Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang spent the night awake, sending his spirits all over the town, spying on the key figures in his mind. Even Zelie Linden Akhor was not an exception even though the quest indicated she should be safe. He just wanted to make sure no more mishaps might delay the fight tomorrow.

Tang Shaoyang had an inkling that Edelmir was related to the third son of Archduke Devereux. They had a short meeting, short because Edelmir learned his lesson. He immediately cut his relationship with the Archduke's third son and was not willing to do the noble's bidding. Not just them, but also the commander of the town's main, a direct subordinate of Lady Akhor, was involved.

Everything turned out just as he expected, several people schemed together with different goals in their minds for their own benefit. One of the reasons why he disliked getting involved with any nobles, even if they were weaker than him.

After the short meeting, there was another meeting. The five key figures for tomorrow's battle gathered in a room. They were talking about the assignment for tomorrow. The mayor would provide the supplies, whether it was food or equipment for the soldiers and mercenaries for free.

The mayor would take a big loss for this, but it would be much better than getting his own place destroyed by the Giant and the Orc. Despite his reluctance, the merchant agreed to give the support for free. However, he asked something interesting, the Orc and Giant's hearts after the end of the battle. It seemed like the Giant and The Orc's hearts were a rare material for alchemy, and that piqued his interest.

He did not know there was any use for Orc's heart, this was the first time someone wanted the Orc's heart. The meeting continued, an assignment for the battle until his name was brought up. He was not expecting his name would be brought up here. However, the princess did not mention him being a player.

She told them that he was someone sent by the Royal Family to help her defend the city. The third son of Archduke Devereux was skeptical because it was no longer a secret that the Royal Family had cast out the princess after her decision to abandon the arranged marriage. However, she gave them a believable excuse because if the fort fell, it might spread to the other towns or even to make it worse, the Giant and the Orc might reach the major city in the kingdom.

The next thing they discussed was where to put him on the battlefield. They all had heard what happened to Edelmir, and everyone agreed it was inappropriate to place him under them. However, no one wanted to hand their force to the stranger even if it was Lady Akhor's guest.

In the end, they agreed to put Tang Shaoyang to lead the criminal as the vanguard when the Giant and the Orc invaded. They put him to lead the cannon fodder. Those criminals were used to delay the invasion while decreasing the enemy number.

Before the sun was up, someone knocked on his door. Lady Akhor with her butler and servants were behind the door.

"Are you still asleep?" The princess asked.

"No," Tang Shaoyang opened the door, "I hope you have decided my assignment."

The butler and the servant did not like how casual he was with the princess. A frown formed on their expression, but Erna. The others might have heard what happened, but they did not experience it themselves like Erna. They were not as cautious as Erna and their lady when it came to Tang Shaoyang. However, they did not say anything because the princess had warned them beforehand."

The princess nodded and gestured at him to follow her as she explained his assignment. She made sure to tell him the reason why he was asked to lead the criminal and so on, a lengthy explanation. It was as if the princess prepared the excuse overnight while ensuring that she did not upset him.

"What do you think?" Lady Akhor asked for his opinion, clearly not trying to enforce her authority over him, "I can put you with the other recruits if you want to, but I don't think you want to listen to anyone's order and want more freedom on the battlefield."

"I don't care," Tang Shaoyang shrugged.

Zelie Linden Akhor did not like the answer. Not because of his casualness in front of her, it was more like his indifference to the situation. She could not get ready for the man, and that would make it harder for her to build up a connection with the man. She did not know what he wanted, what he was interested in, and what he disliked.

"I will bring you to meet the leader. We have split them into nine groups with each group consisting of a hundred people. There are God Ranks, and they would be the leader for each group, and you will be their commander."

She explained as they left the manor, heading toward the barrack. The criminals remained inside the prison wagon, and their leaders were confined in barrack jail. Nine God Ranks in one jail, he was surprised how they had not tried to break out yet.

If it was him, he would separate the God Rank, one jail for one person. Letting them in one cell was the same as inviting a disaster. They had one all night for themselves, and they did not know what they were talking about in this place. They might have some plan for themselves amidst the intense battle.

"Even if they do something, they would not be able to realize with that cuff in their ankles and wrist. That cuff absorbs energy to keep their energy zero, and it acts as a limiter as well. With the cuff, they only had one thousand for all stats."

Tang Shaoyang's eyes brightened when he heard it. The dwarves developed something similar, instead of acting as a limiter, his cuff absorbed energy and also drained their physical ability, constantly putting their prisoner in a weakened state. They had developed something better that did not leave a lasting effect as well since constantly draining their physical strength had a side effect.

"They are the worst of the worst of all criminals. That one!" Lady Akhor pointed at a bald man, "He is a bandit leader that has been terrorizing the kingdom, not just our kingdom, but also the other kingdoms. Countless villages fell to them…"

She listed what the man had done. Not just looting the village, he led his people to kill the men, kidnapping the children and the women. They would use the women for themselves, but they would sell the children for more money. Once they succeeded in raiding a town and killed the noble in charge, putting the noble on display while they ravaged the women.

The nine people had committed all kinds of crimes except for two of them. They were here because they killed a noble, the noble they served, and of course, it had to be because of the noble's stupidity that led to the situation. They were Zalan and Marton.

The noble's son raped the God Rank's daughter, Zalan's daughter. The noble's son was afraid of the consequence of his action and to cover it, he killed the daughter. Funny enough, the mystery was uncovered by his own father because he did not know it was his son's doing. A hell let loose when the truth was found out. It would end up with just one person dead, but the father tried to protect his son. That was when Zalan snapped out and killed the noble's whole family. It was later known as Zalan's Tragedy, a famous story in the kingdom.

Marton had a similar tragedy, losing his family to the people he served. It happened because of the succession battle for this family. He was asked by the noble to act neutral because he was the only God Rank in this noble family. A favor from Marton would change the three ways of succession battle.

Things started to go south when the two sons who were losing their succession became desperate. Not willing to lose their position and wanting to be their father's successor, they tried to kidnap Marton's family to use them as leverage. At that time, Marton was out of the territory for a duty. When he returned, he lost everyone from his family because of the succession battle. That was when Marton went on a rampage and killed the noble's relatives, including the three sons and the noble's daughter, leaving only the head of the family. That was what Lady Akhor told Tang Shaoyang.

"Can you release them from the shackles?" Tang Shaoyang asked, and the seven criminals immediately snapped at Tang Shaoyang when they heard the request.

"Are you crazy…" Lady Akhor's voice faded as she recalled what happened in the town square, "What do you want to do?" She asked, wanting to know what the player planned before giving the keys.

"I need to establish my authority on them so they would listen to me," Tang Shaoyang answered, loud enough for the nine people to hear him.

"Give him the key," Lady Akhor nodded.

Her butler, the servants, and the guards could not believe that Lady Akhor would take such a risk. The butler tried to persuade, but she believed Tang Shaoyang for some reason.

"Don't follow me," Tang Shaoyang grabbed the key and entered the jail. He throws the key to the floor, "I will be your commander in this war. You just need to listen to me, and you will regain your freedom. You will be pardoned for your crimes and lead a new life."

Of course, no one listened to him as the seven God Ranks fought out for the keys. The first one managed to open the cuff, and he laughed maniacally.

"I am free! I don't know such a fool exists!" The baldy, the bandit leader snapped toward Tang Shaoyang and grinned ear to ear, "Thank you for your help. As long as you don't stop us, then you will not be harmed— Heh?"

The baldy noticed something weird, his vision turned upside down, and he saw his own body, a headless body, and also the man who gave him the key, standing next to his body with a sword.