Way of the Knights

Around a few hours after Kyle and his squad finished their mission. Paul was currently waiting for orders.

He’s alone, hiding within a tavern by blending in with the Abyssals. He wore a disguise that vaguely made him look like them, in addition with the hood he wear, he blended in perfectly within his surroundings without anyone the wiser.

Paul was drinking the unique ale of the Abyssals as he acted as if he was just another drunkard among the crowd. In truth though, he was eavesdropping in the conversation of the people around him.

“Man, Paradise is too chaotic nowadays. It’s hard to find somewhere to have a good time.”

“Yeah, I feel that too. I heard that there are some convicts that escaped and apparently, the guards are having a difficult time apprehending them.”

“Really? The prisoners must’ve been real clever then.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised actually, I heard those who escaped were from the Abyss Prison. They’re real scary dudes who were driven mad by that place. You all ought to be careful. They might be lurking around. Don’t get mugged.”

“You all are too outdated with the news! Those that are causing chaos ain’t the prisoners. It’s invaders.”

“Invaders? What a joke!”

“Dude, you might wanna go home, you’re obviously drunk! How can we have Invaders? If anything, WE are doing the invasion, not the other way around.”

“Yeah, what he said! Plus, if we really do have Invaders, they ain’t gonna last long under our manpower.”

“You all are idiots. You guys think that just because we conquered many races so far that we became infallible. You all are going to die if you continue thinking that way.”

Paul smirked under his hood as he chugged down his drink. He continued listening in to their conversation.

“You’re the idiot! It’s obviously mid-day yet you’re already this drunk. Honestly, do something else. Find a job or something.”

“Hah! It’s useless. We will get drafted in the war anyways? What the use of that?”

“First Invaders and now War you say? You’re obviously out of your mind. You guys, don’t pay attention to these guy, he’s babbling nonsense.”

“Hah!! Babbling nonsense he says! Hey, you’re a merchant right? Then you must know someone from the Extella Island right? Great! Try contacting them, see if they’ll answer you. If they do, ask them what happened to the island. You’ll then know if I’m babbling nonsense or not.”

“…”

Paul watched in amusement as the event played out, still drinking his ale and waiting for the commotion to begin.

“…what the fuck!? Extella Island got trashed!? What the hell happened? Hey! Can you still here me!? What happened there!?”

“Invasion? You mean to say that there are actual Invaders in our home and we didn’t know? And apparently they’re strong enough to bring an entire island down in under an hour!?”

“Hey, if you’re joking with me right now, I swear to god I will march there to deck you in the face!”

“…”

“Oh, god! It’s true then? How can this be…?”

Now all the attention was focused on the old drunkard who just drank his sorrows away.

“What? Still think that I’m speaking nonsense? Stop being ignorant you idiots. We pissed off some real troublesome people and we’re about to pay for it. Soon, you all will drafted in War. Don’t expect the guards to save you this time since even they can’t save themselves.”

“No that’s…the God Emperor! We still have the God Emperor on our side. I’m sure that he will make sure that we will remain safe. The Invaders are nothing compared to his might!”

The Old Abyssal laughed uproariously upon hearing that.

“The God Emperor will save you say? Hahahaha!! Now that’s fucking hilarious right there! Continue dreaming on young one. Maybe one day, it’ll come true!”

“Old guy! Are you trying to revolt here? Show some respect to the God Emperor and the leader our race.”

“Yes, yes. He really is. Also, he’s currently imprisoned in his own tower by the Leader of the Invaders and can’t fucking go out. The arrogant son of a bitch finally met his match.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means exactly how it sounds, moron! Your God Emperor is as big of an idiot as you people are. He got so fucking arrogant and greedy that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings! He let the leader of the Invading Race waltz in to his throne and imprison him there. Now, that son of a bitch can’t go out or even send any message to us.”

“That’s…that’s obviously a lie! How can…how can the God Emperor be-“

“Oh you stupid little thing…it seems that you really won’t cry unless you see the coffin, huh? Very well, this Old Guy shall indulge you.”

“For starters this Invasion had been going on for months. You all are just unaware of it. That in itself should already be a bad sign since whenever we Invaded, it’d be impressive of our enemies lasted for at least a week.”

“Additionally, the God Emperor usually says something to increase our morale and loved to brag about our race’s strength by constantly bombarding us with announcements.”

“How many of you have heard his voice during the past three months at least? Anyone?”

“…”

“Nobody? Well, that’s understandable isn’t it? After all, he’s imprisoned on his own tower and can’t fucking go out or even send a message to us. He got trapped in his own home! What a fucking retard! Hah!”

“In addition to this, have you seen Skroll anywhere? How about General Grimm? When was the last time you all see them in patrol?”

“…”

“Can’t remember right? Well, apparently Skroll is missing and General Grimm has his hand full in dealing with the Invaders. Without that idiot God Emperor to lead our troops, everything’s gone awry!”

“Wake-up you idiots. The signs are in front of you. At two days at most, this tavern will ran out of supplies. Not just this tavern in particular either, all the taverns around this area will too as well as the markets and stores. Extella Island was destroyed remember?”

“All of us here will starve to death. It’ll take weeks for emergency supplies to reach us since who the hell knows how many supply lines are still intact under the ministrations of the Invaders?”

“We’re already under attack! If you morons still refuse to believe it, you all are going to die. Our enemies will not show mercy so don’t expect it. Really, it’s about time for our retribution. We’ve carried way too many sins.”

“…”

The tavern descended into a solemn atmosphere due to the old man’s revelations. Everyone felt their hearts being filled with trepidation.

“…right, I gotta go. I just remembered that there’s somewhere I have to be.”

“Yeah, me too! I gotta pick up my son from school. I’ll see you all later.”

Everyone started excusing themselves, trying to act calmly as they exited the tavern but in truth, they’re far from being calm. They have their own ideas.

Sadly, their plans were bound to fail today.

Before they can get out of the tavern, there was a hooded man leaning against the door chugging down the remaining contents of his mug.

“Hey, man. Can you move away? Can’t you see you’re blocking the way?” One of them said aggressively.

The man ignored them for a bit and down his mug. Afterwards, he let out a loud burp and said:

“Whew! This ale’s good. Well, not as good as the one I usually drink at home but still good.”

“Yeah, yeah. Everyone says that, now can you move? You’re blocking the way.”

“Haah…alright. That’s enough playing around then.” The man said as he slowly pulled down his hood. “There are times for leisure and there’s time for work. Now’s the time for work, and I can’t delay.”

The man pulled out the fake skin plastered on his skin, revealing himself to be someone of a completely different race from them. Everyone gasped in surprise.

Of course, this was all according to Paul’s plan.

“What the old man said was correct.” Paul stated, “Unfortunately, you all realized it too late.”

The old man just snorted and didn’t even bother trying to escape while the rest were still reeling in shock.

“Sorry, Lads.” Paul gave them a wry smile. “I’m afraid I can’t let you all pass. If you promise me that you’ll remain here and won’t try to escape, I can delay your deaths for at least a year.”

“Everyone, don’t listen to him! He’s just one man! Kill him! We’ll escape together!”

Paul scowled upon hearing that. He sighed as he saw that they started rushing forward with the intent of killing him.

With a wave of his hand, several shadows emerged and before everyone realized it, a 9 foot long pitch black spear already pierced their cores.

“See, this is the problem with your race. You guys aren’t good at cooperating when it’s obvious that you’re at disadvantage. If you all just listened, you could’ve lived for longer at least.”

“I am even willing to give you guys food. Alas, you guys are truly morons. Oh well, there’s no helping it.”

Seeing as everybody in this tavern is dead, Paul shrugged and disappeared like a ghost.