This doesn't bode well. At least for them, since I'm pretty sure that they have no ways of actually wounding anyone here. The two has been whispering to each other for the last five minutes, and the occasional glance they shoot towards me reeks of some sort of desperate escape plan.

“You said you were going to destroy the Enforcers, right?” the red-haired man asks.

I nod, “Of course, the Enforcers are a problem that needs to be eliminated. There's no way that they'll willingly step down from their position. We're going to start a war against every single one of them, a total war of annihilation.”

Of course, I’m willing to spare defectors and Families who step down, but I’ll have to execute their leadership since they are all guilty of crimes against humanity.

“I see… do you realize that this is insane? You want to wage a war against Enforcers but you don’t have the numbers. And I sincerely doubt your equipment is on par with their own.” he continues.

Does this guy not realize what kind of situation he’s in?

I’m certain that we’re the only hope-

"Great Prometheus, we have a problem," Terrence whispers in my ear. “We detected a small armed group heading towards our position. From what we can tell, there are at least thirty of them. They should arrive in firing range in about ten minutes.”

Great, just what I fucking needed.

“Got it, then prepare for the assault. Tell the Fabricators to replace all the bullets we still have with EGBs if it wasn’t already done.” I order. “And you two.” I turn towards the two prisoners huddled together. “You have doubt about our capabilities, right? Then come with me, I’ll show you why we’re not pushovers.”

They glance at each other and nod, “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”

I don’t say anything and order one of the cultists to handcuff them before leaving the jail with the group in tow. The compound is bustling with activity and I spot Alan running towards us.

The stout man is struggling to catch his breath, but he looks proud of himself. “This attack forced me to rush the job, but I believe I successfully adapted the EGBs to the calibers we are using.”

I raise an eyebrow and look towards the area where the temporary fortifications are. The sight makes me smile, ten machine gun emplacements are being set up. And from the look of things, it's not a puny one either.

“That’s right, we just printed a new batch of M2 Browning. I also copy-pasted the engravings on your pistol onto their barrels, so we should see .50 BMG flying at record speeds.” Alan declares while tapping his chest.

The battle promises to be quite a spectacle then.

Terrence barks some orders and the cultists, who notice my presence, rush towards the frontline with a renewed vigor.

“Great Prometheus, we have prepared a fortified-”

I interrupt the Commander;”I don’t need it, but please do guide our guests to there. I’m going to the frontline.”

The Commander opens his mouth to object, but decides to not say anything and guide the three people to a small pillbox covered by a rather thick shield.

In the meantime, I’m walking towards the frontline, causing suppressed gasps from the Legionaries who notice me. It quickly spreads through the ranks, and they all steal glances at me, who just stands in the open with my hands behind my back.

I have to give the impression of an unfaltering and unbeatable leader… But I’m starting to have second thoughts.

Leading from the front apparently increases the morale of troops, so now I just have to hope that the mercenaries aren’t actually competent.

Or else I might be blasted to pieces in less than a second.

Now that I think about it, maybe this wasn’t the greatest idea ever.

But I need to increase my credibility as much as possible. I’m certain to slip up at some point in the future so I need to increase my reputation at every possible occasion.

My secure phone rings and Terrence informs me that the mercenary should arrive in the designated area in a couple of seconds.

I take a deep breath and raise my arm before pointing it towards the empty zone. A heavy silence permeates the compound, and it’s only interrupted by a suction noise followed by a bright flash. A group of ragtag individuals wearing heavy-looking armor appears out of thin air.

The largest of them, some sort of massive centaur, takes a step forward and-

"FIRE!" I shout as loudly as I can, and the machine guns roar. Bullets fly at incredible speeds and hundreds of trails of fire form between the machine gun nests and the mercenaries. The only sounds I can hear are the repeated detonations of the M2s, and the mercenaries all explode into multicolored blood petals in an instant.

"STOP FIRING!" I shout. It somehow reaches the ears of the cultists who simultaneously put an end to the onslaught.

The battlefield is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before: Pieces of torn and destroyed equipment litter the ground, and the soil is moist with gallons upon gallons of blood. Interestingly enough, there isn’t a single recognizable body part anywhere; the bullets completely shredded the mercenaries.

YeS, tHiS is oUr PoWeR!

I’ll have to admit, this moment was pretty badass.

“Is that all?” I ask Terrence through the phone.

“Y-Yes, we aren’t detecting any traces of unknown mana.” the Commander replies. The slight tremor in his voice didn’t escape me, and I’m glad that he’s impressed.

I would’ve felt inadequate if he didn’t.

But now I need to announce the results of the battle to our soldiers. “WE WON!” I roar as loudly as I can.

A deafening scream echoes in the compound.

“FOR PROMETHEUS!” some cultist starts to chant and soon enough it spread through the whole compound.

I shrug; sometimes fanaticism can't be too bad, right? And it's not like I can stop them. My attention then turns towards the fortified position, and I teleport next to the ex-prisoners.

My sudden apparition doesn’t even faze them. They are still staring at the blood-soaked battlefield, and snapping my fingers don't take them out of their trance.

I guess they must not feel too good after what they’ve witnessed.

I cough loudly and time it with a brief activation of my robes, this finally snaps them back to reality. “As you can clearly see, we can easily handle anything coming our way.”

Of course, this is a complete lie. No amount of machine guns can compete with the deadly Strategic spells the Enforcers have at their disposal. But they shouldn’t know that.

Alex is the first one to react, “I-I see.” He says while being fixated on the battlefield.

Oh right, they were probably normal people until they got targeted by the purge. So seeing a massacre of this magnitude must be a shock for them.

I bet I can use that to my advantage.

“This is nothing compared to the destruction the Enforcers sows. They unleash even more terrifying spells on often innocent people, just because they can. Justice doesn’t exist in the Enforcer system, there is only oppression!” I declare while looking over the horizon as if I was remembering some painful memory.

In reality, this is all an act for the sake of convincing them to join the Order. It’s amazing what people will believe when they think you’re some living demi-god.

He clenches his fists and turns towards me with a determined expression, "This… I never thought it would become like this. All I wanted to do was to uncover the occult, but now-”

“I’ll do it.” Cynthia interrupts him. “You must have some sort of research division, right? Then let me join them. I thought I could solve so many problems when I discovered magic, but the Enforcers make it impossible. But with the Order…I think we can really make a difference.”

“Then let me join too. I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I can aim a gun. And I won’t let any harm come to her.” he grabs Cynthia’s hand.

Great, so we have a woman with a savior complex and a guy who will do anything for his girlfriend. Add a pinch of zealotry and fanaticism and they’ll fit right in.

I turn towards Terrence. “Can you handle the formalities?” The Commander lowers his head. “Great, then meet me in my mansion once you’re done.”

I teleport into my living room and sit on the couch, the recent attack was easily handled but it’s obvious that it will not stay that way. I retract my armor and take a deep breath while looking at the ceiling.

We probably wouldn’t have lost if the mercenaries did a surprise attack, but at what cost? Our current numbers are way too low so we can’t afford any casualty.

This is war, so people are going to die despite my best efforts to prevent it.

But even then, this doesn’t solve the major problem we’re currently facing. As well defended as our compound is, it’s an easy target. The attackers so far were trash, but what will happen when a small army breaks through our defenses and teleport right in the middle of our compound?

It’ll be a massacre.

I’ll certainly survive the battle, but the Order will not. So we need a secure base of operation, we need a place where nobody can reach us and where we can operate freely. The current compound can be turned into a forward base of operation, but we need to relocate if we want to survive.

And that way is to wrench a Shard from the hands of the gangs of the Underworld. I already forgot most of the information that Krognar said to me, so it’s a good thing that I wrote it all down. From the little I can remember, the Underworld is a total mess of alliances, feuds and secret dealings.

But some of these gangs are not pushovers in the slightest, according to the Goblin there’s a reason why the Enforcers don’t dare to take a step inside the Shards. We’ll have to tread very carefully, or we might accidentally declare war to a large portion of the Underworld.

Taking over a Shard will make ripples through the Underworld, but we can masquerade as some upstart gang. At least until we grow enough in size, then…

I shake my head, taking over the Underworld does sound interesting, but our priority is the liberation of Earth. We don’t even know how big the Underworld is; Krognar said that the number and location of Shards are unknown. So there could potentially be Shards that are devoid of any people, but it's not that easy to find them.

The current way of discovering Shards is by throwing people through cracks in the fabric of the dimensions, and hope they find something before their protective suits fail or they just disappear. So we can’t do that… well, I could. But blindly exploring empty space for what could be thousands of years to potentially find something isn’t efficient or good for what’s left of my sanity.

This is why we need to take over an already inhabited Shard. From what I remember, the Goblin said that there’s a reason why the Shards only rely on their nature to shield against external probing mana. Their movement is beyond erratic, so the gates connecting them needs to be constantly open. Otherwise, the Shard is considered lost forever.

But I think I have a solution to that. My Portal Gun stores the coordinates relative to the dimension it’s in, so it somehow makes it possible to freely teleport into the Shards while ignoring the dimension’s movement.

I don’t know why it works, but I’ve been to Krognar’s place multiple times and the teleport was always successful.

If the Fabricators can replicate my design, preferably without using the horribly rare and expensive purple Magicite, then we’ll have a completely secure base. But that’s just a pipe dream, and I doubt we currently have the manpower to effectively eliminate one of the Underworld’s gang.

There’s another problem: I don’t really know anything about warfare, so I hope Terrence will not blindly follow my whims.

The Commander being one of the most devoted to our cause is nice, but I hope his beliefs don’t turn him into a yes-man who agrees with everything I say.

I take a deep breath, being a cult leader is harder than it looks…

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on my door, I get up and open it, revealing Terrence’s figure.

He lowers his head, “I’m here at your request, Great Prometheus.” I guide him towards the living room and we sit down while facing each other.

“So how did it go with the prisoners?” I ask with a tinge of nervousness. The Oath of Servitude is a lifetime commitment, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they refused to swear allegiance to me.

“It went surprisingly well; they readily accepted all the conditions without making a fuss.” Terrence replies, “Your descriptions of what the Enforcers are doing really moved them, they’ll become fully fledged members of the Order once they read the Codex.”

Brainwashing people doesn’t sound like a good thing to do, but if it works then this plus the Oath will earn me their absolute loyalty.

But let’s get back on the topic at hand.

“So, have you read the information I gave you about the Underworld?” I ask the Commander, who nods. “Great, then how should we act to successfully take over a Shard?”

The Commander looks to be in deep thoughts for a good ten minutes before he takes a deep breath. "Honestly, this is a difficult question… I’m certain that you’ll be able to take over a Shard by yourself, but I think it would send the wrong message and make it more difficult for us in the long run.”

I raise an eyebrow, “Care to explain?”

“Of course. You see, the gangs in the Underworld don’t know about you or your divine status. So they’ll think you’re just some rampaging individual, and they’ll send waves after waves of people in a futile attempt to subdue you.”

Terrence might be overestimating my capabilities, I wonder why…

“And I doubt you’ll want to waste time by continuously attacking them, because the Order in its current form won’t be able to resist this kind of assault for too long.” he continues, “So we’ll have to pose as a new gang, that way it shouldn’t make us too big of a target. Furthermore, the Chief Fabricator already told me what we can expect from your teleportation device. So we might be able to truly isolate the Shard once we take it over.”

So far so good, he’s reaching the same conclusions as me.

“But first we'll need to develop a new prototype since we can't really afford a large amount of purple Magicite. And I haven't studied your notes in enough details to designate a suitable target. But from my experience, the Underworld is a very unstable place. We’ll need to get more up to date information of the situation down there.” the Commander declares.

This is pretty much spot-on; Terrence isn’t the Commander of the Legions for nothing.

“All right, then we’ll wait until you find a suitable candidate. For deploying spies, I think we can make use of the ability of our new recruit who can read minds. Maybe try to find a way to link her mind with that of more experienced operatives, that way she can see through their eyes. With a bit of luck, her ability will work and we won’t have to train her for too long and expose her to danger. Of course, I’ll let you decide what the faster way to succeed is.” I say.

Terrence nods, “I’ll get some Fabricators on it then. I’ll make some preliminary preparations for our attack to take over a Shard then. By the way, what’s the budget for this campaign?”

“Talk to the administration about that, but take whatever you need since the success of this operation is essential for our survival," I answer. “In the meantime, I’ll keep making progress on the spell jammer, so I’ll be off world for the foreseeable future. As usual, contact me if anything happens.”

“As you wish, Great Prometheus. Then I’ll relay your instructions to the Order, and I’ll pray for your success.” the Commander declares before leaving the room.

I wait until he’s out of the mansion before teleporting into the warehouse. The Fabricators haven’t lazed around, and they made smaller replicas of the Electromagical Printer to boost our production speed, so I go to a free one and print a bunch of ammo.

This is so much easier than my previous method.

Some Fabricators greet me while lowering their head, so I return their greetings before sinking into the ground. I reappear in my own workshop and activate my armor before refilling my stocks of ammunition.

My eyes wander on the shotgun leaning against a wall. MH Shells would’ve been useful to have, but I ran out so I’ll have to make do without them.

I just hope I’m not going to encounter an actual Spirit, or I might be in trouble…

And it's with these reassuring thoughts that I equip my special containers, select the unexplored planet and sink into the newly formed portal.