Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

“We've been had...” Fin mumbled disappointed.

The Lords of Minas Mar, the Team Captains, and co. were assembled in the meeting room at the top of the ancient magic tower. Leana had called in an emergency meeting. The Peddler of Ruin had finally revealed why he earned that nickname.

A god had been born and a legend had appeared on Urth. With this Urth's grace period was officially over. Of course, the system already stopped blocking them when the Guardian Tree ascended, but it was not public knowledge. Even other powers were likely only found after the incident with the Scene.

The demons knew. The remnants of the Scene probably knew, too, but they didn't know about the significance of this information. Since the demons were involved with the Sect Alliance, it was probably them that informed Spatia.

“Well, it was bound to happen eventually,” Seth said with a sigh. Especially since they directly threw an immortal at them to force the situation. Just putting Yoma Ma on the screen once, was enough to have the whole world know that legends appeared on Urth. If it wasn't now, there would have been another way they had done it.

The subsequent reaction was foreseeable. The danger of legends was like the deterrence of nuclear missiles when in the hands of a country or organization. This was also why there was a tacit agreement among the superpowers possessing legends, that they couldn't just be sent to new worlds.

This was the point of the whole show they orchestrated this time. It wasn't possible to send legends for no reason, but what if there was an excuse? The excuse was that legendary beings had appeared in a new world and threatened the lives of the natives, for example.

Spatia had sent out an official announcement stating exactly that. They intended to claim Urth as a province of the Spatian Empire and send legends for the protection of the citizens. Everyone in the room knew, that they were coming to invade them, but on the great stage of the Pathworks, this was a universally accepted reason. It was even seen as a humanitarian mission by some of the powers.

Universally accepted, unless of course other powers already had a claim to the world. Powers like Chrona, or the Muir Empire. In the case of superpowers clashing and one of them voicing their intention to send legends, there were only two ways it could end.

After much diplomacy between the powers involved and others who were part of the treaty, either the other powers would pull out, or there would be a sanctioned battle of legends. And this was the part where all of them finally realized the extent of planning that went into this turn of events.

When they read the statement released by Merkraut Sar, the representative of Chrona, everything made sense. The tremendous loss incurred through the destruction of the subterranean granaries due to “local mismanagement”.

The public opinion turned against Chrona and their supported merchant guilds. The situation in Urth becoming more and more dangerous, as shown in the appearance of legends and “the fall of the allied colony of Arget Nore”. Spatia stated their intention to fight for Urth using legends.

All of these pieces became reasons for the ultimate decision: Chrona would leave Urth. They would pull out all of their powers and support invested. They would take along whoever ori huma had joined the troops of Chrona and wished to come along.

Of course, it was all worded very diplomatically. A hard but sensible choice. Passing the torch of protecting the people to Spatia in an almost amicable way. However, what it meant was that the empire would evacuate the world as quickly as possible with as much as they were able to carry.

Delta would be left without defense. Although they couldn't take the walls they built, they intended to take along the players and their families that had joined the army, since one of the most precious resources of a new system world, was actually the ori huma with their growth potential and bonus stats.

The influx of wares from the Chrona Empire would also mostly run dry. Although the empire couldn't stop traders from acting on Urth, merchants were not stupid. With Spatia intending to take over, many would decide not to get involved at all.

“What about the System Church? The bank, the auction house?” Monique asked concerned. The system bank, the auction house, and even the adventurer guild were organizations that existed almost everywhere in the Pathworks. Would they be affected by the change?

“Well, nothing will happen immediately. Even when the empire leaves, the Church exists independently. The Chrona branch of the System Church will only leave when Spatia actually takes over control and their church sends its own members. it will probably be similar for the auction house and the bank.

Before you ask, the adventurer guild only follows the dungeon god and exists independently from nations. Unless Spatia intends to anger the dungeon god, they won't touch the adventurer guild;” Leana answered her question in detail.

Seth was not too bothered by the fact that they had duped them to reveal the existence of legends on Urth, but his lips had been locked in a frown, ever since they realized how much had gone into this plan, all to technically offer them to Spatia on a silver platter.

What had him reeling even more was the name he read at the bottom of the original statement from Spatia. The Durnham Royal Family. Natina the chosen necromancer they had faced during the Evaluation and who managed to get her hands on a bonafide ancient skeleton dragon.

Just how many of the things that had happened on Urth ever since the Evaluation was she involved in? Who knew for how long Spatia was already involved with the Scene? How many of their deeds and actions were actually motivated by Spatia, by Natina from the back? Had Spatia made the Scene attack Minas Mar to wipe one of them out, to weaken them for this very moment?

They had expected there to be some overarching plan to the whole story, but for it to be this big? To thing that even Chrona worked with Spatia to create the current situation....

“But I didn't ask everyone to come here to inform you about current changes. Others have made their decisions, now we have to make ours. What role do we want to play in this future?” Leana asked in the room, but her eyes were on Seth, who sat at the top of the table, opposite her.

In the very beginning, Seth ran. He ran and improved until his power grew. He assembled people around himself he could trust and stumbled upon a cozy home upon which he tried to build a calm life for himself and the people he liked, in this chaotic world.

Although he often found himself bothered by the things happening in the world, he was okay as long as his own world stayed intact. Minas Mar became his world and with more people joining, the world expanded.

In the beginning, he found compromises to problems that not necessarily bothered him, but the people he cared for. Minas Mar even became its own district and Seth arranged himself with it, that the people living under their care, were also part of his people.

Originally, this was all he wanted. A peaceful world, where he and his precious ones and friends could be happy and do what made them happy. But he had realized some time ago, that staying passive when the rest of the world was an aggressive pack of assholes and only defending or evading, was not the solution to their problems.

He had made the decision some time ago, so it was easy to follow through with it now.

“It's time to make an example out of somebody.”

“Well said, Seth,” a familiar voice they had not heard in a very long time suddenly answered him. Standing in the door frame was the figure of a scantily clad woman. The Queen of “Making an Example out of Somebody”. The spiciest sorceress in existence.

“Al'Zalsar?”