Their group sneaked through the fire and flames, camouflaging themselves by exploiting the environment and using their various trinkets to cast invisibility on themselves. Soon enough, the traveling group found a group of bandits ready to pounce on a group of guards and adventurers.

“It’s Maria!” The elf-merman bard whispered, recognizing one of the adventurers present.

Dwobug raised his hand, stopping themselves from rushing forward.

“Calm down.” Dwobug used his Lens of Appraisal and soon saw the classes of the bandits and cloaked figures. “One rare bandit, two uncommon rogues, one rare magic swordsman, one rare shadow cleric.”

“A shadow cleric?” The human lion was surprised to hear one of the bandit’s classes, or to be more exact, one of the hooded figures’ class. “A cleric of the God of Shadows?”

“The God of Shadows is worshipped by criminals and fiends, it’s only normal.” The uncommon class mage readied their spell.

“You three deal with the bandits, I’ll deal with the cloakies.” Runes shone on Dwobug’s trusty war hammer. Unlike the hammer he used for smithing, one that was barely larger than a dagger, the hammer he wielded was almost as big as his dwarven figure. This weapon had accompanied him since his time in the dwarven army, enhanced and upgraded over the years to be a formidable epic rank weapon.

“Yes, boss!” The three rushed forward, their weapons and spells readied.

The lion man raised a great sword made out of darkgold; its weight lightened and increased in quick succession, allowing him to deliver a deadly blow with the mass of a heavy mace, yet having the ease of swinging a light blade.

The uncommon rogue cried out in pain, his blood splattering on the invisible lionman.

Help! The cornered adventurers and guards immediately caught on and lunged themselves forward.

The common guards focused on the bandits, ignoring the powerful cloaked figures.

“Crap!” the rare shadow cleric waved his hand and shouted. “Dispel Invisibility!”

Too late! The uncommon mage, empowered by her allied elf-merman uncommon bard, released her spell.

Condensed mana bullets plunged themselves deep into the uncommon rogue and rare bandit’s torso, piercing through their chest. The uncommon rogue was dealt in one blow, but the rare bandit held on, their eyes revealing a murderous glint.

His curved blade glowed red and with one swing, a crescent beam rushed towards the uncommon mage.

She hurriedly activated her ring, and a barrier of mana coalesced around her. The moment the crescent beam arrived, it shattered into bits of magic, with the barrier barely receiving a dent.

“Attack him!” one of the cornered adventurers led the charge and attacked the immobilized bandits, with guards desperately clinging onto his legs.

An arrow pierced through his shoulder, and another mana bullet hit his right arm, causing him to let go of his curved blade.

The final adventurer of the cornered group, a swordsman, raised his sword and slashed. He activated his class skill, borrowing the power of his swordsmanship skill and heavy blow skill to deal one final strike.

On the other hand, Dwobug rushed forward and launched lightning bolts from his war hammer, zapping the rare shadow cleric.

“Ah!” he cried out in pain, his squishy body electrocuted.

“Crap!” the rare class magic swordsman quickly swung his blade, and cast a haste spell on himself along with a strength-up spell. He barely parried the heavy war hammer, but Dwobug was far more experienced than the young human.

He was many decades old and had spent a decade fighting in the mines below for the dwarven army. A magic swordsman posed no threat. Moreover, besides the obvious class gap, there was a big wealth gap between them.

As the rare magic swordsman prepared to swing his blade and cast another spell, and the shadow cleric aimed to buff his ally, a knife flew out of the epic magic smith’s pocket, which flew at dangerous speeds.

The magic swordsman was barely able to deflect the blow when two more flew forward. A barrier of shadows formed around the magic swordsman, blocking one of the daggers, but the other dagger flew straight toward the shadow cleric, shocking the mage. They had defended their ally, but forgot to create a barrier around themselves, a vital mistake for a squishy spellcaster like him.

Clerics had high soul and mind development, but their physical stats were severely lacking. Even though he only hit the cleric’s stomach, he flattened like a deflated balloon and was almost knocked out by the dagger’s strike.

Of course, since the dagger was already in his body…

A dangerous glow shone on the dwarf’s eyes as Dwobug ruthlessly activated the runes on the dagger. Bright yellow light gathered on the runes, and mana was expelled, transforming into a crackling electricity that coursed through the squishy shadow cleric’s veins, electrocuting him from the inside out, burning his flesh, singeing his veins.

Just as the magic swordsman was about to finish his spell and alter the ground below Dwobug to turn into mud, the lionman abruptly appeared behind the cloaked figure, with the darkgold great sword covered in a layer of arcane energies raised.

Bang!

The shadow barrier collapsed with the lionman’s strike, and Dwobug bashed his war hammer against the rare magic swordsman’s chest, swinging him upwards.

“Fireball.” A ball of fire erupted from his hands, slamming into the cloaked figure in the air, exploding with great strength.

Upon seeing the final bastard burst into flames and die, the rest of the group heaved a sigh of relief, escaping their deaths.

“Come with me,” Dwobug said. “Those unable to fight, the bard will lead to my smithy and stay underground. Those able to fight will help save the others.”

Although some were unwilling to fight anymore, their conscience weighed over their fears and they voiced no complaints.

The bard was about to lead them back to the smithy when two figures abruptly walked out of the shadows.

“Shadow Bindings.” The shadows around them turned alive, transforming into tentacles that bound their arms and legs. The cloaked figure that had cast the spell stared at the dead bandits and cloaked members, clicking their tongue. “Useless bastards.”

[Shadow Wizard (Epic)]

“You, bandit.” They turned to look at the bandit beside them. “You deal with them. I can’t stand the sight of these fools,” he said, disappearing with the shadows.

“Ay ay, captain.” The bandit grinned, stepping forward.

He was a fearsome-looking man, with a bald head and a scar running down his face. His malevolent gaze, one that had seen numerous deaths, glinted with zeal. He barely wore clothes and had his upper body exposed, but the confidence he exuded made one believe this was no arrogance, but one of utter confidence in their skill.

[Marauder (Epic)]

Dwobug’s eyes constricted upon noticing their class, and his fear was felt by the marauder.

“Lookie here.” He brandished his blade. “A dwarf full of magical trinkets.”

The epic marauder rushed forward, swinging his blade with deadly lethality.

“Deadly Blow!” His blade was layered with a ghastly aura of death. This simple skill was pushed to supernatural levels in the epic class, coating the once-ordinary sword with esoteric powers. “Haste!”

He transformed into a blur, arriving right before the bounded dwarf in the blink of an eye.

Dwobug reflexively activated all of the magical enchantments on his armor and trinkets, raising one barrier after another, but the epic marauder grinned in response.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Steal.” A light shone in his hands and trinkets landed in his hands. The barriers and magical defenses blinked away from his body, having been deactivated after they were stolen from the surprised dwarf.

Steal, one of the core skills of a marauder, pushed to epic class, could display effects akin to magic. Unable to stop the stealing, Dwobug gritted his teeth and launched an attack, manipulating his war hammer with mana to magically lift it.

“You’re really trying to fight me, shorty?” The crooked bandit laughed and swung his blade, deflecting the hammer, but the aura of death had disappeared upon doing so.

Then, the trinkets he kept stealing abruptly glowed brighter, as if a self-destruct mechanism had activated.

“Oh fuck.”

Dwobug roared loudly as he broke the shadowy bindings around him, and attempted to tackle the marauder and let the trinkets explode.

“Just kidding!” The epic marauder grinned and tossed the trinkets high into the sky at extreme speeds. Then, using his free hand, he swung his blade which shone with a sharp yellow glow.

Dwobug’s armor blocked the blade, but the ridiculous strength of the marauder caused the short dwarf to fly away, slamming him onto the wall of a burning house.

“Now, time to slaughter these helpless dumplings!” The epic marauder didn’t give time for the others to react, and he activated another one of his skills. Slaughter (A)!

His ability to kill others was pushed to a whole new level. With one swing of his blade, an armored guard and the elf-merman bard fell, their bodies sliced in half.

Dwobug screamed at the scene and struggled to stand up, but the marauder was no amateur and continued his slaughter. A job was a job, and he had to accomplish it with five dazzling stars.

“No hard feelings.” He stabbed his blade into the lionman’s chest, the tip of his sword plunging through the steel armor like butter. “I’m just doing my job.”

The rest had perished as well, either having their upper and lower bodies split, their heads decapitated away from the neck down, or their hearts pierced through by a sharp blade.

“Y-You bastard!” Now all alone, Dwobug stood on one knee, with his war hammer acting as his crutch.

“What can I say, I was born for this class.” The epic marauder licked his bloody blade like a maniacal villain. “Literally. I was born as the son of two outlaws.”

Dwobug spat out blood, his insides damaged, but the self-healing enchantment of his armor quickly patched the dwarf up. This didn’t mean much though, because the bandit soon approached the struggling dwarf, their blade coated in the familiar deathly glow.

“Boss, boss!” The fight was interrupted as a bandit rushed to the scene. They carried a rolled-up piece of paper in one hand and a blade in the other, wearing a look of surprise and semblance of fear. “They gave us new orders!”

“New orders?” The epic marauder groaned. “Those bastards, they better pay us good for their demands.”

The bandit quickly approached, panting along the way. They must have ran for quite a while to reach this place.

“What is it?” The epic marauder still kept their sword aimed at the fallen dwarf, keeping their focus so the dwarf wouldn’t try to launch an attack while he was distracted.

“What is it?” The bandit repeated, and extended out his hand holding the rolled up paper. “This!”

The illusion was dispelled, and the rolled up paper transformed into a glowing blue magnum. With a press of a trigger, a condensed bullet of mana was released, which traveled at supersonic speeds. Even if the marauder may have great reflexes and could sense danger in advance, Braun was a supreme marksman and accounted for the marauder’s reaction as well.

The mana bullet pierced through the marauder’s head, killing him in one blow. His head exploded into bloody bits, shocking Dwobug.

He stared as the bandit threw away their sword, and transformed into a young ten-year-old boy with black hair and green eyes.

“Braun?” Dwobug was surprised by the sight.

“Uncle Dwobug!” The boy hurriedly rushed to the dwarf’s side. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he answered weakly while his armor continued to heal him. “Where have you been?”

“I’ve been helping the others.” Braun began to cast a healing spell. “I was training in the forest, and when I returned to town, we were under attack, What happened?”

“I don’t know myself.” The young boy concealed the area in a layer of illusions. “A series of fireballs and artillery spells just arrived out of nowhere, and bandits began to kill everyone.”

“What about Ma and Pa?” The boy asked, worried for his parents’ well-being.

“They’re at the underground storage in my smithy, the place where I store all of my prized works,” said the dwarf.

“Oh, that place?” Braun mumbled, while a part of his leg slowly transformed into a shade of metallic black.

“Yes.” Dwobug answered with a cough. Soon enough, he would be back to full health, and he could continue saving others. While it was sad to see the others die, he doesn’t have enough time to grieve and has to help others—

Crack!

A black, mechanical tendril made of seemingly living black tissue pierced through his back and out of his chest, poking through his armor with ease. The dwarf stared at the bloody spike poking out of his chest with wide eyes, unable to believe what had happened.

“What?” Dwobug looked at the boy’s apologetic eyes. “Why?”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Dwobug.” Braun sighed and patted Dwobug on the shoulder. “The Otherworld Alliance is gonna be as annoying as Aegis, and I don’t want to be implicated with them anymore. I’m going to fool them by creating a fake narrative, and escape their radars forever.”

“A mark has been placed on our souls since we killed members of their group, so if I don’t do this, they’ll keep tracking me,” he added, just to make sure the dwarf understood him. “And you as well.”

Unfortunately, the dwarf didn’t.

“What are you saying, Braun?!” Dwobug snarled, the betrayal angering him.

“Shush, my dear uncle.” The nanites swarmed the insides of the dwarf. “I’ll keep your soul safe and sound, maybe revive you as an undead one day, or maybe even a lich! Or maybe a cyborg? Just trust me, okay?”

The dwarf was unable to answer, his body melting into a pile of blood, while a sphere made out of nanites housed the dwarf’s soul. Manipulating the nanites, they transformed into a miniature Uncle Dwobug figurine, which he then wore as a necklace, a memento for his fallen family.

And there’s gonna be more of that soon.

[Lie (D) -> Lie (C)]

[Deceit (D) -> Lie (C)]

Neat!

…

New long term quest unlocked—Revive Uncle Dwobug Ironhelm, Father Delmore Dolus, and Mother Erna Dolus.

Braun opened the hatch to the underground storage, his form having changed into a familiar armored dwarf.

Delmore and company heard the metallic footsteps and were alarmed. Waving his hand and readying his weapon, Delmore weaved numerous runes and stared at the end of the hallway apprehensively.

However, when he saw the bloody and bruised Dwobug appear, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Dwobug, you’re safe-“

Bang!

Delmore’s head exploded into a bloody mush, his brain matter splattering to the rest of the underground bunkies.

Erna stared at the headless body of her husband, the light in her eyes disappearing.

Bang!

Her head exploded just like how the epic marauder and Delmore Dolus died, Painless, efficient, merciful.

Braun wasn’t here for theatrics and he had a task to do. Sending out a swarm of nanites to capture the soul of his parents, he glanced at the rest of the helpless losers and shot more bullets out of his gun.

This time, he didn’t bother to capture their souls and let them pass into the afterlife.

My karma must be in the negatives already. Braun sighed and stared at the rest of the treasures in the bunker. Letting his greed get the better of him, he placed all of them in his storage ring.

Then, rushing up the ladder and onto the streets outside, nanites gathered in his hand to transform into a hollow metal sphere. He opened his mouth, taking off his ring and the miniature figurines of his family, and kept them safe inside his skull. He could almost taste the metal and blood, but he didn’t complain.

Disgusting, but it had to make do.

Frankly, what Braun was planning on doing was just plain stupid, but it was the most straightforward way he could fake his death and escape the radar of the Otherworld Alliance forever. He was just a nobody in this whole fiasco, and other than the mark on his soul, Braun Dolus had no involvement in the unknown plot that had caused this whole bullshit.

So, if he dies, along with the rest of the town, then problem solved.

Also, he could do one of Christopher’s favorite moves, and replicate that overpowered ass power with the help of magic and technology for one theatrical bang.

An unstable white sphere began to gather inside the hollow metallic ball; gravity was pushed inwards, electricity began to crackle, light turned unstable, and the temperature began to rise.

Gravity, electromagnetism, and the two nuclear forces, all packed in one tiny tennis size ball. Any bigger and he might just die.

Cloaked figures and bandits noticed the child running to the center of the town, and noticed the item he held in his hand. One glance, and they could tell it was a bomb.

“Capture him!” A cloaked figure shouted, who then waved their hand and summoned shadowy tendrils from the ground.

Braun cackled and soon reached his destination, stopping to a halt and staring at the Shadow Wizard dead in the eye.

“You guys really wouldn’t want to have me as an enemy.” Roan’s gaze turned dark as the light inside his hollow sphere brightened. “So, pray to whatever god you believe in that you bastards don’t offend me again, because I bear a grudge.”

The shadowy hands rushed forward and were inches away from grabbing the young man before the light in the metallic ball turned unstable.

“Sayonara motherfuckers!” Nanites swarmed around his head just as the light swallowed him whole. “I hope you all rot in hell!”

…

Well, maybe Braun would be the one to rot in hell for eternity.

A bright white sphere swallowed the entirety of the town of Limer, eradicating everything within the dome of pure energy. Not even atoms were spared, bringing utter destruction to the place, as if a nuke had just been dropped on the poor town.

If Braun’s plot goes as follows, and it would since he was an expert in manipulating the truth as a previous god who held dominion over destiny, then this would be the story the Otherworld Alliance would believe.

Cody Gray, after being attacked by other transmigrators, fled to the town of Limer which had been attacked by the Otherworld Alliance to guarantee his capture and leave no witnesses alive to whatever crime they would potentially commit.

The part about attacking the town was quite stupid if Braun had to be honest, but hey, he wasn’t the one making these plans.

Anyways, after arriving at the town and following his heroic instincts to save everyone else, Cody Gray was soon pushed to a corner. With the town dead- Oh wait, maybe they attacked the town so Cody Gray wouldn’t continue running and force him to fight, using the townsters as hostages?

Now that was smart.

Back to the story.

Pushed to a corner, Cody Gray whipped out his secret weapon, the all-annihilation, big bang in a sphere bomb, and did a kamikaze on those bastards, killing everyone else, and leaving no traces behind other than a big fat crater on where Limer used to be.

End scene.

“Welp, there goes my plans.” Braun stared at the bright white dome, which slowly dissipated into nothingness, just like all of his hopes and dreams—crushed to oblivion. “Now I’m just a floating head.”

The metallic black sphere carried his head high into the night sky, far away from the scene of the crime, before heading deep into the forest region of the area.

Sigh, I hate heroes. Those fucking walking disaster magnets, they’re so fucking annoying!