Power Overwhelming

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”AAAARGH!!” Kronus bellowed out in pain. The fact that he had been crucified to the stone floor with long dark metal spears that drained his powers might have had something to do with it. There was a formation drawn in blood under him, glowing with all the power being drained from him through those spears.

“Stop being such a baby. Shouting also won’t do you any good. No one is coming to help.” Envy said with a distracted voice while going through all the papers on his desk.

“What-GRAAAH-did you do with them?” A shock seemed to run through his body. He had tried to transform into a larger form to free himself, but the spears running through him were not there just to stop him from moving. They had been placed with perfect precision to disrupt any sort of power he tried to use, while he died a slow death.

“You should know better than to ask stupid questions. Those that are relatively innocent and potentially still useful are alive but unconscious, while the rest are dead. Wouldn’t want to kill any of the useful future pawns after all.” Envy replied freely, knowing that even if someone came to rescue him right at this moment, they wouldn’t be able to counter the corruption in his veins that had already reached his core. Now it was just a matter of time, and not a very long time either. Someone with knowledge equal to hers might be able to extend that time, but not for very long.

“You won’t get away with this!” He screamed when a convulsion ran through his body. He regretted not being in his Divine Realm, as there he would’ve had a shot at fighting this assassin. However, most gods maintained residences outside their realm because they were still part of various houses and because meeting outside the realm was considered more of a neutral ground. Despite their lofty positions, they still had a place in the society of the Divine Planes.

“We both know that’s not true. I was very careful not to leave behind anything incriminating, and once they find your little basement, anyone coming to investigate will be much less concerned about finding your killer. They’ll be more occupied with covering up your misdeeds.” She looked at his stunned face. “Oh yes, I found your basement of sin. You’re pretty good at hiding such things, but I have too much experience for someone like you to evade my eyes. You’ve been a very bad boy. And I’ll make sure the investigators from the House will also find the basement. In fact, I’ll make sure they find that place first. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I’ll just dump your body inside the basement. Either way works for me.”

Kronus desperately tried to have his realm come to him instead of entering it himself, failing miserably as another shock ran through him. “That wouldn’t help you anyway.” Envy commented.

“How?” He grunted.

“How, what?” She looked up from the papers. His questions didn’t quite follow what she’d said.

“How are you so strong?! You’re supposed to be rank 11!” He shouted. “All her close allies were supposed to be that or under, aside from that tramp Khaine!”

“You really have no idea what being Envy means, do you? I’ve been around so many rank 13 beings lately that it would be a wonder if I hadn’t become this strong. It’s just too bad I couldn’t steal the powers of the rank 14s. Would’ve made things so much easier.” She wasn’t even sure why she bothered to say that much. Perhaps she was just tired of being underestimated. “It was actually harder hiding my power from everyone. It took a while to find someone with the right concealment ability.”

Kronus laughed bitterly, though with his situation being what it was, there was little mirth in his voice. "So. You're hiding your powers from your owner. Does she know you're here? Or are you planning on stabbing her in the back as well?" He wasn't feeling pain anymore. That wasn't a very good sign. Neither was the fact that he could no longer move.

Now it was Envy’s turn to almost fall from the chair in laughter. “Oh dear, I really needed that. You really should not underestimate Wrath so much. Of course, she knows. She’s not an idiot like the rest of you. She just doesn’t ‘know’ so she has plausible deniability. As for betraying her, you couldn’t be more wrong.” She allowed her divinity to leak inside the room for just a fraction of a second. The palpable feeling of devotion and obsession was quite obvious. The two were the sides of the same coin. “Besides. Even if she wasn’t the target of my devotion, I’m not silly enough to think I could defeat her with this meager power I’ve managed to gather. You people really are blind. She has plans within plans, exit strategies within exit strategies, and contingencies inside hidden aces. I’ve spent so much time with her and fighting against her, and I’ve never, even for a moment, thought that I had seen everything she can do.”

Kronus's breathing was slowing as the corruption was eating away at his core. "Is she worth such obsession?"

“Well, that’s a matter of perspective I suppose. However, if not her, then who else?” She tossed away the papers that burst into flames and turned into ash before they could reach the floor. She’d gotten what she needed out of them. “Time’s up. This was fun, but I do have a scene to set, and I don’t need to be here when the investigators show up. Better luck in your next life.” She unceremoniously squeezed her hand into a fist, causing his core to shatter. She didn’t have quite the same power that Wrath had for dispersing souls, but even she had enough skill to make sure there would be no resurrection for him. Nor did she want any entrepreneuring necromancer talking to his soul.

Another wave of her hand extracted the dark spears and made them vanish, before a third gesture caused the corpse to float behind her as she headed towards the hidden basement, which was already decidedly less hidden. It was astonishing what you could find in even spatially enlarged areas when you knew to look for what wasn’t there, instead of trying to find some sign of what was hidden. A void of magic was almost a blatant alarm to her that something had been hidden, even if the void was also spatially hidden in a pocket dimension the size of a pin. Breaking the pocket dimension while remaining hidden had been the hardest part of this whole thing, as killing a True God wasn’t nearly as challenging when you had the element of surprise. And if you knew exactly how to kill immortals.

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The higher-ups of the House Titannica had gathered in what the newly elevated heir of the House called a 'situation room' within the Storm Peak. Unlike the rest of the place, this room was surrounded by walls and isolated. The titans were still at their full size in the surroundings fitted for them, as they sat around a round table. There were enough of them that it would’ve been impossible to fit them all if the room didn’t automatically magically adjust. As she stepped into the room, Karna very visibly cast a spell they were all familiar with, even if they couldn't necessarily cast it themselves. The spell was called Zone of Truth. While the immortals could often feel when someone was lying, especially when the person was lower ranked than them, the Zone of Truth made lies impossible.

“Just to clarify things, as I know the suspicion is there even if it wasn’t voiced during the ceremony, I have a few statements to make. I did not kill or attack Kronus. I did not order, ask, request, or even hint for him nor anyone serving him to be killed or attacked. I do not know who did it. I do not know what happened to him, aside from what the brief report our investigators sent contained. I have certain suspicions about what or who might have attacked him, but so do we all, as both he and us have many enemies. In many ways, him dying is inconvenient, as just defeating him in a challenge would’ve quelled any questions about my legitimacy. Any questions before I let the spell expire?” She was clear and concise in her words, not leaving too much wiggle room for any lies of omission. There would always be some, but she’d done a pretty thorough job.

The gathered Divines and important personages shared looks and nods before Indra spoke for all of them. “I believe that will suffice. It is certainly a more thorough refutation of your involvement than any of us are willing to make ourselves.” Many of them had plots and schemes surrounding Kronus.

With that out of the way, no one protested as she took the position at Shiva's side, usually reserved for the next leader of the House. The seat had remained empty until now, though they all knew Kronus had been eyeing the seat for a while now. As she sat down, the Grand Marshal was the one to take the lead with military precision and efficiency. "To get everyone up to speed, we all noticed Kronus and the core of his faction missing during the ceremony. After waiting for a polite amount of time to make sure he wasn't just running late, I dispatched a group of investigators to his realm and his dwelling within the House Titannica-controlled territory, while we went through with the rest of the ceremony. The investigators ran into some trouble as all the defenses around his dwelling were still active and running at full force, so it took them a while to gain entry. During that time, the team sent for his Divine Realm reported that the realm had started to behave erratically, consistent with the realms of gods that have died, and that they couldn’t gain entry despite repeated attempts.”

One of the less prominent gods present raised a finger as a signal that he had a question. The grand Marshall allowed it with a nod towards the male titan with silvery skin. “Who exactly is in these investigation groups? I don’t want to cast any aspersions, just to make sure that no one can raise any questions about bias later on.”

“Some of you might not be aware, but most Great Houses have an internal investigation force. Different houses do things differently, but ours is purposefully made with as many different factions in mind as we can manage, and any team sent on an investigation is selected to be as neutral as possible. We made sure to include someone that would’ve supported Kronus in the ceremony, as well as someone who would’ve opposed him.” The Grand Marshall assuaged any worries, and the minor god nodded in agreement.

"Now, we do not have a detailed report yet, we're expecting to have the first such report arrive at any moment, but once the team gained entry to his abode they reported the bodies of Kronus, his oldest son, as well as two of the gods that were his most fervent supporters. They also called for full information confinement and blackout." The Grand Marshall continued his report. At his last words, several questioning fingers shot up, including Karna's. The soldier nodded to her as she was the ranking person of those signaling.

"I have a decent idea of what that means, but just to make sure we're all on the same page, what does that mean in House Titannica?" She asked.

“It means that we’ll build a perimeter around the area, not allowing anyone in or out, and any information found at the site is to be designated a house secret. Anyone found spreading the information is to be executed immediately. The contents of the report will only be for my eyes as the leader of the investigation teams, as well as the leader of the house, who will then determine whether to share that information with anyone."

Indra leaned forward and spoke quietly. “It means the team found something sensitive. Something that would affect the house’s reputation if it got out. It means Kronus was involved in something he shouldn’t.”

That forced everyone quiet for a moment, and as if on cue the door opened to allow a messenger through. The messenger handed a scroll to the Grand Marshal, who quickly read it over. The contents caused him to frown, and he leaned in to hand the scroll to Shiva. Instead of taking it though, Shiva nodded towards Karna, clearly signaling that she should take it. He was going to test her and how she would handle a situation like this where her personal interests were heavily involved. How would she react, and would she protect the house’s interests? Did she know how to do something like that?

Karna obliged and took the scroll, giving it a quick read. She had to do a double take and read the last part again which described what the team had found in Kronus' secret basement. "You really do need to read this, even if you are going to have me handle it." She stated and handed the scroll over to Shiva, who now looked extremely curious, as he knew neither the Grand Marshal nor her was easily shocked.

"Motherfucker!" Shiva cursed loudly as he read the end of the scroll. "Oh, Kronus. I suspected you wouldn't mind getting your hands dirty, but this is…too much." He looked towards Karna. "How would you deal with this?" He was still going to go through with the test, though he’d intervene if necessary.

“I would personally go to the site and use my special flames to incinerate the entire area. Perhaps even dragon’s breath the place for good measure. We really don’t want anything in that basement getting out. Or anyone else getting wind of this. As for what happened to Kronus…he took his own life. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his entire future to a young girl like me. He knew his days were numbered anyway, so he decided to go out on his own terms in a blaze. Those who died decided to follow their master rather than die in a futile struggle. Spread rumors that I was going to clean house and snuff his faction out to remove any possibility of internal strife.”

Most of those gathered were savvy enough political operators to figure out the general outlines of what had been in that report, or at least the importance of it. "Sounds believable enough. It will paint our house in a less-than-flattering light, which will help sell it. The purge is also something many other houses would do in similar situations. The lighter factions will judge us for it, but the darker ones will approve." Indra nodded. He could guess that whatever was on the scroll was bad enough that taking a bit of a reputation hit was preferable to letting the truth get out. And Karna was allowing some of that dirt to splash on her, showing that she was willing to bear the blame.

“What of the servants that are still alive, and Kronus’ surviving family?” The Grand Marshal asked the question most here were dreading. As a military man, details like these were easy to notice as he was used to such operations.

“Question and investigate them heavily. Leave no stone unturned, and do not stop until you’re certain they knew nothing of what was on that scroll. If they did know, make sure they ‘perished’ in the same fire that is about to consume the place. If they didn’t know and still don’t…we'll make decisions on an individual basis at a later stage." Karna decided.

She tapped the table with a long fingernail for a moment. “The assailant is the real wild card in this situation. Judging by the report, it seems likely that they carried a personal grudge against Kronus, but not the House in general. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left the servants alive. Well, some of the servants that is. Aside from revenge, the main goal seems to have been to make that-“ She pointed at the scroll. “-stop. They made sure that we found the basement, hinting that they are not blaming us. Not yet at least. I do not think they will reveal what we’ve found, or they would’ve done so already.”

"A fair bit of assumptions, but they feel logical," Shiva said in agreement.

"While they have a basis in fact, I'm not fond of relying on such assumptions." The Grand Marshal frowned.

“Agreed, however, as long as we have nothing on the assailant, we can’t do much about it. I want full investigations on the grounds of every property and estate Kronus owned, now or in the past. Investigate his closest allies as well. The allies will protest, some are even in this room right now, but we will have to quell those protests. I do not want any more surprises like that basement found. Anyone found to be involved is to be put to the sword immediately. I believe strong action will also go a long way to pacifying this unknown assailant in case they are keeping an eye on our reaction.” And give her the chance to get dirt on her opponents. If her suspicions were correct, she’d need to have a word with Envy soon. But not too soon. She didn’t need anything confirmed just yet.

Some of the allies of Kronus currently present in the room were less than pleased, but they knew better than to object. They could sense the seriousness of the situation. "I also want three plans that we can enact based on the assailant's future actions, as I don't like to act based on assumptions either. First, we need to have a plan in place in case they do reveal what they found out. What will our reaction be? Full denial? What if they took evidence? What will we do if we can't just sweep it under the rug? Secondly, I want a plan for if they don't. Will we sit on this forever? Secrets have a way of getting out, and we might be able to mitigate any damage to the house if we release the information slowly in a way we plan out and prefer. Thirdly, and in the most likely scenario, what if this assailant chooses to extort us with this information? Do we negotiate? And what price are we willing to pay to keep it hidden?" Karna laid out the path they would need to take.

The three plans would take hours to hash out and would cause a lot of arguments and gnashing of teeth while having to remain fluid enough to react to changing situations. Luckily those involved were not handling a coverup for the first time.