“RETURN UNENDER TO US, THIS INSTANT!”
The Overlord was caught unaware at how quickly a member of the Thantir would make their way to the main Deathven base and rudely interrupt a council meeting between the Overlord and his fellow Higher Decay Lords. The Overlord thought he’d have at least ten hours before someone turned up. But no, Souldrainer, a rather strange Psion and a member of a Hidden Named Trio, had somehow managed to get hold of an instant teleporter device and brute force his way through all of the security in Deathven Sector Alpha. This actually concerned the Overlord greatly, because Deathven Sector Alpha had special anti-psionic devices set up specifically to stop Psions from waltzing in and interrupting council meetings.
Worse, Souldrainer had backup, and not the backup that Overlord expected. Firestorm, a member of the Tattered Navigators, was someone that Overlord had expected better from, they had formerly been a rather law-abiding Decay Lord. However, the other being Souldrainer brought along was completely unexpected.
Voidblade was the leader of the Phantai Decay Lord Sect, a Sect that had consistently and blindly followed Deathven’s teachings, even after they stopped being sent full reinforcements. The Phantai were considered a great example of how a Voidborn Eradicator Sect should be, keeping the balance and keeping the Voidborn Menance down, but not destroying them completely, as to not anger the Upper Void Lords. Recently, the Thantir had somewhat interfered, and now the Phantai no longer had anyone to fight against. The fact that Voidblade was here, assisting the Thantir leaders, concerned Overlord more than the intruding Psion.
“Souldrainer, exit this room, knock on the door and ask politely to enter!” one of the Higher Decay Lords behind Overlord loudly stated.
“I will not! You will be given no respect from me until you return Unender to the Thantir and the Phantai!”
Overlord tutted and turned to Voidblade. “Voidblade, you let this tiny sect push you around?”
“I brought them here. Unender is one of the most powerful and honourable Decaylings I have ever seen, someone who has repeatedly given himself for others, and it sickens the Great Blades that you have imprisoned him.”
“Unender has been sealed away, for both our safety and his own safety!” Overlord tutted some more. “I will not let him go.”
“YOU MEAN SOLELY FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY?” Souldrainer snarled. “Unender was perfectly safe and happy with us. Imprisoning him puts you at risk!”
Overlord decided to ignore Souldrainer. They were but a child. Not much older than the group of Decaylings he had just promoted to Decay Lords. Instead, Overlord focused on Firestorm. Firestorm had been part of the team that had both assisted and studied the last Amalgam Mimic that had come into Deathven Proper, perhaps they would be reasonable.
“Firestorm, you personally know the dangers an Amalgam Mimic can cause. You had one under your care when you worked in Sector Ypsilon. Surely you understand that Deathven Sectors are a safer place for Amalgam Mimics. Surely you understand that these strange, insanely powerful entities must be studied here, under the protection of Deathven Itself?”
Firestorm crossed his arms and frowned. “No, not at all. The moment you took Deathbringer out of my care, he disappeared. You… do know what happened to the two previous Amalgam Mimics that were brought in before Deathbringer, yes? Novastar blew themselves up and died in a horrendous fireball. Elementalsoul, well, uh, you killed them, believing them to be connected to Everlord’s death. Deathven is NOT a safe place for Amalgam Mimics at all.”
“We have changed, Firestorm.”
“Clearly you have not!” Souldrainer shouted some more. “You mistreated my partner, YOU removed Deathbringer from Firestorm’s care, YOU allowed the Life Goddesses access to Deathven Sector Ypsilon. How in the name of the Light are we supposed to believe that you have changed? Especially when you put our Decaylings into a trial almost identical to what you put me, Flamebearer and Deathbringer into?”
Overlord grunted. “That last statement is not true. The most recent batch of Thantir Decaylings were put into a modified version of your trial that was 100% solvable. In fact, the little ones solved it in record time.”
Voidblade raised a finger. “You… just admitted that the trial you put the Missing through was… rigged.”
“Of course it was.”
A murmur rippled through the Higher Decay Lord council. It seemed not everyone was aware of what had happened. Souldrainer in particular looked rather upset.
“Is my life worth that little? Is Flamebearer’s life worthless as well?”
“Flames and Psions are common out here. If sacrificing you both meant I could get rid of a dangerous Amalgam Mimic before they became a Decay Lord, then I would have been fine with that. Not every Decayon has value. Amalgam Mimics are too dangerous to have value. They threaten the delicate balance of the Three Main Types, they harm the very fabric of existence, why do you think I do not want them becoming Decay Lords, and why do you think that the ones that do become Decay Lords are gotten rid of?”
More murmurs ran through the council. Some of them were genuinely angry. Some of them began shouting. One of them, Souldrainer recognized, and they had stood up from their seat, hissing and claiming that they had been lied to. But Overlord raised his hand, silencing all of them.
“Souldrainer, I am not returning Unender to you. You are lucky that I have allowed you Thantir to continue existing. Leave now, and I will let you continue existing, rather than tearing your sect apart.”
Souldrainer didn’t respond. Instead, they briefly closed their eyes, thinking to themselves for a moment.
“Overlord, why do you hate Amalgam Mimics so much when Everlord Himself was an Amalgam Mimic?”
Overlord blinked. The murmurs returned to the council. Somehow, with a single statement, this child Psion had just unleashed one of Overlord’s biggest secrets and largest regrets, damaging the trust his council had in him.
“Fine. You can have Unender back. As long as you promise to keep him permanently away from any Deathven Sector and permanently under the jurisdiction of the Thantir or the Phantai.”
Overlord snapped his fingers. A glass canister appeared out of thin air and shattered across the floor in front of Souldrainer, Firestorm and Voidblade. Firestorm immediately scooped Unender’s unconscious body up in his arms and carried him away. Souldrainer snarled at the Overlord, then followed, telekinetically slamming the doors shut behind him. However, Voidblade remained where he was.
“Overlord, why do you hate the Thantir so much? They just want to get into purification and do some good, yet it seems everyone, from the Voidborns to the Life Goddesses to you, wants to stop them.”
“They disobeyed my orders to report Amalgam Mimics to me, twice.”
Voidblade shrugged. “Considering how rare Amalgam Mimics are, how, both times, the Thantir didn’t know they were dealing with Amalgam Mimics until it was too late, and considering how the Thantir managed to tame two of them, surely they are better equipped than you are when it comes to keeping Amalgam Mimics away from you?”
“That… is a fair point.”
“I will be blunt, Overlord, you have shaken the Phantai’s faith in you. You have probably shaken the council’s faith in you too. But you can make it up to the Thantir at least. Purification is a noble duty. I am not aware of any other sect that does such a duty full time. Help them, and you can perhaps… maybe regain some of our trust in you.”
Overlord sighed some more. “Very well. I will consider your words, Voidblade. Leave, now. The council has other matters to attend to.”
Voidblade bowed, then exited the chamber, making his way to the teleporter bays, where Firestorm and Souldrainer were waiting for him.
“You took your time, Telin!” Litvir hissed.
“I’m sorry, Litvir, but I wanted to directly ask the Overlord if he would consider trying to make things up to you Thantir. Is Elkay alright?”
“He is completely and utterly sedated…” Vikalos frowned. “Will be at least a few hours before the sedation wears off, and he will be delirious for a long time afterwards.”
“That is… unfortunate. Either way, I know you all wanted to head off after your Decaylings graduated, but I insist that you stay with us Phantai for a bit longer. Just in case.”
“You think the Overlord will retaliate against us?”
Telin hesitated. “I… I don’t know. I don’t think so. But better safe than sorry…”