“User, the Pandawans had engaged with a foe of a fairly high ranking.” The System said as it switched the Dungeon Maker main console screen to the scene where the Pandawans were trapped alongside Roughscream.
“A high ranking Demon Rat? A general?” Jin queried but the System was unable to identify, only knowing that a deflection of a chi imbued arrow would warrant some sort of caution. While the System had created a sort of ranking after defeating that many Demon Rats, it was unable to categorise the current Demon Rat soldier that was fighting against the Pandawans.
Since the Pandawans were of an average grade of nine, the System found it suspicious that the Demon Rat was able to fight on par with not one but two Pandawans at the same time. This was also because there were no chi levels to compare the Demon Rats to the cultivators and the only thing it could differentiate was based on its size, type, and to a certain extent its magical powers. However, those usually with magic powers were of a weak stature but this particular Demon Rat was able to wield some sort of magic even though it had not displayed any yet. This made the System believe that there was a higher tier of Demon Rats which had been hidden for this entire time or perhaps they were the ones that were coordinating all the Demon Rats.
“They are equivalent to a magic knight or a cultivator of grade 10 onwards.” The System said and Jin told the System to continue watching the Demon Rats. The System however queried whether it was the right time to send his higher levelled minions to the fray but the Dungeon Supplier shook his head.
“Now is not the time. Although plan wise, we should be unleashing our troops into the undercity now that the Pandarens had discovered it but I think we would be showing our cards way too early. On the other hand, we should hope that Gold and Weslie are able to deal with the Demon Rat Army.” Jin said and realised it was a good time to speak to the two scholars too.
“Gold, Weslie. How are the responses of the East and West? I assumed that they should have seen enough action.” Jin asked and Weslie decided to answer first.
“The Queen of the West had decided to lend us our aid by supplementing the Adventure Guild with the promise of great reward. She needed more time to get the army in place before they could sortie out so the adventurers were given the incentive to risk their lives to fight against the Demon Rats. After all, the Demon Rats were something akin to monsters and the Queen’s council believed that the adventurers were more well equipped to handle it.” Weslie reported and also confirmed that the current evacuation of the nearby towns for the soldiers to create a foothold.
“What about the Southern Soldiers? How are they holding up to the West’s colder weather?” Jin asked and Weslie reported that the armour that Jin had sent previously was more than sufficient for the soldiers who suffered heatstroke on a daily basis. After all, Weslie had personally conducted similar environment simulations during their training once they had been assigned to work for her.
“Okay, that’s good to know. Remember to warn the adventurers not to steal any of our supplies or they will meet with death by our blade.” Jin told Weslie and she once told the Dungeon Supplier that the situation in the West was not always favourable because of their terrain and starvation was always an ongoing issue that the soldiers of the West always had to settle.
Weslie understood his orders immediately despite being reluctant to send the order to kill these thieving adventurers. But in war, stealing supplies was a major war crime since it affects the logistics of the assault team. Not to mention, the supplies, especially the food supplies, were made by Lynn and her food department. If those adventurers stole those food supplies, it would definitely prompt them to steal even more once they learnt how magically tasty (and powerful) the food was.
“Master, the East isn’t receptive to it despite our efforts to convince them with the live magic feed. Instead, a lot of the nobles are fending for themselves, wanting to run away from this menace. My cousin told me that – hold on for a minute.” Gold stopped the transmission to send a volley of lightning projectiles into the horde of Demon Rats, and shouted a few commands before returning back into the conversation.
“Ah yes, my cousin is informing me that most of the nobles around the area are moving away from the coast and only a few younger nobles had heeded our call since their towns are within the vicinity. I guess they are afraid that their land would be useless after the fight but in my opinion, their soldiers are not the most experienced so they are only going to support or guard the area.”
“Heh, then you got to thank me for my support!” A faraway voice was heard through the transmission even though it was supposed to mute all background voices. And that was none other than Zieg, the dark templars.
“Yes, yes. The Dark Templars had connections with quite a number of nobles since a few of them are also part of the nobility. So even when they are running away from the threat, they have used their power in whatever underhanded way possible to get mercenaries and soldiers. We can use them as the rearguards in case some of the Demon Rats manage to escape.” Gold added, which made Zieg terribly happy to contribute to the cause.
“What about those who could also escape the rearguard?” Jin asked even though he knew the answer but since Gold was the battlefield commander for the eastern region, there could be changes that Jin was unaware about.
“Yes, we did station a few Weremouse to the rearguard as well since they are the best chasers that we currently have. Unless the situation unfolds to a degree we are unable to handle, we would not be contacting additional reinforcements until the second stage of the plan.” Gold replied and Jin nodded his head with satisfaction. All the hard work preparing for this Great Demon Rat War was not easy but at least it is bearing fruits of success.”
All Jin could hope was that everything was still within their expectations of the worst outcomes.
