Jake was sitting at the edge of the safe zone, having been informed by Eric and Kiki that there were monsters located 5 km northeast of their position. He was eager to go out and fight them, but he knew there were other pressing matters to attend to. Reports had indicated that the creation of the safe zone had been reported to local government officials, who had arrived with what appeared to be a full brigade of enforcers, all around level 50. Jake was currently busy crafting weapons for anyone willing to fight. While they could simply stay behind their barrier like a turtle in its shell, it wouldn't benefit them in the long run if they wanted to eventually leave the safe zone.
On a positive note, the mercenary group had its first members. Emma was the first to join, followed by Eric and Kiki, and surprisingly, Erica also joined the group as soon as it was available. After spending some time at his cauldron, one of the young dog beastmen approached Jake with a surprisingly deep male voice, informing him, “Sir, the council members require your presence for the diplomatic negotiations.”
“Okay, tell them I will be there in a moment.” The young beastman bowed before running back to the newly constructed log meeting hall. Jake sat back down and continued with his crafting session, knowing he was close to leveling up his grade. After an hour, it finally came.
Ding! Profession level increased: +70 points Ding! Grade level increased: +90 points
In total, Jake gained 1140 points, 15 profession levels, and one grade level from this crafting session, which had taken him three days to complete. Crafting had become increasingly difficult towards the end, but at least he had made plenty of weapons for those who wanted them.
Jake got up and walked over to the meeting hall, stopping at the door to listen to what was being said from within. “We demand you hand over this settlement, as the land it is on belongs to the Australian government. Any refusal will be met with extreme force. We will also be taking any beasts like yourselves as compensation for our troubles.”
Jake kicked the door off its hinges, sending it flying across the hall. “You come into my territory and start making demands? Don't give me that crap about this land belonging to the Australian government. It was originally settled by the First Nations people, and now, under the same manner, it's my land. If you want it, send your troops in to take it back.” Jake grabbed the old man by his throat and walked him over to the barrier. With a kick to the man's groin, he sent him flying through the barrier.
“Was that a good idea, sir? I don't think they will even attempt to stop this diplomatically anymore,” the old dog council member said. “They were not here to negotiate; they don't even know how to do it anymore,” Jake replied.
“What's the plan, boss?” Emma asked. “We let them come. I'm deactivating the defenses so they will come in, then we will kill them all. Emma, use the weapons I created and set up a defense line outside the barrier. When the enemy starts to attack, put up a token resistance, then fall back. Make it look like your lines have crumbled and you're fleeing for your lives. That will draw them in.”
Emma left the hall and gathered a group of people, bringing them to the armory to hand out weapons. “Gather around me. I'm only going to tell you the plan once. We will be the bait to draw those idiots in. Once they're in, we will regroup and attack with our full force. Jake will activate the defense and kill them all. But we don't know how long that will take, so we will be the first and last line of defense. Keep that in mind in our fight.”
Jake was in the meeting hall when gunshots could be heard coming from outside the barrier. This continued for five minutes. Emma's defense team had taken casualties, but they were still holding the line, waiting for the best moment to start falling back. Five minutes later, Emma sent out the command, and the lines started to crumble from the center out. Emma was the last to retreat, making it look like she had lost any semblance of command over her soldiers. She ran as fast as she could without using her skills, making it look even more precarious as the enemies were snapping at her heels. Emma ran deep into the territory before calling out to form up on her. As she did, hundreds of beastmen popped out from all around. They opened fire, and the enemy soldiers were getting cut down as more and more entered the barrier. Emma and her beastmen were engaging the enemies at close range when suddenly, the enemies collapsed, grabbing at their throats as their mana and body fluids were sucked out of them in a slow and horrific way. Emma had to close her eyes, as the sight brought back memories she wished would go away.
Two days later, a group of five old government officials walked up to the barrier, waving a white flag. “They think that flag will save them from me,” Emma said, her eyes red with black rings under them. Jake found it strange that she could get so tired, but then he realized it might be mental exhaustion, something he didn't know how to fix.
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“Emma, you can stay here if you want. I will go deal with this,” Jake offered. “No, boss, I will accompany you,” Emma replied. “Okay, if you are certain about it, I won't stop you. Just keep yourself safe.” “Eric and Kiki, you're with me,” Emma ordered as the group of four left toward the edge of the barrier.
A minute later, the group of four was standing in front of the government officials. “What brings you to my front door today?” Jake said in a snarky tone. “As a representative of the Australian government, we require all humans to serve in the armed forces. You have been drafted by the Australian government. Here is your notice. Report to the nearest city for training.”
Jake just stood there, looking at the man. “Are you for real? You couldn't force your way in, so you try this crap? Just fuck off.” “We are in uncertain times; us humans must stick together,” the man said, looking sideways at the beastmen. “Like I said, fuck right off, you piece of crap. I will not support your racist agenda.”
“You are an Australian citizen; you don't have a choice. Just do as you're told like a good boy already.” “As you have come under a white flag, I will let that comment slide once. But if you test me any further, you will die here.”
“It seems negotiations have broken down. Shall we kill them, boss?” Emma asked. “A bitch like you thinks she can talk her–” “Shut the fuck up. If you open your mouth again, I will let her kill you. Have I made myself clear? You are not in control here; I am. This is my land, and I am not a human. As it stands, I don't care if this planet burns.” Jake said, turning into his demon form, scaring the government officials. “Go back to where you came from and tell the ones in charge that I will be accepting any refugees as long as they have no ill intent towards us. Also, tell them that if they attack me or my people again, the full force of the Demon's Hand Mercenary Group will wipe them out of existence. Tell them, or who cares, they're not going to listen. Just fuck off out of my land. I am setting in place a 10 km exclusion zone around my territory. If we see any of your government forces in that zone, we will kill them on sight. You have two hours to exit the exclusion zone, or you will die. Emma, get the hunters ready.”
“Yes, boss,” Emma replied, leaving with a smile on her face. Five minutes later, Jake entered the barrier and found Emma. “Do you think I oversold it?” he asked. “No, that was funny. But I don't think they will leave,” Emma replied. “Do we have anyone capable enough in stealth to follow them?” Jake inquired. “Sadly no, I can give it a try if you want,” Emma offered. “No, I will go. You go tell the two council members that I will be leaving for a bit, and they are to keep the defenses up on full alert no matter what happens.”
Jake left through the barrier and teleported into the nearest shadow. After five teleports, he decided to revert to using his original method of moving through shadows. The mana required to teleport was high, but Jake could handle it. It was the sickening feeling he got each time he used it, it felt as if his body was being ripped apart atom by atom. Jake just couldn't handle it for any longer. It's not like he wouldn't use it, but he really didn't want to use it.
After some time, Jake had gotten within range of the camp the government was using as a staging point. It appeared that the earlier battle had wiped out almost all of the fighters, but Jake hadn't gained any levels from those killed by the barrier. The camp now had a total of ten fighters and the five government officials, making fifteen people left. Jake teleported into the camp in the shadows of the largest tent and started listening to the conversations inside.
“That brat thinks he can refuse us and even demands that we stay 10 km away from what he called his territory. That's bullshit. This land all belongs to us, the Australian government, not some upstart who thinks he's a demon. What a load of crap,” one person said. “We just need to get him away from that barrier. I bet he just figured out how to use it, and if he can, I'm sure we can,” another suggested. “Just kill him. That's the way to deal with these kinds of people, after all. The universal system hasn't changed the fundamentals of ruling over these stupid idiots,” another chimed in.
“What if he's not bluffing? We are getting really close to his deadline for leaving,” someone else pointed out. “Mike, shut up. We already know what you used to do before the system bullshit came. You are and will always be a low-life piece of crap. How did you even get this job? Oh, yeah, you sold your body to that bitch who was in charge of the enforcers before this bullshit. Just stay in your corner and let the grown-ups handle this.”
Jake sat there, listening to them argue until their time ran out. “Your time is up,” Jake said in a deadpan tone.
Jake decided to start it off by telling them the time before teleporting away. The people in the tent started to panic as they ran outside, screaming at the guards. To Jake's surprise, one of them was still in the tent. Curiosity got the better of him, so he teleported back into the tent, where he found a man in his thirties holding his head in his hands, mumbling to himself.
“Alright, my dude, there is something fucking wrong with you. And that's coming from a man that the system keeps telling to seek mental help,” Jake remarked. The man didn't even look up as he said, “Just finish me off already.” Jake just looked at the guy. “Okay, as I have said before, Freedom will take any refugees,” Jake said before teleporting back out of the tent and into the shadow of a tree. “It's time to start.”
Jake looked down on the camp and picked his first target, an old man trying to escape from the mess he created.