Chapter 99 - Moral Dilemma

Jack walked around the base camp, staring out at the soldiers that milled about. Morale was low, to say the least. It had been at least a month of nonstop back lines raiding from the Crowen armies and little progress made towards breaking through the enchanted stone walls of the capital.

Jack had tried using [Storm Step] several times to get inside, but the magical barrier that protected the city proved to be quite impenetrable. Not to mention the barrage of archers and mages alike that assaulted him every single time he did so. The Lilux alchemists and wizards did seem to be making improvements every day into coming up with a way to destroy the barrier, but progress was slow on that front.

In the meantime, the U.F.E. had to deal with constant back line raids from the Crowen, who were still sending raiding parties through the portals. At first it had been nothing more than a nuisance, but their tactics had gotten increasingly more erratic to the point it was hard to find people willing to join Jack to put a stop to the raiders. Casualty rates were always high and the tactics only got more cruel as the war progressed.

The raiders’ current favored tactic was some sort of explosive that was a close magical cousin to mustard gas on steroids. Combine that with the fact Rodeo had brainwashed them to never surrender or retreat, it made for an unpleasant combat situation at every turn.

Still, the attacks had slowed. Between Jack and Gideon, they had managed to squash out every raiding party thrown at them thus far. Jack leading one group, Gideon leading the other.

Much to Jack’s annoyance, Sarah hadn’t stuck with him. Instead, she opted to taking turns between the two groups. More than once she suggested Jack and Gideon team up, but Jack wasn’t about to start becoming buddy-buddy with the dragon.

Jack had been certain he was winning Sarah back, but there still seemed to be something holding her back.

That thing was the dragon, Jack was sure.

“Mind if I join you?” a voice said from behind Jack's shoulder. Jack had found his way to the cantina, where he sat at an empty table, waiting for Sarah.

“I do mind, actually. Go find another seat.” Jack said, not bothering to turn around and see who it was.

Gideon ignored Jack, taking a seat across from him.

“I was hoping we could finally have a chat.” Gideon said, flashing Jack with a smile that he assumed the dragon thought was charming.

“Sure. There’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Really?” Gideon said, an excited look of surprise on his face. “Please, ask me anythi-”

“What’s your dick look like?”

“Excuse me?”

“Seriously, I know it doesn't look normal. Is it weird shaped? Is it a red rocket? Do you guys have circumcisions here in the Tower? I hate to ask, but I’m afraid my imagination is spiraling. I need to know.” Jack said matter of fact.

Gideon still wore the same smile, but his eyes were squinting at Jack, clearly caught off guard.

“I was hoping we could talk about the contract you’ve taken against my life.” Gideon said, changing the conversation.

“Hard pass. Dick first, then we can talk about what you want to talk about.”

“I know this must sound very arrogant, and I’m sure you hear this a lot,” Gideon started, completely ignoring Jack, “but I can assure you that you will be unable to kill me.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I have a magical ability that tells me how I’m going to die.” Gideon said with a practiced nonchalance. “Sadly, my death is never at your hands.”

“Right, and I’ve got a magic eight ball that told me “it is certain’ when I asked it If I would be the one to kill you. So obviously you're the one who’s wrong.”

“Sam told me everything, Jack. I can protect you and the entirety of humanity from the Black Centipede.” Gideon said, opting for a different tactic.

“Can you though? I know the rumor has it you're supposed to be strong, but so far all anyone has seen you do is come down to the first floor and pummel a bunch of weaklings. Not playing with kids your own age is a tell-tell sign you aren’t actually that strong.”

“Now who’s lying to himself?” Gideon said, his eyebrow cocked. “I know Mindalia has filled you in on my… exploits.” He finished, his smile turning decidedly draconic.

“You think I pay attention during mission briefings?” Jack scoffed. “Here’s the thing, If I let you live, you can maybe save me and my friends from the wrath of the Black Centipede, a task which only seems achievable if you wipe them out completely, and I doubt even you have that much pull. HOWEVER. If I kill you, not only are all of my friends safe, but they’ll also reward me. So you tell me, what's the better option?”

“And what did the Black Centipede offer you?” Gideon deflected.

“A fix.” Jack offered.

“A fix for your cursed core? I’m very interested to hear the details about that. I can even offer my support in helping fix and even-”

“Dont say it!”

“Train you.” Gideon finished.

Jack rolled his eyes. He was going to have a serious talk with Sam at some point. If he went around telling everyone he deemed trustworthy about Jack’s abilities, it was going to cause some serious problems. He already had a small group of mages following him around and pestering him for the secrets to his mana drops.

“Have you taken Sarah into consideration at all?” Gideon asked, changing the conversation again.

“What about Sarah?” Jack said, suddenly growing annoyed.

“If you kill me, she’ll be upset.”

“She will be. But something tells me she’ll get over it.”

“Maybe…” Gideon mused, “But would she forgive you for it is the question?

Jack chewed on his cheek in thought. Admittedly, he hadn’t quite figured out what to do about that problem. To his great frustration, Sarah still seemed pretty attached to Gideon, and if he killed the dragon, it didn’t seem likely Jack would be able to keep it from her. Plus, he didn’t want to lie to her again.

“I need a drink…” Jack said, letting out a long sigh.

A cup appeared in front of him. Jack looked down at the golden liquid inside, and then up at Gideon, who now had a cup of his own.

“Is this dragon piss?”

“You couldn’t handle dragon piss.” Gideon scoffed.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Jack rolled his eyes and took a drink from the cup. It tasted like honey and oranges and it had a bite that burned in all the right places. It was absolutely delicious. Jack let out a frustrated groan.

“Good, right?” Gideon said from behind his cup, a knowing smirk on his face.

Jack ignored the dragon and turned to scan the ground. He grinned when he saw Sarah walking towards them both. She waved excitedly at the two.

“Are you two finally becoming friends?” Sarah asked as she approached the table.

“Yes.” Gideon said.

“No.” Jack said.

Sarah fixed Jack with a disappointed look.

“Is this because you think I’m dating Gideon? I already told you I’m not Jack.”

Jack smiled at that.

“I’m also not going to date you either, Jack. We’re in the middle of a war. The two of you need to get your priorities straight. In fact, I think I’m done with men actually, at least on the first floor,” Sarah said matter of fact, “so there isn’t a point in hating each other.”

“Sure there is.” Jack shrugged.

“Listen you two,” Sarah said, her tone turning serious, “I’m tired of you two avoiding each other. From now on, I want you guys to be best friends when I’m around. I don’t care what you do in your free time, attack and maim each other for all I care, but the second I show up, you better act like you love each other. Got it?” Sarah finished in a small huff, eyebrow cocked at both Jack and Gideon.

“What do you say, Jack?” Gideon said, his same charming smile on his face.

“Whatever.” Jack said with an eye-roll.

“Jack,” Sarah said with a stern look.

Jack turned to Gideon and smiled.

“Sure, let's be best buds.”

“Great.” Sarah said with a clap of her hands. “There's an important meeting in the command tent. Both of your presence has been requested.”

Sarah turned on her heels and made her way back towards the tent.

“I’m going to stab you in a dark alley.” Jack said, looking at Gideon with a menacing smile.

“Did I tell you I used to eat humans?” Gideon smirked.

“Sarah! Gideon just admitted to eating humans.”

“Tattletale.” Gideon scoffed.

“He’s right, Jack, quit being a tattletale.” Sarah called from over her shoulder.

Jack let out an exasperated sigh and followed her into the tent, Gideon in step behind him.

As Jack stepped into the commander's tent, he immediately noticed the tension in the room. Several of the U.F.E. elite were surrounding a man who was sitting at the table in a neatly tailored white suit, a red X pinned to his lapel.

Where the fuck did this guy get a suit? Jack wondered, finding Hannah and Sam in the corner, both staring intently at the man.

“Who is that?” Jack asked Hannah, taking a seat next to her.

“Maximilian Barbary, leader of the Red Cross, a group of healers working alongside the Crowen.”

“What’s he doing here? Did we capture him somehow?”

“I’m not sure. Apparently, he just waltzed into camp and claimed he wanted to make a deal.”

Maximilian scanned the room, his eyes falling on Jack. He scanned Jack up and down, a curious smile on his face. Jack squinted at the man. Something about him was already rubbing Jack the wrong way.

“Everyone is here. Now I’m curious to hear your explanation as to why you're here.” Devin, the current commander of the U.F.E. said.

Jack looked over at the commander. He vaguely remembered his run in with the man when they first attacked the U.F.E. and Jack killed his boss. Now he was in charge of the entirety of the U.F.E. Jack wasn’t sure if Devin remembered him or not, and to be fair, Jack did look different thanks to his race upgrade. The man seemed much harder than Jack remembered, with deep circles under his eyes and a stern look on his face.

Maximilian slowly let his eyes drift off Jack and over to Devin.

“I’ll be blunt. I would like to end this war.”

“You’re here to surrender?”

“Unfortunately not. The king would never agree to such a thing.”

“Then why are you here? The U.F.E. isn’t going to surrender, so you can put that idea out of your mind.”

“Are you sure about that?” Maximilian challenged, a knowing smirk on his face. “I know how effective our raids have been. I know you're losing troops every single day. Meanwhile, life in the city is quite pleasant.”

“If you’ve been paying that much attention, then you’ll also notice your raids have been squashed at every opportunity, and they’ve also come at far less frequency.” Devin snarled back. “Maybe someone is running out of troops and came here as a bluff? You can’t have that much supplies left to keep the city surviving.”

“So you're saying you're committed to the siege, no matter what?” Maximilian asked.

“Obviously. If you came here to negotiate a surrender, then you're a bigger fool than I thought. I have half a mind to throw you in prison.”

“Here’s how I see it,” Maximillian said, crossing his legs and steepling his fingers together. “This siege is going to last quite a long time. And you're right, we might be running out of troops to send into your back lines. But so are you.” He said, his smile turning menacing. “I can see it in your eyes Devin. Winning isn’t a sure thing anymore, is it? You have troops abandoning their post by the day to go to the second floor. you have little to no reinforcements. You haven’t even figured out how to get past the enchanted walls of the city. Your chances at victory are dwindling by the day. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. Why pretend like this won’t be a long, deadly affair?” He finished with a devilish grin.

“Get to your point.” Devin growled.

“I’m here to offer you a solution to your problems - provided you are amicable to my… humble request, I would like to see that this war is won by the U.F.E.”

The room stirred at that. Devin remained quiet for a long moment.

“How?” he finally asked.

“Simple. I can sneak you into the capital and inside the castle, where you can assassinate the king.” He said, as if it was, in fact, that simple.

“A trick if I’ve ever heard one. Do you really think me so stupid to send my elites into the belly of the beast?”

“I’m prepared to make whatever soul oaths necessary to prove my sincerity.” Maximilian said with another lazy smile.

Devin glanced over at his lieutenants, each giving him a tight nod.

“And what are your demands?”

“I have only two, the first; I want two keys to the Dungeon of Xinnolath, one for me and one for my companion, with that I would like guaranteed assurances in the form of a soul oath that me and my companion will be considered part of the raiding group for the dungeon.”

Jack stared at Maximillian, trying to figure out the man's game. He didn’t like where this conversation was going. From what he understood, there weren't many powerful people on the side of the Crowen that weren’t Tower generated. Jack had one guess as to who the man’s “companion” was.

“Humble requests…” Devin complained under his breath, “and your second request?”

“Well, this one will be far more difficult to stomach than the first I’m afrai-”

“Out with it,” Devin snapped.

“It pertains to my companion. I will need every possible assurance that the U.F.E. will make no attempt to kill him.”

“If you think we’re going to let Rodeo live.” Devin growled, falling in line with Jack's thinking.

“Very perceptive, commander,” Maximilian said with a small golf clap, “but I’m afraid I’m not done. In addition to ensuring his survival, you and your elites will also need to swear one sided soul oaths to Rodeo, for his safety of course.”

“Guards, imprison this man.” Devin snapped.

Several of the U.F.E. soldiers moved towards Maximillian, who didn’t resist in the slightest.

“I will only make this offer once.” he said as the guards pulled him up out of his seat. “Tell me, commander, how much longer can you survive against our raids? How many more soldiers can you stand to lose? Is the life of one man really worth losing this war?” He said as the guards dragged him out.

Devin held up a staying hand, and the guards stopped. The tent went quiet.

“Tsk, so this was his plan,” Hannah grumbled under her breath.

“Explain to me exactly what it is you want.” Devin said, turning to face Maximillian.

“It’s simple. Rodeo only wants to safely enter and complete the Dungeon of Xinnolath with whatever party you decide to send inside. You and your elites swear a soul oath not to bring the man any harm, and In exchange we shall sneak you into the castle so you may kill the king and his generals, end the war, and gain access to the dungeon.”

“And what If I just kill you right here right now?”

“Then the raids continue. I know you think they can’t get much worse, but let me assure you, Rodeo is a man without bounds. I swear on the Tower and the cursed gods above he will make things so much worse for you.” Maximillian said, his eyes going dark.

There was a long pause, the room deadly quiet.

“Fine. Bring us Rodeo, we’ll swear our oaths.” Devin finally said, brows furrowed in anger.

The room exploded, everyone taking a different stance in the argument.

Jack couldn’t help but smile. He glanced up at Hannah.

“What do you think the consequences for us breaking a soul oath this time will be?” Hannah asked, flashing him a knowing smirk.

Sam's eyes went wide.

“Who fucking cares?” Jack grinned. “This time Rodeos dies for good.”