Darius gazed towards the coast, where the sailors should be stationed.
"You see, no matter how badly I wish otherwise, it is inevitable that the disappearance of these five will be noticed eventually. There are many reasons for this."
"Firstly, the nature of their mission was to investigate us, and from what Theseus gave me, it seems that they suspect that were are helping the Insects because of the retaliation against their yearly culling party."
"Thanks to the power of that Grandmaster Monk, they were able to glean information about us, making them aware that I'm somehow related to the Ancestor Dragon as I possess his bloodline, that Gunner is a powerful half-giant and that Xela is a very dangerous elf with two Divine Concepts."
"This has raised our danger level very high in their minds because we three possess things that could harm them, or at least, cause significant trouble."
"Mine especially and it's the likeliest reason why they chose espionage over direct conflict since they had witnessed the power of the Ancestor Dragon during the Insect Invasion."
"His power is something they simply could not contend against, so they have to ascertain our motives, backing, and identities in order to form a more concrete plan of action."
Darius rubbed his chin with an amused smile. "Secondly, the identities of all five of them are sensitive. Hercules is the Greatest Hero, the rallying point for all mortal belief in Demi-Gods and the bedrock of the other Demi-Gods' confidence."
"His loss cannot be tolerated, also considering the fact that he is someone that could gain power equivalent to them if he was taken under the wing of someone stronger, like the Ancestor Dragon, Gaia or the Elven Divine Magic."
"Theseus is one of the three Great Heroes and is special because his mind contains a lot of sensitive information that the Gods would not want to reveal. Even God Krona, one of their own, was unaware of some of it."
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"If any of that were to leak, it would be a disaster. Not to mention that Theseus was a great strategic mind that they had long relied on, not to mention his social value."
"Achilles is the beloved Demi-God of Ares, a powerful tool of war that the Gods had carefully nurtured so that he could prevail in their battles. His existence as the Invincible Hero was something they had used and abused to win battles where, by agreement or for reputation, they themselves could not descend."
"In that case, they'd just send out someone who literally could not lose, and it had ensured their victory many times. More importantly, with their eyes on him, they could make sure he never learned of his only weakness, for if he did and found a way to rectify it, he would become a problem."
"Pyrrha is another problem, for she is too well-liked by all the Gods. Despicable as many of them may be, how could they hate the one among them who could not muster the will to denounce or chastise them, the one who had always rushed to clean up their mistakes and give their entire pantheon as a whole a good reputation?"
"Besides, she never caused trouble, got into conflict with other Gods nor hindered them, rather remaining benevolent. Many new or lesser Gods have benefited from her kindness, so many would rally to help her."
"And then, there's Medea. All of the other four Demi-Gods in captivity, and even most Deities in Elysium itself, thought of her as nothing much. She had no visible backing and was relatively new, so her inclusion in this mission was quite strange given the line-up."
"However, if we consider the information we've just acquired, it makes sense that her mistress has pulled some strings for her to be here, so that Medea could report the situation to her. It's a bad sign that even True Lords seem to be curious and wary as to what the hell we are doing here."
"In essence, all of them have connections and ties that are not something that can be casually thrown away, so in time efforts will be made to recover them. Simply hiding until they find out is not sustainable." Darius elaborated as he folded his arms behind his back.
He watched as many of the buildings nearby opened up to release some troops that were manning heavy artillery, the machines gilding across the surface like bullets using the electromagnetic relationship they had.
"A direct conflict allows us to hide better. We will basically declare that we are an independent faction taking over Pokterr that belongs to no one, claiming that these Demi-Gods have trespassed on our land and were hostile."
"Seeing this, the Gods will two ways to respond, either lower their heads for now and negotiate for the release of the Demi-Gods before starting a war, or denounce our claims and launch a righteous war head-on."
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Miranda was speechless by this. "So we'd have to fight anyway?"
Darius nodded calmly. "That is correct, my dear. Those Fake Lords have long viewed Faust as their property and playground. If it weren't for the difficulty that the distance between continents created, you think they would be this restrained?"
"They would have long conquered everything within sight, so how could they tolerate a no-name from somewhere claiming a whole continent for himself?"
"Besides, they have always been greedy for knowledge and powers that they do not possess. Seeing our science-based operation that has allowed us to take over a whole continent while remaining sustainable without any cost is bound to make them go green to the gills with greed."
Darius shook his head. "No matter what, they will come up with an excuse to start a fight and try to claim it. It might be possible for them to even ally with the likes of Gravitas who hate that we have even better tech than them. In the worst-case scenario, they might ally with others such as the Demons of Armadon or the Immortals of Pan."
Miranda seemed a bit worried. "Can we hold out against so many forces?"
Darius smiled. "At the moment, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Fortunately, they don't know that yet. However, in three months' time, it will be different."
"Once you've completely turned Pokterr into an efficient territory, when your resources are endless and your energy infinite we will be able to hold out, especially once the satellite system has been launched granting us worldwide coverage!"
"As such, our immediate goal is to stall for time. We could give them a solid thrashing if everything goes according to plan and put them on the defensive, but this might make other powers wary and join in prematurely."
Miranda nodded. "Yes, according to my calculations that would be too much for me to handle even at my peak, much less if True Lords get involved. Source Energy cannot resist whatever power they use since even Divine Energy cannot either."
"Indeed, as such a war of attrition is the best model to adopt for many reasons. Firstly, due to the nature of this type of war, resources, funds, and manpower are burned quickly."
"A war of attrition, in essence, if a measuring contest between two opposing parties as to how deep their foundations and resources go."
"Usually, many avoid this type of conflict because even if you won, you would have wasted so much that recovering economically and socially would take time, leaving you weak for third parties to come in for an ambush."
"However, for us, it will not pose a problem as the resources used are renewable, present in abundance, and almost infinite. Same with our manpower and there is no monetary related cost to our side."
Darius smiled a wide and insidious smile. "So in this war, only one side is constantly losing men, money, and resources while the other pretends to do same, but actually is not. This will allow us to weaken Elysium slowly over time, until it becomes ripe enough that we can swoop in blitzkrieg style and take over."
"This also goes for the other powers. Secondly, a war of attrition is great for us because it gives us time to see the depths of the other parties' power as well as allow myself and my Branded Servants to grow in the background. After all, the one leading the war effort would be a new child AI that is created for such a purpose, not me."
"Neither I, nor Gunner, nor Xela will participate until the time is ripe. We'll keep the Demi-God and continue our daily lives in silence while the war will be ongoing. By the time we reach the Master stage, we should theoretically be strong enough to not only a minor part but perhaps even a vital role."
"Thirdly and finally, a war of attrition is crucial for me because it introduces something I direly need in Faust, the element of chaos. War breeds chaos, distrust, malice, and hatred."
"Only in such an environment where everyone is at each other's throats will I be able to swim through the muddied waters, collecting all the benefits for myself in the shadows as I pull the strings."
Darius' eyes narrowed into serpentine splits as a cruel expression appeared on his face. "I have done this many times on Earth, and it is time for Faust to have a taste of this wonderful experience!"