Godfather's System

151. Development - 46

As I watched three monsters appear at once, I couldn't help but wonder why. One of the possibilities was that they were finally triggering the next stage of their plan and wanted to start damaging the walls.

But after some consideration, I decided that wasn't the case. If they wanted to damage the walls, they would have spread out their summons, making it impossible for me to engage directly. Instead, they summoned all three together.

Combined with several cloaked figures moving near the summoning area without making a move, it felt more like a test. They likely wanted to understand my capabilities.

Smart, but too obvious, I thought even as I grabbed my sword, and looked at Takis. "Carefully watch my battle, and give me three different plans on how to fight against those monsters, each plan prioritizing a different objective," I said.

It wasn't hard to guess that a lot more summoned beasts would get involved once they pulled the trigger. Things would go better with some kind of tactical arrangement against them … which was easier to plan out since the cultists were nice enough to give us the necessary time to study and plan.

Such considerate enemies.

I charged forward after I gave that order, my blade once again glowing golden. At the same time, I examined the monsters. Once again, they were an amalgamation of many different animals, fur turning into scales halfway, claws and paws alternating, one of them once again sporting several tentacles, another with four wings but unable to fly…

They would have been comical if they weren't so deadly. Even with all my abilities, all it would take was one wrong move to end up dead. My Health would be useless if I were to get bisected by their teeth.

Once again, the cultist army tried to support the beasts. Neither their spells nor their arrows were particularly effective. But, I didn't let that give me unrealistic ideas like charging the line. I could see that none of their stronger mages were intervening, using the opportunity to test me just as I tested them.

They were curious about a mysterious knight that could potentially ruin their ploy, no doubt.

They wouldn't have continued waiting if I tried to push, maybe going as far as triggering the trap early. And that was not a risk that was worth taking just to kill a few disposable soldiers.

I arrived in front of the monsters, ignoring the temptation to snap the subtle red mana connection that the priests were using to direct their summoned beasts toward their destination, and started fighting them directly.josei

Which, unfortunately, wasn't as easy as the previous encounters. I slashed the first claw, but before I could complete the swing, the tentacles were there to block me from completing the move. I shaved the tip off as I retreated, but it recovered immediately, telling me that this challenge would be long and painful.

Once they start moving toward the town while defending the weaknesses of each other, I would have a very serious challenge in front of me. I wondered whether I should finally test breaking their control … or use some of my stats, particularly my Agility, allowing me to pull some riskier moves…

But, as I fought against them, ready to block their path, I realized that it was not necessary. They didn't try to push toward the town, staying focused on me instead.

It seemed that the cultists wanted to test my limits even more than I had expected.

I wondered if that showed my success in selling the existence of a larger organization, making the cultists prioritize learning about my abilities to understand them more.

If that was the case, it meant my fake identity was even more useful than I had hoped for.

Unfortunately, that realization didn't make my current battle any easier. I zapped around three of them, delivering repeated blows while dodging theirs. Whittling down their endurance was not an easy task. They were already as robust as Lord Beasts without the occasional spells that hit from the cultists' side, helping them recover their wounds.

Luckily, that healing wasn't as effective as the System-assisted recovery, or my task would have been impossible.

I stayed focused on the one with the tentacles, as it was the one covering the other two defensively with its higher reach. Each time I cut a tentacle, they regenerated.

Requiring more time with each repeat.

Just like that, five minutes had passed. Not a long time under most of the circumstances, but might as well be an eternity during a battle while I pushed myself near the limit.

[-12 Health]

Health had allowed me to recover, but not completely. I was starting to feel the signs of exhaustion as I pushed myself to the limit, wondering whether I should increase my Vitality more to support that exertion.

But, after some thought, I decided against it. The circumstances were too complicated to waste my Stat points on things that would make the job more comfortable.

And, there were benefits of feeling exhausted. It made my own show of slowing down and weakening more convincing. Unfortunately, looking exhausted and on the back foot against the monsters also impacted the morale of our troops.

Not ideal, but a necessary sacrifice to convince the cultists I wasn't too far from falling, a necessary step of baiting the cultists controlling the beasts. At the same time, I weakened the hold of Charisma over the town — particularly on the opposite side — to stretch a tendril of Charisma toward the controller of the tentacle beast, following his mana to pinpoint him.

And, I carefully pushed his emotions, particularly his anger, his impatience, and his desire to prove himself … all already raging there, a subtle push was enough to escalate them further.

So, when I made a show of staggering outside of the other two beasts' range, where only tentacled one could reach, the controller ignored the tactical positioning of the three breasts and rushed with his own…

And, his beast lost all of its tentacles in my counter-attack, followed by its head, two seconds were enough to finish a fight that had lasted five minutes.

[Invader Slain]

[+1,877,320 Experience]

[+18 Authority]

Just like that, the first monster was down. More importantly, their formation was ruined, allowing me to take down the other two rapidly.

[Invader Slain]

[+2,132,420 Experience]

[+21 Authority]

[Invader Slain]

[+1,630,729 Experience]

[+16 Authority]

Another challenge was completed, giving me not only a precious boost inExperience, but also some very welcome Authority. However, rather than checking to see if I was able to clear another benchmark, I retreated back to the walls.

I didn't neglect to turn my retreat into a show. Rather than rushing back at full speed, I moved slower, even 'failing to avoid' a few of the arrows that rained toward me. Was the sensation of being impaled by an arrow crackling with Destruction mana painful?

[-73 Health]

Yes.

Was it worth it?

Certainly so. From what I could tell from their body language, they found what they had been looking for during that battle. I just hoped they concluded that I wasn't a threat to their ultimate plan.

However, just as I jumped on the walls, I noticed another mana explosion, summoning another creature. Once again, it was targeting me.

It seemed that not all of them were convinced. I turned to Takis rather than rushing forward. "Have you prepared the plans that I asked for?" I said.

"Yes, sir," he said, doing his best to sound confident, but not succeeding particularly well.

"Good, give them to me," I said as I grabbed the papers examining the diagrams he created, with a lot of small notes about the ideal composition of skills and classes, as well as the potential changes that could be done to address the changes of monster abilities.

I picked the one that looked most reasonable. "Go and gather the necessary forces. You'll take down the next monster," I said, pointing at the monster that started to approach.

"Should I call Sir Mahrusss as well?" he asked.

"No, I have other plans for him," I said. He looked hesitant. "Don't worry, I'll be there to prevent any deaths," I said, addressing his obvious concern. "Yes, sir," he said as he dashed. His troops were close enough for him to gather the necessary forces.

In the meantime, I summoned Mahruss. "Carefully watch how I act," I said after I triggered another silencing ward around us.

"To see how you use your Charisma, boss?" he asked.

"No, I want you to watch my mannerisms and attitude as I lead the battle," I said. He looked at me questioningly. "You might need to play the glorious knight role for a while," I said.

Since the story I was trying to convince them required the golden knight to hit his limits, why not use that opportunity to poke around a bit more.

Especially since, this time, I wouldn't have any luggage, allowing me to use Concealment to sneak around the enemy army.

"I'm sure I'll look good in gold, boss," Mahruss said, trying to sound casual, but I could sense him tensing. Still, a good attempt to hide it.

He was slowly turning into an exemplary officer.

Soon, a force of a hundred, consisting mostly of spear users, accompanied by some archers, left the town. The team looked brave, but it was more about my' Charisma wrapping around them like a thick blanket, bluntly enhancing their courage.

Still, it was easy to read the change in their attitude once I jumped down the walls and stood behind them, my presence promising them assistance. I looked strong, but I didn't neglect to give a few signs of exhaustion like trembling fingers that would be caught by someone with high Perception.

"Stand strong. The safety of the town depends on us," I shouted, encouraging them further, even as I used my Charisma to allow them to work more smoothly and follow Takis' orders.

"First line, move forward and ready to split formation. Second line, lower your spears. Archers, don't forget to aim for the eyes," Takis ordered, giving many different commands. "And, mages, be ready with the barrier," he finished, turning toward the two figures that were dressed like the rest, but didn't have their weapon drawn.

Interesting, I thought as I examined the mages. They didn't look particularly strong. Still, any mage was a valuable weapon, and usually, they were only a part of the noble houses or guilds. The fact that he was able to find two as a suspicious band of mercenaries spoke well of his abilities.

I deliberately didn't use my Charisma to boost his commands, instead watching their reaction. Takis stayed at the back, continuously giving orders, while his group — no doubt elites of his army, each with an advanced skill — followed his every order, never over-extending as they constantly attacked the beast.

Archers constantly aimed at its eyes, never letting them recover while spearmen attacked from unexpected angles. The mages only intervened when they were close to failure, and the interferences from the other beasts and the cultist mages were prevented by the army on the walls.

It was slow. Ten minutes had passed since the battle started, and they had barely managed to slow down the beast rather than kill it, but I had seen what I had wanted to see.

I rushed forward, and cut the head of the beast.

[Invader Slain]

[+2,120,220 Experience]

[+24 Authority]

As we pulled back into the town, the cultist army did nothing. They had received what they wanted from the battle.

And so had I.