A story that's shared by every village on the planet Frost, including the seven that were destroyed, is that someone moved to their village in the past month.
This isn't something that is uncommon, not at all. So, why would anyone suspect something like this to be alarming?
Why would Dues ex machina suspect something like this to be alarming?
She wouldn't. And she didn't.
So, each of these people who moved into a new village lived there for a while pretty peacefully. They didn't let anyone know that they were with Temple of Temur or that they had been told by Cartel Hopkins to move there.
And on the night that seven villages were destroyed, the seven in those villages were killed obviously. And all the remaining ones went and surrendered themselves. They proceeded to reveal how Cartel Hopkins had been planning all of it for a while and how Dues ex machina had not been able to stop him.
They told everything.
They gave them the chance to unite the people against the incoming invasions. They gave them a chance to fight back. However, they also showed them how incompetent Dues ex machina was.
All these was relayed from one part of the planet to the other pretty quick and those in power came to know pretty soon that their stories were true.
Hence, the faith in their Goddess Dues ex machina was starting to waver.
*****
"As the real God, I can see everything. But, you aren't real, no matter what you tell yourself." He says. "And so, you weren't able to keep an eye on everything, process all of that information, and figure out their plans."
"Tsk!"
"And so, it seems like you are on the losing end." He says.
"Hah!" Containing all my anger, I sigh. "Just go away and let me think, will you?"
"Hmm … well, it's not like you'll be able to come up with anything but sure, why not?" He says. "Let see what desperate trick you can pull off."
And then, his voice disappears.
To me, he is probably the most annoying person in the world.
Just hearing his voice is a constant reminder that there's someone standing above me, someone who is better than me in every way.
"Tsk!"
And it pisses me off.
But he is right about the fact that Cartel is on the winning side of this. In order to turn these tables, what is the best ploy I can use?
"Irium."
That's the one answer that comes to mind.
He is the one person who may still be able to change the outcome of this war.
But, how will I get to him?
How?
*****
My plans are not perfect. They are flawed.
I made them flawed.
Perfect plans will cause destruction and annihilation. I don't want that. What would be the point of that?
I want to cause chaos. And to cause chaos, I need to lose some bets. I need to give my enemies a few wins.
So, when they get those wins, they will get captives from my armies and through them, they will get more information about my plans.
When they get more information, they'll realize that, just like me, while they have won in some places, they have also lost in some places.
And when that happens, well – chaos.
A perfect win or a perfect loss has no chaos in it. Only imperfections can cause chaos. Therefore, my plans are imperfect.
And there's one thing that I have come to realize, when a person doesn't thrive for perfection, the job becomes 10 times easier.
"Hah!" Still, I can't help but sigh.
I had thought Irium would have been able to take it better - the destruction of those seven villages, that is. But, it seems like he's quite shaken up.
Well, I suppose I was overestimating his maturity.
But in any case, I have to still keep him on my side. If he falls onto Dues' side, I might lose this game completely.
In fact, he is the only thing that can possibly lead Dues to winning.
In other words, as long as I keep him on my side, my win is guaranteed.
"Though," I think, "doing that might be harder than I ever imagined."
If only I had learned something from her, I may have been having a better time dealing with him and other teenagers like him.
*****