"Sire, the targets have entered the Grand Tholos."
Listening to an underling's report from atop his comfortable yet gorgeously decorated chair that bore an eerie resemblance to a throne, Nye felt the corners of his lips rise a little. So far, ever since that Winter fellow had both given him a new chance at life and got the upper hand, the pressure upon his shoulders had almost made him unable to breathe.
"Good. Looks like he's not opposed to the 'offering'."
Feeling as if the worst case scenario had been averted, and as if everything was slowly starting to come together, the suppressed greed within his heart erupted to the forefront once more.
'I may be able to butter up to that brat and save my neck in that way–but it's not guaranteed. The others might not want to admit it, but I know that he can't possibly be foolish enough to let the powers that be continue to exist once the immediate threat is dealt with. Therefore, I have to eradicate both him and his entourage somehow.'
Growing a bit more solemn, he weighed his options. Yet irrespective of what theoretical approach to this matter that he thought of, they all fell short by a lot. The power that Theodore Winter had at his disposal was beyond what he could deal with.
'... which means that I'll need outside help.'
But inviting a wolf into his home would come with its own set of issues. He wasn't willing to give up anything at all–whether that be his life, or his position at the top. Certain concessions could definitely be made, however ideally, he wouldn't have to pay any price at all!
'I'll somehow have to craft a scenario in which an invading force appears–one that will primarily focus on the newcomers. It'll also have to be approximately of the same level of strength and entirely uninterested in this place. Additionally, they can't come too early, as the grey light has to be dealt with first. And worst of all, that Oracle can't be allowed to detect anything at all...'
All of these constraints were really starting to give him a headache, causing his brows to furrow and his expression to grow darker with each passing minute. It wasn't that there were no forces that fit any of these requirements, but he couldn't for the life of him recall any one of them that ticked every single box.
'... I won't give up that easily! It's time to pay the Archives a visit.'
Rising from his totally-not-a-throne, he followed a secret staircase down into the deepest depths, then accessed a personal, secure tunnel leading towards the government's biggest storage of both physical and digital tomes.
Of course, there were a number of official ways to enter this location, but as the Prime Magistrate, he had his own backdoor entrance. Not only were there many methods in play that would hide his coming and going from everyone else, but even the sections of the Archives to which access was normally restricted were always open for his perusal.
With every work in here having been indexed ages ago, making use of the search algorithms to comb through all of the Sybillan Republic's accumulated knowledge didn't take all too long. He had to adjust the exact terms which he attempted to look for a couple of times, but eventually, the intel that he needed fell into his hands.
'The Naxsir, a nomadic civilization with unknown origins. They hunt outstanding geniuses for an indeterminable reason, yet ignore practically everyone else. Almost an eon ago, the most extraordinarily gifted figure of our history fell into their hands–but ever since then, they have never bothered us again. ... heh, they sound perfect!'
With a malicious grin, he made a copy of all data related to the Naxsir, then erased all 'fingerprints' that he had left in the system. It would be impossible to fully avoid Cristyn noticing such a major threat being on the way, but as long as he could conceal his own involvement in the matter, all would be perfect.
'I better act fast. Although nothing will happen until that ray of destruction is gone, I'll need to be ready.'
-----
The Grand Tholos truly lived up to its name, consisting of not only the central temple structure which was bigger than a mountain, but also many adjacent smaller buildings in the same style. It all covered an area larger than entire metropolises, with millions of employees and prospective Oracles residing there. Of course, the latter group was quite small, and the majority of them would never actually achieve their dreams.
Where Cristyn brought Theodore and his Subordinates was the very core of the breathtaking complex, which had usually been inhabited by her fellow Oracles and their assistants. They had been hundreds in total, therefore now that she was the sole one left in charge–and those who had lost their jobs had to vacate their positions here–there truly were a lot of unoccupied residences.
As soon as they arrived, Theodore spared no moment and directly and openly requested for some of the most advanced Array and Array Disk materials that this world should hold to be brought his way. Shortly after, the entire area that his people occupied completely disappeared from every sort of surveillance equipment, as well as all Sybillan experts' perception.
"Don't panic, I just want a bit of privacy. I won't interfere with your matters. Carry on as you always have, I won't bother you."
Theodore's official explanation didn't serve to put those tracking his every move and breath at ease. Rather, they became restless and paranoid. They couldn't possibly trust his words, especially when he represented a powerful group that was entirely beyond their control! Still, on the surface, they at least didn't complain about it.
"There's no need to put on an act any longer. Make yourselves at home, kick back, and relax!"
Addressing both Cristyn and his people with a nonchalant grin, he watched the majority of them spread out. The guards were taking position at all potential entry points and the maids were leaving to clean and prepare the rooms that they would be staying in. Only the 'higher-ups' amongst his Subordinates remained at his side.
"Ugh, finally! Constantly getting ogled by all of those creeps felt disgusting."
Revulsion written all over her face, Xie Mei took out a comfortable sofa and plopped herself down on it, dragging her dragon-horned sister along with her as a sort of hugging pillow.
"Same here. They really got on my nerves... Vigi, how long do you think it will take for us to investigate the surroundings?"
Although she had a somewhat helpless expression on her face, Han Junqiao still indulged Xie Mei, going along with her clingy antics. At the same time, she turned to face the one who had been tasked with leading the imminent efforts.
"That's hard to say. If we're unlucky and will need to tread extremely carefully, then it could take weeks–but if there are no significant risk factors close by, then three to five days should suffice."
Already drawing up the plans for the scouting operation in Kiran's network, the trusty red-head gave her best estimate. Although this wasn't the first round's event venue anymore, they had accumulated plenty of experience when it came to matters such as this one over the course of their various world conquests.
Maybe in an effort to settle into the role that she had slowly grown into more and more, Vigdis had adjusted her regular day-to-day outfit to one that strongly resembled a capable office lady. Her entire being exuded a professional demeanour, with her runic tattoos serving as an interesting contrast to her overall secretary-like looks.
"You heard her, Lady Reese. It would be best if you could finish your part of the deal by that time. Unless we find out that lying low is a necessity, as soon as Vigi here gives the green light, the cleansing shall commence."
Theodore's words caused Cristyn, who had silently been observing all of these unfamiliar people, to snap out of it and rapidly make some mental calculations.
"... I should be done the day after tomorrow. But... I do have one worry."
'Staring' directly at him through her blindfold, her expression hardened. The following wasn't exactly a dealbreaker–she simply wanted to prepare herself for the worst in advance.
"Will there be a lot of collateral damage during this... 'cleansing', as you called it?"
Instead of the man that she had addressed this question to, the one who answered her was the previously quiet saintess-looking beauty that had been at his side ever since he had returned to his Subordinates.
"There won't be any. My Theo's Array Formation expertise is great enough to ensure this. Every single individual lost would result in less of a point gain for him, therefore you can trust that we all will do our best to protect the populace. That aside, we've got plenty of experience–this is routine for us."
Sensing a compassion and warmth from this woman, not unlike that of the Lead Oracle who she had been following faithfully until her heroic sacrifice, Cristyn felt quite conflicted, but more so relieved. Maybe because of the strong resemblance to her mentor or the kind aura that this person exuded, she wanted to trust her.
"... good, then I'll get started now. If you need me for anything, you can find me in the main hall."
Hoping for the best, she bade her farewell, then left the range that Theodore's latest Compound Array Disk covered. With the authority which was previously the Lead Oracle's, she began to secretly snoop around all available intel, and even accessed the databases left behind by her faction's predecessors.
Just like the government, the Oracles also had their ways of avoiding prying eyes, and considering her precarious position, it wasn't odd for Cristyn to make use of these. Rather, if she had not even tried to hide her tracks, then that would have led her foes to find her to be far more suspicious.
Contrary to the normal people who had frequently lost themselves in their most depraved fantasies during the time preceding doomsday, those at the very top had generally not acted out of line. This was chiefly because they didn't have as many repressed urges as they could already satisfy all of them on the regular. If they were even the slightest bit careful, or had the correct connections, then no matter what they craved, they would get it without suffering any consequences.
Extremely rarely would there be any of them who actually got caught by the civilians, as their methods of exploiting their 'lessers' whilst keeping them happy had become quite advanced over the ages. Some spoiled descendants occasionally screwed up, not even bothering to hide their tracks, but the people at large were easy to distract–and ultimately mostly powerless.
The Oracles had always been aware of these actions, yet due to the significant power that the government held, they had been mostly unable to prevent these tragedies. Rarely did they ever manage to punish any of those vile beings–and worst of all, some within their ranks had also not kept their hands clean.
Although the position of the Lead Oracle might sound impressive, Cristyn's mentor had inherited a system that was rotten to the core, barely managing to keep her own followers out of trouble. If it wasn't for the fact that the civilians still held voting rights over some vital matters and not everyone of important status was a part of the filth, then all hell would have broken loose forever ago.
As she came across evidence of the most heinous crimes imaginable wherever she looked, Cristyn felt her heart grow colder and colder. Even if her choice were to ultimately end up dooming her people... she likely wouldn't regret it.
A fragile balance maintained by a facade of virtue had kept the Sybillan Republic going until now. For the ignorant ones who could live their lives in bliss, flipping the table completely would be a terrifying experience–but that didn't mean that abject 'evil' should be accepted merely to coddle this part of the population!
'Those who are still alive have already endured doomsday–an overhaul of the political structure and the disappearance of criminals shouldn't give them much of a shock.'
Noting down the personal details of the ones who would become Theodore's prey one after the other, Cristyn became increasingly emotionally detached from those 'creatures'. She had always known a lot about what they had done, but with all of the details right in front of her face... it was hard for her to still see them as her fellow Sybillans, or even as people.