Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

--- A few hours later---

“So, what about the troops from Chrona?” Seth asked in the round. The leaders of Minas Mar had gathered in the occupied parliament to talk about the current state of Delta. The demon commander was slain, and the demon army had been mostly eradicated by the golems.

The survivors of Delta had been evacuated under the barrier of Minas Mar for now, as even the portal defense had been shut off by Chrona before leaving. It was clear that there was more going on than a peaceful retreat, but it was important to pacify Delta first.

While the were still some demons on the loose, the last imminent threat was the troops of Chrona that were left to man the walls of Delta to protect the city against monsters and the undead. They could only truly stabilize their hold on Delta, once they were dealt with.

“Their Commander said he would only talk to the Tower Master and Princess Leana,” Monique answered his question. So far, the guard on the walls had made no move to either attack or surrender. Seth nodded pondering.

“I see. Leana, what do you think?” he asked the princess of Chrona. This condition could end up as either a trap or a negotiation. Leana used to be the representative of the Empire in Delta. Although she had lost her connections to her allies in the capital, maybe there were still allies or sympathizers of hers among the people stationed here.

“I can't tell, but I'm willing to go meet them,” she answered determined to take the risk. After all, Chrona was still her home. Seth could understand if she didn't wish to see the blood of her countrymen spilled by her new friends.

“Then let's go. There is no reason to waste any more time. The sooner they are dealt with, the sooner we can back to important things,” the blacksmith decided. Spatia's troops were on their way to “take over” for Chrona. until the time they arrived in Delta, there were a few things Seth wanted to finish.

Effect-seeking, Seth, and Leana rode Puffles across the city to the southern main gate, where the headquarters of Chrona's garrisons in Delta was located. The Ivicer had grown a lot doing whatever it liked, traveling around with Tatzel in the northern wilds.

The nightmare centipede in his maximum size was now almost 200 meters long and the thickness of two trains. The head was so big, that the two were able to comfortably stand on the Ivicer's golden neckshield as Puffles flew through the skies over the city.

~To use the great me for showing off...~ the Ivicer complained

~ Can you blame me? Although you didn't get the chance to show up during the tournament, the world should know your greatness! You should land right before the interior side of the gate, to really showcase your splendor.~ Seth buttered him up.

Heh, calling him a show-off? The sudden wiggle of the long body behind them showed who the vain one was.

As the blacksmith suggested, the massive centipede impressively landed at the interior side of the southern main gate. The plaza there was just big enough for the Ivicer to roll up three-quarters of its body, while the rest stood erect, lowering his head for Leana and Seth to stand eye to eye with the guards on the wall. Also, the perfect height to blast the whole structure to nirvana with a solar beam.

The bard's eyes wandered over the faces of the soldiers, lined up on the wall. He could see them swallow so hard, he imagined hearing it. Atop the gatehouse of the main gate, he found a man, wearing a more elaborate and high-quality armor than the rest of the gathered.

“I'm Commander Garroun of Chrona's 1234th Legion, i greet the princess and the Tower master,” he exclaimed the moment Puffles finally reached his stable position. Seth had never seen him, but Commander Garroun was a name he had known ever since they set up shop in Delta. He was a man who had command over Delta's walls ever since they were raised.

“I'm glad to see a familiar face here,” Lena said with a wry smile. Despite the change in representatives, the leader of the city wall had never changed. he was someone she knew from her time on duty. However, this also meant that he never had a deep connection with any of them.

Garroun was a pure military man, without interest in politics outside of his duties.

“Hello, Commander. Are we talking out here, or are we going somewhere more comfortable?” Seth asked nonchalantly.

“It won't be a long conversation, and I hoped for my subordinates to hear it, too,” the commander admitted, explaining his inhospitality of not inviting them in for a cup of tea. “I hoped we could make a deal here.”

“A deal?” Leana whispered surprised. As mentioned, Garroun was a stoic man of duty. A man who would stick to the rules and his orders, no matter what. Suggesting a deal didn't seem like something he would do.

“Yes. The men still stationed on these walls, are locals that did not want to leave their home until the last moment. Princess, you have the power to relieve them from their oath of alliance and allow them to defect and join Minas Mar in their defense of Delta,” he revealed his shocking request. Not as shocking to Seth, but Leana was flabbergasted, as it went against anything she knew of the man. Since her face asked the question, without the need to utter a word, Garroun continued speaking.

“Merkraut Sar and his master have sold out Delta to Spatia,” he stated, his fist clenched so hard, that his knuckles whitened. “Not only that, he used the Ambassador's Token to give binding orders to stay on and defend the walls until Spatia arrived. We were forced to watch the demon army, unable to enter the city and help the citizens,” he continued with a grim tone.

The faces of the soldiers beside him were full of anger and frustration, but not aimed at them. The commander faced Seth directly. His clear blue eyes showed a will of steel and determination, showing that his next words came from his heart with sincerity.

“Thank you for stopping the demons.”

Following his words, the soldiers behind him nodded and repeated his thanks in their own words, whether spoken out or mumbling it, all the soldier showed their gratitude in some way. The blacksmith had come to conquer their homes, and they actually thanked him for it. That was the state of Delta had reached.

The bard pondered. There was no reason to refuse additional help, but could they really be trusted? There was no guarantee that there wasn't some spy among them. On the other hand, they had ways to make sure that even a spy couldn't dance out of line...

“Leana, what do you think? Could you do what he said?” he asked the princess. If she couldn't relieve them of the power of the oath to the empire, there was no reason to speak any further anyway.

The princess had recovered from the shock she suffered due to Garroun's request and nodded hesitatingly. “I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to take them in as a subsidiary force in Delta,” Leana finally answered, already taking into account the incorporation of Delta into Minas Mar's system.

Although Minas Mar allowed the Tree Stations autonomy, they also had affiliated forces and guilds in the various cities to help with security, maintenance, and the protection of the guild's own interests, concerning dungeon materials and mining operations.

Taking the remaining soldiers of Chrona and turning them into a subsidiary guild, was also along the lines of Seth's thoughts to make sure they didn't betray them. Subsidiaries gained benefits and part of the profits, in exchange they not only had to listen to orders from Minas Mar, but they all signed magic non-disclosure agreements. Though Seth considered using soul contracts in this case, just to make extra sure.

“What do you need to release their oaths?” the blacksmith asked. he doubted it was enough to be of royal blood and say that they were fired. However, his question wasn't answered by the princess but by the commander.

“Their employment contracts,” Garroun said, waving a thick stack of papers.

“Merkraut Sar actually left them here?” Leana exclaimed, shocked at the uncharacteristic negligence of the Peddler of Ruin. At this point, there were too many coincidences. Leana seemed to have come to the same conclusion as the blacksmith, the whole scenario was planned. But if they planned to bind the guards to the walls and let the demons raze Delta, how could they forget the-

“He didn't leave them. I smuggled them out during the commotion when they were getting everything ready to leave,” the commander admitted honestly. Then Seth realized it.

“You ALSO wanted to take over Delta!” he exclaimed with a laugh.

“Not fully. The original plan was ripping the contracts and facing Spatia with everything we had, bearing the side effects of destroying the contract;” the commander explained. the soldiers beside him nodded. It really seemed like they were determined to fight Spatia to the last man, despite the risk of facing a legend.

That the demons appeared right as they were left behind, was probably a shock for them, too.

“But with Princess Leana here, that won't be necessary. She can simply annul the contracts, and set them free,” Garroun added.

“I still don't get why you are going so far. You know that this is technically treason, right? Didn't you always loyally serve the empire? Did you think of the implication it would have if a remnant force of Chrona broke the agreement with Spatia and started a skirmish?” The princess couldn't help herself and asked the question that had occupied her mind for a while.

“I may be loyal, but I'm not blind, princess. Even when I followed orders that were hard to execute, I always knew that they were made out of trying to get the best possible outcome for everyone. But this decision is just a manufactured excuse for personal gain. I couldn't just blindly follow these orders, even if it meant creating another war front. Seeing the situation in the city, I only feel confirmed in my decision.”

“Wow, that really sold it. You are in.” Seth commented, completely breaking the atmosphere.

“Unfortunately, I can't,” Garroun blocked his offer right from the start.

“Why not?” the blacksmith asked surprised. Garroun really seemed to care for his people and the situation.

“My contract was not here in the first place, but if I defected here, Merkraut Sar and his master would be able to use this as an excuse to intervene again. It would be best for me to be officially captured in a mutiny. You can then send me back to Chrona, with that message of your independence;” the commander explained realistically.

“He is right,” ´Leana agreed with him, though her expression didn't suggest that she liked or totally agreed with that action.

“Well, we can talk about that when it really comes to it. I doubt we will get to release or communicate with Chrona before we deal with Spatia,” Seth said with a shrug of his shoulders. Whether they would really send the commander back a messenger or not, would depend on whether they managed to properly make an example of the forces of Spatia.

“Maybe they won't even dare to ask for you to be sent back.”