The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 317 – Who, If Not You?

The Great War mobilized populations to enormous degrees. Certain regions in Arda were depopulated entirely, some areas, such as Erdely, were entirely cleansed of civilization. The towns of those mountains have not returned even to this day. But, at the end, we did win.

With Worldsealing, we turned off the dwarven Underkingdoms. The Day of Dragonfall brought the arrogant lizards out of the sky. The Titans were felled one by one. From Paradeisius, the Skysplitter could not be harmed. The endless Legions of Angels dominated the skies. Allasaria’s Light was reduced to a single spark in the great inferno of purging. And from Tartarus, the rapid deployment of entire armies using portal tactics and the colossal Archdemons eventually overwhelmed Kassandora’s Legions.

Yet as the celebrations go on, we come together to sit and write these thoughts, so that they serve as a reminder before they are forgotten. When the great dragons fell, when the world core was sealed, each time Paradeisius called upon their skyblade, every Archdemon and every portal had the opposite effect. When Tourai was massacred, it became a rallying cry. Every general of a Legion became a martyr. Men would sacrifice their lives so that sorcerers could hide their spells and secrets in the wilds. We do not know

Arascus’ drafts peaked during the war’s mid-point. By the end, just the same as at the start, we were fighting volunteers. Our amnesty was spat upon. In the final year, I remember walking through towns and villages which had poisoned their own wells, burned their granaries and slit their own veins so that not even a grain of their effort could somehow serve the White Pantheon.

It was a sick war, and it was a sick victory. We defeated Arascus in the same way we defeated Kassandora on the battlefield or Malam in the arena of propaganda. We simply overpowered them. Kassandora’s own thought was scaled up to the sheer maximum of what it meant to militarize a society. Arascus’ Empire may have been geared for war, but for the second half of that century, the White Pantheon and everything it touched became war incarnate.

And even against three worlds, Arascus still had volunteers.

- Excerpt from “Notes for a New World”, written by Goddess Maisara, of Order, and Goddess Fortia, of Peace.

Iliyal jumped out of his truck as he heard knocking on the side. That knocking was much too loud for it to be a human hand, and it caused the whole vehicle to be thrown about with each thunderous beat. A Divine then, but it wouldn’t be Olonia or Helenna. Saksma and Paida had been moved further north. One of the weapons then, they were supposed to have a meeting soon.

The truck ground to a halt and Iliyal looked at the elves he had taken. Beryon and Menith this time, simply to see how the men inspected troops. Whenever they would pester about things that didn’t need to be pestered about, or whether they would miss things that couldn’t be missed. It was only training though, and it could be done another time frankly. “Stay here.” Iliyal said as he stood up in the back of the armoured vehicle. It was a modified truck as elves were far too tall to fit in human-sized APCs and they were too rare to have vehicles exclusively designed for them. It was the same in the past, elves were useful, but any army that prioritised their comfort inevitably ended up overspending for a group of pretentious, never-satisfied claimants to some noble title that had not been relevant for at least an age, if not two.

Iliyal himself was an elf, so he knew exactly what sort of people he belonged to.

And as he jumped out, he saw Aslana. The Goddess of the Sword wore what she always did in the past, light clothes, almost dress like and loose. The weapons never wore armour, nor did they carry arms themselves since they were the weapon. Kassandora had created the uniform, it was flexible as possible in order to allow the Goddess the maximum amount of agility. She had arm and leg guards, on her feet were climbing shoes, she had a belt around her waist. Her shirt was a simple short sleeve button up, and she had shorts overlaid with a skirt.

“What do you want?” Iliyal asked.

Aslana smiled and rolled her eyes. “You are impossible.” She said. “I was told to get you.”

“Is it important?” Iliyal supposed he should be more general this time.

“Helenna sent me, so I assume it is.”

“Is it long?”

“I don’t know.” The elf sighed in answer. Did it even matter? If it involved Helenna, then it involved the Epa plot most likely. If it involved the Epa plot, then Iliyal did not want his trainees here to keep a watch over him as he talked.

Iliyal turned and looked back into the truck. “You guys go on ahead. Don’t miss anything and do it as I told you. I expect reports written.” The two elves looked disappointed that Iliyal wasn’t coming with them, or maybe at the fact that they had to write reports. Either way, Iliyal didn’t particularly care. He slammed the side door of the armoured truck shut and gave a thumbs up to the front cabin. The massive wheels, each one reaching past Iliyal’s knee, started to roll forwards. “So?” Iliyal asked. “You have my attention now, what did she want?”

“I legitimately don’t know.” Aslana said in that noble voice of hers. It was almost like hearing a harp which could speak.

“Mmh.” Iliyal said. “Are you enjoying yourself out here?” Iliyal asked.

“The guns are interesting.” Aslana replied as Iliyal turned to look at the trench line. They had gone north of Kaczaw, to where a White Pantheon force was assembling. Most likely the attack would come tomorrow morning. Fortia didn’t attack during the night.

“There’s a lot to think about there.” Iliyal said sarcastically and Aslana chuckled gently, her voice cool.

“Faster slingshots.” Aslana said. “Somewhat easier to parry than grapeshot, that’s what I’ll say.”

“That sounds more like it.” Iliyal said and Aslana chuckled again.

“I’ve gone through three wielders already.” She said. “You don’t have the same breed of fighter as you did in the past.”

“We train them in guns now.” Iliyal said as he watched the Goddess of the Sword wave her arms in a bored fashion. The trench here was manned only lightly, although there was a river close behind them. This trench only existed to safeguard the road Iliyal had been going down on. That road was only important because trucks were turning the other side of it into a minefield. This whole area would be abandoned and only protected by a distant artillery battery and maybe a few squads.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not going to complain about them not knowing how to handle a sword.” Aslana said.

“Your complaining is nothing like Labrys’ so it’s fine.” Iliyal said and Aslana tutted as she looked around.

“You never change, you know that?” She said.

“Can you imagine me changing?” Iliyal asked.

“I can’t.” Aslana admitted.

“I can.” Iliyal said. “Which is why I try not to change.” He could remember the time before Arascus started mustering his armies. What was Iliyal before then? The Tremali name was just another elven family, noble, although that was the standard amongst elves, but they weren’t anything great. Only petty aristocracy that ruled over a few estates and that was that. Luxury did have a shelf-life of several hundred years, it wasn’t long enough for humans to ever need to deal with such a problem, but elves?

Iliyal had written books and played instruments and created paintings and… He did it all and it hadn’t been enough. But then Kassandora had sensed something within him that she didn’t sense in others. And the Tremalis, once a collection of mere petty aristocrats, suddenly became one of the dominant families in Arascus’ Empire. And they hadn’t achieved it themselves, instead Iliyal had dragged them to success screaming and kicking every step of their way. He could imagine being someone else, and that was exactly why he chose not to change. Aslana shrugged and turned around again. “But if you could train someone in swordfighting, that would be grand.”

“We have Clerics in Arika.” Iliyal said. “One of them will take you eventually.”

“It’s still crazy to me how you managed to get Kavaa on our side.”

“Goddess Kassandora’s doing, not mine.” Iliyal said and Aslana smiled.

“And I’m not the Goddess of the Sword?”

“You are, but you’re also Aslana.” Iliyal said. “Goddess Kassandora is Goddess Kassandora.” He turned to look at the Divine, almost two heads taller him, although thinner. The way her straight pale hair fell down her sides gave her the silhouette of a straight sword from the front. “I’ve had this conversation with Kavaa too. You’re not going to convince me otherwise.”

“Olonia has a lot of good things to say about you two and Fer.” Aslana said. Iliyal rolled his eyes, he didn’t know why this woman was annoying him, he didn’t even know why he allowed himself to get annoyed. She was far weaker than Kavaa, but Kavaa didn’t probe like this. Kavaa stuck to her field, interjected were necessary, asked questions that were relevant, and then shut up.

Iliyal stood there as he waited for Helenna to arrive. It took the Goddess of Love about an hour. That too was annoying, Iliyal was running a war. He should be back by now. He… Frankly, he could leave the front for days at a time and return to it certain that was secure. The four elven generals he was training as replacements for himself were more than able to handle anything that the White Pantheon threw at them. Iliyal simply liked the work, and he knew no one but him here would do as clean and as good a job. They’d succeed, but they wouldn’t succeed perfectly, there’d be a tiny mistake here. Another tiny mistake in the next job. And again. And sooner rather than later, the lines would buckle. Or Iliyal’s paranoia told him that at least.

Helenna did arrive, in a similar truck to the one Iliyal had come in. A huge thing that had been modified for Divines to ride in. Iliyal watched the vehicle approach. He saw it park a distance away and he saw Helenna and Olonia jump out the back. “Oh look.” Aslana said in the whispery tone of hers. “It’s both of them.” Olonia was in her beaten armour, sword on her hip and large shield slung across her back. Helenna was in the Imperial Black uniform. White undershirt, no tie, belt with the thorny rose, cap with the same emblem, and a long coat that fell to her calves.

Iliyal clasped his hands behind his back and adopted the same stance he would when he was reporting for Goddess Kassandora. Aslana rolled her eyes, but was just as polite. “I assume you called us for something important?” Iliyal took the initiative and because he wanted to show off his displeasure at being made to wait an hour when there was work he could be doing.

“Apologies.” Helenna said, she made a quick movement with her hands that Iliyal had taught her. Kassandora had taught him these, and he used a different variation for people who weren’t the Goddess of War. Helenna brought an arm up and scratched her back, elbow moving about in a theatrical fashion. That meant to play along, cool down, don’t cause problems, scratch my back, all the moves were self-explanatory. “But we have spies.”

“Oh?” Olonia said.

“This is why I didn’t say anything in the truck.” Helenna said and Aslana came in.

“It’s obvious that the White Pantheon is spying on us.” She said, Iliyal asked himself why the Goddess of the Sword was even here? Him and Helenna were enough to pull Olonia down whatever path was chosen for her.

“It’s not the White Pantheon I’m worried about.” Helenna said and Aslana tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner. Iliyal saw Olonia watch the Goddess of the Sword with an awe in her eyes. It was small and barely noticeable, she hid it well, but it was obviously there.

“Who then?” Aslana asked.

“The Epan Coalition.” Helenna said and Olonia’s tone immediately dropped. “I want this meeting to be quick and definite. Aslana, you’re here to make sure the other weapon Divines get the information, I’d rather us not be seen with them.” Iliyal wondered how real that statement was but he saw the worry on Olonia’s face. Real or not, Helenna’s tactic was priming the Goddess of Lubska for whatever was going to be demanded, that was obvious.

“So?” Iliyal asked. “What is it going to be on?”

“I came across this.” Helenna pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. It was a photo of a document. She handed one to Olonia, one to Iliyal and one to Aslana. Iliyal read the title: The Epan Peace Plan, as laid out by King Richard VI and King Wissel Ellenheim. And as Iliyal read it, he realised it couldn’t be real. It was downright impossible, because this was simply too good to be true. Especially with Olonia here.

Iliyal could only tell because he had seen the woman work in person, but this had the touches of Malam all over it. Aslana looked up from the photo and to Helenna. “This is real?” She asked.

“You’re holding it, aren’t you?” Helenna asked.

Olonia blinked and spoke up. “This talks about splitting Lubska into a demilitarized zone.” She trailed off and then continued again. “And giving concessions.”

“Obviously we won’t give concessions.” Iliyal interjected. He could see the line that Helenna and Malam had created now.

“Obviously we can’t.” Helenna said. “But they…” She shook the piece of paper about. “They can.”

“I don’t see what I’m doing here still.” Aslana said. “I understand this, but this isn’t my field Helenna.”

Helenna stopped for a moment. Her mouth slightly ajar as she looked at Aslana. Iliyal realised she must be surprised that a Divine was actually denying themselves before Helenna, she probably wasn’t used to that since the White Pantheon. Maybe not when it was a major Divine like Of Swords. “I assume we have to stop this.” Iliyal said. “But we’re busy here.”

“That’s what I wanted to raise issue on.” Helenna said. “Arascus and Fortia are going to discuss peace talks soon. He’ll try to buy us time, but we can’t stretch it after that.”

Iliyal saw the tell. Helenna wanted to explain the reason for Olonia to have a line of logic to follow, but she didn’t want to make it obvious that she was leading Olonia down a certain path of thought. “Why not?” Iliyal asked.

“Because from what I’ve heard, they plan to sabotage the Fortia and Arascus talks, and then forward this peace plan instead.”

“But that would destroy this country.” Olonia said quietly. “It would ruin it. Just like that, it would ruin it.”

“I don’t think they’re taking your opinion into account in this.” Iliyal said. Now, it was time to start making his own moves, he saw how Helenna had aimed the woman, he simply gave her a push in that direction. “They did call you a mascot even in that clip we found.”

Immediately, Olonia’s cheeks turned red. Iliyal expected anger but there was none of that. Instead, the woman looked at Aslana in embarrassment. And Aslana did not even react. “There is one way though.” Helenna said. “Like I said, I wanted this meeting to be fast so that no one sees us, so I’ll just say it how it is.”

“Go ahead.” Iliyal said. That was a good strategy, Olonia would be forced to make a decision right here and now. And… And Iliyal realised another reason to bringing Aslana here. Olonia knew Helenna and Iliyal, she could go back on her word or start a discussion. If she made a decision in front of Aslana? Well, she would have to go down that route. It was like making a decision in front of Anassa and then going back on it, the shame was simply too great.

“We get rid of Jozef.” Helenna said. “And…” The Goddess of Love turned to the Goddess of Lubska. “This is serious Olonia.”

“I know it is.” Olonia said. “You just proposed killing the biggest traitor in my country.” Iliyal contained his smile, excellently played.

“We don’t have a replacement.” Helenna said. “I could groom someone to be a leader here, but it would take a year here. And I’d need your help for it, with the war, that’s impossible.”

“So?” Olonia asked. “If this goes through.” She shook the photo now. “Then my country will be over.”

“No.” Helenna said. “But I want a temporary government.” This may as well have been Malam speaking, there was nothing more permanent than a temporary measure. “With someone we can trust who the population loves.”

Olonia turned to the elf. “Iliyal?” She asked.

“No.” Iliyal said. “I am here and we are friends, but I serve Goddess Kassandora only.”

“Then who?” Olonia asked. Helenna, Iliyal and Aslana turned to the Goddess of Lubska. The answer was obvious. Olonia looked at their blank expressions and realised after a moment. “Me?”

“Who if not you?” Iliyal asked.

“We could do it with Aslana and Labrys.” Olonia said and Iliyal shook his head. The Goddess of Love may have been a politician, but she was overstepping her demesne. The reasoning behind a coup may have been hers, but the logical step-taking was his.

“I can design a plan.”

“I brought Aslana because I thought you’d need her.” Helenna said.

The Goddess of the Sword chuckled. “Helenna, you’ve not spent enough time with this sorry man if you think that.”

“Well…”

“It all relies on one thing.” Iliyal said. “And that’s you Olonia.”

“Excuse me?”

Iliyal turned to Helenna and the Goddess of Love stepped in. “So this is the question Olonia.” Helenna took a pause for dramatic effect. Iliyal imagined that everyone here was smart enough to know what she meant though. “Are you loyal to Lubska as a state and government or are you loyal to Lubska as the nation?” And another pause. “Or, to make it more blunt, will you destroy the former to save the latter?”

Olonia stared at Helenna, at Aslana and at Iliyal. Those big blue eyes met Iliyal’s and the Goddess of Lubska could not pull her eyes away. “Will you be there for me if I need help?”

Iliyal, for once, did not need to lie. He was her superior in command so she was his responsibility. There was no need for a long speech or any patronizing explanation about how he wouldn’t let her down. He simply answered as succinctly as he could. “I will.”

Olonia sighed with relief and smiled. “Then I will save my country.”

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