Another peaceful day came to an end at the village of Urnkrest, the settlement consisted of about two-dozen buildings, each one housing several NPCs, but also a few players, most varying in levels from seventy to sixty.
The frog-man was walking, they carried a massive stack of wood under each arm.
Village guard: I'm glad to see you're still helping us out. he laughed, he was accompanied by five other guards, most already took a break from guard-duty to have a drink.
Mobleous: Mmhmm. they nodded, it was a bit hard to judge whether it was a "he" or a "she", on one hand, they had had a ponytail, on the other hand, they had an ambiguous body-shape.
Village Child: How can you carry that much?! the NPC asked in awe, lately, they seemed to grow closer to their expected behaviours, pickpockets started being thieves again, guards started guarding the towns and children returned to being small parasites that people seem to tolerate.
Mobleous: Got a high strength stat. they replied dropping the wood off by the door of the inn.
Village Child: And you beat-up those pickpockets yesterday!
Mobleous: Right.
Village Child: You shot their legs so they couldn't run away!
Mobleous: ...who told you that?
Village Child: And you shot their arms off with the big gun on your back!
Mobleous: ...n-no... I-... you shouldn't be listening to stuff like that...
Mobleous walked with a large rifle on their back and a pistol on their hip.
A group of players stepped into the town, in the front a fish-man, well-dressed and seemingly unarmed.
RuRet: This town is now the property of the "Urmom" guild, we would appreciate your cooperation.
Soon one of the guards marched up to RuRet.
Head Guard: Hey now, why would you care about a little town like ours, leave us be.
RuRet: I'm afraid this is not a matter we can discuss, we would like to meet the one in charge if your village posses such a person, you will all be relocated soon.
A few of the players inside, as well as the few NPCs, stepped outside to see the source of the commotion.
Seeing no concrete reply, RuRet continued.
RuRet: If you do not cooperate, we will take the town and the villagers by force.
As soon as he said that the first player to leave the tavern, a mage fired a blue fireball at RuRet in an instant a burly looking player moved in to take the hit, one of the players possessed by JohnWillStab.
RuRet looked to the burning framed of the shield-user who stood back up in moments.
RuRet: I will consider that a mis-click, if you do not surrender I will begin the attack, we have no interest in the players this time.
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Another player attacked, Mobleous stood there with the pistol drawn as RuRet recoiled from the bullet he was shot in the chest with, luckily his level was high enough to survive the hit.
RuRet: Very well, I guess this will be our first mission. he said as he retreated behind the swarm of possessed players which moved in to shield him from the attacks.
As he set the players to aggressive-mode he gave them one command, RuRet: Leave the NPCs alive at all costs, you have JohnWillStab's permission to restrain them or knock them unconscious. with that he retreated outside.
[https://i.imgur.com/u7XUpfB.png]
Outside, two healer-players stood next to a small tent where RuRet sat down and sent a private message to JohnWillStab.
RuRet: As expected they refused, though we didn't exactly get a chance to advertise ourselves as the protectors before being attacked. he seemed quite satisfied that he would get the chance to test out the might of his army.
JohnWillStab: Yeah, I guess we need to get our name out there before people flock to us for protection.
RuRet: In any case, the players have been instructed to spare the NPCs at all costs, there were only four or five players inside anyway.
JohnWillStab: Yeah, thanks for taking care of this one, I need to grind to level 100 asap! he replied as his character stood around, punching a heavily armoured player and having another player heal them.
"He doesn't seem too concerned with the NPC's safety after all..." RuRet though but said nothing, after all the remembered they were all there for different reasons.
RuRet: I'm sure you will get there in no time!
JohnWillStab: Yeah, thanks! I've complete like... seven movies in the background while my character beats the crap out of Tim the punching-bag player.
Meanwhile the fight continued inside the village, most NPCs were beaten to half health and picked up with the /pickup command before being tied up and brought outside to RuRet.
Mobleous continued to fight the possessed players, though the other players were dead already, they were no match for the sheer strength of "urmom".
From the right charged an armoured shield user, Mobleous dodged out of the way causing him to crash into a nearby building, a two-handed shortsword used charged at Mobleous who shot his head clean off with one blast of the pistol.
A few bolts of fire flew at them, one successfully made contact with their skin burning their arm clean off.
"Shit, they have some high-level casters!" they though at they grabbed the rifle from their back, as enemies closed in from all sides they aimed the rifle at the distant mage blowing a massive hole in their torso.
RuRet: Fight all you want! We'll just send in more players! he called out with a light chuckle.
An hour later...
RuRet: When I said fight all you want... this isn't what I meant!
Inside the town stood Mobleous, missing an arm and a leg, in a pool of blood, some their own and some belonging to the dozens of players they slaughtered, their rifle propped up on the body of a nearby player. (Technically, you can prop your ranged weapon on any solid surface thanks to a skill you can learn)
Mobleous: Am I getting underneath your skin?
Another bolt of fire-charred off another arm leaving Mobleous defenceless.
As all the players charged in and surrounded Mobleous.
RuRet: You got under my skin when you shot me, no pun intended. he approached the now defenceless player.
Mobleous: What the hell was up with those guys, are they bots?
RuRet: Not exactly, they have been mind-controlled to aid our cause!
Mobleous: You never told us what the cause of yours was...
RuRet realised he hasn't told Mobleous anything.
RuRet: That's right, we're here to save the NPCs.
Mobleous: ...
A while of silence passed.
Mobleous: You just kidnapped the entire village!
RuRet: No, we're temporarily re-locating the villagers.
Mobleous: ...you're lying.
RuRet: Didn't you find it strange how we refused to kill NPCs?
Mobleous: You're telling me you care about NPCs that much?
RuRet: Personally I couldn't care less about them, though the boss does, and we work in a symbiosis of sorts!
Mobleous gave him an inquisitive look.
Mobleous: Your boss? You mean you're not in charge?
RuRet: I'm just the general. he shrugged.
Mobleous: Don't you feel you should have mentioned the whole NPC-protection thing beforehand?
RuRet realised Mobleous was right, though didn't want to admit it.
RuRet: This was our first mission!
Mobleous: If you explained that earlier I could have helped you convince the villagers you know.
RuRet: ...well... At least I know what to improve next time.
Mobleous: You guys aren't hiring, are you?
RuRet: We are, though usually without the other person's consent.
Mobleous: So... are you planning to mind-control me too?
RuRet: I guess that's up to the boss, though, I should warn you, we aren't here to make everyone happy, chances are we'll be the "evil dictators" for as long as we stay in power, do you really want to be called that?
Mobleous: No, but I think the goals of your boss and my goals may align too.
[https://i.imgur.com/o9D8ZSC.png]