Dark Lord of Tartarus
***
Looks of surprise are on the faces of the guardians at the same time disappointed. They could not believe what they have seen for a moment. However, it is evident on the monitor that it was a defeat.
"We lost?" Xelya asked.
The guardians looked at each other before another voiced out.
"Should we send some more troops?" Brutus asked.
"I did not expect this to happen." Criswell said.
Then Adrasteia turned to look at her master and bowed her head.
"This is an unexpected defeat, but we can still send more troops to eradicate the enemy, shall we send them?"
After that, she lifted her head and what she saw was something that doesn't fit the mood and the defeat.
Her master was smiling broadly, it was a smile of satisfaction.
The rest of the guardians also saw this and wondered why. Why would the master smile that way? Why would he smile after an apparent defeat?
Then finally their master talked.
"What do you mean it is unexpected? The defeat of our army is already expected and anticipated. Though I should say it surpassed my expectations quite a bit."
Again the guardians looked at each other in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Agiel asked.
"Firstly, what exactly are those creatures?"
Their master also asked a question, but his question is easy to answer so Agiel answered.
"They are all summoned undead, golems, and demons."
"Exactly, all of them are summoned units. And that means all of them are expendable, their demise doesn't affect us at all."
The guardians remained silent and listened carefully to more what Xyn said.
"Those summoned units were never meant to destroy the town, plus they were all low-level monsters anyway."
"—oh… now I get it." Agiel said.
"I think I also get it now." Criswell said.
"Ah, as expected from the two of you, I know you would get it easily."
"I'm not worthy of your praise my lord, I should have known your plan from the start." Agiel said.
"As what Agiel said, my lord. Being the guardian overseer, I should have known your plans, but failed to get a grasp of it. Please forgive my incompetence."
Really? They're pushing themselves too much, them just knowing it now is fine with me to begin with.
Xyn thought.
"Well that's fine, you don't need to ask for forgiveness."
"Thank you so much, my lord."
After a few seconds, someone spoke out.
"Huh? I don't get it." Xelya said
The rest of the guardians remained quiet trying to think what their master's words meant.
"In that case, please allow me to tell them Lord Xyn."
"Alright, Agiel I allow you."
The guardians all looked at Agiel and gave their ears.
"The master never intended to destroy the town, but to be used as an experiment."
"Experiment?" Sagremor asked.
"As you all know all of those creatures are low level summoned monsters, they were meant to be used to learn how much damage those creatures can cause. That is also why the master has sent them a warning first, so they can fight with all the firepower they can harness."
Faces of enlightenment filled the faces of the other guardians.
"Also, the monsters did more damage than what it was expected. It seems the humans' defenses were not all that great." Criswell added.
Gasps of awe and respect came from the other guardians after they have understood.
"As expected of Lord Xyn! You're amazing!" Xelya said.
"I never thought of something like that, I'm in awe." Brutus said.
"Haha, the master played the lowly humans!" Sagremor said.
"I should have thought of that, but it's great to know what the master intended to do." Adrasteia said.
Rain of praises fell on Xyn.
Xyn chuckled and said.
"Also, it's not just that."
"There's more my lord? Please tell us." Xelya said.
"Because we sent those monsters, we have also known more about the opposition's weapons. For instance, they have a newly made version of those magic cannons, and what we have seen, it was able to take out a golem with one attack. Also, they have one soldier there that was able to take out a golem with one bullet, though I don't know how something like that was possible. But now we know what they're capable of, we will no longer be surprised in the future and we may be able to think on how to handle them. What I'm saying is that information is crucial in order to succeed on most tasks or goals."
That is not Xyn's only goal. One of his goals is to know how much power low-level monsters can use in future unknown scenarios. Based on what happened, it's apparent that those low level are already enough to take out a number of enemies. Xyn wanted to know if his units are largely capable of defending his family. The town was given a lot of handicaps, one of them is not making the golems destroy the tanks – the tanks can be used for later practice. Also one of them is not letting the golems go all out on the attack, especially in destroying the wall. Lastly, Xyn didn't send that a lot of units to attack.
The monsters that Xyn sent are Mega Fire Golems (Level 50), Greater Skeleton Warriors (Level 30), Dread Vultures (Level 30), Hellhounds (Level 10), Skeleton Riders (Level 10), and Greater Skeleton Archers (Level 25).
During the battle, Xyn was a little worried that the town might be destroyed by just the low-level monsters. That is why he toned down the level of the attack a bit or probably more than that. Mostly he had to tone down the golems and the vultures. In addition, the soldier who was able to take out a golem with one bullet was a great help in the town's victory.
Xyn was actually surprised that melee range monsters are able to do that much. Especially when the opposition used modern technology like those magic-powered weapons.
"Oh! That's great to learn!" Sagremor said.
Criswell and Agiel casually smiled.
Brutus nodded in the new teaching the master gave.
"I never even thought about something like that. As the General of the Legion, I will carve your words into my heart, I will strive to be better than I am now." Adrasteia said.
Adrasteia never thought about that huh. Well, that's understandable. Now she has learned something new. That would be very useful in the future.
Indeed, it is understandable Adrasteia didn't think something like that. Adrasteia's talents are at military engagement and attack strategies. The prior events were mostly for experiments and gathering information and not direct military assault. But now she had learned, so there is nothing more to worry about.
"That's amazing! But why didn't you tell us from the start, my lord?"
That last question from Xelya made Xyn froze. It was like everything stopped. It was like his brain stopped for a while and after that, it finally worked again.
A-ah… come to think of it…why did I not tell them about it anyway?! Crap, what should I tell them? Auuugh
Xyn thought really hard on what to tell why he didn't say anything about the plan.
He didn't have a good reason at all in why he didn't tell them. But deep inside Xyn has a reason. He thought that it would be cool that the guardians be surprised when they heard his plan after the battle, and the guardians will be impressed. Of course, no way he could tell that kind of reasoning because it is not reasonable at all.
Xyn looked at the guardians while trying to have a straight smiling face – he's actually trying very hard.
The guardians' faces were filled with expressions of expectations to be enlightened. They looked so sincere. This only made Xyn more nervous than he should be.
Crap, I need to think of something now or do something.
He has been silent for a few seconds. He must do something now.
"Hehehe."
Xyn quietly laughed. Trying to make things look normal, and him being all high and mighty and continued speaking.
"So you have not figured it out yet."
The guardians were all silent.
Then a bright light appeared inside Xyn's mind. He felt a little relieved, he finally thought a good reason.
"Alright, I'll tell you why. That is because… because I wanted for you guardians to figure it out yourselves. So that, all of you will further develop and learn."
The guardians' faces brightened after Xyn said that.
Xyn sighed in relief in his mind. He was also so thankful that he didn't sweat even a bit.
"In that case, we promise to strive to be better my lord."
Criswell said on behalf of all the guardians.
The other guardians responded in affirmative after Criswell's words.
"Ah… Umu."
Wew, I got out from that.
"So does this mean we are done with that town master? Are we going to leave them alone now?"
"What are you saying Brutus? Did you not know or have heard my message to them?"
"Ah, I do know your message."
"Then, we should recall what the message is. Agiel, you should have still fully remembered it, state the message."
"Yes. The heralds' main message would is, 'Death comes for you. Your days are now numbered. The Peerless One has mobilized his formidable army to exterminate you. However, the Peerless One has given you a chance to fight for your lives, even though it is futile. Seven days from now, this town's assured demise will begin.'"
"Exactly. As you all know, I gave them seven days to prepare and after that their demise will begin, right?"
The guardians responded in affirmative.
Xyn used the name "Peerless one" in the message because his subordinates always refer to him as the "Supreme One". He didn't want to give anyone a chance to trace him, that's why he needed to use other names. First, the guardians insisted on – in order for the people to know his power, his title should be the "Supreme One", but the guardians, later on, agreed when Xyn came up with "Peerless One" to be used in the message.
"Then did I say an exact time when they will die?"
"No, you did not." Criswell answered Xyn's question.
"Yes, I did not say that. I did not say they will die after those seven days, I only said their demise will begin. Do you all understand?"
"Aaaah, I fully understand." Agiel said.
The rest of the guardians replied in affirmative.
"Then now you know that we will come back for them. And 'we' means you guardians and me."
"We will attack? That's so exciting!" Sagremor said.
"We can finally see the master's power. It is indeed so exciting." Criswell said.
"I look forward to it." Adrasteia said.
"I-I'll try my best." Xelya said.
"I shall give those humans the true meaning of pandemonium." Brutus said.
"It looks like you're ready to go at any time, am I right?" Agiel asked.
The guardians replied in affirmative and Agiel continued speaking.
"Then, are we going to attack those humans now my lord?"
"Not yet. As you can all see on the monitor, they're still celebrating and repairing their defenses. Let's give them some time, we'll attack tomorrow."
"Yes." All the guardians said.
"Oh also, call in Aesyla. I have orders to give the Hyades maids."
"I'll go call her." Xelya volunteered.
"Yes please, Xelya."
Then Xelya walked to the door and went outside.
Something might happen unexpectedly tomorrow, but I must be prepared. The worst case scenario is that they might still have hidden weapons, and might cause the death to my guardians. But if they do die, I can still manage to resurrect them.
Xyn is indeed capable of casting a resurrection spell, and the resurrection spell he can cast is made originally by him. But still, even if he can cast resurrection spell, he still doesn't want his creations to die. No member of the family would want or let one of their members suffer or perish, especially Xyn.
Xyn have thought of resurrecting his own mother. However, that was no longer possible, the resurrection spell was one of the last ones he learned. He only learned the spell in his third year of training, not to mention it's one of the very last spells he learned and able to cast. In addition, his mother's corpse is highly likely to have already significantly decayed for the coffin used is dead cheap. The spell cannot resurrect someone when the body is heavily damaged, so Xyn has no choice but to let his mother rest in peace. Of course, he thought of digging the grave to make sure, but that was not a very wise thing to do, and that would mean disrespect. Knowing he couldn't resurrect his mother, he was greatly pissed off about it.
I feel kind of excited, I should say I can finally see some action.
Xyn is really looking forward to it. He felt like the power inside is craving to be used. Xyn thought that if it's his turn to engage, he won't hold back in releasing his power to the land.