Four days passed, and in those four days uneventful preparations were made by all.
Kota had stationed a few guards to be on lookout for any incoming attacks from both land and sea, however he carelessly did not call the civilians back into the inner sanctum of the village. Instead of warning his citizens of the possibility of attack, he sat back- ignoring the warnings of Claire with the mindset of 'If something goes wrong and we actually are attacked, we'll just have to rise to the challenge and overcome our limitations.'
Caspus prepared the fleets to set off, and the galleys were loaded with supplies for the campaign. Soldiers and workers worked around the clock to ensure that everything was ready for a long term deployment. If they were to take over a village and establish a base, they would likely not return home anytime soon. Most of the soldiers had bid their wives and families goodbye. The young men who had been subject to the draft had already bid the tidings of farewell to their loved ones, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
Mercenaries from all over the Empire who had been previously working as mere laborers or adventurers had all gathered in the port town of Githard, and were ready to set out on the galleons alongside the soldiers. Caspus had allocated a set of ships to be holding the mercenaries, and they would be the ones taking the vanguard.
This was not seen as a slight on the mercenaries. It was common knowledge that most mercenaries became mercenaries because they were stronger than the average soldier. They often held magical abilities or physical prowess which set them aside from even the trained soldiers, and encouraged them to make a living off of their skills. While a trained soldier was somewhere around the lower 3rd tier, the average mercenary would probably be at least the upper 3rd tier. There were typically 1 or 2 men from each nation who were even as powerful as the upper 5th tier, however these men were excessively rare. Beyond this was the realm of legends- people who only appeared once in an era such as a 6th tier warrior.
As such, this was a strategically sound move by Caspus, and did not breed any suspicion of using them as sacrifices, as he was merely placing the strongest soldiers up front.
Pierre, Charlotte, Lance, and Melody were to be stationed on one of these ships as well. If they were to be ranked, they would range from the lower 3rd tier (Charlotte) to the upper 4th tier (Melody). They had spent the majority of their time resting and preparing themselves mentally for the upcoming raid.
"We haven't seen or heard anything about them since we left that cave...", Lance noted with a disappointed look.
"Yeah... I sure would like to have met them again to try and ask them one more time what their true objectives were...", Charlotte responded.
"But if they really were the antiheroes, it would be best to completely avoid any contact with them.", Pierre noted.
Melody simply stayed silent, not taking a stance.
"Well, either way, we have a war to fight. Let's take this land from the monsters and return here safely! That's our number one priority, right? If we return alive, that's a win since were getting paid a fortune either way.", Lance said, trying to lighten the mood.
The faces of the other three brightened and they all seemed ready to go.
"Perhaps if we return we should give the doctor a visit and ask his opinion on things."
"From that nutjob? Surely that will only make things worse, right?"
"Haha! You might be right, but wouldn't it be funny to hear whatever blather comes out of his mouth when he hears about it?"
"Yeah, that much will be interesting to see."
The four walked down the streets, which were now completely filled with legionnaires and mercenaries alike, laughing and chatting as if they were simply going out to have fun as friends.
Even so, Lance could not forget the words of Trevor.
Changing the world.
Walking a dark path.
Was there truly more meaning to those words than he had originally thought?
The group continued walking, and eventually reached an enormous plaza where thousands of soldiers and mercenaries alike had gathered, and were all standing in formation with the Legion Commander himself at their head. He stood on a platform above the soldiers, and seemed to be waiting with his arms behind his back to give a speech once everyone had gathered up.
"It seems like it's about to start..."
"The tension sure is rising..."
Many of the soldiers were loudly chatting among themselves while they waited for the Legion Commander to make his move.
"Do you think with a force this large we will even have any part in the action?"
"Are you kidding me? I heard there are not even half this many fishmen. We're stationed at the back, so you can bet it's gonna be our responsibility to sit on top of the hill we take over and make sure nobody takes it back from us. Haha!"
"Seems like an easy campaign then. Do you think we will move on from here and try to take any more areas?"
"From what I heard, the Emperor himself has gone around to different countries in order to collect the heroes, and bring them to the front lines. Before we take any more land, we probably will have all four heroes leading us together!"
"Do you think that's really possible!? All four of the heroes being awakened and gathered... that's almost like a dream... and to be fighting alongside them..."
"What a time to be alive..."
"How great it is that I was born here in the Empire so that I could see this firsthand."
"The legends say that if all four heroes were to work together they will defeat even the current monster kings, and the legendary antiheroes who would try to take over and become the new demon lords... will we truly witness such a legendary event with our own eyes?"
"I sure hope so..."
"I heard that if the heroes take too long to unite though that the antiheroes will get stronger and stronger until they reach a point where even the heroes won't be able to win..."
"Well, isn't that why the Emperor himself is going around to collect the heroes? He understands the situation better than anyone."
"Ah, you're right! So long as Percius is our leader, we have nothing to fear! He is the wisest and most diligent Emperor we could ever hope for!"
Rumors of the Indeterminant awakening in the kingdom had spread fast, and the excitement of the new age rumbled throughout the entire legion.
Lance and Charlotte seemed concerned as they heard the antiheroes being mentioned.
'They will eventually have to fight the heroes, right?'
'And we might even have to face them eventually....'
"Don't worry about it, guys! Why are you all so sympathetic towards those monsters?", Pierre asked.
However, the two couldn't seem to raise their spirits.
Even if it was only for a small while, they viewed that group as their own comrades, and right now their hearts refused to believe that they were nothing more than beings of chaos.
"Ah, look. It seems the leader is about to say something."
Melody pointed to Caspus, who had now stepped forward on the platform and seemed to be getting ready to speak.
He raised his welder like helmet so that his face was shown, and spoke loudly to the entire crowd.
"Soldiers of the first legion, and mercenaries who have joined us for this campaign!!!! I am sure you all know better than I, but this campaign marks the beginning of not only a new Empire... but of a new era!!! The era where humans storm into the monster realm, beating back the fiends from the lands of this world, and removing this threat from our backs that we have had to constantly administer to throughout the ages!!! For those fighting under my own unit, I applaud you for your dedication to me and to our Emperor, his grace, PERCIUS IV!!!!!!!!"
A huge reign of cheers erupted from the crowd as soon as the name of the Emperor was mentioned.
He was extremely popular throughout the entire country, as a benevolent and wise ruler, as one who cared for each and every corner of his country, whether it be the poor, the sick, or the needy.
"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!!!!"
"THE GREATEST EMPEROR IN THE HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE!!!!"
"UNDER HIS RULE WE WILL ACHIEVE OUR MANIFEST DESTINY AND TAKE THE MONSTER REALM FROM THOSE FIENDS!!!"
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"BANZAI!!! HAIL PERCIUS!!!!"
The soldiers went into an uproar, and even some of the mercenaries joined in- particularly the ones who had respect for Percius. Many were raising their spears and chanting in unison while pounding the ground, and slapping their fists to their chests.
Even Lance and Charlotte found themselves join in on the choir of praises.
The praises continued on for almost an entire minute before the massive crowd calmed down. Caspus allowed this to happen in order to raise the morale of all the soldiers at his disposal.
There was not a single man in the Empire who didn't respect Percius as an Emperor, so even the ones under Caspus had great respect for him- despite the fact that a large amount of them were directly underneath the jurisdiction of Brutus.
When the soldiers had calmed down, Caspus once more took the helm.
"For the sake of our Emperor, for the glory of this Empire, we of the first legion will mark the start of this tremendous crusade!!! Men!! Are you all with me!?!?"
"YEAAHHH!!!!!"
"THEN FOLLOW ME TO GLORY, MEN!!!!"
Caspus slammed his helmet shut, and walked off the podium, heading over to his own ship.
After this, one by one the units split off and began loading onto their respective galleons.
"Ah, we're supposed to be at number 143...", Pierre noted while looking at a document which they had obtained from the mercenary guild when registering for the campaign.
The group nodded and headed off towards their respective ship before loading onto it.
"Man, that leader was sure able to inspire his troops...", Lance said. "I suppose everyone certainly does love and respect the Emperor."
'But... there was something about the ones we met that was more inspiring than even a legion commander at the head of 10,000 soldiers... what was it that I felt then, that my heart lacks right now?'
The group headed to a stairway on the ship which led below the deck, where their quarters were located.
"Third room on the left.", Pierre guided while pointing towards the room with the hand which wasn't holding the document.
The group headed to their chambers and opened it to see two bunk beds- one on either side.
"They didn't say how long it would take to actually reach the fishmen island... do you think it will take more than a night?", Charlotte asked.
"Good question... but I don't think so. It will take a few hours by sea, however not all day. We should arrive around mid to late afternoon.", Pierre replied.
Melody had began staring out the window.
"This is your first time on a ship, isn't it Melody? Shouldn't you be a little more excited?", Charlotte asked.
"Ah, perhaps."
She seemed to be out of it. Charlotte wasn't sure why. Could it be that she too was unsure about the people they had met? Or perhaps she was even worried for them?
People? Monsters? What should they even be called?
Charlotte didn't know.
The entire group aside from Pierre seemed that they couldn't take their minds off them.
Lance stared out the window as well, looking off into the vast ocean.
He then rubbed his hair, frisking it about with his hands, frustrated.
"Agh!! This is just bugging me too much! I can't even focus!! How could they just declare that they were monsters after showing us that spectacle and disappear like that!!!"
Charlotte nodded.
"I know right!! What the heck!!! If we ever see them again we should demand a proper explanation!!"
"I thought I told you two to drop that subject.", Pierre said with a stern face.
Suddenly, the three heard a pair of voices arguing from outside their cabin.
"I thought I told you to never let your guard down, and to always be cautious!! How could you not only fall asleep while on watch, but to even sleep in so that we.... WE... would end up being late to an appointment!"
Charlotte had heard this voice before. It was an elegant and arrogant voice.
"Ah, shut the hell up already. I told you, some voices were speaking to me and I kinda lost consciousness. If you're so cautious then you should've just taken watch yourself and set your own alarm."
She knew that creepy and raspy voice as well.
"Sigh... you are right... forgive me for holding any expectations for anyone aside from myself."
"Haha.... calm down you two! As long as we made it on time, there aren't any problems, right?"
"Perhaps, but if we missed out on an opportunity to gain information..."
Lance and Charlotte looked at each other excitedly, and Melody smiled lightly, encouraging them to open the door.
Pierre sighed and rolled his eyes, but deep within himself he smiled.
He too had been burning to meet with them again, even if he didn't want to admit it. He wanted to know if they really were the antiheroes, and of their true plans... whether they actually intended to spread chaos, or whether the terror they put on the members of the resistance was merely a threat, or if there was some greater purpose for it.
Lance rushed to open the door, and in front of them were four elves- two males and two females.
They seemed to be having a discussion in the hallway while heading to their chambers, but Lance and Charlotte jumped out to greet them.
"Punishers! We meet again, and this time on our journey over to the monster realm!"
Trevor pushed up his glasses as he saw the four in their room, greeting them.
"Oh? It was within my expectations that you four would end up coming on the campaign as well, however to think that we would happen to be assigned the same ship like this... would you call it a stroke of luck, or perhaps a curse of misfortune?"
----
Over the four days in which the antiheroes were waiting for the campaign to begin, they resumed their positions as absolute dictators over the fortress, and worked day in and day out to keep the improvements coming.
Garett had made some improvements to the pumping system within the city, and thus improved the flow of water throughout the area.
The water also went through a filtering system which colored it, giving it the red shade of blood. If one were to open the tap, it would quite literally look like blood was flowing from the sink-something which would scare off any travelers.
Of course, the quality of the water was top notch, as the filtration system designed by Garett would only have a risk factor of 1 in 1,000,000,000. This means that only 1 out of every billion people would get sick from the water which flowed throughout the city- a value which was astounding for any environmental engineer.
Along with the piping system, Garett had done some experimentation with Iotar and Gotek on potion production.
Needless to say, it was a great success. With these two hard at work, the recipes discovered by Garett were put to great use, and mass production of almost every type of buff, restoration, debuff, poison, utility potion, and other potion was undergone. They now had to build an entire warehouse to store the potions, and another for the ingredients which would be used- some of which were harvested from the farms, and others which were obtained from wild monsters and animals. Some ingredients were even obtained from metals and the mining operations.
The warehouses were enormous and made from the same flesh and bone structure as all the other buildings in the Dictatorship.
After working on a large amount of projects which expanded production capabilities, the defenses of the city were focused on.
Ashley and Garett managed to work together to form a series of flame cannons which were laid across the walls. They looked like enormous cannons, however their openings were a rectangular slit and they would spout a wall of flames which would be angled by the user of the cannon in order to attack any invaders, whether they come from air or land.
Ashley also summoned a large number of evil eyes, and they were stationed by the dozens around the walls to petrify anyone who approached.
Finally, Garett had gotten around to the use of the enchantment skill.
When he first tried to use it, a set of instructions appeared as a message from the system.
[In order to enchant an object, a magic infused gem is needed]
[Magic infused gems can be found naturally in areas of high magical concentration, or can be created by the use of the players own mana]
"We should take a look at the ore warehouse and sieve through to see if we can find any of these gems which could be used for this.", Trevor suggested.
The three nodded and headed over to the warehouse.
Upon arrival at the warehouse, there were ores of all types neatly stacked and organized into piles, and a number of goblins working hard to organize them and sending wheelbarrows of them off for refining and processing.
As per Trevor's orders, they continued working, despite the fact that they so desperately wished to throw themselves a the feet of their masters.
There was a pile of gemstones- they were colored purple and blue, as well as a few white and green ones here and there, in one storage bin. The antiheroes approached this bin.
One of the goblins went over to ask if everything was alright.
"Is there something you need, your excellencies? If there is anything you would like us to-"
Trevor held up a hand.
"Get back to work, and do not mind us. We will get what we need ourselves."
"Of course, your excellency! Forgive me for not understanding your intentions sooner!"
The goblin returned to his duty, and the antiheroes grabbed a few of the gems, placing them into their inventory.
"Let's test this out for now. Ally, can you try and infuse some mana into this one?", Garett said while holding up a blue gem.
"Sure, whatever you say.", Ashley replied, taking the gem into her palm.
The gemstone lit up as if it were glowing, before shattering, the bits and pieces flying all over the place. Samantha created a barrier in an instant to prevent the shards from hurting anyone.
"Ah... whoops... looks like these gemstones are pretty weak, and can only hold a certain amount of mana. Guess i'll just use a tiny bit..."
Ashley once more made the stone glow, and allowed only a tiny bit of power to flow into it.
Garett used his [Analyze] skill on the brightly shining stone, and saw the following.
[Blue Magic Infused Gem. Full]
"This is good. Let's see what I can do with this..."
Garett pulled out his fanged club from his inventory, and held the gemstone next to it.
Garett closed his eyes, and imagined the power from the stone flowing into the club.
[Enchantment has been activated]
[Level 1 enchantment skill. Assigning random ability to fanged club]
[Success. Fanged Club has been assigned new ability. Lightweight. The club is lighter and easier to use, however this does not decrease the effectiveness of the blows.]
[Fanged Club: Enchantments: 1/3. If maximum number of enchantments are exceeded, then one must be removed.]
"Oh... this is nice. I learned before that the enchantment system works like a lottery, so it seems that whatever abilities are assigned are determined by the level of enchanting that I have, and selected from the large pool of abilities under that level. Each item seems to be able to hold up to 3 enchantments, and we can redo them if we want to improve the same item further by removing old enchantments. I should try to enchant more things to raise my level and unlock things from the upper level pools, but this is exciting... the uncontrollable assignment of skills which I have never seen before... heh heh.... I am going to have a lot of fun with this.", Garett noted.
"Indeed, and we can use this to improve the equipment and abilities of our subjects. Ally, go ahead and fill all of these gems with magical power, and we can then have Gary go around and enchant the equipment of all our slaves.", Trevor commented.
"Got it."
Ashley then held out her hands, and the gems in the crate were all lifted above the ground- hundreds of them.
They all began to start glowing as Ashley channeled her mana into them.
[Player Ashley: MP 290,000/300,000]
"That was quite tiring. I used up a lot of mana."
"Yes, but now we have all of these mana crystals at our availability. Gary, store these in your inventory for now. We have work to do."
And so, the four went around the rest of the day, enchanting the equipment and weapons of all the subjects of the dictatorship. Every single person who the antiheroes approached was so pleased to have been gifted such an upgrade that they almost fainted, and Garett's enchantment skill slowly leveled up the more enchantments he did. By the end of the day, he had reached [Enchantment Lvl 5]
Garett was intrigued by all the different buffs he was able to give to the equipment of his subjects. Poison Negation, Paralysis Negation, Attack Power Up, Speed Up, Magical Resistance Up, Physical Resistance Up, Night Vision, Vitality Up, Spell Damage Up, Elemental Damage effects, and all sorts of improvements. The overall strength of even the average goblin within the village had increased around 2 or 3 times due to the enchantments.
At the end of the day, Samantha spoke up after something hit her.
"Hey, Theo... there's something that's been nagging at the back of my mind.", Samantha said with a concerned look on her face.
"What is it? If it is important enough to bring up now then spit it out."
"Uh... didn't we just leave that woman locked in the basement with those two kids?"
"Ah.... I forgot about them. I suppose we should go and check to see how they're doing. We left her with a kitchen full of ingredients, so she shouldn't have starved to death or anything."
Ashley smiled when that woman was brought up.
"I wonder if those kids are still alive... hehe... let's go see..."