Alice's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Merlin, Woodsy. Glad to see you guys. What have you discovered?"
Merlin had the appearance of was a cute blonde blue-eyed girl, whose body was adorned in lavish regalia. Her mage's robe was also quite eye-catching. Even her staff looked flashy with a large diamond-like gem at the tip. Her face was incredibly charming, while her robe did little to hide her incredible curves. Her massive chest swayed from side to side as she walked while her short height and immature face gave a childlike temperament.
Merlin's voice held a note of caution. "The ogres are amassing their forces, preparing for a significant offensive. They appear emboldened, as if sensing a change in the winds of battle. We must be prepared for a fierce confrontation."
The chubby and freckled Woodsy was usually upbeat like Alice, but during times of war, she was always calm and composed. After all, even before her trip into the Gate of Knowledge, she was the only Supreme Candidate that was on the same level as Alexa and Ibrahim. Thus when she was in battle mode, her tone even became formal, completely giving others the impression like she was someone else, "The time for action draws near. Duke's presence is crucial to our plans. We can't wait any longer. We should launch our attack. The fate of this war hangs in the balance. I don't doubt our ability to win, but we need to keep the focus on Letty so Merlin and I will limit our movements."
The excuse Merlin and Woodsy had used was that the Dragonheart Empire had limited their ability to act if Will wasn't present, and there was some truth to this. Thus Letty, Alice and Duke still had to take the final step themselves. Once this stronghold fell, they would have far less to worry about.
Duke always pictured himself as a weakling. The members of the expedition were quite gifted, each possessing unique talents that far surpassed his own. He couldn't help but feel a pang of inadequacy as he compared himself to Letty, the powerful Necromancer hailing from an advanced planet, Alice with her unparalleled information processing abilities, Merlin's mastery of fire and light magic, and Woodsy's exceptional skills in wood element cultivation and vast wealth of knowledge. Duke recognized that his contributions seemed meagre in comparison. While he excelled in hunting yin-type monsters and possessed knowledge of military strategy, it was difficult not to dwell on his perceived weaknesses.
Thus only a day after Will had gone, motivated by a newfound determination, Duke embarked on a relentless hunt for ogres in the vicinity of Tsimikas. For an entire week, he honed his skills and pushed himself to his limits. With each battle, he gained experience and levelled up, gradually shedding the shackles of his own limitations. Finally, after days of aggressive training, Duke reached the impressive level of 85.
His archery prowess had reached unimaginable heights. A single, fully powered arrow from Duke could lay waste to a hill, and his accuracy remained unwavering even while running, allowing him to strike targets hundreds of meters away. Duke's perseverance and dedication had transformed him into a force to be reckoned with if one used Earth's standards.
A day prior to the war on Kolladas, news reached Duke's ears, whispering of a pocket dimension concealed within the realm, holding an inheritance specifically designed for archers. He had received clues about his inheritance earlier, but he needed the final piece of the puzzle to act, not to mention the fact that he had been too low levelled to make a difference earlier. Now that he was level 85, things were different.
The creator of this dimension was rumoured to be none other than Hou Yi, a legendary archer deity whose abilities aligned perfectly with Duke's own attributes. Aware of the immense challenges that lay ahead, Duke acknowledged the slim odds of emerging from the pocket dimension with the coveted inheritance. However, he was undeterred. He devised a plan, anticipating every possible outcome.
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In preparation for the perilous journey, Duke sought assistance from his trusted companions. He requested their support and deployed some troops from their Village along strategic routes leading to the entrance of the dungeon. This precautionary measure would serve as a contingency, ensuring that if battle or pursuit ensued, his comrades would be ready to intercept and thwart any potential threats. Duke meticulously coordinated their positions, leaving no room for error.
Duke had lost count of the amount of times he had heard of a user getting chased after having received an inheritance. It was one of the most common tales shared by dungeon explorers. This was by design, as one was only allowed to have power if they had the power to keep it. Thus Duke had no doubt that if he did get the inheritance, a chase would occur. If he did not get it, he would be among the chasers. The world was fair in this regard.
Duke had also taken note of how their recent expansion of Tsimikas had caught the attention of other Villages in Ta Dasi. They had expanded too quickly, and were unable to fully digest their gains. There was a great risk that the other Villages would unite against them to deal with the new threat. Alice had gathered information that showed that a large majority of the weaker Villages in Ta Dasi and the neighbouring Kolladas Tis Moira had opened channels of communication to unite against the threat of more powerful nations and rising powers like Tsimikas. They had even set their sights on the ogres. The largest base of Ogres was in the next region, but their paws extended all the way into Ta Dasi.
The greatest issue Senbonken faced when hunting ogres was getting them in one place. Kolladas Tis Moira was a stronghold beyond their reach and they did not have the ability to attack it. Thousands upon thousands of ogres guarded the stronghold. There was no way a handful of Villages could deal with such a threat.
'The weak Villages want to defend themselves but have no trump card to defeat the ogres. The stronger Villages have no troops to handle the huge amount of mobs. The weaker Villages are already connected and are united to a certain degree. But if we could give all humans a common enemy…'
Thus, following that train of thought, Duke came up with a bold plan. One that would allow them to group all the ogres and human powerhouses in one place. A plan that also allowed for the creation of a mass graveyard giving Letty the proper stage to apply her Soul Regalia.
'I need to create a huge mass of negative energy and corpses so Letty can go crazy.'
The most important psychological aspect for any strategist was cruelty. One must not only be cruel to the enemy, but must only be capable of sacrificing others to achieve their objectives. Duke had no qualms using the cultivators from other Villagers as cannon fodder to destroy the ogres. Some of the softer personalities like Alice objected to this line of thought, but she was quickly convinced otherwise.
Alice was reminded on what Hattori Hanzo did to her. Kindness was a useless trait in reality and logic was king. Even before the system arrived on Earth, the strongest countries all had one thing in common, they fought wars in other countries. If you brought the suffering to others it would prevent the suffering from coming to you.
It did not matter what excuse one came up with, whether it was weapons of mass destruction, religion or humanitarian efforts, so long as a country was strong enough they could come up with any excuse to invade. They could even label an entire race as villains or terrorist, doing as they pleased, because they had power. Power spoke louder than any mouth. Hence, regardless of how kind modern day Earth appeared, survival of the fittest was still dictating how society functioned. The so called human rights, were rights only given to citizens within the few countries at the top of the food chain. The rest of the world was stained in poverty, war and violence.
Duke's point was that the war would unify the humans under one banner and give Letty the chance to grow stronger, plus it would allow him to gain the inheritance with peace of mind. After all, they also received benefits due to the party's distribution of experience. If Duke did receive the inheritance, it would be a great boon to the group.
This new plan also allowed Tsimikas to reduce the number of human enemies in the area, as the humans would no doubt face many casualties. The monsters were not the only enemies. Humans were an even greater threat.
After a discussion with the group, the plan was set into motion. Alice class not only allowed here to organise information, but it also allowed her to easily contact others. Within a few hours she had already contacted all the Villages that could gather at the desired place of battle.