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Things had been going so well. Too well. The ones suggesting she was behind the Growth were right about one thing. The whole debacle had been a boon for her personally. She had saved countless lives, and the fact that she had saved those lives had allowed her to form connections and debts of gratitude. Politically, her actions had resulted in her being hailed as a hero and the savior of the Divine Planes. The rumors about her connection to the Growth sounded like sour grapes when compared to her actions. So, when things finally did take a worse turn, it didn’t come as a surprise.

Pride had played his cards close to chest, and had finally chosen to use one, and she had to grudgingly admit that it had been a good one. “What happened here?” One member of the investigation team asked with a shocked voice.

They were all aboard a ship used to travel between worlds quickly, and in front of them was a devastated world. The entire planet was broken in a way similar to the one Karna had consumed during her recent Awakening. The molten insides spilling out and spinning around the husk of the world before cooling down and solidifying. Very little remained of the surface or any of the life on in. And the world had been relatively populated. Not one of the more populated worlds, but still enough to have been home to millions of living beings. Only a small portion of those people had managed to evacuate before being consumed by the devastation. Though how many of them had died at the hands of the Growth before the planet broke was another question.

"You're looking at the end result of what happens when two rank 14 beings fight even remotely seriously," Envy replied simply. She had come along with Karna as part of the investigative team. The team was balanced to eliminate bias, consisting of members of the major factions and houses as well as parties that could be considered neutral.

“Such devastation.” The head of House Draconis stated. He too was powerful enough to cause such damage, but it was still extremely rare to see that kind of power exercised against a populated world, even in the Divine Planes where people with such power were more common.

"The world can be fixed, but the lives that have been lost can't be brought back," Karna stated calmly

"Fixed, how?" A member of the Golden Order asked. The man was dressed in the simple robes of a monk, and his group was considered one of the major upholders of justice in the universe. "Even high-level geomancy would have trouble fixing this.”

“What is the greatest magic of all?” She asked simply.

“Love?” Gaia suggested a bit confused by the sudden shift in topics.

Karna turned to look at her like the goddess had lost her mind and grown an extra head. “What the fuck is wrong with you? No, no! Love?! Why not suggest friendship while you’re at it?! Friends and loved ones die all the time! What an insane…love is not magic! Magic is magic, love is love! Chronomancy! The greatest magic of all is chronomancy! There’s a reason why every universe requires a being watching over time.”

Gaia at least had the good sense to look chastised. “So, are you saying you could roll back time for the world?”

"With how recent this is and with a little bit of help. As I said, that won't bring back the dead though." Karna finished her little tirade.

“Which brings us back to: what happened here?” The Grand Marshall asked as the representative of the Host. No one missed the fact that House Titannica had a larger representation in this investigation than others, though their recent actions had earned them some leeway in that sense. The investigation wasn’t a democracy after all.

"I got Selendil's side of the story," Envy stated. "According to her, the imperial guards came to liberate the world. As we've already noticed though, they haven't been too careful when it comes to avoiding collateral damage. They either didn’t notice that the situation was already under control before they started blasting or didn’t care, killing one of the Shinzen Queens that were pacifying the Growth on this world. The Queen was one of the original ones that Selendil had brought here from her home universe. A Queen under her protection. She was present here when it happened, though couldn’t stop it in time as she had not expected it, and it happened almost as soon as the Guard arrived. She retaliated by killing the Guard responsible. Next thing she knows, she is being attacked by a rank 14 member of the Guard, and the result you can all see, as the fight took place on the surface of the world.”

“Who won?” The Harpy asked, curiosity clear in his voice.

“According to Selendil, the fight was relatively even until her powers seemed to stop working against her enemy, at which point she retreated. The fight didn’t last long so neither could truly unleash their full powers. The damage was already done though.” Envy summarized.

"Pride." Lust, as the representative of Mount Celestis, muttered just loud enough to be heard by Karna.

She had to agree. The description sounded a lot like how Pride’s power worked. And much like her own, it was one of the powers that actually had some use against the Nakshatra, even if in diminished capacity, as it didn’t work directly on the person.

“I assume that’s not how the Guard would describe things?” The man from the Golden Order turned towards one of the officials the emperor had sent as a representative of the Guard. Envy acted as Selendil’s spokesperson.

“The Guard does not dispute the facts, just the manner in which they were presented.” The man spoke softly. “The Guard acted in protection of the world and struck at the enemy which has already killed many. It is nearly impossible to tell the difference between these…Shinzen Queens and the Growth, especially since they don't seem keen on communicating. We all know that swift action when entering a hostile world is the cornerstone of any strategy and striking at the enemy leaders is key. Afterwards, the Guard simply responded with equal force.”

“From that, you can fairly infer that it was the Guard’s decision to initiate a combat between two rank 14 beings on the planet’s surface.” Envy pointed out.

“And yet it was this Selendil that first used the power of that rank to attack the Guard.” The official countered calmly.

"In defense of her allies. You'll also note that she used proportional force. She didn't kill all the Guard present, only the ones that were attacking her allies. Surely you aren't arguing that rank 14 beings should never use any of their powers? It was the Guard's counter that escalated the situation to planet-destroying levels." Envy argued.

“The Guard would argue that they had no way of knowing whether she was going to kill all the Guard present. Should they have waited to see how many more she killed before defending themselves? Just like you’re going to argue that she has the right to defend her allies, the Guard also defends their own. She is the one who overreacted in the first place. Yes, the loss of these Shinzen was unfortunate, but collateral damage in war is a reality. She could’ve de-escalated. By your own information, these Shinzen can produce more of these Queens. Why should we go out of our way and risk our core strategies to not kill them?” The official was clearly only repeating what he’d been told, and not making the arguments himself. His tone was flat, and it was as if he was reciting from memory, instead of making an impassioned argument.

“By your own information, the Guard can train new members, why should we not kill them?” Envy threw the argument back in his face. “In the end, it was the Guard who escalated things to planet-destroying levels.” She repeated.

Karna tuned the rest of the discussion out, as it only devolved further. The arguments didn’t really matter in the end. Selendil’s reaction had been understandable, even if a little overblown, but she knew the nature of the race known as Dhar. They were warriors convinced of their own superiority, and while Selendil was more mellow than some Dhar, she still retained the traits. If those under her protection were attacked, of course she would respond violently. It was quite predictable even for someone that had not lived as a Dhar before, which meant that Pride could’ve very well orchestrated the whole thing. And likely had. Pride was many things, but stupid was not one of them.

The real issue wasn’t about right or wrong. It didn’t matter who was responsible, or who would be blamed. What mattered was that people were dead. Dead people, especially at this scale, required a response. And the trap lay in that response. Everyone at the Divine Planes would be looking towards her when it came to that response. Selendil had been recognized as her ally and using the Shinzen was attributed to another one of her allies and her. That meant that the lives saved were attributed to her, but so would the lives lost as a result. If she blamed just the Guard and protected Selendil and the Shinzen, that would have consequences. On the other hand, if she did throw Selendil to the wolves, then she’d lose a powerful and important ally.

There was also an additional dimension. The Guard protected the heavenly Emperor and ultimately answered only to him. She was in a competition to become the next emperor, or in her case, empress, and the Guard would then answer to her. It would not be a good start to the relationship if she antagonized the Guard before she even got the throne. Even if a palace coup was not a possibility in this universe, the Guard could make things more difficult. And that might have been Pride’s goal in the first place. They had learned that Pride might have been attempting to usurp control of the Guard, and if she alienated them, that might help him in his efforts.

It was a delicate situation, although she obviously wasn’t going to turn on Selendil. Luckily for her, this wasn’t her first time navigating such delicate situations. She preferred to bludgeon her way through politics, but that didn’t mean she was unskilled. “I believe this argument about who’s at fault is ultimately futile. Both parties have made great efforts when it comes to saving lives, and have indeed directly saved much, much more lives from the Growth than has been lost today. As the esteemed official said, there will always be collateral in a war, especially in a war like this. Instead of weakening our protectors, let’s instead make sure to focus on not allowing this to happen again. Both parties will keep their rank 14 members away from the frontline, while they will also focus on different areas of the Divine Planes to protect, to avoid having this happen again.”

She had still been looking outside while speaking, but now turned towards those gathered. “This will need to be ratified by the Assembly of course, but I will take responsibility for recovering the planet itself. Who had control of this world before the Growth attacked?”

"The world wasn't controlled by a house, but the Jeweler's Union as a major production world. The world was a source of many priceless magical gems, and thus many craftsmen came here to practice their craft before moving on to their eventual homes. Mining and processing also employed a lot of people. As a natural byproduct, the smiths also gained a lot of precious magical metals from this world." The leader of House Draconis replied, smiling a bit as he was sensing where this was going.

"In that case, one of the worlds we recovered from the Netherworld should go to them as compensation. It can't replace the lives lost, but I seem to remember a couple that could fulfill a purpose similar to this world among those we recovered. House Titannica will provide the necessary protection for the next five hundred years to help with the shortage of people." The worlds that had been recovered from the Netherworld had not yet been distributed, and the Assembly was likely not going to quibble over this decision. The offer of protection would also help the titans forge closer ties with the artisans, and the world was a princely compensation that would indeed soothe the loss of lives to an extent.

“Neither side punished?” The Grand Marshal asked in confirmation.

“I think that would be counterproductive. Both sides have protected us in our time of need, as I already said. They will continue to do so. While an event like this would have many clamoring for blood, the fact is that if neither of the protective parties had arrived as they did, the lives here would’ve been lost anyway. Instead of punishing the two saviors, we should make sure that such accidents don’t repeat.” She knew this wouldn’t go over well with everyone, especially those that had lost family members, but those people would be in the minority.

This had been the first shot by Pride, but it wouldn’t be the last. The Sin would have many more arrows in his quiver, and not all of them would be so simple to deal with.

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“I won’t be able to keep him in check for too much longer.” The man clad from head-to-toe in white armor replied while kneeling in front of the emperor. “So far, I’ve managed mostly due to their loyalty to the Royal Family and the throne as institutions, but the dangerous one doesn’t have such quibbles. The only thing keeping him in check is the enforced loyalty to your position. And we both know such forceful methods don’t work permanently on rank 14 beings.”

“That is fine. How far does his reach go within the Guard?” The emperor inquired. Even as the emperor, he wasn’t privy to all the inner workings of the Guard.

"He has gathered a lot of support. He has excelled in all the fields of training, and his power is unquestionable. That goes a long way among the Guard. It is only his unusually active stance on the affairs of the Divine Planes that makes others hesitate. Without a direct command from you, he will be able to make more and more moves outside the standard remit of the Guard." The kneeling man admitted. "My influence is keeping things in check for now, but he is already stronger than I am. It is only a matter of time before he can openly challenge me for my position. And he will likely win."

The emperor nodded, having gotten his suspicions confirmed. No one outside the Guard and himself knew it, but it was only his command that had stopped the Guard from violently responding after some of their own were killed by the Outsider known as Selendil. The Guard was ready to lay down their lives to fulfill their duty, but that didn't mean they took the loss of those lives lightly. The Guard was a close-knit brotherhood, made only more so by shared history and adversity. The fact that Pride of all people had been reborn on one of the hidden worlds the Guard recruited from was a stroke of misfortune the emperor had not been prepared for. That simple event had both locked Pride's path in with the Guard, but it had also provided him with a way to the most concentrated power that the Divine Planes had.

“How long?” He asked, without the need to specify.

“Until he challenges, me? Two to three years at most. But his reach will grow longer with every week that passes. Hoeth’s death accelerated that schedule a bit, as did this recent event, but Princess Ynnead’s measured response slowed it down again a bit. Not as much as it would’ve if she had sided with the Guard fully, but then it would’ve also roused suspicions about her loyalty to her allies, so it’s hard to say what effect that would’ve had.”

“It seems her challenges are far from over.” The emperor nodded, though his next words surprised the kneeling man. “Good. I might not be the best person to speak, but she does tend to take things a bit slow at times if she isn’t pushed. Pride will be more than enough to push her. She’ll need all that she has to face Him.”