Birth Of The Crafts-God

Lucas, a middle-aged man and Kelvin arranged themselves on a table in the Seven Sparks Forge. While the former two sat opposite the other, Kelvin stood on his two feet a few steps away behind Lucas.

"Since there would be a war quite soon, we decided to stock up on our supplies, including vestiges."

The middle-aged narrated his own ordeal and reasons.

"Truthfully, it would be more helpful to have you in Digress city-state, but I doubt you would even agree to that setup. But at the very least, please help our cause."

So you figured that I would, since I am a human, right? Sorry to disappoint you, but my answer is no." Lucas calmly responded.

"...may I ask why?"

Lucas stared at the man for a while, then sighed.

"For starters, working with you guys comes with an unnecessary amount of risk. I'm already doing quite well and there's no reason for me to put myself in a dangerous position.

"Secondly, there's not enough information for me to work with here, to be able to trust you.

"And finally, the compensation package isn't even worth considering. Resources? I have never lacked those. Even if there's something I need that I don't have, I can afford it. Protection? Baylands City is the most secured place in the entire city-state. A hideout? My store is more than suitable for that. There's no reason I should be tempted by your offer, even without considering the risks."

The man was speechless for a while before he smiled.

"That would be true, if it were true." Read latest chapters at empire

"??"

"You see, the hyumans are right in something. Since Digress city-state is made of the same lineup as the terrorists group, it is quite possible for some of the latter to be hiding within our midst. It is also possible for us to sneak in spies into these organisations." The man mysteriously smiled.

"There are currently two terrorist organisations operating in Eretre, with each being a force to take seriously even for a city-state."

'Two? Let me guess. One or maybe even the both of them have names like the Liberation army or the Dark Abyss.' Lucas joked inwardly as he listened to the man.

There was already the HCRO, or the Human and Crossbreed Rights Organisation, so he felt that the remaining ones would have more 'cliche' name. Naturally, Lucas was joking about it, and didn't believe that they would do such.

"Although there were a lot more in the past, the local organisations and groups gathered up to form one of the current terrorist organisations; the Western Front Liberation Army."

'...you gotta be kidding me.' Lucas' lips twitched.

"The Western Front Liberation Army is the local terrorist group supposedly fighting for the rights of humans, and mixed breeds. Unlike us, they prefer to take the more extreme route to be heard."

"Hold on," Kelvin interrupted. "you said that there are two groups. How is that so, if the Western Front Liberation Army is made up of all the previous existing terrorist groups?"

The man stared at him and sighed while shaking his head.

"See why I was against having this conversation with you? Your boss hasn't said a word, yet you have. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even have spoken with you here."

Kelvin widened his eyes and glared at the man, but didn't make a move yet.

"As for the second group, it isn't local. Instead, they come from outside the planet. To be specific, outside the solar system."

Lucas and Kelvin froze.

There was a big difference between the planet, outside the planet and outside the solar system. With each stage, the level of technology available was more advanced. There was a reason why the Kellan solar system was called a backwater, and Eretre was the backwater of a backwater. A terrorist organisation that came from outside the system could possibly destroy the entire planet without any issue.

"You don't need to worry. It's not their full force. It can't even be called a branch as it is made of only a few original members of the real organisation. They migrated over to Eretre with the intention to spread throughout the Kellan solar system." The man explained.

"As for their name, I can't say for certain whether it's the same with their mother organisation, but they call themselves the 'Stygian Abyss' [1] or the Stygians for short."

"..."

Once again, Lucas was dumbstruck.

'It can't be. Are their founders chuunibyous [2]?'.

"So what exactly is the difference? Since they have the same goal, why not just unite?" Lucas asked.

"It's because they have their differences. To the Stygians, they see things in a larger level, and their focus isn't solely on Eretre alone. As a result, they're more violent and carry out their actions without consideration for the environment. The Liberation Army however, understands that Eretre is their home, so even though they utilise extreme methods, they do so within the constraints of what the planet can handle. They also tend to avoid things like wide scale massacres and so on, targeting government and government agencies instead."

"So that means that the incident in Alleva was a work of the Stygians?" Lucas probed.

The man smiled instead, choosing not to answer. However, that in itself was an answer to Lucas.

"Which incident? The desolate beast tide? Wasn't that caused by a spatial tear from a void beast?" Kelvin was surprised.

The official statement by the Baylands city-state government and military was that the desolate beast tide was caused by spatial tear on Jota, Eretre's neighbour which was a host to a wide variety of desolate beasts.

According to the statement, a void beast —essentially a higher lifeform of a desolate beast— had created a spatial tear on Jota which coincidentally led to Alleva district. In the short while that the spatial tear existed, a large horde of desolate beasts for caught in it or wandered into it of their own volition, and ended up in Baylands city-state's Alleva district.

The explanation was logical and with it coming from an official source, many took it to be the truth and didn't question it. After all, what other explanation could be offered for a wave of desolate beasts appearing in a location extremely far from the nearest desolate beast habitat without any sign?

However, from the conversation of the duo, Kelvin realised that it was much more complicated than he thought.

"As for why I made this introduction, it's quite simple. We have spies in both organisations and we recently discovered a plot from the Stygian Abyss. You, Lucas Saunters, will be in trouble soon; a trouble that no one can save you from and could possibly be the end of you."

Saying this, the man stood up to leave.

"Since you don't want to help us, I'll leave you with one last piece of advice. Run away from here, as fast as you can before it's too late."