The apocalypse is a side.., p.17
The Apocalypse is a Side Quest: Book Three, page 17
“It’s probably fine.”
Chad glanced back at them from where he was streaming into the camera. “Ladies, ladies, you’re both idiotic martyrs. No need to compete.”
“Does anybody even watch those?” Mara said.
“Yes! Literally millions!”
“They watch you being toxic to your friends and find that enjoyable?” Nathan said.
“I happen to be a master entertainer.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Nathan noticed Mara stiffen at the word “friend.”
He didn’t ask, instead falling silent and focusing back on his fishing pole. Mara shuffled closer, looking up at the cloudy blue sky.
“About what you said earlier,” she muttered. “Did you really mean that?”
“Mean what?”
“About me being your… you know.”
Nathan didn’t turn to look at her. His hands stayed steady on the rod.
“Of course I did. We’ve saved each other’s lives, what, half a dozen times now? If that doesn’t make us friends, I don’t know what does.”
Mara went quiet. Nathan glanced sideways to see her frowning intently.
“What is it?” he said.
“It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”
Mara hesitated, then said flatly, “Drop it.”
Nathan paused. He’d never heard that tone from her before. Usually, there was a smirk, dry sarcasm, or enthusiastic insanity. But now, she was as stoic as stone.
“Okay,” Nathan said. “I’ll let it be.”
For the next few hours, Nathan kept fishing, pulling up a few pieces of loot—mostly enchanted swords like the one he’d given Chad. He made a mental note to give the extras to Fuge and other members of the special forces team.
By sunset, Chad had been streaming almost the entire day, and Mara had been strangely quiet, staring at the ocean.
“We should head back,” Nathan said.
“Good idea. I haven’t eaten in, like, twelve hours. I know I’m doing intermittent fasting, but I’m about to keel over.”
“Right. I’ll turn us around.”
As they sailed, a soft ding echoed in Nathan’s ear. “What was that?”
No one answered. He looked over to see Chad staring at his open menu, face pale.
“Chad?” Nathan said.
Chad blinked slowly. “Your second town is on fire.”
“On fire?”
“Yeah. The entire thing.”
Nathan stepped closer and looked at the screen. The image made him freeze.
Just as Chad had said, the second town was engulfed. A swirling inferno had already devoured a third of the city, and the flames were only growing.
“What the hell?”
“Uh, we should hurry back to the main town and organize help as fast as possible.”
“Good idea.”
Nathan was about to speed up the boat when he remembered—instead of the usual summoned portal, they’d set up a permanent one at Fort Nathan. Which meant he could open a portal right here, on the ship.
He shut his eyes, focusing. After a tense moment, a tear in space opened before him. Nathan stepped through without hesitation, Chad and Mara right behind him.
As soon as he emerged on the other side, he was met with columns of soldiers marching rapidly toward the outskirts of town. The commander caught sight of Nathan and halted.
“Lord Nathan, I assume you’ve heard the news?”
“I have. Do you know what caused this?”
“Unknown. We know just as much as you. We were planning to send troops in to help contain the fire.”
“You were going to use the permanent portal?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“No time. I’m going to raid.”
The soldier nodded. “Of course, my lord.”
Nathan opened his menu, selected everyone in the vicinity, and assigned them to a raid group. Then he hit the raid button.
Instantly, gravity released its hold. He floated into the air as his body disintegrated.
A split second later, he stood at a distance, facing the town. Around him, the other soldiers materialized.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Chad muttered.
He was right. It was far worse than the photos had shown. The images had been taken from an aerial view, distant and detached. But now, standing on the ground, it was clear—the entire town was engulfed. The distant screams and roars of flames filled the air.
“Who did this?” Nathan murmured. “I can’t believe Sticks would let this happen.”
Something had gone terribly wrong. Was Sticks even still alive? What if this was an attack?
No—no time for speculation. The fire had to be suppressed, now. Nathan broke into a sprint toward the town. He’d reach it in under a minute.
And by the time he reached it, he needed a plan.
Basic Maelstrom could extinguish nearby flames, yes, but it was too volatile—he might kill civilians in the process. Plus, its range was limited by default. Nathan could tweak it, thanks to cultivation’s flexibility over traditional magic, but spreading the power over a wider radius would dilute its effectiveness. Would it even be enough?
He knew explosives could snuff out fires. He vaguely recalled something about oil wells using that tactic—no, wait. Mara had told him about it, back when she’d used it to stop a blaze.
But unlike then, civilians were trapped in the inferno. He couldn’t ask Mara to repeat that.
So what else? Lightning? He nearly laughed at the thought.
A glance back showed Chad closing the distance. In a duel, Chad was unmatched. Their teamwork was seamless. But against a disaster of this scale? He’d be little help. Mara remained an option, but again—civilian casualties. Too high.
Think, Nathan. Think.
The town was closer now. The wall stretched out before him, the fires behind it reaching into the sky.
There’s no beating it. Not with what I have now.
Despite the thought, his pocket remained frustratingly empty.
The only thing I can do is try to reduce casualties and slow it down.
Nathan ran through the gate and immediately spotted a Delver on the ground, their body burned, face twisted in pain. He rushed forward and hauled the Delver up, flames licking at his cheeks.
“Nathan Lee…?” the man muttered. “The Fisher King?”
“I don’t know why you’re calling me that, but I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
The sound of wood cracking. A gust of wind blew fire toward Nathan. He jerked his head up, water gathering from the air to deflect the flames.
“Toward the keep!” someone shouted. “The field hospital is at the keep!”
Nathan glanced at the speaker, then nodded. He took off, leaping over burning wood and rubble until he reached the keep’s front doors.
Inside, rows of mats held burn victims. He set the Delver down, his frown deepening.
Most of the wounded were human—but that didn’t make sense. They were Delvers, experienced fighters, at least to some degree. A bit of fire shouldn’t have taken them out. Right?
“Nathan!”
Sticks ran up and grabbed his shoulder.
“Thank the Seed you’re here,” he said. “It’s all gone to hell.”
“How did this start?”
“I don’t know—I… something seemed off about some townsfolk. They were acting strange, like they were out of it. Slow to respond, barely staying awake. Then, suddenly, they went crazy—set fires and used their powers to keep them burning. Attacked people.”
Nathan hissed. “I told you it was a bad idea to let those people out of prison—”
“It wasn’t them!”
“…What?”
“We’ve been gathering Delvers from the islands, remember? People who’ve only ever heard of the Harrowed Hand. Those are who set the fires!”
Nathan furrowed his brow.
What the hell?
“Were they spies?”
“No, no, we had Anand vet them, and they were safe!”
None of it made sense. Why would they turn like that? There had to be something he was missing.
“We can figure that out later. Right now, we need to do damage control,” Nathan said.
“I don’t suppose you can just wash all of this away with water, can you?”
“Unfortunately, that would be extremely destructive, and I don’t think I can put out an entire city’s worth of fire.”
“You don’t need to do the whole city. If you can just suppress a section, that would help free us.”
Nathan paused. Sticks was right. They had limited resources—if Nathan could just contain part of the fire, maybe that would buy them enough time to fix the rest.
“I’m on it. Chad and a regiment of troops should be here soon. Redirect them where they’re needed. Worst comes to worst, Mara has enough bombs to level the fire—along with the entire city.”
“I’ll put her to good use. Now go! Cover the area near the gate, all the way up to the keep!”
Nathan dashed toward the open door. Chad, Mara, and the troops rushed past him. He gave them a quick nod before turning his attention to the fire creeping closer, leaping from building to building. Even from here, the heat warmed his face.
He shut his eyes and tugged on his core. Energy flooded his hands and body. He opened his eyes, focusing ahead.
Wind brushed his ears. Water coalesced from the atmosphere, swirling overhead.
Nathan didn’t want to destroy what remained of the buildings—especially if people were still trapped inside.
What about a good old-fashioned rainstorm?
He snapped his fingers. The maelstrom exploded upward with a loud crack. For a moment, nothing happened—then the water fell. One drop at a time, then a sprinkle, then a veritable flood. It crashed against the fire in front of him, smothering it. It was like standing in the middle of a category 1 hurricane.
Pain shot down Nathan’s spine. He resisted the urge to double over. His eyes burned, and his fingers twitched.
This wasn’t just exhaustion—he was hurting. Why—how?
I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.
Nathan ignored the pain and checked his internal reserves. He estimated he had enough energy for one more maelstrom before he’d be spent. Instead, he decided to conserve his strength and focus on specific problem areas.
He sprinted into the smoldering ruins, scanning the wreckage. A shout for help rang out. Nathan dashed toward the sound and found a severely burned man.
“Are you okay—?”
He jumped back just in time to avoid a sword materializing from the man’s inventory, slashing toward his face.
It had been a trap.
The two stared at each other before the man on the ground slowly stood up.
“You are fast. When he told us, I didn’t believe it.”
“What are you talking about? Who is he?”
“The man who will defeat you, obviously. The Head Hand.”
“You were an agent? An infiltrator?”
“What?” For a moment, the question made the man’s eyes go vacant. “I’m an agent?”
Nathan waited, but the man only shook his head rapidly, the blurriness fading.
“I don’t know what you did to my mind, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was convinced by the genius of Gabriel.”
“How?”
The simple question made the man freeze again.
“I can’t… I can’t quite recall. He said something—no, they said something, him and B32—and then all of us were just…”
“Just what?”
The man stumbled back, clutching his head. He tore at his hair, ripping out strands that scattered onto the ground.
“Get out of my head! Stop!”
Nathan frowned. The man collapsed with a strangled cry, blood dripping from his mouth as he convulsed—then suddenly went still.
“Huh,” Nathan muttered. “That’s not good.”
An explosion sounded in the distance. The fire to his left had vanished—Mara must have contained it without casualties. At least, Nathan hoped so. Nearby, mushroom people were growing thick, water-laden plants as makeshift barricades, their vibrant foliage steaming rather than burning.
These attackers…
They’d been brainwashed. Just like the others Anand had shown him.
Was this a counterstrike? If Gabriel could strike anywhere, anytime, if he could turn people without limits—how could Nathan fight that? Every town they took, every person they welcomed, even their own allies, could become weapons. What if Chad had turned without him knowing?
As the distant fires dimmed, Nathan wondered if he’d made a mistake not killing Gabriel when he’d had the chance.
He immediately dismissed the thought. Mara had needed him then. Gabriel was down, but not out—fighting him would’ve cost time Mara didn’t have. No, he wouldn’t second-guess himself.
But he had to act now. He needed a way to end this.
I need a finisher. A way to strike the capital. Corner Gabriel and finish him.
Gabriel and…
B32.
That damn system was involved somehow. It sounded almost like possession…
Like Lily.
B32 was weakened, right? Was it beyond the scope of possibility that he might adopt a similar tactic to what Lily had done? A symbiotic relationship?
Nathan paused.
What would happen to B32 if his host body was damaged while he was still inside it? Nathan remembered B32 mentioning that Lily had wiped out an enormous amount of his power. That had happened inside Nathan’s soul, apparently. So the guy could be damaged—at least in that weird spiritual form he took when manipulating dust. But what about when he had taken physical form by possessing someone?
Of course, the real problem was that Nathan would now be facing down not just one of the strongest people in the apocalypse, but the former administrator of said apocalypse. Defeating such a foe would take a monumental effort.
The fire had completely died down now, suppressed through a combination of explosives, plant growth, and good old-fashioned water. Now, it was just a matter of cleanup.
Nathan needed to let his advisors know his plan. He wanted their thoughts, their agreement. This would be a long meeting.
Just as he was about to take a step, a notification chimed on Dither.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
Frowning, he opened the messages.
His jaw dropped.
One of Gabriel’s towns had just sent a DM.
And they were requesting a meeting with Nathan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Lord Nathan, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
They stood inside the council meeting room. Nathan was flanked by Gius and Fuge, while the woman on the other end of the table had only a single man at her side.
“So I’m to believe you suddenly went turncoat?” Nathan said.
The woman raised an eyebrow. “I see you’re not one for diplomacy. Very well. Yes, we’re betraying the Harrowed Hand.”
“Can I ask why, Miss…?”
“Ava.” She exhaled sharply. “And the reason is simple—because the man has completely lost it.”
“What do you mean? I thought you all just followed him around in your little cult.”
“We did. But that was under the belief we had a sane, rational leader who would lead us to the Ninth Circle. Now? I don’t know if he’s going to get us there or send us straight to heaven.”
“Something happened?” Gius spoke up.
“Something happened?” Ava scoffed. “He executed nine of our own for no reason other than his own paranoia. After that, he cracked down on anyone who so much as breathed a word against him. You haven’t heard anything because nobody wants to be the next one shot, but that’s the reality.”
She glared at the table and clenched her hands. “He’s burning everything to the ground over his own insanity. Screw that. I’m not going down with a sinking ship—godlike powers or not.”
Fuge leaned in toward Nathan.
“I actually believe her,” she said. “I was going to tell you this later, but now’s as good a time as any. We’ve received reports of unrest similar to what she’s describing. It’s not hard to imagine it spiraling like this.”
Nathan absorbed that and turned back to Ava. “How many are with you?”
“Two, maybe three hundred. Officially, my town’s just an outpost—not supposed to hold that many. Unofficially, we’ve been gathering dissenters and stuffing them in.”
“And what do you want from me?”
“Your protection. You’re the only one who can challenge Gabriel. I’d rather be aligned with you than against you.”
Nathan drummed his fingers on the table. “Isn’t this just charity?”
“We’ll commit our soldiers to your cause. Beyond that, I have researchers and theorists who joined us. Plus, intel on the Harrowed Hand’s latest movements.”
It was a good deal. Nathan nearly agreed—then hesitated. Recent events had changed things.
“How do we know you’re not a plant? Maybe Gabriel brainwashed you.”
After a moment, she continued, “From what I understand, his brainwashing causes intense discomfort when exposed, right?”
“That lines up with our observations.”
“Well, I don’t feel any headache. Best proof I can give.”
That… probably cleared them of hidden brainwashing. But there was always the chance she was consciously going along with it.
Nathan paused and thought back to his suspicions regarding B32.
“Has Gabriel been acting strange? Beyond the paranoia?”
Ava rubbed her chin. “Actually, yes. In recent meetings, he’s been… off. Sometimes I’ve caught him speaking to people who aren’t there.”
“Is there anyone who can vouch for you?”
“I don’t have anyone I can think of.”
Nathan looked over at Gius.
“Anand?” Gius said.
She froze. “Anand is here?”
“Someone get a message from him.”
Fuge walked over to the front door, opened it, and muttered something to someone outside the door. In a minute, a knock came, and Fuge took something from the hand of a mushroom person.
Chad glanced back at them from where he was streaming into the camera. “Ladies, ladies, you’re both idiotic martyrs. No need to compete.”
“Does anybody even watch those?” Mara said.
“Yes! Literally millions!”
“They watch you being toxic to your friends and find that enjoyable?” Nathan said.
“I happen to be a master entertainer.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Nathan noticed Mara stiffen at the word “friend.”
He didn’t ask, instead falling silent and focusing back on his fishing pole. Mara shuffled closer, looking up at the cloudy blue sky.
“About what you said earlier,” she muttered. “Did you really mean that?”
“Mean what?”
“About me being your… you know.”
Nathan didn’t turn to look at her. His hands stayed steady on the rod.
“Of course I did. We’ve saved each other’s lives, what, half a dozen times now? If that doesn’t make us friends, I don’t know what does.”
Mara went quiet. Nathan glanced sideways to see her frowning intently.
“What is it?” he said.
“It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”
Mara hesitated, then said flatly, “Drop it.”
Nathan paused. He’d never heard that tone from her before. Usually, there was a smirk, dry sarcasm, or enthusiastic insanity. But now, she was as stoic as stone.
“Okay,” Nathan said. “I’ll let it be.”
For the next few hours, Nathan kept fishing, pulling up a few pieces of loot—mostly enchanted swords like the one he’d given Chad. He made a mental note to give the extras to Fuge and other members of the special forces team.
By sunset, Chad had been streaming almost the entire day, and Mara had been strangely quiet, staring at the ocean.
“We should head back,” Nathan said.
“Good idea. I haven’t eaten in, like, twelve hours. I know I’m doing intermittent fasting, but I’m about to keel over.”
“Right. I’ll turn us around.”
As they sailed, a soft ding echoed in Nathan’s ear. “What was that?”
No one answered. He looked over to see Chad staring at his open menu, face pale.
“Chad?” Nathan said.
Chad blinked slowly. “Your second town is on fire.”
“On fire?”
“Yeah. The entire thing.”
Nathan stepped closer and looked at the screen. The image made him freeze.
Just as Chad had said, the second town was engulfed. A swirling inferno had already devoured a third of the city, and the flames were only growing.
“What the hell?”
“Uh, we should hurry back to the main town and organize help as fast as possible.”
“Good idea.”
Nathan was about to speed up the boat when he remembered—instead of the usual summoned portal, they’d set up a permanent one at Fort Nathan. Which meant he could open a portal right here, on the ship.
He shut his eyes, focusing. After a tense moment, a tear in space opened before him. Nathan stepped through without hesitation, Chad and Mara right behind him.
As soon as he emerged on the other side, he was met with columns of soldiers marching rapidly toward the outskirts of town. The commander caught sight of Nathan and halted.
“Lord Nathan, I assume you’ve heard the news?”
“I have. Do you know what caused this?”
“Unknown. We know just as much as you. We were planning to send troops in to help contain the fire.”
“You were going to use the permanent portal?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“No time. I’m going to raid.”
The soldier nodded. “Of course, my lord.”
Nathan opened his menu, selected everyone in the vicinity, and assigned them to a raid group. Then he hit the raid button.
Instantly, gravity released its hold. He floated into the air as his body disintegrated.
A split second later, he stood at a distance, facing the town. Around him, the other soldiers materialized.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Chad muttered.
He was right. It was far worse than the photos had shown. The images had been taken from an aerial view, distant and detached. But now, standing on the ground, it was clear—the entire town was engulfed. The distant screams and roars of flames filled the air.
“Who did this?” Nathan murmured. “I can’t believe Sticks would let this happen.”
Something had gone terribly wrong. Was Sticks even still alive? What if this was an attack?
No—no time for speculation. The fire had to be suppressed, now. Nathan broke into a sprint toward the town. He’d reach it in under a minute.
And by the time he reached it, he needed a plan.
Basic Maelstrom could extinguish nearby flames, yes, but it was too volatile—he might kill civilians in the process. Plus, its range was limited by default. Nathan could tweak it, thanks to cultivation’s flexibility over traditional magic, but spreading the power over a wider radius would dilute its effectiveness. Would it even be enough?
He knew explosives could snuff out fires. He vaguely recalled something about oil wells using that tactic—no, wait. Mara had told him about it, back when she’d used it to stop a blaze.
But unlike then, civilians were trapped in the inferno. He couldn’t ask Mara to repeat that.
So what else? Lightning? He nearly laughed at the thought.
A glance back showed Chad closing the distance. In a duel, Chad was unmatched. Their teamwork was seamless. But against a disaster of this scale? He’d be little help. Mara remained an option, but again—civilian casualties. Too high.
Think, Nathan. Think.
The town was closer now. The wall stretched out before him, the fires behind it reaching into the sky.
There’s no beating it. Not with what I have now.
Despite the thought, his pocket remained frustratingly empty.
The only thing I can do is try to reduce casualties and slow it down.
Nathan ran through the gate and immediately spotted a Delver on the ground, their body burned, face twisted in pain. He rushed forward and hauled the Delver up, flames licking at his cheeks.
“Nathan Lee…?” the man muttered. “The Fisher King?”
“I don’t know why you’re calling me that, but I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
The sound of wood cracking. A gust of wind blew fire toward Nathan. He jerked his head up, water gathering from the air to deflect the flames.
“Toward the keep!” someone shouted. “The field hospital is at the keep!”
Nathan glanced at the speaker, then nodded. He took off, leaping over burning wood and rubble until he reached the keep’s front doors.
Inside, rows of mats held burn victims. He set the Delver down, his frown deepening.
Most of the wounded were human—but that didn’t make sense. They were Delvers, experienced fighters, at least to some degree. A bit of fire shouldn’t have taken them out. Right?
“Nathan!”
Sticks ran up and grabbed his shoulder.
“Thank the Seed you’re here,” he said. “It’s all gone to hell.”
“How did this start?”
“I don’t know—I… something seemed off about some townsfolk. They were acting strange, like they were out of it. Slow to respond, barely staying awake. Then, suddenly, they went crazy—set fires and used their powers to keep them burning. Attacked people.”
Nathan hissed. “I told you it was a bad idea to let those people out of prison—”
“It wasn’t them!”
“…What?”
“We’ve been gathering Delvers from the islands, remember? People who’ve only ever heard of the Harrowed Hand. Those are who set the fires!”
Nathan furrowed his brow.
What the hell?
“Were they spies?”
“No, no, we had Anand vet them, and they were safe!”
None of it made sense. Why would they turn like that? There had to be something he was missing.
“We can figure that out later. Right now, we need to do damage control,” Nathan said.
“I don’t suppose you can just wash all of this away with water, can you?”
“Unfortunately, that would be extremely destructive, and I don’t think I can put out an entire city’s worth of fire.”
“You don’t need to do the whole city. If you can just suppress a section, that would help free us.”
Nathan paused. Sticks was right. They had limited resources—if Nathan could just contain part of the fire, maybe that would buy them enough time to fix the rest.
“I’m on it. Chad and a regiment of troops should be here soon. Redirect them where they’re needed. Worst comes to worst, Mara has enough bombs to level the fire—along with the entire city.”
“I’ll put her to good use. Now go! Cover the area near the gate, all the way up to the keep!”
Nathan dashed toward the open door. Chad, Mara, and the troops rushed past him. He gave them a quick nod before turning his attention to the fire creeping closer, leaping from building to building. Even from here, the heat warmed his face.
He shut his eyes and tugged on his core. Energy flooded his hands and body. He opened his eyes, focusing ahead.
Wind brushed his ears. Water coalesced from the atmosphere, swirling overhead.
Nathan didn’t want to destroy what remained of the buildings—especially if people were still trapped inside.
What about a good old-fashioned rainstorm?
He snapped his fingers. The maelstrom exploded upward with a loud crack. For a moment, nothing happened—then the water fell. One drop at a time, then a sprinkle, then a veritable flood. It crashed against the fire in front of him, smothering it. It was like standing in the middle of a category 1 hurricane.
Pain shot down Nathan’s spine. He resisted the urge to double over. His eyes burned, and his fingers twitched.
This wasn’t just exhaustion—he was hurting. Why—how?
I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.
Nathan ignored the pain and checked his internal reserves. He estimated he had enough energy for one more maelstrom before he’d be spent. Instead, he decided to conserve his strength and focus on specific problem areas.
He sprinted into the smoldering ruins, scanning the wreckage. A shout for help rang out. Nathan dashed toward the sound and found a severely burned man.
“Are you okay—?”
He jumped back just in time to avoid a sword materializing from the man’s inventory, slashing toward his face.
It had been a trap.
The two stared at each other before the man on the ground slowly stood up.
“You are fast. When he told us, I didn’t believe it.”
“What are you talking about? Who is he?”
“The man who will defeat you, obviously. The Head Hand.”
“You were an agent? An infiltrator?”
“What?” For a moment, the question made the man’s eyes go vacant. “I’m an agent?”
Nathan waited, but the man only shook his head rapidly, the blurriness fading.
“I don’t know what you did to my mind, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was convinced by the genius of Gabriel.”
“How?”
The simple question made the man freeze again.
“I can’t… I can’t quite recall. He said something—no, they said something, him and B32—and then all of us were just…”
“Just what?”
The man stumbled back, clutching his head. He tore at his hair, ripping out strands that scattered onto the ground.
“Get out of my head! Stop!”
Nathan frowned. The man collapsed with a strangled cry, blood dripping from his mouth as he convulsed—then suddenly went still.
“Huh,” Nathan muttered. “That’s not good.”
An explosion sounded in the distance. The fire to his left had vanished—Mara must have contained it without casualties. At least, Nathan hoped so. Nearby, mushroom people were growing thick, water-laden plants as makeshift barricades, their vibrant foliage steaming rather than burning.
These attackers…
They’d been brainwashed. Just like the others Anand had shown him.
Was this a counterstrike? If Gabriel could strike anywhere, anytime, if he could turn people without limits—how could Nathan fight that? Every town they took, every person they welcomed, even their own allies, could become weapons. What if Chad had turned without him knowing?
As the distant fires dimmed, Nathan wondered if he’d made a mistake not killing Gabriel when he’d had the chance.
He immediately dismissed the thought. Mara had needed him then. Gabriel was down, but not out—fighting him would’ve cost time Mara didn’t have. No, he wouldn’t second-guess himself.
But he had to act now. He needed a way to end this.
I need a finisher. A way to strike the capital. Corner Gabriel and finish him.
Gabriel and…
B32.
That damn system was involved somehow. It sounded almost like possession…
Like Lily.
B32 was weakened, right? Was it beyond the scope of possibility that he might adopt a similar tactic to what Lily had done? A symbiotic relationship?
Nathan paused.
What would happen to B32 if his host body was damaged while he was still inside it? Nathan remembered B32 mentioning that Lily had wiped out an enormous amount of his power. That had happened inside Nathan’s soul, apparently. So the guy could be damaged—at least in that weird spiritual form he took when manipulating dust. But what about when he had taken physical form by possessing someone?
Of course, the real problem was that Nathan would now be facing down not just one of the strongest people in the apocalypse, but the former administrator of said apocalypse. Defeating such a foe would take a monumental effort.
The fire had completely died down now, suppressed through a combination of explosives, plant growth, and good old-fashioned water. Now, it was just a matter of cleanup.
Nathan needed to let his advisors know his plan. He wanted their thoughts, their agreement. This would be a long meeting.
Just as he was about to take a step, a notification chimed on Dither.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
Frowning, he opened the messages.
His jaw dropped.
One of Gabriel’s towns had just sent a DM.
And they were requesting a meeting with Nathan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Lord Nathan, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
They stood inside the council meeting room. Nathan was flanked by Gius and Fuge, while the woman on the other end of the table had only a single man at her side.
“So I’m to believe you suddenly went turncoat?” Nathan said.
The woman raised an eyebrow. “I see you’re not one for diplomacy. Very well. Yes, we’re betraying the Harrowed Hand.”
“Can I ask why, Miss…?”
“Ava.” She exhaled sharply. “And the reason is simple—because the man has completely lost it.”
“What do you mean? I thought you all just followed him around in your little cult.”
“We did. But that was under the belief we had a sane, rational leader who would lead us to the Ninth Circle. Now? I don’t know if he’s going to get us there or send us straight to heaven.”
“Something happened?” Gius spoke up.
“Something happened?” Ava scoffed. “He executed nine of our own for no reason other than his own paranoia. After that, he cracked down on anyone who so much as breathed a word against him. You haven’t heard anything because nobody wants to be the next one shot, but that’s the reality.”
She glared at the table and clenched her hands. “He’s burning everything to the ground over his own insanity. Screw that. I’m not going down with a sinking ship—godlike powers or not.”
Fuge leaned in toward Nathan.
“I actually believe her,” she said. “I was going to tell you this later, but now’s as good a time as any. We’ve received reports of unrest similar to what she’s describing. It’s not hard to imagine it spiraling like this.”
Nathan absorbed that and turned back to Ava. “How many are with you?”
“Two, maybe three hundred. Officially, my town’s just an outpost—not supposed to hold that many. Unofficially, we’ve been gathering dissenters and stuffing them in.”
“And what do you want from me?”
“Your protection. You’re the only one who can challenge Gabriel. I’d rather be aligned with you than against you.”
Nathan drummed his fingers on the table. “Isn’t this just charity?”
“We’ll commit our soldiers to your cause. Beyond that, I have researchers and theorists who joined us. Plus, intel on the Harrowed Hand’s latest movements.”
It was a good deal. Nathan nearly agreed—then hesitated. Recent events had changed things.
“How do we know you’re not a plant? Maybe Gabriel brainwashed you.”
After a moment, she continued, “From what I understand, his brainwashing causes intense discomfort when exposed, right?”
“That lines up with our observations.”
“Well, I don’t feel any headache. Best proof I can give.”
That… probably cleared them of hidden brainwashing. But there was always the chance she was consciously going along with it.
Nathan paused and thought back to his suspicions regarding B32.
“Has Gabriel been acting strange? Beyond the paranoia?”
Ava rubbed her chin. “Actually, yes. In recent meetings, he’s been… off. Sometimes I’ve caught him speaking to people who aren’t there.”
“Is there anyone who can vouch for you?”
“I don’t have anyone I can think of.”
Nathan looked over at Gius.
“Anand?” Gius said.
She froze. “Anand is here?”
“Someone get a message from him.”
Fuge walked over to the front door, opened it, and muttered something to someone outside the door. In a minute, a knock came, and Fuge took something from the hand of a mushroom person.
