The Runic Alchemist

About 2,750 km northwest of modern-day Australia and 1,000 km southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, are the Cocos Islands—a ring-shaped coral reef with two main landmasses and about 27 smaller islands surrounding a shallow lagoon in the Indian Ocean.

One of these unknown islands was selected by Damian to launch his event and gather the leaders of Earth from all around the world—well, only the ones who saw reason sooner or later and started cooperating with him and behaving nicely. It was like a banquet. Damian had named it the World Leaders' Banquet.

Nothing too fancy, but for the show, he had made some unique, shiny runic tools on the go that would look pretty and all. A massive golden runic shield glowed in the sky, a fancy wooden structure covered the whole island, and his steel golem served drinks, which became quite a topic of interest for many.

Mostly, it was a simple gathering of these people, with quiet music in the background and good food and drinks. Damian welcomed everyone with a short speech and then let them do their thing. The speech was something like this:

"Well, here we are—standing in an event that will go down in history for better or worse, though I'm sure you're all well aware. The truth is, you all could keep going the way you always have, clinging to what you know. But the world is changing, whether you like it or not. So why not make a change of your own? I'm not here to convince anyone. If you want to stick to the same old dance, be my guest. But if you're ready to stop waiting for the inevitable and start shaping the future—then this is the chance, a chance to put down your grievances and truly walk the path of prosperity."

It wasn't much, but he had to say some good shit for appearances, so he did—not really caring what they did in reality. He wanted the world to advance and progress faster, but that did not mean having peace. Peace was not always better - he had learned that the hard way.

Scenes unfolded of British representatives negotiating trade routes with Spain, France, and the Ottomans to monopolize global commerce. France, at war with Britain, was negotiating for advanced weapons and shipbuilding techniques. Spain was offering Mexican silver and South American iron deposits in exchange for technological assistance.

Some Japanese diplomats were trying to get Western ship designs to strengthen their coastal defenses.

Meanwhile, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria was trying to secure Prussian neutrality by offering economic deals. King Frederick the Great was trying to play Britain and Austria against each other, securing the best deals for Prussia. Empress Elizabeth, at war with Prussia, was either putting on a show or genuinely discussing allying with Austria and France to counterbalance Britain.

The Ottoman Sultan was negotiating new trade routes with Europe and Asia, while the Mughals were trying to make Ottoman and Persian allies against European dominance. Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao and the Marathas were seeking Western gunpowder weapons, ship designs, and military strategy—potentially from France or other foreign nations.

What would the effects of this one meeting be? Only time will tell. But none of that interested Damian. Once the event was done without much trouble—other than the occasional exchange of heated words in some people's native languages (Good thing fighting through translators wasn't as effective)—Damian gathered another group of people for a very different meeting.

It was the same list of individuals he had compiled long before—people of intelligence, morals, and influence.

The invitation list contained Benjamin Franklin from North America, John Harrison from Britain, Jean le Rond d'Alembert from France, Jorge Juan y Santacilia from Spain, the Marquis of Pombal from Portugal, Mikhail Lomonosov from Russia, Ji Xiaolan from China, Aoki Konyō from Japan, Shah Waliullah from the Mughal Empire, Baron de Tott from the Ottoman Empire, Karim Khan Zand from Persia, Stanisław Konarski from Poland-Lithuania, Carl Linnaeus from Sweden, and Peshwa Baji Rao from the Marathas. These individuals combined scientific, political, and military expertise, making them ideal for shaping the world from the shadows.

Damian built another grand wooden base on another such uninhabited island. In the vast hall, there was a massive round table surrounded by fancy-looking chairs where all of them were waiting for him. Damian had secretly sent invitations to all of them and had called them to a location he wanted before using waygates to get them here.

When he had gone to the Pigmen Sun God and unlocked their way back to Vidalia's planet, Damian had hoped to return to Earth once in a while. But he didn't know whether the timeline was the same or if he had arrived hundreds of years before or after, since his spell had been malfunctioning. But now that he had many IDs of men and strong ties from Earth—people he was personally in contact with—it shouldn't send him anywhere randomly and should work as intended.

The Highswords coming and going without a problem proved that somewhat, but the real test would be to see if it still worked after Damian was back in his time on Vidalia's world.

So, with that in mind, Damian wanted a world he could come back to—not a war-torn world with massive loss of human lives. And for that one singular purpose, he was creating this shadow organization. For purely entertainment purposes he called it The Highswords.

Damian took a deep breath and entered the hall, accompanied by a group of language specialists who knew almost all the languages spoken by the people present. There was already murmuring inside the room, people wondering why they had been gathered there. But when Damian entered, the room fell silent, all eyes on him. At last, someone asked,

"Master Damian.. May we know why it is that you have summoned us?"

It was John Harrison. They had talked on multiple occasions while building his massive golem, so they knew each other quite well.

Damian did not delay and started speaking.

"People present in this room are some of the most clever, morally righteous, and influential individuals on this planet. Today, I am going to reveal to you all something that I have never revealed—not even to your world leaders."

The translators did their work, and murmuring followed, but it soon quieted down. He had their attention.

So he continued, "I once had a friend who was from Earth. And, as I mentioned earlier, I have visited this planet on multiple occasions before. Meaning, I know what people before your time were like. I know what people after your time will be like. I have seen it all.

The world progressed far beyond what any of you can imagine right now. Technology reigned supreme. Science and innovation became the one true language that everyone in the world could stand behind.

But there were still issues. Humans, by default, are deeply flawed beings—but so is every other race. There are no perfect people. Wars and conflicts are part of our evolution, and they have been the primary motivator behind many great advances in science.

But eventually, you people went too far. You made weapons that destroyed cities, countries—and, eventually, the whole world.

Yes, I have seen the blackened Earth after all of humanity was wiped clean. And that is the reason why I am doing this—in memory of my friend, whose home this once was."