Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave had learned throughout his life that words could be twisted in very exceptional ways to make the horrible seem almost noble. Robin Hood, for example—objectively, this supposedly skilled archer was a dirty criminal, likely guilty of enough theft to cost him his head. Yet he was the hero of the tale, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Stealing was wrong, yet people thought him good. It was all clever applications of words, and a creation of a narrative to steal the hearts and minds of the people.

Argrave had been thinking about how to make himself the hero of his own story for a long while.

Objectively, Argrave had strengthened Gerechtigkeit pursuing a way to end the cycle forever without consulting any of the members of the Blackgard Union. Now, he intended to do his best to exclude all the influences of divinity from what came next, because he didn’t trust them to hold mortal interests in heart. He’d also blatantly took advantage of Law’s inclination toward honor, too, to protect Sophia—who was ostensibly the cause of Gerechtigkeit’s enhanced power. Laid out like that, it sounded selfish, narcissistic, and controlling. That’s precisely why Argrave couldn’t lay it out like that.

In truth, Argrave was a bit offended. Gerechtigkeit was trying to manipulate people with lies, misdirection, and uncanny knowledge about events? That was Argrave’s bread and bloody butter. He felt it was long overdue to answer this offense with a decisive beatdown, putting his adoptive daughter’s brother in his place.

Law’s Justiciar led Argrave and his company into a grandiose room that might be called a concert hall, down to the large stage at the head of the room and long rows of chair throughout the rest. Gods had already been assembled since long ago—not just minor ones, either, but most of the big fish. There had been a lot more big fish that had come into being after the siege of Kirel Qircassia. Many gods came forth to give their greetings to Argrave like he was the don of the family. Royal dynasties were essentially mafia families with excessive pageantry and no secrecy.

It became evident that Argrave was among the last of the people to arrive, as one of Law’s Justiciar took to the head of the stage and announced the meeting with gusto—an ‘airing of grievances,’ it was called, where they would come together to discuss recent troubles. Argrave didn’t miss the countless glances sent their way. He could tell word had already spread about the third, unspoken subject of this meeting.

The assembly began recapping the things that Argrave was already intimately aware of. A malignant power battered against the White Planes, breaking it down. Attempts to reinforce it had all come to naught, and none of the original architects were still around to build it again. They did consult Argrave on the subject, but he could tell from their words that the assembled gods meant to test whether or not the rumors were true, and Argrave had inherited Erlebnis’ knowledge. Compelled by Law’s Court, he couldn’t lie—but then, he didn’t feel the need to conceal his inheritance. He did refrain from telling them how he had inherited it, though. Let them speculate. It raised their wariness of him.

Various people briefly raised ideas about how the White Planes might be reinforced, but they were quickly shut down in favor of moving on to a more pertinent issue. Gerechtigkeit was whispering sweet nothings in populations around the world, utterly destroying local governance. This had never before been seen in any cycle of judgment. The other gods did confirm, however, that Gerechtigkeit couldn’t touch the minds of the gods or their servants. That, or he was keeping that card in his sleeve.

Either way, things steered in the direction that Argrave suspected they would. Gods brought up the fact that Argrave had prepared for this mental control ahead of time by crafting rings—Argrave confirmed it. Other gods mentioned rumors that Argrave had known Gerechtigkeit would be more powerful during this cycle—Argrave confirmed it. Everyone’s attention gradually shifted away from wider issues, and toward this strange mortal king that seemed to know far more than he should.

Argrave stood boldly among these hundreds of gods. “Let’s cut past the insinuation and innuendo. I can tell that all of you here today want answers from me, in particular. For the sake of all our time, I’ll head to the stage and tell you all that you desire. Fair?”

A silence took hold of the concert hall as they pondered Argrave’s words. On the stage, the Justiciar initiated a vote. The whole room raised their hand (or closest appendage), nigh unanimous in their decision to give Argrave the floor.

“You may join the mediating Justiciar on the stage,” Law’s voice dictated to him.

Argrave gave a glance to his gathered companions, who’d been helping him prepare for this moment the entire time. Anneliese squeezed his hand in quiet reassurance, and then he broke away from them. He walked past countless gods, all of whom eyed him with a mixture of respect and wariness after what he’d done in the past and what he’d revealed today.

Argrave joined two of Law’s Justiciars, usurping the dais from one.

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The Justiciar to his right questioned, “Do you submit to the honest law of this court, and agree to utter no untruths?”

“I do,” Argrave confirmed.

“Then speak freely, Argrave of Vasquer.” The Justiciar stepped away.

Argrave looked upon the most formidable beings in the entire world, all hanging on his words. Strangely, he didn’t feel nervous at all. He felt nothing more than a righteous indignation after all Gerechtigkeit had pushed him to do, and a fierce desire to keep his grip over all that he’d built.

“Words can’t describe how glad I am to get this information to you all, even under these circumstances. To start out with, allow me to establish something.” Argrave looked between all of them. “I have fought and beaten Gerechtigkeit more than anyone in this entire world.”

Translation: I have played a single video game for thousands of hours, and beaten the final boss many times.

Looks of befuddlement passed between just about everyone. The words that Argrave was speaking were patently ridiculous… provided, of course, one was ignorant about Heroes of Berendar.

“Do you think it sounds absurd? Delusional? I assure you, I’m as clear-minded right now as I was every single time that I fought against the cycle of judgment. I’ll say again—I have fought, and destroyed, Gerechtigkeit tens of thousands of times.” He took a deep breath. “But… there’s been a recurring problem. Whenever I’ve beaten Gerechtigkeit, it was an end to things. The only way I could continue to exist in this world was by starting again, three years before his advent.” Argrave held his arms out. “I’ll repeat that. I would start the struggle again, from the beginning. Indeed, I spent much of life repeating the same conflict, again and again, each time with subtle differences due to my own actions.”

Translation: I got every single ending to Heroes of Berendar multiple times, choosing slight differences in each route because I wanted to see if the developers thought of everything.

People digested his words quietly, some enraptured in what he said, while others looking at Law’s Justiciars and questioning whether or not the restrictions of the court were truly working.

“When we clashed in earnest, I eventually beat Gerechtigkeit every time, without fail,” Argrave continued.

Translation: I loaded a save whenever I died until I beat him.

“Yet the only way I could exist in this world was enduring a never-ending struggle against him. If he ceased to be, so did I. I despaired. I struggled. I toiled. I recorded vast, esoteric stores of knowledges about the most minute details in this head of mine. I came to know thousands of people, and learned every intricacy of every enemy he threw at me. I came to know how Gerechtigkeit fought before he put a single troop on the field.” He tapped his finger against his temple as he looked at them all.

Translation: I had no life.

“And finally, we’ve come to today. We’ve come to what I may believe is my last victory. Gods and goddesses, I’ll admit it. I have kept a great deal from you.” Argrave nodded in confirmation. “In part, it was because I know how difficult to believe my words are. Let alone the fact that I’ve faced Gerechtigkeit so many times, but that I succeeded in every conflict? It’s only with Law’s assurances that I can reveal the truth to you now. Hopefully, my deeds have proven my prowess—defeating Erlebnis, Sataistador, and Kirel Qircassia in the span of a day.” He put his hand to his heart in earnest display. “In larger part, it was because I was uneased by the prospect of what each of you might do. Now, however, every variable I’ve learned in my tens of thousands of confrontations against Gerechtigkeit is at hand.

“I possess that which I’m certain can end the cycle—both mine, and the cycle of judgment.” Argrave clenched the dais firmly. “I absconded with one half of the whole; Gerechtigkeit’s blood-related sister. She possesses the power to break us all free of the fate cruel forces have saddled upon our world. And I intend to—gods willing…” he gestured to them. “I intend to free us from Gerechtigkeit’s yoke. To do so, your aid is needed.”

He looked between them all. “All of you have seen yourself what Gerechtigkeit is capable of. You’ve seen his ability to warp the mind. You’ve doubtlessly heard many of the rumors he’s spread about me. His focused efforts should tell you one thing; I am the single biggest threat to his victory. He will stop at nothing to undermine my prominence, because he knows what I’m capable of. In the days to come, countless lies about me will surface. But with the truth revealed, you will know they’re not to be trusted. With my experience, no one is better suited to lead all of us into victory.”

Translation: anybody that disagrees with me is Gerechtigkeit’s patsy.

“In the past, secrecy was necessary. Now, I will reveal all that is asked of me. In return, I would ask that all of you put aside the calculus of power I have seen play out in so many tired ways. There could be endless freedom at the end of this road we all walk. Legs walking different directions, however, stand still until they fall.”

Argrave took a deep breath, his practiced speech executed as flawlessly as he could’ve. He looked at his contingent of allies, seeing them all somewhat optimistic, and felt he’d done well. At the same time, he was very aware he had made an active choice; the choice, namely, was to be a bullshitter until the end. A great many people warned others away from lying—Argrave included. They claimed that, eventually, one would forget the stories they’d made up, and the castle would come crumbling down.

But then, lawyers had made a profession out of it… and where better to exercise that skill than in court?

All that remained was the cross-examination.

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