Chapter 112
Impish Tricks
An awkward silence had fallen over Erin’s group, as all they could do was stare at what was the true face of Gotzmeyer. None of them could wrap their minds around the fact that the infamous warlord feared all over the world and known for his martial prowess was actually a tiny imp. He looked small enough for someone to accidentally step on and kill him.
However, the fact was that this was their foe and they had just uncovered what he truly looked like.
“Is this for real?” Ryle asked bluntly. “THIS is the guy we were all afraid of just moments ago? I can’t help but feel like we are the victims of a terrible prank or something!”
“I know what you mean. This guy looks tiny even to me!” Lexton said. “Still when you think about all the things he can do, the whole myth he has built around himself starts to make sense.”
“What do you mean by that?” Erin asked.
“Well, Arkay pointed out that he can apparently use magic strings, much like that puppeteer assassin we faced not too long ago. That explains how he couldn’t be killed no matter what was done to him. There was never a person inside the armor to begin with for anyone to kill,” the kobold explained. “Not only that, but since he can use teleportation magic, whenever one armor was too badly damaged, he could just bring in a new one to keep up the illusion of an immortal and unbeatable warrior.”
“But if no one was inside the suit, how could he talk to anyone?” the redhead asked. “You heard him talking to us.”
“Look at the console in front of him,” Lexton said, pointing at the table set before the numerous screens. On it were what appeared to be a control panel and a microphone. “He most likely set up cameras and speakers inside the armors, allowing him to keep an eye on what was happening, as well as communicate with whoever he was looking at. Not only that, but I’m willing to bet that he has used those tools to adjust his voice to sound much more threatening than it actually is.”
“Wow… That’s quite the operation he has set up for himself,” Erin said, sounding genuinely amazed. “To think with just the right tools and skills, even this tiny guy can make himself into a threatening monster.”
“As a professional con artist myself, I can’t help but admire the level of expertise at display,” the kobold said as he gave an approving nod.
“You really just had to add that last part, didn’t you?” Ryle asked as she glared at Lexton.
“I’m just being honest,” the kobold said.
“I’m still here, you know?” Gotzmeyer squeaked at his seat, unhappy how people were talking about him like he wasn’t even there.
“Yeah, we know. Shut the hell up, you horn-headed flying… whatever the hell you are,” Ryle said. “Seriously, what are you even? A hairless bat?”
“I’M A GODDAMN IMP, YOU MORON!” the warlord screeched angrily. “Don’t you know anything about the world around you!?”
“I know that judging by your size, I should be able to shove you into a toilet and flush you down,” the blonde said with a glare. “Wanna try it out and see if I’m right?”
“...I’m sorry,” Gotzmeyer squeaked.
“That’s what I thought,” Ryle said.
“...I can’t freaking believe this,” Zeldana said in a slightly angry tone. “I was afraid of THIS? This is what scared me into hiding? I could just die from the embarrassment!”
“Need help with that?” Lexton asked sarcastically.
As almost everyone began to talk with each other in regards to this new revelation, the youngest member of the group realized that they had forgotten something very important. Or rather someone important.
“Ummm? Guys?” Arkay called out to everyone, getting the attention turned towards him. “I get that this is a big surprise and everything, but aren’t we forgetting that Durge is still in the middle of fighting against his puppets?”
“Oh shit! We totally forgot!” Erin yelled out of shock, before turning her gaze towards Gotzmeyer. “Hey! You better turn off your damn puppets or else we’ll make you pay!”
“They’re puppets, like you said! There’s no power source for me to turn off! In fact, once you all came here, I lost my concentration over my magic strings, which means I’m no longer controlling them!” the imp quickly explained before turning towards one of the numerous monitors. “You can see for yourself. None of the puppets are moving at all. Your buddy is just tearing through their motionless bodies like a damn savage!”
The redhead looked at the monitor the imp had pointed at and saw Durge still in his berserker form, causing havoc. Much like Gotzmeyer had said, none of his puppets were active any longer and were now in the process of being reduced to trash by their orc companion. Had they not been running from said puppets for their lives, she might have felt a bit sorry for them.
“Well… Glad to see we don’t need to worry about that,” Erin said with a shrug. “Anyways, now what do we do? We came here to take down Gotzmeyer, yet-”
“Hey, don’t start getting cold feet just because he’s a tiny bastard!” Zeldana yelled, while ignoring the warlord’s cry of anger. “Did you forget just who this guy is!? He might not be the terrifying badass we all thought he was, but he is still a merciless monster, who has slaughtered countless people! Not just armed rebels, but innocent people! Even his own soldiers just now!”
“I-I was just acting under orders! I swear!” Gotzmeyer tried to argue for himself. “Do you have any idea what Golorath would have done to me, if I disobeyed!? No one is brave enough to defy him or the other Overlords!”
“Well, you certainly seem to be enjoying yourself while being a faithful little shit!” Ryle said angrily. “I’m willing to bet you’ve taken pleasure from all the perks that come from being the loyal dog of one of the Overlords. Or did you perhaps use your power to help the common people? I doubt it. And I don’t think you received any orders to kill all of your own people just now!”
“Well… That was… I mean…” the warlord struggled to come up with an excuse but failed.
“Isn’t obvious why he went on a rampage? He wanted to protect his secret no matter what,” Lexton said. “That’s also why he had a strict rule of people not being allowed to come to his room under the threat of death. He wanted to do everything he could do to minimize the chances of his secret being exposed.”
“I get not wanting people to come snooping around here, because they might see Mr. Shrinky Bat over here, but why did he need to start killing his own people?” the blonde asked. “Unless they saw who he really was, there shouldn’t have been any problems!”
“Maybe, but he had built this image of himself being this mighty warrior that was invincible on the battlefield. Upon seeing him suddenly duplicate himself was obviously going to raise some questions within his troops. Not only that, but when some of his armors were destroyed, the discovery of the suits being empty would also bring up questions,” the kobold explained. “However, the main reason as to why he turned his swords against his own men so quickly was a lot more simple. The fact is that our friend here can’t handle himself under pressure all too well, which led to him taking very drastic actions. One of the key abilities for any decent con artist is their ability to handle pressure under difficult circumstances. Once you lose control, your cover can easily get blown and your whole game is then ruined.”
“...You wouldn’t happen to be speaking from experience, would you?” Erin asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sort of, I suppose. I’ve seen many aspiring con artists crack upon having accusations thrown at them. When that happens, it stops being about you making a deal and becomes a matter of outrunning the lynch mob,” Lexton said with a small chuckle. “Of course, I’ve never failed in such a manner myself.”
“Sure you haven’t…” Ryle muttered as she rolled her eyes.
“Anyways, back to the topic at hand, what do we do about him?” Erin asked while pointing at Gotzmeyer. “Seeing what he actually looks like might have taken the wind out of my sails, but he is still a warlord. We can’t exactly just let him walk away free, can we?”
“Yes you can!” Gotzmeyer squeaked. “You just have to let me go and I’ll never-”
“Do you honestly think we believe that bullshit?” Ryle asked bluntly.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“It was worth a try…” the warlord mumbled. “But still, there’s no need to kill me! I promise you that I am worth far more to you alive than dead!”
“How so?” Zeldana asked. “The way I see it, the most worth we are getting out of you is by letting out some aggression on your ass!”
“I’m a warlord, remember!? That’s not just any title, you know!?” Gotzmeyer quickly said, sounding desperate. “Thanks to my title, I’ve had access to all sorts of things! I’m sure I can share with you something that is of interest to you all!”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ve got something. Namely a face worth kicking in!” Ryle said as she cracked her knuckles and took a step towards the imp. “Why don’t you give me a big and toothy smile, so I can make sure to knock all of your teeth down your throat in one go?”
“Hold up, Ryle. Let’s not get too hasty here,” Erin suddenly said, stopping her blonde friend from killing Gotzmeyer. “While we’re here, we might as well see what else we can get out of him before finishing him off.”
“Seriously? You think this guy is going to tell us anything worthwhile?” Ryle asked. “He’s probably just buying time in order for his remaining goons to come and help him!”
“Trust me. After everything I just did, there’s not a single person out there who is interested in helping me!” the imp pleaded. “Besides, just look at me! I’m wimpy little imp with no weapon to defend myself with! Hell, if you need to see just how helpless I am, just look at my seat! The moment you all busted in here, I soiled myself from the shock!”
“...Thanks. We really needed to know that,” the blonde said in disgust. “Although, that does explain the nasty smell I’ve been noticing…”
Erin just shook her head and let out a small sigh of frustration. Turning her attention on Gotzmeyer, she stood before the imp and looked down on him with a stern glare. She wanted to show him that she wasn’t someone to be messed around with.
“Alright, so you claim you know something that might interest us, correct?” the redhead asked to which Gotzmeyer nodded. “What is it? And if this is a lie or some useless crap that you’re just trying to use to play us for fools, it will not end well for you.”
“I-I promise that it’s nothing pointless! You won’t regret letting me live!” the imp quickly said, hoping to ease the suspicion he was under. “I’m sure you’d like to hear about the movements the other two warlords are making, as well as some of the other projects Golorath’s people are working on!”
Erin looked at her companions to see whether they agreed to hearing Gotzmeyer out. Lexton was obviously interested, as he gave an immediate nod to the redhead. Arkay seemed to be curious, despite being too shy to really display it. Ryle simply gave shrug, as she personally didn’t care, but knew that the others were more than likely to feel differently. And while Zeldana seemed unhappy that the warlord hadn’t been dealt with yet, even she had to raise an eyebrow out of curiosity.
“Alright, you have our attention,” Erin said. “Start with the other two warlords. What are they working on?”
“W-Well, Warlord Dungard has been ordered to dedicate a good amount of his troops to some sort of a mining project,” Gotzmeyer said. “While there are still rebellious forces in his area, Lord Golorath has actually told him to mostly ignore them and only use the necessary amount of troops to handle them. All his other resources have been dedicated to whatever it is that Golorath wants to be dug up.”
“Gabe- I mean, Golorath is trying to dig up something?” the redhead asked, accidentally almost using the Overlord’s real name. “What could that be?”
“Sorry, but I have no idea,” the imp replied, but upon seeing Erin and the others glare at him, he tried to elaborate on the information he had given in order to keep the assassins happy. “B-B-But I do know that all the other Overlords have similar projects going as well! It’s almost like each continent has some sort of a hidden treasure in them, which they are all now on the lookout for!”
“Something that each continent has? What could that be?” the redhead wondered, before turning her attention to her companions. “Any of you guys got any idea as to what it could be?”
“Nothing without any specific details,” Lexton replied as he and the others shook their heads. “All of the continents have more myths and urban legends than one could count. Even when I consider the ones I’ve head about, I can’t imagine any of them to be so important that the Overlords would put so much effort into finding them.”
“Hmmm… Whatever it is, he said that the warlord called Dungard was looking for it, so it must be pretty important,” Erin said thoughtfully, thinking back on all the lore she could remember from Five Realms, before turning back to Gotzmeyer. “Where exactly is this mining operation happening?”
“I don’t know! I was never told any details!” the imp quickly said. “Golorath and the other two warlords are the only people who could possibly have the information that you’re looking for, but not me!”
“Hang on! So only your boss and those at the same level as you know about it, but you’re the only one in your little clubhouse that doesn’t!?” Ryle asked angrily. “How the hell does that work!? Are they excluding you from their friend group like a bunch of mean kids or something!?”
“Well… That’s because… Ummm…” Gotzmeyer struggled to explain his situation when it came to the other warlords.
“The answer to that is quite simple!” Lexton suddenly spoke up. “Gotzy here is the loser of the group that the others don’t like, including his boss.”
The warlord’s face twisted into a mixture of anger, embarrassment and shock from being called out by the kobold. When the others noticed his reaction, they realized that their friend had just hit the nail on the head.
“It… seems like you just nailed it, Lex,” Erin said. “But how did you figure that out?”
“Oh, that’s easy deduction from all we’ve seen out of him so far,” Lexton began to explain. “In the first place, his whole persona as an undefeated warlord is built on nothing but a scam. And the moment we figured it out and confronted him, he simply threw his hands up in surrender. That tells me that he doesn’t have any actual fighting capabilities in himself at all.”
“I guess that makes sense, but why does that make him disliked by the other warlords?” Arkay asked. “After all, isn’t he still a deadly opponent with his puppets?”
“Simple. He’s a one trick hack,” the kobold replied. “The worst thing that can happen to a con artist is for their trick to get discovered and figured out. Because of this, I’ve come up with several different plans and I make sure to be on the move in order to avoid getting found out and chased by a bunch of angry customers. Our little warlord here only knows one trick that he uses constantly, so it was only a matter of time until he got found out. Golorath and the other warlords probably figure this out a long time ago, which is why they kept him out of some of the more sensitive information.”
“Hey, I was still able to become a legitimate warlord!” Gotzmeyer yelled in his squeaky voice. “No matter how I did it, I was still able to reach a position most can only dream of!”
“Yes, that is completely true,” Lexton said with a shrug, before smirking. “Although, it doesn’t exactly make anything I said untrue, does it?”
“...Screw you,” the imp said as he sulked.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” the kobold said with a chuckle.
“Anyways, back to the topic,” Erin said with a sigh. “You said that one of the other two warlords was focused on that mining operation. So what is the other one doing?”
“Now that is something that you’ll certainly find interesting!” Gotzmeyer said happily. “Warlord Rayleen has mostly been going around, crushing rebel groups left and right. However, this is only what she shows on the surface. The truth is that she destroys the weaker groups and takes control of the stronger ones. In short, she’s trying to build up her forces!”
“What could she be doing that for?” the redhead asked.
“If I were to make a guess, I’d say it’s in order to take down Dungard,” the imp replied. “The thing is that while we may all work for the same boss, there is competition going on between us. Not only do we try to gain greater victories in order to win Golorath’s favor, but we sometimes fight among each other. Golorath himself doesn’t care, as long as his rule remains absolute. The way he sees it, the loser deserves to get trampled upon for being weak.”
Upon hearing the explanation, Erin had to hold back in order to prevent any tears from falling from her eye. To know just how badly her friend, who had been nothing but kindness personified, had fallen and changed for the worse, it really shook her to her core.
“Alright, so basically, the two warlords are going to be clashing in the future against each other,” the redhead said as she took a slightly shaky breath to compose herself. The others noticed this, but only Zeldana knew why she did this. “Are you certain this is going to happen?”
“Positive! Rayleen and Dungard have never really liked one another at all and would love nothing more than to tear each other apart!” Gotzmeyer replied. “I mean, if Rayleen isn’t trying to take down Dungard, then who else?”
“Uhhh… Hello? Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Ryle asked. “Wouldn’t you be a potential target as well, seeing as you are also a warlord? Not only that, but there is also the big boss Golorath that she could be aiming for! I mean, why not go for the big boss himself?”
“Oh, there’s no way she would even dare to think of betraying Golorath! All the people in his army, from the warlords down to the simplest soldier are in his service because they know it’s a better choice than actually trying to fight him!” Gotzmeyer explained in confidence. “As for me, she knows that I’m no real threat to her, so she isn’t going to waste any manpower on me! I’m sure she plans to put me in her service after beating Dungard!”
“...I don’t see how that’s something for you to be proud of,” the blonde said before looking at Lexton. “On the bright side, I’ve found someone more slimy than you, Lex.”
“Bite me, moron,” the kobold said as he flipped off Ryle.
“Back to the topic!” Erin quickly said, hoping to stop a new argument from coming up. “In short, one of the two warlords is putting their forces into a secret mining operation, while the other one is gathering forces in order to beat said warlord? Alright, we’ll go with that. You also mentioned something about Golorath having other projects in the works, right? What are those?”
“Well… In the last meeting I took part in between Golorath and us warlords, he said something about luring you using something special as a bait,” Gotzmeyer said. “I don’t know the details again, but he apparently has some person held hostage, who is supposed to be important to your group.”
Upon hearing this, Erin’s lone eye went wide with shock and surprise. Her mind immediately started to go through all the possible people that she had some form of a connection to that could be held as hostage against her, but came up with nothing. Apart from her companions, all the people that she knew were either dead or not close enough to be used in such a manner.
The redhead looked at her friends, wondering if any of them had an idea as to who the warlord was referring to. However, she could tell just by the looks on their faces that none of them had any ideas either. It seemed like they needed more information in that regard.
“Who does he have imprisoned that’s supposed to be important to us?” Erin asked. “Did you hear a name or see them?”
“No idea. Golorath simply said that he had a plan to catch you guys, if none of us were able to do it,” Gotzmeyer said. “And I’m honestly just making an assumption about the hostage as well. I just saw him glance at some girl he had imprisoned in his throne room when he told us about his plan. However, it’s not exactly hard to connect the dots, you know?”
“...Just who could that person be?” the redhead wondered. “I can’t think of anyone that it could be.”
“Wondering about it here isn’t going to do much,” Lexton said. “I’m sure we’ll find out the truth when the time comes anyways, so might as well not worry about it too much.”
“I guess so… Not like we can do anything about it now,” Erin said. “We’re done here. Let’s get going.”
“Hang on a second!” Zeldana yelled suddenly. “What about Gotzmeyer!?”
The redgead turned to look at the imp. Despite him being a warlord, she just couldn’t see him as a threat of any kind. He might have been able to fool his soldiers and everybody else in the world, but was that going to last? Like Lexton had said, it was only a matter of time until his trick was going to be discovered. Besides that, Golorath, the other two warlords and now their group all knew the truth about him. After such a massive failure here, there was no way that the ones he was working for would let him go unpunished. No matter how one looked at it, the imp was doomed.
Not only that, but Erin didn’t feel the need to add Gotzmeyer to her growing list of nightmare visions. She was already dealing with more than enough as it was.
image [https://i.ibb.co/jJzrRD1/Ch-112-Pic-1.jpg]
“...Let’s just leave him be,” the redhead said surprising her companions. “He’s nothing now. His people are either dead or have abandoned him. Even if we let him live for now, it won’t do much for him, as I doubt Golorath is going to let this simply pass. Might as well not bother getting our own hands dirty.”
“Are you sure about this, Erin?” Ryle asked. “I mean, I get that he’s pathetic and all, but he was still a warlord. There’s quite a bit of blood on his hands.”
“I know, but I think this is a way more cruel punishment. Killing him here would be a mercy, as he is now forced to live in shame and fear over what might happen to him,” Erin explained. “Besides, there’s been far too much bloodshed already.”
“...Okay, if you say so,” the blonde said.
With their work done, Erin and her companions were about to walk out of Gotzmeyer’s hidden room. However, the way out was blocked by Zeldana, who glared at the other members of the group.
“Zel, I get that you’re upset, but-” Erin began to say only for the elf to cut her off.
“You guys are a bunch of naive idiots, you know?” Zeldana asked before turning her attention to Lexton. “You especially disappoint me.”
“What!? How!?” the kobold asked.
“Don’t you know one of the most basic things about tricks?” the elf asked. “What do you do with the best one?”
“...You save it for last,” Lexton said with wide eyes as he came to a realization.
“What? What is this all about?” Erin asked.
Before the kobold could explain, there was a loud clicking sound that echoed through the room. Everyone turned to stare at Gotzmeyer, who no longer had a scared look on his face. Instead, a wicked grin was now there, as his hand was pressing down a button.