Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

----Subcontinent Theta----

"I don't want this anymore..." and exasperated merman was slouching over his throne.

"My prince?" the messenger asked worriedly.

He had just gotten news of their advances in Beta. As if it was not bad enough that the ori humas grew with incredible speed, this was even one of those "advanced" worlds. The natives came up with all kinds of weird technology.

This would not even be that much of a problem, but what was up with all these reports? Living dungeons, irregular monster hybrids, mysterious illnesses and to make it all worse there was even a rebellion?

"Just what is wrong with this world?" he complained looking at the map they had recorded so far.

They had so many problems even with the ori humas running away, which was a problem since this meant they were unable to acquire vassals. Was this still worth all their trouble?

Those old coots were right, this world had a great expanse of ocean, surrounding one great continent and there was no other maritime power in the patchworks competing with them, but that was because the oceans were way too dangerous!

If it wasn't for his target being almost completely depopulated, by storms and floods, before they arrived, he would have ended like his brothers. This prince was lucky to secure a bridgehead on land when the pathways had just opened.

His brothers were supposed to grow their strengths in the oceans bordering Beta and Ypsilon but had been chased to the shores the moment they arrived. In the end, they were ground up between the land dwellers and the alien ocean monsters.

Only he was left and the bridgehead he secured was the only safe entry point for their empire. It had taken roughly a year to prepare a safe route to Beta in the east, along the subcontinent's shoreline.

And now that they were finally able to send their troops to Beta, he found that their land was even more chaotic than the sea!

The pitiful resistance the natives and their reinforcements put up was his smallest headache.

He thought it was a very intelligent strategy to use the lunatics' own experiments against them and ambush them, using the captured foot soldiers they had kindly distributed across all of Beta.

Who would have expected this to come back to bite them? The people of this world were even crazier than the mermen could have ever expected. Who in their right mind would try to splice different species and magic diseases?!

Half their army was plagued by contagious diseases their priests could hardly keep at bay, while a sizeable number of former infantry units and weird hybrids were following a rebel with the power to overcome a noble's influence. Even worse, they themselves were completely immune to these plagues.

"My prince?" a servant asked

The merman prince sighed.

"What else?"

"It's the elders. They are asking for a report." the servant raised a crystal ball on a pillow. This was a special one, meant for interdimensional communication.

As if he had not enough problem, the old coots also kept breathing down his neck because his advance was too slow for their taste.

"Elders, what can I do for you?" he asked after activating the orb and answering the call.

"Greetings Prince Mur, we called to inquire about progress concerning Pataloosia Magna." the first Elder spoke

"You mean Beta?"

"Don't call it by its ugly native name! Call it Pataloosia Magna, as we- I mean the emperor named it." the third elder complained peeved.

"Fine, fine. I will be honest. It's not very good. A lot of problems kept cropping up. The rebel army has grown again, as that revolutionary's powers grow."

"This, this, what was he called again?" the second elder tried to remember, scratching his wrinkly forehead with his bony fingers.

"He calls himself Adam. Though appraisal shows that his name is #967 in his status."

"I am sure you will be glad to hear, that you soon won't have to worry about those problems."

"What do you mean?"

"We will send the Crown prince to take over the pacification of Pataloosia Magna."

"But-!"

"Do not worry about that place. It is not of your concern anymore. Do not worry, your contribution will not be ignored."

Who would believe that? First, they annoyed the hell out of him and now that the worst part was over, they send the crown prince to reap some easy contributions. Mur was not an idiot. His father, the emperor was on the death bed and the succession was not as clear as one would think, despite an appointed Crown Prince.

On the outside, he looked indignant, but inside the merman prince could only sneer at their simplemindedness. The Crown prince was a bloke who could only solve problems by throwing raw power at them.

A perfect puppet for the council of elders, but a terrible leader. Especially when facing a chaotic situation with quick changes. The Crown Prince will have a tough time in this world. Who knew? He might even lose his life. And maybe Mur would help him with that.

Or maybe he would just watch the tragedy unfold and watch from the sideline. Either way, he was glad not to be concerned with Beta anymore.

----Chrona----

"Hey Herbert, you should start getting used to the idea of saying farewell to that sword soon."

"What? What do you mean?"

"The owner of the sword is going to come to Chrona for the evaluation."

"The ...owner?"

"He's also the guy who made the sword."

"What? The person who made this is coming here to fetch it? But...but? How could we give this back again!? I'm not even half done with all the tests I want to do."

"Stop being so shameless. He already lent it to the empire for free. Now you want to just keep it? If you act like this, he might not give us any of the other artefacts to research."

"... other artefacts?"

"Albert. You are a good researcher, but you should read the reports once in a while instead of just doing practical tests all the time. This man turned a whole Archangel into items. If you make a good impression, he might leave another one here."

Albert, the researcher, looked at the macabre sword on the table. He had spent the past months researching this relic. It had many properties that aligned with the Theocracy of Chains, which was an incredibly interesting topic to research.

The sword for example. There were several powers they had currently researched. In a fight, the sword could cause silence or stun on hit with an about 50% chance of triggering. It also had a low chance to trigger an enslavement curse on an opponent who lost the will to fight.

The by far most interesting power of the sword had little to do with fighting. If the sword was pressed at the throat of an opponent, it could compel them to speak the truth.

They had thoroughly tested this power and found that it could be used against anyone with a lower willpower than the user's. It was completely independent of levels or other attributes.

If he could have other artefacts like this, from the same source, what more could they learn about the Theocracy?

"Do you think you can let go?"

"...Okay. I will get it ready," he said with a sigh. He was really unwilling to let go of the sword.

--------

"Are you sure this is correct?" a man with a majestic blonde beard asked his advisor.

He placed the thick stack of papers back on his desk but kept staring at the words.

"It's a forecast from our best clairvoyant"

"Hmmm. Is this all we know about that world?"

"Yes, your Majesty. The prophecies concerning this world were sparse. It doesn't seem like there are many extreme dangers to look out for, but the overall difficulty seems to be rather high."

"We didn't announce the goal for the valuation expedition yet, right?"

"Your M-majesty! Do you really consider sending a bunch of adventurers there to retrieve the -" he stopped himself from speaking it out.

There were all kinds of spells and magics that could even retrace a sentence someone spoke in the past.

"Aren't they all promising and powerful youths? They can also grow a lot on such a journey. There is much to gain in a fresh world, too."

"The Princes and Princesses might disagree."

"They are my children. What right do they have to go against my word?"

"As you wish, your Majesty. I will take care of the preparations."