a sudden silence slap across her battered senses, and a notification stabbed at her mind.


    [True Song Genesis [Ap] (15->16)


    Note: Noisy cricket]


    The ball of energy vanished across the planes striking at the heart of a town, and another notification appeared.


    [Planar Gate Shattered


    Culerzic to Hrz’Styrn


    Total Experience gained: 1,000,000


    Ostim?: +500,000


    Ont?lin: +500,000


    Note: You’ve got cleansed primordial matter spraying from both ends. The town’s ruins were still a glowing landscape, is that not enough for you?]


    “Moloch, I’m going to take everything from you before I’m done,” Amdirlain whispered, scrubbing at her face.


    The lack of combat notification—as much as Gideon’s snark—told Amdirlain the first town she’d obliterated on Culerzic hadn’t recovered.


    “Amdirlain?” Tyr questioned, and he rested a hand against her back to steady her as she swayed in her grief. Her name drew her attention back to the moment, and she realised only Tyr and herself were present with the prisoners.


    With dust-filled air swirling between them, Amdirlain considered how much force she’d unleashed. Blinking away tears, she forced words past the ache that had settled in her chest. “Sorry, that got wild. Are they okay?”


    “I sent Haskell off when you threw yourself into your singing. You spared Snorri the pain, and instead, you shouldered it yourself? Are you okay? You were working at that for nearly a day,” advised Tyr.


    “I should have asked Haskell’s name; please give him my apologies. Purging corruption from over a thousand years of memories took a while,” Amdirlain observed, her voice cracked and ruined her attempted casualness.


    Tyr huffed. “You’re worse than Fen, at least she admits when a battle was fierce. Are you going to rest before you tend to the others?”


    “I’ve already missed attending training today; I might as well keep going,” confirmed Amdirlain. “Though I’ve only got one other Portal I’ve seen that’s relatively sure to be clear of activity. Oh! I can target the gates between Carceri and the Abyss.”


    “You used that inferno to break a Portal?” enquired Tyr.


    Amdirlain gave a sharp nod. “A natural Gate between Culerzic and Hrz’Styrn. The other connection I know about on Culerzic is a Portal through a whirlpool.”


    “I’d avoid the connections with Carceri and the Abyss; I understand that Hell’s armies invade by some of those routes,” cautioned Tyr. “Even if they don’t, you could have other demon lords searching for answers about who was involved.”


    “Point. I should limit myself to three wars at a time,” huffed Amdirlain mock playfully.


    Tyr sighed. “You’re limiting yourself to three by your accounting? I’m not sure that your tally is correct. You won''t make significant progress if you stretch yourself too thin.”


    Not wanting to get into her list, Amdirlain changed the subject. “I’m not sure my idea of playing memories will matter. I could sense the distortion in their memories, but during that I got flashes of memories from Torm. He loved his memories of family, and now those same memories have spite and contempt lacing them.”


    Tyr half raised a hand toward Torm’s cell but lowered it. “I should have told him to abandon the cell’s operations after Rhithri ignored your concerns.”


    “We both left the choice in others’ hands, but I’ll admit I’m trying to convince myself this isn’t my fault,” allowed Amdirlain. “He wanted to keep making a difference while we waited out my Planar Lock. There were so many opportunities I let slip by where I could have headed it off.”


    “Trusting another is a choice that takes other choices away,” observed Tyr.


    “Not unless we want to betray their trust in turn,” agreed Amdirlain. “I don’t know about you making observations in my language. Should I have referred to his memories as lying witnesses or something?”


    Tyr gave her a concerned smile. “You could keep them contained until you’ve got a way forward.”


    “Master Cyrus said there are two ways to heal flaws in a Soul, and it also applies to celestial energies. You need to work on living a good life or cycling Ki while meditating on one’s flaws. The trio are not in a place where they’ll care about meditating on mistakes they didn’t even make. That means I need to get them out working towards living a good life, not standing in a cell.”


    “Which brings us back to motivating them to even want to walk Redemption’s Path,” noted Tyr.


    The corruption still hissed from the others with the same dreadful heat, niggling at her the same way Viper’s tone had dug. A thought occurred to Amdirlain, but she held her tongue, glad that her Hidden state shielded her mind even with a Greater Power within reach.


    Amdirlain kept herself from groaning and succeeded in a casual tone. “Want to gather a few regiments?”


    “What did you have in mind?”


    “I figured your troops could use a boost in capabilities. Mind if I take them to destroy some undead chewing at a dead world?”


    Tyr looked surprised by her announcement. “I thought you just meant working with Snorri and Haskell.”


    “After the sacrifice they willingly offered to undertake? Like I’d only help two of your commanders,” scoffed Amdirlain. “Though we should let Snorri determine the process for selecting the regiments since he endured the pain.”


    “It’ll be his choice then,” agreed Tyr. “I’ll let you know when the troops are ready, but I’m going to insist on that being at least a few weeks from now. Please rest. I could see the torment you endured for him. Be kind to yourself for a change.”


    “There is always a price to be paid, and mine won’t be the biggest one. I couldn’t ignore the blighted mess his memories had become,” answered Amdirlain.


    With a grave head shake, Tyr frowned. “Best to ignore lies unless you can use them against the liar. How can you fight the Abyss with corruption’s lies? Rest so that you can do your best for the next. Is there a rush?”


    “Alright, I’ll send some messages and listen to a living world,” replied Amdirlain.


    Dispatching messages to Rasha and the others, Amdirlain wrapped concealments around herself before she gated away to Votari. Her arrival set her at the peak of a hill she’d flown over on her first visit. The cloud-filled sky and rain hammering through the trees’ canopy perfectly matched her mood. Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes to let the torrential rain wash over her, and the scent of the local pines scrubbed at her sorrow.


    “They only really understand negative emotions now,” groaned Amdirlain.


    Pushing the temptation to scream aside, she started to plan the manipulation of a trio of individuals like Viper. Word choices and actions emerged from the Femme Fatale Skill as her planning advanced.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Amdirlain hadn’t planned on talking to them for some time, but focusing on the path’s pendant, she thought of the Eldest. She could feel the connection establish, making them aware of the individual seeking to speak with them and their acknowledgment in return.


    “I wondered if you’d ever be in touch,” said the Eldest.


    “I need some advice.”


    “Is this about your search for the last Fallen or your progress on the path?”


    “My search. We found all three, and I’ve purged the corruption from one so far,” advised Amdirlain, and she heard a grunt of surprise in response. “I need to talk to you about their cleansed state and the Formithian pantheon.”


    “I’ll answer your second part first. The Formithians are vastly different to when I served my Liege; I doubt I’d recognise them,” replied the Eldest. “Why did you need the advice?”


    “Alright, it was a long shot. I’ve found they steal worlds from other less developed species and hoped you could advise me about peacefully discouraging them,” replied Amdirlain.


    “I can only advise you on how they used to be; I’ve had no dealings with them in thousands of aeons,” cautioned the Eldest. “My advice on them might be so misleading as to be dangerous.”


    Amdirlain plucked soft needles from a nearby tree and inhaled the aroma. “Do Fallen ever come to the path looking to gain revenge on those they believe caused their fall?”


    A hum of understanding came through the link before the Eldest spoke. “It is not unknown for them to seek the heavens to cast others down. What is your concern?”


    “Not a concern so much as seeking a way to motivate them to start the path,” replied Amdirlain. “The corruption from the Transformation Site has twisted their memories and perception of their prior existence.”


    There was only silence over the link for a long while before the Eldest spoke again. “If they are going to be secure, I’d ask you to come to the cloister so we can discuss this in person.”


    “I need to remove the corruption from the other two first,” hedged Amdirlain.


    “My only purpose is to ensure all those that start the path have the best chance to complete it. I’ve seen many successes but far more failures,” said the Eldest, reading into her hesitation. “I want to ensure we both avoid disappointment.”


    “I need to take a break; dealing with the first’s corruption was painful. As soon as I complete the clean-up of the other two, I’ll come to the valley,” confirmed Amdirlain.


    “Thank you.”


    The words surprised Amdirlain, and she froze, reaching for more needles. “For what?”


    “You barely know me, but you’ve shown trust in my position by speaking to me about these matters. That is not a trust I take lightly,” explained the Eldest.


    Amdirlain let the link between them fade away. She exhaled hard and scrubbed the fresh tears that had mingled with the rain.


    After deciding her course, Teleport took her out above the grasslands and she continued with line-of-sight teleports until she stood under a clear sky.


    Her trip had taken her to the far side of a massive lake that bordered the grasslands—an expanse of fresh water on the scale of the Black Sea from her quick scouting. The far side was mountainous terrain, and Amdirlain landed on a ridge to get a majestic view of the deep blue waters. The sun hanging low above the mountain line showed the lateness of the day.


    Most of the nearby animal life she could sense were assorted aquatic life within the water, but short-horned goats perched precariously along a cliff face to her north. As Amdirlain watched, they descended to drink and feed on grasses growing along the waterfront. An hour spent watching their fearlessness restored her calm and, as the sun sank below the horizon, Amdirlain returned to the prison.


    Tempted to use the plinth’s song against Torm, Amdirlain tried a different approach and felt Analysis strain within her, and she pictured the billions of permutations Gideon was checking.


    [Guilty regarding:


    <ul>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Mass murder, responsible for triggering an event that led to the death of over a thousand mortals in the abyssal city of Ravager’s junction.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Fathering demonic children, unleashing dangers against mortals while engaging in pleasure-seeking.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Extended emotional torment of Mortal Soul.</li>


    </ul>


    Note: Thank me later.


    Note: I’m not the one sex obsessed. He had so many happy endings with succubi.


    Note: The last one is from me planning to tell tales in class. ]


    [Analysis [S] (29->31)]


    For once, Ori being a bitch comes in handy. He became corrupted, I went on a rampage. So does my changing the local portals into gates count as what killed them?


    Checking on the others, Analysis reported their work for Moloch had already included a share of vile deeds. It apportioned them some blame for the mortals’ deaths in the city she’d destroyed.


    Torm was happy I was safe, but they were glad the rogue element wasn’t on their team. It doesn’t feel like a first-degree separation. The ''thank me later'' note? Is that Gideon telling me he’s got some leeway in the information he gives to the plinth?


    Scrying out locations, Amdirlain found one unexpectedly crawling with tens of thousands of demons without a Mortal on site. Amdirlain set crystals to monitor her chosen targets for changes and began her work.


    Cleaning the corruption from them was more complex and more manageable. While both of the others were older than Torm, Amdirlain had no compunction about blocking out the echoes of their memories.


    The first inferno shattered the Portal above the whirlpool she’d scouted with Torm, getting a similar message to the first. The second was more dramatic: targeted to smash apart a reconstruction project on the Ravager’s river.


    [Combat Summary


    Dretch, Least: x9,345


    Dretch, Lesser: x3,142


    Sk?ll, Lesser: x2,976


    Sk?ll: x178


    Fraz-gòn: x153


    Total Experience gained: 18,409,291


    Ostim?: +9,204,645


    Ont?lin: +9,204,645]


    [Achievement: Home Wrecker


    Note: First you trash his wine collection, and now his new palace’s construction site. Better luck next time?]


    Amdirlain howled with laughter at Gideon’s note and teleported to the valley’s mouth to refresh herself in the sunlight.


    After the strain of the day’s effort had faded, Amdirlain set protections in place and, after a couple of Planar hops, ended up where she’d first seen the cloister’s fortress with Dagrast?r. As those on the battlements looked her way, Amdirlain retrieved the pendant and let it rest atop her clothing.


    “Are you a newcomer on the path?”


    The voice whispered through the pendant’s link.


    “I’ve been here only once with Dagrast?r for judgement by the path.”


    “If you can, proceed forward at the speed Dagrast?r used. If you are unsure of the speed to use, wave a claw.”


    Amdirlain stepped off and restricted herself to the same pace Dagrast?r had walked. Just before she reached the distance Dagrast?r had taken to the air, the voice came again.


    “Fly to the third weapon station on the upper tier.”


    Following the instruction, Amdirlain lifted into the air and headed for the station. The attendant’s outward appearance was a grey spider twice the size of her Wood Elf form. Two rows of four jet-black eyes ran among the grey fur that covered its head. They were reared up on their hindmost legs, holding the ballista’s controls with the front two pairs of legs.


    Its multiple eyes were fixed on her elven form, and Amdirlain could hear its confusion, but no one obstructed her from landing beside its station. Attached directly to its bristly skin, its pendant had adhered to its skull in the centre point of its eight eyes.


    “Greetings,” said Amdirlain.


    “Greetings, traveller. How has your path progressed?”


    The clicks its mandibles emitted were translated by Polyglot from a language she’d never heard.


    “There have been several temptations since I was last here. I can only hope I’ve progressed rather than slipped,” admitted Amdirlain. “The Eldest asked me to come to speak to them on a matter I was investigating. Should I go to them, or will I need a guide again?”


    “Your pendant is all you need. Follow the main path of the tunnel at the end of this tier. Though it winds about, don’t take any side passages; eventually, it connects to the way down.”


    Giving a polite nod, Amdirlain stepped around its thorax and walked along the upper battlements. Those stationed around her arrival point ignored her, apparently focusing their attention outward, but Amdirlain could hear their pendants transmitting questions as she passed.


    The passage ran triple the length into the valley’s wall than the passage she’d taken last time. It did indeed wind about and, like the other, ran through a hardened security point, with multiple layers of defences along every stretch of corridor. Beyond the hardened security point, someone had elaborately engraved the passage. It ran past halls where Amdirlain could hear the clash of weapons and spells striking targets. Eventually, it connected to the shaft, but beneath its upper layer.


    During her descent, the wards recognised the pendant she carried and cautiously let her pass. Echoing upwards, she heard a sharp tapping from far below.


    Upon her arrival at the point of the massive tear-drop-shaped cavern, it seemed far more enormous than last time as the Eldest wasn’t looming overhead. Instead, it was in a small Formithian form—barely a metre long—with its legs folded underneath near an alcove within the teardrop point of the chamber. Its stubby middle arms held a chisel and mallet, which it wielded to add more detail to the alcove’s engraving.


    “I’m glad you returned so promptly. I’ll admit I wondered if you would seek our advice on any matter,” the Eldest stated as Amdirlain approached.


    Silently, Amdirlain put concealments in place to stop their conversation from being overheard by someone up the shaft.


    “I can be stubborn, but not without reason,” admitted Amdirlain. “You’ve got far more knowledge of those that have travelled the path than I do. Wouldn’t it be stupid not to seek more information?”


    “I’ve encountered beings quite willing to believe they alone know the truth,” replied the Eldest with wistful sadness. “Are all three now cleansed of the corruption, or did you return earlier than you suggested?”


    “I’ve removed the sludge from their essence and incinerated it,” advised Amdirlain. “Their memories and attitudes are still twisted.”


    The Eldest set the tools onto a length of hide and carefully wrapped them back up. “Once we’ve got them some help, I hope you’ll share more details about how this came to pass. You asked about those having the motivation of revenge succeeding on the path.”


    “They don’t have that in common yet. The problem is they have no motivation to seek the path or change,” advised Amdirlain.


    “Then what was the purpose of your enquiry?”


    “The motivation for revenge is one I’m sure I can inspire in them,” stated Amdirlain.


    “Who are they going desire to seek revenge against?”


    “Against me—the cleansing process alone wasn’t fun. They hate me right now. I can give them a firm reason to succeed on the path.”


    The Eldest''s head tendrils waved about. “How will you avoid bringing conflict into the cloister?”


    “I’m going to rip the memories out, and they won’t even remember what I look or sound like. I’ll leave them with the certainty that if they redeem themselves, they’ll learn what they need for revenge against me.”


    “Could you have prevented their fall?”


    “It was within my capabilities, but only if I’d broken trust with one of them,” explained Amdirlain. “If I had gone along on their operations, I would have detected the trap before it could have sprung.”


    “Having such surety about playing with a Fallen’s mind. You’re skilled in psionics, I take it?”


    “Yes,” confirmed Amdirlain. “I’d rather not go into everything, but I can ensure they remember the truth after being redeemed.”


    “It’s good that the promise of information isn’t a lie, though I’d worry about the danger to you. Do you expect them to view your efforts differently afterwards?” the Eldest asked.


    “Yes. I also plan to put safeguards in place that if they leave the Abyss while not on the path, I’ll imprison them.”


    “How will they start the trial?”


    “I know where one of the trial stones is located. I’m going to insert that information into their minds,” advised Amdirlain.


    “The path could hold you responsible if they harm any mortals in the Abyss.”


    “I know it’s a risk, but I’m not happy or angry about this course—I’m scared for them,” countered Amdirlain. “Admittedly, I’m also planning to put other safeguards in place besides monitoring them in the Abyss, so they won’t have as much freedom as they believe my choices will give them. If they go to break my guidelines, I’ll lock them away.”


    “If I advised you to avoid that risk and just destroy them?” asked the Eldest, and they held up both their stubby hands. “These aren’t in the same situation that others find themselves.”


    Amdirlain grimaced. “The others fell but still remember being good.”


    “Yes, they remember, even if the motivation for travelling the path is grey for some of them. You said the corruption had twisted all their memories.”


    “The three believe they were being used all along by their respective lieges, and the site opened their eyes,” sighed Amdirlain. “I won’t give up on them without fighting to give them a chance. They were celestials, and because of the arrogance of their cell leader, their operation became compromised and they were led into a trap.”


    “And you’d rescue this cell leader as well?”


    “Oh, they got themselves killed, not dragged into the site. I’ve already shown them my prisoners. They cared absolutely nothing about the others’ fate and said the individual is unimportant; all that matters is the nest,” explained Amdirlain, her voice cold.


    “A nest that will eat its members with no regard for their loss isn’t a nest, but a place to await death. A grub is a drain on the nest now, a sick artisan is a drain now, an injured warrior, and countless other situations may never offer a return for the nest. But if the immediate need disregards them with no concern, then the nest itself is sick and dying no matter how healthy it seems,” asserted the Eldest.


    “That certainly wasn’t their viewpoint. If that’s how the formithians used to be, they’ve changed,” reported Amdirlain.


    “Within the cloister we are all broken in different ways and on our individual journeys; our wrongs and insights are different, but that individuality gives us strength, not weakness. Anyone that starts on the path, we do our best to support their journey and help them see the truth,” stated the Eldest.


    “A suitable mentor,” murmured Amdirlain.


    “Exactly. Some have wanted to regain the heavens to burn them down, so they won’t be the first arriving here still consumed with rage. You may keep the ‘how’ close to your chest, but tell me of these Fallen, and what contingencies you’ve planned for so far. Perhaps I can provide insights to ease this burden you seem intent on carrying alone.”


    “I’m not alone, but I feel responsible,” confessed Amdirlain.


    “Sorrow can often apportion blame that isn’t yours to bear. I will listen if you wish to speak about anything,” replied the Eldest, and they motioned towards the shaft. “Is it psionics you are using to dampen our words? I noticed they aren’t echoing.”


    Amdirlain opted to play it safe. “I’ve got a few tricks available to me.”


    Moloch’s PoV - Culerzic


    The molten mess that had been the bones of his new palace were still burning when he arrived. A white-hot mass, whose eruption had annihilated workers, had spread through the foundations. It had caved in the pit’s edge, ignited stonework, and ruined most of the site.


    Standing at the top of the overseer’s tower, Moloch reached through a Gate and yanked the fleeing architect back to the site. With an iron grasp around the fly-headed Demon’s throat, he held it off the tower’s edge. Staring at the wreckage, he sought more information, but the golden script that returned made him grind his teeth.


    [Primordial Phlegm:


    Details: Corruption ignited by the Titan’s Songbird and absently spat across planes at meaningless swarming demons.]


    Though ?the architect wasn’t to blame, the bug-eyed Demon had already hidden other setbacks from him. Moloch slowly squeezed until he’d powdered the Demon’s spine, and continued until the flesh burst apart.


    Bliss delicately cleared her throat as the corpse plummeted from the observation tower. “Did someone fuck up with ritual magic?”


    “The Titan’s Songbird again. Increase the bounty for information; I want to know how they found it and what demon lords might have cut a deal.”


    “The duo from The Exchange said it died before when some mythical elves worked for the Titan,” sighed Bliss. “I’ve not yet heard from your other information sellers.”


    “Clearly it didn’t, and someone’s met its price,” instructed Moloch. “In the meantime, find me a new architect; ensure they know not to hide problems from me.”


    “Where do you want it built? Here?” asked Bliss, her full lips twisted as she jabbed a finger at the burning mass.


    “Somewhere away from any current or past city, have the architect draw up plans for multiple sites, and I’ll pick what I like,” replied Moloch. “Find multiple architects; I’ll pick a plan from each as soon as they have them ready for my approval.”


    Bliss pouted and crossed her arms to lift her breasts for display. “Do I look like an overseer?”


    “I know exactly what you are, Bliss. Be your deceitful self, but remember, you’re one of my spiteful bitches. Have someone organise the architects, but keep yourself informed and tell me when you discover any lies. That way, you won’t be the one I kill,” replied Moloch. “Deal with this mess. The Sisterhood is coming apart, and there are profitable territories to seize.”


    A dramatic huff blew a strand of black hair away from her face before Bliss teleported.


    Moloch glanced over the workers moving equipment clear before returning to the Sisterhood’s ruined fortress on Jinamizi.
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