Devourer

I sat on the chair and rocked back and forth. The wood creaked under my constant abuse, and I was pretty sure it was going to break if I kept this up. From what I could see through the Hive Mind that ambassador was arriving soon with that Cherubim in tow.

I asked Tsarkov to find a sufficiently malleable Cherubim that I could twist to my designs. Of course I didn’t exactly phrase it like that but I think he got my meaning. I remember lengthy discussions with Cecilia on how we should approach the Divonia problem. I have to head back to hell soon, so I need to make sure Cecilia has something to work with.

It's a good thing I have Ego now so I have another proxy besides Legiana to keep things working. Still, Ego’s presence was odd to say the least. He just popped up one day, I didn’t get any new abilities that day. I just noticed his presence one day, in fact most of the other minds in the Hive didn’t know what to make of him either. Yet I do sense a kind of affinity between him and other members of the hive.

“They really are taking their time.” Cecilia said idly as she sipped her wine.

I glanced over at the projection of her as she lazed around in her private room back in Averlon. This was a fancy new invention I came up with, its far better than the old design of having a small choppy projection.

To do this you needed to be able to transmit a vast quantity of information across large distances. So how would someone do this? Well if you were using normal means you would have to drag massive enchanted Mithril cables across the world. But the Hive Mind could out perform physical means by a mile.

All records of the Empire were slowly being stored inside the Hive Mind. I even created specialised creatures that serve as databanks to help with information storage. All in all my Empire can now communicate faster than any other nation. But… I did have to hire more admin staff since things are moving so much faster now. However, the productivity boost is always worth it. Throw in paid holidays, medical benefits, performance bonuses and education grants to incentivise good behaviour I probably have the most productive workforce in the world.

“Well, things are more efficient in the Empire. I trust you remember your orders taking days to reach the borders just a year ago.” I replied as I continued abusing the chair.

“I suppose that is true. These advantages are slow and hidden but undeniably present. We did get that ship moving in three days. Having records instantly pulled out and hive workers who need no sleep speeds things up a bit.” Cecilia replied.

Soon, the door opened, and I saw the Cherubim I had heard so much about—Yael, the Cherubim, a young Cherubim with the vigour of youth yet possessing a passive disillusionment.

Yael did a double take as he saw me and Cecilia staring at him.

Huh… my oh my… this is unexpected. Yael is a Heir of the Firstborn. Not as powerful as Regari, but a Heir nonetheless. I’m not exactly sure why, but I can only tell when I see them in the flesh. Observing through the hive doesn’t exactly reveal it, but seeing it in person allows me to sense it to a degree.

There is something about the Heirs that allows them to outperform the others. Better constitution, better reflexes, better mental fortitude, a lot of things. To put it simply, Heirs are just a superior model of the baseline.

“Hello, Yael, we have heard quite a bit about you.” Cecilia said with a smile as her projection flickered slightly. The flicker was intentional since the projection was rather realistic. We wouldn’t want Yael to think that the Empress came here just for him. That would raise too many suspicions.

“I see… and you are the… Great Beast?” Yael asked tentatively as he glanced at me.

“In the borrowed flesh. It’s a proxy body, really useful when you can't be bothered to travel across the world.” I replied with a grin.

“So what do you need from me?” Yael asked as he furrowed his brows.

“Nothing really.” Cecilia said idly traced a finger across the table.

“Just some information, you see Yael. The situation is getting bad in Divonia. Collapse seems likely at this point and intervention is needed. Corruption is rife in this empire, part of the reason I sent the ration bars was that they look unimpressive so they are less likely to get embezzled.” Cecilia said.

“And it is also why we bypassed the Divonian Crown and gave it directly to you.” Tsarkov added and Cecilia nodded in affirmation.

“I hope you will forgive the candid words I am about to say but as far as the Averlonian Empire is concerned, we already consider the Divonian Empire as a fallen state. We have no interest in working with the Divonian Crown. We would much rather work with the Seraphim to stabilise the region.” Cecilia said.

“I feel this should be referred up the chain of command.” Yael replied stiffly.

“They don’t care Yael, they care about us and the power we wield. Divonia is a counter weight to my Empire, or at least so they believe. In truth they are not, Divonia is dead, we are just trying to save the people within it.” Cecilia said calmly and Yael bit his lip in response. ℞ÁΝő𝖇Ę𝓢

“The reason why I have called you here is quite simple. Those wagons of food I delivered will feed this capital for a week at most. For the slums it can last a few months. For the nation, not even a day. The scale of this problem is far beyond anything any of you can do without assistance.

The only nation in the position to help you is the Averlonian Empire. So I am here to ask you something very simple. What are the largest issues plaguing this nation? And I don’t mean what's happening in the halls of power.” Cecilia said.

“If it was up to me I would have all the nobles executed and replaced. It would make stabilising this place easier.” I said with a laugh.

“So what are the issues, the issues no one in power would care about…” Cecilia said as she interlocked her fingers.

As I listened I couldn’t help but be impressed by some of the issues he brought up. He noted that the streets were becoming so dilapidated movement through the city was becoming problematic. Corpses were piling up and there were not enough people to handle them. Rampant loss of sanitation leading to disease outbreaks. Malnutrition exacerbating these disease outbreaks.

The guard were corrupt, the nobles were corrupt, and criminal gangs were popping up. Ok that last one was mostly my fault since I basically own the underworld but he doesn’t need to know that.

Food is an obvious one, and the farming industry has basically collapsed mostly due to corrupt nobles. The tax ministry has also gone down the drain… as has the ministry of justice… and the ministry of trade…

Ah fuck I’m going to have burn the whole thing down don’t I? I mean the original plan was to take over the place under the Seraphim’s nose but this is shaping up to be alot of work…

“Thank you for the information. We will soon enter into negotiations with your leaders with regards to this. ” Cecilia said as she glanced at Tsarkov.

“The ambassador has said a great many things about this place. Your name in particular comes up alot. Your methods are effective I will give you that. I believe you have the highest confirmed kills of any Cherubim?” Cecilia said.

“I have just served the longest Empress and I always volunteer.” Yael replied stiffly.

Hmm it seems buttering him up isn’t going to work. Small and weak he may be, but his mind is far from empty. His loyalty is strong too, he will be difficult to sway, but yet I can’t help but feel a tinge of jaded nihilism amongst all that idealism.

I know for a fact the Seraphim will not live up to his expectations. Perhaps that will be the angle.

At the end of the day he is an Heir and it will be a waste to dispose of him. Plus having such a positive and earnest individual be rewarded and cared for will win points for me with Mahaila and the Crowfather. Though they are on my side, they are only supporting me because they want to rid the world of the Seraphim’s control. The day those chains are broken is the day they start to reevaluate our alliance.

I will need a way to persuade these two that the virtues they uphold will be upheld in the new world I plan to build.

A loyal young Cherubim who is virtuous in the extreme would probably be quite welcome company for those two. I mean Mahaila has already taken a liking to Regari.

Regari is a lot of things, but virtuous is not one of them. He is a survivor and survivors will do anything to protect what they hold dear. I know if given a choice between his sister and an entire city of innocents, Regari will burn that city to the ground to save his dearest sibling.

I suspect Yael will do the opposite. Which is annoying of course, since I would need to somehow make this naive idiot buy into my cause.

I mean I could just kill him but Heirs are rare as hell. It would be waste to get rid of him without even trying…

Plus Yael could be used as a puppet to control the Seraphim. His whole Cherubim deformity thing could be easily fixed just by some simple edits. I mean I already have the wings on my back so I just had to water it down and stick it on his back. He already had the natural control over it considering he could flap those useless things on his back.

“Listen boy.” I said suddenly and Yael visibly flinched when I spoke.

“I’ll get right to it. The way I see it this place is as good as dead. Its a corpse with vultures and parasites pecking at the rotting flesh. If the corpse completely disappears the vultures find someone else to harrass.

So I’ll make this simple, you help us and we don’t have to resort to killing all of the people here. The last thing I want is a demon possessed army bearing down on us.” I said as I extended a hand.

“But I don’t have the authori…” Yael began but I just impatiently waved my hand.

“I know and I know your superioirs are going to turn down our help. The thing is, you lot can’t handle this problem without supplies. So what I want today is simple…” I said as I paused and Yael visibly held his breath.

“Just think about it…” I said with a grin.

“What?” Yael sputtered.

“Just think about what I said.” I said again as my smile widened.

When the time comes, just look for Tsarkov…

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Yael wearily sat down at long last on his bunk. His body was fatigued but not unbearably so. His mind however was fried. He had no idea what to do.

The Great Beast’s words were right, he had known it for some time. Try as they might, heaven cannot stop the decay on its own. They needed help and from what Yael had seen their best option was to go to the Averlonian Empire for help.

His superiors wouldn’t agree, they would rather burn the innocent along with the guilty to stamp out the demons.

The fact they are facing the demon problem in the first place was probably enough to incriminate the entire empire in the eyes of the Seraphim.

The Inquisitors are very clear on their stance on Heresy. They are Heaven’s most brutal enforcers, they burn away what shadows the light cannot banish.

Yael ran a hand through his hair, the Inquisitors were led by a Grand Inquisitor but the Grand Inquisitor has little time for mundane affairs. Instead as far as matters of personal concern he sent out his Confessors.

Word just came in that High Confessor Sullivan, one of the most devout, harsh and ruthless Confessors, was now in the Capital. Their numbers were few with only twelve Confessors total and High Confessor Sullivan was the most senior of them.

Where the High Confessor goes the other eleven follow. Things were about to get very ugly very soon…

Just as Yael was about to turn it for the night he sensed someone enter the tent. Yael felt the angels footsteps thunder into the tent and he felt the cold gaze land on him.

Yael shut his eyes as he cursed his bad luck. It must be about his meeting with the Empress…

“Sergeant Yael, the High Confessor wishes to see you…” the deep voice rumbled.

Yael turned and saw the bright gold armour of a Confessor facing him. Yael nodded mutely as he stood up.

Yes my lord…

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