In a hall with a gloomy atmosphere, three people were having a meeting. All three were of different races. A young draconian male, a middle-aged elven woman, and an ethereal. The ethereal was Master. He was currently sitting behind a desk with the two others standing opposite him.
"Verremor's invasion into Themisphere has ended? So soon?" He asked.
"The human army performed much better than I expected," The elven woman said. "That Death Associates who offered themselves to us also failed to deliver."
"I've told you not to expect much from them," the draconian remarked with a snicker.
"A willing pawn is still better than none. They requested assistance to help them secure a headquarters in Aurebor Dynasty since Themisphere was no longer hospitable to them. I have taken the liberty to send a garrison of our members and one of the heavenly enforcers. I hope you don't mind."
Master didn't respond.
The elven woman continued, "Even though Verremor's invasion had failed. Nevertheless, that war weakens the two countries. They won't be able to do much once we started expanding. Speaking of expanding, I heard the prince is not yet willing to go through with the plan."
"He is hesitant because he suffers more than he thought. He wants to consolidate his position in this country first. That fool! With each passing second, it will just lower our chance," Master said.
"We might need to give him a stronger persuasion," the elven woman said.
Master didn't reply.
"Do I still need to stay in Verremor to coax the Raretooth tribe?" The Draconian asked.
"They have outlived their usefulness," Master said. "However, now that the invasion had failed, that tribe's prestige will fall. Perhaps you can use this chance to rope in the young warlord to our side."
"That thick-headed fool? Heh, seeing him only reminds me of that stubborn ex-master of mine. It just sickens me. Do I have to?"
"Yes."
"Hehe. You know. One day, I might just stab you in the back," the draconian said.
"You are welcome to try," Master replied.
"Heh. Fine, I'm off," The draconian said and left.
After the draconian left, the elven woman said, "You do enjoy surrounding yourself with troublesome individuals. I wonder how Wong would react if he finds out that the person he has been looking for is under your thumb all this time, even his fellow heavenly enforcer to boot."
"All that matters are their capabilities," Master said. "I wouldn't have chosen you and them as my Heavenly Enforcers otherwise. They should be honored to be able to serve a future God. You are the same. I wonder whether you are truly helping me, or is there another agenda? After all, your son and husband are not exactly friendly to our cause."
"I don't need their permission to do anything. They will understand in the long run," The elven woman said.
"I hope so, for yours and their sakes. Once this world is mine, those who serve me will be rewarded. Especially ones with the title of a heavenly enforcer. You should be proud of it."
"Of course. Now, please excuse me. I need to prepare our next strategy if that prince is still hesitant," the elven woman said and left.
After she left, the gloomy hall was even bleaker, but Master liked it as it is. He enjoyed luxuries from time to time, but what mattered to him was always functions before forms. Over embellishments were a waste.
While he was pondering many issues, a black fog formed in the middle of the hall. The temperature around the room dropped and his heartbeats involuntarily quickened despite his effort to keep them steady.
"Hm... I guess it's inevitable," Master muttered as the black fog turned into the shape of a man. The fog then dispersed and Fear stood where the fog was.
Master was already standing up from his seat and came over to where Fear was.
Fear stared at this outworlder. Normally he would just blast any mortals who were audacious enough to not kneel before him, but he had tried it before on this outworlder and failed. Doing it again would just be an embarrassment.
"Greetings, God Fear. I wonder what was the urgent matter that you honor me with your presence," Master said.
Fear just kept his cold eyes on Master. He let his natural fear aura assail this outworlder before him, but Master didn't budge. Only two outworlders had ever shown such resistance against his influence. It displeased him.
"Hmph, Arlstraxx mentioned some interesting things about our deal," Fear finally spoke.
"If you don't believe me, then there is nothing I can say," Master replied. "I do admit that I have gained plenty of assistance from your cult, but I have also helped you aplenty. One of which is the divine heritage. Without me, I don't think that you can get it even with your might. There is also the recipe I've given to you so you can use that divine heritage to create the Godkiller, a weapon capable of killing a God."
Fear didn't say anything, so Master continued, "The reason you, Greed, and Wrath are incapable of doing things as you like is because of the existence of the so-called good Gods. Six of them existed, which severely tips the balance on their side. Because of me, there are only four left now. Still not a good odd for your side. But if you take down one of them, then the playing field will be leveled."
"Hmph, even if the weapon is ready, it is not that easy to use it on a God," Fear said. "Not to mention, Hope is the strongest among us. Even with him alone, he can still cause trouble to us all."
"Then what if I tell you that I have a way to reduce their number again by one and create a chance for you to use the Godkiller weapon on Hope with a hundred percent certainty?" Master asked.
"I will say that you are bluffing."
Master smiled. "As I said, there is nothing I can do if you don't believe me. But if you look back to the past, when has I never delivered? Once I get all the divine treasures, I will bring you into my world, the real world. If you decide not to at that time, it is fine as well. Because by that time, you will have defeated Hope and his fellow Gods. There will be nothing stopping you from doing what you want in this world."
Master stopped then. He had said what he could. It all depended on Fear now. His mind was on the prismatic shell tool inside his inventory though, just in case. However, this was the last one he had in his possession. After this, he won't be able to defy these Godly beings anymore.
Silence ensued for a full minute before Fear uttered, "How?"
"The time is not right yet. Just make sure the Godkiller is ready as soon as possible. I will inform you once it is time."
Another short silence before Fear said, "You will regret it if you play tricks on me."
He then vanished as mysteriously as he appeared.
Master was again alone in the hall, heaving a silent relief sigh.
"What about Death Associates?" John asked. He and the others were still inside Prince Alonzo's workroom.
"We will be issuing a quest with a bounty on both their guild and guild members," Mason answered. "The quest should go public tomorrow morning. We didn't want to post it before the war ends so that this quest didn't undermine the war quest."
"Tomorrow morning? All right," John said.
"Are we targeting them?" Jack asked after seeing John's response.
"You bet your ass we are going to. With another guild hostage token, our resource income will escalate."
"But, our guild soldiers are in shambles already while theirs are still intact."
"We will talk later," John said and turned to Prince Alonzo and Mason, "Are we done here?"
"Dude...," Jack said to him with an exasperated expression. This guy truly had no tact.
Prince Alonzo was not offended, though. "You three are dismissed. Thank you for your services," he said.
Before the three left, Mason reminded Jack again with a stern face, "Mister Storm Wind, please remember to attend the rehearsals for the coronation ceremony."
"Yes, sir," Jack said. He was depressed again by the reminder. He was never the type to enjoy ceremonies and such.
After coming out of the palace, John said, "Okay, I will send out orders for everyone to prepare. We will go to Death Associates' headquarters early tomorrow. I will have one member wait in the guild hall to grab the quest once it goes public. We will then hit their headquarters after we get that quest."
"Why the rush?" Jeanny asked. "Are you afraid someone else will get to them before us?"
"Don't forget the matter of the guild army! How are we going to fight their fully intact army?" Jack reminded.
"Their army won't be around," John said.
"They won't?" Both Jack and Jeanny asked.
"Not only that, but most of their players will also be absent," John added.
"Huh? How so?"
"Hehe," John grinned. "My eyes and ears told me they will be hitting a guild headquarters in the Aurebor Dynasty tomorrow. It is an attempt to relocate their headquarters to that country. So, tomorrow after they started their assault on that headquarters, we will strike their undefended headquarters."
"Wow! So coincidental that the kingdom is issuing the bounty quest on them tomorrow," Jack remarked.
"Actually, if the kingdom still does not release the official quest to hunt them down, I will have just ordered an assault without waiting for that bounty quest, so that we can get their guild hostage token. The kingdom issuing the quest tomorrow means we can get additional rewards for this assault," John said with a grin.
