My (Monster?) Hero Life

"I see…" Terrell leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Kace left him alone to his thoughts. It was a lot of information to process all in one go, and he was sure there was a lot for Terrell to think about. Kace was about to leave the Hero alone for a while when Terrell suddenly opened his eyes.

"Ok. I've decided to help you out." Terrell's voice was crisp and confident.

Kace cocked an eyebrow as he studied the Hero and wondered how he had reached a decision so quickly. Terrell chuckled when he saw the confusion in Kace's eyes. 

"Don't look so surprised! I was one of the original rebels, after all. Helping you now gives me a chance to help my friends and avenge those we lost in the previous war." Terrell smiled gently.

"Makes sense, I guess." Kace shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his own chair again. "So, do you have any thoughts on how we should cooperate?"

Terrell thought for a moment before rubbing his chin. "It seems what you are missing right now is high-level combatants. Correct?"

"That's right," Kace sighed helplessly. "Right now, there is not many amongst us who can hold off the powerful heroes. Myself included."

"That's only natural. So far, you've only fought against the weaker ones. If you don't include your brush with Zornok. From your description of this Erik fellow, he would probably be considered mid-level in the Hero's Guild." Terrell did not waste any time in cutting to the root of the matter. "So, right now, what you need most is time. Time to develop yourself and gain experience."

Kace nodded, agreeing with everything that Terrell had said so far. "Thankfully, it seems like we have plenty of time. We simply can't conquer a whole world in a single stroke."

"Agreed. But then again, you don't have to, right? Once you seal the Gates, then it will become impossible for them to reinforce this world. How do you think the heroes left behind would react to that?"

"They'd either surrender or go into hiding." Kace spread his hands helplessly. "Although it would end the war quicker, I'd rather they came to me than having to hunt rats for the rest of my life."

Terrell chuckled at this before eyeing Kace once more. "While that sounds good in theory, you'd also lose more lives as they constantly send more heroes here. No. It's definitely best if we cut off their reinforcements as soon as possible."

Kace sighed at that. He had already thought about it but wanted to see if Terrell had any new ideas. They still did not know where all the gates were or even have a method to close them down permanently. Heroes still occasionally attempted to invade using the Gate on Ulafor Island. Naturally, they were all relieved of their lives the moment they crossed over.

"So, do you have any suggestions on how we can go about it? As far as I can see, we'll still have to conquer most of the world or even all of it to achieve that goal. We've no clues to go on as to where the rest of the gates are." Kace shook his head solemnly.

"Well, I can shed some light on one of them at least. When I was still a Hero, the gateway I used was in the country to our West. However, I have no idea what the situation is like over there now."

"Could you mark it on a map if you were shown one?" Kace asked curiously. Grateful to have finally found another lead on this matter.

"Sure, that's not a problem," Terrell replied casually. "However, I believe we should have a couple of other goals first. We need to completely gain control over this country so that our power base is secure. Next, we should focus on recruiting any other resistance leaders that survived the first war."

"Well, if you and Sonja are anything to go on, then that sounds ok with me. You look like you want to add something else?"

"Hm, if possible, we should recruit the other Legendary monsters. Even though you're classed as one, you're a far cry from their standards yet." Terrell looked lost in thought for a moment. "Apart from yourself and Rysa, I have no clue about the other two."

"What did you expect? That Legendary monsters just fall from the sky on a daily basis?" Kace chuckled as he heard this.

"Well, don't you?" Terrell gave Kace a meaningful glance. "Don't you think it's strange that they're not taking part?"

"Who's to say they've not got themselves caught up in some kind of problem like Rysa?" Kace looked unconcerned as he gave his reply. "We can only take it as it comes. Either we'll find them, or they'll reveal themselves to us. Maybe they have their own plans?"

"Ok, let's set that aside for now. I guess technically, having half of the Legendary Monsters on our side is already a good thing."

"You're that convinced Rysa will help us?" Kace could not help but eye the Hero curiously.

"Naturally, we've fought to gather before, so I already know her personality. Considering what happened to her child, I would be surprised if she did not feel even more zealous about it."

Kace had to agree. It did indeed seem pointless to question whether or not Rysa would join them when they freed her from her own curse. 

"So, our first action should be to solve Rysa's problem before we make another attempt at the city." Kace sighed as he wondered how far back that would set them. "It'll be some time before the airship returns so that we can retrieve Phillip. That's only if Yul is willing to give him up."

"Don't worry about Yul. I've dealt with that one before. Just bring me along, and he'll probably beg us to take custody of that Hero!" Terrell chuckled with a wicked smile on his face.

Kace wondered what had happened between the two before to make Terrell look so happy for getting to see him again. Yul never really seemed to be afraid of anything, but Terrell's words made it seem like Kace was in for a treat once he helped them to reconnect. 

"Alright, I'll have to trouble you then." Kace nodded gratefully towards Terrell.

"As for waiting for your airship, well. Aren't we standing on a ship right now?" Terrell chuckled again as he pointed out the obvious.

Kace had to concentrate on stopping his jaw from hitting the floor. 'How could I have been so stupid! I never even considered asking Josh to help us out with this! That'll make things a lot faster!" Kace began to laugh hysterically as he gave Terrell a thumbs up along with a wide grin. 

"Ok, it seems like we have a plan. I'll let the others know and see if Josh is willing to help us out. This ship moves pretty fast, so it shouldn't take more than a week to get everything together." Kace nodded happily. "However, you know how to break the curse exactly? Right now, I'm just guessing that we'll need Phillip to resolve it."

"Oh yeah. You don't have to worry about that! Once we have our hands on that Hero, everything else will be easy. You can take my word on that!" Terrell nodded happily as he went for the alcohol cabinet.

Kace watched him with a dubious expression before sighing heavily. "Right, I'm off then. Give me some time to talk with my comrades first, and then come and introduce yourself. I don't want them to attack you thinking it's a sudden ambush."

"No problem, take your time. I haven't had a good drink in centuries, so I'll indulge myself for a while first."

Kace suddenly felt a chill run down his spine at that moment. 'Is somebody talking about me?'

At the same time that their discussion came to an end, over on the western battlefront…

"Lady Vaskra! It's futile! We can't break their defences!" A Treant called down to the shamaness in her wheelchair.

Three airships hovered in the sky above them as the sound of magical cannon fire filled the air. The troops on the ground seemed restless as they waited behind the field fortifications that they had made. Vaskra watched as the spells and ammunition fired from their side struck a golden barrier that protected the city in front of them.

'Tch! Just break already, damn it! I need to hurry and warm my man's bed!' It was needless to say that Vaskra was furious about being held up here. Especially when a filthy bat and an overgrown weed were probably sniffing around Kace at this very moment!

She had been appalled when the intelligence had come through that told her about their mission and mentioned the Dryad that had recently joined Kace's group. Ever since then, she had not let up her assault on the city, whether it was day or night. However, the barrier had held firm for all of this time.

"Lady Vaskra! It looks like enemy reinforcements are approaching the city from the rear!" 

"Damn it! How many!" Vaskra snapped back at the goblin that had reported this inconvenience.

"Hard to say. It looks like a mass of black mist…"