Deus Necros

Reports lay scattered across his desk now. Rainfall records. Grain ledgers. Temple complaints. Provincial letters written in careful language by men trying very hard not to admit panic. The central region had not collapsed, not yet, but the signs were there. Lack of rain. Rotting grain. Famine pressure. Merchants requesting transport permissions with too much urgency and too little explanation. The sort of slow disaster that could be called manageable until the day it was no longer anything of the sort.

Ludwig stared at the reports, then looked toward the map spread across the Emperor’s desk.

The central region sat far from Solania.

Far from the north.

Far from the direction Sloth had withdrawn.

That made everything worse.

Gluttony was moving through hunger. Sloth waited behind an army. Clementine was missing. The Shrike had escaped. The Holy Order was broken enough to be dangerous and desperate enough to be unpredictable.

There were too many fires.

Ludwig could not stand in the middle of all of them and pretend arms grew from stubbornness.

"No," he said.

The Emperor looked up.

Van Dijk’s eyes shifted to him.

Kaiser, who had been turning the ugly quill between two fingers as if still trying to understand why imperial craftsmen had failed taste so thoroughly, paused.

Ludwig tapped the northern edge of the map. "We begin with division."

The Emperor’s brow lowered slightly. "Explain."

"Gluttony is moving," Ludwig said. "I feel that. I hate that I feel it, but I do. Something ugly is happening there, and if we ignore it, people will starve while something worse eats what comes after hunger."

"Then why say no?" the Emperor asked.

"Because I’m not the right answer for that problem right now."

That made the room quiet.

Van Dijk studied him with more interest now.

Ludwig continued, "Gluttony is subtle. Famine. Supply lines. Rot. Panic. Cults, probably. If I go there, what am I going to do? Punch hunger in the face?"

Kaiser lifted one finger. "In fairness, you would try."

"I would succeed emotionally and fail practically."

"That is growth," Van Dijk said.

"I hate that you sound proud."

"I am not proud. I am relieved you have developed the ability to notice when a problem requires more than violence."

"I’m a firm believer that violence can solve all and any problem. The only issue is, I don’t have enough of it right now to deal with Gluttony."

He then turned to the emperor "This is Master’s field. Investigation, and containment. If it becomes a full battle, the other Tower Masters are still here. All of them can help control the damage. That is the safest option."

The Emperor’s gaze drifted toward Van Dijk. "You agree with this?"

Van Dijk did not answer immediately.

His hand rested lightly on the back of Ludwig’s chair, his face unreadable beneath the usual severity. "Unfortunately, yes. If Gluttony is acting through famine, then the first battlefield is administrative. Food routes, warehouses, provincial governors, and so on. This is a battle of the pen, not the sword."

"Can the Tower Masters contain him if he appears personally?" the Emperor asked.

Van Dijk’s expression darkened.

"No," he said.

The Emperor did not like the answer.

Van Dijk continued before the silence sharpened. "Not if he comes in full. I said he is stronger than me with my limits removed. I meant it. But that does not mean we are helpless. With the other Tower Masters, Titania, imperial preparation, and proper terrain, we may delay, redirect, and prevent immediate collapse. Against monsters of that class, sometimes survival for one hour is victory enough to prepare for the second."

Ludwig nodded. "And if he moves personally, I’ll know. I think."

"You think," the Emperor said.

"Yes. Very comforting, I know."

Kaiser set the quill down. "Gluttony will not leave Tibari easily. Not while he is satisfied. He can stir hunger from afar, whisper through stomachs, spoil grain, turn need into prayer, but standing up is effort. Monsters that have grown fat on a throne do not abandon it without reason."

The Emperor looked at him. "And Sloth?"

Kaiser’s expression changed.

"Sloth already stood up," he said.

The room held that truth.

Ludwig placed one finger on the northern wilds beyond Solania. "That’s why I go north."

"No support?" Van Dijk said immediately.

Ludwig shook his head.

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed. "You are not taking imperial forces?"

"Armies were nearly useless when Sloth pressed his authority down," Ludwig said. "Sending thousands north is not an expedition. It is preparing bodies for burial."

The Emperor’s jaw tightened, but he did not deny it.

"I’m not going to kill Sloth today," Ludwig said.

Kaiser turned to him with exaggerated surprise. "A second mature thought in one meeting. Someone record this."

Ludwig pointed at him without looking. "You’re coming with me, by the way."

"Do I really have to..."

Ludwig ignored the snark and continued, "I’m going to learn. Where he withdrew. What protects him. What kind of army he has beyond the mountains. What the Dark Continent is actually like. If we keep waiting for him to choose the battlefield, we deserve whatever happens next."

Van Dijk’s gaze became sharper. "Reconnaissance and disruption."

"Yes."

"Not confrontation."

"If confrontation happens, I’ll improvise."

"That is exactly the part that worries me."

"Same here, but we don’t have a choice. We can’t be reactive."

The Emperor leaned over the map and studied the north. Beyond Solania, the ink grew less precise. Roads ended. Forts became sparse markings. Then came blankness, old borders, ancient warnings, names written in older script and crossed through by generations of failed attempts to map what lay beyond.

"The Dark Continent," the Emperor said quietly.

Ludwig looked at him. "You have information about it?"

"I know of it. Every Emperor does. It is not a continent in the scholarly sense, not to our maps at least. It is what soldiers call the lands past the northern ruin lines, past the regions where men can still pretend nations exist. Ancient migration paths. Dead kingdoms. Warped beasts. Fortresses we stopped maintaining because garrisons returned hollow-eyed or not at all."

"That sounds welcoming," Kaiser said.

The Emperor ignored him. "There are records of expeditions. Most are useless. Some contradict each other. The only consistency is that the farther one goes, the less the world behaves like ours."

"That tracks," Kaiser said.

Ludwig glanced at him. "You know the area?"

"I know enough to dislike it."

"That’s not helpful."

"It is very helpful. If I dislike a place, that means even the dead had standards."

Van Dijk looked toward the Emperor. "The expedition must remain small. No banners. No imperial insignia beyond what is necessary at Solania’s gates. No church involvement."

"Agreed," the Emperor said.

"I’ll take minimal force. Elites."

Van Dijk looked at him flatly. "Did you intend to leave Celine behind?"

Ludwig opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Kaiser smiled. "He did not."

"I might have considered it."

"No," Van Dijk said.

"That was fast."

"My sister would follow you anyway. Better to make it official and avoid her breaking a few innocent bones and calling it concern."

Ludwig sighed. "Fair."

"You’ll take Redd?" the Emperor asked.

"Tracking," Van Dijk said. "Beast senses. Survival instincts. He notices things civilized men walk past."

"Also," Ludwig added, "he complains in a way that keeps morale realistic."

"Important skill," Kaiser said.

"Take Tull with you, he’s strong enough to handle matters." the Emperor said.

"I can’t, someone needs to protect Alexander."

"Do I look useless to you?"

Ludwig closed his mouth, "Fine, Tull is powerful enough, I’ll take him. I’m also taking Thomas."

"Like you were ever leaving me." Thomas puffed his chest in pride."

Kaiser’s brows lifted. "You are bringing candlefly for tactical reasons?"

"Mostly. Scouting, he’s also good at watching my back."

The Emperor’s gaze returned to Ludwig. "And you’re taking the Dark mage because he refuses not to go."

Kaiser placed a hand against his chest. "I am wounded by that accuracy."

"He knows dark magic, curses, which are pretty good against Sloth’s kind." Ludwig said. "Also, if we leave him unsupervised in the capital, I give it six hours before something sacred disappears."

Kaiser looked offended. "Three."

"See?"

Van Dijk folded his arms. "I will convene with the Tower Masters. Gray will stabilize supply and transport routes where possible. White will prepare intelligence channels and suppress panic. Blue will study samples if we obtain any. Red will be kept away from grain silos unless things become desperate."

The Emperor nodded. "I will order provincial reports centralized. Grain inspectors, treasury stewards, local lords, temple stores, merchant houses. Quietly first. If Gluttony feeds on panic, I will not give him a banquet."

"Good," Kaiser said. "You are occasionally competent."

The Emperor looked at him.

Kaiser smiled politely.

Ludwig stepped in before another jade sword appeared. "The elves."

The Emperor’s attention shifted back.

"The Elven Queen said she wants to meet you," Ludwig said. "Not now. Soon. Their relationship with mankind is still hostile, but that needs to change before Sloth returns. Kaiser said their nature gives them resistance. We need them."

The Emperor’s face settled into calculation. "An envoy would be premature."

"A message then."

"That can be arranged."

"Also," Ludwig added, "maybe phrase it like diplomacy, not recruitment for suicide."

The Emperor rang a bell.

A servant entered.

"Summon the courier office," the Emperor said. "Prepare sealed notices for the Tower Masters, Titania, and the northern command at Solania. Ludwig’s party will depart as a sanctioned reconnaissance unit. Their authority is to cross beyond the ruin lines if needed."

The servant’s eyes widened despite his discipline. "Beyond, Your Majesty?"

"Yes."

The servant bowed. "At once."

When he left, the Emperor looked back at Ludwig. "You leave today."

Ludwig nodded. "The longer we wait, the more time Sloth has to become inconvenient."

"More inconvenient," Van Dijk corrected.

"Right. He already achieved inconvenient."

The Emperor’s expression did not change, but something behind his eyes hardened. "Do not die in the north."

Ludwig tilted his head. "Is that an order?"

"Yes."

"Those don’t work on me very well."

"It is also advice."

"That works slightly better."

Van Dijk’s hand settled briefly on his shoulder again. "You are not going to win alone."

"I know."

"Say it like you believe it."

Ludwig looked at him.

For once, no joke came immediately.

"I know," he repeated.

Van Dijk studied him a moment longer, then nodded.

The meeting ended after that, not because every matter had been solved, but because every matter had finally been given hands to carry it.

Gluttony would go to the Tower Masters.

Sloth would go to Ludwig.

And somewhere between hunger and stillness, the Empire would try not to break. This was the only way to stop the sins. A battle on multiple fronts if need be. The fate of the empire hangs on the results of this expedition.

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