Lord Of Puppets

Chapter 251 – The “peaceful” way.

(Welp.... Even though I now know that being dungeon master can suck big time... It doesn’t mean one bit to the other people that want to exploit him.) – thought Porai.

(Still, he won’t get any sympathy from anybody.)

(He is beyond valuable.)

(And the fact that you can "talk" with him only makes things far more complicated.)

(Which makes me more worried.... What the hell Ariava is doing?)

(...)

(Nope. Forget it.)

(I’ve told myself that it is better to not think about it.)

"..."

(But still... I can’t say I’m not worried.)

(Who knows what that monster could be doing right now out there?)

(...She is succubus.... WAIT A FUCKING MOMENT! SHE IS A SUCCUBUS!)

(WHY THE HELL DIDN’T SHE EVEN TRIED TO CHARM ME OR MIND CONTROL ME!?)

(SHE IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE STRONGEST ONES!)

(SHE AIN’T SOME LOW RANKING ONE! SHE COULD POSSIBLE FUCKING BRAINWASH ME!)

(OR THAT GUY SHE TORTURED A LIVING HELL OUT OF!)

(WHY THE HELL DIDN’T SHE EVEN TRIED USING BRAINWASHING?!)

(Does she sucks at charms?! But isn’t also.... FUCK NO! SHE IS "MAD WITCH OF LUST"!)

(L.U.S.T!)

(One of her fucking titles that I know of is "Seductress Of Many"!)

(I’ve heard even a story that she seduced an entire army once and made them kill each other, creating a massive lake of blood with all the victims’ corpses.)

(....)

(Oh god. She was fucking with me from the start in even more way that I had realized.... She fucked me. Several times. In different. Fucking. WASY!)

(She was trying to "tame" me.... And she wanted me to discover it.... And she didn’t wanted to use the "easy" way either....)

(Fuck me.... Then again, considering what kind of beyond fucked up shit she did to that guy...)

(Yeb.)

(I’m properly terrified.)

(I’m terrified beyond fucking hell!)

(She was really fucking with me big time.... And she did it in order to "show" me what could happened.... )

(Why the hell I didn’t asked myself this question from the start!? Why the hell I didn’t thought of possibility of her charming me instead of just asking me politely!?)

(....I think I’m starting to go crazy because of her.)

"..."

(Still.... I don’t think she is going to do mass brainwashing.)

(I mean, if the entire army started acting out of character and being like some sort of puppets.... Or she could turn these puppets into "terrorists"....)

(Then again, she could possible maybe control some neighboring territories lords and have them attack this territory......)

"..."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh." – the vampire squadded in place, while having beyond exhausted look.

(Seriously woman.... What the fuck could you be planning?)

(You do realize if you make some sort of big mess, we will have to clean up after you....)

(So please.... For the love of the motherfucking god.)

(Could you not commit a motherfucking genocide if possible!?) – thought the vampire who realized that there was a high chance of a worst-case scenario happening at any moment... Which in turn made the vampire realize, that it could be somewhat "fucked" by the current situation.

[2 day later: Preparation camp – Knight captain tent.]

"Hm... I see... I see... A full-on retreat order... It does-"

"-NOT MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE!" – shouted the knight captain.

"What the hell do you mean we are ordered to retreat?!"

"How the hell does that make sense?!"

"S-sir! I’m just messenger! I was just ordered to deliver this! I wasn’t even allowed to even take a look!" – said the middle-aged man.

"..."

"And the one that gave that order... Was it the lord?" – asked the pissed off the knight captain as he was barely holding himself back from tearing the letter... Only to stop and stare at the wax seal of a shield and hog.

(This is the real fucking seal!) – thought beyond pissed off knight captain.

"...Yes..." – replied the messenger nervously.

"I was ordered to delivery this message as fast as possible, and since I was the fastest rider I-"

"WHY!?" – shouted the knight, not letting the messenger finish speaking.

"WHY THE FUCK HE GAVE THIS ORDER!"

{"The situation has changed."}

{"I need you all to immediately disband the gathering and tell all gathered forces to go back. I also need you and all the forces belonging to the city and me to go to the Maw city."}

{"The dungeon attack has been now forbitten and you are not even allowed to be anywhere near it."}

{"I know this is sudden and I can’t talk much about."}

{"But I can only say one thing."}

{"The emperor."}

(A sudden order to retreat?!) – thought the knight captain as he read the letter again, staring at it while being filled with pure rage.

(NOW!?)

(WE WERE ABOUT TO ATTACK THE FOREST! THE PREPARATIONS WERE OVER!)

(WHY THE FUCK ORDER NOW OF ALL THE TIMES?!)

(NOT ONLY THAT, WE ARE EVEN FORBITTEN TO ATTACK?! THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?)

(Did he went mad.... No...)

("The emperor".... Did the empire itself ordered that guy to stand down?!)

(WHY!?)

(This is straight up stupid!)

(....But then again... This is his official seal....)

(Even if the letter looks beyond fucking.... NO! THIS FUCKING ENTIRE LETTER DOESN’T MAKE SENSE ONE BIT! IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT IT IS SHORT! IT IS JUST FUCKING STUPID!)

"..."

(Then again... Does the empire itself wants to take over task?!)

"..."

"Boss... What do we do?" – asked dwarven knight.

"WE FUCKING STAY OBVIOUSLY!" – shouted the knight captain.

"I will not fucking do anything stupid unless I get at the bottom of this!"

"But isn’t this an official letter? Shouldn’t we-"

"I FUCKING KNOW! BUT ISN’T THIS TOO SUDDEN?!" – shouted the knight captain at the human knight who tried complaining.

"I’m heading to the Maw city NOW! And you two are coming with me!"

"Joanna! You are in charge of this place! Don’t move or attack, but watch over the forest in case it does start acting up." – said the knight captain to the female human knight.

"Yes sir!" – replied the female human knight as moment later the knight captain alongside his right hand and left-hand men left the tent.

(What the fuck are you doing?! Is it really you?! Or maybe somebody forged the seal!?) – thought the pissed off knight captain.

(This dungeon had slaughtered countless innocent people and destroyed several villages... And he really expect me to just stay down!?)

(NO!)

(EVEN IF IT REALLY An OFFICIAL LETTER! EVEN IF THE EMPIRE ITSELF GAVE THE COMMAND! I WANT THE GOD DAMNED EXPLENATION!)

[Meanwhile: Maw city – Lord’s mansion.]

"You ordered the entire operation to be called off?!" – asked the alarmed city guard captain.

"My lord! Do you have any idea what you had done?"

"..."

"?"

"M-my lord?" – the lord lifted up his head, revealing his extremely mentally exhausted expression which instantly worried the guard captain.

"Are you alright!?"

"No.... No, I’m not..." – replied the lord as he stared at his desk.

"I...."

"Fuck..."

(What the hell happened?!) – thought the lord.

[Last night]

"..."

"Wakey, wakey!" – said the male voice.

"Hm..."

"Common! It is time to wake up!" – said the male voice.

"For crying out loud.... It is still..."

The lord started opening his eyes slowly in annoyance, slowly waking up from his sleep.

"BOO!" – and right as the man open up his eyes, he saw a wolf right in front of him, causing the man to wake up instantly.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" – shouted the man as in panic he straight up fell out of his bed.

"Oh good. You woke up." – said man in black clothing who was wearing a black mask, who also had their right arm weirdly turned into what appears to be a head of a wolf.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!? WHAT-"

The lord tried raising his voice, but the moment he did that, the masked man put his wolf headed hand next to the woman with a brown hair who was laying on the floor.

"I would calm down if I were you." – said the man with a wolf head hand.

"Lord Vincent Berkur."

"..."

"Ah, don’t worry. I’ve made sure that your wife here will sleepy tidily." – said the man as he transformed his wolf head hand back into the normal hand.

"Your daughter is also safe, you are wondering about it."

"And don’t worry about making noises, the entire room is already inside of the barrier."

"..."

(What the hell is going on here?!) – thought the panicking lord.

(The mansion should had its security increased to the top level after the last incident with the Silver Talons!)

(There is no way anybody could get in here without triggering any alarms!) – thought the lord as he stared at the man who sat on the bed, while having the lord’s wife right behind the masked man.

"..."

"What do you want?" – asked the nervous lord.

"Oh good! You can tell the situation."

"Anyway, I don’t have a lot of time and I wasn’t really ordered to do anything extremely unless you do something stupid."

"..."

"Anyway, I’m member of the Crow Watchers of the secret division."

"?"

"Secret division?" – asked the lord with a doubtful look.

"Well, obviously you haven’t heard anything about us, since it literally has a secret in its name." – replied the masked man.

"Although, they could had came up with much better name, since, just calling it a secret is.... Well, somewhat dumb."

"..."

"What do you want?" – asked the lord once again as he had his guard up against the man.

"New orders from the top." – said the masked man.

"From the emperor himself."

"You are to stop your attack at the golem dungeon immediately."

"Disband the gathering and forbit anybody from going anywhere near the forest."

"..."

(Is this really emperor orders?) – thought the lord who did not trusted the man’s words one bit.

(By any chance... Are they related to-)

"By the way, if you ignore this order, I have all authority needed to execute you and your entire bloodline." – said the masked man as he transformed his hand into a wolf head once again, aiming to bite off the woman’s head off.

"STOP!" – shouted the lord in panic.

"Then make me." – replied the masked man as he instantly appeared right in front of the lord.

"You are to fallow the empire orders."

"If you don’t, then you shall be exterminated and your bloodline shall be called the traitors of the empire."

"You don’t need to trust me."

"But I think you know what kind of danger you are in right now, yes?" – said the masked man as he started walking in circles around the lord who couldn’t hide his fear.

"And I’m not talking only here about your family alone."

"Cousins, long relatives, anybody related to you and your family."

"All will be exterminated." – said the man as he took out a pocket mirror and shown it to the lord, who saw inside a reflection of his cousin, sleeping next to his own wife.

"!?"

(What?! Damian!?) – thought the panicking lord.

(But... HE ISN’T EVEN HERE!?)

(HE IS NOWHERE NEAR THIS CITY!)

(WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!) – thought the man as in the right next moment, a hooded figure appeared next to the bed where the couple slept and slowly raised their blade.

"!"

"WAIT! STOP!"- shouted the panicking lord.

"Don’t worry. He, or any of you relatives or your wife’s relatives won’t be hurt."

"However, as mentioned before, if you dare to defy the orders of the empire, you shall be exterminated and made example off, mut." – said the masked man as the hooded man disappeared out of the mirror, while the lord himself put his hands on the ground, panicking as he somewhat understood his situation.

"So if you understand it, call your forces to give up."

"Ah... And this goes without saying, but you are not even allowed to tell them about me."

"The only thing you are allowed to say is this."

"The emperor."

[Back to the present.]

(I don’t know who the fuck were they.... But one thing is for certain.) – thought the lord.

(They were not with the empire.... But again, how the hell did they got past the entire security!?)

(Not only that.... FUCK!)

(Do I really have no choice.... No... I don’t have any choice.)

(These bastards were not only able enter the mansion completely unnoticed... But they also left these two things.)

("Bodyguards".... Yeah right......)

(They are just here to keep me in check....Fuck.... Fuck....)

"FUCK!" – shouted the lord as undenounced to him, he was getting observed even right now, by somebody, all the way to the random bar located on the outer rings of the city.0

(Huh... It doesn’t look like he is planning on rebelling.) – thought the middle-aged man who was sitting in the bar, drinking a beer in the middle of the day.

[Ariava – Transformed disguised form: Random drunk uncle]

(From what I’m seeing, the lord listened to my instructions.... Well, obviously.)

(Since he has the two "Crow Watchers Elites" with him, who are watching his movements.)

(They are the "body guards sent to him by the Crow Watchers, who are aiming to come here and discuss the matter regarding the dungeon.") – thought Ariava as lord wasn’t still aware of the fact that he was getting spied on, even right now as Ariava was straight up looking at him, while still being at the bar, pretending to be a random drunkard.

(That is the story we went with.)

(Still, that guy seems smart enough to understand the situation.)

(Heck. I can tell that he doesn’t buy bit the whole story about the Crow Watchers and emperor.)

(Nah. He isn’t dumb enough. He knew from the very start that I wasn’t send by the emperor.)

(But at the same time, he knows that I can murder his family.)

(I mean, all the security, both magical and physical straight up did nothing.)

(He knows that his current defenses won’t do.... But at the same time, he can’t change them, since the two "bodyguards" are with him, making sure that he is "safe".)

(Honestly, it is quiet nice that he is smart, and that he didn’t do something stupid like start shouting "HELP!" like an idiot... I would really have to "clean up" too much to deal with all the problems... Maybe possible even deal with the entire city.)

(But, by the looks of things, we will be going with easy and peaceful approach.)

(Well... Somewhat forced.)

(If I had more time, I should had went with a different approach, a much more solid one which could deal with situation much more quietly and peacefully... But again, time problem.)

(But still, it seems the "forced" approach was effective.)

(Taking his family hostage was more than enough to instantly make him "cooperative".)

(Because he is a "good" person and "family man", he can get easily manipulated the moment you take this family members away....Hm... Maybe I should eliminate him sooner or later, he seems like unreliable pawn, if he can be taken control over that easily. I mean... It is good that it was easy to control him that quickly... But still.... Eliminating him seems like a good option right now.)

(But not now... He needs to play his role.)

(And honestly, I should be thankful for that.)

(I could had just brainwashed him, but that could leave some annoying traces... Especially with that knight.)

(However, his knight captain is somewhat rebellious.)

(By the looks of things, he want to argue and I think he is close to the lord... He may had realized that the lord was brainwashed.)

(.... Good guy, he knows stuff... But at the same time, this sense of "justice" can sometimes get you killed.)

(I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to die sooner or later.... Maybe I should kill.... Nah. It would just make some shitty mess right now.... Right now, at least.)

(Welp, the current situation here is taken care of.)

(Thauma won’t get attacked and these guys here will be locked in conflict with each other, trying to understand the situation.)

(My guys should be able to somewhat keep things in check as well, but obviously things are like a living bomb here.)

(I’ve managed to calm things around here only temporarily, but there is good chance that the things could... Well... Just explode.)

(That lord is also a good guy.... But how much of a "good guy", he is? Is he willing to sacrifices the people close to him to end the dungeon threat?)

(I’ve made some people that were somewhat like him, who didn’t even hesitated to take the "brutal" path.)

(There is also a good chance that some random bullshit could occur at the moment notice... But Porai is on the standby and I’m also watching the dungeon, so there shouldn’t be any problem, even if they would attack... Well, expect for the possible fact regaining clearing up if the incident does occurs.)

(So, before things really explodes there.)

(I guess I will have to meet the emperor and have a talk with him.)

(And while I’m at it.)

(I should find out what exactly are these bastards planning with this whole "empire" of theirs.)