With Trevor at the head, the antiheroes stormed into the room of the four mercenaries, and Garett shut the door.
"You all have two options right now.", Trevor explained with a serious face.
"Either you could scream for help, claiming that we are monsters, causing soldiers to rush to the room, or you all could greet us kindly and we could have a nice relaxing trip together.... just as before."
The faces of the four mercenaries straightened at this, aside from Melody who kept her light smile while thinning her eyes.
"But of course... hehehe... would anyone believe you if you were to claim that we are a group of monsters?", Ashley said with a crackling laugh.
"And it doesn't seem like you all intend to do so.", Samantha added. "So, you all wouldn't mind if we had a seat and chatted for a bit, right?"
Lance nodded with a serious face. He was determined to find out whether the four in front of him were truly evil beings, or if they indeed were people who he could trust.
While he knew in his heart that he likely could not trust them, he wanted to.
There was something about them, and he didn't know what, but even after seeing these people... or these monsters, whoever they were, terrorize and traumatize an entire group of 40 men, something told him that there was more to them than simple chaos... that they were more than simple monsters who wished to see the faces of suffering people.
"Do you three understand why I allowed Ally here to terrorize those members of the resistance? Charlotte, let me hear your answer. Just say what you believe."
"Wasn't it because.... because you all didn't want anyone to disobey you? You wanted to establish yourselves and ensure that nobody would flee or let anything slip?"
Charlotte fumbled with her words before coming to a logical conclusion for the reason behind the actions of the antiheroes previously.
"That is a good part of it, however that is not the full story. It is true that we have often used terror to ensure that nobody betrays us, and I have nothing against that. It is merely a tactic to be used by a leader, nothing more and nothing less. However, there is one other reason why we did what we did that day."
"What is that?", Pierre asked suspiciously.
"I am not personally a fan of deception. While I understand that it is a tool which can be used for business, I am a firm believer in showing your customers the full truth so that they may willingly and openly purchase your product, without any hidden fees."
"I don't really understand what you just said. Could you rephrase it?", Lance asked.
Trevor pushed up his glasses and smirked.
"Very well. You all accepted us before as comrades to embark on this campaign with, no?"
"We did."
"But as soon as you saw our true forms... as soon as you learned who we really are, did those opinions change?"
Charlotte, Lance, and Pierre seemed to squirm with guilt as Trevor said this.
"Of course your opinion would change. I too would be suspicious if a monster appeared in front of me and claimed that it wanted to be friends. Why wouldn't you be? However..."
Trevor recalled back to the time when Garett and Ashley originally approached him.
"Even if the devil himself approached me, I might at least step up to the negotiation table and try to run him dry for a good bargain."
A chill went down the spines of the four as Trevor said this.
He meant that with every fiber of his being.
Pierre seemed to be debating with himself internally.
"So, what's your point here?"
Garett stepped forward to follow up.
"Our point is that.... for those members of the resistance, and for you four, we have revealed our secrets... we have shown you who we are, and now it is your turn to answer the question. Will you still fight alongside us, even knowing that we are monsters?"
"But, are we not going to the monster realm in order to fight monsters? Should you all not be on the side of the monsters?"
"We don't pick sides. That is not who we are. We pick individuals to side with. And we are offering you all the chance to be among them."
Melody smiled.
"I knew it. You all... truly are chaotic. Please allow me to come into your fold."
Ashley then began to speak like an auctioneer.
"One soul... one soul... we have one soul sold! Do I have two!? Can we get two souls sold!?! Going once!"
Lance and Charlotte resolved themselves. If Melody was so willing to accept it, then they had no reason not to. They trusted her judgement.
"We as well will come into your fold."
"Two and three! Do I have four souls? Going once..."
Pierre seemed very conflicted, but after looking at all his comrades and confirming that they were in agreement, he too nodded.
"Alright. I as well will work with you all."
"And there is four! Looks like we have a full house today! Hehehehe.... looks like nobody will be sent to the basement today..."
Even Melody seemed to be a little shaken after hearing Ashley mutter something so devious.
"B-basement....", Charlotte muttered.
"Ah, don't worry... only bad guys go there."
The four seemed to be shook, however the antiheroes all seemed to be getting relaxed.
"Now, I suppose since you all truly are a part of our fold this time, and since you actually know that we are monsters and have accepted it, we should explain our plan to you. However, before doing so, I must confirm one thing. As soon as you all came into our fold, you no longer are on the side of the Empire. While you may not necessarily be allies of the monsters either, you are on our side now, and you will listen to orders given by us- not the Legion Commander. We will not ask you to sacrifice yourselves, however we may ask you to turn on those around you. Is that understood?"
The four nodded.
"Very well. Now, as far as your roles are concerned, well... all that I ask of you is to obey the orders of the Legion Commander for now, and survive. You don't have to turn on your countrymen yet, all I ask is that you simply play your roles... and we will perform our roles simultaneously."
"What exactly are your roles then?", Lance asked.
"Before this ship first arrives at the fishmen village, we will be going ahead to meet with the leader of the fishmen tribe. Depending on his response, we will determine what our role is from there."
"I see... so you're going to negotiate?", Charlotte asked.
"Well, if they are capable of coming to an agreement. If not, we will likely stand back and allow them to fight with the Empire, before figuring out our next move."
"I think it's about time we head to our own chambers.", Samantha stated. "Please do not worry at all about the outcome. Know that now that you all have joined our side, that your safety has been guaranteed no matter what happens."
Samantha smiled at the group, and the antiheroes all headed out the door.
Stolen story; please report.
After they left, Lance looked at his teammates.
"I want to trust in them."
"Me too.", said Charlotte.
Melody simply smiled.
Pierre looked at the others with the face of someone who had lost.
"Sigh. Then, I suppose we are all in agreement. I have no idea what horrors we are going to see while following them, but I can't deny that I want to see where they will take us."
----
The antiheroes now all sat in their cabin, waiting for the ships to get closer to the fishmen village.
This was of course, to instill a sense of urgency when the negotiations with Kota occurred. If the Empire was about to attack, perhaps he would listen to reason.
However, Ashley knew that this likely wasn't the case.
Her intuition told her that even with a demon in front of him, he would send off his warriors while singing their praises and blabbering about heroics and courage to fight and be killed swiftly.
He was a boring enemy to face. One which Ashley had no interest in negotiating with. The only reason they were doing so was because the Determined had asked them to, but even that would probably only last a few minutes.
'Who knows, I might just kill him on the spot if he's too annoying... or maybe I'll mess with his memories a bit... that could be fun...'
Samantha then spoke up.
"Well, those humans weren't too insolent. I think it should be fine to allow them into our fold. While the one beret kid seemed to be a bit.... resistant, he too had a suppressed respect for us that he didn't seem to be willing to admit, so I don't think there will be any problems. Their thoughts more or less all matched up to their words, and nobody seemed to be plotting anything... but that one girl.... Melody... she seemed..."
Samantha smiled demonically.
"She knew that we were monsters from the start, and she wanted to team up with us from the start, even knowing that. I think she has a lot of promise. She isn't your run of the mill mercenary, for sure..."
Trevor smirked at hearing this.
"As I thought... I would like to bring them to the dictatorship and assign her a position among our elite when their roles in the resistance have been finished. It will certainly be an interesting conversation to convince them to become our slaves."
The others nodded.
"But what about now? Do we just wait around in this cabin until we get closer?", Garett asked.
"Well, I have never been one for killing time like this.... however, I suppose we should take a break while we can. There will be plenty of work to do when we arrive, so let us rest. for now."
Trevor sat back and smiled, closing his eyes peacefully.
'I wonder what Coran is doing right now? He should be well on his way to the human realm. Perhaps he has already arrived?'
The boat rocked, however none of the antiheroes felt sick in the least. After sleeping on the ground, and experiencing the turning tides of their new lives as monsters, this much was nothing to even consider.
----
The fleet sailed for 4 hours without incident. Over 150 galleons and many smaller ships, carrying a total of 13,000 troops approached the fishmen village in the matter of a few hours.
Kota had stationed a few people to lookout for anything, however aside from that he was relaxing in his palace while barking out orders to his new subjects.
"As for you... hm... it seems that there aren't enough gemstones around here. Gather a team of men and bring me 1,000 of them within the next 2 days."
"2 days!? Chief, please reconsider! Not only are the areas where the gemstones can be found excessively deep within the caves, but they are surrounded by a ferocious lake of magma! If we have so little time to gather so many stones, many will die just trying to retrieve them! It can't be done!"
"Did I ask how many would die? You know what I hate more than anything? The word 'can't'. I can't do this. I can't do that. It can't be done. If someone claims that something can't be done, aren't they putting that limitation on themselves? Isn't that nothing more than just an excuse so that they don't have to try? If you truly believe in yourself, then you CAN do anything. I don't want to hear the word can't out of you any more. Why don't you try saying 'I can' for once?"
The man who hung his head in defeat at first on the ridiculous request was inspired by Kota's words, and looked up with resolve.
"Y... yes, chief.... I can... no, I will succeed! I will gather the most skilled spelunkers, and we will return successful!"
This fishman of course could not reject a direct order from the chief, and so he had to take on horrible odds for the sake of the chief whether he believed he could do it or not.
"Ah, that is music to my ears. Please return to me with good news 2 days from now. Never forget to stop believing in yourself, and you can surpass anyone's expectations of yourself. You define your own limits, not others! If you believe you can reach the moon, then you can. If you believe you can reach the sun, you can! If you believe that you can walk on the flames of the sun, then you can!!! And if you believe that you can overcome any opponent, and fight for the sake of justice, then you will always be able to win against those who are unjust!!! This is the law of the world! The just will always win! The pure will always be able to overcome! The corrupt will always suffer defeat in the end!"
"Yes!"
The man was sent off with a smile on his face, determined to succeed in a task which he previously believed to be impossible.
Of course, the fishmen had to maintain moisture on their skin.
If that moisture dried up, then their gills would cease to function, and they would slowly begin to choke to death. Fortunately for the fishmen, they had lungs, but their breathing capacity would be severely limited in such harsh conditions.
They were all being sent off to die, and would likely not return.
'If they can't surpass their limits and overcome their own biology, then they clearly didn't believe in themselves enough. Or perhaps they simply didn't hold pure intentions like me from the start. After all, those with malice in their hearts will always be repaid in full, but those with pure and innocent intentions, serving justice will always succeed in anything they do. It's merely destiny. A law of the world. Now then...'
Kota then turned to the group of elders sitting at a table on each side of him.
"Do you all have any suggestions? Gemstones are nice, but surely there are some other ways to improve the decor of the palace?"
One of the elders- a manatee with a grey mustache- raised his flipper.
"Yes, you. Speak."
"Should we really not be doing anything to prepare for the upcoming attack? According to the demonic angel who arrived at the banquet, the attack should be today..."
Kota slammed his fist into the throne- which was made of shells- and closed his eyes in anger.
"I have already taken all the precautions necessary. Even if that.... thing.... was telling the truth, I have stationed guards outside to watch the horizons for an attack. There are also regular guards stationed at the watchtowers in case of attack by land, so even if those fiends pull a surprise attack there won't be any issues."
"But shouldn't we have made any further preparations!? It will take time to gather up our armies! And we need to evacuate the citizens from the outer village, no?"
"There will be no such issues. If we fishmen cannot fend off even a measly fleet coming from the water- our own domain, then how could we call ourselves the beacons of the monster realm? Those human fiends who dare to attack us plan to take us by surprise, but I say that we let them!! We let them outnumber us! We let them take us by surprise! And then, we still crush them for committing such evil acts against our proud tribe! We will show them that they were wrong to ever underestimate the fishmen tribe!!! There will be no need for evacuation, for we will hold them off and they won't even make it to the outer village!"
Most of the elders seemed to be happily nodding and agreeing with Kota's words, however this one manatee seemed deeply distraught.
'If only Ploritan was still leading us... he would surely have made a wiser decision...'
Kota smiled at the approval he received by most of the elders.
"If that is all, then we should get back to more important matters."
"Ah, yes! Chief Kota, I believe that we should plan on using the metal from the armor of the humans who invade in order to decorate the palace!", one of the elders suggested.
"I second that!", another exclaimed.
"A great idea. What if I were to hold an award ceremony for the five fishmen who take out the most humans as an incentive to gather these materials?", Kota replied.
"As expected of Chief Kota, your ideas are truly magnificent! Surely many heroes will be born through this battle with the incentive of serving by your side!"
Many others nodded and voiced their approval, and Kota continued to suggest new ideas, while spouting nonsense about bravery, courage, and justice.
The battle was approaching quickly. Even quicker, however, the antiheroes were on their way.
----
[Earlier this morning]
Coran got up from his silk hammock the morning of the campaign, ready to set off on an adventure of his own.
He had been awake the entire night, unable to sleep. He was like a child on the day before Christmas, eagerly waiting to receive his presents the next day, or like a student who had a huge exam the following day who couldn't stop worrying about it and lost sleep due to that.
He was tremendously excited. He was not excited because of the possibility of exploring a new land, or of meeting new people. No, rather, he was excited at the prospect of performing a great task for his masters- one that would help them immensely in the future.
Coran understood the magnitude of his task in the human realm. His very purpose was to change the human's views on monsters, and it was not something that would be so simply done.
As Theo had said, it was filled with risk. But this was exactly why Theo had entrusted such a great task to the most powerful and highest ranked slave in the dictatorship.
There was one thing that filled Coran with complete desolation as he exited his home and dawned upon this task.
He was not allowed to speak the name of his masters.
He was not allowed to preach their wondrous glory, and their absolute rule.
He was not allowed to proclaim their magnificent works or their dominating strength to the puny humans he was supposed to befriend.
Why was this?
His master informed him that he didn't want their existence to be exposed just yet to the humans, and that only a very select group of humans were currently aware of the antiheroes.
While he was allowed to admit that he served someone greater than himself, he was not allowed to use the word 'antiheroes', and he had to keep any descriptions of his masters vague.
"We must first establish in the minds of the humans that intelligent monsters such as yourself exist, and can act as humans do. Your mother considered you an abomination because of your humanity, and the humans will consider you an abomination because you are a monster. If not for us.... you and your sister would have been existences which were hated by all in this world. How can I allow such a thing to happen, when you two have proven to be so loyal.... so useful... to me? If the people will stand by their prejudices and reject you both, then I will be the one to stand behind you, and ensure that those prejudices are shown to be incorrect."
How kind his master was.
To care so much for abominations such as him and his sister- beings who would have struggled until their deaths had their masters not intervened- to the point of raising him up beyond his very limitations, into a creature as powerful as one of the monster kings.
It was beyond his wildest dreams, however this was Coran's reality.
He owed the antiheroes his life, his loyalty, and his everything.
Coran grabbed his backpack, filled with all sorts of provisions prepared for him by their excellencies themselves, and looked at his sleeping sister.
She had a sinister grin on her face, as if she was having a pleasant dream.
"Goodbye, sister. I will return after I have become a useful tool and paved a way for their excellencies to take over the humans."
And with this, Coran set off.