The Systemic Lands
Chapter 450: Day 872 (4) – Trouble, Terror, and Tenacity

People were scrambling and being brought for restorations. Doctor Katz was performing triage for the limited supply of crystals we had on hand. Clarissa had quickly taken control, organizing people to sweep the plaza and secure the area.

I walked over to one of the explosion sites. I had waved off the soldiers, telling them to protect Clarissa instead. I was confident I could survive, but Clarissa had nowhere near my number of stats. If she died or was injured, it would be a disaster.

There was nothing at the explosion site I looked around. People were being questioned if they had seen anything. The situation appeared well in hand. I kicked off the ground. Air Burst. Air Burst. I went high up into the air and looked around at the plaza and the surrounding buildings. Air Burst. I stayed up in the air for a bit more, while I kept looking for anything unusual.

Someone was moving away in a side street. Clarissa had ordered everyone to remain in the plaza, only allowing specific groups to move to secure the gates of the city. People were not to spread out. Air Burst. Air Burst. I quickly went towards the person.

I landed on a building, and quickly raced across the roof tops and then dropped down into the street. It was a middle-aged woman. There was nothing unusual about her appearance or anything else about her.

“Emperor Michael, I thought I saw someone,” she said. I didn’t trust this woman for one moment. If it smelled like bullshit, it was probably bullshit. But I wanted to lure her true intentions out. I turned away from her, exposing my back.

“Which way did they go?” I asked while getting ready for an attack. While my danger sense didn’t flare up, I heard movement. I quickly moved to the side as a sphere of gray energy shot through where I had just been standing.

The woman backed up, but I didn’t immediately rush her. I just kept the same distance, while watching her hands and body closely. “Why?” I asked.

“Why? You know why. The Shadow Council never forgives or forgets,” she said with a hiss.

“Oh, those useless people. Do you really think you can kill me?” I asked.

“No. Killing you is impossible. But we can kill your so-called Empire.” Stupid terrorists. They were just being difficult to be difficult. But it was the same strategy I used against the Divine Empress, so I couldn’t say it didn’t work.

“A truce perhaps? I would be willing to appoint one of you to a Governorship if you stop your terrorism and reveal all your members,” I said while making sure to manage my expression. I was lying, but she didn’t need to know that. She kept backing up, and I kept moving forward, keeping the same distance between us.

“As if. The Astrologer is the only true leader of the UCS.” Really? You wanted him? Well tough luck lady, it was clear you didn’t want to work with me, but at least I had gotten one piece of information.

“Well I killed him along with the Divine Empress,” I said to see if I got a reaction.

“Liar.” So, the Astrologer had joined up with the crazy assassin women. I wondered what role the Avatar had in all of this. I couldn’t think of anything else I could get out of her. I had enough to know the root of the problem. I kicked off the ground and went right for her.

My danger sense flared, and I was ready as she leapt towards me. I kicked off the ground again, reversing course as energy swelled up around her hands. I noted the energy was inside two rings she was wearing. “For the UCS!” She then promptly exploded.

There was nothing left behind to question or inspect. She had been blown away completely. I hadn’t been in any danger. Years of nonsense like this allowed me to react instantly to not place myself at risk. The explosion was very similar to the previous explosions with how the energy mixed together.

Perhaps a delayed effect with the rings as bombs. That was annoying and the Astrologer and his harem were a real threat now. I returned to the plaza. Clarissa was surrounded by soldiers, and I was let through after using Acid Shot once on the ground.

“Checking to be sure?” I asked her.

“Yes. You find something?” she asked me.

“The culprit most likely. A woman, probably from Normandy and the Shadow Council, using enchanted rings in combination to create explosions. You probably heard the one she blew herself up with,” I said, and Clarissa nodded. “There is one more thing. She was working with the Astrologer. To do this and admitted as such.”

“I was thinking offering up a bounty for credible information. A hundred thousand for a lead, a million for a confirmed death of anyone in their terrorist organization.” I considered the amounts.

“A hundred million points if the Astrologer is killed as the ringleader.” While I didn’t believe anyone would actually kill him, it would make it much harder for the Astrologer to act. “In addition, the UCS, and Shadow Council are now terrorist organizations run by the Astrologer. It is treason to support them in any way.”

“I will make sure the governors know. At least there were only twenty two deaths, and the serious injuries were taken care of. The rest will be sorted out by tomorrow when more crystals arrive,” Clarissa said.

“Good. The government should pay for any injuries related to terrorism, that is the policy, right?” I asked.

“For now, yes. We just have to outlast them and whether the storm. For a terrorist attack, this was fairly weak. And they didn’t kill anyone at the officer level.” What Clarissa was saying but didn’t want the soldiers to overhear was that the bombings hadn’t killed anyone important.

“The main priority is your safety. I do not want to run all of this,” I said.

“Don’t worry about that. My personal guards know what to do. Hence the check when you arrive,” Clarissa said, and I nodded at that. Smart, don’t take any chances or leave any openings.

“Any weak points the Astrologer can exploit?” I asked.

“Gaining access to the pillars. But in a hundred days, all our cities should be under control. You mentioned the Avatar won’t aid him, but we should confirm this. Perhaps ask for her help tracking him down,” Clarissa suggested.

“Put as much pressure as you want and feel free to use me as a threat. This is going to be troublesome. I can already tell. Any other areas of weakness?” I asked.

“Targeting me, targeting you. But I am sure of my safety, and you are confident in your own.” I nodded at this, since I had sent the soldiers away from me. While Clarissa surrounded herself with trusted people, I preferred the lone wolf strategy to ensure my personal safety.

“This sucks,” I muttered, a dark cloud bringing my mood back down. That was probably the point of this attack, to put mental stress on me. I shook my head slightly and then rubbed my face. What a massive headache. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

That was the problem with terrorism. It was a pain to counter. I tried to put myself in the Astrologer’s position. He clearly had it out for me and was scheming something. For an opening salvo, this was fairly weak, but he may not have had time to get that many resources into position.

“The Avatar needs to answer in regards to what happened with the Shadow Council. Don’t pressure her about the Astrologer. Claim that they performed the bombing in her name. Let’s see how she responds. My guess is she is going to play it off, saying she let them go, and they somehow found the Astrologer like magic,” I shook my head at this. I didn’t believe in coincidences anymore. Not after everything that had happened due to her.

“The Astrologer will probably target the Governors and will attempt to create a pipeline to get supplies, both food and bombs. Anyone that focuses on enchanting, we need to pay attention to. Then it is a question of outlasting them,” I declared.

“That was already planned, but I will ensure the governors know. So, an outlast strategy?” Clarissa asked me.

“Yes. That was the mistake the Divine Empress made. She got too hot and bothered and didn’t focus on securing her nation. At most, there are a hundred, a thousand women in the Astrologer’s terrorist harem?” I asked.

“I doubt that many, but I get your point. There is a finite number, while we can replenish our numbers. Even if idiots join up with him, it will be a losing battle long term,” Clarissa replied.

“Exactly. Also moving around is not easy and a waste of time. Time that we will be consolidating our power. This attack is not meant to wound, but to delay us and hurt us mentally. I suspect there will be a lot of terror. But if there is a large-scale attack, or loss of life, then they are spending points that could be used to strengthen themselves.”

“If they attack a city, they won’t be slowing things down and will slowly lose people over time. Their movements will be reported, and they will have a hard time waging their campaign of terror,” I explained as I thought through the issue.

The Empire of Purgatory, was not a house of cards like the Dragon Empire. The only way the Astrologer could win long term was by killing me. Everything else was just a stalling tactic. That kick from the Divine Empress and fall from the tower was probably something he was still recovering from. Even with a restoration there would be issues.

A delaying move like this bombing made sense in that context. The Astrologer was trying to heal up enough to kill me and probably replace me. The only thing standing between him, and absolute power was myself.

It was a race. A race between the Astrologer regaining his strength and full combat ability against me purging my body of whatever he had done to me. I needed to remove all the traps he had left behind, so I could face him in combat.

While a fight would be difficult, if I was compromised, it would be impossible. He would have to expose himself first and fight his way through my minions to get to me. While he would win, he would be dragged down slightly, which would give me an edge in our final confrontation.

He also probably didn’t fully understand or know who the appointed governors were. Taking them out all at once would have been a much bigger blow. I would be sealing myself away and working to fix myself as quickly as possible. The real risk was him attacking before I had fully purged what he had done.

If that happened, I could actually lose. I went over to my throne, which had been set upright once more. I carried it over a short distance where Clarissa was handling things. I put my throne down and sat on it. Time to get to work and start purging the curse damage right away.

At least I had gotten to eat two burgers before the bombing. That had been nice. But this place, the Systemic Lands, just didn’t let me keep nice things. Just one disaster after another.

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