Chương 255: Chapter 252 - The start of the plan

There was no way to win an argument with someone that had ninety-seven years to prepare for it. The silliest thing Ryan could do was to spend seventy days preparing his argument and then actually sit down with Agrinth and expect to win. Ryan had no historical precedence to reference. Meanwhile, Agrinth could point at the current prosperity of Valmere and declare himself the winner. So, Ryan chose to be more hands-on with his answer. He sat arrogantly in front of the audience of early risers.

You really did have to give it to Valmere in their 'sort-of meritocracy slash democracy.' All of the council had a sort of diligent earnestness to them that most Earth politicians had lost somewhere along the way. Their morning ritual made things convenient for him to sweep most of them into an attentive audience.

"Long ago, I met with King Theskar and spoke with him of the past, the present and the future. I told him of the issues that I foresaw happening with the turning of the century. Of how civilization would be swept away if it did not adapt to the rising of individual might." Ryan raised a fist in the air signifying the might of an individual. The fist that had swept their armies aside and broke their castles. Phones were out already within the crowd, the Council of Valmere were still politicians in the end.

Each one had an entourage with them and that often included someone to take photo-ops. All of them were captured by his presence and his declarations, and these were unknown secrets, even to them.

"My solution is what has been implemented here. There was no fighting it so rise and adapt. Pick out trustworthy individuals that will be paragons to the kingdom. Funnel the resources of the kingdom into them. Have the populace serve the strong." Ryan was twisting their mantra against them. Twisting Agrinth's argument and showing them the darker truth of their society. The other side of the coin that was surely there, waiting to be uncovered. The [Arcane Saboteur] and the [Tyrant] could see it clear as day.

'The populace provides for the adventurers and the adventurers protect them in return?' It would end up being simple subservience to the mighty and those fortunate enough to be considered 'talented'. Even if it did not look like it now, the nature of people and their greed would shine through in the end. It was already happening. Things had been fine when there was a constant threat to the Kingdom. But in the last twenty or so years, there hadn't been any.

Yet the Adventurer's Guild demand for resource hadn't decreased at all. People wanted to advance in realm, they knew it was possible because Ryan's visualization techniques had made it too easy to advance. People were already calling for cuts to the Adventurer's Guild and the adventurers naturally didn't want to give that up. Ryan grinned as his words accelerated the collision course.

"Congratulations oh great Kingdom of Valmere. You have succeeded in forming a thriving society with ascendants walking amongst you. For that, I approve of your Kingdom." Ryan was poisoning the well, so to speak. Showing the world that their mantra was flawed, that their society was flawed. Sometimes all it took to make you realize the world you knew wasn't the world you wanted was just a few words from someone who had helped shape your society. And I haven't finished the beginning of my plan.

—— Earth at the same time… Mudriff fidgeted next to a covered, heavily warded box. He stared at it warily, as if at any moment it could explode and rain fire on the city… which it could, because the contents of it had. He was on the phone.

"And you're absolutely confident that this Lich King cannot come free?" A calm and collected voice responded, her tone soothing to the fourther's mind.

"Not as long as I or Yomar die. Even if a dragonslayer were to attack it with antimagic skills, it will not break the [Guardian's] skill in any reasonable amount of time."

"Still… this seems like an awfully risky idea."

"I have promised my class to see that it is punished. Thought he punishment itself is Adventuerer Robinson's idea. If you want, I can prevail on someone else."" Adventurer Robinson?" Mudriff asked, confused, then he snapped back to what was important.

"No, no, of course I'll do this." Mudriff had been wondering why he had been the one called and it turned out that it was because this was Ryan's idea. Not that he begrudged him for the reference. There was still months until his reservation for the fifth Trial came to pass and spending a bit of time to get into a dragonslayer tier [Witch's] good graces was more than worth it. No, not just a dragonslayer [Witch]. One who had been the secret member of The Watchers. One of the most powerful dragonslayer teams around.

There was no way Mudriff's ex-team wouldn't take him back once he caught up now. With that in mind, Mudriff pulled down the enchanted blanket that had been covering the box. A full skeleton lay within, one with intricate runes carved into its very bones. In its sockets were twin purple fires that looked like they could take your soul just by looking into them. Lich King Rahess' eyes flickered as he took in the scene around him.

"Ah finally, did you think playing the same blasted video again and again would be enough to break— who are you?" A phone clattered to the ground with it. On it had been a recording of how phones, the internet and social media worked. It had been playing on repeat for the past couple of days.

"You there, do you want immortality for you and your loved one? All you have to do is find a way to be instrumental in my release." Of course, Mudriff didn't know that the offer had risen from one to two.

"I'm just a fourther under orders. I don't know why you're giving me an offer like this." The Lich King clattered its bones like it heard the funniest thing in the world.

"And? Can an insect not rise up to challenge even ascendants? This Lich King has seen it all. The offer stands, one year, or a hundred or even a thousand! Remember that as your lover or your family ages while you stand the test of time." Another Skeleton Lord situation. Mudriff, fortunately, had the training and experience for this. It actually made following through with the plan easier. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Mudriff looked at the script, then turned to the camera setup that was recording all of this live. His voice was a little stilted as he read the script out loud. Not used to acting or adding a dramatic flair.

"Hello everyone. This bone… daddy? Has been naughty and is in a time out." Mudriff was realizing that perhaps he should have read the script beforehand. He had just accepted it from Grettfield and assumed everything would be fine. Then he remembered that this had been Ryan's idea. How the fuck had he even managed to contact [Witch] Grettfield for this?

"Turn around and face the bone—oh." He blushed and turned around to face Lich King Rahess. Who looked even more confused than Mudriff right now.

"This is your jail and I… Mudriff, am your Jailor." Oh my god, I should have done a practice run, why did I just follow instructions and start the stream. Holy fuck it's on Grettfield's account too, I'm fucked, it'll just get more popular if I stop right now. Mudriff had some basic public relations experience that all adventurers got taught. On it was an important lesson that the more you tried to hush up a mistake the more it would catch fire on the realmnet.

Rahess, the Lich King still did not quite understand what was going on yet.

"What? Who are you talking to?" Mudriff was rapidly reading ahead on the script. He realized there was a sentence there that would both answer the question and explain everything. He read it once in his mind then again out loud.

"We're here livestreaming to the world, this is how you're going to pay for the damages to the city." That last sentence came out with a lot more venom than he had intended. Mudriff knew people that had died. A good portion of the city still had waking nightmares that had people screaming in the streets. More than a few people had lost their minds during that empathetic wave. Both the fear and embarrassment was overshadowed by a burning anger. Rahess picked up on none of that.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" But Mudriff ignored the Lich King. He turned to the camera and started to speak with passionate anger.

"Welcome everyone, to the very first livestream on dragonslayer Grettfield's adventurer's account. You are the first to witness a contained Lich King live on camera. Do you want me to say something to him? Five subscriptions and I will say it out loud to him. Do you want me to draw something on his box? Ten gifted subs. Do you want to come on live and take a selfie with the Lich King? One hundred gifted subs or equivalent in donations. Remember, all proceeds go towards the aggrieved families of San Kingsgrove.

All of this for a good cause. To the moderators of this site, if you are thinking of removing this livestream for terms and conditions, remember, [Witch] Grettfield has sworn revenge and will not appreciate you standing in the way." The Lich King's jaw dropped. How did you torture an ancient Lich King that had looked forward to being tortured by a dragonslayer [Witch]. It was simple, you went for his pride. Shame the prideful King in a ritual of humiliation that only the modern world could deliver.

Displayed in the most humiliating way for all to see, hung out to dry under the derision of millions. And that… was just the start. Mudriff's script and scenario page was at least fifteen pages long. And that was merely something Ryan had thought of in his free time. When he looked at that arrogant mass murderer and decided he did have some time to impart the horrors of the modern world to the Lich King.

It was something he offloaded the work to, because while it was important, he had more important things to deal with. —— Valmere was getting the full treatment. To both Vedit's and Agrinth's dismay. Both of them watched the real thing happen live in Agrinth's office. Ring-ring. The phone in the office hadn't stopped ringing since Artigan had made his appearance on the top of the stairs.

The first councilmember that had arrived had nearly cracked his skull open when he tripped over his own robes and fell back down the long steps. Ring-ring. Great Marshal Vedit was sipping away at a magical wine, watching the calls come in to Agrinth's direct phone, happy that Vedit had washed his hands of all of the official roles of the Kingdom itself. He still had his title but it had been fifty years since he had led an army and was all the happier for it. Agrinth however, had not.

He was staring intently at the projection as Artigan twisted his own words against him The demon hero stared intently at the projection of Artigan twisting his own words against him. Ring-ring. Agrinth picked up the phone and put it back down again, hanging up on them. Vedit hadn't seen Agrinth ever do that before. The demon ascendant really must have been pissed.

"Did you really tell him he could do as he pleased?"

"He promised no violence and to act within reason." Both of them stared at the mad little adventurer. Ring-ring.

"And you believed him? You do recall that one of the first things he did with us royal confidants was to threaten his majesty's limb in a practice combat scenario?"" I know. I still meant every word. If he can truly overturn Valmere without violence, then it deserves to be remade." Vedit made a face. Despite not being related by blood, Agrinth truly had inherited his adopted father's royal stubborn temperament. Vedit knew there was nothing he could do or say to change Agrinth's mind. Ring-ring.

Vedit just sighed and stood up, he downed the rest of his wine and slammed the glass loudly on the table. Agrinth glared up at him." Don't interfere."

"Don't give me that look, you bratty student of mine. You and Fetters aren't the only ones that have been waiting to teach him a lesson." The Great Marshal wasn't half as confident in the Kingdom of Valmere as Agrinth was. Maybe in fifty years or a century they'd have a more solid foundation, but right now? Artigan really knew when to time his visits. Vedit shook his head and put a hand on his pommel.

"Let's see if he still has the energy to cause havoc after I'm done with him." —— The palace steps… The stunned silence at his declaration lasted for a good ten seconds. The only dwarf in royal robes stepped up angrily. From his research, Devene was his name.

"Always put up an elf into creating a hierarchy that favors themselves." Devene turned to the rest of the cameras as Ryan watched on amusedly.

"This is what I meant, the foundations of this Kingdom are rotten. Look at him, he calls us slaves! All of our precious labor is going into feeding all of those damned adventurers and helping them advance." Excellent. Ryan did not say out loud. A human man hurried out in front. Despite the passive effects of his aura running through the crowd, the councilmembers were willing to speak in front of him. Or maybe this man was trying to save the dwarf from potentially getting killed.

The words that council member Honorus spoke quickly killed that notion. He spoke as if addressing the cameras that were all pointed at him.

"Yet without that support, we would not have our protectors. Our great hero Agrinth who has saved many a city, or are you saying that the resources provided for his ascension was not worth it?" The dwarf was clearly not ready to get upstaged at this moment. Devene flustered for a response that wouldn't have him be looked at as the bad guy. Honorus pushed further, standing tall and using his stature to overshadow the dwarf. Then he turned to Ryan.

"I'm sorry, Artigan. While you may have had a vision for the future of our Kingdom, the people are not slaves serving the powerful. We uplift the adventurers and they protect us in return." It wasn't a bad response. The human man certainly was quite sharp. If Ryan didn't kill Devene for pointing at him and spitting out about a elf then he wouldn't likely kill Honorus for speaking respectfully to him about their world. All the while he was giving Artigan an out to accept the Kingdom's little facade.

It might have worked… if Ryan truly agreed with the ideals he'd spouted. All this time Ryan had maintained an aloft, arrogant position. Looking down on them all—like a dragon would to the humans below it. Ryan scoffed at the politician." Sure, if that's what you want to believe, mortal." The smile on the Honorus' face turned completely stiff. The dwarf took that time to recompose himself. He shook with righteous anger, at the veneer being peeled away to reveal the rotten truth.

"See? This is the truth of the situation here, ain't it? We're all just servants, second class citizens to those chosen to be adventurers. Those of which are mostly humans and elves! Or those protecting the status quo!" Ryan looked down at the dwarf like he was an interesting little bug. He scoffed again.

"Ants. I don't think all of you understand. It's over, ascendants have arrived and numbers mean nothing." Ryan flicked his hand in the air flippantly.

"Ascendants don't have to care about all of this political jockeying anymore. The simple truth is that, purpose or not, you have no choice but to serve. Society uplifts adventurers and they protect you in return. Hah! That is a good one." Ryan mocked the beloved mantra of the Kingdom once more. Making sure to drive the nail in the coffin of a phrase that was annoying him to no end. Without a care in the world, he leapt.

Ryan landed all the way at the bottom and walked away casually, leaving a stunned crowd in silence. Both dwarf and human stared at the figure walking away, treating them both like dirt, then looked at each other. Ryan's right arm stirred. He smiled. That was the way to do it. You did not wait around to answer questions like a politician. You came in like an arrogant entitled noble that everyone absolutely hated dealing with.

Someone that made you reconsider your beliefs because they were so unpleasant that you just didn't want to associate with them. Ryan had done that to the entire Kingdom of Valmere. All of them would be looking at their practices and their so called 'duty' and truly think about their Kingdom's culture. And that, was just the start.