'How have they been taken advantage of by Peddler?'
This question puzzled Nefear, for every time they raided a region, there were plenty of eyes on their actions, from both sides. So, it was impossible to go against that and trap them in debt.
Moreover, Nefear was unable to even determine how they had fallen into debt. What debt? When everything they needed was on Inron. So, it didn't make sense.
'There should still be a few.' Thinking as such, Nefear made a beeline to the granary of the closest city, bursting into it to see a family of four kneeling on an empty floor, having sold all the food products. From meat to grains, including the seeds, everything had been given away to repay their debt.
But unlike before, Nefear didn't kill them out of anger. Instead, she glared at them to ask, "Why did you do this?"
"Didn't we give you everything you need?"
"Y-You're wrong, Apostle Nefear." The man of the family trembled in fear as he argued, "We didn't fall in debt because of any materialistic desire or anything. But we were forced into one."
"Forced?" Nefear frowned, "No power is capable of forcing anyone or imposing foreign beliefs on them, neither Faith nor Fear."
"We were loaned our lives." The man stopped his family from protesting as he sported a helpless look, blood dripping out of his orifice as he said, "In the previous raid, an enemy attacked me. But they stopped before delivering me the killing blow, claiming that my life was now theirs since they prevented my death..."
He collapsed to the floor as a bloody pulp, facing the side effect of revealing this information. His wife couldn't even scream or express sorrow as she stared at her children, patting them once as she stared at Nefear, "Spare their lives in exchange for mine."
"Until we repaid the debt, we would be under their control and would have to follow whatever they say. Before, we were only asked for minor inconsequential data regarding Inron. But a few minutes ago, they commanded us. We couldn't resist. Some mysterious power controlled our bodies…"
She too collapsed on the floor as a bloody mess. Her two children broke into tears, hugging the corpses of their parents.
"Are the two of you under debt too?" Nefear stared at the children and asked coldly, muttering upon seeing them nod in response, "I see."
She revealed her wings and took flight, and in her wake, the heads of the two children collapsed to the floor, beheaded by her tail. Since it didn't seem possible to undo the debt, it was only a risk having them on board the Inron.
Nefear went around the Inron, inspecting all the granaries, her face pale as she came to a realisation, 'All the personnel in charge of maintaining the granaries have fallen under their debt.'
"Moreover," She frowned, tallying the information she gained from the interrogation sessions, "The enemy has data on Inron's layout, its principal facilities, and even data on the personnel in charge of various institutions."
She prayed, transmitting all the information to Invaderon.
"I see," Invaderon muttered and turned silent, glancing at the far-off figure of Peddler who seemed to be laughing like a monkey at this moment, "This fucker!"
The scheme was very simple. Using the faith gained from the Deities related to the marine world, Peddler caused water currents to act against Inron, causing it to be stuck in a certain spot. Moreover, all the marine life in the region had been sent away.
Following that, the granaries on Inron were dealt with, crippling their food storage. This meant that all the humans living on Inron were stranded for food. It was only a matter of time before they begin to starve.
Whether they die or starve for extended durations, their belief in Invaderon would plummet, naturally weakening him. The only way to change this situation was to launch a pre-emptive strike on Peddler.
But in the current situation, that would be akin to taking a nose dive to their deaths. After all, Peddler had stolen a fifth of their undead army. Moreover, he seemed to have more than enough resources to stall for time.
Invaderon and his underlings of Apostles and Spirits were capable of flight. They could fly to the nearby continent and fight Peddler. But, that would only weaken the defences of their home—Inron.
The enemy could sneak up on it and slaughter the people there. Moreover, even if they didn't do that, Invaderon would be fighting the enemy in his home, truly risking his life.
After all, by being separated by a large patch of water, his undead army wouldn't be able to reach the shore. Making them swim would be very hard, if not inefficient.
A second batch of scuba divers would only need to open up another lava vent to decimate the army.
Truly, this move seemed simple but it was directly targeting his foundations, causing Invaderon to death glare the frustrating figure of Peddler who was truly acting like a monkey now, taunting him further.
"Your Lordship, we have quarantined all the people following the God of Humanity." An Apostle informed Peddler, causing him to stop his taunting efforts. He dug a large piece of booger from his nose and flicked it in Invaderon's direction, smiling contently upon seeing the other party fume further in response.
He turned around and addressed his Apostle, "Good, keep them locked up there for the time being. Don't let them voice any dissatisfaction. Keep them content."
"I don't want the God of Humanity to know the extent of my powers."
"Is that really necessary, Your Lordship?" The Apostle asked, "Aren't the both of you allies? You told me that you even had some history before becoming a Deity and Devil respectively."
"History?" Peddler raised an eyebrow, "Yes, we had a lot of history. Technically, you could say that I was something like his foster father, since I nurtured him for two decades. But, I burnt that bridge by trying to kill him."
"I even went ahead and made his daughter's life miserable." He sighed, "It's already a wonder that he hasn't killed me. The only reason the two of us haven't become enemies is thanks to fate."
"Is that fate strong?" The Apostle asked.
"Used to be, but the stream of fate between me and him has long since been cut off." He said, "Now, the only thing protecting me is the fate connecting me to his daughter. As long as that isn't severed, he won't kill me."
