A group of men sat in a conference room inside a large stone building. One of these men had just given the rest of them a detailed report of how the growth of a certain cult had caused many dangerous thresholds to be reached and had already finished detailing his plan for how to eliminate this cult. However, his plan had been shot down at least three times during the meeting, and he was getting desperate.

“I’m telling you the truth. These bug-loving cultists need to be wiped out to the last. That is the only way that this nation can and will survive to coming months. They are already nearing the point where between thirty and forty percent of the nation’s populace are a part of it, so a quick, decisive genocide of their members will be the only real way to deal with them in any kind of timely manner.”

“And I understand that it is such, but you must understand that our nation cannot handle the upheaval that your plan would cause. The number of members of this damned cult has risen rapidly, and I am fully aware of how dangerous they are. However, as they are now, the plan you have proposed will only result in a massive civil war, Allen.”

The man who had just had his scheme shot down for the fourth time in under two hours was Allen Yirple, a man who had a serious ax to grind both with the cult and with their spider overlords. No one save Allen himself knew the reasons behind why he hated the Spider Cult so much, but his and his company’s actions thus far had led to himself becoming a member of the government despite also being the owner of the PMC/ Freelance Inquisition group simply known as The Exterminators.

The person who had shot him down for the fourth time was the current head of the Republic of Theien, the President who had, for the first time in quite a long time, been elected by a popular vote. This man, Johan Corateiss, was a ‘man of the people’, but he still held some rather conservative views. Not without good reason, though, as the majority of these views were directed at the fringe elements that had caused the Republic so much trouble in the past.

The Spider Cult in particular was a group he wanted to be neutered, but as the group had rapidly swelled in number, he was forced to admit that the time in which he could have destroyed them had long passed. Despite his disdain for them, they now were a decently-sized group with influence that would rival some other parties. If they were smaller, he could convince the people that exiling them was acceptable, but now was a different story.

He didn’t like them at all, but he was also not about to risk the dissolution of the nation by trying to destroy them. He was elected by the people on the platform that he would bring much-needed reforms and equality, and he would be seen as a hypocrite if he tried to crush the cult now. As much as he hated to do it, he now needed to get the cult to be a positive and beneficial force for the nation, otherwise, there would be another great calamity that would spell the doom of the Republic. Their base was larger than he could have ever feared, and as such he now had to treat them as a valued member of society.

Allen and his plan to gather them up and wipe them out was enticing, but it would never work and would instead merely spark a civil war. He would not allow that to happen, as it would leave the Republic open to the wolves that surrounded it. A house divided upon itself could not stand, especially against the neighbors who eyed it with envious gazes. Add in the myriad monsters that made the less inhabited places their homes, and you had a recipe for disaster if the cult was not able to be bargained with.

“I don’t think there would even be a chance of a revolt!” Allen yelled, clearly letting his anger rise to the surface. “You can’t honestly think that they will simply get in line, can you? You can’t seriously think that they can be bargained with, reasoned with?!”

“At this point we don’t really have much of a choice but to bet that they can engage in positive relations with everyone else. I wasn’t elected just so that I can drag this nation into another calamity. In case you can’t remember what happened mere decades ago, I recommend going to the library and reading up on that. We already lost so much, and any further unrest would almost certainly result in the Republic being destroyed both from within and from without. I will not be the last President, nor the one known for the death of this great nation.”

“Then I’ll do it myself!” Allen snapped, which resulted in Johan drawing a line in the sand.

“If you do that, I will remove you and your people from all positions of authority with an executive order. You will no longer have the backing of the government if you and yours go down that road, and you will be treated like any other criminal would be for every life you take and every bit of property that you damage. Do you understand?”

Allen scowled before storming out of the conference room, obviously intending to ignore Johan’s ultimatum. Johan sighed and shook his head as the door slammed shut behind Allen. He had lost a valuable ally today, and all because someone or something had, in only a few short months, managed to pull that damned cult from the brink of erasure to the point it was at today. In hindsight, he should have authorized Allen’s purge months prior, as the cult was supposedly on its last legs back then.

A final coup de grace back then would have prevented this issue, but he had foolishly believed that The Exterminators had things under control. He should have sent in the National Guard, or maybe the Army itself, to grind the cult to nothingness, but he had gotten too complacent once he heard that the main base of the cult had been found and was under attack. He didn’t know what happened, but it was clear that the tide had turned. Now all he could do was to use his position to hopefully prevent the cult from doing anything too nefarious.

It was a long shot, but at least he hoped that he could get them to stop engaging in mortal sacrifices, or, Gods willing, he could get them to become a more socially acceptable faith, at least in terms of behaviors.

But what were the odds of that?