By now EXC was becoming prominent as the alliance was beginning to grow in influence. Eden would spend her time in the office reading about the different formations your army should have. She mainly invested in her archers. She kept wondering, how will she get her alliance to participate in war. Then she smacked her forehead, of course, lead by example. Eden looked over her forces and reviewed the current challenge, Enemy Realm. The realm name was Valkaries and it was in 4 days. She went to her library to read about the realm battles. How you can travel to the realm temporarily but you leave your shield down on your city. That reminded Eden of the open slot she had for a General. She went through the list and decided on a general that specialized in siege. As she was looking at more information on how to participate in the challenge she received a message from FOX CallanRok. He was requesting a friendly conversation. Eden furrowed her eyes questioning what does friendly mean.
Eden agreed to chat with FOX CallanRok for a bit to find out if perhaps she can get some input on the realm war.
"Hello Miss Eden, How are you doing today?" asked CallanRok
"I'm fine, looking at the realm war info, do you happened to know anything that isn't in the intro page?"
"I see you aren't interested in regular chitchat"
"I assumed that's why you messaged me"
"That's part of it, but I just wanted to talk to you as a friend"
"I think friends don't set their friends on fire" replied Eden while irritated at the memory of him pillaging some members and reading the reports.
"I'm just doing a defense inspection. It's community service. They should learn to lock their doors"
"How about we test your defense instead?"
"You are welcome to try Miss Eden, but just you"
"I think I know a trap when I see one"
"Smart lady"
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, you haven't agreed to a peace treaty with us"
"FOX doesn't need a peace treaty from anyone, we can handle the wars"
"Okay, seeing that you are not interested in a treaty or sharing information on the realm battle, then I have to say thank you for saying hello, but I must say farewell. I have other places to be."
"Come to FOX, leave the ones who aren't interested in pvp. We can help you but you need to be in our alliance"
"I don't just abandon my people. They come with me, all or nothing"
By now Eden was used to people trying to poach her from the alliance and telling her to discard anyone who isn't useful. She getting frustrated because part of her wanted to advance to complete the requirements to go home and the other part was telling her she couldn't leave anyone behind.
A new message came in, FTG Jericho, someone she has been talking to for a bit to gain favor with so her members benefit from his friendship. He was the strongest in the realm and most recruited. Eden didn't want to come off as the same as all the rest, she just wanted her members not to suffer from an attack from him. His army could kill most of her alliance alone. She decided making friends with him was better than making an enemy of him.
"For the real war, we need you here to support," He said right away
"I need time to prepare since I haven't made arrangements with my alliance regarding this challenge" She replied while biting her nail, hoping he didn't pressure her. She was thinking of who would support her members while she was out.
"Eden, as your friend, I just want to show them we aren't to be picked on and ensure the survival of our alliance, that includes yours"
After a deep breath, Eden replied "I'll be there"
Eden got up from her chair and walked to the stable to find Thunder getting groomed. The servant girl only gave her a bow and left. Eden mounted her horse and began to head for the gate. Arthur and the rest of her knight commanders were at the gate waiting for her. "Chief-Commander, the armies are ready" said Arthur as he saluted
"I only want my attacking archer formation, have troops ready to replenish the injured."
Then she rode off and found the target she was looking for to test her attack power. The unsuspecting City had its gates open as Eden rode through them. She stood up on Thunder and pulled out her swords as she jumped off into a flip and struck the first troop in her sight. She moved so fast through the army leaving behind a trail of dust still rising up from the ground. Her two swords seemed unscathed or touched by blood. She pressed on and moved to the next tier after the next. She was accompanied by Arthur who was almost equally fast and strong. The archers would take out the troops not far from them. Eden was standing in front of the bed of the castle owner. She walked over to him and tapped his face with her sword. He woke up in a shock and quickly tried to jump away but she pinned him down to the bed with her sword. He looked around as if executing someone to enter. "They're all dead, I've already taken some prisoners who would serve as free labor and the rest were eliminated. You have two options, have a stealthy death or live but swear you will not seek revenge. If you do seek revenge, you will wish for a stealthy death." Eden's eyes flickered in red as her mood became ominous. How can you live with yourself the way you are? Don't you have a moral compass?" "I obviously lost it the past few days I've been stuck here in this realm. Either make your choice or I'll make it for you." "You Bit.." His voice was cut short with a sword that was shoved into his mouth. "You got my sword dirty with your filthy mouth." Eden removed her sword and cleaned it on his bedsheet. She took out a bottle and tossed it onto him. His body combusted and the fire began to spread through the room. Eden walked away without a shred of emotion in her face.
Later in Eden's Garden, Corruption was drinking her tea and looked at Eden with a worried look. She put her cup down, "You can't keep questioning yourself after every battle you speak to the actual person."
"That's the problem, it's an actual person. I keep telling myself it's all made up, these aren't our bodies, but sometimes, it feels so real and I question if the purpose of this game is to desensitize us to be ruthless killing machines" said Eden with a monotone voice.
"We don't know all the details. How do you explain some people dying and then after sometime returning with the story they have been dormant and have no recollection of even dying here."
"Yeah, that is weird. I even talked to one of the people I killed personally that doesn't remember me doing it and is shocked to see my report. But they don't have a report of their own, it's like a memory wipe."
"Did you get what you needed from his castle?"
"I didn't find proof of the traitor, but I found the items stolen from our members. Unfortunately I can't return everything, the system consumes some of them to increase my EXP Level and the level of my army. It's all on this report. I think it's best if we join in the battle and let the person take the lead, but the strongest will still take the majority of the goods."
"Even so, they should thank you for going into battle for them, so it's like a paid fee"
"Being on the battlefield gives me a thrill, but the final stage is the most draining part for me. You know, where I kill the monarch."
"That I can't help with, You know that I support mostly on the boss rallies"
"Yes, I know. It helps us all, Thank you!"
A familiar face arrived, Maur. "Have you ladies been waiting long?" With a cheery face, Maur greeted them both. Behind Maur, was Onibat.
Eden cleared her voice after everyone settled in."Well, now that you are all here. I wanted to announce that I will be heading out in 4 days to join the realm coalition. I was requested to participate by FTG Jericho. I figured since he has kept his word to not attack our people, I would honor his request. That means Corruption is incharge of the alliance as my proxy and Onibat will take the lead on defending the ones who need it."
"Why isn't Ron, Notme and Blowzabella not here?" asked Maur.
"Ron and Notme are providing aid to the ones on the outskirts of the territory. They said they will follow Onibats commands on whatever he decides. Blowzabella, she said she isn't a war person, so she decided to stay out of the meeting" replied Eden thoughtfully.
"If Blowzabella isn't a war person, then why the fuck did she get stuck here with the rest of us. All she does is make statements about peace that no one is following anyway." Onibat said as he picked up his glass of beer.
"Don't you know her name has "blow" in it? She must know how to do that," said Maur while winking at Onibat. Onibat started choking on his beer and some even came out of his nose. There were a few chuckles, except for Corruption who covered her mouth with the sleeve of the kimono she was wearing. "I think she is still trying to establish herself among the realm to be an influential person. This helps for recruitment purposes, so I don't mind her leaving and going."
"I think you did that without leaving your alliance and traveling. Eden just is" said Maur as he refilled Onibat's cup of beer while Onibat gave him a glare. "I just say things and don't want anyone else to hold on to the burden. They can make their assumptions and think what they want as long as we stick together. We know who we are and what we stand for," replied Eden as she handed a napkin to Onibat.
"What's up with that merge that FOX said they wanted," asked Onibat as he took another drink from his cup.
"I think we can learn from them but negotiations are final. I told them we need everyone in the alliance or not at all. I'm not leaving anyone behind"
"You know they don't really want us, they just want the bigs in our alliance" said Maur.
"Makes sense to want to recruit power for war" added Onibat.
"We can manage, just need more time to learn the ins and out to help the rest grow" Eden interjected.
"Well, I will go where you think is best," said Corruption.
"Same" added Onibat and Maur in unison.
"Sticking together is best, eventually we will need to merge to hit those bigger bosses" Eden said as she had a pensive face.
"You still don't know how the information got sent to CallanRok?" asked Maur.
"He mentioned it and didn't say who told him. I sent that alliance mail on purpose to sniff out there was indeed someone sharing alliance information. He's very sneaky and pretends to be your friend. I play along, but he's convincing. Sometimes I think I believe him."
"Master of deception, it's probably best to keep him on friendly terms" said Maur.
"Nah, fuck that guy. He says he's your friend but then he goes around hitting every member he can, me included. He got me while I fell asleep during a scouting mission." Onibat said while putting his cup down with force on the table making the beer spill out.
"Well, you guys will keep me in check if you ever see me steer away from myself,"said Eden as she dried the table with a cloth.
They kept talking about plans when they all received an alert by members. Expatriate is attacking the alliance. All unbubbled members. Eden quickly checked the battle logs and noticed only one casualty happen. The rest of the castle were decoys. Erza, have my potions of transportation ready, I'm taking my army.
"You need back up?" asked Corruption. "No, I need your troops to support the alliance in Boss raids." Onibat got up with an irritated face, he looked at the floor, "There's not much support I can give you since I'm recovering from the attack on me." "You're good, I'm planing on doing a sniper move attack. He won't know be able to catch me and I need everyone to keep their bubble."
Eden rode off on Thunder as her army followed behind her. The moment she left the gates a bright light flashed and the army disappeared. She was a few kilometers from the alliance Expartriate recently joined. Eden sunk her feet into the ground and took off towards her first target. She passed troops like a quick gust of wind. Each one gasping for air as they dropped to the ground with their throats cut. Arthur would run like a fireball setting buildings on fire behind Eden. The ground troops barely had time to set off the alarms before arrows shot them down. Horses trampled through anything standing in their way as their riders injured anyone around. Eden blew the castle doors open with her momentum knocking the troops holding it closed. A few managed to scratch her armor. One of the generals managed to make a cut deep enough to draw blood, but that only increased Eden's speed. In seconds one castle was already in flames and its citizens were trying to put out the fire. Eden recalled her troops to where they originally landed and changed position. Next target, and then the next and then the next. Eden was out of breath and paused for a moment to check her condition. The next moment she saw a dark figure coming from her right at twice her speed. She jolted out of the way. Expatriate's sword missed her neck by an inch and cut a single strand of hair in the process. Eden threw a bottle on the ground and was teleported to a different spot. She only had a few seconds before she noticed the same dark figure running toward her. Again she teleported. This time she said " Shield." The figure was thrown back when the shield widened. Expatriate circled her like a wolf ready to devour its prey. Eden smirked at him. His eyes widened and pounced on the shield to try to go through but he was blown back. He left and Eden got a message from Maur, he's back at the hive hitting the unbubbled. Eden replied, is it the same ones or new ones? Maur said, same. Eden smiled and stood closer to Expatriate Alliance hive looking for her next target. She was about to attack and deactivate the shield, but Expatriate stood in front of her again. She got a better look at him, he was this tall man without armor. Just a leather vest on, buckle and pants. He had long black air and dark blue eyes. He had a rugged appearance. His chest was harry but you can still see his muscle outline. His gaze was piercing and the look of his face was handsome with an angry touch. Eden wondered if this was a skin he picked out from the events or he did "create your own" event which was expensive. A message request arrived on Eden's inbox from Expatriate titled, leave. The message said, "I will burn you and your alliance if you don't stop." Eden replied, "go ahead, they know the risks of not having a shield. I see about 5 more I can plunder by myself, next time I'll bring friends." Expatriate eyes flickered red after reading her reply. He replied, "You don't care about your members, what kind of leader is that!" Eden smirked again, "you think you know me. Who will avenge my members everytime you decide to attack our alliance and I sit down to watch. Maybe you should have thought about yours before you decided to pick a fight with mine. I'm not going to watch my people be bullied. An eye for an eye." Eden sent her reply and stared at the Expatriate until he was done reading. He stared at Eden for a few more seconds. Eden raised her chin a little higher as she positioned herself in an attack stance. Expatriate, wrote one more thing and walked back to his hive. "Fine, I will not attack your alliance anymore as long as your members don't attack mine." Eden let out a breath and placed her swords away. She teleported back to her castle where the team was still there receiving damage reports. Only one casualty and the rest were decoys. Eden told Erza, "I need to see our alliance attack reports from the Alliance archives." Maur looked at Eden confused, "why are you checking who we attacked when we are the ones who got attacked. It's something Expatriate said, I want to check if my hunch is correct. "You spoke to him after you set his alliance on fire?" asked Maur amused. Eden smirked a little as she looked over the alliance report. A few hours prior to the incident there was one member who showed up as attacking someone on a resource area from the Expatriate alliance. Eden took a deep breath and tossed the report to the side while reaching for a glass of water. Maur picked it up and looked back at Eden with surprise. "I didn't notice this earlier and Bellatrix didn't say anything," said Maur. "Ofcourse she didn't, this is the 3rd time she has done something stupid and it's the same thing too. She's probably the reason he targeted us," said Onibat with anger. "We only have one casualty thanks to the decoys we planted in the hive and it gave our other members time to put on a shield. I'll compensate for the losses of our single casualty as long as he doesn't seek revenge and I'll send compensation to the guy who got hit on the resource area. As for Bellatrix… She's no longer in our protection." Eden said stoically and selected the kick member out. "Erza, I want a scout report for Bellatrix, I need to know how much she has," said Eden as she began writing a letter. "Wow, are we gang banging her for those resources?" asked Onibat with a smile. "No, she will be tribute to the Expatriate Alliance for the misunderstanding today. Trust me, if our losses were higher, I wouldn't pay tribute and let them figure it out. But I think Bellatrix should pay for her misdoings." Eden said as she sent her letter through.
Eden and the rest mounted their horses to the top of the hill to see the castle of Bellatrix. Her shield was up still and the sun was setting. "Did Expat tell you why he attacked us?" asked Maur. "No, he didn't even mention the earlier attack. He asked for us not to attack them, so the only conclusion in my mind was that we already did. That's why I checked our battle records that get automatically archived in the alliance castle. Resource areas don't give us alerts, so I don't blame you for not seeing it right away. I like to snoop and test. Also, the scout report shows she set up a barrier right after she attacked. It tells me she knew something was coming and she didn't warn anyone"
The shield dropped from Bellatrix and it looked like a missile hit the castle and blew it up right away. There was no time for another shield to be set up in time. There was a dark figure walking out of the flames with a large chest the size of a truck dragging from his left hand, while his right held his sword. He turned to look in Eden's direction and nodded, then continued to walk away.
"I think I need a new pair of pants, I peed a little" said Maur
"Don't you mean underwear?" asked Onibat confused
"I'm not wearing any," replied Maur as he wiggled his eyebrows at Onibat
"Wrong tree dude," replied Onibat as he pulled his horse away from Maur.
Eden chuckled watching those two bicker and taunt each other. "You sent the scout report to Expatriate and an apology for the misunderstanding. Then offered to stand guard, no one else takes his claim. But how did you know the shield wasn't going to be activated in time?" asked Corruption. "That's classified information, I'd have to kill ya" replied Onibat before Eden said anything. "Come on, Oni, you know you can tell me," Corruption said singingly at him. Onibat stared at her for a few seconds and then cleared his throat when he realized he was still staring. His face got pink from the embarrassment. "Well, I observe the behavior patterns of the members, something Eden requested a while back. Since we still haven't figured out the traitor. I deducted that Bellatrix is frugal with her shields and she likes to wait for it to completely expire. She leaves like a 1 to 2 minute gap, probably due to a delay in telling her guide to shut up after the timer goes off," said Onibat seriously. "Wow, are you an FBI agent or something?" asked Maur. "I'm batman," replied Onibat in a deep raspy voice. Eden and Corruptioned laughed while Maur rolled his eyes.
They pulled their horses to turn back in the direction of the hive. Corruption leaned in closer to Eden and asked, "How was your encounter face to face with Expatriate?"
"I nearly shit my pants if I wasn't running off adrenaline, fucker came out of nowhere!" squealed Eden and they both began to laugh. "I was surprised to see you in one piece, almost impressed." said Onibat from behind. "Yeah, I'm impressed you didn't come back with a wardrobe and bath change. Glad actually" added Maur. "Believe me, I had to keep my cool, he moved twice as fast and I knew I was an inch away from meeting Jesus earlier than I hoped. I think my shield and quick thinking saved my ass. That's why we need to remind everyone to keep improving stats and those potions save lives," said Eden while giving a relieved look. "Yeah, EXC lives matter," Maur added and they all chuckled.