The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 348 – Operation Seabreaker

The dwarves are a despicable race. I have spent a millennia living amongst them now. In the first year, great progress was made in my understanding of them: I learned their alphabet, their words, how to read their maps, I learned their customs and their habits.

And then I hit a brick wall. As I have studied them, I have realised that the dwarves themselves do not know who they are. They do not build, they do not create, they have stalled making any sort of advancement long before I was trapped down there. It is only natural that they ran into my father’s arms, he was the first person to breach their will, strong and stubborn as steel, and show them a path forwards. Without a guide to lead them by the hand, their entire lifestyle and attitude can be summed up as trying to walk backwards through every era, focused on a golden era whose very existence I have come to question.

There is something in me that still wishes to doubt the very words I write. And there is something else in me that belittles my mind for not seeing it sooner. Any analysis of the utterly disastrous style of ancestor worship they have, where the priests will question graves until the delirium they meditate themselves into provides an answer, should suffice. Or the fact that even now, after the Great War and after Kassandora showed them effective methods of warfare, they still cling to the tradition of the woodcutting axe as a sidearm. There are plenty of these examples all throughout dwarven society. They are a race that refuses to advance unless that advancement satisfies all the conditions that will lead them to the promised land.

Although I should I have seen it sooner, when I was researching dwarven history written by their own scholars. It was when I was studying the Highway Network. I have read of it needing to be ‘maintained’, I have read of it needing to be both ‘claimed’ and ‘reclaimed’, I have read of holds being ‘affixed’ to it, I have read of plans to use the space. It is not that the dwarves simply reside in these tunnels. It is much how humans and elves above talk of the planet itself. It is something that exists and should be built upon.

The planet is an apt comparison. Just as in history, no one claims to have ‘built’ or ‘created’ Arda, the same applies to the highway network. The only time I have read of its expansion is when they ‘find’ or ‘discover’ a new section. There is not a single mention of it being ‘expanded’, much less ‘built’.

- Excerpt from “My Time Underneath”, written hastily by Goddess Malam, of Hatred, during the Epan War.

Elassa and Olephia looked at each other as Elassa put her phone away into her dress. This should be the correct location. They were at the correct coordinates, although there was no real way to double check the fact. North was an endless ocean. East was an endless ocean. South was an endless ocean. West was an endless ocean. There wasn’t an island about, nor a ship trekking across the horizon. The sky itself was a beautiful light blue. The sea was a calm, slightly darker, reflection of the sky above. The sun had just detached from the horizon and the hues of dawn had left the theatre to make room for the brightness of day. Above them, a whole flock of drones circled like a committee of vultures that knew there would be carcasses to pick soon. Large things with wings and cameras, designs based off the very drones that had once tracked Fer throughout the Karainan tundra.

Elassa flexed her fingers and inspected her rings. Each one solid a bar of solid platinum laced with catalyst gemstones for Elassa to channel her magic through. They were connected by chains, then she a necklace with a huge, fat, clear white sapphire in the middle that lay on her bosom. Her dress was much the same as the rings, it was threaded with precious metals of silver and platinum, and then lined with sparkling stones. Catalysts were a cornerstone of magic, trying to pour one’s energies out of themselves raw was raw like trying to shoot an arrow through a wall of jam. A catalyst was an opening in that jam. Elassa took a deep breath and looked at the Goddess of Chaos.

Olephia stood in long coat, with a scarf around her neck and rubbing her arms.

Elassa wished that the woman didn’t show off. One had come in her entire battle-gear bar the irreplaceable staff that Fer had snapped. The other had come with a coat and a scarf. One had prepared through meditation and calming potions. The other treated it as just another weekday. One carried an expression that had all the seriousness needed for when the sea was about to be broken. The other was standing around and inspecting the ocean as if she merely enjoyed the view. “We just got the green light on Seabreaker.”

Olephia turned and beamed a bright smile to Elassa. She gave two thumbs in return. Elassa sighed heavily. She had met the women today. Olephia had brought a piece of paper as if she was a child being handed off that explained she knew what she was doing and that Elassa could simply drag her along.

No. Elassa could not work with someone like this. Not whatsoever. She needed to at least get a few sentences out of the woman. “Are you ready?” Olephia nodded and Elassa sighed. “I meant can you give me an answer?”

Olephia still smiling, rolled her eyes. Still smiling, she pulled out a pen and notebook from her coat. Still smiling, she scribbled something down. Still smiling, she showed it to Elassa. That was pretty handwriting indeed. ‘Elassa. I am ready.’

Elassa stared at the text, and then at Olephia. That was it? There was no argument? No demand for respect? What sort of Divine acted this way? Elassa saw the drones above circling her and pushed them out of her mind. They could wait a moment. This wasn’t the moment, she knew, but she also knew that if she didn’t ask the woman now, she would never. “That’s it?”

Olephia tilted her head, as if confused for a moment. She wrote down another reply. ‘What is it?’

“I mean, are you not going to shout at me? Or demand respect? Or I don’t know…” Elassa, Archivist of Arda, was utterly stumped. Divines simply should not act in the way this woman was acting. “Shouldn’t you be more forceful?”

Olephia gave Elassa two thumbs up for a moment, and then wrote her reply. ‘I want friends Elassa. I am nice to people.’ Elassa read the text and blinked. It was so…

The sweetness of it took Elassa back entirely. She doubted that there was any Divine who would admit that so easily. Frankly, Elassa didn’t know of a single one. Even Anassa and Allasaria, who she was closest with, would set up troublesome barriers before being so open. And now? Elassa, throughout her entire existence, had said maybe the grand total of a few hundred words to Olephia and imagined all of them were combat spells. And yet Olephia still just admitted it. Just like that. How odd. “You just want friends?”

Olephia, in a terribly patronizing manner, patted Elassa on the shoulder. The Goddess of Magic flinched at Olephia’s touch, the woman was unnaturally warm. And then, Olephia wrote down another reply. ‘Elassa, one thing I know dad has said that he likes most about me is that he never has to work out my emotions. I am very direct with people around me. I have no need to hide anything.’ Elassa’s blue eyes held on that ‘dad’ for a moment before she kept on reading. Was it jealousy? Maybe it was. But it was also awe at the fact that Olephia just admitted that so easily once again. Elassa knew she had a reputation for being boastful, but she didn’t think she talked about herself that much.

“Oh. So that’s why you were smiling at me so much?” That put it into perspective. If the girl simply lacked social skills, of course she would be smiling at everything and everyone for no reason.

‘I will paint this ocean later.’ Olephia wrote. ‘I rarely get to see things unobscured by my own storms so I am happy whenever I get inspiration.’ Elassa… Elassa was honestly disappointed. She had wanted the woman to say it because she was being friendly to her. Or maybe that to say that she found Elassa cute. Or even something akin to a puppy or a kitten she would accept. She would bark and scratch, but she would accept it. This though? Olephia was stood by the Goddess of Magic and was smiling at the ocean! Elassa rarely felt so utterly insulted.

She turned away, she turned back. Elassa genuinely had no idea how to respond. It was… The Goddess of Magic took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She couldn’t leave it be, but she had to somehow get Olephia to admit the mistake. Elassa adopted the tone she would use when teaching students. “You understand that you just ignored me. But earlier you wanted friends so-“ Elassa saw Olephia already write a reply before she finished. “And that’s not-“ The woman did write quick, Elassa couldn’t even finish the sentence.

‘Elassa, I am far more competent than you are socially. That is not even in the question. It is your own fault for taking offense.’ Elassa wished she could crack Olephia’s skull open on the ground.

“Well I apologize for disliking being ignored like that.” Elassa answered sarcastically. “Typically, the Goddess of Magic does get acknowledgement at the least.”

The reply was short, a mere three words. And yet it sent a shiver down Elassa’s spine as it reminded her of who precisely she was starting an argument with. ‘I will not.’ Olephia answered.

“Sorry.” Elassa backed off, there was no sarcasm this time. She knew she was prideful, but there was a fine line between pride and hubris she wasn’t about to cross. Olephia rolled her eyes and quickly scrawled some more.

‘Only my father holds a warm spot in my heart. I love my sisters too, but that is simply because we were brought together by him. Do not be offended, I treat you honestly as I do everyone else. If being treated like everyone else is patronizing to you, then that is your problem. Not mine.’  The worst part was that Olephia did not even look smug or proud in the statement. It was as if she was explaining something for a child, nothing more than that.

“I am not like everyone else though.” The Goddess of Magic said.

‘Not to me.’

Elassa gave up. She was defeated. There was nothing she could say. She had wasted enough time discussing with Olephia and all that she learned was that the woman gave her no respect whatsoever. It wasn’t like a debate with Allasaria, where Allasaria would invoke upon some title or some power. It was Olephia simply stating what she thought.

And there was no one on this world who could argue with Olephia.

“I’ll begin then.” Elassa said. She gave one look to the drone above her head, recording what was about to happen, and then she sighed. Slowly, Elassa put her hands above her head as she called upon her powers and started to channel magic into winds and waters. There was no need to work the flame nor the earth here. Beams of light shot out from the crystals embedded within her rings and her dress. They penetrated into the water as Elassa felt her willpower spread out from her body and into the surrounding environment.

Like a finger stirring water in a glass, Elassa channelled her own magic. The ocean around her began to spin, the seas started to form, the waters started to fly upwards as winds pulled them into the sky. Slowly, directly below Elassa, the surface of the ocean gave way and began to collapse downwards as a whirlpool and a hurricane formed around the Goddess of Magic.

Elassa had broken the world during the end of the Invasion of Kirinyaa. Elassa had broken the sky and stars during the end of the Reclamation War. Now, it was time to break the ocean and force Uriamel back into its depth. They had caused too much trouble for Arascus and Elassa had never been fond of people who rejected magical arts.

The ocean plunged downwards as it became a whirlpool. Around Elassa, a hurricane started to form, waters rushed upwards around her, lightning began to crack, water grew hot until it became steam, and the deepest point, straight below her, kept on tunnelling downwards.

Elassa’s magic was a drill that pierced the oceans and sent it cascading upwards. The walls around the two Goddesses grew dark, the drones that had been recording them flew higher and higher to escape them but still kept view. Elassa channelled more and more power, the gemstones on her dress and in her rings started to grow warm, until the ocean was broken.

Cracked in the middle, as if it was rock struck by a pickaxe. A hole from the surface of the sea straight down to the floor of the ocean. Creatures that had never seen the sun now trembled under its burning gaze as they covered their eyes. Elassa saw the target below them as the waters of the ocean swirled around. They sounded like a thousand different rivers trying to beat other out, their orchestra was made worse by the echo travelling up the tunnel Elassa had crafted.

In the centre of that tunnel was one Uriamel’s cities. A huge mountain of steel and rock, with pipe and wall and metal, that was nothing like a city on the overworld. It was more like a giant pyramid or a hive which had been blown up from its centre and the fragments had been used as the foundations for city. The pipes and cages and tunnels interconnected them. People looked up, Elassa saw movement through windows. She heard a siren suddenly sound. Guns were drawn. A shield was raised. Uriamel had expected something like this.

“Olephia, now it’s your turn.” Olephia made no movement. Olephia did not twist her neck or crack her fingers. Olephia did precisely nothing as Elassa forced the oceans apart. It was surreal. Elassa stood there breathing as she watched the Goddess of Chaos look downwards for a few moments more.

Those few passed.

Olephia finally opened her mouth.

And Olephia finally spoke.

“Hello. My name is Olephia. You will all die now.”

Ten words said. Ten atoms cracked. Ten reactions chained. Ten stars formed. Ten explosions sounded.

Those ten explosions became one. Elassa felt a wave of heat from the nuclear energy rush up the whirlpool down to the floor of the ocean she had made and bathe her. The wind came next and the Goddess of Magic adjusted a spell to harden the shield around her. That cut everything else out. There was nothing below but bright light and flame. Huge fireballs that would burn and burn for hours. Elassa finally dropped her spell and let the oceans swallow the light.

The water rushed into, they started to bubble and boil and steam in the heat, they crashed. They shot from their own momentum. Elassa strengthened the barrier around herself and Olephia as they were submerged in the darkness of waters rushing up. It lasted a minute, maybe two, but eventually, the sea started to retreat. Rains came down around the Goddesses from a cloudless sky. The sea below them still bubbled simply from the radiation Olephia would leave behind. This entire area would be irradiated soon. Elassa looked up at the drone that was coming back, it had retreated earlier. Arascus better had caught everything on video.

And then, Elassa saw Olephia. The Goddess of Chaos simply stood there, unmoving, still smiling, her eyes watching the explosion below them as if they were recording the moment forever. Elassa had channel so much power she was beginning to sweat. She thought that they would be able to do several towns in a day, but this level of control was far more delicate than the sheer unleashing of her own floodgates that she allowed during continent cracking, unfortunately, Arascus would have to wait. They would go at a rate of a city a day. Elassa breathed heavily. Olephia made no reaction. Although she wouldn’t, would she? One of the Goddesses had broken the sea. The other had said ten words.

There it was. This is why Elassa didn’t like working with Olephia. Anassa was still bearable, but she got the same feeling when she had to deal with Allasaria or with Irinika. Both of those Goddesses, Elassa couldn’t stand. Olephia was slightly better because Olephia didn’t speak, but that only made the emotion Elassa felt ever more potent whenever Olephia did open her mouth.

Inferiority.