Something was amiss. That was the first thought the Conquistador had as he walked down the streets with his retinue, every single last one of his soldiers watching about with their guards up. While the settlement as a whole seemed calm without a single bit of monstrous activity, there was something that made him rather worried.

His gut instinct was warning him that something was coming. A problem that would do nothing more than ruin all of his efforts to take this place over. That was something he couldn’t quite understand. Why was he feeling so paranoid about everything going on? What was making him so worried about all this? There shouldn’t be anything to make him so concerned.

He looked back at his group. There were several elite monsters with armor and weaponry that could take down any other unique enemies. They were far more capable of annihilating any enemy that came in their way. He himself was a skilled warrior, one with a halberd that was made for him and him alone.

And yet. He wasn’t confident in his group. He couldn’t fathom why. All the cards were in his side, so why wasn’t he able to be relaxed?

In the end, he couldn’t do anything about this feeling. The only thing he could do was walk together with his retinue to see if there were any ambushes.

There was one that came. However, this one was something he could not have predicted at all.

A lone figure walked down the street towards his group. This one was far different from all the monsters he had faced in this settlement, for they were human. That, or they were able to emulate the human figure well.

In any case, they were covered head to toe in dull armor, one that was made in a mixture of black and red. This opponent was not similar to that demon he had faced in the town. No, this was a far different foe altogether. In fact, the armor seemed to be far too similar to that of a dragon, with the head forming the shape of a roaring lizard, while the greaves were sharp and pointed.

Then there came its armaments, something that made his hair raise on the end. A large war hammer was held in one of its hands, while the other held a green glass bottle that was full of some mysterious liquid. In any case, his entire caravan came to a halt at the sight of this new threat, before they all rushed forward and got their weapons up in defense. They stood there, ready to fight should the enemy launch the first attack.

However, they did none of that. They did not rush forward to attack, nor did they start backing up to get ready for any assaults. No, they merely kept on walking without a care in the world. The fact that they were facing an army did not stop their advances at all.

The Conquistador couldn’t help but scowl at the sight. What was this? Was this bastard really thinking that they could take on his whole retinue without a problem? He stepped forward and cleared his throat, before speaking up towards this mysterious figure.

“Stop right there! Don’t you dare take another step forward!”

The figure did not stop as he commanded. Rather, it kept on walking for some time. With that, he had ultimately signed his death warrant. Well, he did warn the bastard.

He snapped his fingers and all of his ranged monsters stepped forward. Energy began to coalesce in front of their mouths, before those blasts were launched right at the bastard.

What happened next was one of pure shock. The enemy did not move away from the incoming attacks. They did not run to dodge, or did they stop walking forward. No, they merely hefted their war hammer, and without stopping for a single second, began to swing at high speeds.

Every single last one of those blasts were destroyed with each strike. One by one, the barrage was cut down as the freak kept on coming forward. Bit by bit, they came forward until finally, they were a few meters away.

The adversary stood there, before looking at him, almost as though it was finally addressing his existence for the first time. The two different sides stood in their respective areas for that brief moment, at least until the enemy raised their heads right at the Conquistador.

“Move. Or else.”

At that, his mouth opened wide and his eyes twitched. What the hell was this? Did this bastard get all uppity and arrogant over diverting some of his soldier’s blasts? Did he think he was some kind of unstoppable machine, all because he was able to avoid getting instantly killed? Why, he had half the nerve to commence a charge to teach this bastard a thing or two about respect!

But before he could give the command, he hesitated. Not because of fear, but because of understanding.

There was a feeling. The sensation that if he went in recklessly, then that would be the biggest mistake of his life. He’d need to strategize, come up with tactics to take on this serious situation in his hands. There needed to be something he could use, and the following information was more than enough to garner some information.

This guy was fast enough to blast a barrage of blows without much concern, even with a gigantic hammer. They were far more capable than he expected and there was an overwhelming amount of confidence in their abilities to counter his giant army.

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However, there was one thing he had that this thing possibly couldn’t comprehend: his divine blessing. This part was a coin flip, of course: if this bastard didn’t know about his ability nor had any capacity to defend against such a blow, then he had this in the bag. Now, if he did have a way to counter, then this battle just got a lot harder.

That was the concerning part. Though, there was one thing he had above all else: diplomacy. He was one that was able to talk and discuss things to get things in his favor. Did he not have the capacity to get the demon to stand down before? This should be easy. If not, well…

He smiled and walked forward, putting his hands to his back as he did so.

“Why, what’s with the rush, my friend?” He asked as he started making some signs to his soldiers to move for flanking and maneuvering, “We can talk this out, no?’

“Begone from my sight, wretches.” The enemy growled, “I am on a mission from my Lord. If you continue to block my path, then I will have no choice but to crush you all here and now.

“Your lord?” The Conquistador raised his eyebrow, “Are you referring to the one that seats in the throne of God at this time?”

“So you know of him.”

“Why would I not?” He sighed and shook his head, before gesturing to some of his troops, “If you were paying attention, you’d notice that I have some of his forces under my command. Surely you get what this means?”

The opponent growled and took a step forward, before stopping. They seemed to take a closer look at the monsters that he had under his control, before finally relaxing.

“I see. I apologize for my hasty actions.” The enemy sighed, “I had believed you were an enemy. After all, you have the same aura as the Dishonored One.”

The Dishonored One? Was that what the Usurper’s forces were calling the rightful God? If he was a lesser man, then he would’ve frothed at the mouth and launched an attack. However, why would he interrupt his opponent when he was making such a fatal mistake?

The fool hadn’t recognized that some of his troops were moving to flank him, their weapons up and their legs to rush in. The ranged monsters were getting some of their energies spiralizing already, prepared to blast the bastard to smithereens upon a moment’s notice. No, this fool had all but relaxed, believing they had found some friendly forces in this area.

A mistake that would certainly cost them their life. Though, there was one thing he was curious about.

Did this bastard have the blessings of the Usurper? He needed to get that information here and now, before he crushed this fool to the ground.

“Why, I am insulted, my fellow man.” He scowled and shook his head, “Just because I happened to have stolen this power, you dare accuse me of such heresy? If I had truly done such a thing, would our fellow soldiers not strike me down right where I stand? Would I not have had my throat slit for a heinous crime? Think before you speak, lest I am forced to defend my honor.”

“I… meant no offense.” The enemy spoke as they looked at him. “Apologizes. Then that means you must have murdered one of his forces, the last resort to spite our God, and collected their divine blessing?”

The Conquistador nearly raised his eyebrow at that, before schooling all of his emotions. Oh? Collecting divine blessings? Could this be?

“Yes, I have. Surely you understand such a thing, correct?”

“Hrm. Indeed.” The idiot put down his war hammer and slammed a fist to his chest proudly. “I have been chosen by our Lord to serve him throughout these dark times. While his decisions to grant a blessing upon many of his forces did not turn out well, I alone am an exception. I have sustained my sanity, my understanding of the world. I am a soul far better than any others. Although, I must admit, perhaps you are far better than me. You seemed to have retained a large amount of your own features, though I do not recognize you.”

“Ah, you wouldn’t have. I served the Usurper rather personally, you see.” He sighed dramatically as he looked away. “You see, I had to do many things for him. So many tasks, so many actions that were all necessary to advance the goals of our Lord.”

“I see.”

“That being said!” With that, he clapped his hands and looked at the enemy dead in the eyes. “I’m rather worried, you see. This settlement appears rather barren, no patrolling soldiers, nothing. There should be men roaming around, and yet I find none. What say you to this? Are you perhaps being lazy? There was no one on the walls, no one in the streets, nothing. What kind of operation is this?”

“My apologizes once more.” The fool looked down in shame. “For you see, we are facing difficulties. We have not been able to secure our foothold in this area, for we are still in the process of fighting some of the Dishonorable One’s forces. They are embedded in a few buildings, and we are under the process of setting up some of our own bases as well.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed.” The enemy nodded. “In fact, I was on my way towards one of those strongholds before coming face to face with you.”

Perfect. That was all he needed to know. So then that meant these bastards were well aware of his base of operations then. Either that meant there was an incoming invasion at some point in time… or this was a lone wolf that was conducting their own operations.

Things have changed now. He couldn’t kill this bastard yet. No, he needed to get as much information as possible to counter this threat. Their bases, their numbers, their blessed soldiers, everything. With that, he needed to keep this man alive.

Which meant he’d need to use all of his divine blessing now. The best time to do that was when he was distracted. And he knew exactly how to achieve that.

“Why, that’s good. Say, I think we should– Wait, who’s that over there?!”

He pointed his finger behind the moron, who turned. The gullible fool hadn’t even suspected that he was lying and with that, the bait was taken.

At that, he whistled and brought down the full power of his divine blessing upon the bastard, all the while his own troops attacked.