In a dark alleyway, 61 people dressed in cloaks and hoods that covered their faces appeared out of nowhere.
There were no people walking through this alleyway, and so not a single person took note of the suspicious appearance of these people.
Among the group, one of them was wearing a mask, gloves, a scarf, and cloth all over his body so as to not allow a single piece of skin show off.
Many of these men looked around in confusion, muttering sighs and gasps.
"Where are we?"
"How on earth...."
"Is this...."
The person wearing the mask stood on top of a crate and gathered the attention of the people.
"That's right. This is the Capital of the Empire, Turak."
"My goodness...."
"We actually teleported here....."
"Don't be so surprised. I told you already, didn't I? My masters can do ANYTHING.", Oraguth said with a smug grin underneath the mask.
One man seemed to be looking around frantically.
"Your.... your name is Oraguth, right?"
"That it is.", Oraguth replied.
The man was a new recruit, but he seemed to be fiddling his thumbs while looking around nervously.
"Oraguth.", he whispered, while making his way through the crowd of people. "Are you absolutely sure this plan will succeed, and we will be able to take down Senator Brutus?"
There was a quivering in his voice, as if his very being was shaken.
Oraguth could sense a great anger in the man- not aimed at him, but aimed elsewhere. He was one of the new recruits, but he was speaking to Oraguth like this, completely disregarding that he was a monster, and that he was being led by even more powerful monsters.
Oraguth could sense that this man, while fearful, was overcome by a burning hatred. One that was so great in which he had decided to even sell his soul, and work with monsters to achieve his goal.
'Ah, right.... I recall the background check on this one.... if I remember correctly.... he's one of those....', Oraguth thought. 'They're the easiest to work with. Just as my master said, I need to appeal to them, and I've been given the perfect opportunity to do so.'
"My masters have given their word to Troy, the leader of this resistance, that there is no way we will allow you to fail so long as you follow our orders.", Oraguth stated proudly. "Without a doubt, if you are patient and stick by my side, I will not allow Brutus to run loose and do as he pleases. And Troy will make sure to lead us towards that end."
"That is all I need.", the man said while looking downward, almost whispering.
"Aren't you all the same?!?"
The man suddenly shouted out, turning to the other recruits.
"Did you all come here to complain about working with this monster, to run away because there is an evil lurking here which might pose risk to us, or did you come here for a greater reason? I'll tell you all why I am here. My daughter, along with many girls in the village I am from, have been taken away by Senator Brutus! They were ripped from our families, likely turned into slaves!! I am here today with this resistance because I need to take back my daughter, who has likely been defiled at his own whims!! If the Emperor were to hear of this crime, then Brutus would be sentenced to death!!"
Tears were forming at the mans eyes and he found trouble speaking toward the end, but he continued on.
"I'm not here to ask questions about who I'm working with! The fact of the matter is, the actions of Brutus are despicable!! He must be taken down at any cost!! Therefore, Oraguth, I will work for you! I will obey your masters commands, and I will devote my life to you if needed! I don't care if you're a monster! I don't care if you're evil!! Because I know one thing for sure!! Brutus IS evil!!!!! And if it takes fire to fight fire, then so be it!!!"
Turning to Oraguth, the man pleaded desperately.
"All I ask, Oraguth.... is that you save my daughter from that fiend. Do whatever you want with me afterwards. I don't care. Just don't let him get away with this!!!"
A couple of other men also seemed to be crying upon hearing the speech of this man.
"My daughter as well was taken by Brutus.... they invaded our home and claimed that we owed them a debt.... but we didn't take out any loan in the first place!! They collected her and left, using force to justify their actions!!! And we couldn't do anything to stop them!!! I'm here to get her back!!! No matter what it takes!!"
"And mine as well.... they said that it was a tax!! Can you believe that!? They took our daughter from us, acting like we owed them our very lives just for living where we did!! Please, Oraguth!! Help us to take down this man!!"
At hearing this, many of the other men who were previously suspicious of Oraguth and his masters, were also lit with passion.
They were reminded again of the very reason they had wanted to join the resistance in the first place.
"That man took 90% of the harvest in our village, claiming it was a tax!! The adults in the village have been starving just so that the children can have a single meal a day!!", one man shouted.
"And from our family he took over our home, saying that we owed it to the government!! We were forced to live on the streets!! I have two sons, a daughter, and a wife!! We were made to beg from place to place, and right now they are likely off in some dark alley trying to get by!! I told them that I would fix things! And that's why I'm here!!"
All the men, who before seemed to be terrified at the prospect of working with monsters, were now ready to completely ignore the methods they took to redeem what was rightfully theirs, which had been stolen from them.
"Oraguth!! We'll follow you!!"
"So long as you can assure us that the Senator will be punished, we will do anything for you!!"
At this, Oraguth pointed his finger to the skies.
"Do you all see that?"
The men all looked up.
The sun was not in sight, as dark clouds were covering the sky.
"That is the very same sky which I see each night. Look at me. I may be a monster, but I understand what it is to watch and have things ripped from you- and to be forced to stand by and watch, unable to do anything about it."
There was a depth to the words of the monster before the people, as if he truly meant them with all his being.
"But it is my masters who saved me and my people from such a horrible fate. It is my masters, who restored order. I tell you, if you come under our flag, then there will be nothing which you cannot take back!! There will be nothing which you cannot achieve!! Look at that sky!! DO YOU SEE IT!?!"
The men, looking up, with sobbing voices all shouted out "Yes! We do!"
"A day will come when every single person who sees that sky will be under the rule of my masters. But that is not something to fear!! It is something to embrace!! Before, we goblins who were living underground did not see that sky, but my masters grabbed us by the throats and brought us to the surface!! Once we were under their control- we could see that sky clearly!"
Oraguth looked at the sky with a great nostalgia, and happiness in his smile.
"And what a beautiful sky it is."
At this moment, a loud bang of thunder roared out.
"I tell you this. That sky is the property of my masters. To those who want to resist, go ahead! Leave this place!! But so long as you can see that sky, you will never be safe!! Every place under the sky will be our domain, and unless you dig yourself into a hole, and never peep your head out, you will become theirs as well- for everything under that sky will be their property! But this is not something to be afraid of, I tell you!!. This is something to rejoice about!! For you all have been chosen! The fact that my masters have not yet killed you is proof that they consider you worth keeping alive!! And I can assure you, that so long as you remain under that sky, that you will never fear it being taken from you."
Oraguth looked around to the men, and began pointing.
"To you three!! In the name of my masters, I assure you!! We will take back your skies as well!! If your daughters are your skies, then we will retrieve them, so they too can live under the sky!! If your homes, your villages, your property, your lives are taken from you, we will return them!! For those things all exist under this sky, and so they are ours to take!!! But they are also ours to give back!!! Brutus may have taken your skies from you, and he may have obscured that sky from your view, but even if we take away the sky from you.... we will be sure that you will always be able to see it."
A bolt of lightning struck as the area darkened, and Oraguth alone was illuminated for a brief moment, his monstrous shadow flashing behind him.
It started to rain, and the men pulled their cloaks to secure them on their heads, as they shouted out in glee.
"Lets take back our skies!!!"
"We will offer this sky to you, Oraguth!! So that we can take back our own skies!!"
A roar of cheers could be heard from the dark alleyway, though at this point it was raining, so nobody was around to hear.
Troy, who stood next to Oraguth, helped him down and smiled at him.
"You certainly are a great leader, Oraguth. Far greater than myself.", Troy admitted. "Are you sure that I should be the one leading this resistance?"
"What are you talking about, Troy? My masters told me that you are to stay as the leader. After all, what would become of this resistance if it were known that a monster was controlling it?"
"I suppose you're right."
"Now then. Let's go. Onward to the palace."
----
The group split up into many small groups, and they all took their own routes, making their way to the palace.
It was starting to rain, so they didn't look suspicious at all.
Nobody would suspect anything from someone wearing a cloak in the middle of a storm. Especially so because the people were walking through the town in smaller groups.
After a short journey through the maze of alleyways, each and every group eventually met up in a market square in front of the palace, though many merchants had already packed up their stalls and left the area at this point.
'Did my master know that it would rain at this time, in this city? No wonder he told me to speed up the mission. It's allowed for a much easier reception.', Oraguth thought.
In front of this market square was a massive stairway made from marble.
This massive stairway led up to the Emperor's palace, which was lined with columns- and underneath the awning on top of this enormous stairway was a small army of soldiers.
A row of about 50x10 soldiers stood in the awning of the palace, preventing entry by anyone other than the guests accepted and invited by the Emperor and his aides.
'So this is the reason why it was impossible for anyone to get into contact with the Emperor. It's very likely that this Senator carefully screens the people who are allowed to meet with him, making sure that no information about his own activities ever slip through.'
It was quite the deceptive system.
Was it that the Emperor sincerely trusted Brutus, or was it that he simply was too busy to deal with such screening himself? Probably a combination of both. Oraguth knew that he would never allow riff raff to speak with his masters so easily. They would first have to have a good reason, and it would have to be an issue of importance which only his masters could make the decision on. If the issue was trivial, it would never reach his masters.
Of course, his masters were aware of everything that went on in the dictatorship, so even if Oraguth ever made a judgement error as to what was deemed important they would arrive themselves to take care of the issue quickly.
The rain began pouring hard, but the cloaked men ignored it. At this point, they were the only ones in the town walking about.
"Alright. I'm going to take care of the soldiers. I'll be going ahead of you all.", Oraguth said, while motioning for them to wait where they were.
"Be careful, Oraguth."
"Oraguth, are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Haha.... asking a monster if he'll be alright? Have you all gone nuts? Even if I die, wouldn't it be better for humanity??"
"What are you saying, Oraguth!!", Troy shouted. "Without you and your masters, we would never have made it this far."
Many of the men nodded in agreement with Troy.
"I'm glad you all seem to feel that way.", Oraguth responded, before walking off. "But don't worry. My masters would never give me a mission which they didn't think I could complete."
And so, he made his way up the stairs.
Of course, the guards noticed a single cloaked figure making their way up the stairs.
After Oraguth made it up the grand flight, one man stood up front. He wore a helmet with a dark purple mane.
'A Colonel, eh? The leader of 1000 men, and half of his unit is present. Interesting...'
"Who goes there?! If you're here for a scheduled audience with his grace, the young Emperor, Percius V, then please present your documentation with the Senatorial Seal of approval-"
Pulling back his hood and removing his mask, the face of Oraguth was revealed to all the soldiers who stood in his way.
"Sorry but I don't have anything like that. This appointment is.... unscheduled."
The Colonel's face twinged with disgust on seeing the face and features of the goblin in front of him.
"It's.... it's a monster!!! A monster has made it's way into the Capital!!! How could this....no, doesn't matter.... MEN!!!"
The Colonel made a thrusting motion with his arm.
"Kill that thing!!!"
Many of the men around him too were overcome by looks of horror and disgust.
"A monster...."
"It's come right into the capital!!! Kill it!!!"
"No, we should capture it and torture it for information!!"
"You're right!!!"
The men rushed forward with sinister glares, as if Oraguth was a gem which had appeared in front of them- free for the taking.
"I'll be the one to defeat it!!", one man shouted as he ran down the stairs.
"No, I will!! Move out of the way!!!"
Oraguth, meanwhile, as the men were trying to organize themselves and rush to attack him, lifted up both arms, and closed his eyes, smirking.
"I didn't ever want to use this because I considered it a cursed skill which my father used to torment others. I never wanted to become like him.... but now I see that her excellency has taken up a similar skill, which has redeemed this for me. I am not doing this to be like my father, but rather to be like her excellency."
A large amount of magic gathered at the palms of Oraguth, and time seemed to freeze for a second.
[Mass Panic]
Energy seemed to fly out in beams, landing on the heads of each and every one of the 500 soldiers spread across the awning.
It was at this moment, that each and every man fell to the ground, holding their heads in agony.
Some who were rushing down the stairs fell down, tumbling to the bottom as if they went unconscious, their bodies flopping down the stairway.
Oraguth dodged a couple of these men, jumping over the rolling bodies and sliding left and right, and the final one he placed his foot on the man to stop him from rolling further.
The rest, who were still at the top, had fallen to their knees, screaming in horror.
"Agh!!!!"
"Stop this!!!"
"Don't do it!!!"
"I won't ever hurt you again!! Just stop this!!!"
"Please, don't leave me!!!"
"Why would you betray me like this!!!"
The agony was endless, and Oraguth merely watched the people all struggle as they fell to the ground holding their heads in terror.
"Agh!!!!!!!"
After just a few moments, many of the men were overcome by the terror, and fell unconscious.
One by one, the screaming became quieter until there were only a few left.
One person remaining was the Colonel.
He seemed to be less effected by the skill, though he seemed to be fighting someone in his mind. He was flailing his arms, which were balled up into fists, as if he was in a swordfight.
"I'll kill you.... I'll kill you...."
"And who exactly are you going to kill? Haha... I suppose I can see why my father enjoyed using this skill. It IS enjoyable to see people in despair.", Oraguth said as he chopped the man to the back of the neck, making him fall unconscious on the spot. Oraguth then did the same for the few other men who remained.
Waving to the people waiting at the bottom of the stairs, Oraguth indicated that it was good to go.
The 60 hooded men rushed up the stairway, and once more Oraguth replaced his cloak and mask, and covered his own skin.
The rain continued it's downpour, and Troy stood at the front, looking around at all the unconscious men.
"You really did it, Oraguth... you really defeated 500 men... and without even killing any of them."
"Their minds will be too scrambled to remember me after this. Let's get moving while we can.", Oraguth stated.
Blood ran down the stairs from the men who had slid down hitting their heads on the way. Having been washed down by the rain, the marble stairs sparkled with a cleanliness as if they were never dirtied.
None of these men had died, but some were badly injured- though the men of the resistance merely walked past them, muttering.
'That's what you get for supporting that Senator....'
'We'll take back our sky...'
Looking up once more at the Sky and listening to the pattering of the rain, Oraguth simply chuckled to himself.
"How peaceful it is. The sky is indeed most beautiful when it is tainted with darkness."