Chapter Thirty-Seven
FUTILE RESISTANCE
BVHM
"What do you mean the guards can't stop them?!"
One of the leading officers was disappointed at the turn of events in the capital. Four different people were going on a rampage at the same time, and none of the leading military officers even doubted that this was planned.
They issued dozens of guards to put down each and every single one of the threats, but, in the end, not a single one of them was captured, much less killed.
They were down in the organizational chamber again, where nearly every major turn in history was planned out and executed. The familiar scene of a large chamber with an ovular table in the middle of it all spread out through all of their eyes, relaxing their sense of discomfort from the ongoing predicament.
"No, we should've been smart enough to realize that the guards won't be enough to put an end to this. If they were ballsy enough to terrorize the city with only themselves, they'd clearly have something up their sleeve."
The one who said that was a leading officer on the verge of being promoted to a general. Ever since Artius, the man among men, died, his position had been open for a long time. However, the arch-general, who decided who would get to be a general, saw that nobody was fit to take his position, so there had been an empty seat at every meeting for a while now.
Now, Physicor was the best candidate to take up the deceased general's roles.
"Sending out some foot soldiers isn't gonna work unless it's thousands of them, which we can't afford to deploy. I say that we organize a formation in which a powerful person is backed up by a dozen or so soldiers, this'll most likely succeed."
Physicor didn't even consider the fact that there were generals, who were in a higher position than him, in the room, and continued to speak as if he was the leader of this discussion.
"That's right, if we send out people like Cerb-"
"He's not available today, he's off doing personal missions for the emperor. We'll have to make due. Who here can fight?"
The tension was sensible. They were all powerful, as each and every one of them had a granted ability, but when Physicor said powerful, he meant in correlation to the current group. Although the officers were powerful, the only people who had the right to say that they were strong, in this room, were the most influential officers, and, of course, the generals.
The arch-general was absent for this meeting, just like he was for most. He only showed himself in truly necessary scenarios, such as that of the Royal Invasion. If it wasn't a threat to the royal lineage, the royal palace, or something that could destroy the city, he wouldn't be here.
He was most likely out fighting the war against the Rajulian kingdom, which seemed to be coming to a wrap.
"From what we've seen, there are four threats, right?"
One of the big shots finally spoke up. The one who spoke up was a somewhat overweight general that fed himself like a pig and treated himself how he liked. He was well known throughout, not just the empire, but all the human domains, for being a coward with power.
"If that's the case, then we need four people. We've got three generals, and since you sound like a pompous ass, you can go ahead and get out there too, officer."
Emphasizing the final word, the overweight man wearing what might as well be black bath robes let out a hearty laugh full of vigor.
The way he said what he thought might be inexcusable, but the message behind them rang true. In reality, Physicor was the most likely fourth contestant up.
"Fine, I'll be heading out too. Any problem with that, general Ignavum?"
"Nope, none!"
As the people who would be heading out were decided, Physicor almost slumped in his seat, but quickly remembered that he wasn't the one with the most privileges here. He briskly straightened his back and remained silent.
He certainly held much more influence in his hands than all the other officers, but since people who were his seniors were in the room, he could only say so much of what he wanted without coming off as disrespectful. If he spoke anymore, he'd be blatantly rude at that point.
"Well, I suppose that we should head out."
With that, the three generals abruptly stood up from their seats without warning and proceeded to walk out from the same location that they entered. The chamber was brightly lit, and due to that, the crystal doors shone in a way that showed their elegant brilliance.
"We didn't even decide what troops would be assigned to them . . ."
One of the officers was clearly exasperated with the attitudes of the three generals that were present, but it was too late now. Since he was also called to battle, Physicor was next in line to stand up and walk out.
"Hey, Physicor. I wouldn't suggest being a hard-ass like the generals. If you'd like, prostrate yourself in front of me and I'll give you some of my elite troops."
The one who called out to him was an officer among officers, a senior, in age, to even the generals. He'd been here much longer than any of them, so much so that he was even able to witness the previous emperor's reign.
"No need for that, Mr. William."
Back then, abilities weren't required to enter the military, so his existence was a tribute to a past that wasn't as radical as the current time. He was the only one that was in such a high position that had no abilities of any sort.
Instead, he made up for all of this with cunnings and skill. While the military certainly had many numbers and troops, it was well known that the actual best troops belonged to William. The numbers he had were only around a hundred, but each and every single one of his soldiers could somewhat measure up to an officer, even if they couldn't truly beat them.
"I'm getting along in my years you know, so do an old man a favor and take his troops. Here, I won't even ask that you prostrate yourself, just ask me persistently and I'll allow it."
Physicor didn't take the offer, and without any more words, made his way out of the room. The only thing that was heard after the two's exchange was a disapproving sound from the one who was still in the room.
"Well, I say we get out of here."
William stood up and strolled out, and after him, the last officers followed suit and left the chamber. The last one made sure to close the door behind him before leaving, which he did, and the meeting was completed.
'It's been a while since things have gotten spicy, but this year is exciting. Reminds me of more primal times.'
William let a slight chuckle escape his lips.
--- SEQUENCE 2 ---
"Welcome back, Ira. I suppose you know what happens next?"
". . . Do I have to do this?"
Ira was most likely the most shy person in the whole group, but her shyness didn't stop her ability from growing. In fact, she had raised her granted ability to the fifth level, and could be considered the most powerful out of the whole group, even Veritas, under certain conditions.
"So, are we moving again?"
"Yeah, we are."
Of course, it wasn't even something that they got to decide on. The choices were either that they moved, or they continued to live in the rubble of the city.
'Alright, time to turn this thing on. You'll all forget about me for ten minutes, but you will also remember me shortly after thanks to my granted ability. For now, just tell each other to keep terrorizing the city.'
Veritas' awakened ability wasn't always on. He could have it on permanently, but it was instead like a switch. He could turn it on and off when he desired so, and nobody else got a say in his decision. Due to their contracts with him, even with his awakened ability on, around ten minutes after he activates it, they'll remember him, and the mental link will be restored.
"Alright, we're ready."
"Negata, continue to terrorize the city."
Incidamus and Negata decided to team up, so they told each other to continue to terrorize the city. As for the other two, Veritas could only hope that they'd at least continue to be distractions.
"Huh? Why . . . huh?"
Ira quickly forgot everything, but this was to be expected. Veritas' face was as tense as always, especially in situations like these.
'I've already done this plenty of times, but I can never get used to it.'
The thing about this castle was that it was a dungeon, something that his five contractors had realized when they first stumbled upon it. What they didn't realize, however, was its secondary effect. It was a relatively short dungeon, but thanks to that, he was able to give it another ability.
This ability, that Veritas had created using the assistance of another, allowed the castle to . . .
"Soar."