Chariot overlooked the capital in the bleak light of the day from a hill in the distance. A massive tightly packed city more impressive than any were expecting. Rows of sleek stone buildings of grim stone surrounded grander buildings with tall jagged spires and countless glass windows of fine make. Its countless people walked freely through the city donning clothes of a more refined and subdued elegance than the party had seen thus far, their paths guided by lit lanterns that covered the city enough to almost compensate for the limited grace of the sun.
Only two of Chariot had any particular reaction to the grand capital. One was Mujin, silently taken back by the sheer scale of his first real city. The other Yen, overjoyed at the sight before her, positively beaming in excitement that was just recently disappointed indifference.
“Why’re you so happy?”
“It’s victorian!” Yen exclaimed to the knight’s question.
“Basically the same, innit?”
“It’s completely different. Bleak atmosphere, vampires, creepy elegance, this secret feeling. It’s perfect! A brand new theme.” Yen let her passions flow unrestrained. “There’s so much possibilities.”
“Theme aside…” Jean paid far more focus on the many, many paladins lining the towering walls and patrolling the stone streets. “There’s a lot…”
“We should assume at least five times what we see.” Kamala spoke. “If they are all monarchs, which is likely… this is not something we can overrun.”
“Just have Ashley make a ton of ghouls and vampires, which she can definitely do,” Yen voiced her accusation pointedly at the teasing reaper. “And throw them at the paladins. We slip right in during the chaos and take out the leaders. Easy.”
“No.” Shin objected casually.
“What? …oh. Right…” The several towns they had taken out so casually thus far had made Yen forget one of Shin’s ‘rules’, and she didn’t think or trust that Ashley could be too precise with the targets of her thralls.
“It is also naive.” Kamala criticized. “Let us at least try to learn how strong the other side is before we storm the center of their base… It would be best to split into two groups. Shin, Dante, Jean and Basem will be the infiltrators.”
“No.” Basem objected. “Send the death woman.”
“Ashley will likely cause an incident.”
“I’ll be good~ Promise~”
“...without Mesmerize," Kamala continue. "Shin will be needed for interrogation, and in case they are caught. Dante’s skills are needed to slip past the guards, while you and Jean are needed for stealth and surveillance.”
“No choice, younger.” Basem clicked his teeth in frustration at Donny’s support of the plan.
“I’m going too.”
“Not really suited for scouting, Yen.”
“I don’t care. I want to see the city.”
Kamala glanced silently to Shin for his input, who took notice and casually replied. “It’s fine.”
“Well… She won’t listen anyway…”
“Idiot woman.”
“Eat shit, both of you. Let’s hurry up and get started.”
Jean seemed as though he would almost sigh as he listlessly cast Greater Obscuration on the five designated members of the infiltration team, shielding them from magical detection up to legendary tier. Dante shawled them in a cover illusion and they headed off.
Swiftly and deliberately they rushed with Shin at the helm paying close attention to the lines of sight of those who seemed most formidable atop the walls. The five drew near and Basem shot an arrow in a burst of speed, striking one shot towards them halfway which exploded into a sphere of flames.
“Invaders!” A black haired man of grim complexion in white and red paladin captain’s gear bellowed.
In an instant a volley of arrows and spells rained down on them from the guards who whipped into action. Yen cast her shields alongside Mara’s, and Jean brought out several shield puppets as the group made a hasty retreat under the deadly fire in a different direction than they came until they reached the cover of the forest.
“Bastards must have people with truesight posted all over…” Yen grumbled, though not all that concerned.
“We won’t get past if that’s the case.” Jean seemed equally unconcerned, aside from the slight annoyance he paid to his newest line of destroyed puppets.
“This is stupid!”
“This is the plan so stop wasting time and let’s figure out a way over the walls.” A whirling shearing sound captured Yen’s attention to the three spiraling spirit orbs carving out a tunnel in the ground. “...under it works too.”
In the empty quiet of a dingy alley, dancing green orbs ate a hole to the surface and five players emerged, not a single sound escaping the entire ordeal. Basem immediately focused his second line of sight high in the air and made full use of his Perception stat.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Clear…”
“How are the people in the city acting?” Yen asked as she lightly inspecting the design of the street they found themselves in.
Basem glanced at her in disapproval before turning his focus over. “Weird.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone is wearing the same clothes. Rich people clothes. Except the paladins.”
“Can’t be natural loot. Are they trying to make things how they were?” Yen pondered.
“Control.” Dante spoke for the first time since the start of the mission. “The strong are made soldiers. The rest get to reside in the capital as long as they play by the rules. Stops the people from being able to revolt and makes it harder for outsiders to blend in.”
“I mean, maybe, but you don’t know that for sure-”
“The rich people are rare, some epic.” Basem informed.
Yen looked at Dante’s refined air of less than humble excellence. “...lucky guess.”
“We’ll need to borrow some of those clothes to fit in…”
“You’ll just have to hide in the alleys then.” Yen looked at Shin.
“Why?” He tilted his head in confusion.
“What do mean why, we have to use disguises.”
“It’s fine?”
“Huh? Why is… Nevermind…” Yen focused on the more pressing matter than the mystery that was Shin’s mind. “How do we get some without blowing out cover?”
Basem dropped five bodies on the floor, his absence unnoticed until now, his scowl obvious even behind his black silk mask. “Clothes.”
“There you go. Not so bad to be proactive, hm?” The hunter turned his head away in annoyance at Yen’s slight teasing.
The group quickly swapped their normal gear for what seemed to be the enforced fashion of the capital, along with their normal statuses for false ones to not give themselves away immediately. For the men a three piece suit, the thicker coat over a vest and undershirt with a handkerchief tie. Dante and Jean wore top hats while Shin went without nor the coat either.
Basem wore a different outfit based on others compared to his age, shorts with trouser straps over a simple dress shirt with high socks and a ribbon tie instead of handkerchief. An outfit he disliked immensely. As for Yen, she wore a modest dark blue dress, tight at the waist and top over additional layers, a bit too reserved and simple for her liking but lace and frills to have its own charm.
“Its not bad.” She spoke as the party calmly entered the street to join the crowd which made no stir. “Mostly victorian with a little bit of renaissance, and a fantasy flair. Not great but the actually nobles should be better.”
“Late baroque. It’s more ornate.” Dante corrected.
“Oh, you’re an expert now?”
“Yeah.”
Yen couldn’t say she wasn’t a bit annoyed at being shown up but did her best not to let it show. “Apothecary. Might as well stop here first.”
The party entered the store and approached an elderly man at the counter. Yen took the initiative, speaking in a pompous tone but not overly so. “A guidebook, of epic tier. And all the material you can sell.”
“You’ll need to get permission from the church for that.” He adjusted his monocle as he informed them with prim and stern bearing. “Long day?”
“Not long enough.”
“Limits on quantity, I’m afraid. 3 gold, 50 silver.” The man place a bag of items on the counter which Jean inspected, finding no oddities in the rare items. Shin handed over the money and the five left without delay.
“We should walk around a little after we get everything. Figure out where they store the good-” A flare burst from the building they just left, and the atmosphere seemed to shift around them.
“Halt!” A squad of paladins charged them and a quick Combustion turned them all to ash.
“Shit!” Yen cursed as she and the rest followed Shin back in the direction of the tunnel, all re-equipping their normal gear. “What did we do wrong?!”
“Epic might be off limits.” Dante reasoned as he threw two knives into the heads of paladins at their flanks.
“Screw this. Let’s just kill them all-”
Shin glanced left and a chaotic blast of Pulse shredded away a searing slash of pure heat. A red haired man in a white coat flickered next to him faster than anyone he had ever encountered and severed clean through his body with a molten blade, shards of mystic protection shattering around him. And at the same time, white draped Shin’s body as he slashed his own blade burning with duality. It ate through the gong of Bastion but barely did more than wet his combed hair in blood.
A meld of Paralytic Mindfray struck the fire swordsman as Shin slammed his fist into his chest, sending him sliding back as the prismatic fractures of truestrike spread across his body. The warrior grit his teeth and a force rippled from the bottom of his foot, surging back in a sudden fissure to collapse their tunnel.
[Human Flame Knight (legendary) - Greater Monarch]
“Wall!”
Swords clashed just in front of Basem as Shin blinked to meet the swordsman, duality and Pulse just enough to contain the concentrated power of whatever mythic tier skill the man used to strike. A curving knife soared towards the man’s eye and clanged harmless off as he called Dante’s bluff. He flickered again and Shin followed, preventing his blade from reaching Yen as she blew up another squad of paladins. All over he flickered, forcing Shin to blink after as he targeted the others.
“There’s too many! We can’t stay here!” Yen yelled, three more paladins emerging for each one the four slayed, with no end in sight.
Basem put a hole in another paladin’s head and a dark cloaked assassin struck from the shadows, silently and with masked intent. The strider blinked to the side, blood spurting from the fatal attempt at decapitation he just barely managed to avoid. Basem fired the arrow he had nocked already but the reaper casually slipped his head effortlessly past with sneering eyes. Lethal intent glinted in the daggers he wielded, and a boulder crashed down like a meteor, flattening the assassin the paste before he knew what happened.
The flame knight glanced right at the struggling archer, and a molten blade came down on Jean’s head instead. But a wooden puppet severed in his place and a prismatic fist slammed the swordsman in that opening, sending him crashing away as his soul started to crumbled.
Shin charged but a stone faced man with wide eyes in cardinals clothes appeared at the swordsman’s side, repelling him with frenzy of mana. With one hand, Hans forced the damage to the swordsman’s soul to heal and with the other, incredible power swelled.
“Ward.” Dante warned.
Without hesitation, feathers bloomed on Shin and his hair flowed red. A ward empowered with duality erected around the five and Pulse coated it. But in an instant, white light crashed down from above. The rippling layer of Pulse melted away and cracks spread through the greater ward as the raw power of the cardinal’s attack slipped through Duality.
A sudden Combustion forced the cardinal to focus on defense and the white light faded away. A gap in the ward opened up and the group fled without delay. The paladins were more now than they ever were and the threat of more like the two before the appearing was too great to remain.
They carved a path of blood through the enemies and Shin sent a surge of Pulse to blast open the gates to freedom. Basem sniped an arrow straight at a watchman’s head, the very same that discovered their first attempt but to his frustration it claimed nothing more than part of an ear. Under hail of attacks once more the five of them fled back to the others at once, but they were greeted only by the forest. The rest were nowhere to be seen and not a trace of them remained.