Betrayal & Schemes(2)
In the Adventurer's Guild were Vanoss, his few friends with him, including the Caeruleum Guardians with them sitting in the bar area, having their last drinks.
With now the new Duke in this city, many adventurers began to leave the Guild and the city to live in another because the current Duke was a member in a Human Supremacy church, which all of the non-human Adventurers doesn't like it about.
"Huh, a few days, isn't it? Ey?" Draila began to say.
"Yup." Vanoss replied to the red-headed woman. Right now there are rarely any adventurers in the Guild from the attacks last night.
Vinx groaned, "Man, I will miss you guys. It isn't even fair from that dumbass church."
"You said it!" said Delirious.
"But at least we have fun when we are in the dungeon." Peter added.
"Except for me…" Moo murmured deadpan.
"But hey. We can see each other later, it's not like the end of the world or something, right?" Draila asked.
"Yup," said Vanoss.
Nogla nodded, "Mhm…"
Sokushi remained silent.
"Hey Tyler. Once we meet again, wanna fight like last time?" Peter said to the pig.
"Ah, sure! Unfortunately you would probably get stomped instantly." Wildcat said with a smug look. But Peter seems unfazed by it.
"Well, luckily I'm already at a breakthrough."
Vinx stated, "Yeah, just in last night's battle, he immediately went Rank 5 when he fought against tens of members of the Church of Carnage."
"Ah, congrats."
"So, what are you guys gonna do? Literally most of your party were demi-humans, and your now living in a city filled with racist people soon. What now?" Basically asked.
Vanoss added, "Yeah, what now, guys? We tried our best and yet, we failed miserably. But, the lesson is... never try…"
Everyone stared at Vanoss in silence.
"Is that a Simpson reference?" Terroriser asked.
"...No."
Marcel facepalmed to himself, "That's definitely a Simpson Reference, idiot."
"Okay, I don't really care what you guys really on about, but for your questions is that about 48% of adventurers in the city all started to leave, most of them headed towards Srimilia City from the Kingdom of Halbario somewhere in the Great Isthmus Region," Draila stated, "It is similar to Orazvil, but the city is a bit small and the dungeon only has a total of 80 floors. But still, it's a beautiful city with many different cultures and races just like Orazvil. We are going there as our new home now."
"Ah, good for you," said Basically.
Peter sneered, "Yeah! Those Religious Fanatics from the Rising Sun forgot something... Adventurers' popularity!"
"Ha! Dumbass motherfuckers!" Wildcat said with a laugh.
Bam!
"Alright!" Vanoss yelled out, slamming his palm upon the table, "Anybody have our last drinks before we leave this soon-to-be shitty city!"
Draila nodded, "Yeah, I can't wait to leave right now."
"Cheers!"
"CHEERS!"
——————————————————————
After saying their goodbyes to the Caeruleum Guardians. In the house where our heroes are staying...
Vanoss, Matilda, Sherene, and the others regrouped here after last night's events. Only Sebastian, Zabrina, and Sara had separated from the group after they left the city hall. Nobody did not know where they were, but to be honest, none of them did not care, because the two different organizations' superiors were about to have a meeting with the country's leaders soon. So there is no need to worry about.
Of the group, Nogla was still unconscious after using up all his mana and Samara was keeping watch in case someone attacks. The rest of the group was seated in the living room with serious expressions.
"We have been had." Sherene said with a depressed sigh.
"That's exactly what I am about to say," said Wildcat.
Matilda and Julian beside him were equally depressed. They could not help but grit their teeth every time they remembered Benjamin and the words he announced this morning.
Moo could not help but smile wryly when he saw they like that.
Actually, although he was also displeased by the new duke's attitude, he was just mildly annoyed. In the end, he and his friends goal was to eliminate something that was gonna interrupt their fun and peaceful times, and that something was already killed. Thus, they had accomplished their objective.
Sherene and Matilda on the other hand...
"These hypocritical bastards! How dare them to slander us like that!!" Matilda snarled.
Marcel thought for a moment and looked at Sherene and Matilda.
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
Sherene sighed, "Now that the new duke made the church of the rising sun Orazvil Duchy's official religion, the church of the golden dawn will start to retire from the duchy."
Julian nodded, "Yup, not only the Church, but also most of the beastmens, Orcs, Dwarves, and other demi-humans in Orazvil City will leave. The church of the rising sun preaches human supremacy, and they are greatly xenophobic. Now that they are the official religion of the duchy, it's just a matter of time before they start to oppress the people of other races."
At that moment, Ellies entered the living room.
"Excuse me."
Bowing slightly towards the group, Ellies walked towards Julian and whispered something in his ear. When Julian heard her words, he was startled. Then, he put on a wry smile.
"It looks like the Dolasm State already learned about the situation here. I received orders from my superiors to leave the Duchy as soon as possible and bring the Prince back."
"Me and the boys are also planning to leave soon, I guess in the following days." Vanoss said.
"Now that you mention it, what are you guys planning next?" Julian asked.
"Oh, just returning to our homes. Have fun then go to the next adventure we like to go to."
Matilda hummed, "Seems more fun that is."
"Yeah, I hope there will be no more chaos everytime we travel around. Haha, am I right?"
Wildcat look at Vanoss dangerously, "Evan, shut the fuck up, your about to jinx it."
"Yeah, you're definitely setting up a red flag on us." Terroriser added.
"Oh come on, guys. That just anime bullcrap stuff. We are not like some Calamity Magnets, are we?"
"We definitely are," said Basically.
Delirious nodded in agreement, "Yeah, one of us might cause an all-out war between two countries if we did something dumb."
——————————————————————
– Unknown Location –
"Boss." A black-dressed man entered a dark room and kneeled on a knee.
A few seconds later, a voice came from the other side of the room.
It was a man with an indifferent expression. He was staring fixedly at an experimental tube in front of him, observing each little change on the black orb floating inside.
"What is it? Did something happen?"
"Yes. Some of the seeds we planted have sprouted. Unfortunately, the results were not as good as we expected."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"Understood." The black-dressed man kneeling on the ground nodded. He then started to report the situation. "Our plan were unsuccessful in the few countries at the west side of the Great Isthmus Region. When the plan was about to start, the leader of Midnight Order herself appeared suddenly and eliminated all the men we had stationed there. Nobody survived. Moreover, she grasped some of our communication channels, so we were forced to sever them to not expose more of our plans."
The man in front of the tube nodded indifferently, "How unlucky. That plan had a high chance to succeed... Well, failing is normal if that troublesome Draconian and her adherents are involved. What else?"
"We failed in one of the major cities in the Senadate Theocracy too. According to the news I received, the rebellion we incited was quelled by the infamous Papal Scriptures. It was not even one percent as effective as we expected."
"The Papal Scriptures," The man sighed, "Well, I was not expecting much from our plan in the Senadate Theocracy. Their foundations are too solid to be shaken by something like this... It doesn't matter. We just need to try again. For now, ask our men there to keep a low profile."
"I understand. The last report is about Orazvil City... We succeeded there."
This time, the man in front of the tube could not help but turn around. "So Benjamin succeeded?" He said, slightly surprised.
"Well, he had planned this for a long time."
"True. At the last minute, the Church of the Golden Dawn and Midnight Order intervened, but they were unable to change the situation. Everything developed as we expected."
"I see... Okay, you can go. Oh, right, what about the specimens I asked for?"
"They will be arriving soon."
"That is good. Their talents will be useful for my plans. Also, recently I confirmed the existance of a new valuable sample. Now I think about it, he was coincidentally in Orazvil city. He should have a special power related to destruction. Find him and bring him to me."
"I will, Boss."
With these words, the man kneeling on the ground disappeared on the shadows and left.
After the black-dressed man was gone, the other man continued looking at the black orb. Only when he was sure the situation with the Orb was not going to change in the next five minutes, he moved his gaze away and walked towards a table nearby.
In the table, a three-meters long map of the continent was spread.
The map contained the name of each country, region, and city; plus information about the forces inhabiting it. Surprisingly, it included even the most hidden forces that the churches and royal families kept hidden.
A white chess piece was standing in each country or region, simbolizing the current status of the man's plans. However, few places had different colored chess pieces, especially other continents.
The Forgotten Lands(The 8 Other Continents).
Kingdom of Herldorion.
The Forest of Death.
Alnub Forest.
And few other nations and locations.
In both places, the white chess piece had been replaced by a pitch-black and ominous chess piece.
After the man finished observing the map, he extended his left hand. He then took away the white piece in Orazvil Duchy and used his right hand to replace it with a black piece.
Strangely, the number '0' was tattooed in the back of the man's right hand.
"Soon..."
.
.
.
.
.
"...you will soon lose this game, Outcast Goddess."
Shaking his head, he returned in front of the tube containing the black orb and continued observing it.
For an instant, though, his gaze seemed to pierce space, sometimes he faced some spells countering Surveillance or Divination Magic, but his power is enough to easily bypass all of them. Soon, his vision arrives at a room in Orazvil City, watching the scene before him.
There, the new duke was looking at himself in the mirror. He was half-naked, with only his pants on, revealing the powerful muscles in his upper body.
"Do you know, father?" The new duke, Benjamin, spoke to himself. "Since the start, you were just a simple chess piece, inside a huge chess board."
With a small laugh, Benjamin walked towards a box nearby. When he opened it, a disgusting black-creature appeared in front of him.
The creature trashed fiercely against the box, but the seals on it meant the creature could not break it no matter how much it struggled.
"Finally, you have been completed." He smiled with a gaze full of desire. He then extended his hand and grabbed the creature.
The creature struggled, but its strength was incomparable to the Demigod. Moreover, for some reason, it could not use its ability to absorb energy.
"So many lives, just for a little creature like you to mature." Benjamin laughed again. But this time, his laugh was filled with greed. Greed for the terrifying power this creature could give him.
Then, he brought the creature to his chest.As though the creature had discovered something incredibly enticing, it bit his chest, opening a hole almost instantly and burrowing in it.
"Ugh!" Benjamin grunted, but he endured the pain without showing it in his face. The pain that could make a normal human faint was nothing to the demigod.
Eventually, the creature finished entering his body, and Benjamin smiled in excitement.
Nobody, not even the Banana Bus Squad, Sherene, or everyone realized that Benjamin never killed the creature in the duke's chest and instead sparring its remainings and had stolen it
Nobody, not even the church of the rising sun, realized that Benjamin was the true mastermind behind the entire incident. Even the Church of the Rising Sun and the Church of Carnage were also just pawns in his plan.
And nobody, not even the gods themselves, knew of the tattoo with the number '16' engraved in Benjamin's chest.
Volume 2 Ended