Chapter 1624: Three
"Are you talking about that man? Darvion—the Cursed Behemoth, master of curses and spells?!" Hedrick’s rough voice rose bit by bit, the edge of panic showing through. His hands clenched at his sides, and his breathing grew quick.
"There is no doubt, The one and only." Theo answered, calm but firm. "Their banners are carefully stored in locked vaults inside the ships, but those flags are surely the banner of the Cursed Behemoth Darvion. We also checked the soldiers—every one of them is a warrior from that galaxy. Their training, their marks, even the way they move—everything points to Darvion’s forces."
"The banners are kept in vaults inside the ships?!" Hedrick muttered, astonished, running a hand through his hair. "How in the world did you get in?" He struck the map table with his palm so hard the sound jumped. "You know what? I don’t want to know how!" He ground his teeth. "Damn it..."
He turned to Theo again, eyes burning. "Do you know Darvion is one of Kaylis’s closest allies—maybe the closest? Even though he rules the neighboring Mid Sector 102, he never tried to move against Kaylis. He helped her build her own galaxy nearby and has been her strongest supporter!"
"I have seen Darvion more than once when I attended events as a follower of Behemoth Kaylis," Hedrick added, forcing a bitter smile that did not reach his eyes. "I would not lie if I said I have something like a personal connection with him. Why would he send an official army against me?" He pushed his palms together until his knuckles showed. "Damn you, Kaylis. Are you afraid to face me directly, so you send Darvion to do your dirty work? What did you give him to make him move against me?!"
Theo kept silent and watched Hedrick mutter in panic. You could not blame him—he had just been told that in two centuries he would face open war against the forces of two Behemoths. Any ruler would be shaken by that news.
After about an hour of tense silence and soft muttering, Hedrick steadied himself and let out one long, slow breath. He looked older in that moment, as if the air itself had grown heavy. "Okay. You made clear what I face: unannounced forces from six neighboring sectors, Darvion’s official forces from Sector 102 Mid, and Zavaros’s forces coming all the way from Sector 105 Mid... What next? You said you brought a solution?"
Hedrick’s eyes shone now with a small, dangerous glimmer of hope. Not because the situation looked good—he already knew it was bad—but because Theo still had a plan after telling him all this. It felt strange that an emperor, in his great hall, would listen closely to a military leader from the Young Belt for a plan. Yet here he was, listening with all his weight.
"The solution is simple: strike first." Theo said. He pointed to a tight cluster of ten planets on the map and tapped each one in turn. "First, the military side—led by you. Because these forces are unofficial, they fly no flags and have not announced any reason for being there, you can act first. Claim that you are destroying the evil hiding in the Southwestern Aurora Starfield. Call them gangs trying to occupy that Starfield and enslave its people. That puts the blame on them and makes them look like the invaders. It could win you the support of powers that have not yet chosen a side."
Theo paused and let the words sink in, then added more detail. "Strike fast at the bases we marked. Use sharp, focused strikes against supply hubs and shipyards. Do not waste your main fleets in long fights at first. Hit where it hurts—fuel stores, repair docks, local commanders. Quick wins will slow their build-up and make others hesitate to join them."
"And your enemies’ forces are not yet fully organized," Theo added. "Even if we count all the other planets that are still preparing, the number comes to about three thousand fleets—half of what you would face if you waited and let them finish. Also, many powerful fighters—Guardians, Nexus States, and World Cataclysms—have not arrived yet. If you start now, you can force the timing. You can act when they are weakest, not when they are strongest."
Hedrick’s face changed for a moment, a flicker of hard thought passing over it, then he shook his head with a long, tired sigh. "...Three thousand fleets is still three thousand fleets," he said, voice rough with weight.
"That brings us to the second part of the plan," Theo continued with a small, steady smile that did not feel warm. "We must make them withdraw before or during the war. Over the next two centuries we will run a counter-mobilization. Instead of letting them send all their forces to those planets, we will force their backers to pull their troops away without a full battle."
"How would you do that?" Hedrick narrowed his brows, leaning forward as if trying to squeeze the answer from the air.
"That is our work," Theo said, straightening his back and speaking with steady calm. "Over many years, we —the Shadow Swords— collected a great number of scandals and hidden secrets about the powers involved in the coming war. We focused on the forces moving in Sector 100 Mid, Sector 100 Young, Sector 101 Mid, and Sector 101 Young — four of the six sectors that matter most."
"With those scandals and secrets in hand," Theo continued, his voice firm, "I can pressure those powers to fall back, or I can set them against each other. At the very least, I can promise that fifty percent of them will withdraw within a single century. They will do so quietly. No open battle, no huge losses. They will simply pull back and most likely you will never see them again."
Theo paused, letting the weight of that promise settle in the room. This was the kind of strategy the Shadow Sword had become known for: not only direct fighting, but hidden strikes on reputation and power. They did this by their own skill, and by buying secrets from other groups. Theo had ordered his people to build files on every major power near their borders.
The Elinor scandal and the fall of the Four Elders that toppled the Nine Paths Empire was only one example of the material they had gathered.
"You can do something like that?" Hedrick said, stunned. His voice was low and full of disbelief. "Taking down 50% of the forces of 4 sectors... You can remove almost a third of the enemy forces from the field without a single battle?"
"At least a third," Theo corrected. He met Hedrick’s stare. "The rest I leave to you. You can deal with them quickly and severely." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "But not for free."
Hedrick blinked, surprised. "What do you mean by ’not for free’?"
Theo chose his words carefully. "Until now I have used what I found in ways that helped Your Majesty. I share the information we already have. Normally, my agents would collect and then sell most of these files. They are valuable. If the Shadow Sword force those powers to withdraw, we will be spending precious files we had saved for the time of greatest need. Those files have real price. I hope you understand."
Hedrick’s face hardened. He looked at Theo for a long moment, as if measuring the truth of his words. Then he asked, "Name your price."
Hedrick said the word quickly, thinking of the currency that mattered most to him. "How many Energy Pearls do you want for this work?"
Theo smiled once, but it did not reach his eyes. "We do not want Pearls if Lord Robin Burton stands with us. So long as he is present, Pearls are not needed— we practically swim in those. What we do need are planetary artifacts. I am tired of waiting in soul society markets and auction halls for years, trying to win a single piece."
Then he lifted three fingers slowly, as if the number had weight. "Three," he said. "I want three pieces of planetary artifacts for every hostile power we destroy or force to withdraw."