“Duchess, may I ask about your opinion on technology as a Native of this world?”
“What is there for me to say? It is extremely convenient. I find it be personally a great way to make life easier.” This made Lady Jeanne to reposition herself. “Many say that this caused us to become weaker and dependent on technology. Unable to rise to the challenge when needed. What’s your opinion on this? Do you believe for it to be real??”
The Queen immediately replied with her usual stern and straight attitude. “Of course. But at the same time, does your world have catastrophic events that encapsulates the entire world? Nay. From what My Lord had told me, it's all you Humans whom who cause problems to the world. I do not believe there’s anything to be ashamed of living a life like that. It’s what your world dictates which is true, Man no longer needs to protect its village from Goblin raids or take up the sword to fight against Demons or fight an invading Kingdom loft with glory for your nation's wealth. It’s a privileged life, one that means there’s peace in most of the world.”
She looms over the window for the first time, breaking her eye contact with the Vampire player as she sees the sprawling metropolis outside of the room. “It’s a fine life. I’d love for my people to live a life like this, but it’s a mere dream that never came to fruition and cost me everything.”
“I see, and in terms of the fate of mankind, Duchess. With us being brought here to your world to wage your Gods war, do you have any words you may want to say to not only the people who will be watching this a week from now but also those of Earth when we return?”
She stayed silent, unspeaking and unyielding for a moment before she turned her attention fully to the player. Her hands together and her face as stoic as ever. “To believe in yourselves.” the interviewee tilts her head, inching her body closer to the edge of her seat. “May you expand, Duchess?”
“I may sound of one with lofty ideals, but that is never how I act. My words are bereft of bias and uncertainty, what I say holds more power than entire swathes of Royals and thus the sentences I irk out are trialed for those worthy enough to hear my voice.” Her head then turned to the camera, as if she’s looking at millions or billions of people who are giving her their utmost attention.
“Do not relent to the tides of fate, Mankind, the one I know is never to bow down to the whims of the Gods. Though you may give them your fealty and love, you never let them realm control over your insatiable thirst for connection, power, and wealth. Do not be the people I’ve met, benign in their objectives, only living for the day. Reach beyond the stars, the Humans of Threa live in a world of chaos and pain and Evil. Yet Kingdoms, Heroes, worthy Kings and Nobles rose to the challenge.” Her aura was at a blaze, with a fiery passion and eyes and her body tingling with an aura of a leader, making the Director who was caught up by her words snap for a moment, finding something odd with just how much strength she had.
She then lifts her hand up, pointing at the lens of the camera, her eyes steeled like never before. “I love Humanity, not because I was once a Human myself. That is a time I’ve long forgotten, a Me that will never return nor will I ever find. I’ve lived for so long that I even forgot how precious a Human life is. But one Man, who chose to fight, not to bow down against my shaking presence, to fight to the very griths of his teeth made me bow to your kind. Never lose yourself for when the time comes, you might prove yourself worthy to wield the Sword of a King.” She looked at Jackson who was enamored by her speech, his jaws open wide by her oration. The producers themselves couldn’t help but stand up and clap their hands, as if to forget that they're not Humans but Vampires.
Jackson, who was sitting on the corner with Alana and Bahamut, just gave her a nod. “Dang, she’s really good with this, isn’t she?” The Countess who was clapping alongside everyone turns her attention to him. “That is our Queen, M’Lord. Her and the King used to do these speeches since the Kingdom was at war many times during her rule. The Human Kingdoms never gave up in their campaign in destroying us. Only stopping to rearm and rest there battle weary warriors.”
“Hm. And to think she and her King was fighting another war from within, with the population crisis of the Vampires. I have no words.” Bahamut though just gave a thumbs up with a comical pose as Jackson stood and reached his hand out to the Director who was mighty impressed by the Duchess. “General, you have a very special Vampire here.”
Jackson at first was just as happy as he was till he tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the player. “Heh. Whatever you are thinking, Direct. It’s not what it is and I recommend you keep it as an imagination for your safety and reputation." This made the player nod as he then bows and shakes hands with the Countess, ending with Bahamut who sniffed him first before agreeing with the shake.
Deep underneath the 8-Gon, one by one, the Black Knives of Elizabeth fully awaken. Walking back to their respective tombs, they rip open the bed. Revealing the rest of it where the storage that kept their ensembles was.
The black clothes, on top of it, enchanted chainmail and thin plate armor. Upon donning the shadowy hoods, their pretty faces were all once again enshrouded with an alluding and eerie darkness and the final part of their kit, the Longsword, Throwing Knives, and the Black Dagger. Malformed in its appearance, the blade gave an air that would make even the strongest people shiver.
Queen Elizabeth had her hands together, infront her waist as she inspected each of them.
“My beautiful flowers, former Royals who had come under my wing, shared by the blood of the Archaois, the Primordial Blood. I welcome you to the new world.” She then performed a curtsy in her crimson gown, her circlet sparkling brightly as the corner lights hit it. They all bowed in unison as she stood straight up again. “I apologize for the unsightly awakening. I no longer hold a country, nor Knights, nor people to control. I am a vagabond under no House nor Lineage.” They didn’t react, merely standing pretty in place as their Majesty continued to speak in an authoritative tone.
“Though my Blood still holds the true authority of the Kingdom, one that may override anything and anyone’s decree, it has long been unemployed and my words no longer hold as much power as they used to.” Still, even with this, none of the Assassins turned their head away from her, all of them paying the woman all their attention. “So be aware of your position, no longer do I command Legions of Knights, no longer do I even have a Nation, nor Power lest I wish to bring of my own demise.”
Even then, her attempts to urge them were useless, the Knives all standing at attention, awaiting for something. “I am now under a Human, spare me of your disgust for the quality of this person befits of a King.”
None of them reacted, merely as if standing to await their new objectives. The twelve Knives stood in a line and kneeled as Jackson stepped forward. Bowing their heads before the Ancient Vampire Queen herself. “Do they speak?” Elizabeth just raised her hand and one by one. Gave them a droplet of her blood. The crimson color of it disappearing into the shadowy wall that hides their identity. “They do, My Lord.” they suddenly turned to Jackson, instantly quivering at the stare of the eyes inside the masked hoods. “But they only speak when they need to.”
Finishing on the last, she proceeds to turn around and look at each of them once again. “Wonderful. To see the Knives of the Eternal Kingdom return to me. Such a gift. My Lord, you may use them but be warned. Their oath is only to me.” the General tilts his head, touching Bahamut, he summons the Vampire sword he was given and the Assassins all knelt for it.
“How come they reacted though?” Elizabeth then brings out her own sword, crossing it with his. “For it is a Royal Sword, My Lord. It is natural for a Vampire to kneel before the blade of their King and Queen but worry not, I will assure you that these Assassins of mine shall work under you.” With his, he nods as he backs away from them and to the hall where he looks around the empty halls. Inside the chamber, he could hear the mutter of the Queen to her subjects as he looked at the empty rooms.
“Do any of you have access to your Draugr Horses?” As the Queen conversed with them, Alana in absolute shock to see a Black Knife so close to her, Jackson notices that the chamber opposite of theres had a plaque to it which made his eyes widen. Written on it was a simple word. “Barbatos” which made the man recoil. “An Event Demon Lord? So they were the ones who recruited his soul?”
“Your Highness, I apologize but none of us could feel the presence of our steeds.” To his surprise, the voice of the Knife was quite attractive, soft, and well modulated. “Such a shame. You need to contend with normal horses then. Lest My Lord could find you your stealthy mounts.”
Already, the General was left scratching the back of his head as he shrugged his head at the chamber and they started to walk to the hallway, in the direction of the main room. Though something caught the edge of his eyes. Looking to his left at a chamber, there was a forestry biome inside it and standing in the middle was a lady in black, with deathly pale skin. Her long straight black hair flowed with her deathly gown.
Turning to look at him, her bright gray eyes quickly captivated the man as Bahamut stood next to him. “Master, close your eyes.” already, he isn't responding. So instead, she forcibly made him look to the right and thumped on the thick glass wall.
The shockwave revealed a giant black spider. This made the Vampires make a step back as the Dragon squinted her eyes. “Name yourself, Arachnid. Do you wish for me to do to you what I’ve done to many of your kin?”
“Grammir.” The spider spoke with a tone of a beast, its real true form capable of striking a great fear into anyone and anything. The eight eyes, two huge ones that’s connected to its quite armored face and rubbery body. “Grammir. Do you know what you just did? To snare Master like that?”
“Oh Dragon. Do you have a deathwish? I have killed many of your types. Arrogant and ignorant. So many of you march into my misty caves just to get eaten.”
“I am Bahamut. Be well to know that name, Grammir of the Misty Mountains. I see the Chosen Ones have driven you out of your hiding and captured you like the beast you are.”
Grammir proceeds to walk sideways, getting completely upside down as it starts to sprout webbings. Its smaller dorsal hands create a sculpture of the 8-Gon itself. “Ah, but they won’t keep me here for long. I already know their weakness. Misty Mountain might no longer exist as they’ve put tunnels and bunkers inside it. But they merely put me into a bowl of fresh meat.”
“Do not get cocky, Spider. Your age might be as old as I am. But your sense of the hunt is flawed. This won’t be a battle you can win. Dare to escape, and I’ll eat you as I did to many Ancient Arachnids. From Mount Inyer, to Mount Druum. I’ve eaten and squashed many of your kind before. Begone, I will forgive your transgression out of pure pity to your kind.”
“Disgusting. You Dragons like to play as if you are the most eloquent and Godly of all the creatures the Vandors have birthed. But you are no different from us. You are just lucky to be given a body many consider a gift. How many of the jewelry of my kind have you stolen?”
“Stolen? I rightfully earned those, Grammir. Quite sad I won’t be able to get your treasures. I can only imagine what you’ve gotten. Crowns of Kings that tried to slay you? Swords of Great Knights that ventured to your lair to end your pitiful existence? Nobles you’ve snared in your Human form and lead to their demise?”
“Look at you, Bahamut. To this day, you’ve learned nothing from the fall of the Dragon’s Era. Still thinking that we are to be looked down upon just because you have one or two advantages." It then changes the web sculpture into a Wyvern whose neck has been struck by a giant spider. Sucking it dry till it collapses. “One day, I will fell you, Bahamut. To think your kind still exists. A creature from a bygone era.”
“Ancient Dragons will always exist, no matter the Era. Before or After our fall, we will live on. Now remove the spell you’ve put to my Master.” Jackson immediately regains control over himself as he breathes in. “HOLY…” Elizabeth and Alana quickly grabbed him and pushed him out of the view from the chamber as the Black Knives kept a perimeter around them.
“I’ll take you up on that offer, Grammir. After all this, if you do survive. Let us meet in the Plains of Aldwyn. The same place I killed and ate Saxnoliant.”
“Do you take me for unlearned? I know open plains is where you have the most advantage, Bahamut. Saxnoliant is old and frail, she might be the mother of many of us. But she has long passed her time. Yet she fought as if she was still young and at the peak of her Demigod like strength from the stories I’ve heard from Men.”
“Excuses, excuses. Then, we’ll do it in the Mountains of Aldwyn. Where you can hide and tunnel all you want.”
“Hmmmm… very well. We shall meet again, Bahamut. For now, enjoy your fragile toy.”
Bahamut then waves her hand as she exits into the main room, the massive Arachnid hiding within the bushes as Jackson had already called the elevator and was just waiting for her as she turned to the summoning room. “Bloodsucker, do your assassins know how to ride a Dragon?”
“Lady Clementine. As Number One. Would thou be willing?” One of the Knives then kneeled. “Of course, Your Highness.” Bahamut nods as she enters the summoning room. “Wait. Bahamut, you can’t just summon a Dragon. Let alone multiple.” She ignores him and he promptly runs to the elevator as she opens her hand and a massive explosion follows.
The city above had a little shaking though it was mostly negligible as Jackson’s head peeks out of the elevator and sees the massive armored window had small scratches to it as ten black horses in Dragon plate armor of Bahamut’s Cult stood in silence. “W-Woah…” the Queen on the other hand only gestured for her Knives to go and take them as she went to the elevator with Alana who was keeping her eye on the Black Knives mounting their new steeds as they turned into a plume of black air.
Returning to the main lobby, Jackson could see Alana had not spoken once and started to walk next to him. Her shoulder brushing up with his. “What is it Alana?” she kept her hands to herself as her eyes didn’t blink. “I apologize, M’Lord. It's just that the Black Knives do not hold the best of reputation even amongst us Vampires.”
“Eh? Why? Didn’t they assassin your enemies and such? Pretty sure they played a vital role to the Vampires short lived world domination.” he reaches for his pocket, bringing out the car keys, swaying it around his finger. “M’Lord, the first Queen didn’t only use them against our enemies. Those malformed Daggers they use. They also work on us. They are one of the only people allowed to kill even Purebreds.”
“Countess, be not in disturbed. My Knives are just as mine as they are yours.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. It's just that not even I can do such a thing. These Vampires, the things they’ve done. It would taint the Minuit lineage if I dare even use them for my own means or even be seen with one.”
“But do not be afraid to call for their services, even if it means to defend yourself. It’s best if they do things to benefit the Kingdom and its people once again. It’s a waste of their talents.”
Jackson then led them to an emergency fire exit where they got a straight shot to the parking lot underneath the 8-Gon and upon clicking the unlock button on his key fob, one of the SUVs in the back lit up. “Master, that’s our vehicle?”
“Yup. The X5 Series. I thought it was gonna be a Cadillac or Chevy again. I didn’t even know an Automotive Guild had the time to make a BMW.”
Walking towards it, the Dragon could smell meat as she quickly ran to the back and planted her face up the rear window. Looking down on the fresh cold meat bought by Alana. “Calm down, Bahamut. Our Lord will get angry again. I’ll cook us a nice Duck Confit when we get home, alright? I just picked those up from Downtown and I’d rather not have it eaten before we reach home.” This made the Dragon turn her head to Alana and had a smile on her face. “Duck? Master! Let’s go!”
She immediately heads to the shotgun seat as the two Vampires sit on the back. The dashboard was entirely made out of genuine leather, wooden trim with a 12inch screen in the center for the controls, TV, and radio. Inserting the smart key, they drive off to the main street above. The dark sky looming over the horizon as Bahamut played with the touchscreen, finding the radio FM, MHz section.
“Wanna cook faster? Try our-”; “Want to travel fast? Try our Griffin serv-”; “Dragon care for all. Call 851-2-”; “Fly me to the Moon-” Jackson quickly held her hand. “I wanna listen to some Sinatra.” with one hand on the wheel and another resting on his lap, Jackson smiles at his new ride. With a light step on the gas, it didn’t even have a hitch that would make you feel like there’s something too strong on the step. The leather seats were also magnificent to his back, and with the music on the radio, he couldn’t help but rock his head lightly.
Driving through the busy street. The city lights turned on and the Vampires was once again inside the heart of the metropolis and its ever so countless bulbs powered by electricity. The rooftops of the buildings started to give off steam as the air conditioning went to heating up the interiors and the intersections were filled with players of many types of species, all walking to their destinations on the cold afternoon.
The temperatures dropped so hard upon the leaving of the hot Star that Jackson had to turn off the A/C inside the SUV. No one complained as he looked in his driver side mirror. The wagon pulled by a big bird was trying to overtake him. The Dwarven player uses his enchanted axe, making it light up its hot color as a turn signal.
Slowing down, he lets them pass as he sees on the concrete sidewalk an Elf selling flowers. Parking on the curb, he lowers the window and buys everyone some night roses. The violet colored rose was beautiful and with the switch of the light, they glowed in the dark making the girls all smile. The General tipped his hat as he drove. The buses were already tightly packed and bus stops had lines on them and though the wet streets were scenic, the slow build up of traffic made Jackson turn away from the major roads.
Inside the smaller streets, the parked cars on the curb made what could’ve been a two lane road into one, with officers making sure the new one-way is directed properly as closedvans caused some slow downs, reversing into the tight alleyways, behind the restaurants and hotels. Alana looked up at the panoramic roof of the BMW, admiring the vast skyscrapers that seemingly wanted to reach the heavens with their tips.
With steam coming out of the manholes and the sidewalk grills, Jackson’s windshield would become clouded up every now and then as Bahamut kept playing with the 12 inch flatscreen on the center of the dash. Constantly switching the cameras as Sinatra continued to play on the high end speakers.
On one of the intersections that leads to the beachside section of the city. A parked Mine resistant vehicle was guarding a limousine, the fully combat geared players saluting as they passed him by and with one last turn, he reached the oceanside road where the hotels were in every block and section alongside many fine dining restaurants and seafood cuisine.
The people on the sidewalks were often wearing clothes meant for the beach, with your occasionally suited person going home from work. Jackson then looks at the screen. “Bahamut, enough.” she pouts and crosses her arms as he tries to find the GPS. “Oh wait, it can’t connect to our Main Menus… ah dang it.”
Parking on the side of the road, he leans forward, looking up to the signs of the hotels. “Now where is that? Menyon Grand Hotel…” driving around the clock where the Limousines and sports cars were the more frequent sight aside from the big luxury party vans with tinted windows. They soon found it and Jackson was quickly given access to the parking lot by the valet. Gesturing for him to go straight in.
And down below, at the ticketing booth. The lady inside it looked at the Government plate of the SUV and checked it with one of the notices she was given. With a nod and handing him a keycard, the barrier lifts up and they gain access inside the underground parking lot.
“My Lord, are they going to deliver our baggage to our room from here?”
“Yup. I just need to make a call. Bahamut, come and help me with the groceries.”
Exiting the SUV. They immediately go to the elevator and upon arriving, a bunch of extremely chiseled and handsome players wearing shorts, beach hats and dragging two large electric coolers whistle at the sight of the three beautiful women as they exit out, their heads looking at them as a car nearly T-bones the one with dyed blonde hair making Elizabeth laugh while Alana and Bahamut just shrugged their heads and Jackson, holding down the elevator door button.
Going up to the main lobby, the porcelain tiles with a large carpet over it, the gilded pillars and the shiny front desk. Jackson removed his hat and squirms his way through the large amount of players going by their day.
At the desk, he immediately points at his nametag and the woman nods. Typing it down on the computer and confirming his room. The keycard was given and he slipped it into his jacket. “There’s a BMW with a Guild Government Plate. Be careful with the steamer trunk, that stuff is peculiarly heavy.” handing over the key fob to her, he gestures for them to follow him to the other elevator that heads up to the main floors.
On the panel, he notices there was a legend for the many amenities and rooms the hotel had. Even having a buffet lounge on the 15th floor with the glass pool and bar while on the 14th is the gym and wellness spa. “Ohhhh, I might need to visit the gym tomorrow.” and on the 13th was the Grand Ballroom and Forums.
“M’Lord, do you even have the time for such leisure activities?”
“What? Before I became a fat guy in an armani suit, I used to have a six pack in my army days, you know? I can totally do it still. I just need to wake up early.”
“Pfft. M’Lord, don't Humans lose their hair from stress? Are you sure you want that to happen?”
“It's not instant! And mind you, I have yet to have severe hair loss even for my age!” Elizabeth though tilts her head at the elevator going up to the 15th floor. “My Lord, do you even know what room we are using?” He immediately brings out his keycard and sees it at the 38th floor, the Signature Suite and presses the button for it. “Oops.”
As they reach the 15th, where it stops, two fine women with wine glasses, wearing skimpy bikinis and flip flops stumble around as Jackson catches one of them who had her slipper break. “Oh my, hello mister general. Aren’t you a handsome stud.” he smiles and puts her back up as he pressed on his floor. “Honey, could you press the top floor. Aw, the strap broke.” he does as she told but he could feel a great fire emanating from his back.
Up to the 39th floor, he was hugging the corner of the elevator and was the first to go out and Bahamut was the second and she began to already inspect the place. The beautiful wooden walls and marble tiles with the red carpet gave it a truly special feel. “My Lord, she looked nice didn’t she? I never knew you had a thing for brunettes.”
He just starts walking towards their room, having only a handful of doors there, he finds it without much of a problem and lets the knob scan the keycard, it opens and they are given a massive personal suite. With bronze lining and marble tiles and walls, it was a magnificent eye candy. “Geez. Talk about using taxpayer money.” as Alana quickly donned her apron and went to the kitchen, stocking it up while Jackson had gone to the telephone.
Bahamut and Elizabeth then sat on the coach. With the Queen buzzing through what shows was on while the Dragon turns into her normal form. With her tiny size, she could fit into the pillow without trouble where she proceeded to ball up and sleep. “Yes, Menyon Grand Hotel. We’ve just arrived about a few minutes ago. Requesting for the status of our baggage?”
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Looking through the shows, she stops at one that was a reporter during street interviews. The topic being what they’ve bought for the upcoming evacuation of the city. Many showcasing boxes full of canned foods, others having bought wagons and offroad cars full of weapons from enchanted to modern ones and modifying it with armor plating and lifted suspensions.
Others though stated that their neighbors had already been long gone and had taken up residence around the Portal Fortress that sat 142Km away from Woodstock as said on the moving text below the bold headline. But those who stayed say that they’ve heard rumors that it's absolutely packed with people as the Holy See had formally announced the coming of the Great Calamity and even uninformed players had begun to move towards the Guilds for safety.
The news segment then changes back to the round table, where a retired Guild General was sitting opposite of the newscasters. “So, with the evacuation plan going well, General Marst, do you believe that all will go well?” the Orcish player shrugs his head as he lowers his hat down to the glass table. “I do not believe so.” Surprisingly, he had a posh accent on his avatar. “No plan survives first contact, what the United Nations placed is just a unified foundation for what is to do. The Portal Fortress itself is not even fully finished yet.”
With a large disclaimer “Archival Footage” hovering on the upper left, the news shows the construction of a massive concrete and plated steel wall around an ancient portal.
Outside of the main perimeter of the wall was a massive open air storage with four rails in the middle and multiple massive gantry cranes were lifting sections of the wall, the sliced parts showing that sandwiched between the multiple inches of concrete was also adamantium composites.
As the footage switches, it shows the guard towers with massive turrets on top of them, sat a sentry gun getting its 30mm GAU cannons on its quad mounts alongside hydra rocket pods. The massive ammo links are shielded by a thick steel plates as it leads down into the tower itself and its thermal and night vision camera tucked inside a cage.
Dwarven players were going all around the clock with the skeletons and four legged robots, nonstop in there toil in constructing the wall as kilometers upon kilometers of woodlands were razed and trenches, bunkers, mortar emplacements, mines, alongside tank traps and barbed wires were scattered alongside range signs.
“But General, with the international incident that destroyed most of the Strategic Mana Nuclear Arsenal of the Guilds, will we be able to stop the Demons?”
“My friends who are still inside have recently told me the Rostock Guild has opened their stockpiles of unused Mana Cores. Being one of the top Guilds when it comes to rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile science, I believe we will be able to at least reach a fraction of the intended day one attack.”
“I see, and with the recent arrival of General Jackson to the city, do you believe that he is here for something urgent?”
“Five star generals get moved around all the time. It's probably just him being assigned to help the Men of the Woods in its construction of defenses.”
“Thank you, General. Onto our next segment, the weather with the local Control Weather Magician and real life Meteorologist...”
Yawning, she switches the channel to a HEMA instruction. An actual professional was being televised live on how to use swords and different types of Medieval weapons while a Dark World Expert was with him, showcasing how you can mend magic with the fighting style and to be mindful of specialized types of weaponry. They were both doing it slowly, properly showing the stances and how to angle your elbows and arms to maximize slashes whilst the other taught how to use magic with the blade.
Not caring she once again presses the button, the next channel is a reality TV show between a Werewolf and a Vampire living together. The house there is in absolute ruin as the two seemingly normal players often bicker at each other. The male had turned into a Werewolf after the female Vampire insulted him for his temperament, the fight that ensues was so brutal that the TV crew had to use barrier magic to protect themselves. It soon ended up with the Police Department and Paramedics being called.
Elizabeth was laughing at the show, with the two couples fighting neck to neck as the Cops who responded to the scene were a bunch of Elves. Their great aim is giving them a toe to toe ability against the two powerful species. “That is good! I like that! Destroy that Werewolf! Gore its head!” But before it got to the good part, the Reality TV had to switch to the studio.
Disappointed, She then switched it once again and it was the news. Again, it was related to the military. For the next few channels, there was nothing but information channels as behind them, Alana in the kitchen was toying around with the quite fancy method of opening cabinets. Exuberant in her posh and elegance, the Countess was as if she was floating and in her natural habitat.
They did not require a handle, instead needing to be pressed to open. She’d often be wowed by the technology, the fridge alone having a glass window that you can click to reveal the interior of which she adores as she neatly admired her work, all of the condiments and food she bought was properly categorized and divided.
Her copious use of smaller transparent taper boxes made Jackson, who was now talking in his smartphone. “Is it… is it really that bad? Do we really need to go?” Seeing all of the small boxes made him recoil a bit as he scanned for which one had the apples. “What’re you looking for, M’Lord?” He finds it and with magic, blows up its skin, peeling it open perfectly as he walks out of the kitchen and back to the dining table as the door rings.
After some sighs and yawns, he finishes his phone conversation, and Jackson looks at Alana. “We need to go back. Something just happened and they're asking us to check it out.”
“Eh? Everyone?” He shrugs his head as he turns off the phone. “No, I think we both can handle this. No need to waste everyone’s energy.” This made her lift her finger up her chin as the Confit was in the oven next to her. “Mm. M’Lord, can we atleast dine together?”
After some thinking, he nods with a smile. “Yeah, why not. It’s not like the 8-Gon is going anywhere.” He sees that Bahamut has finished in the bathroom. Walking out with her shorts and a white shirt with a cartoon image of a cow and the text below it saying Beef Lover. “I’ll take a bath then.” the Dragon tilts her head as she points at the other Master bedroom. “Master, there’s three showers here.”
This made him scratch his head. “Eh?! You should’ve told me earlier! Dangit!” as he goes to the showers, she sneaks a peek at the door and looking through the hole, sees their luggage has been delivered.
Opening the door, the three players were shocked to see Bahamut, though she was wearing something they never knew they’d see her in. One of them was blushing as he could take in her long legs that’s usually hidden by her gothic funeral gown. “Bring them in Chosen Ones! Or do you want me to burn you in a fiery blaze?” Panicking, the players quickly used magic to gently float their trunks and bags in the room.
Alana though was far too busy preparing and making their dinner to help unpack everything as Elizabeth got to work with the Dragon in organizing everything and with Jackson’s military discipline, he was already done in showering, hearing it close and the door open to the master bedroom. “Bahamut! Give me a fresh new uniform!”
Having no choice but to speed up the process of cooking by using her magic. Levitating objects and making them fly to her without having to move around. The Queen had settled in after dividing everything and returning to a channel in the far flung numbers where its all about Reality TV show replays from Earth Asian continent.
Talented as usual with her ability to multitask, she finishes their Duck Confit with floating utensils and magic while delivering all of their clothes into their respective wardrobes using her Vampiric speed and before she knew it, everyone finally gets to sit together on the dining table of the fancy suite they’ve been given by the city.
Elizabeth was the first to sit down, beating Bahamut who was still unpacking her shirts having all sorts of beef and pork related images and texts on it whilst Alana lightly smacked her head. “Oy, Bahamut. We must eat.” This made her stop and stand up, sitting next to Jackson who had just finished wearing his slacks and shirt though his fingers were busy locking all of the buttons. “Master, let me help you with that.”
With that finally out of the way, he looked at the white porcelain plates and silver utensils, the Duck Confit sitting on top of its own fat broth with thyme sprinkled all over it and a butter slowly melting on its roof, their dinner was a work of art in of itself with how cleanly it's presented and the aroma that hugs your nostrils with a thousand kisses.
As Jackson was about to dig in, Bahamut hands races before him but both of their grubby mitts are slapped by Alana as she first takes a picture of her work and then a selfie finishing it off with a groupie of everyone posing.
With this, Jackson once again was about to lay his hands on the confit but Bahamut takes one of the legs for herself, making him put his hands on the table. Sneaking a glare at the Dragon as he grabs the skewer and knife, occasionally making eye contact with her as he grabs his portion. The two Vampires just looked at each other and giggled as they took turns in cutting their sections.
“Good morning everyone, today I will teach you how to defeat a God.” Jackson put his hand over Bahamut's shoulder as the video kept playing. “So first, preparation and research.” The General slowly puts his hand on top of the phone and lowers it. “No gadgets when on the table and eating.” She pouts and devours her food as he sighs. “So, Elizabeth. About your assassins.”
“Hm? Yes, My Lord? Do you want to do it now?”
“What? No.” He sighs and pinches the center of his nose whilst Elizabeth evilly giggles. “What? I did make a promise if you were to allow them to be released.” he slouches and with his fork, points it at her. “Do they need a barracks or something special?”
“Hmmm… Not really, My Lord. They can just stay in mist form. When they return to me after patrolling the city, I shall order to them to find a place to stay.” he shrugs his head and puts his fingers on his forehead. “No. Just no. Just tell them they can stay here or something, please. Making women stay in some sketchy place is not who I’d do things, personally.” she smiles at him and nods.
“Haaaaah… Just what are you planning to do with them, huh?” with his squinted eyes, she looks back at him with a booming positivity. “Things.”
“THAT’S NOT AN ANSWER.”
Before long, Jackson was done as he gestures for Alana. “Are you gonna wear a gown or something casual again?” she looks at herself and then at him. “I’ll don something casual, M’Lord.” He nodded as he looked at the table, smiling. “And who’ll clean the dishes?”
Elizabeth raises his hand. “I’ll do it, My Lord with the Dragon. Countess. Please have a good travel.” With a nod, the two stood up and Jackson fetched his necktie. With Bahamut turning into her normal form and picking up his hat while Alana puts his jacket on him and Elizabeth buckled his belt and fixed his collar.
Alana though switches to a pair of denim pants that accentuates the shape of her thighs and thin legs whilst wearing a shirt with a fur coat on top of it while Jackson was in his full uniform as always. Opening the door, the General is shocked to see twelve Assassins standing on the hallway as the Countess hid behind him. “Oh. Uhhhh… please come in.”
The assassin leans to the side and sees her Queen was gesturing for them and they all bowed in unison as they made way for the two who left for 8-Gon once again, leaving the Queen and Bahamut with the pack of ancient killers.
Driving back to the 8-Gon, Jackson just sighed as he drove at the night sky. The well lit city was still well more than alive and the temperatures had truly dropped to the point that most of the players were donning winter clothes.
With wet roads, he had to constantly keep an eye out as the reflections from the bright windows and street lights made the drive a bit more challenging than he expected with how crystal clear and clean the rainwater is.
Though thanks to the time way past rush hour, the drive became a lot shorter and they reached the massive building in no time.
Inside 8-Gon, in the Command Hall. Jackson was inside his big cushy office with red carpeting and wood bookshelves. It had a small meeting area complete with a flatscreen TV as he went through the papers that recently arrived. “What the…” Lifting it up, Alana goes behind him and peeks at what had gotten him to make such a noise.
It was a map of the city and the supply routes were basically zig zagging in all manners of places. “... M’Lord, who did this?” he can only reply with a shrug of his shoulders as the two got to work in looking for a way to fix the messy plans.
“Looks like they tried to make it so the military trucks won’t hamper civilian traffic but this is quite a big bad mess with so many alternative routes.”
Alana though was shuffling through the requested papers, mostly with the Skeleton Field Armies that will be deployed to Schon soon and the minimum tonnage of equipment that will need to be met every week. It was in the millions of tons whilst the skeletons was in the hundreds of thousands.
Jackson though was far too busy at the logistics of the inner city to even have time to take a peek at the more important documents that’s coming not only from the Men of the Woods but also from Eldwood itself and the Shine Guards. Shifting her attention to her Lord, the man was facepalming at the sight before him.
“M’Lord, I suggest you have them be kept as optional routes. What we need is a permanent road from the Port at the West to the railyard in the East that’s a continuous connection.”
“And also access to the freeways. Why are they so afraid of seventy ton tanks on lowbeds being hauled through those huge roads? Are they that cheap in city works?!”
Even at the dead of night, paperwork was still being bought in. The most recent ones concerning a logistic route being completely cut off from the North due to a conflict and it has started to affect the civilian population. To his surprise, this was made by the Governor in a document sent to the DoD.
Though at hand, Jackson was still knee deep in figuring out the logistics of it all including the relief to the refugee camps on the outskirts of the city. Its size was nothing he had ever seen before. Spanning all throughout the dense forest of Menyon to the Misty Mountains where they had kept a large stockpile of artillery shells and unguided rockets.
“Ugh… this is gonna take a while isn’t it?” Looking at Alana, she sighs. Walking to the board where the woman started to put up the stuff that urgently needs to be taken care of. “I think we must call Elizabeth for this one, M’Lord.”
“The stuff with the Governor’s request?” She nodded as he sat on his leather chair. Skimming through the paper after paper he is given. “Just what the hell do they want me to do? Ugh. Tomorrow, we’ll call her. Right now, we need to focus on getting sprayers so that we can move tanks on the roads.”
“M’Lord, it's already one in the morning.” He looks at the time and he swears it wasn’t even near 12 when they arrived. “ACK-” He just closed his eyes as he stretched his arms. “Dammit. Here I did not want to pull an all-nighter.”
“Is the Endurance Potion not working anymore, M’Lord?”
“Yeah, I might need another one.”
“Though M’Lord. I prefer you’d actually just rest and sleep. This environment must not be good for your Human body.”
“Indeed it isn’t. But what can a man do with all these tasks at hand?” he leans on the computer, opening it and selecting a premade document for orders. “And it’s not like this is anything new for me. I do this back on Earth too. Haaaah…”
With the tasks at hand, the two got to work. They’d look at the map of the city and put down the info they were being given and use this to create an overall image of the problem at hand and it was far more complicated than he expected with the North route closed due to the fighting, not only was civilian cargo hampered severely but also military traffic whilst the Refugee camp just beyond the mountain that hugs the city perimeter was taking up a huge percent of available personnel and trucks.
Already, they agree to fully ignore city traffic concerns and just have them use the largest and widest roads even though it means heavy damage to them. In return, Jackson has put an Engineering Battalion in ready to help City Works. Making the document in no time as he puts more requests for trucks and transport battalions to be transferred to the Woodstock National Guard.
And other concerns, the issues with the railway were also given some pointers. Mostly on the fact that most trains are no longer controlled by players due to how much cargo needs to be moved. In one instance, a whopping 1 Million tons had to be moved in fifteen days and a massive switch had to completely happen. Three to two kilometer long trains would be on the move day and night, rain or shine alongside the Port having to expand while almost all of the personnel had been changed to skeletons thanks to their excellent ability for endless toiling.
All the supplies were meant for the conquering of the Three Rivers Fortress City last year and its drastic effects were still being felt. Mostly in the area of the Gaily Black Menyon Railyard and the backlog of civilian freight it has long been left behind to rot in containers. It had gotten so bad the local Government had called upon the Military to do something with it.
But with the problems on the North and the Refugees, Jackson couldn’t muster anyone or anything to respond to it, forcing to make a document for Private Companies to do the clean up instead but it meant multiple documents for multiple different Government institutions. “... GAAAAHHH! FUCK YOU BUREAUCRACY!”
“M’Lord, why not use the Navy? They are busy repairing the damage from the damaged shops, right? They should have something.” He nodded and quickly made calls to the Woods Navy. Jackson managed to arrange some trucks and supply ships that are heading to the other cities to pick up cargo to haul the container vans. With Alana doing some math on her head. They just removed a fraction of the backlogs though this also meant more space for military cargo to move through.
Before they knew it, the morning star had already arched over the horizon and the city once again fully awakened. Though the two on the other hand had been at it the entire night, buzzing around the office like sleepless undead. Alana had no problem with it, still as active and vivid as ever whilst Jackson was nearly on the edge by the time the foreign sun had risen. His walking had gotten sloppy and he’d mumble some of his words.
It was so bad that the Countess had to leave the room and fetch some coffee. Though it did fix the problem. It was all for a short term and Jackson soon fell asleep on the black leather couch. His head face planted into the pillow as he loudly snored.
At nine o'clock in the morning. The Countess pulled up her smartphone as she began to remove some of the problems on the board and slowly it became clearer and better to see.
Going into contacts, she calls Elizabeth who didn’t pick up. After multiple tries, she decides to go for another. “Who is this? Do you know this is the lair of Bahamut?”
“Bahamut, it's me. Her Majesty has her phone closed doesn’t she?”
“The Golden Bloodsucker is currently sleeping still. She left the TV playing on some stupid Korean drama show. It’s so BORING.”
“Do wake Her Majesty up. We need her here. There seems to be an issue within the outskirts and she has the skills to deal with this. It’s causing quite a bottleneck, I must say.'' She then proceeds to check the document from the Governor and uses the number on the center top to call the local Government office and requests for the Governor whose secretary promptly responds that he was actually heading to the 8-Gon that day for other purposes but will stop by afterwards.
A ray of light struck the General’s closed eyes. The bright shine prompts him to peek out a bit but being met with nothing but a brightness that blinds him, he instead opts out to bury his head into the pillows. “Hnnrrggg… is it morning already…? Stop opening the curtains.”
It was Alana, she was opening the curtains. The streak of light brings a brightness to the dim room. “M’Lord, the Governor will be coming soon. You must awaken immediately. Oft’ should we present ourselves in such a bad way to officials.” Jackson though just smiled at the sight of her petite silhouette, her lanky arms extended out as she tied the curtains to the sides of the windows. Her long black hair styled to that of an elegant Noble lady, with her forehead exposed in stark contrast to her casual outfit, the denim pants carving out her large rear that goes up to her thin waist.
The teenage looking girl would do little twirls as if she was dancing in cleaning the messy desk. He still couldn’t take in how her body curves so nicely, the contours that form her finely shaped hips and thin waist was immaculate and unlike the Queen who had a more mature tone to it, hers was young and vigorous, lively and youthful to its flair as she finished up and walked toward Jackson. “M’Lord, the Governor is poised to arrive here by One-Thirty and it's already One o’clock. I recommend you wash up your face and greet him with a fresh you.”
He groans as his body powers itself up and gets him in a sitting position. “Right… and Elizabeth? Didn’t you mention something about her?” the Countess just lifted her hands up and shrugged. “I’ve called for her to come here immediately. For now, I recommend for you to wash up. Your hair is a mess, M’Lord.”
As he went out of the room and got his face doused in water from a sink. He comes back to the office with the Governor already there, sitting pretty in the armchair in front of his desk, smoking a cigar with Alana just standing by his leather chair, all ladylike with her hands together and head lowered.
“Ah, General. If this is about the problem I’ve bought up. I hope you can get this done in a day or two.”
“Yeah, exactly why is the Military itself being called to this? You have the Men of the Woods National Guardsman on the tips of your fingers… and why haven’t you elected a Mayor yet?” Jackson then approaches his Executive chair, Alana twists it to his direction, making him have an easier time to sit down. “Pfft. The citizens love the original Mayor. The dumbhead was supposed to be online on that fateful day, but chatted with the Guild Officials Channel that he has a business trip to do.”
As his butt touched the chair, the Countess instinctively turned it facing the desk. In perfect practice, and harmony with Jackson’s stride who then interlaced his fingers whilst staring directly at the Governor’s eyes. “Heck, if this is just a dispute between these two olden Clans that are always at war. Why not send SWAT with their special teams?”
The Governor then blinked as the cigar that rested in between his fingers dangled as he removed it from his lips. “See, this is the problem. I have done it before but I am simply at a short loss as of right now. My National Guard reserves are currently guarding the Port of Woodstock after an attack last year that damaged multiple Naval ships.”
“Ah, I’ve read that from the reports. They were targeting the military cargo ship carrying the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth, yes?”
“Correct. The kiddies playing Ship Captain overreacted and fired missiles and cannons at a tight area, causing them to damage not only each other but also the civilian port sector. SWAT is also now on standby there and in the Downtown areas with the rise of criminality between the Dwarves and Elves had risen.” the Governor then licked his lips as he breathed out. “And the rest of my National Guard is out on the outskirts of the city constantly patrolling and giving aid to the refugees. The Humanitarian mission has been a mess! None of the requests I sent to the UN for soldiers came with any sizable numbers. It’s like they’d rather wage war than help us here!”
“Just let me remind you, Governor. You are asking a hammer to deal with a problem that can be solved with a screwdriver.”
“Well, General. The conflict between these two factions had also caused delays to the railway lines as their fighting often rested by the mountainside where the trains go by. I am sure your documents reflected that and the massive bottleneck it has caused in some places.” He then puts the cigar on his mouth and breathes in as Jackson’s hand lay on the perfectly stacked papers next to him.
It was for a few moments that the two looked at each other in silence before the General sneaked a quick glance at the Countess who blinked once at him.
Jackson breathed a long sigh as his right hand gently massaged his cheek. “I am well aware of this too but by how your report is written, it's as if this was a domestic dispute that a beat cop should respond to and not an entire Battalion of heavily armed soldiers.” With a blank expression, the Governor started to tap the arm of the chair he was on.
“General, are you from the United States?” he shrugs. “Well, do you know the campaign against the Cartels, atleast?” this time, Jackson nods. “I’d like you to treat this the same way those Delta Forces and Green Berets dealt with those Cartels.”
“Governor, may I remind you that the war on the cartels ended with failure and only emboldened them.”
“Only because they paid off the Senate and Congress, pulling power from the President till he had nothing but war hungry Generals seeking to drink the blood of innocent Latinos. I do not want that, I want you to instead deal with this with an unholy precision that the Humans of Earth could never achieve.”
“You guys literally performed drone strikes on cartel leaders and used bunker busters on their mountain tunnels and it only made the fight harder. Why do you think the Alliance now has Peacekeepers in California and Texas? I know a handful of friends who stayed in the military who are deployed there right now.”
“But General, that’s because the people in charge weren’t really doing this because they want to stop the drugs. They just want to fill the stock of weapons, get rid of the old and unused for newer ones while they get big fat paychecks in return.” he removes the cigar from his mouth as he puffs smoke from his mouth and nose. “You though… you are in command of a peculiar yet of people that doesn’t have this Human failure and Jackson, from your real life records, you seem to be the type to put idealism before common sense.”
“Wha? Are you right in your mind? I’ve never made choices based on something that’s not on hard cold numbers.”
“Yet you decided to perform a coup against the Supreme General. You can’t tell me you aren’t driven by ideals, General. No Human moves without faith in something. Chi ha fede, vola senze ali. You fly without wings, just fine, General.”
Jackson once again looks at Alana who leans down and places her mouth next to his ear. “M’Lord, I believe it’s better we do as he asks. It is going to benefit us in the long run.” She looks at the map with the strings and circles, it’s still very much filled to the brim. Seeing this also, the man just sighs as the Countess retreats and stands straight up again, her head looking down a bit and avoiding eye contact.
With a few seconds of the two just staring at one another, the fat man breathes with his own sigh. “The Werewolf and Vampire players have had their personalities completely twisted. They’ve been so far, busy murdering each other but since they can respawn. They keep fighting, it's affecting business. MY business.” Now, Jackson had started to massage the area in between his eyebrows.
Alana had to step in and massaged his shoulders as he looked at the neatly organized desk. With a map of the city sitting right in front of him and the larger one on the wall with the circled problems, he observes it closely and takes a whiteboard pen, gently placing it on the edge of his desk. “Can you draw it for me, Governor?”
He grunted as he stands up and after a quick inhale of his cigar, he shows the Werewolves have taken up residence on a Dungeon whilst the Vampires had a camp in the forest line. They were just a few miles from the edge of the massive refugee camp that encircles the city. “Yeah, I have someone in mind who can take care of this swiftly.”
With a joyous nod, the Governor returns the pen and walks out to the door. “Governor, I hope when you write me something and it's asking for stuff like this. Please be concise and write every single detail no matter how long it will be.” with no reply, the man just gets out of his office and before long, it was just him and the Countess once again.
Lifting his head up, his eyes met with Alana’s. She slowly tilts her head in anticipation.
“What do you think?”
“M’Lord, that walking Lard of a man could very well be doing this for something else. The fact that he omitted so much, just expecting you to roll in with special forces makes me believe his objective is not the same as ours, it's merely along the same path.”
“Yeah, these two are usually always at war which ends up with them being forced to get into all sorts of methods to get funding. The Vampires most of all with their production of occult things and the Werewolves who make this drug the Locals would often use.”
“Drug?”
“It's some sort of opiate. The Locals of Tur are far too archaic to know that their drinking is basically an addictive drug. That’s why Eldwood always stray far away from them in the Dark Continent.”
“M’Lord, weren't the Shine Guards known for being the ones to police that continent? Could they know something more?”
“Pretty sure yeah. We might have to call for Thomas and have him give us a gist of it. If anyone knows how to deal with these two, it's the Shine Guards job after all.”
Knocking on their door, Jackson just tells whoever it was to get in and to his surprise, it was Elizabeth with Bahamut. “Finally, what took you so long, Elizabeth? And why is it Bahamut with you?” As if she had enough for the day, the Queen just went for the couch and promptly sat there whilst the Dragon went straight to him, snuggling her face up to his cheeks.
“My Lord, that Dragon was complaining about food. Hence, I took her out and… she’s truly a handful without your supervision… and the buses were so packed this morning I just couldn’t take it.” The General just giggled and shrugged his head as he gave Bahamut a quick kiss on her forehead. “Yeah, I know. Good job though seeing how she’s in such a happy mood and welcome to working in a city and commuting. I am amazed you reached 8-Gon just by bus.”
“I do thank you, My Lord. Though I’d like to formally apologize for my tardiness as you’ve called for me hours ago.” he then just smiled at her and gestured for the Queen to come forward.
Walking to his desk, she rested both her hands on the edge of it. Squishing her breasts together as the woman looked at the drawing on the map’s outskirts. “That’s going to be your mission for tomorrow. Call the hotel and have them ring the room, I might need your assassins for this.” He gets up and stretches his arms as he exercises a bit. “Hah, and here I was planning to go to the gym…” he turns around, hands in his hips. “But for now, why not let’s all go out and eat out?” with a smile, Elizabeth just sighed whilst Alana clapped her hands.
She tilts her head and one of her eyebrows raised at the recommendation. “Eat out, My Lord? I just got here though.” Jackson then stood up and smiled at her. “Yup! It’s a tradition on Earth and in almost all societies. A large group of friends, acquaintances, or family should go out every now and then together and most of all after a BUSY ALL NIGHTER! FOOD IS THE ANSWER!”
“You mean like what we did in Neo Tokyo, My Lord? Eating together in that Chinese restaurant? Shouldn’t you instead be heading home while we take care of things here on your behalf?”
“Exactly! Come on then, let’s go out to the city.”
Elizabeth just stretched her arms and opened her hands. “Hah?! My Lord, have you lost your mind? You need to rest.” Before she could continue, he had already taken his jacket and was outside the room waiting for them. “Haaaah… Your lack of self preservation still irks me sometimes, My Lord.”
As they leave, Bahamut is on her phone and as she scrolls down on the daily news, the Dragon stops and presses on an article. “Heads of Guild States Announce Start of Conference For The Mana Core Question - Will They Shut Them Down For Safety?” This made her walk up the group and walk next with Jackson and press the phone up his face which he pushes back and squints his eyes. “Oh that, well, it’s better we leave that be for the suits since every time a portal opens, there’s always a Mana Core involved. I’m sure they want to avoid its weaponization against us.”
Alana and Elizabeth both then walk up to his back, resting her sharp chins on his shoulders as Bahamut showed them the article. “M’Lord, doesn’t this mean we might be producing the last weapons and vehicles?” the man shrugs his head as they approach the elevator. “Not really. The handful of analogue factories will still function but I don’t think any of them produce tanks though. They're just far too complex for Guilds to actually build up a logistics line from the various specialized components. So we cheated and used the Mana Core’s ability to materialize basically anything that can be built with basic materials and chemicals.”
As the elevator arrives, they hop in and Elizabeth with her arms crossed just sighs. “My Lord, to fight the Demonic hordes without a production line to back us up is akin to sword fighting with a wall behind us.” he presses the door button and looks at the Queen with a smile. “That was the plan. Operation Army of the Damned’s entire objective is to build up a skeleton army that can slow down and distract the Demons long enough till we can go home. It’s a shot in the dark in the grand scheme of things.”
The door closes with a face of an Elizabeth who isn’t impressed by what they are about to do.