Around a few hours after Kyle and his squad finished their mission. Paul was currently waiting for orders.
Heâs alone, hiding within a tavern by blending in with the Abyssals. He wore a disguise that vaguely made him look like them, in addition with the hood he wear, he blended in perfectly within his surroundings without anyone the wiser.
Paul was drinking the unique ale of the Abyssals as he acted as if he was just another drunkard among the crowd. In truth though, he was eavesdropping in the conversation of the people around him.
âMan, Paradise is too chaotic nowadays. Itâs hard to find somewhere to have a good time.â
âYeah, I feel that too. I heard that there are some convicts that escaped and apparently, the guards are having a difficult time apprehending them.â
âReally? The prisoners mustâve been real clever then.â
âI wouldnât be surprised actually, I heard those who escaped were from the Abyss Prison. Theyâre real scary dudes who were driven mad by that place. You all ought to be careful. They might be lurking around. Donât get mugged.â
âYou all are too outdated with the news! Those that are causing chaos ainât the prisoners. Itâs invaders.â
âInvaders? What a joke!â
âDude, you might wanna go home, youâre obviously drunk! How can we have Invaders? If anything, WE are doing the invasion, not the other way around.â
âYeah, what he said! Plus, if we really do have Invaders, they ainât gonna last long under our manpower.â
âYou all are idiots. You guys think that just because we conquered many races so far that we became infallible. You all are going to die if you continue thinking that way.â
Paul smirked under his hood as he chugged down his drink. He continued listening in to their conversation.
âYouâre the idiot! Itâs obviously mid-day yet youâre already this drunk. Honestly, do something else. Find a job or something.â
âHah! Itâs useless. We will get drafted in the war anyways? What the use of that?â
âFirst Invaders and now War you say? Youâre obviously out of your mind. You guys, donât pay attention to these guy, heâs babbling nonsense.â
âHah!! Babbling nonsense he says! Hey, youâre a merchant right? Then you must know someone from the Extella Island right? Great! Try contacting them, see if theyâll answer you. If they do, ask them what happened to the island. Youâll then know if Iâm babbling nonsense or not.â
ââ¦â
Paul watched in amusement as the event played out, still drinking his ale and waiting for the commotion to begin.
ââ¦what the fuck!? Extella Island got trashed!? What the hell happened? Hey! Can you still here me!? What happened there!?â
âInvasion? You mean to say that there are actual Invaders in our home and we didnât know? And apparently theyâre strong enough to bring an entire island down in under an hour!?â
âHey, if youâre joking with me right now, I swear to god I will march there to deck you in the face!â
ââ¦â
âOh, god! Itâs true then? How can this beâ¦?â
Now all the attention was focused on the old drunkard who just drank his sorrows away.
âWhat? Still think that Iâm speaking nonsense? Stop being ignorant you idiots. We pissed off some real troublesome people and weâre about to pay for it. Soon, you all will drafted in War. Donât expect the guards to save you this time since even they canât save themselves.â
âNo thatâsâ¦the God Emperor! We still have the God Emperor on our side. Iâm sure that he will make sure that we will remain safe. The Invaders are nothing compared to his might!â
The Old Abyssal laughed uproariously upon hearing that.
âThe God Emperor will save you say? Hahahaha!! Now thatâs fucking hilarious right there! Continue dreaming on young one. Maybe one day, itâll come true!â
âOld guy! Are you trying to revolt here? Show some respect to the God Emperor and the leader our race.â
âYes, yes. He really is. Also, heâs currently imprisoned in his own tower by the Leader of the Invaders and canât fucking go out. The arrogant son of a bitch finally met his match.â
âWhat does that mean?â
âIt means exactly how it sounds, moron! Your God Emperor is as big of an idiot as you people are. He got so fucking arrogant and greedy that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings! He let the leader of the Invading Race waltz in to his throne and imprison him there. Now, that son of a bitch canât go out or even send any message to us.â
âThatâsâ¦thatâs obviously a lie! How canâ¦how can the God Emperor be-â
âOh you stupid little thingâ¦it seems that you really wonât cry unless you see the coffin, huh? Very well, this Old Guy shall indulge you.â
âFor starters this Invasion had been going on for months. You all are just unaware of it. That in itself should already be a bad sign since whenever we Invaded, itâd be impressive of our enemies lasted for at least a week.â
âAdditionally, the God Emperor usually says something to increase our morale and loved to brag about our raceâs strength by constantly bombarding us with announcements.â
âHow many of you have heard his voice during the past three months at least? Anyone?â
ââ¦â
âNobody? Well, thatâs understandable isnât it? After all, heâs imprisoned on his own tower and canât fucking go out or even send a message to us. He got trapped in his own home! What a fucking retard! Hah!â
âIn addition to this, have you seen Skroll anywhere? How about General Grimm? When was the last time you all see them in patrol?â
ââ¦â
âCanât remember right? Well, apparently Skroll is missing and General Grimm has his hand full in dealing with the Invaders. Without that idiot God Emperor to lead our troops, everythingâs gone awry!â
âWake-up you idiots. The signs are in front of you. At two days at most, this tavern will ran out of supplies. Not just this tavern in particular either, all the taverns around this area will too as well as the markets and stores. Extella Island was destroyed remember?â
âAll of us here will starve to death. Itâll take weeks for emergency supplies to reach us since who the hell knows how many supply lines are still intact under the ministrations of the Invaders?â
âWeâre already under attack! If you morons still refuse to believe it, you all are going to die. Our enemies will not show mercy so donât expect it. Really, itâs about time for our retribution. Weâve carried way too many sins.â
ââ¦â
The tavern descended into a solemn atmosphere due to the old manâs revelations. Everyone felt their hearts being filled with trepidation.
ââ¦right, I gotta go. I just remembered that thereâs somewhere I have to be.â
âYeah, me too! I gotta pick up my son from school. Iâll see you all later.â
Everyone started excusing themselves, trying to act calmly as they exited the tavern but in truth, theyâre far from being calm. They have their own ideas.
Sadly, their plans were bound to fail today.
Before they can get out of the tavern, there was a hooded man leaning against the door chugging down the remaining contents of his mug.
âHey, man. Can you move away? Canât you see youâre blocking the way?â One of them said aggressively.
The man ignored them for a bit and down his mug. Afterwards, he let out a loud burp and said:
âWhew! This aleâs good. Well, not as good as the one I usually drink at home but still good.â
âYeah, yeah. Everyone says that, now can you move? Youâre blocking the way.â
âHaahâ¦alright. Thatâs enough playing around then.â The man said as he slowly pulled down his hood. âThere are times for leisure and thereâs time for work. Nowâs the time for work, and I canât delay.â
The man pulled out the fake skin plastered on his skin, revealing himself to be someone of a completely different race from them. Everyone gasped in surprise.
Of course, this was all according to Paulâs plan.
âWhat the old man said was correct.â Paul stated, âUnfortunately, you all realized it too late.â
The old man just snorted and didnât even bother trying to escape while the rest were still reeling in shock.
âSorry, Lads.â Paul gave them a wry smile. âIâm afraid I canât let you all pass. If you promise me that youâll remain here and wonât try to escape, I can delay your deaths for at least a year.â
âEveryone, donât listen to him! Heâs just one man! Kill him! Weâll escape together!â
Paul scowled upon hearing that. He sighed as he saw that they started rushing forward with the intent of killing him.
With a wave of his hand, several shadows emerged and before everyone realized it, a 9 foot long pitch black spear already pierced their cores.
âSee, this is the problem with your race. You guys arenât good at cooperating when itâs obvious that youâre at disadvantage. If you all just listened, you couldâve lived for longer at least.â
âI am even willing to give you guys food. Alas, you guys are truly morons. Oh well, thereâs no helping it.â
Seeing as everybody in this tavern is dead, Paul shrugged and disappeared like a ghost.Â