As Caspus sat in his tent awaiting any news, two reports came in.
The first one was that the unit of 50 men had arrived safely after swimming through the underwater tunnel, without being ambushed or attacked.
Shortly afterwards, another report came in which left Caspus scratching his head in confusion.
"Legion Commander Caspus! An urgent report!"
"What is it? I just received a report from another group."
"We have confirmed that the fishmen village is currently filled with civilians- not soldiers! They seem to be walking around the city casually, as if they aren't even under attack! Captain Morin is likely going to attempt to scout further, to determine whether this is a trap, and should he not return that would be the reason!"
Caspus lowered his facemask in thought.
"Thank you. You may leave now."
The group of soldiers left after saluting, and Caspus considered what this could mean.
"It is highly likely that this is a trap, but what kind of trap could this possibly be? To use one's own civilians as bait is something even I would hesitate to do.... well, I suppose they are monsters. Could it be that they are truly not even worried about our force? Or are they purely ignorant, and have no clue what is going on right now? Or maybe they're just that confident in whatever plan they have.... to the point where the people aren't even so much as worried."
Caspus wasn't sure, but he decided to wait and see what would happen with Morin's unit.
----
Morin's unit entered the breach, after resolving themselves.
'I don't understand this at all, but I am the Captain of this scouting unit. It is our duty to put our lives on the line in order to relay information back to the Legion Commander, and we will do exactly that!'
He took the front position, and entered the bustling village.
Some of the fishmen didn't even take notice of the group of soldiers who were walking in their midst. Well, technically since they were not wearing armor, one couldn't even tell that they were soldiers in the first place.
Some children seemed to stare at them, confused. A few even pointed and asked 'what is that?' to their parents.
However, not a single person attacked or questioned them.
'It's as if they are used to this sort of thing.... outsiders barging into their village and making their way through.... just what on earth is going on here? If we were going to be ambushed, it would have been long before this. Do they want to try negotiating with us? But, would they not have approached us if they wanted to do so? I don't understand.'
Even an animal would want to protect their home if a foreign being invaded, so why were these fishmen all so complacent, even with outsiders in their midst?
Morin didn't know, but he made a decision.
"Boys."
"Yes, Captain Morin?"
"I'll be frank. I have no idea why we haven't been attacked yet. We've stormed into this village, and yet to the fishmen here it is as if we are nothing more than tourists taking a stroll through the area. Since we've made it this far without being attacked, I think we should try and speak with whoever the leader is. While it doesn't seem like anyone is going to attack us, this will be a risky maneuver, one which will likely result in either our capture or our deaths, so I want everyone aside from my team of 5 to return and report this to the legion commander."
Morin turned to look forward, and in the distance, he saw the great plateau, with the winding stairway leading up to the grand palace.
"The leader is up there for sure. If we are killed before we make it.... then..."
Morin looked at one of his soldiers- the Lieutenant.
"Make sure my wife is taken care of if I don't return."
The lieutenant stared back at Morin with respect and determination, holding back all emotion.
"Yes, Captain."
Most of the men made their way back to the entrance, and disappeared after taking a dive into the tunnel.
Morin and his unit of 5 men were all who were left.
"Forgive me boys, for having you four be the sacrificial pawns here."
"What are you saying, Captain Morin?! You know that every single one of us would take an arrow to the heart if you ordered us to."
Morin was touched at the determination of his men.
"What a great unit I have underneath me..."
The five stepped forward, towards the palace.
----
The inside of the carriage which the antiheroes rode in was actually larger than it appeared to be on the outside, courtesy of Garett's master craftsmen skill. He was able to use a crafting version of Samantha's illusion spell in order to make the space larger on the inside than on the outside- an illusion that deceived the very perception of space.
Ashley was currently relaxing on a beanbag chair that looked like a stomach.
Trevor sat on a chair which looked to be made from the body of a spider, with eight legs holding it up, and a web netting pattern as the back of the seat.
Garett was sitting on something that looked like a woven mesh of arteries, in the shape of a chair. It was even pumping with life, vibrating like a massage chair.
Samantha sat on a cushioned recliner with pure white fabric, while sipping from a soda with a cooler next to her and propping her feet up.
The four were in an ultimate state of relaxation.
Trevor was of course using his perceptive skills to continuously monitor the situation around him, so there was no reason for them to be on alert. As a matter of fact, he no longer had to even be awake in order to be consistently monitoring and gathering data. If he was asleep, and his computerized brain determined that something unexpected had occurred, he would immediately be notified and jolted awake to correct for error.
Thus far, everything was going according to plan by the letter.
Aside from a few... interactions which he couldn't predict from Ashley, things were running smoothly, and even those incidents he was able to correct for.
The fishmen were now subject to slavery.
After offering their assistance, and being rejected, the antiheroes were able to use that against the fishmen to give them one final offer, and out of fear and concern for rejecting it, they had given in- even to something as horrid as the enslavement of an entire people.
The four mercenaries which he had taken an interest in from back when they defeated the jester were now filled with awe in the actions and supremacy of the antiheroes, and from here he would be able to easily mold them into useful pawns.
"I suppose the only thing I would like is to gain more information on who they were before we came into their lives... but each of them holds a use for the Dictatorship."
"Are you talking about the mercenaries?", Samantha asked.
"Indeed. I would prefer not to separate them, as I feel that they will all function better when they are together. We could send them back to work with Oraguth in assisting the resistance and gaining information on the Empire's movements, but we shall see about that. There are other options available which provide more promise. We can allow Lance to establish an alchemy workshop, and perhaps we should try to convince this inventor of his to come over to our side.... of course, we would have to meet him first to determine how to deal with him. Well, that is all for the future."
The three nodded, and Garett spoke up.
"I would like to show him the ropes and introduce him to our workshop in the slime village before then. What about the others? Are there any particular uses you have for them?"
Trevor seemed to be calculating.
"The woman... Melody... she is quite the intriguing person. Her personality is actually quite twisted, despite how she acts on the outside. She is very similar to us. I want her to lead those four, and become a warrior who can fight for us. Perhaps I will send them on some expeditions around the monster realm, or perhaps I could instead have them go back to do some work in the Empire, where they will not be seen as suspicious. I haven't decided yet."
"You sure do think a lot. Do you ever get tired?", Ashley asked with a dull tone.
"Perhaps when I was human, yes. However recently, I feel like I have an unlimited supply of energy."
Samantha smiled when Trevor said this.
"What about the other two?", she asked, curious.
"They can simply become trusted warriors as well, underneath Melody's leadership. I will elevate their status as soon as I confirm that they will never betray us. Speaking of which, I was considering elevating the status of those birdmen, but only if they can cease being idiots and actually start being productive members of society. I don't doubt their loyalty, but I am concerned about their stupidity. I wonder if the Determined has corrected their behavior at this point? I know she had a conversation with them, but I haven't actually witnessed any of their recent work."
Samantha crackled a demonic laugh when Trevor said this.
"Well, lower beings will always be inferior. Don't expect too much from them."
"Sigh.... I know this too well.", Trevor said with a hand to his forehead.
"Ah, speaking of which.... wouldn't it be fun to have that one idiot fishman to play around with?", Ashley murmured.
"Oh, you mean Brot.... yes, I have big plans for him. He may be an idiot, but he is certainly a useful piece to have. I'm considering using him as a sort of... joker so to speak. Can you imagine the chaos of the playing field if I were to strengthen him, and then we were to drop him in on some unsuspecting victims? I can only imagine... heh heh...."
The four antiheroes all laughed viciously as they imagined Brot running wild after being teleported in the middle of a human city.
"Hahahaahaa!! That would be something alright.", Garett crackled, while being vibrated by his seat.
Time passed, and eventually the unit containing the antiheroes and the lizardmen made it to the entrance to the outer fishmen village.
"Ah, it seems we've arrived."
Trevor put on his business face, and propped up his glasses.
"Looks like it's time to put on one more presentation."
----
Morin and his group of 5 reached the stairway without issue.
He was starting to truly believe that there was really no ambush.
'Unless they wanted to get us alone, however would they really not take the opportunity to slay us as a whole group? The fishmen are much stronger than humans, and so even just a few of them would be able to destroy our entire unit.'
He continued walking up their stairs with his group.
'Will they even be willing to speak with us? Perhaps not. We are dressed as mere commoners... though, the dress of the women around this city was something unlike anything I've seen before... dresses and clothing made from shells and coral, or even seaweed as a fabric... it's a whole new world... I shouldn't be thinking about these pointless things like formalities. At the end of the day, the cultures are far too different to even tell what is considered proper, and we are representatives of humanity. If they are willing to speak with us at all, they will not drive us away based on our clothing alone.'
Morin climbed the stairs with his group, and they reached the top, where the palace was.
Not a single guard was stationed at the massive front doors, which were elaborately decorative made from shells and coral. Morin grabbed the handle, and with all his strength was able to pry the door open.
"Is anybody here?", he asked quietly, while peeking his head into the hallways of the palace, however there was nobody.
He and his group entered the hallway, which was lined with a marble material, and their footsteps resounded through the area as they walked.
'We definitely shouldn't be here... but look at this!! This is as extravagant as even the palace of the Emperor himself! No, maybe even more so! How could monsters create something so grand?'
After walking past a number of statues which displayed many different fishmen, presumably leaders of the tribe, they reached the large doors at the end of the hallway.
'This must be some sort of throne room.... the doors are closed, and there are no guards stationed here either.... if we just walk in, will they attack us on sight? Perhaps we should knock?'
Morin bolstered his resolve and stepped forward to knock on the door.
Knock Knock Knock.
After a breathless moment, he heard the voice of an elderly man say "Come in."
Morin looked back and forth at his group, and they nervously opened the large door, and filed in.
They saw an empty throne at the front of the room, with tables on each side, and sitting at them were some fishmen who seemed to be elderly. There were four of them- A narwhal, a whale, a dolphin, and a manatee.
They were all sitting patiently, and looked confused as they watched the five humans file in.
"Humans? What are humans doing here??", the whale stated, confused.
The manatee jumped out of his seat.
"I knew it! Kota must have been defeated, and the humans have already made it this far to the palace!? This is.... this is an emergency!!"
The dolphin held up a fin, calming the manatee down.
"Wait just a moment. If that was true, would they not be attacking us? Look at these men. They are barely armed, and they don't seem to be prepared for a fight. Why are you all here? What have you come for?"
Morin was stunned at how clueless to the situation these elders seemed to be, but he was even more clueless.
Why was the throne empty?
Why were there no guards anywhere to be found around the city?
Most importantly, why did the only people who seemed to be in charge have no idea what was going on?
"The fishmen unit which was stationed outside has been eliminated. I have come here to negotiate your surrender. We have your village surrounded with a unit of 10,000 men."
Morin understood well that he was going out of line by making such a statement, and that the Legion Commander had not ordered such an action, however he felt that this was a chance.
He felt that after seeing this grand palace, and the children running about throughout the city, that perhaps they would be able to order a surrender, and take over the remaining fishmen peacefully. This was all under the assumption that there truly were no guards remaining, however he had not seen any nor been ambushed, so this was a reasonable assumption.
'I don't know whether the Legion Commander will accept such a surrender, but I will try to convince him.... if my head rolls for going off the script like this, then I can at least say I died trying to do what was right....'
His subordinates standing by him were all surprised at the boldness of his statements, and they seemed to be conflicted as to whether they should say something, yet they remained silent.
This was their captain's decision, and they wanted to respect it and allow him to follow through with it.
The elder manatee slammed his fist on the table.
"Did you hear that! They've been eliminated! It was just as I thought! Kota was no hero, nor was he a sword and shield for this village! He was just a hotheaded idiot who wanted to gain glory for his own name!!"
"Don't speak blasphemy against the chief when you haven't even confirmed whether this information is true or not!!", the dolphin shouted back.
"If the chief is still alive, your head will be the first to roll.", the whale stated, speaking to the manatee.
"I don't care, because there's no way he is alive after the stunt he pulled! You all witnessed it for yourselves!! He angered not one, but two groups who held great power. Do you all not remember what the Determined said to him when she left this village?"
"What did she say?", the narwhal asked. He had not been present at that party, as he was busy cleaning up the aftermath of the tournament.
"She said that he would regret his words, and that it was determined that he would suffer a humiliating fate worse than death!! Her words have come true!!"
The group went silent at this.
At first, they had believed that Kota would be able to figure something out, but now things were not so certain.
The manatee turned to the group of humans.
"We will surrender."
"What are you saying? Of course we won't surrender! How can we trust these humans!?", the dolphin shouted.
"Do you have a better idea? We are going to surrender, lest the entire village gets wiped out."
The dolphin shut up, and the manatee took the flow of the conversation.
"If you all spare the remaining people, we will perform a full surrender."
'We have likely already angered the Determined and the Antiheroes... there is likely no going back... our only hope now is to gain the favor of the humans, and hope that the heroes take mercy on us and defeat the antiheroes as well before they take their revenge on us...'
Morin was relieved at this.
He didn't know how the Legion Commander would take this news.
To be honest, he was certain that he would be praised for this... but there was something edging at the back of his mind.
'Well, I will hopefully be able to figure it out.'
"Thank you, elder. I will take this message to our commander immediately, and hopefully I will see you again soon, on peaceful terms."
Morin bowed and the five left the throne room.
The manatee breathed a sigh of relief as they left as well.
'I hope this was the right decision...'