Page 3282

According to his spies and scouts, Graves was off to the Kavia-Hoss front, which was certainly not good news for Jercash, but Vanderberk had already sent word warning him. And even if he hadn't, Jercash probably would've been just fine. The Devil's Knife had a way of coming out on top despite all appearances to the contrary. No doubt, it had much to do with the powerful following he had cultivated for himself.

Now there was a man that Vanderberk felt he could still learn from. If he was being brutally honest with himself, the ability to inspire loyalty was something he'd always struggled with. Abolish's central goals of rampant destruction and genocide made that quite difficult in this modern world. How Jercash managed to pull it off as well as he did, Vanderberk very much wanted to know. The man made it seem so effortless and was always evasive when asked about it directly.

Clever bastard. He didn't want Vanderberk using his tricks to amass a force that could rival his own when the time eventually came for new leadership to take the reins of Abolish.

And in Vanderberk's mind, such a time was soon to arrive. At long last. The first Continental War had proved a similar catalyst. Morgunov and Dozer had hardly budged, of course, but the shake ups everywhere else had been tremendous. In fact, that war had been when Vanderberk first began to distinguish himself as a rising star within the ranks.

Now he was leading. Now he was the one looking for rising stars within his men.

But of course, that was dangerous, too. For some of his men, their concept of career advancement was slaying their superiors and seizing control for themselves. Vanderberk knew he had to be exceedingly cautious, especially because he was the newest and therefore the least respected among the Abolish high command. He would undoubtedly be perceived as the softest target, when compared against the likes of Jercash and Gohvis.

That was, in large part, why he had to be the most ruthless.

If he wasn't proactive in rooting out backstabbers, if he didn't temper his subordinates' ambitions with fear, they would come for him first.

Here in Vantalay, there were several such dangerous candidates. Thaddeus Croll, Raga Marda, Jan Cross. And others, of course. In some sense, they were bigger threats in this conflict than the enemy was.