Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Maybe we should start off with introductions? My name is Lynri. "

He thought for a moment but ended up telling her his real name.

"Seth."

He took into account that she might have some kind of curse magic working on a person's name. But... with the high magic protection he had, he decided to take the risk and be honest.

"Seth?... Alright then, Seth. How can I help you and what do you have to offer?"

"What can I offer you?"

"Well, of course. You must have a goal, right? What's in it for me if I help you?"

"What is it that you want?"

It felt like a back and forth and silence followed Seth's question. As if they were haggling neither wanted to spill their price limit first. It took a moment before Lynri finally broke out.

"I want to get out of here. I want to be free. And I mean free as in being able to walk around like a normal person and make my own decisions. I don't want to hide, and I definitely don't want to be anywhere near people with an agenda!"

Seth stared at her, surprised by the sudden outburst. This sounded like she had bottled up these emotions for quite some time.

"It seems like that was in there for a long time. Care to elaborate?"

"Can you offer me that, or not?"

"Theoretically, yeah. That is if we succeed"

It kept going back and forth like this until both finally had a picture of the other's motives and goals. Lynri was from a world dominated by the Theocracy of Chains. She was the child of normal citizens but her family had forced her to enter a monastery for fooling around with a slave.

She hadn't even gotten to do anything before her parents cut her off. The societal structure of the theocracy was extremely rigid and even a simple citizen's life could be ruined if rumors like this made the round.

As if it wasn't enough that she was kicked out by her own family, he had been forced to serve the god responsible for this. She had barely gotten any education as a priestess before she was added to this expedition. Her duty was to oversee the servants on their duties.

Her situation felt hopeless until she was approached by the resistance. A group of people with the goal to sabotage the expansion and the abolition of slaves. She had no other choices and ended up joining them.

But this wasn't it. Lynri was no idealist. She knew herself well enough. She didn't care about the slaves or what happened to the Theocracy. She wanted to get away and not be part of some stupid underground movement. It explained her outbreak earlier.

Listening to Seth talk about Delta, where different races mixed in a much more modern and free society gave her motivation. She was ready to work hard so she could do what she wanted. It was a much better perspective than becoming a terrorist and fighting a regime.

On the other hand, Seth could gain a covered collaborator. Information on the outlay and command structure was good. Most importantly, Lynri knew had access to the rebel information network. All at a price that Seth technically cost nothing.

And he could stay in her room and hide until the Helm of Hades came off its cooldown.

After they came to an agreement, Lynri was able to supply Seth with all the information about the stronghold's defense forces, the location of the suppressive field generator's nucleus, and even the space lock's setup. the places that could have taken the longest for Seth to find on his own.

She also knew the guard shifts, the activity of the angels, the people in charge of the wardens, and the location of the Rift. A permanent entrance to the pathworks is kept open by a magic formation.

All of these locations were the basic information the rebels had to know on cue for their plans to sabotage this operation.

As Lynri had completely joined Seth, she didn't hold back anything and also revealed the rebel's plan of action. Their plan was quite similar to what Seth had been thinking about but there were also point outside of Seth's consideration.

The rebels had a way to seal the Rift. And they planned to rely on the other races in the dungeon. It was their racial traits that made them able to resist the divine powers similar to champions of gods that could not be suppressed.

Seth had no idea that this was the reason why they were tortured down there. It was to break their will.

The rough outline of the rebel's plan was to cut off the connection to the pathworks when most of the angels and their leader left to report. At the same time, they closed the Rift, they would free the captives and kill the priests.

Without anyone to give orders, the slaves would not fight. With the rift sealed and the priests gone they would have the time to free the slaves.

What made Seth suspicious was that they didn't plan to get rid of the suppression field. Lynri was only a newly joined member, so she was not privy to the details of what came after the stage where she played a role.

Seth decided that he would have to meet these people and hijack their plan. The blacksmith and the nun talked about what to do.

Until the Helm of Hades came off cooldown he would stay in her room and hide. If Seth was not completely off, his disappearance would soon be noticed. This was their chance to start cooperating with the rebels.

-----------Evening----------

"Is what you say true?" the leader of the cell, Meno, asked Lynri insistently.

It was outside of his expectation that anyone really managed to flee with their own power.

Lynri had reported that she had found a runaway blacksmith from the prisoners was hiding in her chamber. She only repeated what Seth had told her to. He was a skilled blacksmith who managed to flee from his cell thanks to the effects of his items.

"And he thinks you are a simple priestess?"

"H-he forced his way into my room this morning. He seemed quite driven. For now, I pretended to let him stay out of kindness and consideration."

"I see, good work. I will have someone check the prison cells for anomalies. If what he says is true, he might be worth recruiting."

A little later all rebels were assembled in their headquarters, one of the many storage cellars that normally only servants would enter. Meno had an announcement to make.

"i will get straight to the point. We have to act faster than expected. A blacksmith managed to escape from the prison blocks. Thanks to Lynri we knew this before the theocracy found out. When they find out someone managed to flee all our work until now will be for naught.

We know that they will find out at the latest tomorrow morning when they come to get the blacksmith's products. I called you all to make a decision. We have two choices. The first is to sacrifice the blacksmith. We put him back in the cell and he will probably be punished for not having the items ready in time.

In exchange, we could wait to conduct our plan as intended. Otherwise, we have to do it tonight. It will be more dangerous but also not the worst moment. The worst of them, the Archangel is currently not on this world, while the angels have been spread to expedition forces.

If we manage to take control in a quick action, those Angels will only meet a huge enemy force when they return. What do you say?"

Murmuring filled the room as close to thirty people started talking. Some had enough of pretending and wanted to end it tonight. Others were more careful, not ready to sacrifice someone but concerned about the return of the angels.

Seth stood behind Lynri, completely invisible, and whispered her in the ears.

"We should do it tonight! Don't worry about the returning angels. Don't forget the blacksmith. He told me he was making adamantium swords. If we arm our forces with weapons of that level, we won't need to fear something like the Angels."

She kept speaking up in favor of doing it tonight and soon most agreed with her, except for the hardcore critics.

"I heard your opinion. Then we will hurry our plans and strike tonight. Now get going before anyone becomes suspicious. I will send the signal when everything is ready." Meno finally dismissed the meeting and the rebels left to their duties or rooms.

Everyone left except for some invisible blacksmith. He stood in a corner and kept observing Meno. Everyone except four shadow figures who stepped into the light behind the rebel leader.

"Tsk, those hot-headed idiots." he cursed.

"But isn't this why you recruited them?" one of the figures asked.

"Idealists are quite gullible. " another mentioned.

"Easy to manipulate as long as you feed them what they want to hear." a third confirmed nodding.

"What do you think? Can you manage to finish rebinding the creatures until morning?"

"No problem, we were almost done anyways. But what about the slaves?" a fourth confirmed.

"We will have to do that afterward. It's not like those puppets will have a choice."

"And that blacksmith?"

"What about him? It's just a blacksmith. Even if his skills were unsealed, I wouldn't be afraid of a bunch of trifle and trinkets."

Seth listened in on their little scheme and left when he was sure of how to hijack their plans.