Chapter Sixteen
Things were more complicated than I’d first thought, but I knew I could figure it out, even if it took me a thousand lifetimes. I would get the court wizard to kill the duke, but not before I got Arginold to kill his own wizard, too.
The girls slept beside me, blissfully unaware of the failure I’d just experienced. My mind raced as I went back over everything that had happened, and I saw every detail flash before my eyes.
The duke would die, but I wanted him to kill Racine so it looked like a double murder that had nothing to do with me.
I just needed to keep Arginold alive long enough for him to do something about Racine.
But how?
“Good morning, Great One,” Mahini purred as she stretched her arms over her head.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I replied. “How did you sleep?”
“Very good.” The obsidian-haired beauty flashed me one of her rare smiles. “I always sleep well when I am beside you.”
“I love that.” I grinned. “I’m glad you’re here with me, Mahini.”
“There’s nowhere else I would rather be,” the desert goddess assured me.
We waited for the other two girls to wake up, and then I explained the plans for the day to them. I switched up some of the details in order to change the variables of the outcome, but the main difference was instructing Eva to tell Fred about the letter after we planted it, and then she’d coordinate with Mahini to get the wagon in position and the fire started without me telling them to. Meanwhile, Elissa would plant the rumor, clear the loot from the wizard’s lair, and then meet Eva at the wagon. That way I could have some time to figure out how to defend the duke long enough for him to kill Racine.
And then I had to somehow get the key off the duke’s neck during all the confusion.
It seemed slightly absurd to be working so hard to keep a man alive whose death was part of my plan, but I was determined to have the two men kill each other off. I didn’t want to be tied to their deaths later, and it served them right after the way they’d behaved.
Also, I wanted one-hundred percent completion.
“Elissa, I need you to spread the rumor right before dinner time in Racine’s wing,” I continued, “but if Racine hears it too soon, the whole plan crumbles. Then get the loot and get out.”
“You can count on me, Great One,” Eva said in a serious tone. Her gray eyes were full of determination, and she set her lips in a firm line. “I won’t let you down.”
“This is going to be so much fun,” Elissa giggled. “I can’t wait to see the treasure!”
“I will do whatever you require of me, Great One,” Mahini said. “These bastards will soon learn what happens when they attempt to kill a god.”
“That’s the spirit,” I laughed, and I wrapped all three of them up in a tight hug.
Then we got ready to kick some ass.
I made a new save point after we drove the wagon past the guards and into the castle’s courtyard since I didn’t want to have to waste my time explaining my plan again. If this run through didn’t work, I could always reset, pull the women aside, and tweak the plan.
We parked the wagon in the same spot by the stables, changed into our other disguises, and then made our way to the wizard’s workshop. I would need all three girls to help me kill the werewolves sitting in cages in the cavernous room so that we had plenty of time to set all the wheels in motion before dinner time.
“Look at all of them,” Elissa breathed as her vibrant green eyes widened in shock. “Those look just like the creatures that attacked us in the woods.”
“They are pretty much the same,” I explained. “And we have to kill them, otherwise Racine will kill all the nobles in the castle.”
“Got it.” Mahini nodded, and she pulled the guard’s sword from its sheath. “I’ll take the left side, you take the right.”
We worked together to kill every single werewolf that sat calmly in a cage. It felt weird to take their lives when they weren’t fighting back, but I preferred it to the alternative. It was a lot easier when they weren’t trying to rip out your throat.
A few minutes later, I glanced around the room to double check all the wolves were dead. When I was satisfied, I spared the loot Elissa would grab a second glance before I nodded to the women. Then we returned upstairs with the job done.
Elissa went to join the rest of Sarisha’s servants as they waited on their lady, Mahini went back to the wagon to work on sewing the slide, and Eva walked by my side through the corridors of the castle as I debated our choices.
“I’m going to see if I can get more guards in the audience chamber to help with the werewolf attack,” I said.
“But we just killed the werewolves?” Eva asked.
“Ahh, but there is one more that wizard douchebag summons…” I took Eva to the guards’ barracks, and I scanned over the faces of the relaxing men until I spotted the watch commander.
“Sir,” I greeted with a salute. I was dressed as one of his men, but the helmet covered most of my face, so I wasn’t worried about him not recognizing me. “The duke requires a stronger presence of force in the audience chamber. He sent me to fetch ten men.”
“Where’s the order paper?” The commander barely glanced up at me from his cot.
“I-I don’t have one,” I stammered in an effort to sound like a new recruit who was scared of getting in trouble. “Should I have waited for one?”
“The duke always sends a note with his orders,” the commander sighed. “No note, no men.”
“I’ll go get it.” I frowned, but then I reset back to my save point.
The girls and I killed the werewolves again, and then we went our separate ways. Eva followed me to the duke’s study, but instead of us fucking like rabbits, I took a seat at the duke’s desk and started rifling through his papers. I already knew the study would be empty for hours now that Arginold was already in the audience chamber hearing complaints from townspeople and socializing with the courtiers until dinner.
We had plenty of time for me to learn how to copy the duke’s handwriting in order to forge orders for more guards. I’d already gotten really good at forging when I’d written the letter from Dumas to Racine, so I was confident in my ability to mimic the duke’s hand.
“Once I get this finished, we’ll go give the orders to the guards.” I flashed Eva a wide smile. “Then we’ll continue on with the rest of our plans. I want the duke heavily guarded before the confrontation with Racine.”
“Can’t you just kill both of them?” Eva asked as she glanced sideways at the bed and bit her lip. “Seems like it would take a long time to learn how to write like the duke. We could do other things…”
“Like trying to make a baby?” I winked at her.
“Yeahhhhh…” She blushed.
“Killing them would be too easy,” I laughed. “Then the king would know I’d killed one of the dukes, the other duke would know I was coming for him next, and I’d have to answer for it. This way no one knows I was here, and our problem takes care of itself so we can move on to other… better activities.”
“Well, hurry it up, then,” Eva laughed.
I returned my focus to the letter I was writing, and I considered whether or not I should make a new save point before I started so I could spam respawns until I mastered it like I had with Dumas’ handwriting. I didn’t want to lose my ability to go back to the beginning of my time in the castle, though, so I decided to see how well I did on the first run through before I made a decision. I’d just have to kill the werewolves again if I reloaded to my current save.
No big deal.
I practiced writing a few lines that I copied off a note left on the desk, and I was fairly pleased with the result after the first few lines, but I wanted it to be perfect so there would be no question of its legitimacy.
Otherwise, what was the point of a forgery, anyway?
I continued my practice for a short while longer, and then I beckoned Eva over to inspect it. I trusted her observant gaze as much as I did my own eyes, and it was always good to get a second opinion.
“It looks great,” she said. “I can’t tell the difference.
“Good.” I grinned. “That means I only have to redo it once.”
“Redo it once?” she asked, but I’d already begun to reset.
Chime
We parked the wagon, killed the werewolves, and then went our separate ways, but when Eva and I got into the Duke’s room, I threw her on the bed, pulled her panties to the side, and devoured her pussy until she climaxed on an incredibly high mountain top. Then I fucked her brains out in half a dozen different positions and came deep inside of her twice while she begged me to give her a baby. Then, while she laid panting and dripping a river of my cum on top of the comforter, I wrote out the order to the guards for more men in the audience room, dropped off the fake letter from the wizards in the duke’s pants, and then helped Eva get her clothes back on.
“You remember what you have to tell Fred, head to the stables, tell Mahini to move the wagon, and then set the stable on fire?” I asked after I quickly kissed her on the mouth.
“Yesssss,” she sighed. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to do, Great One. Just promise me you’ll take me again like you just did.”
“Of course,” I laughed. “Now, let’s make this happen. I’ll see you on the other side.”
I made my way back down to the barracks to give the orders to the watch commander. I passed by a few servants on our way, but I knew who everyone was and greeted them by name with a wide smile on my face.
No one knew I was actually Sebastian, God of Time, and Scheme Master.
This was so much fucking fun.
“Alright, report to the throne room right away.” The watch commander nodded curtly after I handed him the paper. “I’ll have someone take over your previous duties. Where were you posted?”
“I was on the duke,” I lied with a shrug. “Not much different from my previous orders.”
“I’ll send the rest of the men required behind you.” The watch commander scratched his shaved face for a moment. “Tell the duke I’ll come personally to stand guard in the audience chamber.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied with a quick salute.
I felt like I was looking at a massive chessboard and contemplating what moves to make at which time. The pieces were almost in place, and then what I’d envisioned would come to life before my eyes. It was going to be incredibly satisfying to finally deliver the final blow to two of my enemies at one time.
The dominoes would soon start to fall. Elissa would spread the rumor about the wizard’s wife at the same time Eva was telling Fred about the letter in the duke’s dirty laundry. Arginold and Racine would both be pissed at the same time, and then Eva would set a fire by the stables to distract all the guards while Mahini moved the wagon into position and brought the tapestry slide up to the treasure room.
I hoped adding more guards to the throne room wouldn’t mess with the final phase of my plans, but otherwise the duke would die before he had a chance to kill Racine. I needed them both to take each other out and leave me alone with the treasure.
The ring of invisibility flashed through my mind, and I grinned.
I went to the throne room first to watch the duke, and then I scanned over the heads of the people gathered in the room as I tried to get a headcount. I wanted to know exactly who was where and at what time. I wasn’t going to let the same carnage happen twice.
The duke sat upon his throne-like chair on top of the dais. His face was already dark, and he hadn’t even read the forged letter from Dumas yet. His greasy shoulder-length black hair hung around his face, but he often lowered his eyes and let his hair fall across his eyes.
It reminded me of an emo teenager, but maybe he was just having a really bad day. Either way, his day would be getting a lot worse before too long, and I resisted the urge to chuckle out loud while I stood guard near where the duke sat.
A short while later, a troop of guards trotted into the throne room, and they took up positions against the walls behind the courtiers. They saluted the duke, who eyed them with a confused expression, but he didn’t question their presence until the watch commander walked in.
“Why are there so many men here?” the duke asked.
“At your command, sir,” the commander responded. “Is ten men not enough?”
“Enough for what?” Arginold shrugged. “I see no threats nearby.”
“I do not question the orders,” the watch commander said. “I just follow them.”
“Oh, fine,” the duke huffed. “Since you’re already here, you might as well stay. You stand behind my chair, then.”
“Yes, sir,” the watch commander replied, and then he moved to where the duke had indicated.
Well, that had gone well.
I was pleased with the results of my changes, and I was anxious to see how it affected the overall ending of my scheme. Now, all I had to do was sit back and watch the pieces come together.
Elissa would be spreading the rumor at any second, and Eva would be stopping Fred before too long.
Everything was going to go according to plan, but the Duke of Arginold was heavily guarded this time, and Racine’s horde was dead, so there was no way the duke was going to be the only one dying now. I was eager to see exactly what happened, but I knew it would take only a short while longer.
Fred appeared at the duke’s side with the folded piece of paper clutched in his grasp. The old man whispered a couple of words to the duke before he handed him the letter, and the duke’s eyebrows furrowed when he read who it was addressed to. Arginold opened it hastily, and his eyes were dark as he scanned over the contents, but then he crushed the letter in his fist.
“Racine!”
“Arginold!” the wizard screamed in a distant part of the castle, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear it like an echo to the duke’s cry.
The courtiers and nobles jumped in alarm. Then a howl echoed through the castle, and the hairs on the nape of my neck stood on end.
The beast was coming.
I gripped the hilt of my sword in my right hand while I clasped the handle of the round guard’s shield in my left. I would do what I could to save the lives of the people around me, but I wouldn’t move to help the duke. There were more than enough guards in the room to protect the lord of the castle.
The next thing I knew, the werewolf barreled into the room with Racine right behind him, and the evil look on the wizard’s face made my blood run cold. He was not a good guy. Racine and Arginold would learn their final life lesson today, and then the world would be rid of two more assholes.
And I would get the treasure.
Arginold rose to his feet, and he drew a fancy sword from a scabbard strapped to his side.
“Guards!” the duke yelled. “Kill them!”
The other guards rushed forward to defend the duke, but they’d probably never fought against the werewolf before.
“Everybody out!” I yelled as I gestured toward the door.
The courtiers didn’t need much more pressing than that, and the crowd surged toward the entrance like a wave. At the same time, Racine’s summoned werewolf crept forward to the dais while sniffing the air like it was hunting prey. I knew from my lessons with the court wizard that Racine was controlling the beast with his will power, but it still seemed like the creature had a certain level of intelligence as it hunted Arginold down.
A guard bravely stepped forward to block the werewolf’s path to the duke, but the beast lunged forward and bit him on his exposed jugular. Blood sprayed over the creature’s fur, and then the guard’s body fell to the floor.
Two more men rushed forward, and I recognized one of them as the watch commander, but they died almost as swiftly as the first man. The werewolf slashed his sharp claws across one man’s chest, and then he turned to tackle the watch commander. The two fell to the ground in a tussle of limbs, fur, and armor, but then the werewolf stepped away from the watch commander’s dead body.
“Someone kill the wizard!” The duke’s face was full of rage, and he burned lasers into Racine from across the room with his cold eyes. “The beast will die when he does!”
I hadn’t thought about that. All the duke had to do was hit Racine, and the magic keeping the werewolf present in this world would dissipate. It happened all the time in video games, so why not here in this medieval fantasy world I’d magically been summoned to?
The guards all rushed to follow the duke’s commands, but their numbers had already dwindled dangerously with the three deaths, and the werewolf still stood between them and the wizard.
I sighed as I pulled my sword from its sheath. I hadn’t wanted to get involved, but once I figured out how to fix all the problems with my plan, then I would be able to just sit back and watch the fireworks.
I headed toward the werewolf while I worked the muscle in my jaw, and I twirled the blade experimentally in my hand to test its weight.
The guards fell to the floor with gashes on their throats spraying blood, and the beast let out a mighty howl of victory as he stood over their corpses. I was too late to save them. I’d written the order that had brought them to the room, so I felt a little responsible for their deaths, but I could already tell I was going to reset to my save point to try something better.
First, though, I wanted to see what the two bastards I was trying to get to kill each other would do next so I could plan more efficiently next time.
I stood and waited while the duke and Racine stared each other down with the werewolf panting in between them. The court wizard furrowed his brow, and the creature turned toward the dais once more.
“Kill him!” Arginold commanded the two of us as he pointed his finger at the court wizard. “Kill him now! That’s an order!”
The werewolf continued to walk steadily toward the dais, and I saw the fear in Arginold’s eyes from across the room. The sword clasped in the duke’s hand began to shake, and I wondered if he’d ever even used it before in real combat, or if it was just for show.
Either way, it wouldn’t help him now if he didn’t know how to use it, so I’d have to find him something a little more powerful. With a ranged weapon, the duke could kill Racine from across the room, and hopefully I could get it timed perfectly so that the werewolf would still kill His Grace.
“They won’t listen to you, Arginold,” Racine cackled. “The guards are afraid of my summoning power. They would rather let their lord die than be eaten by my beast.”
While he was partly correct, I wasn’t any more scared of the werewolf than I was of Racine and Arginold. They would learn soon enough what happens when you messed with the God of Time, and no matter how satisfying it would be to announce myself right then and there, I wanted to remain anonymous.
Then the werewolf snarled, and his claws scraped against the shiny stone floor of the audience chamber as the beast drew closer to the duke.
Arginold made no moves to get out of the way, though, and Racine merely stood back to watch. I shook my head in dismay as I watched the duke attempt to slash his blade across the werewolf’s chest and missed.
Well.
Fuck.
I watched while the beast made quick work of the duke, and his death cry echoed through my ears for a long moment after the hall had already fallen silent again. Then Racine’s laughter bubbled from his throat and filled the air like a poisonous fog.
The court wizard was fucked up in the head, that was for sure.
I reset back to my save point with a shake of my head. They deserved what they got, and I was beyond ready to teach these two fuckers a lesson.
Chime.
I went through several attempts to get all the pieces in order.
Chime.
I managed to get the duke and Racine to confront each other outside the throne room, but the werewolf still killed the duke first.
Chime.
I had the duke summon an army of guards, but then the wizard died, and the duke survived.
Chime.
I retried so many times I lost count of the chimes. Nothing seemed to be working exactly the way I wanted it to, but I hadn’t given up hope just yet. I was determined to follow through with my scheme to the very end.
I wasn’t a quitter, after all, and I wanted one-hundred percent completion of this magical world I’d been thrust into. I knew I’d been brought here for a reason, and while I wasn’t sure exactly what that reason was, I knew taking out a couple of assholes along the way would only help me out in the end. If I hadn’t interfered with the duke and the court wizard, they would have continued to hound my every step with summoned beasts and mercenaries.
Chime.
Chime.
Chime.
I stashed spears, bows, arrows, and other weapons near the dais for the duke to grab. Unfortunately, the noble lord threw the spear wide, shot too high with the bow, and in general fucked up every opportunity I gave him to live just a little while longer.
Chime.
What weapon could the duke use with relatively little skill but murderous intent?
I paced the corridors of the castle as I searched for the answers to my dilemma, but then I saw a crossbow in my mind’s eye, and a lightbulb flashed above my head.
It was perfect for my needs.
I wanted there to be a crossbow within arm’s reach of the duke at all times, so after I fucked Eva senseless on the bed, I made sure that my forged orders indicated that every guard he requested was armed with a crossbow. A short while later, I was standing in the audience chamber with a dozen crossbow armed men.
This time would be different. I had a good feeling in the pit of my stomach as I took up my position along the wall where I could see both dais and entrance to the audience chamber.
“Racine!” the duke growled as he crumpled the letter in his fist, and his dark eyes quickly scanned over the room. “Someone fetch me the damn court wizard!”
“Yes, Your Grace,” one of the servants in the room murmured as they rushed away to find Racine.
They wouldn’t have to look far. The court wizard was currently on his way to the audience chamber in his own fit of rage. I didn’t envy the servant who would encounter the pissed off wizard, though, and I shook my head with sympathy for the man who trotted off to find him.
A few moments later, Racine’s werewolf howled, and the sound echoed through the castle for what I hoped was a final time. Then the beast appeared at the entrance to the audience chamber with the court wizard behind it. The beast growled, and it swung its head from side to side as it looked at the nobles gathered together in the room. The courtiers gasped, and they huddled together away from the creature leering at them with saliva dripping from its open maw.
Then the court wizard stepped into the room, and he furrowed his brow as he stared up at the duke standing on his dais.
“Somebody shoot the damn wizard!” Arginold yelled.
“Kill the duke!” Racine commanded his beast.
The werewolf lunged forward like a racehorse let out of the gate, and it quickly crossed the distance to the duke’s chair. The duke would be dead in a moment if he didn’t do something, but suddenly Arginold turned and spotted a crossbow.
“Give me your weapon. Now!” the duke shouted at the guard closest to the dais.
The guard tossed his loaded crossbow through the air, but fortunately, the duke managed to catch it just in time. Bolts from other crossbows were already flying toward the werewolf, but the other guards were too distracted by the deranged beast suddenly in their midst to hear their lord’s command to kill the wizard.
The beast howled as the projectiles stung its flesh, but when it turned to face the guards, they all dropped their weapons and ran out of the room screaming.
They must all be cowards.
At least the duke was armed now, and I swiveled my head back to see what he would do with his weapon.
Arginold took aim at the wizard as the werewolf continued to barrel toward him, and he squeezed his finger down on the trigger an instant before the beast knocked into him.
The two fell to the ground while the duke’s bolt zipped through the air, and I inhaled sharply as I turned to see Racine. The court wizard stood blinking stupidly while a line of blood dribbled down from the bolt protruding from his forehead. Then he sputtered out something unintelligible before he collapsed in a heap.
The court wizard was finally dead.
I almost leapt for joy, but instead I turned to see how the duke had fared against the werewolf. All that remained on the dais was the duke’s bloody corpse and a blue-gray pile of ash.
They were both dead. At last.
The courtiers in the room were all freaking out. Screams pierced the air, and everyone rushed to get away from the deadly scene before them, so a moment later I stood alone in the audience chamber between the remains of Racine and Arginold.
I’d done it. I’d won the game, and I crossed the room to Arginold’s body so I could claim my prize.
“I’ll take that,” I said as I slipped the chain holding the key from around his neck. Then I trotted over to the tapestry that hid the way to the treasury tower.
Now, all I had to do was grab my loot and get out of Dodge.