“It was.” Before the Blue-Red General Abdel could press for more, I went on, “That is not a feat that can be replicated here. The Pharaohs reinforce one another, and the number of troops they can recruit from the Netherworld is functionally unlimited. That fool of a Pharaoh went and isolated itself from its peers, and paid the price for it. Try that here and you merely feed more souls to the Pharaohs.”

The man grit his teeth, biting back yet another harangue for me to do the same for them here. “You are certain of this?” he pressed again.

I just sighed. “If you doubt my veracity to my face, General, I can just leave?” He flushed and clamped up. “I will not repeat myself, but I will remind you that the Pharaohs are all that stand between you and being buried in sand by Infinite Sands High Emperor.” My smile was not pleasant to see. “You and your people are trapped here. If you flee, the Pharaohs will follow their herds of prey wherever you go, and no doubt punish you for the annoyance. If they die, the desert will bury you as the High Emperor seeks to slay all Humans who wield the Light Element and Dark Magic.

“If you disperse, you only carry the ire of the High Emperor with you to wherever you go, something that will be known to the Emperors of those places. Doubtless many unfortunate accidents and bloody travails will soon follow.”

The five of them paled. They were all Mages or Archmages, which meant fleeing was totally within both their personal and financial power, but now they’d been told it wasn’t an option?

“Can this... foul symbiosis be broken?” the woman bureaucrat, Nailah, spoke up urgently.

“Yes, but not by you.” They all winced again. “Egypt is one of the primary sources of Dark Magic infecting the world, among both the living and the dead. You spread Dark Magic across Africa and Asia from here like a cancerous blot on the Manafield.”

They had the wisdom to stay silent as I continued, “To counter the Realm Lords of the Netherworld, the Lords of Light came to oppose them, and spread the knowledge of the Light Element far and wide to do so. Their center of power is now established across the sea from you.

“Both of these forces are inimical to the Magical Beasts of this world, and you happen to live right next door to a High Emperor, lucky folk that you are.

“Your ancestors made very unwise decisions for power, treating with the Netherworld for dark boons. It may have profited them, but it has doomed their descendants to be crops harvested by the Undead, in return for not being slaughtered by a very, very annoyed High Emperor.

“The Great Flood has come about because of Human arrogance and the ire of the High Emperors for the rise of Light and Dark Magic Humanity has been driving. Egypt is merely the poster child for the things the High Emperors would most like to wipe away from this world.”

“There is no way out?” Tokin asked softly, the Brown administrator looking very unsettled.

“There are two or three, but only one is in your own power, and so unlikely to be undertaken I am discounting it,” I waved absently.

Their gazes all grew very intense. “You dismiss the will of Egyptians too lightly!” the Scarlet General Achmed growled. Given his power was built upon the manipulated sacrifices of his soldiers, I rather doubted that. “What is this solution?” he demanded of me.

I suppressed the urge to feed him his carefully polished white teeth. “Every Egyptian who possesses them must give up the Dark Magic Elements,” I answered readily, staring right back at the man, who held the Shadow Element.

He went even whiter than before, while the others all gasped.

“Furthermore, those who have the Light Element must change it to a new paradigm, and optimally should swear themselves to Auspicious Holy Radiant Butterfly Emperor and Her Tradition of the Light. That will mollify Infinite Sands High Emperor about your Light Element users.”

They just looked ill now, staring at me, and I stared right back at them, unconcerned.

“There... is a way to give up your Dark Elements?” the administrator Nahlia finally managed to ask me.

“Yes. You can turn them into Typeless Stars, with a great deal of pain and willpower.” I tilted my head slightly. “The process is one of the most incredible crucibles of Will we’ve yet seen. Those who’ve undertaken it have excellent chances to advance to their next tier.”

“You, you have programs where people are getting rid of their Dark Elements?” gasped General Abdel, scarcely able to believe it. He was an Archmage, but the enhanced chance of becoming a Sage just floated past him, ignored in his fervent desire to keep his Undead Element.

“They take the idea of being doomed to the Netherworld and a slave to their ancestors and uncaring Realm Lords for the rest of eternity somewhat more seriously than you do,” I replied easily. “After all, you’re going to be dead a lot longer than you’re going to be alive.”

Okay, that twisted their faces, realizing that I was actually totally damn serious about all of this.

“Can this be forced upon someone?” General Achmed wanted to know urgently, surely not so he could force it upon others, of course!

“No. Trying to force this on someone’s Elements from outside will just kill them. If you’re going to try, just slit their throat after you bop them on the head. It’s easier, and it won’t take out a building when their Stars explode.

“It is a crucible of Will on the part of the mage to undergo the process. But it is remarkable how many people don’t want to end up enslaved in the afterlife, their souls just fuel for the dead who had the fortune to die before them and exploit the ones around them the most.

“At least if they burn their Dark Stars, they’ve a chance at a different fate.”

“Are not all souls doomed to the underworld?” Admin Tokin spoke up, somewhat startled. “That is what we have been told...”

“Unless you follow the Church of Light?” I asked, perhaps a bit caustically, and they flinched. “It is the nature of their religions to make it an us/them fight. The proper answer is no. Those heavy with Sin and all those wielding Dark Magic go Down. Other souls go elsewhere. The Church would like you to think they are the only other afterlife, but naturally they have lied. There are countless souls in limbo the Lords of Light cannot touch, awaiting their proper destination.”

“A proper destination.” General Abdel sounded quite skeptical. “A paradise for the deserving, as the Lords of Light claim?” he almost jeered.

“Their afterlife is not paradise, as the Lords of Light dwell in a Nirvanic Realm, not a Heaven. The souls who dwell there are cogs and automatons, ever-obedient to those above them, drones with no free will and fewer thoughts, there to serve their masters. Only the mighty and the powerful are allowed freedom of thought and self-awareness. The rest are, mmm, worker ants doing as they are told.

“They might be clad in shining metal and fluted gold, but they are only a step or three above machines. Only the rulers have the right to think freely, for that is what a Nirvanic Realm is: perfect obedience, perfect harmony, no discord permitted, all in service to the Lord of the Realm. They are staffed by those who only took orders in life, followed the rules made by others, and didn’t bother to think much for themselves.

“But you’re all Dark Mages and you’re all going Down, so that’s really not a concern of yours.”

Their faces all grew long. Being guaranteed to go to Hell wasn’t one of those things that made a positive impact on morale and stuff.

“What, what is the other way?” the Brown, Tokin, asked me.

“Other way?” I repeated.

“You said there were two or three ways, but only one was in our control,” he said quickly.

“Oh. Well, the first is that a third set of Realm Lords come in who can counter what the Netherworld and Nirvana are doing. The Pharaohs will lose their protection, and the impact of Dark Magic and the Light Element will not be nearly as significant. At that time, you could make war on the Pharaohs and have a chance of winning, while Infinite Sands High Emperor would still be restrained by the influence of Realm Lords.

“The other way is if Terra gave rise to a Realm Lord abruptly, who might boot the others clear off this world and completely upend the status quo, as they’d outrank the High Emperors instantly.

“As I rather doubt you are capable of arranging such things to happen, the first option is indeed the most reasonable method for you to escape your doom, although I doubt many will have the strength of will and character to pursue it.”

“You seem very certain of your facts concerning the afterlife,” the Purple man half-smiled with a false compliment. “If so, where are you destined?”

“If I were to fall over dead right now?” I smiled slightly back at him, and his smirk slipped away. “An interesting question. I have High Emperors and even the Beast Lord interested in me. I heavily doubt I would be lost in Limbo with so many other souls, awaiting their deliverance.”

Very heavily doubted, considering I had a Heavenbound Pact guaranteeing where I would be going if I remained true, but there was no need to tell them that. They had no idea what my Silver Sign meant, and I had no reason to tell them.

They knew the costs to themselves and the world for using Dark Magic, and the odds they’d choose to Burn theirs away were next to nil, I could see it in their eyes. Too much fear, too much clinging to the power they already had, and not enough empathy for the world and those around them, plus a healthy dose of shortsightedness and taking advantage of others.

In the end, I could only show them the way and let them know it was there. We’d be making a big public announcement about Burning away Dark Elements soon, a fact right now only being communicated to Good people we came across via word of mouth.

But soon the whole world would know they could remove their Dark Elements at the Crystalheart Compounds being set up for that purpose alone. There was food and housing for free, there were Vivic Braziers all over the place, and a devoted Refractory Tower to create what was the purest Element-free Mana Zone in the whole world, by far the most comfortable place to Burn one of your own Elements away, if only because it would take great efforts to call Dark Mana in and reduce all your previous work to naught.

“What... what is the Netherworld like?” whispered the Purple guy, staring at me. “You seem so well-informed...”

“Mmm. Well, you’re powerful enough that you won’t be at the bottom of the heap, just the top of the bottom, unless you’ve made some deals and sold out tens of thousands of your countrymen, which I’m sure you haven’t done.” My eyes gleamed as I looked at the two generals, who paled under my stare, all of them knowing the lie for what it was. Voice of Truth, reverse razor!

“It’s a very simple place. You get lumped into a group of people who are just like you, let’s say a hundred or so. Of that hundred ambitious and conniving manipulators, ONE has a chance to promote themselves, probably by arranging for the death of a superior who is also just like you, only more experienced, even more callous, and knows what you are trying to do.

“The rest are doomed to be slaves and fodder as their souls are bound and leashed to provide essence and power for their masters.”

My smile grew wider as they all swallowed. “And of course, when you do manage to undercut your fellows and murder your master, what do you find?

“You are now one among a hundred who has a chance to advance further, and once again, you are going up against dark souls who are just like you, who trod upon their superiors and peers to get where they are. If you fail, you are at best a slave in your position, to be eventually replaced and demoted by someone else just like you grasping for more power from below...”

I made a spiraling motion, up and up. “For the rest of eternity, clambering over one another for the dregs of power you once held in life, moving up the ladder, pulled down from below, pushed against from above, failing and succeeding, never to reach the top without a patronage you can no longer earn as one of the Dead... unless, unless you get Contracted to a living mortal, who can then sell out vast numbers of the living, spread more Dark Magic, and in doing so gain you power and status in death... and a helpful new slave in the afterlife when they die and are bound in thralldom to you.”

I looked each of them in the eye impartially, and they all shivered. “That is where you are going now. Forgive me if I don’t have a lot of respect for people who are willingly entering that afterlife, knowing you are going to be selling out the living for any chance at bettering your existence in death.”