Derium Plains, Daggerfall,

7:39 pm, 17th Banem 1092.

Derium Plains was a vast savannah land east of Oerbora that bordered the Wazir river that cut between Daggerfall and Imperium. The moon shone overhead, brightly illuminating the earth with its beautiful light.

*cough* *cough*

Loud, desperate coughs punctuated the night's tranquility. The afflicted, Rudega Farvulia winced in pain as he weakly opened his eyes. He attempted to move his body but found he was too weak to move a single muscle. 'I can't believe I'm still alive,' the dwarf mused as he bent his neck either way and scanned his surroundings.

Rudega was stunned to find he lay on a tree branch and he could make out Durst's heavily injured body on a branch above him. The erratic rise and fall of the orc's chest revealed he was still among the living, but Rudega could not be sure how long that would remain the case.

Rudega's brain hurt as he tried to recall how he got here. 'Ah, that orc carried me after Mokern stabbed me through the back." The dwarf's complexion turned ugly as he thought of the smug, lazy bastard who nearly did him in. 'Just you wait, Mokern. I'll temper that brain of yours in my forge when I get back!'

Rustle.

The rustling of leaves drew Rudega's attention, and as it wasn't a windy night, the sound starkly stood out. The dwarf held his breath and tried his best not to make any noise as he peeked down to see who or what was approaching.

Rudega released a sigh of relief when he saw Ragnaf walk out of the elephant grass with a giant bush rat in his hand.

The orc's sharp instincts picked up the gaze on him, and he looked up to meet Rudega's weak brown eyes. Ragnaf dropped the carcass at the base of the tree, then climbed the tree to retrieve both Durst and Rudega. After placing them both on the ground, Ragnag tore the rat apart with his bare hands and handed a portion to Rudega. "Eat," he instructed. "We can't risk a fire."

To Ragnaf's surprise, Rudega gamely accepted the rat carcass and began to chew on it without any change to his expression. The dwarf painfully swallowed a portion of the meat and started to feel some strength return to his body. He weakly reached into a pouch strapped to his waist and was relieved to find two bottles in there.

Rudega retrieved the bottles from the pouch and looked at Ragnaf. "Here, feed one of this to Durst. It should help with his wounds."

Ragnaf accepted the bottle with a mixed expression. "You're not like most dwarfs."

"What? I'm not an egotistical bastard?" Rudega joked and scrunched his nose as he downed the contents of his bottle in one sweep.

Ragnaf, encouraged by the dwarf's action, propped Durst's head on his knee and poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth. Luckily, Durst was not too far gone, and he reflexively swallowed the potion. Ragnaf heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the massive gash on Durst's shoulder begin to show signs of recovery. He looked at Rudega who had removed his armor. "You don't look down on orcs. I can't see the contempt in your eyes."

"Kid, I don't have enough the energy to look down on anyone," Rudega bitterly laughed as he inspected his injury. The potion was doing its job. The holes in his chest were beginning to close up. However, he had lost far too much blood, and as a result, he remained weak. "When you see the things I've seen, you learn there are enough assholes and heroes in all races for you to equally distribute your hate."

Ragnaf's eyes widened. "You fought in the Great War?"

"Since the day I could walk," Rudega replied and looked at Ragnaf. "Listen, kid; In this world, there's no shortage of evil things to hate if you go looking. It takes the truly strong to love despite all this."

"I don't understand," Ragnaf stated with a frown.

"Hehe, I didn't understand at first either." Rudega chuckled. "If we survive this, I just might talk to you all about it. Speaking of which..." The dwarf examined their surroundings. "Where are we?"

"Derium Plains," Ragnaf's replied.

"Derium Plains?" Rudega repeated in shock. "But that's east? If we keep heading in this direction, we'll hit Wazir river."

"I know," Ragnaf stated with a severe scowl. "But I kept spotting wisben and orc scouts in every other direction. I'm not sure who's on our side right now, so I kept running east."

"Smart move," Rudega praised as a line of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. If one of those scouts had spotted the orc, they would have long been dead. "They didn't notice you?"

"No." Ragnaf shook his head. "I'm part wisben. I inherited my father's eyes," Ragnaf said as he pointed at his light-green eyes. "They can see very well."

"Ah, I understand," Rudega muttered and sunk into thought. Moments later, he let out a defeated sigh and said, "Assuming they've already cast their net, there's only one place we can go."

"Where's that?"

Rudega's brows furrowed and he looked like he was seriously struggling with his decision. However, a moment later, his brow relaxed as he came to terms with the decision he was forced to make. "Let's go to Wazir river."

Ragnaf showed an incredulous expression. "I know I'm strong, but there's no way I can carry you both and swim across the river. I'm not even sure I could do it on my own."

Rudega shook his head. "We won't swim across, but go under."

"Under?" Ragnaf's eyes flickered as realization dawned. "You guys—"

Rudega revealed a guilty smile. "Yes. We've secretly built a few tunnels out of Daggerfall. It's meant to be an insurance escape plan in case we were ever overrun by orcs."

"Or a backyard for an ally to invade the orcs," Ragnaf countered with a hard gaze.

Rudega shrugged. "Like I said kid, in the real world, there's plenty of evil if you go looking."

"Whatever you say, old man," Ragnaf snorted as he hoisted Durst onto his left shoulder. He walked over and once again carried Rudega like a handbag. "I'll let it slide this once."

Boom!

As Ragnaf sprinted down the landscape, Rudega could not help but wonder what the future held for their little party.

Glashtyn, Kirkcour Woods,

8:13 pm, 17th Banem 1092.

Boom!

The earth trembled as thousands of centaurs clashed against even more. Blood dyed the ground as the centaur army cut through the monsters with a roiling vengeance. The beasts, surrounded and boxed in by the Tulpar shieldbearers, could do nothing but wail in torment as they were systematically cut down. Seemingly endless showers of arrows, shot by the Glashtyn tribe rained down on the disoriented monsters, and easily reaped their lives.

Kashi looked upon the carnage from atop a nearby hill with Darian, Casetes and a Tulpar general named Balasius. The generals observed the slaughter with respect and awe in their eyes. They had never envisioned they could utilize such tactics to make battles as relaxed as this one appeared.

How were these the same centaur tribes that had been plagued by the Blight for so long? Under Kashi's leadership, they were casually cutting down the monsters like wheat! He had even incorporated the Glashtyn's ability with the bow into his plan. So much so that his presence was no longer required on the battlefield.

Kashi, for his part, could feel the generals' heated gazes, and he could not help but shake his head in embarrassment. Only the untrained eye would marvel at the simple tactic he was employing.

This was the basic attract, surround and destroy tactic employed by Hannibal during the battle of Cannae. This was a tactic that allowed Hannibal's troop of 40,000 to completely crush 80,000 Roman soldiers. It was no wonder it was so effective. The only downside to this particular tactic was that it was next to impossible for modern military strategists to fall for the initial bait.

Fortunately, this battle was against mindless monsters. The centaur army only needed to lightly provoke the monsters horde, and they would converge on the same target of their own volition, allowing the flanks to surround and lock them into the formation. Afterward, all that followed was a predictable slaughter.

Kashi looked across the battlefield at the distant Glashtyn tribe. It seemed each centaur tribe had their specialties. The Lymar and Dora clan were experts with the spear, while the Tulpar tribe, with their huge stocky frames, excelled in defense as evidenced by the massive wooden tower shields they held.

In contrast to these tribes, the Glashtyn tribe were quite skinny in comparison and excelled in archery and speed. Their preferred fighting style appeared to be sprinting within firing range of the enemy, letting loose, then quickly retreating. Their accuracy with the bow could only be beaten by the wisben tribes. Kashi could see them being adapted as a mobile archery unit, a deadly force on any battlefield.

Kashi could not help imagining the centaurs fighting on their side. Damn, Absalon would have a field day with this force.

"The battle is coming to a close," Darian reported, inadvertently drawing Kashi out of his reverie.

"Mm... Let's go greet the chief," Kashi said as he spurred Drixlia onto a path that led down the hill.

Why wasn't he in the fight?

Kashi decided to let the centaurs have the taste of open combat against the monsters without his help. After all, the entire plan hinged on the centaurs putting up a tremendous fight while the daeben's strike team infiltrated enemy headquarters. If the centaurs got used to his game-breaking [Gilgamesh] shower, they might capitulate when it came to the real deal.

As Drixlia trotted down the path, Kashi wondered what Absalon would think of his war-time decisions.

Aygorzi,

8:10 pm, 17th Banem 1092.

The Supreme General of the Hopeful Maggots' army, and appointed Auxiliary General of Rosendun, Absalon Pathfinder, rubbed his eyes as he studied a report file under the calming magelight. The general yawned and realized fatigue began to set in. How long had he been checking these reports?

Absalon had truly lost count of how many hours he'd spent in-game on mundane, tedious tasks like these. Yet he could not deny the joy that arose in his heart from carrying out such a seemingly useless task. These tasks were a spice that was unavailable to him in reality.

In real life, Absalon, or rather, Lt. Gen. Handa Hoshiko was a retired general with all the benefits that came with that. The general's life could not be said to be bad or good. His wife passed away from cancer a few years back, but they had two filial children who had gone on to live successful lives of their own. In fact, it was one of his grandchildren who suggested to the old man that he try out King's Journey.

At first, Absalon hadn't cared much and casually bought the Virtual Gear. However, he was completely hooked by the time he felt the first burst of power from his in-game character. Absalon went on to found his own guild in that game, but because of how late he started, he never managed to break the ceiling and join the legends overlooking the world.

Absalon ensured he did not make that mistake when Live No Evil came out. Not only was he one of the first to log into the game, but he took a few friends from the previous game and quickly set up their claim in Kerta. His expertise in strategic foresight aided him in swiftly clinching the spot as number one in Kerta, and he might have become King if it were not for Kashi's interference.

At first, he had indeed borne some resentment toward the daeben. Who wouldn't? But the more Absalon carried out his role of general and saw Kashi's policies, he had to admit there was a reason generals rarely made good rulers.

A general was a creature of war that belonged on the battlefield. Their viewpoints were almost always severely hampered due to their nature to seek victories at little to no cost to their own armies.

Absalon knew that he enjoyed the battlefield. It was his calling. The ability to control the lives and deaths of thousands of warriors was a responsibility few could endure, but he relished the challenge. Every second of it.

Knock! Knock!

Absalon's inner thoughts were interrupted by a series of knocks on the door. Without looking up from the reports, he said, "Come in."

Nyte walked into the room and looked at the general's weary eyes. "Absalon, you should get some sleep."

"Don't worry. I'll sleep when I'm dead. Shouldn't be long now," Absalon joked as he raised his head from the reports.

Nyte shook his head. He'd heard that joke a thousand times. He was past reacting to it. The warrior gave his report, "Syèl just arrived. He's drinking in the new tavern. From the looks of things, I think he'll stay the night."

Absalon's eyes sparked open as the fatigue instantly washed away. "Good, keep an eye on him. I'll meet him first thing in the morning. What about Shoko?"

"Ms. Shoko is with Jade at the dwarven forge," Nyte reported. "I think she'll show up at the tavern once she hears about Syèl's arrival."

"Perfect," Absalon said as he released a sigh of relief. "The campaign will definitely run smoother with the help of those two monsters."

"Absalon."

"Yes?"

"You're a monster yourself."

"Nonsense."

SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PATREON STARS:

Residents: Andrew Maurer, Eli Calabria, Rusty Reaper, Cobalt_Storm, Eli Romero, Niyeban, Sarah Kinkade, Gamma2626

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Warriors: Caleb Ian Melton, Ragnaf, Cullen M Brewer, Paul C. Bergeson (@facemaster)

The High Council: Sly, Jacob Morgan, Antinium, StrikerPrince

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