Priam
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Chapter 65: Keep your enemies close
🕑 Added 2023-07-15 01:37:29 +0000 UTCHow to approach a military camp without being spotted? That was Priam's question. The Revenants' fortifications were complete. The side opposite the Earl's army was protected - though less guarded. The camp floor had been hardened to prevent the Earl's moles from creating galleries to invade the Revenants' position. All in all, the Cult's officers had done an excellent job.
There were still two solutions: infiltration, taking advantage of the distractions offered by the start of the battle, or flying.
By night, he could have glided to the enemy camp using [Kinetic Control]. Unfortunately, the night would fall in nine days, and humanity would already have left the Reunion.
So Priam decided to wait for the battle to begin. With the help of the mist, he knew he could teleport into the enemy camp if he got close enough. By projecting his consciousness in a single direction, Priam could teleport almost a hundred meters away. The near-absence of wind and the omnipresence of natural fog on the Moon allowed him to consider this feat.
Unfortunately, a hundred meters was not enough. Pollution from the Depths had ravaged the forest. The nearest living trees that could have sheltered and camouflaged Priam were at the level of the Earl's army, two hundred meters from the Revenants' camp. On the other sides of Anatole's camp, the trees were dead and lying for kilometers.
In short, Priam had no way of approaching without being spotted except by summoning a huge sphere of opaque mist. A strange occurrence that would surely alert Anatole.
In the end, it was what Priam feared. If the master of the Cult decided to flee or hide his urn, Priam would miss out on great rewards. Not to mention having one of his enemies free to continue plotting.
Worse still, Priam had promised Mercury the urn. In exchange, the merchant had to find his family. His father, for example, was an old man, and Priam feared that the Tutorial and then the Reunion had tired his heart out. If he took too long to find him, his enemies would surely try to find his defenseless father to force Priam to obey.
So Priam was waiting for the battle to begin. The diversion would allow him to infiltrate the camp.
As the Earl's army finished preparing, Priam felt his breathing quicken. He was stressed. The battle was about to begin, and his Tribulations had never been so close. Priam had done all he could to grow stronger, but would it be enough?
"Calm down," Blueberry said. Priam turned back to the bear still accompanying him. "I can feel your fear and anxiety. Yes, we may die today. But it's that fear that keeps us going. It's that fear that tells us we're alive. Without it, without the possibility of failure, life wouldn't be as exciting. Have a little faith in yourself."
Opening his mouth to reply scathingly to the philosopher bear, Priam changed his mind. He was right. This fear was proof that he was alive. It was proof that he could fail. But fear wasn't despair; he could succeed too. He could survive, realize his potential and enjoy life.
Despite his positive thoughts, Priam could feel the stress paralyzing him. He would need time to accept these truths. In the meantime, this stress is bad.
Priam concentrated on Micro and instructed his body to slow down its production of adrenalin and cortisol. Before long, his hands stopped sweating, and his stomachache disappeared. Better still, the absence of these hormones made him want to embrace the trials ahead. Over the next few hours, he would write his legend's second chapter. Or the final one.
"It's all in my hands, right? Thanks for the advice Blueberry."
"Bah... Fear is important to us wild creatures, but it should serve us, not dominate us. It's a good friend and a bad mistress, Priam. Don't let yourself be killed by becoming too reckless."
Priam laughed. "I promise. Is it me, or are you getting strangely sentimental? I remember you trying to kill me only a few hours ago."
The bear remained silent for a moment before replying. "My memories from before my ennoblement are... confused. But I remember the fear I had about men. That's why I attacked you when I was suffering. Yet I don't want to waste my intelligence by succumbing to that fear."
Blueberry hesitated before continuing. "Above all, I don't want to die here and become an Abomination."
Priam squinted at his companion.
"I'm a bear, not a fox, but I'm not stupid. False humans are dangerous, no matter what the Earl thinks. I won't die here, a victim of the hubris of a lion who thinks himself a king."
"... You're talking about treason, Blueberry."
"Don't play that game with me, Priam. I know you a little and don't intend to fight the Earl. Precisely, I intend to obey him. That is, to survive by accompanying you, thus avoiding the trap of false humans. It's in your best interest because you'll need me for the Spring."
[Bullet Time]. Time slowed for Priam, and he took a second to think. If Blueberry told the Earl about his suspicions, he would try to kill Priam. Priam could flee using mist, but Sphinx had no such power. Despite her strength, she lacked the Title to augment this Tree of Merit.
A second solution was to summon his spear and execute the Viscount on the spot. Priam had accumulated a super-powerful attack thanks to Sphinx. But this was his trump card for killing the Earl- or possibly Anatole, if he had a special technique to protect himself.
Priam calmed down. The bear wasn't stupid and was holding out a perch for him. He deactivated [Bullet Time] to avoid triggering a fifth Tribulation. He was very close to three hundred in Perception.
"Why on moon would I need you?"
"I know you want to use the Spring. If the Earl is occupied by the Revenants, you'll have no trouble defeating his guards, especially with Sphinx. But the Jubokko and the Earl have some kind of pact. It's not a very clever tree, but it won't let you steal its Spring."
"And you, as the Earl's confidant, could allow me access, is that it?" guessed Priam.
"No. The Earl is paranoid, and no one can take more than a liter in the Spring without being attacked by the Jubokko."
Priam swore inwardly. He needed much more than that. Blueberry leaned toward him and whispered.
"But I know how to poison the tree..."
Blueberry's words were sweet to Priam's ears. He remembered the response of his doubles. Ultimately, the Poisoner may consume the Crimson Fruit.
"Now you interest me, Blueberry..."
*
The Revenants decided to take the lead. Just as the Earl's troops seemed ready for battle, shots rang out. Snipers on the Revenants' side had positioned themselves on the fortifications. Two hundred meters away, without wind and with skill, they began to shoot helpless animals.
Of course, a dozen snipers were no threat against an army of a thousand animals. Unfortunately, the Earl's troops were not an army. Fear of death gripped the Earl's soldiers.
One animal retreated, then two, then ten, and soon the ranks were totally disorganized. The Earl realized at once that he'd never get anywhere this way. Priam saw the lion think for a moment before making his decision. He straightened up, puffed out his chest, and roared at the Revenants.
The attack wasn't aimed at him, but Priam winced in pain -and he was behind the Earl. Looking at the enemy camp, he widened his eyes. An Earl's potential for destruction was terrifying.
The roar was a sound, the propagation of a wave in a medium. The air rippled as if a wave were passing through it. Or a tsunami. The Earl must have manipulated the air with his talent, and a titanic shockwave rushed past the Revenants. At the speed of sound, the wave took less than a second to travel the two hundred meters.
The attack crashed into the Revenants' fortifications. Priam thought it was mortar rounds. The wooden and earthen walls, almost five meters high, exploded.
Thanks to his Perception, Priam observed the death of the Revenants posted on the fortifications. The shockwave turned their bodies to mush. For the first time, Priam truly understood the effect of his high Constitution. He knew he would have made it out alive. Meanwhile, the bodies of the Revenants had disappeared.
"Attack!" roared the Earl.
With a howl, the animals charged toward the Cult army. The destruction of the fortifications had revealed the Abominations lurking behind, but the animals charged forward all the same.
After all, between possible death against the Revenants and certain death against the Earl, they had made their choice.
Priam turned to Blueberry and Sphinx. "I'll go. Blueberry stays with Sphinx."
The bear nodded, and Priam walked into the mist. He reappeared fifty meters further on, hidden behind a buffalo, and began to run. Around him, thousands of animals were migrating towards the Revenant camp. Most had improved their physical attributes thanks to the System. They ran at seventy kilometers per hour or about twenty meters per second. In the rush, Priam could make out nothing but mist and dust clouds kicked up by hundreds of animals. He counted in his head.
After five seconds, Priam calculated that he was less than fifty meters from the Revenants's camp. At the same time, he began to hear the howling of the first animals stupid enough to walk into the traps.
[Bullet Time], [Focus], [Moon Mist]. Priam concentrated on the surrounding mist. His [Moon Mist] skill enabled him to manipulate, sense and control mist within a radius of around fifty meters. On the Moon, the fog was ubiquitous, and Priam could use any mist that wasn't already owned. At the far end of his sphere of perception, he sensed a few tents in the enemy camp. One of them was empty, and Priam straddled the mist.
He opened his eyes to discover a tent filled with barrels. Priam's eyes widened, and he straddled the mist again. The first tent appeared to be a trap, containing a flammable liquid that would surely devastate some of the Earl's troops.
Emerging again from the mist, Priam confirmed that he was alone before magically observing his surroundings through the mist. He was close to the center of the camp. The young Viscount frowned as he sensed some strange zones in his sphere of perception. Suddenly, he understood. There were four Barons present in the camp. Revenant Barons. Or humans...
Priam breathed in for a second, realizing that he was going to kill these people. Anyone in this camp - other than in prison - was an enemy.
He focused on his physical surroundings. He was in an officer's quarter, owned by two women - given the clothes on the floor and the configuration of the tent. Two beds, two desks and a bathtub, and Priam had finished inventorying the small tent.
He moved closer to the tent opening, scanning the surrounding area. Priam had decided to ask some passers-by for information about Anatole. After all, he did not intend to search the whole camp or teleport directly into the central tent. He was powerful but not stupid. Priam planned to wait until Anatole was present in the command post before slaughtering its occupants and retrieving the urn of the Depths. That was his rough plan.
Sensing through his mist that a Revenant was approaching, Priam stood close. The geometry of the approaching Revenant suggested a man, walking rapidly towards the central tent. Priam waited for him to reach the tent and exclaimed loudly.
"Hey, you! Come here."
The man stopped outside the tent, bewildered. "Me?"
"Yes, you!" Priam had no idea who the man was, but walking fast and alone toward the command post could only mean one thing: the man was a messenger. After all, an officer would have been accompanied.
Sensing the messenger's indecision, Priam raised his voice. "Hurry up, I've got a message for the Grand Master."
The messenger, unwilling to incur Anatole's wrath, lifted the tent entrance and entered. Inside, he looked around, unaware of Priam coming up behind him. The young Viscount neutralized the messenger from behind, one hand over his mouth and his arm in a chokehold.
"Don't move, don't shout."
Instantly, the messenger decided to disobey and tried to throw his assailant to the ground to free himself. Priam didn't move an inch. A part of his consciousness analyzed the situation before deciding that his increased Constitution must increase his density and, therefore, his mass. I'll have to weigh myself and check my hypothesis.
Sensing the futility of his efforts, the messenger then set about biting his attacker's hand. Priam was so close to laughter that the situation seemed so far-fetched. The Revenant's bite was almost like a caress.
Priam swept up the messenger's legs and laid him face down, accompanying his movement. His strength enabled him to continue gagging his prisoner while twisting one of his arms behind his back. Priam placed one of his knees on the Revenant's upturned hand and pressed down.
The man, his head on the ground, groaned in pain, and Priam stopped pressing.
"Now that we both understand what's going on, I'd like you to refrain from shouting. Otherwise, I'll break your arm. Understand?"
Priam waited a few moments, and the prisoner nodded painfully.
"Good. What's your name?" he asked, spreading his hand.
"Corentin, sir." Priam identified his prisoner to make sure he was telling the truth. He didn't need to ask the question to know the Revenant's first name, but he knew Corentin wouldn't betray all his secrets at once. Priam planned to increase the level of importance of the questions, starting with benign ones to get Corentin used to telling the truth. Once his prisoner was used to answering, Priam could ask him about the urn and Anatole.
If he'd started directly there, there was a good chance that the terror Anatole inspired in his troops would have prevented him from answering.
"Okay, Corentin, can you tell me what you were going to do before I invited you to chat?"
"I... I was on my way to the command tent. To say the assault had begun."
Priam rolled his eyes. The roar of an average lion could be heard over three kilometers away. The Earl's roar must have been heard almost thirty kilometers away. If that wasn't enough, Priam could hear the battle raging from here.
"I think they already know."
"I share your opinion, sir..." Sir. Priam winced as he sensed the Revenant's fear. Yet, if this torture session didn't inspire him, it was necessary.
"Now Corentin, can you tell me why the System resurrected you?"
Priam felt Corentin's body stiffen before collapsing. The messenger had mentally surrendered. He suspected that if Priam knew this, then he knew everything.
"I died following a car accident. A driver cut me off and hit my car. At the hospital, they did everything they could, but I'd lost too much blood..." The man paused, and Priam let him recall his memories.
"Afterwards, I had a dream. A being offered to resurrect me. In exchange, I would no longer be a human but could become one again by accomplishing feats. I accepted."
"A being?"
"We, I mean, the Revenants, all saw the same thing. We assume it's one of the System's moderators."
Interesting...
"Didn't the System warn you that you'd be the enemy of humanity, Corentin?" asked Priam.
"... Yes."
"Please don't try to lie to me by omission. I'm sorry you died and I understand why you accepted the System's proposal. But you knew that you would become the enemy of humanity. You knew that your actions would cause millions of humans to suffer. You made a mistake, Corentin, and mistakes are like taxes. In the end, we pay them."
The Revenant trembled, and Priam realized he was crying.
"I... I'm going to die, aren't I?"
Priam remained silent for a few moments.
"Yes. If I let you go, the System will force you to betray humanity or kill you. I don't make the rules and am too weak to change them. I'll destroy the Revenants, Corentin, and you'll die. But first, you can redeem yourself."
Some time ago, Priam felt that it wasn't up to him to decide the fate of the Revenants, that these decisions chained him. That's why he had let Anne go. Since then, he had given it some thought. His first conclusion was simple: freedom was about making choices. He had chosen to kill the Revenants.
"... I'll answer your questions."
"Good. How does Anatole intend to go about killing the Earl?"
"He wants to force his Tribulation."
Priam flinched and looked around in panic. If Anatole had this power, he was also in grave danger. Detecting no trap, he redirected his attention to Corentin.
"How?" He forced himself to speak in a calm voice.
"I don't know. Only the Generals, the Champion, the Manipulator and the Grea… Anatole, know. I think the two guests know something too."
One of these words aroused Priam's suspicions.
"The Manipulator?"
"Anne the Manipulator. She's in charge of brainwashing some of our members. The plan revolves around her. With Mathis' death, she'll certainly soon be named General."
Priam's lips stretched into a cruel smile. He'd found Anne again.
*
Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 148
Constitution 258
Agility 161
Vitality 284
Perception 296
MENTAL:
Vivacity 175
Dexterity 192
Memory 50
Willpower 274
Charisma 146
META:
Meta-affinity 141
Meta-focus 98
Meta-endurance 90
Meta-perception 32
Meta-chance 114
Potential: 1074
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge OFF. Reloaded in 6 hours 42 min 25s
[Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.
Time: 11 hours 2 minutes 19 seconds.
Tier 1 is full, Tier 2 will be full by Tuesday.
Next chapter: tomorrow!
Comments
PriÀm
Yep!
SerIcouldntcareless
Thanks for the Chapter
_mori
I wonder if Priam has any more of those grenades
