Recruiting A Thousand Men

--- Ironblood Prison, 30th Floor

This floor looked like a mining area. There were pickaxes, shovels, hammers, carts, etc. scattered around. The prisoners on this floor are being forced to mine up some minerals from the stony walls. The reason why this floor looked like this was because of another mechanism made by the dwarves.

...

"Bofar, would you mind stepping aside? All of us here want to breath the fresh air of the outside world again." The old man who freed Aaron said as he looked at the warden.

Together with the old man was thousands of prisoners he released. And beside him was a large white tiger standing on its two legs. This white tiger is Vardis, the Tiger King, one of the five kings of the beastmen that pledged loyalty to Aisleen after some 'talking.'

As for the warden, he had 10 gargoyles and a thousand dwarves with him.

"Step aside dwarf. My kind does not have any kind of enmity with your people. Just stand down and join us in our conquest." Vardis shouted and roared furiously.

"I suppose you're the leader of these scumbags breaking out of prison then?" The warden, Bofar, shouted as he looked at Vardis.

"Not really. I am just helping them break out. Queen's orders." Vardis said before he went on all fours and pounced towards the warden.

"Capture them all. Dead or alive." Bofar shouted and a great battle between the prisoners and the dwarfs started.

...

5 minutes later...

Jay finally arrived at the 30th floor after using Shadow Phase Rush a couple of times. The moment he arrived, there were already thousands of casualties, may it be Bofar's men or the prisoners.

Bofar was currently swinging his war hammer over and over again as he fought the Tiger King, Vardis. But no matter what he did, Vardis stopped all of his attacks by blocking and parrying it with his claws.

"Annoying guardian fighters..." Vardis said softly before spitting some blood and moved a few distance away from Bofar.

Just as these two were going to clash again, Jay used Shadow Phase Rush and went between the two.

"Stop."

After shouting this, he performed a Whirlwind Kick. Due to the soul imprint that happened to him before, blades of wind were created the moment he used Whirlwind Kick.

~Swoosh, swoosh...

These blades of wind went in random directions but targeted Bofar and Vardis. Of course, the two of them easily blocked it.

"Step aside or I will lock you up together with these fools." Bofar shouted furiously as he looked at Jay. He did not recognize Jay due to the disguise he had.

~ROAR!

Vardis roared furiously at Jay, preparing to fight him too.

"Warden, I will pay for all these prisoners and the rest that are still locked up at the lower floors. As for the casualties, I will also provide some funds for their funerals." Jay said to Bofar before shouting on the top of his voice.

"SETTLE DOWN FOOLS!"

Of course, everyone who was still fighting was caught off guard with Jay's shout. So they all stopped momentarily as they looked at Jay who just shouted.

"Warden, do we have a deal?" Jay asked Bofar while everyone was at a standstill.

"Do you think you can..." Before Bofar can even say that Jay cannot afford it, Jay reached out his right hand and Gold Crystals kept spewing out of his palm. Of course, these Gold Crystals were taken out from his storage orb. He just reached out his hand for the dramatic effect.

"WHAT!??" Bofar shouted as he saw hundreds of Gold Crystals flowing down on the ground. Together with him, may it be his men, the prisoners, and even Vardis got shocked with seeing hundreds of Gold Crystals.

"1000 Gold Crystals. I suppose this settles it?" Jay asked as he looked at Bofar who's mouth was wide open, probably from shock.

After a few seconds, Bofar calmed down and looked at Jay seriously.

"Are you sure you want to do this lad?" Bofar asked.

"Yes. But I want them handcuffed when they leave with me, and also give me the keys to their cuffs." Jay said loudly, to make sure the prisoners hear him.

"Bullsh*t!"

"What rubbish are you saying!??"

The prisoners shouted furiously and cursed Jay.

"Don't worry. I will just ask everyone a question later on before I unlock your cuffs." Jay said calmly.

When the prisoners heard Jay's words, they calmed down too and just decided to go with Jay's plan.

...

--- Outside area of the prison

After a couple of minutes, all of the prisoners were gathered outside. There were thousands of them that the place got really overcrowded.

Jay gestured everyone to follow him as he walked away from the prison and looked for a passageway down the mountains.

...

--- Serpentstone Marsh

This place was located near the Grayrock Mountains, just a couple of kilometers away to the north. Jay and the prisoners arrived here after a few minutes of walking.

Serpentstone Marsh was not really a hostile area filled with monsters, but rather, it was where the Serpentine folk lives. The place just looked like an ordinary marshland.

Jay immediately told everyone to stop and he went in front of the crowd.

"Before I unlock your cuffs, I want to ask all of you something. What are you going to do after I unlock your cuffs?" Jay asked.

"Isn't it obvious boy? I will go back to my queen and tell her about this!" Vardis shouted since he was just dragged along with the prisoners here. He was not even one of the prisoners and was just supposed to help them escape, then Jay arrived and everything else happened.

After Vardis shouted, Jay took off his disguise.

"I know all of you have your own plans. But tell me, with the war happening between Wildergreene and Holtheim, do you think you can go back to your peaceful lives and go back to the world of crime? Think about it." Jay shouted to make sure everyone can still hear him since there were thousands of them he was talking to.

"There's a war going on?" The prisoners were surprised to learn this since they haven't heard any news from the outside world when they were still at the Ironblood Prison.

"But the war happening is not the worst thing that is happening in our continent. Just recently, demons that are overpowered as f*ck appeared. So tell me, what if these demons encountered you? Do you think you will still be alive?" Jay shouted again.

"Rubbish! Don't mess with us boy! If these overpowered demons did appear, then why are we still alive right now?" The old man with long white hair shouted. He lived for 800 years in this continent but he never heard of these demons Jay was speaking of.

"Hellson, I need help dude. Just release your Fatelord Aura or something." Jay spoke to Hellson who was watching him inside his Soul Space.

After that, the moment Hellson released his Fatelord Aura, almost all of the prisoners shuddered in fear.

"I am Jay Castle. I was chosen by the Fatelords to drive out these demons. The reason I freed all of you is because I want you to join me. If you join me, I promise that I will give you new homes, new jobs, and whatever you can think of. As for fighting alongside me, I will leave the decision up to you. No matter what your choice is, if you join me, I will still give you the things I've promised." Jay shouted while showing a lot of confidence and tried to show sincerity.

When the prisoners heard him, they immediately removed all of their doubts and decided to join up. May it be Aaron and his people from Flaming Spears, may it be Roxanne and her people from Crimson Valkyrie, and even the old man and Vardis decided to join up. If Jay really will give them those things he promised, then what's the use of returning to the life of crime?

"Jay, before I join you, I want to ask permission from my queen. If she does not allow me to join you, then I will just send some of my fellow brothers to join you." Vardis said as he knelt down in front of Jay.

"May I know the reason why you are joining me Tiger King?" Jay asked since he was only targeting the prisoners, but Vardis ended up joining him too.

"Since you are chosen by the Fatelords, then why the hell should I refuse to join you? Beastmen, Halfbloods, Humans, it does not matter what our race is. All of us are indebted to the Fatelords for keeping us safe all these years." Vardis said while he continued to kneel down.

"My name is Horace. I am a devout follower of the Fatelord of Courage. She saved me when I was still a child. Please let me join you, the one chosen by the Fatelords." The old man with long white hair said as he knelt down in front of Jay.

After he knelt down, the thousands of prisoners also knelt down. They did not care if their pants got drenched in the muddy waters of the marshland. They still continued to kneel down to show their sincerity towards Jay.

"Alright then. From this day on, all of you are citizens of the Kingdom of the Golden Phoenix." Jay shouted and told everyone to rise and line up in front of him so he can unlock their handcuffs.

...

Meanwhile, somewhere else within the Grayrock Mountains...

--- Grayrock Family Mansion

"What the..." Aisleen, Cidney, and Harold had their jaws dropping when they heard a report from one of Aisleen's spies. The report was about how Jay freed all of the prisoners in the Ironblood Prison and led them towards the marshlands.

"You said Vardis was with him?" Aisleen asked the spy in front of her.

"Yes my queen. Sir Vardis is also with them."

When Aisleen heard this, she immediately left the place and rushed towards the Serpentstone Marshlands, to look for Jay.

...

--- Ancient Stone Palace

This place was at the center of the Grayrock Mountains. The place looked really ancient when seen outside, but its interior was completely different.

The interior of the place was really clean and shiny to look at. The stone walls were really shiny for some reason, a red carpet ran through the center, the floor was made out of gold, and at the far end of the place was a gigantic golden throne where a large dwarf was seated.

The large dwarf was King Floki. He had long brown hair, a long beard that is tied up, and he had a golden mask that covered the rest of his face. He was also wearing the usual thick steel armor that dwarves use.

Currently, in front of him was Bofar, who was kneeling down and told him about how a mysterious person wearing an assassin's attire bought all of the prisoners at Ironblood Prison.

"Interesting. You should've invited him over to my palace first." King Floki said with a rugged and deep voice.

"Apologies your grace." Bofar said to King Floki.

"Nevermind all of that. At least we have fewer things to worry about and focus on this Aisleen and her beastmen army." King Floki said calmly as he waved his hand, gesturing Bofar that he can leave if he does not have anything else to report.

"My king, there is another thing." Bofar spoke up again.

"What?" King Floki asked and yawned, as if he wanted to sleep already.

"One of our scouts told me that those people from Holtheim that were camped near our mountains were on the move and were heading south, towards Bramblethorn City."

"They are indeed courageous for them to march their armies already. We really don't have to give a crap about them as long as they do not involve us in their war." King Floki said before standing up.

"I'm really sleepy so just let the Three Masters deal with the rest of the issues if there is." King Floki yawned loudly before vanishing from sight after using a Free Space Movement ring to teleport himself somewhere else within the Ancient Stone Palace.