567 He's The One Behind It

Everyone was silent after I punched the guy flying into the wall. I think they were still trying to comprehend what had just occurred in front of them.

I dusted my hands and wondered if this meant that we had completed the Dungeon. Do I get a Dungeon clear reward for this?

As if responding to my inner monologue, the body of the Rejmar I punched dissolved away into nothingness.

Then another Rejmar appeared a short distance away from me with the same features as the one I had punched, this one looking more pissed off.

"You can stop trying that, I'm not using my real body to speak to you since I expected some retaliation. But I would appreciate it if you would hear me out first before resorting to violence."

What is this? An illusion? Or is it a Shadow Summon? If it's an illusion I shouldn't have been able to punch the first one like that and the fact that it melted away should point to it being a shadow summon.

But I don't remember normal Shadow Summons being able to talk like that? This one is acting as a mouthpiece for the original right? I don't think my normal Shadow Summons could act as my mouthpieces before I turned them into Shadow Guards.

I nodded at him, "Fine, what do you want to say?"

He grinned and gestured to himself, "I believe you know who I am, don't you? Or at least, your companions do?"

Olgar pointed a finger at him, "Yeah! You're the bastard who destroyed Gibostoniv Town!! It took us years to rebuild it after what you did!!"

The hooded Rejmar let out a sigh, "I see they didn't even remember my name… But that's fine, I have a new name for myself anyway. You may refer to me as the Shadow Lord."

"Alright, then I guess I'll call you Fuckface," Thorn spat.

Fuckface didn't seem too bothered by Thorn's words and gestured towards us, "Now, I admit that I was expecting at least some people to show up here, but not this soon. I suppose I should first congratulate all of you for getting so far!"

Olgar pointed one of his maces at him, "Stop spouting nonsense, traitor. Tell us what you're really after!"

Fuckface spread his arms out in a sort of welcoming gesture, "Oh, but I'm simply offering a new perspective. Don't you think that the Frostiminir Kingdom is long overdue for a change in leadership?"

Thorn scoffed, "And I suppose you would nominate yourself as the leader of it? Yeah, I think we're fine."

Fuckface smiled, "Perhaps. You might vilify me for the destruction of that city, but it was a necessary act as a step to our future.

"Oh really? Please explain to me how turning thousands of our people into those monsters was a necessary step?"

"I see… So you already know how these little creations of mine are made. Then this will make things much simpler. Let me present to you my views first. Don't you think that our Kingdom has been losing its own sovereignty for the past few decades?"

That seemed to pique the attention of my Rejmar companions. None of them responded to his questions but they weren't cussing at him either..

Fuckface took that as an indication to continue and started pacing around the room, "You see… We established our Kingdom and prided ourselves on our neutrality. For generations we would be the place that other nations would go to when they wish to have a neutral ground to hold discussions. This then expanded to include companies and other groups as well, which invited various different factions and groups into our mountains. Do you not see anything wrong with that?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "I dunno? Sounds like you're inviting more variety and the kingdom would become a great place of diversity and harmony?"

He visibly scowled at me, "What kind of world do you think we live in? Are you retarded? This pla--"

He didn't get to finish his words before Eins suddenly leapt forward and kicked him across the head, the force of the kick enough to separate the head from the body.

Now I joined the others to stare at the scene in shock as the headless body toppled on the ground before melting away.

She then returned to my side like nothing had happened and another copy of that Fuckface appeared a short distance away.

He scowled, "What was that for?!"

Gwen answered in Eins's stead, "You are not qualified to insult her so watch your mouth."

Fuckface growled at her but decided not to argue and waved his hand dismissively, "Whatever. This world isn't that nice. All those people started taking advantage of us, setting up their fronts within our company and calling them embassies or store branches when in fact they're just using it to influence our Kingdom from the inside! We have already ceded land to these outsiders, what else will they take next?"

I tilted my head at him, "It's not like this World belongs to you, you know? You have received benefits from outsiders but you're not willing to accept their presence? Yet you can act like a hypocrite and continue to enjoy the fruits of their labour?"

"That would not be a problem if they weren't sticking their noses in where they don't belong!"

"And your solution to that is to kill an entire city of your own people and transform them into monsters?"

Now his lips curled up into a twisted smirk, "Oh no, no, no. My solution is to make myself the new leader instead because it's obvious the old leadership is clearly lacking. And I will take it by force if I need to."

Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, "Do you truly believe that you can take over the entire Kingdom by yourself?"

"Ha! You underestimate how many people actually would welcome a change in the regime! And even if there were dissidents, I could simply subjugate them by force! After all, I have an army that I can keep replenishing as long as I have bodies! There was just one problem I had to overcome but now I have the solution for it!!"

He then resumed his pacing around the room, "My Shadow Devourers are not intelligent. They only follow a specific order and can't think for themselves outside of self preservation. I thought it might just be a matter of the quality of bodies or even whether the subject was willing or unwilling, so I set up a little experiment~"

Thorn furrowed his brows, "You tricked Dungeoneers like us to come here… And then got sympathisers like Jurga to join you and told him how to transform into one as well…"

Fuckface started laughing maniacally, "That's right! After I left the city, I found this Dungeon and figured out a neat way to influence the Dungeon~ Then I set up this little trap to get some Dungeoneers inside here to experiment on~ The Altar of Sacrifice was the perfect artefact to turn all of your pain, resentment, suffering and anger into mana that I can purify into Liquid Mana to be used! It was perfect!"

He then turned to look at me in particular, "Although I did design the trap to send all non-Rejmars out of the Dungeon, you had remained but it turned out to be beneficial to me in the end."

Ok… At least I know the others are safe, but what did he mean by that?

Before I could ask him, he had shifted his gaze to the three Rejmars beside me, "I'm giving all of you a choice now. Join me willingly and return our Kingdom back to how it's supposed to be. Reject my offer and I will simply turn you all into Shadow Devourers who will do my bidding either way."

Gwen hefted her shield and hammer, "I have a better idea… How about we destroy you here and burn all your plans to the ground?"

Fuckface shook his head in mock disappointment, "I see, a shame for you. But what about you two? If you are not with me, then you are against me."

Olgar also lifted his maces, "The words you speak are thick with deceit. You do not believe in creating a Kingdom for Rejmars, you only want power. I can see it."

Thorn also hefted his weapon, "That's right. Do you think we got this far simply on our own? We are on the path to achieve greatness through cooperation with all races and nations… No one else can boast about this. Sure, there are some selfish bastards amongst them, but that doesn't mean we cut off everyone else. Your way will only lead down a path of destruction."

Fuckface sighed exaggeratedly, "I tried… Then let me change something."

He turned back to me and pointed at Eins, "Tell me how you managed to make that Shadow Summon and I will let your companions go."

Ah fuck… He knows…