Pasco picked his way through the camp, the carnage and the screams of horror filling the air was more than enough motivation for him to give a 100 and 10 percent of his energy in making sure he escapes and does jot become another name in the long list of casualties and bodies, left behind by the politics of Te Boreas and her guild lords.
He was almost to the edge of the camp when he noticed something shocking. Close to the tree line, in the direction of Te Boreas, he could see members of the adventurer's guild, and the craftsman guild running away, with the most valuable of everything that had been gained from this expedition. Some of the higher ups of the militia themselves were a part of the group running away. It didn't take much from then on for Pasco to see red down to his very bones.
He took off after them, not taking too long to get to their rear. He was recognized by some of the soldiers at the rear, so they did not have to worry too much about the look of fury on his face. But changed soon enough when Pasco's short sword slashed through the throat of the first guard, shocking his colleagues long enough for a second sword to slid through the helmet of another guard. He vanished, moving away in time to avoid retaliation as he appeared right in the middle of the members of the craftsman guilds.
Not that he could much more than scratch the bastards, they were much more well protected than most, and Pasco would definitely not be able to do more than give them superficial hits. So he vanished again, leaving behind a grey wolf pup that began to glow with a silvery blue light. The eyes of the craftsmen widened in shock as they all turned as one and attempted to get away from the attack….. unfortunately they weren't as fast as they would have liked.
*Hoooooowwwwwwwlllllllllll*
"Howling Wolf Bomb!"
The explosion was spectacular, and while quite a bit of the craftsmen had protections from things they had created that could help them, there were many more who couldn't withstand the power of this skill. The howl released by the explosions was enough to rupture the ear drums of everyone caught in its vicinity the explosion was released in the form of a shockwave that spread into the shake of a massive howling silver wolf. It was ad beautiful as it was deadly, and a sight that Cole appreciated watching all of this events from the tree line in front of the fleeing parties.
"Pasco what are you doing! Have you lost your mind you stupid militia brat! Commander Tojun! Get your mangy mutt under control! I told you to kill this fucking animal!" a woman, part of the adventurer's guild yelled at the commander of the Militia who was still quite shocked by Pasco's actions.
"You exploit us, yet we believe in you. Then you send us to wars, fucking useless wars all for you whims! Putting me against my brother and my sisters for your petty arguments. And now when your own game catches up to you, you have the audacity to run! You fucking left me behind to die! These guys aren't here for any of the ordinary soldiers or members of the adventurer's guild and craftsman guild. They're here for you and yet we are dying to protect you, only for you bastards to start running away at the first sight of trouble...I'LL EVISCERATE YOU!"
The entire assault seemed to slow down as for some reason, Pasco's voice seemed to have reverberated across the entire camp. And the fact that he was attacking his own superiors made it even better as that did more than confuse Cole's attacking troops. But that was understandable, it the people you're attacking started ignoring you and then proceed to start killing each other. You pretty much let them do as they damn well pleased, it would make things easier on you in the long run.
Plus there had not even been a single sound from Cole yet, so they all were still waiting to see how their commander would react to what was currently going on. Pasco's actions were a plot that thankfully worked, the rest of the simple soldiers, the victims in the tragic tale of politics and death turned their weapons on their masters. Attacking the fleeing group and using that opportunity to regroup. Pasco was hoping that with a coordinated effort they would be able to fight their way out of this assault, the Superiors can all go fuck themselves with their guild lords dick, and the fucking king too!
It was a commendable effort, and while in some cases a thousand ants can truly bring down an elephant, in this scenario you could not apply that analogy. Not when the elephant had tools and skills and the strength to be bulletproof and had earthquake powers. The superiors were most definitely not ready to die either, and they were more than ready to fight back over it. Pasco's groups had the numbers, but they did not have the strength to back it up.
Cole saw the entire thing with a more analytical eye, he actually liked the dude. This Pasco guy was able to think on his feet, act on his righteousness, which was pretty much crap, Cole doubted a guy like that would have gotten to where he currently is without breaking a few eggs, or lives. But the dude was a leader with a sharp mind, plus he sort of reminded Cole of a wolf…..by this point his obsession with canine must have been well known….maybe it's time to adopt a new pet.
[Umbra Sword Garden]
Swords in the shape of roots stabbed out of the ground. Curling and traveling from one angle of a person's body to the next. Unfortunately none of the people here were close enough in strength to Cole to be able to defend against this skill. But as usual this was all just one step, as to cement the horror of their deaths even more, Cole used.
[Sin Eater]
Pasco and his compatriots looked on in shocked horror at the power Cole could bring to bear. It was absolutely unlike anything they had ever seen. Which seemed to highlight more the pitch black skinned demon with purple, red and blue tattoos dancing all over his body. Or the amused glint in his golden eyes as he raised a sheathed sword from the ground and held it to his chest with his arms folded.
For one the man was not even wearing armor, he was wearing some silk shirt that left his chest bare and a black and gold commander's jacket. Along with black combat shoes and pants. Pasco had to admit, the man was as fashionable as he was terrifying, and without a doubt, the wolf in him knew that it had met a true alpha. Pasco bowed his head on instinct, his body shaking with no hint or thought about what to do next.
The only reply he got was chuckle and a hand patting his head, while a figure walked past him, and left his deep voice behind. "Good Boy." Pasco did not feel like a good boy, but he was more than willing to accept the praise, if it would keep him alive. He sighed resigning himself to his fate as he raised his head to look at the back of the man who now held his life and the life of 67 remaining members of this expedition.
<<<>>>
Cole was acutely aware of the stares he was getting, but he would address the issue with the soldiers soon enough. For now he was looking through a report that listed everything not Import that the expedition had recovered. There were a few odds and ends there, but there were also special things. Like a trio of dungeon cores that seems to have been fused together, lots of technology he could not make heads or tails of, and some texts of summoning eldritch horror to end worlds….he already had particular one down, so it was useless and needed to be burnt.
Beings like Deraka were not the sort you would want to disturb or unleash on anything. Cause everyone gets hurt, they were well beyond the system and it's rules, primal forces that the system could only manipulate but never control. But all in all, it was a good haul and would do Raen Valley a lot of good, especially if any of the technology here can be reversed engineered.
Now though it was time for the next step of his plan. Cole chuckled as he sent a call request to Eze. It didn't take long for his top general to pick up as Cole began to relay new orders, it was just about time for the Ravens slumbering in Te Boreas to wake up and take center stage. It was always Cole's original aim to stay extremely low key on this floor, even if he had been asked to destabilize the current government so that one part of it can seize full and complete power.
"Tell everyone to spread the rumors about what happened here, get a good story teller to speak about the heroics of the kingdoms soldiers who fought for their lives and future after enduring the corruption and wickedness of the craftsman and Adventurer's guild. Talk about how they all united and decided they wanted no more of it.
Speak of their will and how they desperately want a change in their lives. How they wished for the old days where the Kingdom was not just a single city and the King cared for his people. Where the people were protected by their own and without cost, not now where you have to pay even to have someone mourn for your dead relative."
"You sure this would hold up, the guilds are deeply entrenched into the lives and mindsets of the people of Te Boreas it would be quite difficult to get them to give up their kind and benevolent leaders you know. Do you have any guarantees?" Cole shrugged, then rolled his eyes when he realized that Eze was not within his immediate vicinity.
"I don't, but this is just one angle I'm working on. I'm not even expecting this to pick up any traction, I just need to use this to start a dialogue. And it would keep them guessing, especially since this was joint expedition amongst the three forces. No one is expecting anyone to betray anyone."
"huh?" Cole ignored Eze's confused tone and carried on.
"But at the same time they're all expecting everyone to betray everyone! There would be dissent amongst themselves for a while as they try to figure out who amongst themselves is a snake or are snakes etcetera. Even if the rumors don't take traction it should be enough to cast some aspersions on the militia and the king. Either way it puts me in a better place to negotiate with whomever the fuck can get me some animechs, so I can start figuring out a way to get off this accursed floor! Reminds me too much of my family drama." Cole said as he spat to the side.
"So either way you win, but what if they know you're responsible and they band together to stop you. You would be threatening the status quo, the craftsman guild and the adventurer's guild could strong arm the militia into banding against you. It would put a lot of things at risk, we can't afford to go to war with the city of Te Boreas, especially since we are on their fucking floor!" Cole nodded then rolled his eyes again, realizing he was still alone.
"If they do that then, we'll cut our losses and I'll destroy the city....or at least their governments. I won't tolerate any threats to my people, even if we're the ones poking around and making trouble." Eze scoffed on the other end of the call.
"The ease with which you say 'I'll destroy the city' just so you know, I'm shaking my head right now. You don't always have to blow everything up you know, in fact I pray your plan works. Cause you're being surgical and precise….at least to a certain extent. But at the same time you're still giving everyone a massive middle finger. There's no way they won't find out eventually that it's you." Cole laughed and said.
"Yeah I'm absolutely counting on it. But by then it would be too late, spread a rumor around long enough and often enough and it becomes fact, no matter how seamless their faith in their leaders are….cracks will develop, and we will be their to take advantage of that weakness. So tell them, their soldiers, their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, lovers. Tell them they did this, as one, for freedom, for Pasco, for the Company Of The Wolf!"
Cole and Pasco's met for an instance as two distinct emotions were reflected in them. For Pasco it was awe, but underneath it was horror. Something dangerous has been unleashed on Te Boreas….. something much worse than guilds and the militia. And it could not been any more true for nestled within Cole's gaze was Amusement and Indifference. He just didn't give a shit about this place…..he was a mad god looking down on a world he was about to remodel.
Safe to say it was hard to tell…..whether Cole would leave The Boreas worse than he found it, or better, or Mad!
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢