Trevor then selected the video feed which they had obtained regarding the group of mercenaries and the resistance which they had taken over and played it for the group.
While viewing the video, Coran and Berith smiled with bloodlust as they watched their masters dominate the people of the resistance and the mercenaries.
'They shine with a blinding radiance with every word they speak...'
'Yes... instill terror into the hearts of those idiots...look at their pathetic eyes, unsure of their very existence in the blinding magnificence of our masters...'
Arlo had a serious face, and Oraguth seemed to be enjoying the video as well.
Of course, the three birdmen were still terrified.
'I know exactly what those people are going through...'
'Good thing I'm on this side of the wall now...'
'That was us just a few days ago...'
"As you can all see, we have taken over this resistance branch for our own personal use, and we should be able to influence those mercenaries to become pawns for us. However, look at them here.", Trevor said while rewinding the video.
"Do you see this? They may be filled with terror, but they have at least some sense of naive justice in them which could lead them to despise the tasks we give them. We need to convince them otherwise. Oraguth, I am assigning this task to you. I want you to redirect them as you see fit."
Oraguth bowed his head deeply.
"I will do my best to instill a sense of respect for your excellencies and her eminence into them from the bottom of their hearts."
"Very good. However, that is not your main responsibility. Your main role is to keep an eye on the resistance, and to merge in with them, acting as a deterrent to betrayal. Oraguth, you have grown in strength far beyond the weak goblin you were before. If you were to face your father, Fargar, right now, it wouldn't even be considered child's play. As a result of that, every time I run a simulation on your situation, your chance of death is less than 0.01% even assuming the worst possible scenario so long as you stay within the hideout of the resistance. However, things get more dangerous if you leave- which you may need to do in order to prevent anyone from betraying us and selling information. I understand that the danger of this role is present as well, though not as much so as Coran's new role. Even so, I will ask you to perform this job. Ensuring that there are no leaks about our existence is your priority, however do what you can to assist this resistance and improve their opinion of us, and if they step out of line, take care of them- however try to avoid using tactics that are excessively barbaric, as this may further decrease their opinion of us. We begun the discussion using terror, and now I want you to go and show them that we have much more to offer than simple power."
Oraguth grinned deeply. He was legitimately thrilled to be receiving a personal assignment from his masters.
"I will not disappoint you, your excellency."
"Of course not. I don't expect you to succeed anyways, so disappointing me would be impossible."
Oraguth was not taken aback by this statement in the least. After hearing the wisdom of Theo on the art of pessimism and the joy it can bring to a person through the complete removal of expectation, he was instead motivated.
His leaders were truly kind. Despite the fact that those words would mean something excessively harsh to someone who couldn't read their true meaning, Oraguth understood exactly what they meant.
If he failed, he would not be held accountable, and if he succeeded he would be rewarded. That was the implication of having no expectations. How benevolent could a ruler become? This was the ultimate level of kindness towards ones subordinates, which no other ruler on this planet could compete with. Oraguth was once more completely in awe of just how great his masters were in comparison to the typical leader.
"Now, as for Coran... I have done some thinking on this many times over... and as I said before, your mission... it is excessively risky."
Coran remained bowing to Trevor as he listened to the explanation.
"I wish for you to do something that is completely unheard of. Something which will completely shatter the current status of the human realm, and perhaps eventually open them up to negotiation between humans and monsters."
Exclamation points appeared over the heads of just about every person in the room aside from the antiheroes, who had already heard a mouthful of Trevor's mutterings while they were traveling.
"I want you to forcefully enter the human realm, make it past the wall, and live in the human realm as if you were a regular person."
"Forgive me for my insolence, your excellency... but... what!?"
"I understand how insane this sounds. However, please hear me out. I want you to break into the human realm. With your current level of strength, making it past an entire legion should be a simple task if you were to fight all out. I permit you to kill anyone who is trying to kill you, however I will ask for you to spare those who have given into fear of you. In doing so, you will gain reputation as an odd monster who shows mercy and doesn't kill for fun. My only concern is if there exists a being which is on our level... if you ever encounter such a being, then please run away, Coran. If your life is in danger, then as my property you are obligated to escape so that I don't lose a valuable asset. Is that understood? Your life is worth more than anything else."
"I understand, your excellency.."
Coran was almost moved to tears at hearing him be valued at such a high price.
"After entering the human realm, it will not be easy... there will likely be humans who wish to kill you off, and as I said, you are free to kill them. However, I wish for you to establish yourself and start to live a regular human life in a human village- despite being a monster. My goal here is for you to show the humans that even though you are a monster, that you are capable of living just as humans do."
'This plan is outrageous... but it just might work if these people are behind it...', Arlo thought.
He was completely shocked at the magnificent strategies which Theo could come up with.
"Your excellency, would it not be better if I were to go with Coran?", he offered.
"No, I wish for you to remain here and lead the defense force in the case of anything going wrong."
"I understand, your excellency. I will do that then."
Samantha then turned to Coran.
"Coran, do you think you can do this? I want you to be honest here. I understand that this is a difficult task, and if you truly don't want to or if you believe that you can't..."
However, after reading the thought's of Coran, Samantha stopped speaking.
He was ready.
He was more prepared to successfully perform this task than anything else he had ever done in his life.
"I suppose I was too worried. Nevermind."
With that, Trevor smiled. He walked over to Coran who was still kneeling and put his hand on his head.
"I have no expectations for you but one. This goes for everyone here. Stay alive. If you die, I will consider that to be disobeying the direct orders of the dictators, and that would be no less than treason."
Every person in the room nodded, brought to tears while wiping their eyes, and let out a "Yes, your excellency!!!"
Garett then dismissed everyone, and told Oraguth and Coran to begin preparing to leave.
"Oraguth, we will be taking you immediately to your new assignment. Coran, do not leave for the monster realm until 4 days from now. It would be troublesome if your arrival in the human realm interfered with the campaign and caused a setback or even a halt altogether."
"I understand, your excellency. I will prepare myself for that time.", Coran said, before walking off towards the training yard to continue practicing with his newly acquired weapons and skills. Coran now was skilled in melee combat using a spear, as well as ranged combat using either a bow or a blowdart. He also used the spiked metal cones which covered his arms as piercing weapons. Furthermore, he could use different types of webs in combat and for mobility purposes as well.
"I will get ready immediately!", Oraguth shouted with delight.
Oraguth bowed and then headed off to prepare his things.
Stolen novel; please report.
"It certainly is something to see your children grow up...", Garett said in a nostalgic way.
"I thought you were a demon? Shouldn't you be laughing at the prospect of their death or something?", Ashley joked.
"Haha... I'm sure even demons have some sort of love for their children...", Garett stated with a cold laugh.
"Well, my parent's were worse than demons.", Trevor said bluntly as he turned away, staring into the distance with a concerned look.
----
After quickly returning with a backpack made from spider silk filled to the brim with tools, weapons, maps, and equipment, Oraguth knelt before the antiheroes and the Determined.
"Your excellencies and your eminence, I have prepared myself for this journey."
"You've done well, Oraguth. I see you are learning from us.", Garett stated with a smile. "Always ensuring that you are prepared to the maximum in any endeavor. This is the difference between life and death in a world as cruel and unforgiving as this one."
"Yes, your excellency! Your praise is too much for me!"
"Let us head out.", Trevor stated. "This will certainly be interesting, to say the least..."
Trevor snapped his fingers, and they appeared within the cave system inside the resistance.
Surrounding the antiheroes, who were still in their monstrous forms, were many members of the resistance wearing hoods to cover part of their faces. As usual, they were all hard at work moving boxes and equipment around. It had only been a day since the antiheroes terrorized these poor people, however for the most part they seemed to be back to work.
Well, if you ignored the occasional twitching limb and the dead look in their eyes.
However, as soon as the people noticed the antiheroes in their midst, they all dropped everything they were working on and fell to their knees in fear.
There were about 7 people within the sight range of the antiheroes, as they were in a sector of the cave that was formed like a grid with alleyways and small roads- and every single one of those people seemed to be staring at the antiheroes in shock.
'M-monsters... monsters...'
'Help... don't make me go through those horrors again...'
'It's the spirit girl... she must be here to reap our minds... that's right... she is a grim reaper... but not of our lives, oh no... she is here to reap our very sanity...'
Samantha spoke up in a charming tone to the people around them.
"Hello everyone! We're baaack!!!! We need to have a little talk with your leader, could you all take us to him? It won't be long, we just have our worker here to drop off!"
"This is a joint operation between companies, so you all would do well to get along with our employee here.", Trevor said as he motioned his hand over to Oraguth, who was covered in the bandage armor and wielded a spear in one hand, with a club on his other side.
Oraguth was not extremely ugly as a goblin- to a certain extent he could be considered good looking, and his appearance was mostly human aside from his green skin and fangs. He did not appear to be extremely buff- as a matter of fact he was slightly less underweight than when he was under Fargar. The reason for this was that his strength was obtained mostly from Trevor's buff alone, and so he still appeared to be a skinny and weak goblin to the average person.
However, to someone who could sense the true strength of another beyond mere looks, Oraguth would seem like a bundle of energy which was hiding inside the body of a scrawny goblin- a monster of the level of a demon lord, the higher end of the 9th tier. It was questionable as to why he was even carrying a weapon, as his physical strength would be enough to kill even the strongest warrior with a single blow.
"Hello, everyone. I am Oraguth, the one who is proud to call himself the slave of their excellencies. I hope we can all work well together, for our mutual interest and goals."
Despite Oraguth's friendly greeting and weak disposition, this conversation was very one sided, as the people around didn't seem to have the mental capacity to listen. Their hearts were too struck by fear of the beings in front of them- Ashley in particular.
'I feel like I'm going to choke... why does everything feel cold...'
'My limbs feel like they're going numb... is this part of their power, or am I simply too captivated by fear of them?'
Trevor closed his eyes, and started to feel around the area to search out the leader, since it didn't seem like these people would be of any help in guiding them.
'Perhaps we overdid things. I suppose terror should only be used within limits, and [Mass Terrorize] far exceeds the limits of what a normal person can handle. Well, from what I know it does indeed play at the strings of the heart of the person it effects, and uses their exact weaknesses against them. We should leave that to the ones we truly need to torture...'
"Ally, I think these people have been terrorized a little too much. Next time, don't use that skill on anyone unless we plan on getting rid of them."
"But isn't it great to see how they grovel when we walk by? Keh heh..."
"I don't particularly care about seeing others grovel before me. I care about productivity, which is decreasing."
"Alright, I got it... it looks like I will have to find a better target to use it on... well, that's fine I suppose. If you eat too much of the same thing, you'll get sick of it. If I use this skill on every pathetic human in existence, then it won't really feel great when I use it on a real piece of work..."
"Exactly so. Don't worry though. I have a feeling soon enough we will find some scumbags worthy of terrorizing to the point of incapacitation. You can play with your food then."
"Hehe... sounds like fun..."
The humans around the antiheroes were further struck by fear at their conversation.
'They think terrorizing people is some sort of game?! They're trying to maximize the enjoyment they get out of it!?! And food!? Did I just hear them call us food!!??'
"You're being too loud. Quiet down.", Samantha said, while looking directly at the man who was thinking this.
'Wh... what does she mean, too loud.... I... I didn't say a thing, did I!? I didn't make a single sound, did I!? Was I thinking out loud?!'
"Good grief, you just won't shut up. Let me quiet you down for you then."
[Mind control]
The man's face went blank as if he was a lifeless doll, and his eyes stared forward with dullness.
"Ah, there we go... peace and quiet..."
With that, Trevor snapped his finger, and the scenery once more changed around the group. They were now in the quarters of the bandit leader. Surrounding them was an entire assortment of stolen equipment and loot, along with the leader who was sitting at a desk by a bed- with his hands on his head and the scribblings of a madman in front of him.
He seemed to be muttering to himself.
"No... no... I didn't kill her... I didn't kill sister... it was all just a bad dream... it was nothing more... I need to forget... I need to forget... but I can't forget those eyes... those eyes... pleading for mercy... the feel of my blade slicing through her neck... the blood splattering on me... I remember it as if it were yesterday... as if I really did it... as if it were real life... it was too real... why was it so real!??! My sister is still alive... she should be a full fledged adult by now... so why do I feel as if I killed her with my two hands!?!"
The man seemed to be staring at his hands in horror, oblivious to the people around him.
Ashley felt nothing at seeing this. Despite her decrepit nature, she didn't feel any pleasure at seeing this man despair like this. Why? Did she not enjoy seeing others suffer? Did she not want the scum of the world to go through things worse than she did? She herself didn't understand.
But even stranger was the fact that she did not feel guilty either. She was the one who had done this to the poor man, and yet she felt absolutely nothing at seeing him like this.
'So this is indifference... it was once said that the opposite of love is not hate, but rather indifference.'
Ashley felt no desire to see this man in torment, yet she also saw no reason to help him and remove his torment.
'This is strange... I have never cared so little about an outcome before... am I losing all emotion? No... no... this hatred for others still burns inside of me... I still wish to see scum burn... but, I suppose I could care less what happens to the decent people... hm? How did I know that this man was a decent person? Ah right... because I am always right.'
At this moment, a message appeared.
[Quest has been completed in an unexpected manner]
[Option 1:Exterminate all entities within the cave] [Failed!]
[Option 2: Negotiate with the inhabitants of the cave][Failed!]
[Hidden Option 3: Dominate those who exist within the cave][Success!]
[Level up! (Lvl 21)]
'A level up? Now? I don't see any reason why we would have leveled up. We didn't do anything that would give us experience...', Trevor thought. 'Could it be that the quest gave us experience? But these quests seem rare and unpredictable, so I can assume this is a one time occurrence.'
[Player Garett: Strength +6, Dexterity -7, Perception +7, Charisma -8, Intelligence +10]
[Strength: 95](+4 Fanged Club)
[Dexterity: -5]
[Perception: 47]
[Charisma: 12]
[Intelligence: 78]
[Alchemy: Level 6]
[Enchanting: Level 1]
[Smithing: Level 8]
[Handiwork: Level 10(Max)]- Master Craftsman
[HP 700/700 MP 300/300]
[Player Trevor: Strength +10]
[Strength: 95]
[Dexterity: MAX]
[Perception: MAX]
[Charisma: MAX]
[Intelligence: MAX]
[HP 400/400 MP 300,000/300,000]
[Player Samantha: Strength -6, Dexterity -8, Perception +5]
[Strength: -1]
[Dexterity: -7]
[Perception: 53]
[Charisma: MAX]
[Intelligence: MAX]
[Current Status: HP 200/200 MP 300,000/300,000]
[Player Ashley: Strength +8, Dexterity +4, Perception +6, Charisma -X]
[Strength: 58](+5 Against Defenseless)
[Dexterity: 79]
[Perception: 55]
[Charisma: NEGATIVE MAX]
[Intelligence: MAX]
[New skill: Negative Maximizing Skill: Special Quest Reward: Soul Manipulation]
[Through your hatred for others and inability to interact in a way that is considered socially acceptable, your charisma has reached the lowest possible value]
[Soul Manipulation: You are able to manipulate the very soul of a person, changing their memories, and interacting with the souls of the dead. In doing so, you will become detached from those of the living who follow the bandwagon... those who have kind hearts and heroic motives will hold great fear and hatred towards you, and those who are selfish will envy you.... however those who are decrepit and corrupted like you... those who hold a deep hatred for the selfish and manipulative people of the world... those who wish the see the hidden evils of the world burn with a flaming passion... those people will flock to you like moths to a light-bulb, and it is up to you whether you become the light at the end of the tunnel, or whether you electrify them for getting too close.]
The antiheroes forgot about the man in front of them for a second to pay attention to the levelup. The man continued his rambling, and didn't even seem to notice that they were in the same room as him.
"This is... this is quite something else, isn't it...", Garett said.
"Indeed it is... it seems like we've found our answer to that question.", Trevor replied.
"Some of our skills have begun decreasing as of recently, and this is what happens when they reach negative 100... a corrupted skill... one that seems to effect fate itself when it is used...", Garett noted.
Samantha merely looked at Ashley.
"Do you feel alright? You're kinda spacing out."
Ashley looked up.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm good. Take a look at this. This is the power of my new skill."
Ashley spoke as if she understood instinctively what she could do with it.
Ashley held up her hand, and smiled lightly before making a grabbing motion as if she was removing something from the head of the man sitting at his desk in anguish. A black blob that seemed to have no physical form seemed to burst with steam as it was contained in Ashley's grasp, before she crushed it into nothingness.
His anguish ceased.
"Hm? What... what was I doing? I could have sworn I was thinking about something, but I can't seem to remember..."
"Memory manipulation... and even more than just that... the ability to come into contact with people's souls, and change them."
Ashley grinned.
"This could be useful... hehehe... just when I was getting bored..."
"That's... insane... first mind control, then mind reading... and now memory manipulation? And... it seems like this skill has a use even beyond that..."
Garett looked at his hands once more.
"Just what are we?"
Trevor put his hand on Garett to reassure him.
"How could you ever forget? We are monsters."