Gilthunder currently felt like shit, he came to this place under orders to investigate and found a dragon. Then he found an unknown mercenary group and now this fucked up situation. The man dashed as he stabbed shadows that tried to attack him.
"What the fuck are these shadows? They seem high-level but move somewhat slowly. Are they all unbound?"
While the shadows were of pretty high level, they did not have stats in the thousands. This became the limit of solitary leveling. A level 25 Novice could have higher stats than a peak [Adept] so long as they got into a strong battle harem.
Of course, fighting experience and the rest of the system would grant more rewards to the [Adept] but stat wise it remained a universal truth that a bonded system user would perform better than one who is not. And so long as Gilthunder didn't get surrounded he would never lose.
[Wraith Hunter] allowed him to vanish from the senses of others aside from the one he is fighting. He currently was fighting not against a thousand opponents but rather 1 on 1 many thousands of times.
The husband of Starfall stabbed and moved on. Evade-stab-repeat. This vicious cycle cared not if what he impaled had an appearance of a man or monster.
As the bodies disappeared he never ran out of space to fight in. In fact, it could be considered boring from his experiences as Starfall already participated in actual wars.
However, what piqued his curiosity was not the shadow army but the ones that fought against it. In Valorious knowledge could be considered power. Rhyne occasionally bought Intel from information brokers so to a degree her husbands understood all the powerhouses in the continent.
Yet, the group he just met where not on any of the lists he read. Seeing as even the dragon fought with them, he believed one of Sword Dynasty even had the [Taming Skill].
Under the guise of saving the citizens, like an assassin he allowed Hiro's group to think they duped him. In reality, he watched their every move and studied both Heavenly Sword and Sword Dynasty.
"What the hell are these people? The power they have is beyond the elite level. No wonder the leader could manhandle that dragon. And lady Tsugumi and Sword Dynasty are working with the bastard with a greatsword.
"I don't know what is up with the light show but the three women really had [Malice] earlier. I need to tell Rhyne. If all goes well, maybe Rhyne would want to NTR them to add to Starfall. Having more hands would definitely help in the long run.
"I have no idea about their dynamics though. They seem to know each other but are violently trying to kill each other. Maybe they had a falling out?"
Due to Hiro's deceiving even Tsugumi, out lookers like Gilthunder naturally also got baffled. At this moment the warriors of the royal Army arrived and started to form ranks with the wraith hunter. One of the captains saluted and reported to the husband of Starfall.
"Sir Gilthunder, I am glad you are safe. We have successfully evacuated every building in a twenty-kilometer radius. Our scouts have detected Gae-bolg has started to move. We would be in trouble if they see us here?"
"What are you talking about, we saved a lot of people from the debris. They shouldn't be ungrateful enough to raise a fuss with all the help we gave them."
"But Sir Gilthunder, one of Prince Dylan's wives Lady Autumn has a skill related to Psychometry. If she investigates and touches the right object, they would know we are the reason why the Dragonkin transformed in the first place."
"Shit… I forgot about Autumn. With the duel in four months, we cannot let Dylan penalize Starfall. Hmm… what to do, what to do…"
Psychometry back on earth was the ability to "See" the history of an object by touching it. While many claim it is a figment of imagination it is common for such truths to be intentionally buried in lies.
The Gracyeanor bloodline had numerous abilities related to the flow of time and the future. Autumn being a true Gracyeanor naturally had some of the said abilities.
Starfall now had a choice to make. System users in general no longer see humans as their species. They were useful some even pretty to look at but as System users normally killed regular humans during sex. Most didn't even bother mingling with them.
As Gilthunder saw the large army of darkness knew the fall of Partisan was already set in stone. Gae-bolg had a very clear weakness, they rarely had area-clearing capabilities. Dylan's insistence on strengthening his men for one on one battles limited their combat styles.
While they would be able to kill the army, Gilthunder knew they would not be able to save both the people and the infrastructure. As a genuinely good guy, Dylan would choose the people. But even if the Prince saved them would losings all that you owned be considered a victory for the regular citizen?
"The people would hate Dylan, and when they scatter to other cities to rebuild, they will become a poison that will share the fall of Partisan. It is in the princess's best interest for Dylan's base to be destroyed.
"Dylan has neither the backing nor resources to rebuild if Partisan falls. He would need to waste time with a new base or use one of the cities under Princess Rhyne.
"Hmm… this is turning out to be a good idea. Okay! Royal guards, use the pretext of protecting the citizens and destroy as much of the city as possible."
In his analysis of the situation, the husband of Starfall issued commands that would leave thousands homeless. Without shelter, they would need to seek protection in another city. Millions would be displaced all so Dylan would lose his biggest stronghold.
Such was the brutality of the conflict between the members of royalty. The common man had their very life overturned on a whim just to be used as a pawn for the powerful.
Gilthunder had the royal guards moved in battle stars as they left Hiro's group and headed to the places where the buildings still stood. Along the way, they saved the people but destroyed buildings and fortifications just for the sake of it.
When Gilthunder's group "rescued" people in a hospital a quarrel ensued. "Sir Gilthunder! You cannot let the hospital be destroyed my patients cannot be moved or they will die. Please use the fortifications to defend this place!"
"I am sorry doctor, but this city is a lost cause. I will not allow my men to die for a bunch of people who are already going to die anyway. We are leaving, you are welcome to stay. My goal is to save as many as possible."
"But Sir! You are abandoning innocent people to their deaths! Please use your power to protect us!"
The doctor then hugged Gilthunder's legs in a desperate act for mercy, but all he got was a kick to the stomach.
Gil then buried his spear into the doctor's leg and slapped the doctor in the face. "Listen here, you four-eyed bastard. I ain't got time to listen to your whining, so what if your whole fucking hospital dies? These days only system users matter, remember that you fucking piece of shit."
The husband of Starfall spat on the doctor as he declared. "As for the rest of you, keep up if you want to live. We will not come back from those that fall behind. Royal Guard, let's hustle!"
