Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Seth- AH!" Leana was about to aggressively call his name when she let out a squeal of surprise and shock.

"What\'s with that reaction? I\'m presentable, you know?" the grumpy blacksmith pointing at his improvised loincloth about the size of a washcloth and barely creating the illusion of decency. Only afterward he realized that Leana\'s eyes were glued to his muscles, which had become more defined thanks to his increase in strength, without being bulky thanks to his balanced physique.

"You like what you see?" he teased her, playing with his muscles using <Flex>.

"No! What are you saying? I came to... to talk about something important with you! Right, what was it again," she stuttered startled

"Cover yourself already, this is important. There was a change with the creatures from Y-City," her face was beet red, from embarrassment and anger at the same time. Still chuckling, Seth equipped a simple shirt and sweatpants to hide his true power.

Finally being able to concentrate, Leana explained to Seth what happened during their absence, The attack on TS8, the change in the attackers, and their idea to ask the demons for help. Especially the weirdly well-informed Ember who had been staying at the embassy since her arrival, to have a talk with Seth.

The blacksmith could only sigh. Just when he dealt with the worry about his future path and could trust the power of his friends, those guys dared to start adapting and overcoming. Hearing Cromwel\'s explanation from Leana, it seemed to have been only a matter of time. He could have seen it coming.

What he did not see coming was for Mary and Leana to get the demons involved. Hearing that the demons had a way even Seth had not heard about while studying at the college irked him, but it was also a relief to have another option after his own ideas were only semi-successful.

The bard had also tried thinking of a solution for those who had grown stronger, like Cromwel, or even their minions. He even gave the researcher the Whimsical Curse to test it on Dragos.

Seth\'s was to put it on the leader of the Scene, once he found him, and watch him writhe in agony as the item ate his soul. However, the curse of binding had failed once the necklace beheaded Dragos through necrosis. After the necklace fell off, what was left of the man regenerated something akin to a head. That was how Cromwel described it at least.

Now it was up to Cromwell and the demons. Some kind of biological warfare tailored to people who received the serum would have been Seth\'s preferred solution. Using the golems to bomb all of Y-City with toxic gas sounded like overkill but would be a quick solution to their problem.

At least the Hangingtree was working like a charm. It sounded like the born nemesis for human wave tactics, even if the humans in this case were immortal, doped, and tortured to insanity. It was better not to think about them like that. As tragic as their fate was, ending it was probably the best they could do for them.

"Is Karina okay?" the blacksmith asked. He knew that the dryad was a kind soul.

"Don\'t worry, she seems even more motivated. TS9 is almost finished already," Leana calmed his worries. "Instead I need to you meet with Ember. She had been waiting for days in the embassy."

"Now?!" Seth exclaimed. He had returned just yesterday and had crawled out of bed moments ago. He didn\'t have breakfast yet, not to mention that he could take a shower or even brush his teeth before someone almost broke down his door.

"It\'s already noon...Fine, you have half an hour," the princess said scrutinizing.

"You know I AM the Tower Master, right?" he squinted at her.

"Oh, please. Fire me then, at least I can relax then," she provoked him. Seth sighed, good administrative personnel was hard to get. Mary would be really angry at him if he chased out Leana and effectively doubled her workload again.

"...Fine, I will come up in half an hour."

…

The blacksmith could be seen moments later, chowing down on a table full of food. At one moment there was a Tower Master making food vanish like it was a magic trick and in the next Seth was gone, only leaving an empty table.

He had teleported to the elevator that brought him directly to the embassy above. Since Mary and Leana both insisted that he had to come, he didn\'t dawdle. As for his personal hygiene, he did brush his teeth, but he used <Lifestyle Magic> to become clean, instead of taking a shower.

Shortly after his arrival, the two women ushered him into his office, without much of a greeting. Inside was Ember, his only other closer demon acquaintance apart from Tano\'Mol. He had met her at the Bard College and she had helped him meet her uncle Charred and Tano\'Mol. He had also made a flute for her in return.

"Hey, Seth. Long time no see," she greeted with an ambiguous grin. He didn\'t know if it was a threat or amusement. "You could have contacted me at least once, you know?"

It was a threat!

After nagging at him, that he was bad at keeping in contact with people, which was objectively true but not necessarily bothered him personally, the conversation turned to business. Surprisingly, she had not forgotten about it over nagging at her friend for not contacting her.

"I heard the demons have a solution for our problem? And all you want in exchange in a nice cozy place in Minas Mar?" he asked to make sure he had understood Leana\'s summary correctly.

"Right, things in Delta are turning for the worse and the college isn\'t unaffected either. Among the newcomers is a powerful demonic bard, Galvan, who joined the college. He managed to sway a lot of students and even some of the professors to join the hardliners.

They are using the current state of Delta to instigate public sentiment. That is why the dean wants to talk with you about a way for us to migrate to Minas Mar, instead of seeking open confrontation with our brethren."

She said it all without taking a single breath as if she had memorized it and feared missing a point if she didn\'t finish it all in one go. Seth had not expected that the demons would also have problems with how Delta was currently led.

Delta had not encroached on the demons before or seriously tried to restrain them, but maybe that had changed in the meant time. With how the district was currently operating, becoming more and more similar to how Y-City did things, it was only a question of time before one side made a move. Maybe Delta had already become a powder keg, while Seth had looked away for a moment.

"When you call them hardliners, you mean...?" Seth asked carefully.

"Demon Supremacists."

Demon Supremacists was the nice term for demons that looked down on any lifeforms but demons and even among demons, they looked for a strict hierarchy. This was the kind of ideology that was easy to grow among an unsatisfied populace, as they had ample ways to give people someone to blame.

The problem with that was that they were usually the guys that would start a war or demonic invasions on other worlds, usually following a powerful leader. Another worry for the future, so to say.

"Okay, I will meet that elder of yours."