Chapter 44
"Stop! Please, stop!" Ozzy rushed forward. "Father!”
“Your actions have brought such an enemy to our gates!" Osiris boomed.
"My actions," Ozzy snapped, "have done nothing of the sort!
You are the ones who demanded neutrality and put Set in place for it.
It is that decision that has led Bran to come here today and settle the matter with a clan that has broken its promise.
You all sit here in the dark, unaware of what happens in the world, ignorant of how things truly are, yet so unbelievably confident that your decisions are the right ones. "
"Caution, my son. You tread dangerous water," Osiris answered.
"If I tread dangerous water, it's because you've forced me into them. I want to fight the demons. Our people want to fight the demons," he insisted.
I stepped back, arms crossed. For now, I wouldn’t smash these pyramids. "What happened to your ancestor? The ancient beast that started your clan?" I asked.
"He is here with us," Osiris said. "Though he sleeps near-constantly. It is only through the application of our own strength that we even keep him in this world."
I suddenly frowned deeper. "You mean to say you stay here, isolated from everything, to keep the ancient beast's spirit alive?"
"He gave us strength when we lacked it, and now that we lack it, it is time to return it. It is the way of things," Osiris said, as if he couldn't believe I'd asked the question.
I nodded slowly, in growing understanding. Whether it was an excuse or not, it was somehow a far more respectable reason for isolation. It also explained why Osiris was being cautious with his strength.
"And what happens when the demons finally come to attack this place?" I asked.
"If none of our warriors are able to fight, if everything should fail, then we should be able to revive the ancient beast for a few hours," Osiris answered.
"Or you could deal with the demons now, before they become that much of a problem," I offered, having to believe they could see some reason.
"The demons aren't a problem to be solved. This is why we insisted Ozzy be removed until he could understand that demons are endemic to our world. They weren't always, but they are now. We are the deterrent that will protect our people," Osiris said.
One of the other temples opened as a woman with blue hair stepped out, a soft voice on her lips. "They have been here. They will be here. Throwing our people at them is just asking for more loss of life. Would you truly demand of us such endless heartache?"
I shook my head and stared both of the old Ennead ancestors in the eyes.
"I would. Because cleansing demons from this world is something that must be done.
To ignore it is dangerous. It is nothing but pure folly to think you can do this without bloodshed.
Besides, I never asked your people to fight and die.
I simply asked them to scout your region and provide that intelligence to those of us willing to fight.
I know much of your strength is tied up in summons that don't necessarily travel well.
" I glanced at Ozzy, remembering the time he'd brought hundreds of coffins with him in his spatial rings.
"To stick your head so far in the sand that you're unwilling to even scout is an absolute, unacceptable degree of willful ignorance. "
Osiris finally looked moderately chastened at my words. But whatever his next words would have been were interrupted as two sharp objects pierced my back, and Set's full weight crashed into me, knocking me to the ground.
"Don't worry, Ancestors, I have killed him. These are blades you provided me." He grinned, and I actually struggled to move.
There was something about these weapons.
Not only had they pierced me so readily, already warning me just how high-ranked they might be, but something about them was disrupting my ability to move.
I wiggled my toes as a small test, feeling the paralysis fading quickly, but I remained face-down on the ground to hear what exactly they'd do next.
Osiris paused, seeming to assess the situation in much the same way I was. "I suppose there's some commendation for quick thinking. I was coming around to assisting him."
"The Ennead bow to no one," Set demanded and leaned on the blades.
They had gone straight through me, and my blood was rapidly pooling on the floor. Though surprisingly, Almeria calmed down, taking a step back and watching.
"We are not bowing. We are negotiating with someone who has the qualifications…
even so." Osiris glanced down at me. "If he's unable to fight, then I guess much of his bluster is now worthless.
Ozzy, please inform your brother of any other deals you might have made.
Isolation is still the best answer. Demons do not respect aggression.
They have the tenacity to wear anyone down," Osiris started.
I had heard enough. The second I showed weakness, they had decided to go back to neutrality. I flipped to my side, kicking to my feet. I grabbed Set by the throat, pressing his head to the wall.
"That was terribly, terribly disappointing. I was really hoping for a better outcome than you all simply giving up. Well… most of you." I glanced at Almeria, who had been calmly standing to the side.
"Regardless of what they used," Almeria answered, "all I had to do was pull it out, and I was fairly certain you'd be back on your feet and solve this."
Osiris looked like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Set looked like a bug about to be popped under a magnifying glass as I squeezed his throat, his eyes bulging all the way out.
"Yes, it remains to be seen what I need to do with you all now." I scowled at everyone present with a look of disappointment. "If I had known you were going to be so fickle, perhaps I wouldn't have attempted to convince you for so long in the first place."
"Please, no," Osiris leaned forward, his hand out toward Set. "Mistakes were made. We can only make decisions based on the information available to us. If you fell so easily, it is not our fault that we lost faith in your ability."
I remained less than amused. "Well, what am I supposed to do with you now?" I glared at him, then turned my attention to the others in the room.
"Our child was over-eager to impress. Please do not punish him overly so," the woman with blue hair said, watching on. "If it was your own child—" she began, and I wagged a finger at her.
"My own child wouldn't make such a mistake." I stopped her short of whatever excuse she was about to waste my time saying.
"You never know. Children are such willful creatures," she said. "And protecting them from the harm of the world is a parent’s duty."
"Give me a good reason to spare him," I said, idly holding his life in my hands, just a small flinch from destroying him.
The blue-haired woman's eyes turned to Osiris, glaring daggers. "You will fix this," she hissed.
"I suppose I will." Osiris sighed. "How can we free our son and continue this conversation productively?"
I waffled my head back and forth, honestly unsure myself.
"Free me. I am at least someone Bran can trust will hold their word." Ozzy stepped forward, glancing at me pleadingly. "In turn, my brother will remain down here, tending to the elders," he said, and I glanced at them.
"You know, if I wanted to, I could simply invade each of your souls and take your strength for my own," I said with as much casual arrogance as I could manage.
Gaining Ozzy back on the surface would be fantastic. Though I wanted to solve this problem for good, the elder Osiris had his thumb over the proverbial nuke that was their ancestor’s soul and the countless champions entombed here. I needed to be careful not to push them too far.
Osiris swallowed, and while his hands shook at his side, he growled under his breath. "Ozzy shall be freed to return to his duties, if Bran Heros would be so willing to overlook Set's failings."
I pursed my lips and leaned back. "I'll accept, mostly because I want to move past this without damaging either of our people.
That would only benefit our enemies. And, just so you know, I have a way to absorb your ancestral beast's strength. Sun Wukong allowed me to do so after what I did for him and his clan. That is why you would not stand a chance if I decided I needed to come back here and finish all of you off.”
I could tell the Ennead ancestors didn’t believe me but were also unwilling to take the gamble of being wrong. As much as they might be staying locked away in part to protect their ancestor, I suspected they were still hiding because they were afraid of death.
"Go," Osiris said. "Set, you will remain, and Ozzy will return. And I expect you not to speak a word of this to the outside, Bran Heros."
"You would place additional conditions on me?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," Osiris said. He was gambling that I wasn't going to hold a grudge and make this a problem.
Thankfully, he was right. I didn’t need additional enemies right now. The Demon Lord was plenty enough. However, once he was taken care of, I might just kick off the War for Supremacy myself.
"Fine. As long as your support remains, I won't share how weak you have become,” I told him.
"We are plenty powerful," Osiris countered, but I stopped him with a shake of my head.
"To me, it seems only if you're willing to risk it all. Otherwise, you're nothing too impressive," I told him. He obviously took personal offense at those words, but it only further proved my words about his lack of action.
"Come on, Ozzy. Show me back to the surface, will you?" I waved a hand and felt heavy glares on me the entire way to the elevator, all the way until the doors closed and Ozzy cleared his throat.
"Thanks for bailing me out," Ozzy said, and I held up a fist for him to bump.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me host the two of you?" He glanced over at Almeria. "Your new wife?"
Almeria smiled and bobbed her head. "Yep. The newest," she said, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.
"I'm going to take you up on that, just so I at least have a chance to walk around the Ennead Clan with you several times and let my face be known enough that we can prevent such a disastrous misunderstanding, should there ever be future leadership changes," I told him.
"I hope not," Ozzy said quickly. "Especially the way you put them in their place today. Perhaps they'll finally listen."
"I give low odds on that," I shot back, "but who knows. Perhaps they'll be better behaved in the future. And if they aren't, my apologies, but I am going to go eat your ancestor, your ancient beast, and then perhaps your father while I'm at it."
Ozzy stared at me. "I thought that was a joke."
"Oh, no. In fact, I just managed to eat a fragment of the Demon Lord himself.
My stats are stupid. Perhaps the only one left to give me a challenge is Shiva.
" While I hadn't seen Shiva's current stats, I also had no idea the depth of skills he might have beneath that.
Tools like my own that would let me raise my power a considerable amount for a short period, followed by backlash.
Given all the strength and access Shiva had amassed, I would be a fool to assume he had no such ability gained over his years.
"Well, then," Ozzy said, distracting me and pulling me out of my thoughts.
"There's a sort of ambassadorial room that hasn't been used in years, but I can't think of a better reason not to use it now.
It's got a great view." Ozzy smirked. "I apologize, but I might be busy for a day or two, recollecting myself and the clan under my leadership.
Can I entrust him to you for a few days?
" He turned and asked Almeria, who bobbed her head several times in excitement.
I couldn't help but frown at her eagerness, before shrugging and deciding it was something for later, and not something I needed to deal with now.