"Master! Enemy attack! We are under attack!"
Apollo jumps off his bed and changes his clothes, while trying to understand the situation.
"Enemy attack? What do you mean? Who is attacking us??"
"The enemy is marked as unknown. It just appeared in the border of the map and is approaching our base at an incredible speed!"
"Call our troops back to base! Make a defensive line and prepare to intercept! Put the rangers in the back as support! Don't let the enemy continue to advance!"
"Yes, sir!"
As Apollo finished putting on his shoes, he hurried out of his room, heading directly to the HQ. On the way, Rose appeared by his side, bringing a tray with a single glass of milk and a sandwich divided in two.
"Master, your breakfast!"
"Rose, this is not the time for it! We are under attack!"
"Master! Nothing is more important than your health! Not even enemy attacks!"
Feeling a bit annoyed with her answer, Apollo strikes back in a sarcastic way.
"If that's what you think, take down the enemy right now so that I can eat breakfast in peace!"
"As you wish!"
"Wait, Rose! I-"
Not waiting for him to say anything else, Rose disappeared from his sight.
"- was...God damn it! Cindy! Cancel the last orders! Send the soldiers out to help Rose right away!"
"Yes, sir!"
5 minutes later, Apollo was still on his way to the HQ but the battle had already started near the big hole.
Sheen! Sheen! Sheen! Sheen!
The sound of sword strikes echoed through the forest as the two shadows danced between the trees.
"Hohohoho! You are quite good for a little girl! There are not many who can parry my strikes!"
"Hmph! Go down faster so that my Master can have his breakfast in peace!"
"Hohohoho! I'm afraid I can't do that! Until my mission is accomplished, I promised my own master I wouldn't rest for a second!"
"There is no need to rest! Just die!"
Rose took out three hidden knifes from below he skirt and threw them at once, sealing her opponent's escape route, then, without letting this change go, she charged at him, aiming at his neck.
"That's dangerous, little lady! A little lady like you shouldn't play with knifes!"
Skillfully dodging the thrown knifes while still midair, the man used his cane to parry the knife approaching his head, then, with a simple swing of his cane, he disarmed Rose's arm and stroke with his cane again, aiming at her head.
Rose strongly stepped to the side, changing the direction of her charge just enough so that the cane barely missed her head, then, swinging her whole body like a typhon she tried to kick his back with all the power she had but her attempts were easily nullified as the man used his own knee to parry her kick, right near her thigh, and grabbing her arms with his own.
The move was definitively effective, but it ended with both in an embarrassing pose, as if the man was holding the girl as they danced tango.
"You pervert!"
"Wai-!!!!!"
Switching the weight in her legs, Rose reacted with a full powered kick right between the man's legs! All strength of the man left his body, making him fall right on top of her, unable to say a single word.
"Get off me, you pervert!!! Get off me!!!"
"..."
As Rose pushed the heavy body of the man away from her, Daisy arrived with the other soldiers as reinforcements, but as they saw the scene in front of them, instead of helping out, they stared at it curiously until Daisy made a question.
"Hey Rose, are you having an affair??"
"THAT'S NOT IT!!!"
...
About an hour later, in a dark cave a bit away from Apollo's base, the man wearing butler clothes woke up while tied to a chair.
"Master, the pervert woke up!"
Who are you calling a pervert!? Is what passed through the butler's mind but instead of voicing it out, the man simply looked around to make sense of the situation.
The only lights illuminating the room came from two torches fixed on both sides in the opposite end of the cave, near where the only entrance was located. Around him there were a dozen figures who he was unable to identify because of the direction the illumination has coming from. Some had axes in their hands, others had lances and bows.
The situation didn't look really nice to him. If they decided to finish him now, there was absolutely nothing he could do. To make things worse, he had explicit orders to not deal any lasting damage to the other party as they wished for their cooperation, not to start another war. But at least, by the sound of their words, he should be able to meet their Master first which should give him a chance to complete his mission and maybe even escaping with his life.
Soon the sound of steps echoed through the cave, getting louder and louder as a full grown man appeared from the cave's entrance.
"I heard from Rose that you wanted to talk to me. Sorry but the system deems you as an enemy so I can't let you walk around as you please, but if talk is the only thing you wish, I will lend you an ear."
The butler compared the size of the "Master" with the other figures around him, them being almost two heads smaller than him, which led him to a simple conclusion...
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Pedobear Master! I come here to fulfill my own master's orders and propose an alliance between our two camps."
Holding back all objections he had for such a title, Apollo thought it would be more productive to get to the point instead of getting into a fight, so he took a deep breath and, with a strained voice, he asked his question.
"...And why should I do that?"
Honestly speaking, in normal circumstances Apollo would be more than happy to make an alliance with anyone else, but, when the first thing he hears from the other party is an insult, even a saint is forced to question the other's intention.
"Right now the other Masters have already started to move, gathering strength. One of them, the Master of Red Onis, has already conquered two other bases and is aiming at our base next! After conquering us, he will surely strike your base next! That's why we should join forces now and fight him together!"
(Why the hell does that guy gets a cool name and I'm named a Pedobear!?)
This made sense, but Apollo simply didn't have the patience to be reasonable to somebody who had just insulted him right on his face.
"I don't care! I will take care of it once it comes to happen!"
"By then he will have more than twice your forces! There is no way you will be able to resist!"
"Where there is a will, there is a way! Don't worry about my future problems, worry about yours!"
"That's what I'm worried about! Without help, our Master stand no chance against them!"
"Sucks to be you. Good luck with that!"
"Please! You have to help us out!"
"What do I have to gain from helping you out?"
"Our Master is not a loli but she is pretty cute! If you do well, she can even give you a hand shake!"
"Not interested!"
"Then what do you want? How about this? We will give information with you! We can provide you a complete map of our island!"
(So we are on an island?? Good to know...)
"If I send a few girls out, I will have it completed right away!"
"What about resources? We can give you part of the resources we gain!"
"That's obvious you will do! That's not an advantage, it's just payment for my services!"
"Then what do you want?"
"For starters I want a Moonlight Flower and a Seven Colored Grass, they need to be delivered right away! I also want to receive all Cat Eye Gems and Mandragoras we get from the loot before dividing it! As for the Crystal Cores from the conquered base, I want 70%!"
"50%!!!"
"70%! Take it or leave it! Your choice!"
"Guh...I don't have the power to decide! I need to consult my Master!"
"All right. But when you come back, you better have the Moonlight Flower and the Seven Colored Grass in hands or we will not accept the deal!"
"As you wish, Pedobear Master! I shall have shall have it in hands once I come back! But please start preparing now as we don't have much time!"
Hearing this name again, Apollo almost punched the guy in the face, but at the last second he held back his anger and just tapped his shoulder.
"You don't have much time, I still have more than enough! Or at least, more than you!"
(I swear I will punch this guy once this battle is over! I will teach him some respect or my name is not Pe-Fuck! Apollo! I meant Apollo, God damn it!!!!)