December (Tuesday)

Author’s Note: See chapter 50 for Nick Andros’ previous appearance.

Judas Contract Subject 001
Codename: Last Daughter
Due to the corruption of the former Strength and the threat of the Entity to Springfield and the world as a whole, I have been tasked by The Emperor to observe likely members of the coming battle for signs of corruptibility and weaknesses to be used against them in the event that our allies turn against us. I know and care for many of the subjects here myself, and do not relish the thought of coming to arms against them. However, I will do my best to use my knowledge of these people to our advantage, should we require the advantage this contract seeks to create.
Much of Shelle de Clement’s unique attributes are due to her background. It is a subject neither she nor The Magician discuss openly, but as The Emperor and The Hierophant understand it, she was an orphan girl that took shelter in his abandoned mage tower while he explored their Kingdom of Tersol in the years before its destruction. At some point at least a decade before the Kingdom faded completely, he returned to his original residence to discover Shelle living there, neatly keeping his book collections clean and hungrily studying on her own.
Therein lies the key to the corruption of Shelle and The Magician alike, their quest for knowledge. The Magician’s reasons are unknown as a whole, though it is an open secret that he wants to recreate Tersol. Shelle’s interest in magic seems to stem from an interest in capability. My guess is some trauma from her early childhood of living on the streets. Despite how The Magician and The Hierophant remember it, The Fool and The Emperor give accounts to prove that Tersol was not always a kind place.
Regardless, this desire to prove as capable as possible could be used against her. Famously demons curse people who bargain for their power, so much so that the practice has disappeared among experienced Abyssals entirely. The Entity formed a similar contract with Wallace, and we’d do well to ensure it does not get a hold of Shelle as well. At the very least, the capability with which she’s obsessed is used for mostly nonviolent good.
Assuming Shelle has turned, she is to be avoided by single agents at all costs. Few if any outside of the Major Arcana can match her individual magical might. She has shown the ability to manipulate weather on a large scale, creating sandstorms, tornados, and thunderstorms to suit whatever plan of attack she decides on. She has also shown great proficiency in banishing natural and magical weather alike.
Direct attacks are inadvisable. Shelle knows many powerful sorceries invented by The Magician or herself that can warp space itself to avoid or redirect physical forces regardless of origin. Many of her own attacks are most potent up close, particularly her ability to turn auras to stone, displayed effectively against the Champion of Thunder from Astrea.
Furthermore, she is a gifted and charismatic speaker. Shelle applies her intelligence to any situation she enters, and usually talks to her opponents extensively for any advantage she can get. She has the capability of outthinking and persuading notoriously intelligent and shrewd creatures such as dragons and beholders. She has talked new hires from the Extinction Kings over to our side. If she were corrupt, it’s safe to assume that she could do the same to our agents.
Though her powers are great, Shelle is only human. She lacks any blessings from gods, any experimental magical modifications, any unique rituals. Though her power is astronomical, Shelle is a mage like any other. She has a limited mana pool, mission reports from her suggest that it could take anywhere from a minute to half an hour to recover all of her mana, depending on how thoroughly she exhausts herself. As a result, she tends to keep as full-up on mana as possible. When entering into any fight with her, assume she starts with her full mana pool. This makes her incredibly dangerous, but also used to fighting with all of her options available.
Given her disposition and experiences, a war of attrition seems the best option. A squad of at least four Kings deemed least susceptible to corruption through charisma should be deployed against her, preferably with at least one fateweaver and antimagic specialist if available. Though she has the capability to fateweave, it is far from her speciality, and an experienced fateweaver would serve as an excellent distraction over the course of a drawn out conflict.
As the conflict wears on, she may become more **** and sloppy. Shelle typically restricts her spell use to handle any individual situation as efficiently as possible. Do not assume this will be the case when you fight her. Corrupted individuals keep some of their personality, but even as she is now, Shelle is known to get hot headed when she sees herself losing. Illusion magic may also be particularly effective in throwing off her mentality.
See the full list of spellwork courses she teaches for an idea of her repertoire, though it is well known that she is extremely proficient in elemental and arcane magic, perhaps more so than even The Magician in the former. Pay attention to her when fighting, don’t waste your energy on her wind clones.
Addendum: The Magician was **** to share any details that could hurt his daughter, both in the scenario that she’s corrupted and in case these files are ever found. However, he was forthcoming on one particular detail. No matter what you do, DO NOT LET SHELLE SLEEP.

“Keep your heads clear. The entity can sense desire like a gheist can mana,” Shelle said, sweeping her eyes over the street behind before she turned back to her four companions. The typically assured knight’s eyes shifted back and forth from the robed mage and humanoid dragon to the slowly approaching hulking paladin and the relatively tiny woman uncloaking on his shoulder.

“I desire to get this over with already; we all know why we’re here and what we’re up against,” Crossfire said, turning the red winter coat and jeans he was wearing into his flare plate with a thought.

“I know that was a bad joke, but she probably sensed that,” Sorvel said, rolling her neck as she looked beyond the last streetlight, to the shallow valley and their target.

“If she’s still there,” Helaya said, hopping down from Lucien’s armored shoulder as they neared the group. “Intel was she’s not.”

“We can’t be sure either way.” Crossfire led the group down the slight grassy decline. “I left a few fires behind during my escape in places people wouldn’t think to look, if they’d think to look at all. Over the course of my time there, they were slowly transporting out all of the prisoners. By the time I left, I could only feel myself and her servants. A few days after my escape, all her living servants left, though there were still some undead moving around. When there was more thermal activity, I could sense undead moving in and out, but now - nothing.”

“Get in, use blood magic to spy on everything they did, get out,” Helaya grinned as she danced a small red light between her fingers, “and be the heroes who stopped the Great Corruptors.”

Shelle rolled her eyes, though a spark of amusement shone through the annoyance at the name for the necromantic group that had disappeared much of mundane and Abyssal Springfield’s outcasts over the past few months. “Not going to catch on.”

“Or Shelle, Sorville, and I act as a first strike team to eradicate this menace once and for all while you and Crossfire retreat for reinforcements and population control respectively, worst comes to worst,” Lucien added, taking the back of the group as they entered the reinforced reality of the lair’s barrier, the rock face beyond turned to a cliff. Lucien’s shield manifested into his left hand as he leapt up, surveying first the top of the barrier’s mountain followed by the whole space of it, eyes flitting between bare, thin trees sickly in the moonlight. His free hand tightened and the air beneath him compressed into a flat cushion that silenced his fall. “No living, dead, or undead detected, aside from us.”

I’ve activated the suite of stealth enchantments I prepared on us. We're totally masked from the physical world, but please don’t touch anyone this time, Helaya. A clever enough opponent will be alerted by it regardless, Shelle relayed into the telepathic network she had willed into existence in a thought, still able to see her teammates as they steadily walked along the rough rocky wall and further into the lair, quickly transitioning into smoothly hewn stone.

One time! And I saved Boathaen from getting werewolfed while still avoiding detection, so I think you mean thank you, Helaya thought back, melting into Lucien’s shadow as an extra layer of security.

So, what exactly were they doing here, Crossfire? Sorvel asked, resisting the urge to blow a spout of fire to break up the argument instead.

Far as I saw, they had a few things going on. I felt the heat of a ton of other prisoners when I was there, and even Nairis’ servants were alive, for the most part. Tons of ‘em sat around researching heinous shit on the Abyssal and regular net, searching social media for **** targets to exploit, researching the contents of local cemeteries, and finding out all the info they could on anyone publicly in the Springfield branch, which was pretty much just Isabelle and me. Plus whatever info they could buy on the Auction. From where the servants would walk, I could tell it was a lot bigger than what I saw on my escape, though, Crossfire explained as they crossed into the smoldering ruins he had just finished describing. At one point it had looked like an office in a liminal space, endless, and devoid of any expression or humanity. Now, the quintet walked through, hair on end as their eyes roamed over scorched marked stone walls and drooping, melted machinery, silent in all but their thoughts.

John stepped away from Jenny’s parents' darkened instrument shop, Symphony of the Night deactivating as he finished checking over the displayed contents, finished going through the inside and the barrier. She’s got almost every bass she could want, and she only uses her mom’s anyway. If I can’t swing that Ven Helan signed bass, I should just get her something else. Having an obscene amount of money still doesn’t solve some mundane problems, I guess.

John? There’s a man following us. He waited outside, Cinder said, floating beside him in her incorporeal form. The street bustled around them in the shopping district, mundane people usually in groups of three or more talking amongst themselves, laughing, peeking in each others’ Christmas shopping bags as their feet crunched through the snow. The atmosphere put a smile on his face despite the tail, especially after he discreetly spied his less than stealthy opponent.

Error! Advanced Spy requires a target.

Oh right, you weren’t there last time. This guy has spied on me before, like six months ago, right when I got my powers. He works for the necromancer that corrupted a member of the Major Arcana, John replied, strolling on through the light dusting of snow on the ground and toward the nearest fast-travel barrier. His heart raced as he felt ready to finally pay off all the hard work he had done, but he calmed himself by preparing escape plans if Andros was more trouble than he seemed. I’m going to fight him. Advanced Spy may not work on him, but I bet my bullets will do fine.

Is that wise? What if he can do something to you through physical contact? Or if he can hurt your soul? Corruption is a seriously dangerous magic. Cinder’s featureless face couldn’t convey her panic, but her uncharacteristic emphatic gesturing got the point across.

Hey, c’mon, I’m the Champion of Gaia. Besides, was your former partner corruptible? John teased, recalling Cinder into himself. When they became one, her anxiety crashed into him, but it met his self-assuredness and lost. Together, their fears went away and Cinder readied herself for the coming battle.

Point taken.

I’ve been waiting for this. I figured if I did nothing, he’d get bolder, maybe really come for me. Didn’t think it’d take this long, John explained, trudging down the busy street steadily.

What’s the plan then? Are you going to kill him? Cinder asked, staring through the back of John’s head at the man following them. At this point Andros had given up all pretense, and stared straight at John, slowly gaining on him as they neared the natural barrier.

No. I mean, if I had to, maybe, but no. I’m gonna knock him out, bring him to the Rider-Waites. Bet they’re even more interested than I am in all the things he’s seen. John reached his hand into his winter jacket and manifested Ivory within, gripping it with four of his fingers. The Shard of Mercy materialized onto his free digit, and he placed it on his preferred pistol with a satisfying click. He turned right to the alley the barrier’s entrance sat in, and three steps in crossed over, switching to his battle equipment and Jumping forward to pivot on one foot back toward his pursuer.

After a moment, John wondered if his opponent was this far behind him. After another thirty seconds, John swore to himself at the mistake of letting Andros out of his sight and wondered if the man would show up at all. A full minute after John had entered the barrier, he began to periodically polish the barrel of his gun with his sleeve, staring intently at its shiny surface. Guess the bait was too obvious. What do you think, Cinder?

I thought this was a bad idea to begin with, she reminded him, the sour notes of Discordance mixed with the last of her words as three darts sailed at him from behind.

John surprised his fire elemental by leaning aside of the darts, and activating Auric Vision, his gaze swept over the battlefield but came up empty. He Jumped around, staying in the same spot only for a moment as he sank into the shadows thanks to his mask. After a few more quick Jumps to ensure he was far from where he had started, he activated Symphony of the Night again, this time losing all but his hearing as he stayed stock still in the dark shadow of the barrier’s alley.

He slipped into Meditate almost without thinking about it, his clearer head easily pushing away the sounds of his heart and breath as he strained his ears. Finally he heard the light scrape of a shoe hitting the pavement. Unused to such honed hearing, he waited for more, keeping track of Andros’ footsteps as the man paced down the alley toward John.

John summoned Ebony into his other hand, his other senses returning as he ended Symphony of the Night. Cinder, I’m going to reveal him and try to stay concealed myself.

I’ll dispel my fire trails until you reveal yourself, the fire elemental replied; her warmth left his guns but their weight still comforted him. With a deep breath, he Jumped behind his assailant. A channeled Disrupting Blast from Ebony revealed his assassin as bullets hailed on the now-robed man from Ivory.