Ascension of the Master Assassin - Chapter 56: Vesra's mixed feelings

In front of the entrance of the Steel-tipped Tarantulas’ cavern, Vesra was pacing back and forth with uneasiness. Honestly, this situation was too much to handle for a sixteen years old.

“What a crazy plan! I can’t believe that I might die here. Ahhh!” She couldn’t help but utter to herself as she oversaw and coordinated the troops for the upcoming battle. With all the words she could think of, she cursed Venn with all her heart.

Despite her reluctance, it was too late to withdraw now. Like a bow that has its string drawn, there is no going back from this.

Thus, along with the okay signal from Venn’s shadow, she readied the troops at a moment’s notice.

Together with her, were 240 of the militias under Venn’s command standing at attention with their tower shields held high up. Lined up in two straight rows, their shields were covering their bodies completely and their boots were dug deep into the dirt ground as they waited.

No one said anything.

The atmosphere in the air was filled with dead silence as it was the first time they were engaged in actual combat since they joined the militias.

Although Venn had prepared them mentally in advance, some of them couldn’t help but shake their hands in fear. In a moment, each and everyone of them would be under intense pressure and danger, hence, it would explain their shaky hands and grim expression on their faces.

During this time, many of them began to think about the easy job that the other 10 men had to do. With nervous laughter, they wondered if their bodies would still be in one piece for them to recover.

Nevertheless, even if they were staring at death itself, not a single one of them was cowering in fear.

Rather than bravery that was supporting their morale, it was the absolute trust that they had on Venn that supported their morale from crashing down.

Vesra was watching from the sidelines as she waited. As she looked at each and every one of the militias’ faces, she was in awe of Venn’s ability to take effective control of the troop’s command within such a short period of time.

In the beginning, she could not understand why her elder sister would place her trust on Venn so readily that she hatched a plan with Granny to bring Venn on their side, going so far as to use her body to seduce him to attain that goal.

It wasn’t until she had seen it with her own eyes this morning that she was convinced that her sister was right.

It was totally unheard of for the proud Onis to place their trust on an outsider. Even now, she could not believe the absurdity that happened in front of her eyes just hours before.

***

At the break of dawn, the militias were assembled in the training grounds fully equipped. In front of them was a heightened wooden platform where the commanders would oversee their troops. However, this time, rather than their commanders, it was the second princess and a feeble looking man climbing up the stairs to the middle of the platform.

Venn was quivering in his boots as nervousness overwhelmed him when he faced such a big crowd of people. Nevertheless, he quickly regained his composure especially after having done so many shameless acts to deceive the NPCs in the game.

Heck, he even coerced a princess into submitting herself to him.

It had been his plan all along to reach this stage when he realised the entire situation surrounding the quest. He was not going to fail this.

With the loudest voice he could muster, he addressed the Onis troops that were watching him from below the stage drawing from the mountains of books that he had read in Rosewell Library.

“I am Lord Night Raid, the commander of you for the upcoming battle against the goblins! Do you know why you are here with me as your commander?”

“Let me answer that question for you!”

“It is because all of you are unfathomably and disgustingly weak! Weak like the squirming maggots, all of you could only grovel on the ground incapable of doing anything!

“What!”

“Who is this clown?”

“How dare he mocked us!”

The troops below the wooden platform exploded with anger as the new commander mocked them for no reason. Furthermore, it was the first time they had met and the other party was an outsider that knew nothing about them.

Faced with furious reactions from the Oni militias below, Venn smiled. It was just the reaction that he was hoping for. However, he needed them to react much more violently. As such, he continued to fan the flames of fury.

“Are you all exasperated? Are you all offended by my words? But what rights do a weakling like you have? Eight days later, all of you will be joining the war to kill the goblins that destroyed your life, but what can you achieve? As the militias of the clan, all of you will be charging as vanguard in the front and die a worthless and gruesome death. In the eyes of your elders, all of you are only capable of being cannon fodder for the main troop!”

“Your life is meaningless and all of you know it! Deep down, you know that all that I said is right! Let me ask you this! Why did you join the militias!”

“I want to avenge my wife and daughter!”

“They killed my parents in cold blood! I want their blood to spill as well!”

“Mimi… My Mimi! They took her away right in front of my eyes! We were going to get married and they snatched her away from me!”

In response to Venn’s question, desperate shouts from various parts of the troops echoed loudly in the training ground. When the Onis heard the same predicament that happened to them had happened to their fellow brother-in-arms, all of the militias clenched their fists and bit on their teeth, remembering the humiliation they suffered in the past when their villages were attacked by the goblins.

“I couldn’t save them! Only I survived…” That was their only thought when they found out they survived whilst their villages were destroyed.