Nixon

--- Abandoned Mines Entrance ---

"Jay, when are you going to plan out what you are going to do with those plane invaders?" The Chicken Lord asked Jay while he was resting from the previous fight.

"I cannot really do anything about it for now. Even though I can solo a lord-ranked monster or even though the Golden Phoenix is improving really fast in terms of power and economy, I don't think we would even stand a chance if we attack these plane invaders head on." Jay said in a serious voice.

"*sigh... I guess you're right. Then, what about that upcoming war you kept worrying about?" The Chicken Lord asked.

"Crap! Hey, what time is it now?" Jay asked immediately since he almost forgot about it after his one month of training.

"2nd week of November."

"Oh sh*t! The start of the war is just a week away." Jay suddenly panicked since he still haven't chose a side in the upcoming war.

"If I remember correctly, a week later, Holtheim will make its move. Then some peace talks will happen after some threats coming from Holtheim. Then after that, when the Blood Moon arrives, the bloody war will finally start. As for Aisleen's side and Barton's side..." Jay started mumbling to himself about the details he remembered from his past 10 years of experience.

Just as he was doing that, an apparition of a ratman appeared. The ratman apparition was a bit smaller than the normal ratman, had black fur, black robes, and really long whiskers that looked like a moustache. The most eye catching thing about this ratman was that it had ten different staves on its back.

"Greetings Jay." The ratman spoke in a deep and harsh voice.

...

"Who are you? How do you know of me?" Jay was not sure what was happening and decided to just respond normally.

"I know a lot of things young human. My name is Nixon, the Fatelord of Souls. The Planar Overseer. The Truthseeking Rat." The Ratman, Nixon, replied to Jay while he stood up and crossed his arms.

"WHAT?! Nixon?!" Jay was just stupefied this time. He did not know what was happening and suddenly remembered that Nixon was one of the Fatelords who needed assistance from the planar invaders. So he went to the mind room first and checked the Fatelord Plane map. And just like he thought, Nixon was still in need of assistance.

"For him to send an apparition of himself here... he wants help from me?" Jay thought to himself before leaving the mind room and asked Nixon's apparition, "Fatelord Nixon, may I know why you are looking for me?"

"Izumi asked me to meet with you, to warn you. All of your actions have affected the balance of this continent, may it be for better or for worse. With all of the problems we Fatelords are facing, with all the problems the guilds like Soaring Sky and White Fang are making, it's just really annoying." Nixon said while his apparition suddenly released a baleful and chilling aura. As for Jay, he just decided to listen for now since Nixon looked really serious.

After a few seconds...

"Sorry for my sudden outburst." Nixon said as he retracted his aura. He then took out a locket and opened it. Inside of it was the picture of Hellson and a pretty lady. The pretty lady had short brown hair and had a small and faint vertical scar on both her eyes.

"Tell me, do you know who these are? Of course you don't." Nixon did not even let Jay answer his question before speaking again.

"This is my fellow Fatelords. Hellson, the Fatelord of Knowledge. Maris, the Fatelord of Courage." Nixon's eyes suddenly started shedding tears before continuing.

"They died! Those monsters killed them, ate their corpses, and even threw their heads at my doorstep! Do you know how painful it was the moment I learned that two of my friends dies just like that?" After saying this, Nixon's apparition suddenly grabbed Jay by his shoulders and looked at Jay furiously.

"I looked for you all these years! And at last, I found you. Thanks to your misadventures and stumbling upon my old home, I finally found you!" Nixon said as his voice got even harsher.

"WHY DID THEY DIE JUST BECAUSE OF SOMEONE LIKE YOU? TELL ME!!!"

...

"What the... just how the hell did I cause the deaths of those two... and besides, Hellson is still deep within my Soul Space..." Jay was not sure if he should speak out his thoughts right now since Nixon was fuming in front of him.

Then after a few more seconds, when Nixon finally calmed down.

"Sorry for that outburst again." Nixon said as he kept the locket in his pocket and let go of Jay.

"I don't know what you really are, or your origins. But I hope you at least have a bit of conscience and not cause us Fatelords trouble in the future. Stay away from the Mythics. Stay away from the items we sealed away. Do not dabble in matters you are not wanted." After this warning, Nixon's apparition vanished.

...

"That's a lot to take in..." Jay told himself as he contemplated on that warning from Nixon.

"Hellson and Maris died because of me? Stay away from the Mythics? ..." Jay kept repeating the words Nixon said to him. He was not sure what Nixon even meant with all of those warnings and words of his, but Jay decided to play along since it was a Fatelord that told him.

Just at the same time he was doing this, Bloody Harvest and the rest, including the five ratmen, finished looting the abandoned mines for now.

"Jay, we finished looting... Jay? What's wrong?" Bloody Harvest was the first to speak up but everyone including him suddenly saw Jay in some kind of trance.

"Oh. Nothing. Everything's fine." Jay said as he faked a smile and chuckled.

"Come on. Let's return back to the surface."

After that, Jay led everyone outside of the abandoned mines and an hour later, around nighttime, they arrived back at the guild hall.

...

-- VIP Bedroom, 1st floor of the basement --

Jay was currently lying down on one of the beds here. The things Nixon told him still bothered his thoughts. When Jay asked the Chicken Lord what he thought about it, the Chicken Lord told Jay that he never saw Nixon's apparition nor heard the things Nixon said. When Jay tried asking Hellson, who was in his floating eyeball form and was just going around his soul space, Hellson just kept on avoiding him.

"Stay away from the mythics... I believe he wanted me to stay away from the mythic-ranked monsters."

"Hellson and Maris dying because of me... just what the hell did he mean by this?"

"Do not dabble in matters I am not wanted... is he talking about the planar invasion? Or something else?"

While he was contemplating over it and was really frustrated since he did not know what Nixon clearly meant, Nuggets suddenly came inside the VIP room and sat beside him.

Bawk? ("Jay? You feeling okay?")

"Not really. Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Bawk Bawk! ("Sure thing!")

"Do you think I am an idiot?" Jay asked while he looked straight into Nuggets' eyes.

Bawk! ("Yup! A complete idiot! Hahaha!!!")

Nuggets thought Jay just needed a bit of happiness in his life right now so she said this. But sadly, the effect backfired and Jay became more frustrated.

"I'm gonna take a walk." Jay said as he stood up, wore some normal NPC clothing, and just as he was about to leave the room...

Bawk Bawk!!! ("Jay, wait up!")

"Don't follow me for now. I am not in the mood to do anything at all." Jay said softly

before he left.

As for Nuggets, she realized and saw just how frustrated and distraught Jay was right now. She felt that it was as if Jay was pressuring himself too much and needed a break.

...

-- Courtyard (Garden Setting) --

Jay was currently sitting down and leaned against one of the trees in the courtyard. The chattering sounds from the Hub Center of the guild, the cool breeze of the air, the sounds of the leaves rustling, Jay was just trying to relax himself.

"First Great War. Planar Invasion. Protecting everyone I care about from the upcoming dangers ahead. The strange dream I had before..." Jay did not know if he should keep continuing on the pace on how things are going so far.

"Just what the hell am I doing with this reincarnated life of mine? A shut-in guy who had nothing to do than to waste 10 years of his life playing Dungeons and Towers of Fate. A shut-in guy getting reincarnated just at the moment he thought he reached the peak of the game." Jay kept on remembering the scenes from his past 10 years of experience, from the first time he played the game. As he was reminiscing about his past, tears flowed out from his eyes as he looked up at the starless night sky.

...

While that was happening...

Somewhere else, in the capital city of Holtheim, Vitales.

-- Crimsonvale Fortress, Vitales --

The fortress was four times larger than the Graycastle back at Greengarden. The fortress was mainly constructed from a material called Darkblood Silverstone. This stone-like material that had a blackish-red color and was as durable as diamonds.

The fortress was shaped like a dragon with a snake-like body that was coiled around a large mountain, the large mountain was the city of Vitales.

...

-- Crimsonvale Fortress, Dragon's Head (Throne Room) --

"Arturus, have you thought about my offer?" A lady in a fitted black hooded robe asked while she knelt down in front of the three people in front of her who were sitting on golden thrones.

The three people were Queen Aery, King Arturus, and Count Griscar IV.

Queen Aery was wearing a luxurious red dress, black heels, and black fishnets. As for her facial features, she had a long crimson colored hair that covered her right eye. Of course, she was wearing a silver jeweled crown on her head.

King Arturus was wearing a dark-red plate armor set that had four parts; a chestplate, shoulder guards, gauntlets, and boots. Together with it was a black cloak on his back that looked like a dragon's wing and pieces of silver-colored metals that was hammered on top of his armor set's parts. As for his facial features, he had white short hair, a white round beard, and looked as if he was in his 60s.

As for Count Griscar IV, his armor set looked exactly like the king's. The only difference was that the materials used were different since it was silver in color and the hammered metals on top of his armor set were jet black. And of course, he did not have a cloak on him. As for his facial features, he looked exactly like a bald old man with a black stuffy beard that was tied up with some strings.

"This potion of yours, I've got to say I'm impressed." King Arturus said and took out a purple potion in a rounded bottle.

"Overdrive. Once drank by a person, his combat prowess will double. Once thrown on enemies, it will either freeze or burn a small area around." King Arturus said before tossing the potion over to the hooded lady.

"Aisleen. Thanks to your great contribution and thanks to the massive-scale production of this potion, I don't believe that Wildergreene can stand a chance against us now."

When the hooded lady heard her name, she chuckled and removed her hood.

"Of course. Just do your best. So, when are you going to make your move? Our agreement was that once I help you produce Overdrive and provide it to all of your soldiers and the guilds that are allied with you, you will immediately collect your forces and..." Aisleen was just about to get to the good part of her plan but was interrupted by Queen Aery.

"Yes, yes. We already know. Some of my personal troops are already stationed near the Grayrock Mountains, Yellowleaf city, and Glimertree City. But it is still too early, give us one more week to prepare and we can mobilize Arturus' forces near Bloomridge Town and Griscar's spies to infiltrate Greengarden." Queen Aery said while she licked her red lips.

"Then, I will bid farewell for now my king." Aisleen said and left.