“What are you rabble doing all huddled together?” Noel said mockingly when she saw the gathered Aspirants.
“We’re tired of being treated like second-class citizens!” One of the B Group members shouted.
“You can’t do this to us!” Another yelled.
I laughed, “Look, the idiots think they’re second-class citizens!”
Mocking laughter erupted behind me as I continued, “No, you’re less than that! If it weren’t for the entertainment value that you provide, we would have long since left you to die outside these walls. You all should be glad we’re allowing you to live here at all!”
“Fuck you!” One of them screamed, “Just because you guys were able to get ahead doesn’t mean that we can’t fight back!”
I snickered, “Yes yes, keep telling us those jokes, it’s quite entertaining.”
I could see the rage in the eyes of the B Group. It was just about time for them to explode, we just needed one last push.
“And I heard you have a leader amongst you?” I said as I scanned the crowd, I saw the doppelganger and pointed at him, “That one, right?”
My clone stepped up as planned and glared at me.
“And I’ve heard some interesting rumors about you as well,” I continued, “It’s quite impressive that you were able to become the king of the trash heap.”
More sneers and whispered mockery accompanied my speech from the onlookers on my side. They were loving the display so far, but let’s get them riled up as well.
I looked at my clone hard in the eye and spoke with as much visceral hatred as I could, it wasn’t hard, “But what I want to know is why you thought you would be able to get away with killing one of ours!”
Now that got everyone’s attention.
“You thought we wouldn’t notice the constant disappearances around us?” I shouted again. Of course, those disappearances were due to Noel, but as far as I knew, no one was able to find out who was responsible for all those assassinations over the last few days. I’ll admit, the redhead was good at what she did.
“Now you slander us further?” the other crowd shouted, but they were ignored.
“That fucker is responsible?” one of the A Group Aspirants spoke up. I believe this was someone close to one of the people who had an unfortunate Noel-related accident.
“Yeah,” I said with confidence, “I saw him give Thomas something to drink right before he went missing. I’ll bet you anything that these pathetic degenerates realize that they couldn’t beat us in a fair fight and resorted to poison. We all know that most of them have worthless production classes.”
My logic was sound enough to have the A Group believing everything that I said, and thankfully laws and courts don’t exist in Pandora, so it’s not like the other party could even defend themselves. Oh, how I loved this place.
As I had said before, I knew of two surefire ways of making people believe in a cause or a person in this case. I already used Religion in the second Trial, and it was time for me to make a living legend out of Jae-Hyun. If the people needed a hero, then I would provide the villain for the hero to stomp all over, and the stage was set for a hero to be born.
I was about to proceed with the next stage of my plan, but something unexpected happened first. What I didn’t account for, however, was the reaction from the guy who asked me the earlier question. Once he heard my explanation, all reason seemed to have left his head and he summoned a staff out of his inventory. I wanted to stop him from ruining my carefully planned play, but he moved fast. With a flick of his wrist, he threw a fireball right at my doppelganger, and true to my clone’s word, he was ready for whatever violence was headed his way and embraced the attack a little too melodramatically.
Then he exploded.
Like, into a shower of flying bits. I’m pretty sure he’s fine since the little pieces of exploded Walter jiggled ever so slightly as they expanded outwards, but why did he choose such a weird way to die?
Shit! This was not what I needed to happen right now! My original plan was for me to assault the Walter clone, beat him up a little, and hold him hostage so that I had more leverage with the B Group. I’d only get rid of him once Jae-Hyun was safely in the picture. I wanted the people to hate me so that the Regressor could absorb all the adoration once he solved the situation and fought off the villain, which would have been me.
But that plan is out the goddamn window.
Vadeem and Noel looked in shock and gave me a questioning gaze. Even the man who cast the fireball was stunned. I sent a private message to Vadeem and Noel.
Walter’s Fine: Uh, that wasn’t part of the plan.
Vadeem the Dream: Well, at least we don’t have to worry about any information leaks in the future.
Lady Awesome: I was gonna visit him after this anyway, so you just saved me a trip, little bro!
Right… let’s be glad that my new friends had different moral standards than the average person. If their only concern about having hired help die was that it saved them future trouble, then I’ll just be glad that I’m on their side and that they’re not paying me anything to be on that side.
Once the shock of seeing someone literally explode wore off, everything devolved into complete anarchy quickly. It was too late to fix this, so I’ll just have to improvise. Seeing their leader, the guy who helped buy everyone round after round of beers explode right before their eyes was the last straw, and the B Group was taking up arms against their oppressors. This was also the situation I really hoped to avoid, because I could already see what was about to happen.
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Now on paper, the oppressed group had the advantage in numbers, and if this kind of event happened in the normal world, some of the Aspirants in the A Group might have been killed or at least injured when the mob attacked. But this wasn’t the normal world anymore, and it was an absolute one-sided slaughter.
The B Group was, honestly, pathetic. They were woefully slow, and I saw maybe a dozen class skills being used in total. The difference in skill was absurd. They could barely use the weapons they were holding, and even if they had managed to get in a solid blow, the armor of their foes made their opponents all but invulnerable.
The same could not be said about the other side. Waves of magic took out dozens of foes at once while martial artists destroyed foes in close range. Healers were in the back making sure that anyone who was wounded quickly recovered, and I was starting to fear that the B Group would just be wiped off the face of Pandora.
Some of them even tried to get to me, but a casual swipe with my hand sent them flying back. I hadn’t realized just how weak the normal Aspirants were. I was worried that the B Group might be a little too weak.
Walter’s Fine: Jae-Hyun, there’s a change of plans, I think you should go in now. They’re getting slaughtered.
Jae-Hyun: In a moment.
Walter’s Fine: Uh, I think we’re losing dozens of them every second. You sure it’s wise to wait?
Jae-Hyun: Your plan might have changed, but the goal is the same. They need to suffer some casualties first, otherwise what you’ve been doing will not be memorable enough.
Well shit, the Regressor was absolutely ruthless. He didn’t see the other Aspirants as people, but just as sacrificial pawns that he could use to advance his plans. I don’t even think I was that bad. Between Noel, Vadeem, and the Regressor, I think I can safely say that our Guild was, indeed, evil.
I sighed, let’s just make the best out of a bad situation then.
Walter’s Fine: If you say so. Just go in when you can, I’ll make do with the new situation.
I watched the scene before me with growing anticipation, wondering when Jae-Hyun would make his move. I winced as the number of Aspirants decreased steadily. It wasn’t until maybe a minute after the slaughter began that the Regressor finally made his move, and although I questioned why he decided to wait so long, I couldn’t say anything about the way he made his entrance.
He leaped off a nearby building and slammed down in the middle of the conflict. The force that he landed caused every set of eyes to land on him and he pointed a spear at the A Group.
I sent some rapid instructions updating my party on what to do, and on cue, Noel and Vadeem quietly left the venue while everyone was distracted. Noel slipped off easily enough, but Vadeem… well, he wasn’t the sneakiest individual around, and with his outfit on, he needed a little bit of extra help to go unnoticed. Jae-Hyun had to slam his spear into the ground to create a huge dust cloud to conceal his movement. I regretted making his costume so ridiculously shiny.
Once the two were safely out of the picture, they’d also need to make an appearance once changed, I screamed at the Regressor at the top of my lungs.
“Who do you think you are?” I said with a scowl, “You’re clearly someone capable, so why are you standing in our way?”
However, Jae-Hyun didn’t even need to introduce himself. My rumors about his guild had spread like wildfire, and a few Aspirants in the crowd already worked for him. Soon, whispers of Jae-Hyun and the Abyss guild filled the air, growing louder and louder by the second. This was eerily similar to the reactions those crazy cultists had when they saw me. Oh well, I’m sure the Regressor can handle insane fans better than I can.
“Shut your filthy mouths!” I screamed at the people, and took out my old spear from my inventory, “Do you think one man can protect you from all of us?”
Their fervent cheers died down a little when they saw that Jae-Hyun was alone. They were starting to doubt his ability to protect all of them. That’s good, because what better way was there to build a legend than for one man to go against seemingly impossible odds?
The Regressor ignored my provocation and drew a simple line on the ground with his spear, “Just try to get past me. I will not allow anyone in Pandora to be taken advantage of.”
Hmm, his acting could use a little work, but the sheer coolness that he exuded made up for any shortcomings his poor line delivery might have. I still envy how effortlessly he made everything look. The man exuded main character energy.
“Fine!” I continued, “If you want this place to be your funeral, then so be it!”
I threw the spear right at his face. It was a pretty horrible throw, all things considered, but my insane stats made the weapon travel faster than the speed of sound. A little sonic boom accentuated the attack, but what really sold the performance was when the Regressor simply caught the spear with his hands. He didn’t even flinch.
“How…?” I muttered in actual disbelief, “It doesn’t matter, I’ll admit you’re better than me, but are you better than all of us?”
I gave the people behind me the signal, and we all launched various attacks on the man. It was, of course, absolutely useless. Now I knew how much of a monster the Regressor was, having seen him fight firsthand, but it was quite the treat for those who have never seen the man in action. He was deflecting everything that was heading his way, not allowing even the smallest of wounds to appear.
And worst of all, he made it look effortless. Magic attacks just seemed to pitter into nothing as it approached him, and anyone stupid enough to get into melee range was quickly sent back. Yet most impressive of all was how he fought without killing a single person. He was basically doing everything that a goodie-two-shoes hero would do. Once I was sure that everyone was sufficiently impressed with the Regressor’s abilities, I gave out the next set of commands.
“Attacking him is useless!” I screamed in false rage, “But he can’t protect the trash behind him!”
The others realized the logic in what I was saying and started to launch attacks aimed at the people he was trying to protect. In response, Jae-Hyun started to move at insane speeds, deflecting and parrying every single attack and projectile that tried to go over the little line he drew in the dirt. Yet the sheer number of people launching various assaults on the group behind him was starting to overwhelm even his speed.
That was when Jae-Hyun’s reinforcements arrived. Just as the first stray fireball was about to pierce the gap in the Regressor’s defenses, Noel appeared seemingly out of nowhere and parried the attack. Vadeem was right on her heels, having copied Jae-Hyun by jumping off a roof to make his entrance. Of course, he landed more like a meteor as he was already transformed into his titan form on arrival.
With the new members here, the initiative swung in the favor of the three members of the Abyss guild. This was met with overwhelming cheers from the B Group behind them. Now instead of purely defending the position, Jae-Hyun would take steps closer to our position, while Noel and Vadeem held their ground behind him. With every step forward he took, more and more of my forces would be pushed back, and it was only a matter of time before the morale of our loose group of Aspirants collapsed.
“Shit!” I muttered, “We run for now!”
Well, most of my group had already done so, so I was mainly speaking for the sake of the victors. Still, seeing one of the A Group's leaders all but give up provided a huge boost in confidence to the B Group, and they cheered even louder for the Regressor’s party.
“Abyss Guild!” one of the Aspirants chanted in victory, “I knew they would save us!”
“Thank you!” another added, “Give it up for Kim Jae-Hyun and the Abyss Guild!”
More and more shouts of elation joined the first couple of voices, which signaled the end of my little performance. Although my work wasn’t quite finished, as I still needed to assuage the growing unrest in the A Group, the status of the Abyss Guild should be through the roof for the common man.
Today, a hero was born, but everyone knows that for a hero to truly shine, a villain needs to be in there to contrast his deeds. But the birth of that villain could wait for a little while. Let the people of Pandora rest, let them sing the praises of Kim Jae-Hyun and the rest of the guild before I bring to life the next stage of my plans.