Chapter 161 - Angel of War

In the forests of the Culdao Peaks, three days later...

[...Harrison has been slain in Ulut, putting an end to the civil war as the fallout continues to be tallied. Newly appointed President Dekar is publicly offering Count Leon a ceasefire, but Count Leon has yet to respond to the proposal...] A static-filled announcer's voice crackled through the arctech radio, his voice wafting through the humid air amidst a mess of ferns and trees, the lingering stench of mud permeating the area. The arctech radio fizzled out in the middle of a hastily dug trench, sparks erupting from its damaged arcia engraving as a coarse hand slapped it hard in an attempt to 'fix' it.

"Stupid radio..." Niko cursed under his breath, sweating from the streams of daylight shining into the depths of the dug trench while delivering yet another 'fix.' It usually worked, except this time, the radio finally broke apart from the sheer force of the hit, the voice cutting off and leaving the nearby soldiers with nothing else to focus on but the nausea-inducing dampness of human sweat, urine and excretion from the local wildlife all mixing into an overwhelming scent. Niko sighed, turning to leave, when he found his path through the narrow trench blocked by a humongous hobgoblin soldier who was an entire head higher than him.

"Hey! Me listening!" The hobgoblin soldier snarled at Niko. "Turn it on!"

"It was already on its last legs." Niko gestured to the fizzling components of the arctech radio. "And how were you even listening? You don't even know who Harrison is!"

"I know! Bad guy. Dead now." The hobgoblin grinned.

"Can't argue with that." Niko nodded in agreement. "Look, I'll find a replacement, and then you can listen to all the re-runs of that Grandfather Sahusa Baby... something something. I forgot the name."

"That Time I Went Forward in Time To Be-"

"No need to recite the title." Niko immediately stopped the hobgoblin before it could ramble on. "Focus on the battle, big boy. How about that?"

"What battle? No battle for the last week!"

"And that's a good thing. It will come soon. Just be ready." Niko patted the hobgoblin on the shoulder, leaving it to mourn the death of the arctech radio as he shuffled past him. The mud coated Niko's legs up to his shin, armored boots sloshing in the soft ground as he made his way through the trench lethargically. Each soldier he walked past, human or goblin, saluted Niko as soon as he came in range, though Niko could sense their tiredness from afar. It was hard to stay on combat alert, especially for days on end only for the attack to never arrive.

He made his way towards the depths of the trench line, snaking back towards the goblin kingdom's valley where there was an intermediate command post dug into a large square that was filled with clerks and officers running to and fro, handling the day-to-day logistics of the defense. Dull thuds of sporadic mortar fire echoed through the Culdao Peaks, hardly fazing Niko anymore as he entered the tent proper. Inside, a sprawling sea of tables stacked with papers higher than his head were surrounded by boxes upon boxes of supplies and ammunition, couriers sprinting in and out of the makeshift flaps that served as the doors. The ceiling was made of simple fabric, just good enough to shield the workers from the glaring daylight and the elements.

Niko returned a curt salute to those who stood to attention, but he focused his efforts on heading right to a storage rack, walking past Monica, who was hunched over a table and pouring over reports. Monica eyed Niko suspiciously as Niko grabbed another arctech radio off the rusted metal shelves situated behind her. "We don't manufacture arctech radios anymore, you know. At least not here."

"One of the squad's radios is broken," Niko muttered as he flipped the arctech radio over, checking for defects.

"Then maybe they should stop dropping it in mud or stop running it ragged by playing continuous re-runs of the same goddamn recording! It wears out the speakers. You think these things are invincible?"

"They are bored out of their fucking minds out there, and so am I. They haven't attacked in a week!" Niko shot back. "Get off our backs, for Yual's sake. Troop morale is important, you know."

"If they don't want to be bored, then have them sign up for the scouting parties. I'm going to need a new one soon."

"What's wrong with the last one?"

"They missed their latest checkup one hour ago. Last reported to be somewhere near the Culdao Peaks Town-"

Just as Monica and Niko were discussing, the makeshift doors into the command post burst open, a ragged four-man squad hoisting a lifeless corpse inside by their hands. Monica instantly recognizes the squad to be the scouting party in question, shooting out of her seat and rushing over. "What's going on? Where's the scout leader?"

"Dead, ma'am." One of the scouts collapsed onto the ground on his butt, heaving and panting after having just sprinted for a long distance. "I don't know what happened to the other half, but the leader insisted we get back the body and the information." He pointed to the lifeless corpse.

Niko squatted next to the corpse, unfazed by the decaying pale skin or the fear-stricken eyes on the face, instead putting his attention to the gear. "I don't see anything special about this body. Looks just the same as every other idiot we've killed. Same Versian rifle, same armor." Niko yanked the rifle from the corpse's dead man clutch, inspecting it for modifications. "Standard issue. What's the catch?"

"The face, look at the face. He's not from Raktor." The scout replied weakly, and he and his squad mates were still trying to catch their breath while Monica gestured for medics to help them. "There's a whole bunch of them coming in from Kregol."

"Kregol? What the hell?" Niko exclaimed. "What do those backwater cunts have to do with this fight?"

"No idea, but they are being ferried in by the truckloads." The scout dragged himself up with the help of the table, lurching forward to a map and placing a grimy finger on a road. "They aren't only being supplied from Raktor; they are being transported from Kregol through the various mountain roads here. We've seen at least three wagons filled to the brim with arcite ore and raw metal."

"That doesn't make any sense. There are no manufacturing industries in the Culdao Peaks Town. They are..." Niko caught himself mid-sentence. "You're saying they deliver the materials to the West Sector, the finished products back here to the people attacking us."

"Yes, sir." The scout nodded. "I don't know how many more they are recruiting from Kregol, but at this rate, we're going to be facing more and more attackers over time."

They are building up their forces, while we are stagnant... Niko exchanged a look with Monica, both nodding at each other. Monica patted the scout on the back. "Good work. We'll take it from here. A transport will send you to safety in the Culdao Peaks."

Monica left the other officers and goblins to carry out the work, before joining Niko in a private section of the command post, their voices low as they planned what to do next. "So they are amassing a big assault force. Why is Kregol even helping them?" Niko lamented, scratching his head in frustration.

"No idea, but if we don't want to be outnumbered even more, we should start planning for a strike."

"A strike? Their weaponry may not be as strong, but they outnumber us 3 to 1, even without Kregol's help." Niko pointed out. "We barely know any of their defense systems - we don't even know how they fortified the town!"

"I'm not suggesting a full-on assault. A small surgical strike." Monica interjected. "You, me, and a few others will enter in and try to do as much damage as we can. Stall them long enough for Kyle to return."

"Are you sure he is even going to return in time?"

"Harrison's death is probably due to him. He should be returning soon, any moment now."

"We shouldn't be hoping for the boss to save us from this situation. We're better than that." Niko sighed, pacing around the private section.

"Then the surgical strike should be good enough to prove that." Monica grinned. "Let's get in there and wreak some havoc, hmm? You and I can take on anyone as long as we get into close range."

Niko nodded, hashing out the rest of the details. They eventually agreed to take two squads of Seven Snakes and hobgoblins to infiltrate past the current battle lines in the forest. However, the route previously used by the returning scouts was compromised, half the squad having died in a deadly chase. "Are we sure the scouts were not followed back here?"

"We have men guarding the entire perimeter. Unless they want to try their hand at scaling the face of the mountains, at which point they would be visible immediately to us." Monica asserted.

Niko was about to concede when a medic burst into the private section. "Sir, ma'am, we found a strange arrowhead-like object lodged in one of the scout's back." The medic had a metallic arctech device in his palm that beeped steadily, releasing an eerie pulsating purple glow that unnerved Niko and Monica.

"Never seen this before. Doesn't look explosive." Niko picked up the device, examining both of its flat sides, the tip of it bloodied from its inflicted wound on the scout. The engravings were intricate and highly detailed, though neither of the vipers could figure out what exactly it was. How is it glowing without an arcia energy source? 

Monica picked up a nearby arctech radio, barking for arctech engineers from the Culdao Peaks, when Niko suddenly grabbed Monica's arm, forcing her to stop. "What's happening?"

"Speak, speak into the radio again!" Niko urged.

"And say what? I'm kinda busy here!"

"Say anything, now!"

"Right... Prepare for transport of unknown devi-"

"Look, the device is glowing in response to your voice!" Niko exclaimed, holding the device up to Monica's face for her to see.

"What the..." Monica muttered, the purple glow fluctuating in rhythm with her own vocal inflections. Despite the discovery, Niko and Monica's face immediately darken, both coming to the same realization. "The device is reacting to our communications!"

A dull echo of another mortar being fired could be heard in the distance, but instead of just being a single standalone salvo, more and more thuds began to echo through the command post. Niko dashed out of the command post, looking up past the canopy of dense leaves to spot trails of smoke, mortar shells in the dozens being launched upwards from the enemy's battle lines. "Clear the command post, now!" Niko roared inside, one of the officers immediately triggering a loud klaxon that alerted the trenches, shocking the lethargic soldiers awake.

The clerks and other logistic couriers immediately scrambled out of the way while Monica grabbed a flustered clerk by the collar. "Fuck the paper, get the hell out now!" Monica tossed the clerk towards the door, sprinting to the storage shelves and grabbing everything of use that she could hold onto. Arctech Radios, rifles, and water flasks were flung out of the command post hastily as the distinctive whizzing sound grew nearer and nearer.

Niko heaved a crate out of the command post, handing it to another soldier just as the first wave of mortars slammed into the post, pounding it violently in a barrage of explosions. The blast shredded the thin fabric cover and incinerated the planning tables and war maps, sending Niko flying in a shower of dirt and mud. He felt the wind knock out from his lungs, gasping only to inhale seared air that burned his throat. Ears ringing, he could only hear the sharp breaths of his own mouth, the blood thumping in his ear as another mortar hit the ground, this time slamming above the trench and covering him and the others in a torrent of soil, blanketing them like a waterfall.

He staggered to his feet, frantic reports coming in from all over the battlefield on the radio channels. [Squad 48 on the eastern flank, taking heavy fire! They are pushing us with armored wagons!]

[Western flank being broken - the Violet Demons are already in the trenches! They are-]

Niko shrugged off the concussion in his brain, another soldier immediately helping him up as his stamina engraving kicked in, restoring his energy and allowing him to get back up even as mortar after mortar continued to rain down. Niko watched as a mortar landed right into the trenches far in the distance, the ball of heat consuming entire squads in a deadly sea of flames and eliciting horrifying screams.

"Call for aid from King Sahusa! If we lose this defensive line, we'll only have the walls of the kingdom left!" Niko urged a nearby officer. "Send everything, make everyone a hobgoblin in the Oracle Chamber, I don't care!"

"But sir, there were strict orders by Kyle to limit the number of hobgoblins to a small percentage. We are already struggling with food-"

The officer's face was grabbed by Niko's grimy hands, Niko staring him down eye to eye. "Is Kyle here? Does Kyle know we're on the edge of defeat? Does Kyle know that if we lose here, the goblins may rise up in rebellion and join the Ardent Cretins?!"

"N-no, sir."

"Then go! We need everybody we can! I don't give two shits if they know how to use a rifle or not, go now!" Niko roared, sending the panicking officer off to radio in the kingdom. Niko swiveled his head about, looking back towards the now smoldering wreck that was the command post, Monica walking through the ruins in a slight stupor. "Monica!"

"I'm okay..." Monica grunted, resting her arm and elbow against the soft, muddy walls of the trenches as the sounds of pellets and shouting began to approach closer and closer. She unclipped the cover of a pouch on her belt, pulling out a health potion to take a swig of it. "Looks like we're going to fall before the city does."

"I'll be damned if Damian holds the South Sector longer than I could!" Niko grinned, picking up a fallen repeater and wiping the mud off the body. "Bet they don't have three parties ganging up on them - who else could say they fought an alliance of two major gangs?"

"That Central Sector Bishop guy could." Monica smiled.

"Fuck that idiot, he's dead. We're going to make it out of this - let's show them what we're made of!"

Niko and Monica kicked into action, rallying the hobgoblins and Seven Snakes recruits, many of the humans being unfortunate enough to have been in the training caves when the civil war broke out. They were not fully trained yet, some of them shivering in fear in the trenches as Niko marched through. Niko noticed the low morale of the recruits, though he could not blame them. It's only been a month since they had left the city, the majority of them still baby-faced and wide-eyed with horror at being forced to fight.

"Seven Snakes, form up!" Niko roared, grabbing the nearest sniveling young recruit and forcing him to stand. "Recruit, is this what you signed up for? To be a whimpering burden on the frontlines?"

"I never signed up to be on the front!" The young recruit cried back over the din of mortar fire.

"Then why did you join the Seven Snakes?"

"To be rich and powerful, not some cannon fodder in a war I don't even understand? Why am I fighting to protect goblins?!" The recruit complained, earning a few agreeing nods from the recruits who were now gathering around.

"You think thats what the Seven Snakes is about? Just kicking back and enjoying life? Slacking about while burning money?" Niko shot back.

"That's what I saw, that's what everyone saw in the South Sector. The casino, the shopping arcade, everything! The vipers like you running the show, Kyle dominating every thug trying to muscle in!"

"And you think we got there by complaining and crying our hearts out at every turning point?" Niko scoffed. "LISTEN UP!"

Niko stepped forward, dragging the crying recruit further down the trench, forcing him to peer out over to see the smoking battlefield ahead. "While you're whining and wasting supplies here, the others are fighting for what they deserve! Out there beyond this trench is a world filled with people who don't want to see us win, who don't want to see you win! No one owes you anything, and no one will grant you anything unless you stand up for yourselves. Not Kyle, not me, not Monica. You will stand up on your own and never yield!

"All of us came from Raktor, some from further away, but we have all joined the gang for one thing - Power! And the path to power is always filled with blood, filled with danger that can easily take your life on a whim. But what good is your pathetic life if you never fight? What good is your life when all you can do is crouch in a corner and wait for Kyle, wait for me to come and save your asses? We are more than that. We're SEVEN SNAKES! Not some babysitting playground for adult babies hoping to coast by. We're SEVEN SNAKES! And when the world tries to take what is ours, we hold our ground and scream a resounding NO! Not even two major gangs can hold us down, for we will fight to the death for what we want, for what we desire! Do you want to return a coward or a man who stood against the enemy and fought for everything you are?"

"A MAN!" The invigorated recruits shouted back in unison.

"Then do not wait for Kyle. Do not wait for me. Take the battle to the enemy, and let them know just exactly who we are! Seven Snakes, NEVER SURRENDER!"

"Seven Snakes, NEVER SURRENDER!" The recruits chanted in a flurry of yells and morale-boosting cries.

"Now go, and let the Violet Demons know just who the king of the Culdao Peaks are!" Niko roared, himself leading the charge. They rushed to reinforce the front trenches, snaking through the ditches and primitive bunks nestled within the tunnel network as the sounds of battle got closer and closer. "Monica, take the west flank. I'll hold east!" Niko motioned.

"Giving me the easier one?" Monica taunted as the two vipers led their respective forces in separate directions. Niko kept the morale up, and the chants from the convinced recruits behind him caused morale to surge even higher than ever before. They fanned out into the various entrenchments and fortifications, replacing dead Seven Snakes while Niko dashed up to a circular emplacement, where a lone operator fired a mounted arctech repeater with abandon. The operator's squad were all already dead, fragments of a mortar shell pierced into their collapsed bodies, eyes still wide open.

Niko hefted an ammo box, lugging it up to the still firing mounted repeater and lifting the box high, dumping the pellets enmasse into the magazine. The operator didn't have the time to thank Niko, not that he could hear himself over the din of continuous pellet fire either way. As soon as he was done, he grabbed the repeater, moving forward to the front to get a look at the state of the battlefield.

A ravaged land of stumped trees and burnt bushes littered the horizon, the clearing offering no cover for anyone who dared to advance either way. The soft jungle soil had been long pounded into a soggy mess of clay and wet dirt that slowed down anyone walking. Niko peered into the distance, spotting what the operator was shooting at - a slow lumbering wagon pushing forward. The armor on the front was haphazard, a mere stacking of countless corrugated metal sheets folded on one another, shaped into a forward plow. It flattened the ground as it moved while a dead gunner's body lolled off the roof of the wagon, having already been killed by the Seven Snakes operator.

The Seven Snakes operator roared, firing incessantly into the armor in a bid to shred it apart. Unfortunately, the pellets merely pinged off the makeshift armor and plow, the wagon's advance unimpeded by the firepower. The wagon was far from the only one, another dozen pushing up in a line, forming a attacking front. Another salvo of mortars from the enemy side sailed into the sky, Niko seeing it fall right towards them. "Get down!" Niko urged.

The operator had no time to reach, the mortar shell immediately crashing through his jaw, ripping it apart, bone and flesh and tearing through his neck in a direct hit. His body barely had time to fall to the ground, the mortar shell erupting in a deadly burst of shrapnel that eviscerated it with a thousand metal shards. Niko shielded himself, the knight armor blocking most of the damage while he spotted similar explosions erupting all across the eastern flank.

Suddenly, he heard a rumbling roar intensify, and the speed of the approaching wagons increased rapidly. The plow grated against the mud, easily clearing a path while more than two dozen enemy soldiers marched in cover behind the advancing wagons. Niko scrambled to man the now idle repeater, but it had been severely damaged by the explosion, shrapnel lodged in its arcia engraving.

There was no time to repair the engravings, Niko immediately raised his repeater and fired at the driver's window, the one spot on the front of the armored wagon that was only shielded by glass. He landed three pellets in a row, each one cracking the glass in the same exact location before the third finally broke through, killing the driver. The driver slumped over the wheel, causing the wagon to swerve off and crash right into a tree stump instead of breaking right through into the trench.

Niko didn't rest just yet, already watching the two dozen enemy soldiers fan out from behind the wagon, charging the trench line. The enemy soldiers had no armor, only rushing ahead blindly with nothing but a rifle and a simple uniform. As Niko opened fire on them, the soldiers fell one by one easily, not a single defense on their body as they ran straight ahead at him with abandon. What the hell is wrong with them?

Despite Niko's firepower advantage, there were just too many soldiers and targets to handle, with three soldiers making it over the trench and jumping in. Instead of courage or bravery plastered on their faces, it was fear and horror coupled with sheer desperation to live as they attempted to kill Niko, bringing their rifles to bear on the flanked viper.

However, Niko was well-armored, the first pellet ricocheting off the pauldron on his shoulder, the second stopping dead in the honeycomb interior of the chest plate. It bought enough time for Niko to swivel his own repeater around, shooting each of the soldiers dead, a pellet tearing right through their head before two more chest shots in rapid fashion sent them sprawling onto the ground.

Niko heaved and panted, shrugging the numb feeling out of his arm from the close call as he finally noticed the faces of the three soldiers. These.. these are men from Kregol? He didn't have time to waste on deciphering the battle, only that he needed to stem the incoming assault. He clambered out from behind the fortifications, rushing up to the crashed wagon and yanking its door apart with full force. Dragging the dead driver out of the cabin, Niko took his position, reversing the wagon away from the tree stump and slamming the pedal to the metal. The wagon lurched forward, picking up momentum as he barreled down the entire length of the eastern flank, reaching another wagon that had already breached the trench fortifications.

The Kregol soldiers yelled in panic as they leaped out of the way of Niko's wagon, the plow slamming into the side of the other armored wagon in a devastating crash, Niko still flooring the pedal and charging ahead. He could barely see ahead, but the window on the side allowed him to push along the trenches.

Seven Snakes recruits and hobgoblins alike cheered while watching Niko's wagon ram enemy wagons one after another, removing the cover of the Kregol soldiers who were now exposed. The battle on the eastern flank began to flip on its head as the Kregol soldiers were routed, attempting to flee back across the open clearing where they were easily gunned down. As soon as Niko totaled the last wagon in a chain collision, he slammed the brakes, immediately leaping off and joining the fight, wiping any enemy soldier unlucky enough to face him.

Niko was about to cheer after finishing the last Kregol soldier when a Seven Snakes recruit yelled at the top of his lungs, pointing out to the clearing. "There's more coming! A lot more!"

"We can handle them easily! We'll kill everything that com-" Niko's inspirational speech faltered as he took a glance over the trenches, watching nearly a hundred armored wagons rumble up to the clearing, an entire division of Violet Demon knights advancing in tandem. The wagons were already moving faster through the clearing thanks to the paving of the first wave, the wagons kicking up clouds as they closed the gap, approaching within minutes.

"Man the repeaters, hold the line! Not one gets through! Not one!" Niko bellowed at the top of his lungs, running through the trenches while panicking recruits and couriers reloaded the repeaters, technicians desperately trying to perform minor fixes on damaged repeaters. "This is it, Seven Snakes - stand your ground!"

As Niko returned to the same repeater emplacement he had been fighting in, he heard a distinctive sound once more, assuming it was a mortar that was firing towards them. Yet strangely enough, the mortar projectile in the sky didn't seem to be falling towards them, though it was growing in size. Some of the recruits nearby also looked up in confusion, while a hobgoblin exclaimed, pointing towards it. "An angel!"

Niko was about to scoff when the shape of the projectile got larger and larger, approaching closer and closer over the canopy of the forest in the distance. To his surprise, the Violet Demons' advancing forces suddenly faltered, the wagons immediately reversing in an attempt to retreat. What the hell? Niko finally could make out the projectile: wings shaped like a wyvern with arcia energy trailing behind it.

"It's a Versian Aurtla! We're doomed!" One of the more knowledgeable recruits screamed in fear near Niko. But instead of panicking, Niko smiled wider than he had ever before.

"You idiot, Versia is on our side! That's Kyle!" Niko shouted just as the Aurtla plane swooped over, mortar bombs falling from its back while it soared over the retreating Violet Demons. The falling bombs carpeted the entire clearing, creating a row of explosions that killed any Violet Demon who didn't manage to make it out of the clearing.

The entire trench line broke out into cheers at the sight of the enemy retreating, while Niko could already spot five more Aurtla planes peeking out from beyond the horizon. Their speed was unlike anything Niko could have imagined, zipping past the battlefield like angels of war and laying waste to anything that stood below them. Bombs were dropped with fury, blanketing the retreating Violet Demons in devastation as even the forest trees couldn't serve as protection.

However, the Violet Demons were no slouches either, their mounted repeaters firing haphazardly at the low-flying Aurtla planes and forcing them to back off. Despite the deterrence, they did not continue their attack, running away back deeper into the forest towards the Culdao Peaks Town.

"We got them on the run now! Monica, should we attack?" Niko asked over the radio. "We should strike before they have a chance to regroup!"

[All Seven Snakes, this is Kyle. Regroup in the kingdom for reorganization.] Kyle's voice crackled with static over the radio. Niko could feel tears welling up in his eyes upon hearing that familiar voice while the fresh recruits all stared at each other blankly.

"Is that Kyle? Are we saved? We're saved!" A starry-eyed recruit pumped his fist in the air.

"Has to be! Look! Niko is crying!" Another recruit cheered.

"I'm not crying, you punk!" Niko shot back with a glint in his eyes, which was all the confirmation everyone else needed.

Another wave of cheering and celebration erupted spontaneously, hope to return to the weary troops who had been fighting non-stop for a month in the Culdao Peaks. Recruits and hobgoblins hugged each other while Niko and Monica immediately made their way back to the Kingdom, only to realize a unique problem.

"The planes have nowhere to land!" Merissa immediately explained to the two vipers.

"Can't they just land in any clearing?"

"No, it has to be a cleared road!"

The returning Seven Snakes had no time to rest, so they were forced to run down the main valley road and clear out any obstacles immediately. Within half an hour, the first of the Aurtla planes were landing in the makeshift runway, the billowing gust buffeting the small goblins and other onlookers in shock and awe as the planes skidded to a halt. One by one the planes unloaded their cargo, delivering much needed supplies and weaponry to the Culdao Peaks.

Monica, Niko, and Merissa stood at attention as Kyle's plane landed gracefully. The rear of the cabin opened to reveal a fully armored Kyle flanked by Sasha and Feldon. Niko blinked twice, having not seen Kyle's exosuit before, but he and Monica could already sense that it was far more powerful than anything they had seen Kyle do.

"Ah, home sweet home! It's not Proco, but better than nothing!" Feldon took in a deep breath, his eyes landing on his family that he hadn't seen in a long time. He immediately squatted, facing them with arms open and tears trickling down his face. "Come here, kids, daddy's home!"

Instead of his children running up to join him, the children only stared at him blankly while Feldon was left hanging alone. Kyle and Sasha ignored Feldon's crumbling family life, instead focusing on reuniting with the other leaders. "Welcome back, boss!" Niko saluted along with Monica and Merissa.

"No time for pleasantries. We need to plan our next move. I want a report on everything that has happened."

The leaders gathered in the goblin king's palace, where Merissa elaborated on the state of the kingdom. "The modified radish seeds are one thing, but with only one tunnel connecting us and the Seven Snakes, it is difficult to keep up the shipment. Already the Ardent Cretins and Violet Demons are snooping about, trying to figure out where our transportation network is. Opening a secondary tunnel network is proving difficult, and it wouldn't be complete any time soon."

"How often have they been attacking?" Kyle asked.

"Intermittently, I'll say every two days or so at the start of the civil war. But they recently took a one-week break, only to turn up with Kregol soldiers." Niko informed.

"Kregol? Are the major gangs being supplied by Kregol?"

"Our scouts reported a few wagon transport convoys along the apparent route between Kregol and Raktor, yes." Monica asserted.

So this was what Sebastian was doing... Kyle knew Sebastian had not played a part in the union strikes and riots, but he had always wondered why - he had assumed that Sebastian would be more than happy to crush him then and there. It was clear now that Sebastian had secured supply chains to fuel the gears of war, allowing them to sustain the battle in the Culdao Peaks as well as the South Sector. "The Violet Demons and the Ardent Cretins are teaming up?"

"The West Sector has completely fallen - the enforcers there have given up trying to hold their ground. Even that Mad Dog is in the Central Sector now." Niko explained. "All of the major gang's best forces are concentrated in the Central Sector, fighting against the troops of the nobles."

Kyle nodded. "If they take down the Central Sector, the rest of the city will fall to them. How is the South holding up?"

"We're in a stalemate now. Our earlier fortifications were able to withstand the initial charge, and we had the assistance of the enforcers as well to prevent us from being encircled." Merissa motioned to a map on the table between them. "Baron Cain has also deployed his own retinue of knights to shore up the defense, but we're losing ground over time, bit by bit. We're already suffering casualties at the border based on the last report sent over by Keith."

Kyle absorbed the rest of the information, calculating everything in his head before finally formulating a plan. "The Ardent Cretins want to subjugate us while their best troops are in the Central Sector. There's no guarantee as to how much longer the nobles' forces can hold on. This is our only chance at being a major gang of the South Sector - there wouldn't be another opportunity like this in a long while."

"Finally, we're taking the fight back to the city. Let's kill those cretins!" Niko grinned, but Kyle instead pointed towards Kregol.

"Not yet. We need to weaken the major gang's supply chain first. Heading right into a direct confrontation would be too risky." Kyle explained the plan. "If Kregol is supplying the Ardent Cretins, we need to take them out first. Cut off their supplies and manpower. Then we'll be able to slowly level the playing field."

"But Kregol is too far away! By the time we send anyone out to try and stop the supplies, the Violet Demons will come back to attack again while we're split up." Monica pointed out.

"Which is why I brought reinforcements. Sasha, you're up. Take ten planes and strike every location that is supplying the Ardent Cretins. Bring the Ghosts with you, and take a few hobgoblins. Niko, Monica, I want you two to strengthen the defenses. We'll have to hold a bit longer before striking the Culdao Peaks Town directly. As long as that base exists, we won't be able to shrug off the Violet Demons." Kyle ordered.

"What about you, sir?" Monica asked.

"I need some time with the Oracle. Once everything is in place, we'll strike together. Any questions? Good. Dismissed."

Kyle exited the palace, returning back to the familiar chamber that was Installation 12. As soon as he was secluded into the interior control center, the virtual visage of the Oracle reappeared once more. [Welcome back, Adminstrator.]

Kyle didn't reply, far too focused on now filtering the system messages that he had ignored mostly since his race evolution. Countless kills and small doses of EXP have stacked up, with even bombing kills being counted. This time, he couldn't ignore them any longer, knowing that he would need every bit of an advantage to stop Sebastian, and most of all, Ares, the supposed strongest man in the South Sector. He had already heard the news about Damian being utterly defeated by Ares in a spar, putting Kyle in a wary state. No time to hold back. 

All of the system messages surged towards him in a blast, before being condensed into a simple notification.

MG404: [Level Up: 31 - 40 | All Stats Increased | Bonus Points Granted]

MG404: [Sub-Class Announcement | Sub-Class Upgrade (Level 40) | Congratulations, sub-class will be upgraded now. | Please wait.]