"I think you look sexy when you are mad, but can we leave the heart-ripping to later when he is not surrounded by, like, a million soldiers?" Jack said.
Red Death didn't respond. She just stared at the flames that were still raging at Rhemos' camp. There were occasional lightning strikes there. Jack could venture who was there wreaking havoc. It would not be wise to head over there at this time.
Red Death was silent for a long time. After seeing her feature calming down a bit, Jack asked again, "Seriously, what will you be doing now? You are no longer a member of Death Associates, you can't return there. You won't be able to fight the first prince by yourself."
"I won't be joining your guild if that's what you are asking?" Red Death said.
'Oh…,' Jack uttered in his mind. He was honestly disappointed hearing that.
"However, I know your guild will support the third prince in fighting Therribus. I will join your fight for the time being. Once it's over, I will go my own way."
"If that's what you want, that's okay," Jack said. "Just stick close to me for the time being. Your guild is hunting you. And from the look of it, Death Associates has now changed allegiance to the first prince's side. We will certainly clash with them during the conflict, are you okay with that?"
Red Death didn't reply.
Jack didn't force an answer from her. He took out his Town Return Scroll. "Let's head back to Thereath. There is nothing we can do here. I will need to look for Duke Alfredo to work out our next plan."
Red Death stayed silent, but she also took out her Town Return Scroll. Seeing that, Jack activated his.
*
Jack appeared inside Thereath's Zone Portal. When he saw he was alone, he was worried that Red Death had tricked him to return here while she rushed to where Therribus was in a bid for his life. When she appeared beside him soon, he heaved a relieved sigh.
The two of them then headed to the noble district. It was late at night, but Jack couldn't care less. He had exchanged messages with Jeanny. Commander Quintus and Duchess Isabelle were with them. They were now discussing how to deal with this sudden turn of events. Jeanny said that Prince Alonzo requested Jack to inform Duke Alfredo and Royal Advisor Mason about this. This was what he was doing now.
When he received Jeanny's message, he received a notification that his kingdom chain faction quest had been updated. It was now part four of the chain quest, 'Help Prince Alonzo to survive the civil war.' It was an SS-difficulty quest.
'Civil War,' He thought about the words after hearing the notification. So, Themisphere was now on the brink of a civil war. The outworlders here would now experience what Liguritudum's outworlders were experiencing.
Luckily, Duke Alfredo's estate was not blocked by a barrier like so many times when Jack came to visit. He went past the vast courtyard directly to the mansion. Jack banged on the main door. After a while, Winston appeared. The butler appeared composed but Jack could see the irritation in his eyes for being disturbed so late in the night.
"Mister Storm Wind," The butler greeted. "May I ask what manner of an urgent matter forces you to grace us with your presence so late in the night?"
"An urgent matter that involves the fate of the kingdom. Is Duke Alfredo in?" Jack asked.
"He is, but he is asleep. I am afraid I will have to ask you to come again in the morning," Winston said.
"I'm afraid I won't do such a thing. Take me to the duke, please?" Jack said, politely.
Winston eyed Jack uncertainly.
"Take me to the duke or I will force my way in," Jack threatened.
Winston sighed. "Follow me," He said.
Jack and Red Death followed Winston to the second floor where Duke's quarter was. In the meantime, he sent a message to John informing him about the situation. If what Wilted said about country war would be involving guild's forces, they would need to prepare their forces for the coming conflict.
"War? Yes! I am bored to death with this peace. I have been thinking about tricking the coalition into attacking us again if this continues," Jack received John's reply.
'Lunatic,' Jack thought, but he didn't think the guy was joking. John had been proposing they go for the offensive against other guild headquarters. Jack didn't feel like invading others, he told John that he won't join if they proceed. He was too busy with his own stuff anyway. While Jeanny was too polite to invade others. The anger he felt for his mother had cooled down, so even when John proposed that they attacked Wicked Witches' headquarters, she wasn't truly on board. In the end, the proposal for an invasion was scrapped.
Jack decided to not send John further messages after the guy's psychotic reply. John would know how to prepare from that small piece of information.
When they arrived at the Duke's bedroom, Winston knocked on the door, lightly.
'Shit, man… Do you not eat today?' Jack said in his mind.
When there was no response inside, Winston said, "I think the duke is fast asleep. We should return tomo…"
Jack didn't wait for Winston to finish his sentence. He moved forward and banged the door. "Duke Alfredo! Forgive me! But there is an urgent matter!" Jack shouted.
Winston was speechless by Jack's rudeness, but he could do nothing to stop Jack. He could only grumble, "In times like this, I wish I am still possessed by that abominable cardinal, so I can teach you some manners."
They heard some sounds from inside. Duke Alfredo was clearly awake now. After some time, the door opened. The duke was in his pajamas staring at them with a questioning expression.
"My Lord, please forgive me. Mister Storm Wind insists," Winston said apologetically.
"My Lord, forgive me as well, but you won't blame me for disturbing your sleep after you listen to what I have to say," Jack said. He then narrated what he had seen in Rhemos camp.
After listening to the story, the Duke took Jack and Red Death with him and rushed to the palace. On the way, Jack noticed that the duke was at higher levels than before. He was now level 70. He was now at the same power level as Garland. When Jack asked him about it, the duke explained that it was all thanks to Jack winning the World Tournament. The duke was one of the individuals who Prince Alonzo appointed to receive the Council of Virtus' blessing and training. That's how he had managed to improve within this short period.
They arrived at the palace soon. Because it was the duke who brought them, they were not turned away by the guards despite the late night. A servant brought them to the Royal Advisor's quarter. They were told by the guards to wait outside while the guards knocked on the door.
Not long after, Mason's voice was heard from behind the door, "What is it?"
Duke Alfredo announced himself before saying, "I apologize for intruding so late, Royal Advisor, but we need to discuss something urgent with you. Can we go in for a discussion?" Duke Alfredo was not comfortable saying anything here where the guards could listen.
There was a pause before Mason replied, "Wait a minute."
After a while, Royal Advisor Mason opened the door to his room. Duke Alfredo and Jack thought they would be invited in, but instead, Mason said, "Follow me."
Mason opened his door only slightly to allow him out, as the door was closing, Jack's Dragon Eye caught someone inside Mason's room. He only managed to see a silhouette before the door closed, but he was certain it was a woman.
'Does the royal advisor have a relationship with someone?' Jack wondered but didn't think too much about it. It was the royal advisor's private life. He has no right to be nosy about it.
Mason took them to an empty meeting room nearby. After closing the door, Duke Alfredo informed him about the matter.
"Prince Rhemos is dead…?" Mason said. A shock on his face.
"I saw it with my own eyes," Jack confirmed.
Hearing that, Mason asked them to wait and went out of the room. Not long after, he returned. "You are right… Rhemos' name had become grey in the soul registry…," Then to Jack, he said, "I'm sorry. It's not that I don't believe you. But for such a sensitive matter, I have to make sure."
"I understand," Jack said. He took no offense.
"In this case, things will be moving fast now," Mason continued. "With the king in his current state, I've been afraid Therribus will take action sooner or later, I just never expect it to be this soon. I will send people to collect more information. You said Prince Alonzo is in Theneward?"
"Yes," Jack nodded.
Mason called in a servant and relayed some instructions to him, the servant then hurriedly headed off somewhere else.
They continued their discussions. Mason started to ask Jack to send messages to Jeanny who was at Prince Alonzo's side. With the outworlders' messaging system, they ended up having a long-range discussion between the two sides.
In between the hours, the servant came in and brought new information. Jack was amazed by the speed at which this country's intelligence network was gathering information. Mason then gave new instructions to the servant. The discussion continued until the morning after. It was close to midday now. By then, much new information had arrived.
"It seemed Prince Therribus was adamant in settling this in a short time," Mason said. "From the last report, various troops from the army and nobles who supported him were heading towards Theneward. The report mentioned the force when gathered will be around a hundred thousand strong."
