Chapter 878: A Power You Can't Overwhelm (Patreon)

In a luxury van moving through the streets of Manhattan, Rufus sat up front, next to the driver, while five Asano clan scions were in the back. These weren’t the strongest or most promising essence users but the ones most suited to future leadership. They were seen to have the most potential for the increasing amounts of administrative and diplomatic work the clan was faced with.

Emi’s inclusion had surprised no one, but three of the five being from outside the Asano family had been a clear message by the matriarch. This was no token gesture, either, as this diplomatic expedition was not a minor outing. The driver of the van was no less than the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Supernatural Affairs, Annabeth Tilden.

Rufus turned to look back into the van. Sitting with the young people was Shiro Asano, Emi’s great uncle and the matriarch’s son. Shiro had taken the wealth into which he was born and made more wealth as a high-end property developer. That made him the most appropriate diplomatic agent of the clan, compared to his brothers. Hiro was well known as a former organised crime figure while Ken was a landscape architect.

“How many essence users can you sense observing us right now?” Rufus asked the young clan members.

“I didn’t think that this was about our essence abilities,” said Lina Karadeniz. She was Emi’s best friend but did not share her friend’s former enthusiasm for monster hunting. She was ambitious, like her cousin Asya had been, and had set her sights on clan leadership from an early age.

“Your essence abilities are about a lot more than fighting,” Rufus said. “When you’re advancing using monster cores, your abilities grow stronger on their own, but your mastery of them does not. That means you have to be diligent about learning to use them. The ones that are most important to whatever path you choose for yourself, at the very least. I’m sure that Under-Secretary-General Tilden can confirm that perception is key in diplomatic circles.”

“Indeed I can,” Anna said. “If nothing else, it will help you notice when a lunatic sneaks into your kitchen in the middle of the night, makes a sandwich and then complains that you don’t have quality sandwich ingredients.”

“Jason did that?” Shiro asked. “Was he concerned about you and your people using his family as leverage?”

“Yes,” Anna said.

“Should he have been?” Emi asked.

“I want to say no,” Anna said. “But I wasn’t in charge, and the people who were saw him as an exploitable resource. If I’m honest with myself, I played a large part in keeping him working with people who didn’t act in good faith. There’s a reason that I left the Network, and why it fractured into four different factions.”

“How well did you know my uncle?” Emi asked.

“Well enough to trust him,” Anna said. “And well enough to be scared of him.”

***

By the time the pain faded, the World-Phoenix was already standing over Jason’s freshly spawned body.

“Your will is in tatters,” the World-Phoenix said. Her voice wasn’t gloating or triumphant; it was matter of fact.

“Yep,” Jason croaked as he pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. “Honestly, I was hoping that hitting gold rank would let me fight back a little better. I knew you would get the same power bump, but I didn’t realise you would adapt that much faster than I would. It seems obvious, in hindsight.”

“You are mastering your new abilities well, but you made these vessels too strong.”

“I might have made the one I’m using a bit weak. It was hilarious when I hit gold rank and it just exploded. It’s all about balance, managing these vessels. With great astral beings, even a strand of your willpower is extremely hard to contain. It was just easier to make you all powerful. And I needed you stronger than I am to help me grow, so it worked out.”

“You have grown stronger, Asano. You have reached gold rank in impressive time and learned to make good use of your abilities. You have an astral kingdom to complete; friends and family to return to. If you keep fighting until you lose yourself, they will be eons dead before you even remember they existed. If you stop this pointless fight now, you can retain your mind. Take the considerable gains you’ve already made here and cut your losses. Give up.”

Jason had conjured fresh clothes and started doing some stretches while she talked.

“Coming back from the dead is kind of my thing,” he said. “So is being rude to people in positions of institutional power. Blasphemy. Overly sweet beverages. Mid-to-heavyweight Euro games. I have a lot of things, is my point, but giving up isn’t one of them. When death and failure are certain, I don’t just close my eyes and wait for the end. You’ll never do anything impossible that way.”

“We all have a point at which we must bend, Asano, lest we break.”

“Which is why most people bend, even your fellow great astral beings. It’s the reason we’re here, after all; they did a thing and they couldn’t hack the consequences. Now they’re trying to undo it. But some people don’t bend, do they? You and I are alike in that way. We take it until the world breaks us or the world bends. The whole reason you’re fighting is that the cosmos wants you to bend and you just won’t. They picked me because I’m the same. That’s why, for all the great astral beings fighting here, it really just comes down to you and me.”

“I suppose it does. But you must have realised by now that between the two of us, it is you that will break, not I.”

“The writing does seem to be on the wall. Except there aren’t any walls here, are there? I had to put the writing on the road, back where we started.”

“You put a lot of foolish information in these vessels. Why didn’t you give us the information to interpret the meaning of those words?”

Jason drew his sword.

“I just told you: with these vessels, it’s all about balance. And now, it’s past time we got back to the fight.”

***

“Mr Ambassador,” Rufus said, “you and I were both trained in diplomacy. Our training took place in extremely different cultures, however, where power was seated very differently. In your world, power has always been collective. Any one person with the power to level a city can’t act without a nation behind them. A president might control a nuclear arsenal, but they don’t control it alone. Checks and balances is the term, is it not? Complex structures of political and military might before that power can be unleashed.”

Rufus looked around the conference table at the assembled UN ambassadors. Shiro Asano was at his side, and the young clan members were seated behind him, against the wall. The various aides to the ambassadors were likewise positioned, and Anna was seated at the end of the table. Sitting directly across from Rufus were the UN ambassadors from China and the United States. Rufus continued addressing the Chinese ambassador.

“In my world, the power is within the individual. Groups do have power, but that power is ultimately determined by the most powerful people in that group. It’s not a fair system, but at least it doesn’t pretend to be. Your system isn’t fair either, but you do a much better job of hiding it, distracting from it or convincing people it doesn’t matter. It’s impressive, in a hideous kind of way. The power hierarchy in my world doesn’t need to hide itself because it’s not mandated by controlling the masses. You don’t have to fear an army when you can kill it by yourself.”

Rufus put a hand down on the file in front of him.

“Your world started becoming like mine centuries ago. This proposal tells me that either you don’t understand what is changing or you think I don’t. From the moment your people learned how to claim magic and not just be born with it, the nature of power in this world began to shift. Your society has always used money and influence to centralise authority and control, but you always needed to control the populace. Magic takes every metaphor you have for power and makes it literal. Nuclear weapons are no longer the ultimate strategic force on this planet; gold rankers are. They walk the world, wielding powers like the men from your holy books. Wiping out plagues. Striking down kingdoms. You already see what gold rankers can do, and you’ve never even seen a real one.”

“Clan Asano has no gold rankers,” the Chinese ambassador pointed out.

“No,” Rufus said and slid the file contemptuously across the table. “No, we don’t, or you wouldn’t present such an insulting proposal. It’s only a matter of time before our resources and training programs produce gold rankers that make yours look like children playing in the sand. You want to dig your tendrils into the clan before we’re properly established.”

“We?” the ambassador asked. “Our? You talk like a member of Clan Asano, Mr Remore, when my understanding is that you are not.”

“Mr Remore has been chosen by the clan to represent our interests here,” Shiro said. “At the current time, he best represents the will of the patriarch.”

“Jason Asano,” the ambassador said. “The absent patriarch.”

“Yes,” Rufus said. “And, as you are aware, he reached gold rank some time ago. Your observers noted the day of golden light in the clan territories, and subsequent increase of magic levels.”

“My country makes no admission to employing any such observers,” the ambassador said. “But our sources have confirmed that the magic of the Asano clan territory has become increasingly erratic. The magic that shields those domains had started to periodically weaken and even shrink. Temporarily, but with increasing frequency.”

“Yes,” Rufus admitted. “That is the case.”

“You have claimed that Jason Asano is engaged in some form of conflict,” the ambassador said, and slid the folder back at Rufus. “It would seem that the patriarch is not doing well. You would be well advised to accept these terms before he dies and the foundation of your clan dies with him.”

Rufus burst out laughing.

“Whatever world you are in, Mr Ambassador, making assumptions about something of which you are ignorant is a good way to get in trouble. As Jason has discovered to his cost, but that is beside the point. Yes, it does seem like he is having trouble. I’ve seen Jason in trouble, so I know that makes it a very bad time to be his enemy. The Asano Clan asked me to represent them because I understand Jason better than they do. I know who he is and how he does things. You know Jason Asano only from his time here on Earth. If you had even an inkling of what he’s gone through and the battle he’s fighting, you would understand that he will be a very different man when he comes back. And you definitely wouldn’t insult his family with a proposal like this.”

“If he comes back,” the ambassador said.

Rufus smiled.

“The first thing I learned about Jason Asano is that he’s a fool. The second thing is that he’s a hero. The third is that when his enemies are far too powerful and victory is impossible, that is when you see who he truly is. I’m not sure how powerful Jason is going to be when he comes back, but assuming he’s not some kind of god entity, he’ll be gold rank.”

“Is him coming back as a god likely?” Shiro asked.

“You can never be certain, with Jason, but probably not. Not entirely, anyway. He’ll be a gold ranker and so will his friends, myself included. He may have hit gold rank obnoxiously fast, but he’s not the only one getting stronger. And these will be proper gold rankers, not the sorry excuses you have on this planet. And I know that this is what you all really fear: a power you can’t overwhelm.”

Rufus panned his gaze slowly around the room. A few people went to speak up, only to stop after looking in his eyes. There were silver rankers amongst them, but they were core users all. Other than Rufus and the Asano scions, only the security personnel for the US ambassador had no taint of monster core in their auras. Rufus could sense them outside the room, their own senses focused sharply on him.

“You fear Jason’s return, and you should,” Rufus told the ambassadors. “His arrival will change this world forever. You’ve never had a single ruler before.”

“Will he return with the intent to conquer?” the US ambassador asked.

“No. But whatever he choses to do, only two things can potentially stop him. You and your nations aren’t either of them.”

“Then what can stop him?” Anna asked.

“I said potentially stop him,” Rufus said. “One is his friends asking him not to. As for the other, I have seen Boris Ketland at war. He is the most powerful gold ranker I have ever seen, and that is a more exceptional statement than any of you realise. I don’t know how many more like him the messengers have hidden away, but that is the only power that could stop Jason and his allies.”

Rufus tapped the folder now back in front of him.

“We know that you have been interfering with our attempts to recruit people, especially magitech experts. You need to understand that the way you treat Jason’s people, here and now, will define how he treats you when he gets back.”

“So, that is your approach?” the Japanese ambassador asked. “Gunboat diplomacy? You have the power, so participate or suffer?”

“You say that as if it isn’t the way this world has always worked.” Rufus said. “Decency is the luxury of those with the power to afford it. What I can tell you, Mr Ambassador, is that he won’t be looking for trouble. But the last time he was here, he was forced to tolerate the powers of this world. This time, he will not.”

“So,” the Japanese ambassador said. “If he decides that we’re doing something he doesn’t like he will intervene? Even if it has nothing to do with his family?”

“I honestly don’t know, Mr Ambassador. I know he’s not coming here to rule, so your nation would have to do something both heinous and immediate to get him to act.”

He picked up the folder and stood up. The other Asano representatives did the same.

“My ultimate suggestion,” Rufus said, “is to not mess with his family. I don’t know whose idea this proposal was, and who amongst you were the ones who pushed it forward. I would strongly recommend that anyone not in that group give those who were a wide berth. They are going to get you in trouble.”

He tossed the folder on the table and walked out, the Asano clan members following. Anna Tilden hurried to do the same.

“Is that how they do diplomacy on your world?” she asked as she caught up to Rufus.

“I’ll admit that I channelled Jason a little bit there. But yes, that was fairly tame by my world’s standards. I know a man who once opened a meeting by putting an axe through someone’s head.”

“And it didn’t devolve into a fight?”

“They were gold rank. It was more an annoyance than anything. He just wanted to make a point before they started talking.”

“Your world sounds rather terrifying.”

“For you, politics is about trying to deal with hunger or disease. On my world, it’s about dealing with armies of people like Boris Ketland and his people.”

“You know that they will all be scrambling to make an alliance with Ketland, now. If he’s as powerful as you say.”

“He is.”

“Then why let them know that?”

“So they at least have a chance of grasping the futility of trying to ally with him. And maybe to mess with Boris a little. He crossed universes and revealed his people, all to get on Jason Asano’s good side. What no one in that room understands is that on the level Jason and Boris are at, they don’t care about something as insignificant as nations.”

***

The World-Phoenix looked at an empty road where Jason failed to respawn.

“That’s it, then,” she said. “He’s done.”

***

At the airport, the Asano group were heading for a private plane, driving across the tarmac in their luxury van. Emi’s phone rang and after a brief discussion, she held the phone out for Rufus.

“You need to get your own phone,” she told him.

“But then people might call me on it,” he said.

“It’s great grandmother,” she said and he took the phone.

“Matriarch,” Rufus said. “What can I do for you?”

“Get back to France now. Jason’s aura just vanished from both territories.”

“What about the astral spaces?”

“Still stable. We’re evacuating everyone into them now. I know there’s the risk of the apertures closing, but there’s a continent full of vampires about to realise that nothing is keeping them out anymore.”

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