Chapter 378 Assemble
"Leave Us, and see to your tasks, Kis’Shtiengbrah. We expect much from you, Childe!" the king said.
Dave gave a shallow bow toward the monarch. Respect was due to the Undead King as his might proved the shield of the Legion. He was the symbol of power of a very deadly very powerful force. One had to give them their respect.
Dave tore a teleportation scroll to Urburg. He arrived right next to the teleportation gate stationed in the town center.
Looking around, the city no longer had the tension of the war that it just ensued. The buildings that suffered from the Qin army’s assault were currently being repaired by busy undead.
Dave turned and walked toward the Last Man’s Drink Pub.
When he entered, Dave noticed the pub completely empty of all presences but two. Nick, the Undeath God was busily cleaning glasses, while a man that looked a light breeze away from death lay on the floor groaning. The man was the same person that came to Urburg a few hours ago to inform Dave of the capture of Xix and his family.
Dave ignored the groaning man and went toward the bar. He sat on a long bench that was placed against the bar and tapped twice on the bar top.
Nick smiled at Dave and brought out a black bottle of an unknown liquor, he poured two glasses and slid one toward the draugr.
Dave grabbed the glass and downed it in one go, Nick mirrored Dave’s movement. The two looked at each other for a while until Nick spoke first.
"Attacking the Qin borders, are we?"
"Yeah. Can’t be too passive in this, otherwise I’ll lose Urburg. We don’t want that do we?" Dave said.
"Yeah, I’ll have bad night sleeps if my pub goes under. You know, no parties or concerts might get me a bit cranky, I don’t like being cranky."
Dave scoffed at Nick’s comment and said, "It’s gonna be ugly."
"War is always ugly."
"I’m gonna be using a lot of resources, I don’t even think I might win," Dave added.
Nick poured another glass for Dave and waited for him to drink it and continue speaking.
"I can’t afford to lose this fight," Dave said. he took a deep breath and added, "And I need to prove my point to the Qin Kingdom."
"Your point being?" Nick asked.
"Don’t fuck with me," Dave said with his usual draugr grin.
"Yeah, we wouldn’t want that. What are you gonna do about that though?" Nick’s brow rose as he looked over Dave’s shoulder at the man on the ground.
Dave didn’t even turn as he waved a hand, summoning an Infernal Spectral Skull, Dave moved the Spectral Skull close to the man, he squirmed trying to move away but he was too battered to even try and budge without feeling a world of pain.
Nick tapped a finger on the bar dispersing Dave’s Skill into nothingness.
Dave frowned at the Undeath God, then waited for him to explain why he couldn’t kill a traitor.
"You could do much better than this you know, fear. Fear is what moves the living if you wish to have no one betraying you, or at least thinking very, very hard before doing so. You need to first make a point." Nick said, a smile crossing his lips. He then clapped his hands and two Death Knights Dave had never seen before appeared right next to him.
"Take him, and make a clear point to the residents of Urburg. Make them see that while we might protect them from harm, we are still the undead!" Nick said, his voice several tones tougher and more threatening than his usual carefree demeanor.
The Death Knights hauled the man off the floor. He only gurgled, seeming unable to beg for mercy. As it turned out, the man had actually tried to speak but only guttural sounds emerged from his throat. Dave noticed that something important to deliver a proper speech was missing from the man’s mouth. Nick had probably been annoyed by the man’s incessant screaming and decided he no longer needed a tongue.
"You’re probably right. Make sure that the people understand what awaits traitors," Dave told the Death Knights.
"Yes sir, we’ll ensure the point is made," replied one of the Death Knights
"Right, off to war then. Nick, take good care of Urburg." Dave said.
"I told you before, I cannot interfere with mortals," Nick replied.
"Right, but if anything comes up, I think you have the means to contact me?" Dave asked.
"Something coming up? Like what for example?" Nick smiled.
"Like someone assaulting Urburg while I go wreck some cities from the Qin Kingdom."
"I might have something like that then," Nick said and added "Godspeed, kid."
Dave nodded at Nick who poured him his third glass.
Drinks or food, tasted the same as they did in the real world, it was only brainwaves and with the advanced technology mimicking such waves was nothing too difficult. Even the light buzz after drinking three cups of alcohol that Dave had no idea what it was made of was genuine.
"Time to call in the cavalry," Dave said with a smile and stood up from his stool. He walked out of the pub to a fest of sorts. There was a large bonfire set in the middle of the city. Dave had just walked into the bar not minutes ago and the undead had already set up a pyre to burn the traitor alive for all of Urburg to witness.
"Bruh, that’s just wrong," Flanker said. He was waiting just outside of the pub with Perfect Shot and Fortress.
"Can’t blame them man. Think about it, if he had succeeded and baited every defender out of the city, how many lives would have been lost? I think it’s a lesson many will learn tonight. You don’t cross the Legion and come out unscathed," Fortress replied grimly.
"Yeah, still man. Burning someone alive is kinda too hard-core." Flanker shrugged.
"Dave, what’s the situation?" Perfect asked Dave in a calm tone. Like the live show was nothing but noise in the background.
"We’re hitting the Qin cities. We’re gonna make them bleed," Dave said.
"That’s gonna be the same as wounding the beast, you only get it pissed off."
"With enough bleeding wounds, even the mightiest beasts will die," Dave said.
"Guerilla warfare?" Fortress pitched in.
"Yeah, break them piece by piece, we march as soon as possible," Dave said.
"That’s gonna be lit. Still, a hundred thousand players couldn’t make it, what makes you so sure you can?" Perfect said.
"Think about it, those were a hundred thousand players, all of them were working for their own objectives. Not a single Guild was willing to give another the edge, they had conflicts even if they didn’t show it. They were many but unorganized, it was only natural that the Qin Army would rip them to shreds. My undead follow orders to the letter, they don’t quibble, don’t fight among each other, and are so damn synergized that it’s a nightmare to anyone facing them."
"What about the Elite Forces? If a thousand of them show up at once, they’ll tear us to shreds." Perfect said. His cowardly nature made him always think of the worst-case scenarios and that wasn’t bad all the time, until they really did happen.
"Like I said, Guerilla warfare. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If we end up facing the Elites, disperse and regroup, then assault another target. Keep the heat on the Qin Kingdom, make them break, and message delivered."
"Right, sounds like a really bad/good plan, I’m in," Fortress said.
"Same here," Flanker added.
"Ditto," Perfect shrugged.
"Let’s call the rest of the party," Dave said.
A few calls later, everyone from Tess, Blaster, Mercy, Lone and even Demeri was there. Dave was feeling awkward around Demeri, AKA Vanessa but it seems that a bit of time apart had cooled her down. She didn’t look perfectly over the fact that Dave had hooked up with another person, but she wasn’t crying, which was a plus.
However, Dave couldn’t be too occupied with the presence of Demeri, because there were two unexpected persons that had joined the group.
A man wearing a brown robe that covered most of his body except for his elderly and very familiar face. and another middle aged man that was next to him, this one was wearing the classic cowboy getup, all the way from the boots with the spurs to a leather cowboy hat on his head.
"Howdy!" said the man in the cowboy getup.
Dave’s brows rose slightly and nodded, "Dante, Sam... Welcome," Dave’s gaze landed on Lone who was trying to avoid his gaze.
After a minute of uncomfortable staring, Lone cracked and said, "He threatened to ground me if I don’t take him along," she said pointing at her father.
Dave shook his head and said, "Dante, we’re going to some fairly dangerous place you know," Dave said.
"Yeah, I know, Zoe told me all about it, but I didn’t want to lose out on the free EXP."
"What level are you?" Dave asked.
"120,"
"Wow, that’s fast, I mean that’s really fast!" Dave said surprise in his voice.
"Yeah, Zoe said that it was faster than you when you were leveling up," Dante said with a grin.
"Ah stop it, Davey, he literally bought his EXP. He hired lots of players and tagged along shooting anything in his way, his Legacy is damn broken," Lone said.
Dave laughed and turned to Samuel, "What Class?" Dave asked.
"Merchant, not much of a fighter," Samuel shrugged.
Dave laughed saying, "Right, Lawyer and a Merchant, quite fitting. Anyway let’s move, we’ve got a lot of distance to cover before we meet up with the rest of the undead." Dave said and stomped his foot on the ground.
The action summoned Spike and several Dunlords for the party to ride on. He summoned Grumpy for his own use and the group consisting of a mafia princess, gun-runner, a Devil Lawyer, three badly named players, a purple-haired princess, a super-model and an overly muscled guy joined Dave’s raid on the assault over the toughest, scariest, and most mysterious Kingdom on the world of Conquest.