Council of War

Half her court on her ass and Reala was still being stubborn about visiting me, no wonder the forces of Darkness were in shambles under her leadership. Well I wasn't going to wait on her and frankly didn't need her, it was time to put together a council to come up with a plan to deal with Tomoko. I sent word to the Amazon Queen and she was available to come right away. She had plenty of people she could delegate maters to until her return. She'd let me know when she reached Delta's Dungeon for a portal.

Citrinas and Halicarnassus were already here of course, though the Arch-Imago was far more likely to be of use in a plan I wasn't going to leave Hali out. I even had my general as Alanna had stopped by to give me an update on her raiding as well as the best spoils of her efforts in treasure and slaves. She'd managed to burn out three towns in a short time then retreated before a counter **** could catch her. She'd also managed to only lose about a third of her Orcs in the campaign, which was pretty good as the last two towns had been significantly better fortified than the back end bog towns nearby. She'd be back out after the council with reinforcements and a communication Runestone to keep in touch with. She also wanted to take the Dark Elven soldiers with her and since they were supposed to be Orc support anyways I didn't have a problem with that. Amalica and the Wood Elf Archer could go as well, in fact I might as well include the former Dark Elven Queen in my war council. If nothing else she certainly had information on how not to run a war.

Getting in touch with Gaia was never a problem being simply a thought away. She agreed to come easily enough and told me to let her know when everyone was there. I also got word to Orchid, unfortunately she couldn't pull herself away from her current campaign but I wasn't going to have her do anything different from what she already was doing so her presence wasn't critical.

I gathered everyone at the big table in my kitchen. Amazon and Elf, Ancient AI and Demon, and the humans of course as well. I even brought Elmeria along though her only contribution was to drool in my lap, I'd thought maybe a war council might kick start some neurons in her brain but nope. Oh well.

"So the last major obstacle to me is Tomoko Sakurai the Hero of Light. A human so crammed full of cheats she rivals anything the rest of the Champions of Light could do. But as I have two of those Champions here with me now, that are still coherent, I'd like your opinions on her."

"Unmatched magic power for one." Said Citrinas "She can out cast me and at the same time wield more Holy power than the ex Archbishop when her mind was whole. But she lacks finesse. She'll throw a whole bucket of paint at a problem when a simple brushstroke would do to put it another way."

"Nice metaphor" Alkadabuki gave Citrinas a fist bump, who looked at her hand oddly afterwards as if wondering why. Personally I was shocked Tits even knew the word. "She can't summon Elemental Spirits but she can call up something like your Eminations only they're made up of light. Don't last long either. Still for all her magic she is no slouch with a blade. Her Hero of Light class is pure melee. Interestingly enough while she claims to be human she looks more like a High Elf if you ask me."

"Really?" I asked "Isn't she working in the Empire?" Buki nodded "And looking Elven hasn't caused her problems? Isn't the Empire extremely Human centric?"

"I can answer that one." Alanna spoke up "There was issue early on but after several would be Champions that challenged her ended up very dead people stopped calling her out on not being human despite her insistence. It's believed amongst many of the nobility of the Empire though that her refusal to admit to being an Elf is a big part of why the Elven kingdom would not join the Grand Alliance. My father knew the Emperor well, which is why his enemies targeted him to remove him from his influence through their lies. I can tell you he very much intends to use her to help him unify the Continent and the Archipelago under his rule."

"Yes the Technocracy is fully aware of his ambitions" Citrinas continued "and have been marshaling the bulk of their forces on the Southern border since the Demon King was taken down. The Grand Alliance is dead in all but name between the two nations."

"Okay" I said "I happen to know Tomoko is very invested in saving Humans, almost as much as she is in her friends." Tits snorted at that "No really, she thinks she has a great bond with each of the Champions of Light and has externalized her self worth into you. Finding out you are no longer on her side will be near enough to break her but she'll still have her precious Humanity to fall back on."

"So we turn the humans on each other." Gaia spoke up for the first time "Orchid has the humans of the Archipelago, the city states of the United Northern Kingdoms never welcomed the Champions, so it is just the Empire and the Technocracy who are already on the brink due to greed and distrust."

"Exactly." I said "We just need to fan a spark between them and Poor Tomoko won't be able to choose a side. Then she runs to her "friends" to help her stop the war and finds you've all already turned against her."

"Risky, she might break down but she might also go nova." Mused Citrinas.

"I think I can tip things a bit further in our favor if I can get close enough, I can get into her head and stir up her nightmares. Before the Gods of Light took her and made her what she is now she was on the verge of suicide, full of depression and self doubt. She was nothing, which is why she's externalized so much, Her own headspace is full of darkness." Before I could go into that more my Runestone lit up.

"Boss this is Leraje, I'm about to be in route with Reala and she is NOT in a good mood."

Of fucking course she would come now. Well she was about to get one hell of a surprise.

If she was lucky I'd sit her down at the kiddy table and she could see how adults handled business.