"Better than nothing," William didn't place much hope on such a solution, "how about those forces from outside the city? Are they coming for our aid?"
[We sent lots of people over, and yet not a single one responded or showed up]
"Hmm… Let's prepare for the worst then," William paused, not needing to speak up his mind for Lara to get what he meant.
[I can't believe I'm going to run and leave the city my ancestors built and lived in for tens of thousands of years…] She was truly depressed, and William knew she got the right to feel so.
The city didn't just contain her family, but nineteen other families besides various forces. Even if they suffered lots of losses during the recent internal strife, things weren't out of salvation if they united their efforts together.
But it seemed the hatred and enmity from that last war were still fresh, running quite deep in their hearts and spirits. Without the need to investigate it, William was sure part of the reasons behind such a cowardly decision was related to the Vancouf family.
After the last internal war, the Vancouf family emerged the sole victorious. They were now going to be the true lords of the city, and that seemed to get on the nerves of others.
They decided to abandon ship, walk away and watch how the Vancouf family would defend the city alone. Of course, this was their way to get back at that family, but it was also a very evil move in William's eyes.
Yet he had nothing in his power to change any of that. "Just make sure to save as most as you can," William paused, "start packing, don't leave anything behind. Also, other forces will hurriedly leave the city. And that means their bases will be filled with treasures."
[This… Is this the right time to speak about plundering others?!]
"This is the most appropriate moment to do so," William showed a fierce expression on his face, "they dared to backstab you, backstab everyone in the city just to feel a little good and get their proclaimed revenge from us. So it's just to take back their riches. Damn! If this happened at other times, then I'd even ask you to reignite the old internal war again and crush all of their leaders, absorb everything to your side."
[Well, I can't say I don't dream about doing this right now] She paused, [Ok, let me try and see if I can get any of their masters. Not everyone is this evil or twisted in heart and spirit. I hope we'll end up with enough force to fend off the monster army]
"Tell me, how is the project of making that stuff going?" William knew the best they could dream about right now was to safely retreat through the portal area with all the riches and gains they could salvage from the city and the monster tide.
A big role to play in doing this laid over the shoulders of the toxic material of his. If they managed to mass produce it, then things would turn slightly for the better, buying themselves lots of precious time.
[We are producing tons of this substance so far] and finally she said a piece of good news, [We have lots of barrels filled with it. When do you want to spread them?]
"Do it now!" William knew enough time passed since the appearance of that portal. And by now, he was also pushed back by twenty kilometres, only less than fifty kilometres away from the city, "filling the entire area around the city in tens of kilometres. Make sure to use everyone in such a process and warn them against trying to release the substance now."
[How about the right way to release them? These barrels will be buried under the ground]
"You got masters who can make explosive arrays, right? Make them relay such arrays next to these barrels, connect them with their spirit power, and be ready to activate them on order."
[Got it! When are you coming back?]
"I'll return when the monsters will attack the city," William was doing a solo killing mission out there. Even if he was alone, he was killing lots of monsters with each passing hour.
On the other hand, he was collecting lots of loot for his future. As for the guild, he made sure to relay his orders to his vices, spreading the current facts to everyone, and preparing their minds and hearts for the idea of mobilising from here.
William hated it, but he also knew he had no power at all to change this black future. All he could do now was to take the most out of this city and pray for a miracle to happen.
Yet that didn't prevent him from thinking about exerting revenge against the ones who did all this. As he expected, Richard was already working with the dark masters through Rick. Even if William didn't guess Rick's true identity, he knew he was part of the dark masters.
Away from all this, the two of them sat over a hill, drinking tasty potions and enjoying what was happening right now.
"Contacting the forces in the city and planting the seed of taking revenge against the Vancouf family was a good move," Rick laughed, "I bet that bastard didn't see this coming. Damn! I want to see his face when he hears the news, hahahaha!"
"These forces don't like the Vancouf family," Richard evilly grinned, "and with little help, they won't stay behind and help the Vancouf family when there is a good chance for the family to lose everything."
"Hmm, how about these forces? Where do they plan to move?" Rick's interest shifted towards these forces, "they got no place to run to, right?"
"I already offered them help," Richard got what Rick really meant, "but they didn't respond yet."
"Let them take their time," Rick laughed, "I bet they are enjoying this battle just like the two of us. Keep tracking them, and when this is all over, we'll lure them to our side next."
