"Boss!" Lynn ran up the stairs panting slightly with a group of Killer Peggies right behind her. Their choppers were sharpened and ready to cleave through any armour or any other type of resistance they might encounter. She even had the resurrected Tyr Elites follow quietly behind her, ready to act at a moment's notice. It was plain obvious that they had already fallen as the System's thralls and would act against their former Shadow King if necessary.
However, when they opened the door… they found Jin discussing a series of business deals with his supposed mission target, having a serious conversation until they both looked up, interrupted by the appearance of the newcomers.
"I see that you have successfully enthralled all of my Elites," Neil sighed as he stood up and bowed. He introduced himself as Tyr Gauntlets' Shadow King and Lynn was pleasantly surprised by them talking things over with their mouths instead of their fists.
Noticing her gaze, Neil laughed. "If I were Atrocity's or Eld Enclave's Shadow King, I probably would have done that. Atrocity would use the excuse of passing out judgement against you, when in truth, they'd just want revenge. Eld Enclave, on the other hand, would love to get their hands on your bodies to study the secrets of your magical styles. Of course, both scenarios would need them to survive your onslaught first." Neil added as he courteously offered Lynn the seat beside Jin's.
"We have not even fought and you already think I could win?" Jin chuckled as he poured Lynn a glass of alcohol and asked the chef to give it a try.
"Last time we fought, I was stronger than the other two Shadow Kings combined, yet I didn't have to fight you to feel that if it came down to it, I would be at the losing end." Neil admitted as he stared at Jin for a moment before gazing upon the battle maiden who had bested nearly all his Elites on her own. Suffice to say, the Killer Peggies at the door were beaming at him, watching his every move in case he tried to do anything funny against their Queen. Regardless of whether he had already accepted the System's contract, the peggies were a fanatic bunch of warriors that would do anything to keep their Queen safe under their protection.
Meanwhile, Lynn was appreciating the strong flavour of the alcohol and wondering whether she could and should try to recreate it for her customers. Jin explained to her what they had discussed and it was the first time Lynn was hearing about the Church of the Afterlife having instigated other cities to attack them. Because of her primary job, she had hardly been part of the War Room and nobody else had bothered to tell her that this entire raid had changed recently into an elaborate plan to lure the Church of the Afterlife into fighting.
"But we all believed it would not happen so soon. Given their cautious nature based on the information given to me by Kraft and Kiyu, I estimated that they would probably only attack after a week or two." Jin commented.
"As I've said, I would still recommend you to announce the fall of me, the Tyr Gauntlets' Shadow King. Not to toot my own horn too much, but my supposed demise would actually be quite the big news to the other two Shadow Kings. When the human cities learn that one entire Mafia faction has been defeated this fast, they would have no choice but to rush in. Waiting too long would have them risk losing the opportunity to ambush your side during the chaos." Neil remarked while he poured another glass of alcohol for Lynn.
"As much as we might like to side the humans, the majority of them have sided with the Church without ever bothering to give us a chance. There is no denying that they will come based on the Church's agents…erm persuasion. Even if they see my customers they will probably just treat them as demon worshippers or something." Jin added more context for Lynn to understand.
"Why do you want to go to war again? Aren't you preparing yourself for the Demon Rat Offensive in the Farming World? By doing this, aren't you overstretching your troops to a huge extent that they might not have enough rest? What about the resources that you-" Lynn wanted to complain even further but then it struck her like a bolt of lightning. It finally dawned on her why Jin was doing such a complicated process by using Demopolis as excessive bait.
"You want more men?" Lynn's short and sweet analysis hit the spot and Jin nodded his head with a smile.
"Where else can we get more manpower that has already been trained so wonderfully?" Jin chuckled as he was pleasantly amazed that Lynn was able to catch the underlying ploy by Kraft and him. This entire raid had already been turned into just a pretence to get more troops from the Dungeon World and use them against the Demon Rats.
"The System has already verified that as long as we're able to capture their Dungeon Core, it would be akin to holding their city 'hostage' for the lack of a better word. We don't need to control them ourselves. We can easily promise them to release the hostages as long as agree to come into the Farming World and cause some havoc there."
"Of course, the System will still have to track each and every one of them down to ensure that those who belong in the Dungeon World return here, dead or alive. Best thing, we don't even need to arm them as much as the minions on our side. Our batch will act as the elites, doing the tasks necessary to bring their entire Rat Empire down while the human armies can just act as the rank and file to disrupt the massive numbers that the Demon Rats have." Jin added and Lynn involuntarily shook her head.
"But still, in order to earn those cities, you gotta fight for them. How are you proposing to do it? And in a quick manner too so that they won't notice it?" Lynn questioned and suddenly a shadow appeared behind Jin. His hand was gently placed on Jin's shoulders and he could already feel the weight of the many worlds resting on them.
"Why of course, that job is up to me and my (Night) Foxes, who shall have the honour of performing this brilliant coordination capturing," Kraft stated and Lynn sighed. There was no denying that no one else was as powerful as those Foxes and if Kraft's boasting was to be believed, they haven't even displayed their true capabilities during the previous Demopolis City capture. That alone made Lynn ponder just how absurdly strong these ancestors were and their enemies had been to have fostered such overpowered fighters.
"Don't worry, our …agents have already shown us that they're not as guarded as Demopolis and don't have such a complicated seal. The human cities have mostly concentrated on outer defence over protecting their core." Kraft grinned as he recalled how quick those Church agents had spilled the beans upon some 'persuasion'.
Neil cleared his throat. "Looks like the conversation is getting out of my depth. Let's end it here and you lot can talk in some other office, alright? Now if you'll excuse me, I have orders from my new employer to station my guys at the outskirts of Demopolis." He picked up his suit and then he stopped for a moment to snap his fingers at Lynn. "Sorry there, Bossman and his lady, but I would appreciate having control over my Elites for the fight."
Jin acknowledged the request and had the System summon the rest of the Tyr Elite party in front of him. The office was getting crowded, so Jin and the rest left via a portal while the Tyr Elites knelt right in front of their Shadow King. They roughly knew the current situation based on the flash memory overload that the System had forced upon them.
"Well, guess we drew the short straw of being the good bad guys for once," Neil sighed as he wore his suit and raised his hands to the side cabinet of the table. With magic, the drawer opened and an embroidered pouch emerged from it, floating right towards his waist.
"You guys better buck up, or else!" Neil's expression darkened before taking out a jewel from the embroiled pouch and a teleport circle appeared as the jewel glowed. The entire team teleported out from the scenes and so did every underling under Tyr's Gauntlet leader's command.
It was definitely a more powered up version of the System's mass teleport. The super entity had shamelessly recorded it and was now attempting to copy it behind the scenes.
"Boss!" Lynn ran up the stairs panting slightly with a group of Killer Peggies right behind her. Their choppers were sharpened and ready to cleave through any armour or any other type of resistance they might encounter. She even had the resurrected Tyr Elites follow quietly behind her, ready to act at a moment's notice. It was plain obvious that they had already fallen as the System's thralls and would act against their former Shadow King if necessary.
However, when they opened the door… they found Jin discussing a series of business deals with his supposed mission target, having a serious conversation until they both looked up, interrupted by the appearance of the newcomers.
"I see that you have successfully enthralled all of my Elites," Neil sighed as he stood up and bowed. He introduced himself as Tyr Gauntlets' Shadow King and Lynn was pleasantly surprised by them talking things over with their mouths instead of their fists.
Noticing her gaze, Neil laughed. "If I were Atrocity's or Eld Enclave's Shadow King, I probably would have done that. Atrocity would use the excuse of passing out judgement against you, when in truth, they'd just want revenge. Eld Enclave, on the other hand, would love to get their hands on your bodies to study the secrets of your magical styles. Of course, both scenarios would need them to survive your onslaught first." Neil added as he courteously offered Lynn the seat beside Jin's.
"We have not even fought and you already think I could win?" Jin chuckled as he poured Lynn a glass of alcohol and asked the chef to give it a try.
"Last time we fought, I was stronger than the other two Shadow Kings combined, yet I didn't have to fight you to feel that if it came down to it, I would be at the losing end." Neil admitted as he stared at Jin for a moment before gazing upon the battle maiden who had bested nearly all his Elites on her own. Suffice to say, the Killer Peggies at the door were beaming at him, watching his every move in case he tried to do anything funny against their Queen. Regardless of whether he had already accepted the System's contract, the peggies were a fanatic bunch of warriors that would do anything to keep their Queen safe under their protection.
Meanwhile, Lynn was appreciating the strong flavour of the alcohol and wondering whether she could and should try to recreate it for her customers. Jin explained to her what they had discussed and it was the first time Lynn was hearing about the Church of the Afterlife having instigated other cities to attack them. Because of her primary job, she had hardly been part of the War Room and nobody else had bothered to tell her that this entire raid had changed recently into an elaborate plan to lure the Church of the Afterlife into fighting.
"But we all believed it would not happen so soon. Given their cautious nature based on the information given to me by Kraft and Kiyu, I estimated that they would probably only attack after a week or two." Jin commented.
"As I've said, I would still recommend you to announce the fall of me, the Tyr Gauntlets' Shadow King. Not to toot my own horn too much, but my supposed demise would actually be quite the big news to the other two Shadow Kings. When the human cities learn that one entire Mafia faction has been defeated this fast, they would have no choice but to rush in. Waiting too long would have them risk losing the opportunity to ambush your side during the chaos." Neil remarked while he poured another glass of alcohol for Lynn.
"As much as we might like to side the humans, the majority of them have sided with the Church without ever bothering to give us a chance. There is no denying that they will come based on the Church's agents…erm persuasion. Even if they see my customers they will probably just treat them as demon worshippers or something." Jin added more context for Lynn to understand.
"Why do you want to go to war again? Aren't you preparing yourself for the Demon Rat Offensive in the Farming World? By doing this, aren't you overstretching your troops to a huge extent that they might not have enough rest? What about the resources that you-" Lynn wanted to complain even further but then it struck her like a bolt of lightning. It finally dawned on her why Jin was doing such a complicated process by using Demopolis as excessive bait.
"You want more men?" Lynn's short and sweet analysis hit the spot and Jin nodded his head with a smile.
"Where else can we get more manpower that has already been trained so wonderfully?" Jin chuckled as he was pleasantly amazed that Lynn was able to catch the underlying ploy by Kraft and him. This entire raid had already been turned into just a pretence to get more troops from the Dungeon World and use them against the Demon Rats.
"The System has already verified that as long as we're able to capture their Dungeon Core, it would be akin to holding their city 'hostage' for the lack of a better word. We don't need to control them ourselves. We can easily promise them to release the hostages as long as agree to come into the Farming World and cause some havoc there."
"Of course, the System will still have to track each and every one of them down to ensure that those who belong in the Dungeon World return here, dead or alive. Best thing, we don't even need to arm them as much as the minions on our side. Our batch will act as the elites, doing the tasks necessary to bring their entire Rat Empire down while the human armies can just act as the rank and file to disrupt the massive numbers that the Demon Rats have." Jin added and Lynn involuntarily shook her head.
"But still, in order to earn those cities, you gotta fight for them. How are you proposing to do it? And in a quick manner too so that they won't notice it?" Lynn questioned and suddenly a shadow appeared behind Jin. His hand was gently placed on Jin's shoulders and he could already feel the weight of the many worlds resting on them.
"Why of course, that job is up to me and my (Night) Foxes, who shall have the honour of performing this brilliant coordination capturing," Kraft stated and Lynn sighed. There was no denying that no one else was as powerful as those Foxes and if Kraft's boasting was to be believed, they haven't even displayed their true capabilities during the previous Demopolis City capture. That alone made Lynn ponder just how absurdly strong these ancestors were and their enemies had been to have fostered such overpowered fighters.
"Don't worry, our …agents have already shown us that they're not as guarded as Demopolis and don't have such a complicated seal. The human cities have mostly concentrated on outer defence over protecting their core." Kraft grinned as he recalled how quick those Church agents had spilled the beans upon some 'persuasion'.
Neil cleared his throat. "Looks like the conversation is getting out of my depth. Let's end it here and you lot can talk in some other office, alright? Now if you'll excuse me, I have orders from my new employer to station my guys at the outskirts of Demopolis." He picked up his suit and then he stopped for a moment to snap his fingers at Lynn. "Sorry there, Bossman and his lady, but I would appreciate having control over my Elites for the fight."
Jin acknowledged the request and had the System summon the rest of the Tyr Elite party in front of him. The office was getting crowded, so Jin and the rest left via a portal while the Tyr Elites knelt right in front of their Shadow King. They roughly knew the current situation based on the flash memory overload that the System had forced upon them.
"Well, guess we drew the short straw of being the good bad guys for once," Neil sighed as he wore his suit and raised his hands to the side cabinet of the table. With magic, the drawer opened and an embroidered pouch emerged from it, floating right towards his waist.
"You guys better buck up, or else!" Neil's expression darkened before taking out a jewel from the embroiled pouch and a teleport circle appeared as the jewel glowed. The entire team teleported out from the scenes and so did every underling under Tyr's Gauntlet leader's command.
It was definitely a more powered up version of the System's mass teleport. The super entity had shamelessly recorded it and was now attempting to copy it behind the scenes.
