Chapter 281: What To Do With Survivors?

Thankfully, they did behave while we briefed their Guardians on the situation with the rift.

Olivia and the others also filled them in on the situation, giving them more information to add on to what I had already told them.

The other Guardians listened attentively to the briefing, treating the situation with complete seriousness.

Well... They do have three Mortal Gods standing in front of them after all so they have to keep up appearances at least.

The news that there could be a Commander Class Anomaly made all of them stiffen up with both Diana and Siti showing a concerned look on their faces.

"A Commander Class Anomaly... If there is such a thing, we would probably need to get even more people involved in this," Siti hummed.

If there was indeed a Commander Class Anomaly, we might be facing an organised army of Anomalies instead of just scattered groups.

For us, we are able to deal with Anomalies precisely because they are unorganised and we are able to take them out a group at a time using coordinated strikes and leaving most of the Anomalies untouched while we made our way to the Gatekeeper.

But as shown the last time we were clearing the rift where a Commander Class Anomaly was present, it managed to gather an entire army of Anomalies to hold a defensive line against us which resulted in us needing to get even the army involved to help us break through.

The fortunate thing for us was that the battle happened in an enclosed space so we only had to fight on a single front instead of worrying about being flanked or attacked from behind. Otherwise, it would probably have taken several days or weeks of sieging before we could get through to the Gatekeeper or even the Commander Class Anomaly itself.

And now, we’re facing a rift where an open field battle would be inevitable and the Anomalies have the home field advantage.

We might need to prepare for an extended campaign for this rift in particular... I wonder if our two allies would be willing to send their own military here or if we have to rely only on ourselves?

Surely they would at least send some people so that their own Mortal Goddesses don’t lose face, right?

My gaze shifted to Diana and Siti standing to the side...

Hmm... Actually...

Considering that this rift’s Danger Class was not even at level four or five... I think the three of us working together might actually be able to handle it ourselves.

In fact... Having three Mortal Gods deal with this rift is... Honestly kind of an overkill.

If there were only one Mortal God, we would have to worry about being stretched thin if the Anomaly amasses into multiple battle groups and attacks us from different directions.

Each of us could most likely handle ourselves well enough but we won’t be able to protect everyone who followed us into the rift.

Additionally, we also needed to worry about the survivors as well, since we don’t know how they will react to us marching into their World.

Those were all the points that came up in the discussion and the conversation was brought back to the present point.

Rahayu looked up at Olivia, "So what’s the plan with the survivors?"

Olivia gestured towards me, "My Lord’s plan is to make contact with them first and see if they can be saved. So far, results are mixed and we are in agreement that they are a group that needs to be dealt with first before we can focus on the Anomalies."

Liyana frowned, "We just need to approach them and tell them about the glory of our Goddess, right? If they refuse to accept us as their saviours, then there is no need for them to be kept around, right?"

The other Guardians under Siti also nodded their heads at Liyana’s words, fully accepting of the idea to just kill those survivors if they refused to submit to us.

On the other side, Diana’s Guardians were also of roughly the same idea albeit they were a little more forgiving about it.

Rahayu looked over at Diana who seemed to be completely unbothered, "I believe we can still give them a chance to redeem themselves at least. They are merely lost and unaware of what lies beyond their own World. We should at least grant them a chance if they refuse to acknowledge our Gods."

Olivia pointed her finger at the estate where the survivor group was, "This group in particular... They were quite rude to my Lord but my Lord has opted to give them a chance and let them come to our base on their own. They are located quite far off the main road and won’t be a threat unless they come out of their hideout."

It might sound like she was standing up for them but with how the discussions had been going, I read between the lines to know that she was basically saying that if those guys appeared and they weren’t submitting, then we could just go ahead and eliminate them because they were already given a chance.

She then shifted her finger over to the town, "This place however... There is another group of survivors with someone who has attempted to attack my Lord as well. They have apologised at least but I am not convinced. Since this place is a small town and a potential key location to be secured, they need to be watched. If they show any signs of hostility again, they should be eliminated first."

You know... I can’t even argue with that...

They did shoot at us first and if it was anyone else, they might have even died because of that. And if I had to pick between my own people and these strangers, I’ll side with mine instead.

Dan very subtly looked over at me and cocked his eyebrow, as though to ask if I was sure about this.

I gave him a slight tilt of my head, reminding him that he was the one that took the shot for me and if he was pushed back by just that single blast of that laser, it was definitely not a simple weapon either so he could have died.

He just gave me a shrug in response and said nothing more.

Liyana nodded, "Very well. I suppose we should take charge then. We shall organise--"

"Excuse you? Who put you in charge?" Rahayu interrupted, shooting Liyana a glare.

The dark skinned woman turned to glare back at Rahayu, "I am the right hand of my Goddess. She is the most senior and most graceful God here so as her right hand, is it not expected that I aid her in taking charge of this operation?"

"Ha?! What kind of stupid reason is that? My Goddess is stronger than yours in terms of pure destructive strength! Something that we need for this operation instead of just growing plants!"

"Hmph... Did you not hear? The rift is also overgrown with plants, meaning that my Goddess’s powers are a perfect fit for dealing with that place as well. There isn’t an ocean in sight around the portal so your Goddess’s powers will not be at her strongest."

Olivia straightened herself to her full height, easily towering over everyone else in the room as she let out a soft rumble through her nose to get their attention.

"You seem to have forgotten that you are currently standing in my Lord’s domain... All of you are guests here and you are here at his behest."

Liyana scowled, "Your Lord has opened up this rift to my Goddess, which means he has ceded all rights to it."

Rahayu tilted her chin at Olivia, "I agree with her. You do have have a claim on this rift anymore."

Olivia growled, "It seems you are unaware of the terms of the agreement. The terms were to open the rift up for your Mortal Gods to capture the Gatekeeper and obtain the Mana Crystals around it. But it does not mean that we cede all of our claim over the rift itself. The rift still belongs to my Lord, we are just allowing you to take part in it and claim the rewards within it."

All three women were glaring at each other, none of them willing to back down.

I have to applaud the other two to be able to face Olivia’s imposing stature without flinching but I guess the fact that they have fought Anomalies before got them used to it.

I was going to ask Siti and Diana what we should do with this situation when Diana leaned over and giggled softly, "Aren’t they all so funny?"

Siti nodded and whispered, "They really are so cute, aren’t they? How precious."

Wait... Are we not going to do anything about this? It looks like they are about to come to blows you know?

Hey?! Don’t fight in my house, ok?!!