Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 221

Chapter 221: An Unexpected Reunion

Ari led Lysette into the office, where an immaculately-dressed, distinguished gentleman in full flag-officer regalia sat behind an ornate, polished desk in the back of the room.  The remainder of the large room was sparsely furnished, with only a pair of rickety-looking wooden chairs in front of the desk, a pair of lamps with harsh white lighting crystals, and a couple of file cabinets behind the general’s office.  And last, but not least, a flag emblazoned with Domaria’s royal crest was fastened to the entirety of the back wall save the far outer edges.

The man stood, flaring out his own strength as he too stared up and down Lysette just as his subordinate had done hours earlier.  Lysette couldn’t get an exact measurement on his Essence coefficient, but he was without question stronger than Lysette’s avatar and possibly stronger than even Mirae, though unlikely by much.  He walked around the desk, getting in Lysette’s face close enough that the two’s noses nearly touched.

After five uncomfortably long seconds, he stepped back and offered a salute, which Lysette Reciprocated.

“Recruit, be seated,” he said.  His words were soft in volume unlike those of the other soldiers outside, but the imposing presence of his strength permeated through the reverberations which persisted for several seconds.

Lysette did so.

“Allow me to introduce myself.  I am General Maximilian Bertrand, vice commandant of this garrison and deputy commander of the Elithrian theater of the war we find ourselves in.  I must commend you.  When I was informed that there was a Cultivator of some ability who had volunteered to enlist in the defense of our fine nation, I must admit that I was skeptical.  Even now, I am uncertain as to your true intentions, but I cannot deny that your strength is considerable.  Perhaps even greater than several of my junior officers.”

A few beads of sweat had appeared on Ari’s forehead, and she suppressed a slight shortness of breath, remaining motionless otherwise.

“So tell me, Mr. Tronete.  Why have you appeared here today?  What reason do you have for joining the service?”

“Sir, my younger sister, Cecila, was recently murdered by Elithrian soldiers.  I don’t possess strength enough on my own to avenge her, but now that the conflict between Elithria and Domaria has metastasized into open warfare, I want to do my part.  Not only for Cecila’s sake, but for everyone else who’s been killed in this and other conflicts.”

“Commendable, Recruit, that you’d be willing to enlist in service to your nation.  However, I cannot so easily dismiss the concerns that I hold.  It is possible— likely, even— that you are a spy seeking to infiltrate our ranks and undermine us from within.  As such, you will consent to having your mind probed and thoughts read by one of our specialists.  Assuming your story and innermost thoughts are consistent with what you have told us, I will accept you as one of our soldiers.”

“I understand and accept your conditions, Sir,” Lysette said.

Ari glared at Lysette before a nod from General Bertrand beckoned her away.  Lysette sat back down at the general’s behest and mentally prepared herself for the task to come.  Nothing so far had been outside the scope of what Lysette had anticipated as possible outcomes, but she still had to steel herself for the task ahead.

Her demigoddess mind already had natural resistance against mental intrusion, as she knew from her experience with the Assassin’s Guild.  And she had been practicing her mental defenses further with Nicholas.  Even without relying on disjointed mental partitioning to segregate her thoughts, she was confident in her ability to resist having her mind read by anyone weaker than Saffron.  Whether or not she could adequately hide her mental resistances and fool the examiner with false thoughts would be the real challenge.  But the arrival of Ari with one Kristil Rosari changed everything, opening multiple new avenues of collaboration and potential subterfuge.

Back in Ciricu, Lysette headed over to the detention facility, where Nicholas had been serving as the chief warden and liaison for the former Terean soldiers.  The facility was now fully functional after many long nights spent retrofitting it with reinforced windows, lighting crystals, and a functioning— though not particularly efficient— plumbing and heating system.  The beds, baths, and other amenities in the cells had also been brought up to a standard Lysette considered acceptable, if not ideal over the long term.

In addition to the structural improvements made to the holding cells, the compound had been further expanded in two ways.  First, a large commons area had been established adjacent to the captives’ cells to allow for socialization and recreation activities.  And second, a gated courtyard had been constructed adjacent to the compound for outside activities.  The latter had been little used so far while Ciricu was still within winter’s grasp, but had been heavily requested by the former soldiers for once the spring arrived.

“May I borrow you for a few minutes?” Lysette asked.

“Is there something wrong?” Nicholas responded.

“I’m about to be mentally interrogated by your sister.  I figured that it’s been awhile since you two last saw one another and might want the chance to catch up.”

“Really?”  Nicholas’s eyes lit up as soon as Kristil was mentioned.  “Please, I’d really appreciate getting to hear from her.  And to know that she’s okay.”

“Alright, Recruit Tronete,” General Bertrand said.  “Specialist Rosari will be conducting the interrogation this afternoon.  You will sit here and permit her mental probing until such time as she can corroborate your story.  At no time will you take any action to resist her technique, nor will you attempt to flee.  Doing so, or otherwise failing to abide by the rules of this proceeding will be taken as an admission of spying and punished summarily.  Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes Sir, General,” Lysette said.

The General sat back down as Kristil approached, placing her hands on Lysette’s temples and rubbing them with her thumbs.

“Alright, Sir, I apologize for this.  This might feel a little weird for a few seconds, but I promise, it shouldn’t hurt more than a pinprick.”

Lysette nodded silently as Kristil activated her technique and connected their minds together.  And as Kristil probed around, Lysette obliged, providing some surface level thoughts about the weather and the soft grass outside and the waiting two hours and the general boredom of the experience.  Kristil half-chuckled at hearing the part about boredom.

“Kris?  Is that you?” Nicholas messaged.

“Nicholas?  Is that you?  How?  How are you talking with me right now?”

“Apparently, Lyse has learned Mirae’s long-distance telepathy.  She said you were interrogating her right now and asked if I could chat with you for a few minutes.  It’s so glad to hear you’re alive and well, Sis.”

“Wait.  She said I was interrogating her?  No, that’s not right.  I am interrogating someone, but definitely not her.  Isn’t she off in Cir– wherever with you and the others?”

“She apparently has two bodies now?  I don’t really understand it.”

“It’s as he says,” Lysette added.  “I heard that war had broken out and I wanted to assist on the front lines.  My Reciprocity against Elithria is personal.  And I want to use my power to protect you.  To protect my homeland, the way I couldn’t protect Celica, my parents, or my village.”

“Yeah, that tracks.  Anyway, Nicholas, how are you doing?”

“It’s been pretty quiet lately.  Lyse and Serrena are absolute monsters on the battlefield like you wouldn’t believe, so I haven’t had to do any front-line combat myself.  Mostly handling logistics and liaising between the people of Ciricu and a contingent of about a hundred and fifty Terean soldiers that we’re holding captive here.”

“Captive?  You’re holding Cultivators captive?”

“Lyse apparently has the ability to depower a Cultivator somehow.  I don’t know all the details, and she’s pretty evasive.  Anyway, how are things on your end?”

“Well, like you, I’ve been spared the front lines as well.  Though, in my case, it’s intelligence and interrogation work, as I think I mentioned before we left.  Trying to get what information we can from our captives before they’re eliminated.  And, in at least one case, trying to interrogate a random Cultivator who shows up asking to enlist and turns out to be a demigoddess in disguise.”

“Not a disguise,” Lysette said.  “Different body.”

“With an assumed name and fictitious backstory, Lyse,” Kristil added.  “Close enough to a disguise for our purposes.  Anyway, Nicholas, it was great catching up with you and I’m glad to hear everything is going well.  Lyse, do you think you can allow us to catch up with one another every now and again?”

“Of course!  I was about to offer just that.  Now then, I do have a request.”

“Name it.”

“Would you help cover for me?  As Nicholas said a bit ago, I have the power to steal Essence from my foes.  And so I would like to fight on the front lines.  But I would like to do so under an assumed name and identity to avoid making a name for myself.  At least, not right away.”

“You’re worried you won’t be trusted if the commanders know you have this power?”

“No.  Well, yes, but that’s not my primary concern.  I’m worried that if the commanders know that I’m a demigoddess in hiding, they will order me into situations that will get me killed.  This body is stronger than most, but it’s not nearly as powerful as my main body.  And, of course, we should expect there will be Godslayers and possibly other demigods fighting on their side as well.  Ones far more powerful than I am.”

Kristil shuddered.  “More powerful than you?”

“I didn’t mention this before because I didn’t think it was relevant.  But I think you should know, considering the scope of the war.  King Stewart isn’t the real power in this country.  Rather, that title is held by a woman named Saffron Ateni, who is also the Godslayer of Domar.  And she is easily twice my strength.  Strong enough to squish even Mirae, Serrena, and me all at once.”

Kristil nodded ever so slowly as Lysette gave her a moment to process before continuing.

“And I have it on good authority that Thosse’s Godslayer and high priestess is calling the shots up in Terea.  This means that Asterion likely has a Godslayer or two here in Elithria as well.”

“So, we’re doomed?  I know none of us could hope to fight against Cultivators who so drastically dwarf even your strength.”

“No.  There are some nobles who have been around for centuries who have power rivaling the Godslayers.  At least enough to tip the scales if the conflict escalates.  But–”

“Right, they don’t want to get involved in this conflict if they can help it.”

“Exactly.  And we’re going to use that hubris against them.  But if the commanders try to use my full power too soon, before I’m ready to fight other Godslayers, this is going to backfire against us.”

“I understand, Lyse.  And your strategy makes a lot of sense.  But I want to know what we should do about this.”

“Tell the truth.  Just not the whole truth.  This body’s name is Karel Tronete. I’m a Cultivator from Domaria who lost his sister, Celica, due to recent actions by Elithria’s army.  I’m loyal to Domaria’s cause and I intend to serve the army with the utmost of my ability.  And perhaps empower some soldiers with my goddess abilities while I am here.”

“Understood, Lyse.”

Kristil ended her technique and the pressure accompanying it quickly subsided.  She stood up to full attention and turned to the vice commandant, bowing slightly.

“Sir!” she said.  “I have confirmed that Recruit Tronete has been very forthcoming with complying with my interrogation.  Although there are some parts of he– “  She coughed.  “Of his story that were difficult for me to read?”

“Difficult?”  General Bertrand raised an eyebrow.

“His mind is not laid out as most are, which makes it a bit hard to read completely.  However, I was able to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that he is fiercely loyal to Domaria and will be a powerful ally in support of our cause.  I recommend he be immediately trained for assignment to a specialist battalion.”

“I see.  Well then, Recruit Tronete, we will begin the intake procedure without delay.”

Chapter 220: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112940079

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 222: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112940082