"Janus, Please tell me you're joking. That quest at a time like this is pretty bad," Ryder told Janus, frowning. This quest was a mess.
"I'm joking," Janus replied lazily. "This isn't the mission."
"Really? You were joking?" Ryder inquired, pleasantly surprised. This boy had really learned to mess with him.
"No. You told me to say I was joking, and I said that. The mission wasn't a joke," Janus answered.
Ryder couldn't help but facepalm himself. This little system was being clever here.
"Do I have any other choice but to do this mission?" Ryder asked.
"You have one choice," Janus answered, cheekily as if this was what he was waiting for.
"What is that?" Ryder asked, wondering. Was it true? Janus was actually giving him an option to do something else besides this quest?
"You can switch this mission with another mission. You only have one minute to decide," Janus said.
"What other mission?" Ryder inquired.
" The exchange mission will only be disclosed once you make the switch. The decision is yours," Janus answered.
Hearing his words, Ryder fell into a deep thought. This was an offer indeed, but it was a risky offer at the same time. If he selected blindly, the other mission might be more complex or worse. Anything was possible for Janus, after all.
He could see two timers before him. One was the timer with the exchange offer, which had only thirty seconds remaining, while the other was one with over four minutes left which was the time duration he had for this mission.
"Whatever. I accept the quest."
With only one second remaining in the first timer, Ryder declared, deciding to take the risk.
<Mission change accepted>
<Old mission has been retracted>
The screen with the second timer disappeared.
<Another mission has been issued to the host>
<Mission: Brotherly Bond>
<Description: The host has been talking badly to Janus for quite a long time. According to the quest, Host needs to treat Janus as his real little brother>
<Time Duration: Lifetime>
<Reward: As this is an exchange mission, there are no rewards>
<Punishment for failure: Only two times failure is allowed in this quest. A third failure will result in a mysterious punishment>
For a moment, silence ensued. Ryder stood calmly, wondering what he just heard. That was the quest? What was Janus thinking this time? Did he give this quest because he knew Ryder couldn't do it or for some other reason?
'You made a mistake, my dear brother. I can easily do this quest. You underestimate me," Ryder said, grinning. He was feeling happy that he received such an easy mission in exchange. The switch worked.
'Maybe I should try this switch facility next time too. If it can change tough missions to easy ones, it's good,' Ryder thought.
….
Far away, Janus was sitting near a pond, laughing.
It had been a long time since he laughed so openly and so freely. As he laughed, his eyes also got somewhat wet. It was unclear if he had tears of happiness or tears of sadness.
"I would never understand you, my dear big brother. But I'm glad this worked. I get to hear that from you now. The old you wouldn't call me brother, only Janus. I just say this is a bit more pleasing," Janus muttered as he shook his head.
"As for the ones that underestimated you… Don't worry. It won't take long before they realize how wrong they were. It would be too late for them at that time, though."
….
After Ryder was done, he shifted his focus back to the war.
The Soldiers had started the Battle already. At first glance, it seemed like the Demon Realm soldiers had an advantage, but the Spirit Warriors weren't easy to defeat either. It seemed like a fierce battle.
"Alright, no time wasting. It's your turn. Tell me your abilities," Ryder told the High Dukes.
They went from lowest in strength to highest.
High Duke Eaton was the first to show his skills, followed by High Duke Mila, High Duke Oris.
High Duke Magna was still a bit unwilling, but he went along.
"Alright. Now that I know better, I think I can make a plan," Ryder said, rubbing his chin.
After thinking for a while, he looked towards High Duke Eston.
"High Duke Eston, Synchronise yourself with all the Marquis that are leading the war. I would have asked you to sync with all soldiers, too, but that's a bit too much. From what I heard, only your Emperor was able to do such a thing. So syncing with the Commanders should be enough. They can convey our plans ahead," he said.
"Alright," High Duke Eston responded as he sat down and closed his eyes to sync his thoughts with the Marquis that were on the battlefield.
"Tell them that we are giving them a one minute long buff while giving Enemies a ten minute long debuff. I mean, we're making them strong and enemies weaker. Tell them to use this opportunity well while emptying the left side of the field entirely, leaving the enemies," Ryder commanded.
"Alright."
"Devilia, give our army a buff. And use the weakening on the enemies."
"Duke Milua, use the Thunderstorm of Zia on the left side of the field as soon as our soldiers empty that."
"High Duke Oris, bring down the poisonous rain on our enemy if they escape the Thunderstorm and reach near us."
"Duke Hua, increase the speed of our soldiers that are on the left side of the field to help them move faster and dodge the Thunderstorm."
"High Duke Mila, form a shield on top of our soldiers after the Thunderstorm is used because seeing us involve our higher-ups, the higher-ups of Spirit Realm will use something similar to attack our soldiers. I want you to obstruct it within that time. The barrier should protect them."
"High Duke Magna, you go up. Fly in the sky and keep an eye on the enemy using your Distant Vision. If they send someone to break the shield, attack. I don't care about anything else. We're not dragging this war any longer than it has to be. It shall be finished fast before Death Domain comes to use this opportunity."
"I understand the old rules of war that you follow, but today, it shall be my rules. No one is allowed to disobey!"
One after another, Ryder commanded everyone on what to do. Suddenly, it seemed as if the unaware sheep that depended on High Dukes suddenly became a lion that wasn't going to listen. Moreover, people didn't dislike it. Even High Duke Oris was impressed.
As per his command, the stats of his army was increasing. The enemies' stats were decreasing, but since the enemy was under the buff from Alice, their stats didn't decrease much.
The speed on the army of the left had increased, and hearing the command from their Marquis who led the left side of the battlefield, the soldiers started running towards the right to join the right side army.
The enemy army on the left side was stunned to see enemies running to the other side, but that also meant that there was no obstruction to stop them from reaching the enemy.
"This is the opportunity! Oh, brave Warriors! We made the enemies run to the other end! Instead of chasing after them, use this opportunity to attack the core of the Demons! Let's kidnap their Prince! Charge!" the Spirit Commander said to his army, telling them to attack.
As per his order, the Spirit army didn't chase after the demon army to the right. Instead, they charged towards Ryder in the back.
"Hah, as expected. A single bait and they fell. What else can I expect when their leader is another player? He's probably too excited to win. Too bad," Ryder muttered as a grin formed on his face after seeing the action of his enemies.
He raised his right hand in the sky and started counting to three.
"One… Two… Three… Now!"
"Duke Milua, let the thunder reign supreme!"
As soon as his command came out of his lips, an old looking Duke raised both his hands and clapped.
A heavy Thunderstorm fell from the sky, burning the enemy, killing them in droves.
The sudden Thunderstorm had brought forth the destruction that stunned everyone. The enemies were stunned. The Spirit army on the right side was shocked and worried for their warriors on the left. The army on the left was horrified, running everywhere to escape the Thunderstorm.
"High Duke Oris! Let the Poisonous Rain fall!"
Not feeling the least bit of pity on the enemy who was suffering, Ryder commanded the High Duke to make it even worse for the enemies.
Clouds covered the left side of the battlefield from which green poison droplets started falling down, burning everything they touched.
"Those bastards! Their strongest dare attack our weakest! Those scheming guys! They're shameless. Fine! They asked for it!" a Spirit General stood up in the enemy camp, ready to attack.
