Chapter 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. N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
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!"
"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...