The Achievement Junkie

Daruun sighed, "Jack… You won that fight. Here's why.

"I don't believe Halmut has an item to protect his mind. I think Jewel has placed a seal on his mind to secure the information that they've given him. To convince Halmut to betray me, they must have told him about Jewel, which is an organization that outshines my Fate District. I'm not sure what other information they've given him but that seal did get cracked by your repeated use of Cerebral Collapse."

"Wait… I actually scared him off?" asked Jack.

Nodding, Daruun explained, "You didn't manage to completely break the seal but you did manage to strike a nerve, literally. So, rather than fight you in that weakened state, Halmut fled immediately while he could leave without looking like the obvious loser. He's smart enough to accept a questionable defeat in place of an undeniable loss, which you threatened him with. There's a chance he still could've won and killed you but you proved that he could be killed also.

"Right now, I imagine he sees you as a threat equal to Sterfen and Moranti, despite your low level. I'm curious to see how Halmut reacts and if Gem is willing to act first. And if Gem acts first, joining the battle for Kartonia, then I'm allowed to step in without question."

"So my victory… has put Halmut and Gem between a rock and a hard place?" deduced Jack. "But couldn't Gem just breach the planet and escape with Halmut and his subordinate gods?"

"They could, and it wouldn't be enough to merit my interference," Daruun answered. "However, the moment they breach the planet's barrier is the same moment that I interfere just outside of Kartonia. I'll possibly be able to apprehend whoever escapes. And even if I can't imprison them for long, I'll be able to get everything out of Halmut while I have him detained, where I'll legally be allowed to remove that seal without interference from Jewel."

"You said you would 'possibly be able to apprehend' them? Why not a guarantee?"

"If whoever is picking Halmut up brings a powerful enough ship, then they'll flee and leave the district entirely. Given how powerful Jewel is, there's a chance that they've deemed Halmut worthy of such travel, especially if they can get their hands on all of the subordinate gods under him. What would be better? To face your enemy's privately raised army or to claim it as your own?"

Catching on, Jack sighed, "I see…"

"But there would be a bright side to Jewel taking Halmut away. They would be forced to directly cut all ties to Gem Inc, giving them no evidence over me or the Fate District," stated Daruun.

"So Jewel can steal your hand-raised cosmicians or create an opportunity to eventually drag you into an intergalactic court? Neither situation is necessarily bad, but wouldn't they prefer to get you in court?" asked Jack.

"I agree. But your interference may lead to them choosing to retreat for now."

"And you can't just look into the future and see what happens?"

Chuckling, Daruun replied, "Fate doesn't quite work like that. It's constantly changing and updating. The broader you look, the more variance you find. Looking into Kartonia specifically isn't too difficult for me, but monitoring my entire district to that degree all at once is nigh impossible. That's why I wasn't monitoring Kartonia to such a degree until Gem got involved.

"Including the resources and influence of Jewel, it's incredibly difficult to pinpoint such minute details on the timeline of fate. I would need to know more about the internals of Jewel, but they're notorious for keeping a good image that's a hollow shell. No one fully knows how many districts Jewel has its hand in or how they've managed to create and distribute the most popular, barely-legal drug that is faux-ore."

Jack scratched his head and questioned, "Then what reason do you have to keep them out, apart from the faux-ore?"

"I hate how they handle their businesses, but Silas is especially against it. He's never fully explained his passionate loathing for Jewel but he's the largest public figure fighting Jewel's spread and has become their leading prosecutor in only a few years' time," explained Daruun.

"It was his stance on Jewel and his convincing arguments that led to the creation of the Resolute Enterprise. The external pressure we've created has impacted the Jewel Enterprise more than Jewel would like to admit. Also, though I was already against Jewel's integration into the Fate District, Silas proved to be even more cautious against them. So much so that Silas managed to get Jewel evicted from District 09 on grounds of corporate corruption, helping my friend Dominus become its new, rightful leader."

"So Silas… the man I met a day ago… Was facing and investigating Jewel by himself… until managing to force an entire district to change leadership and form his own superpower?"

"Yeah, that's a very brief summary of some of his recent achievements."

"Then… Give me a moment…" Jack paused, blinking and breathing slowly to best process the new information and reach a conclusion. "In that case, Silas's sudden external pressure and my internal pressure could cause Jewel to abandon Gem and runaway with what it can, right?"

"Exactly that," agreed Daruun.

"Then how should I go about this? I want to unseal Skaryn but that would likely force Jewel to back out. I want to help the contracted gods that are willing to join us but I don't want to force you to get involved. What should I do?" asked Jack.

Daruun took a moment to stroke his chin and click his tongue. "This is where things get tricky. In most cases of fate, something to some degree would need to get sacrificed. If Skaryn reappears in the world, then Halmut will be more cautious than ever and likely flee. But you also have to keep them from fleeing the world naturally by ascension or they'll reinforce Gem's attempt to legally take over that zone, which will make your jobs vastly more difficult. And given the five hundred years that Halmut spent trying to break the seal on his EXP, he may soon ascend."