Chapter 125 - Day CCCLXV, Part I

Even with all the talks during the previous day, we ended up hunting as usual. Will promised to start discreetly looking for Blue.

Bushido accompanied us. Boris and his men also joined for the first time. After a short conversation, I found out that he actually at the beginning didn't want to force Nobuo and his men to share crystals with his Bratstvo, but eventually had to make the decision. Moods in his group were going bad without constant access to some hunting ground.

With such a large group, the morale was low. The spot was too small for us all. We headed out, clearing the path all the way to the cave, which went smooth, and then we parted ways. They continued clearing the territory outside, while we went underground.

A few hours later we finally reached the silver door, took a bit of a rest, and started the final battle. The fight with Will's participation was way easier compared to yesterday when I took the werewolf all by myself.

This scenario repeated itself for the next three days. Every odd day we were joined by Bushido and also Russians. People were getting scraps, but there was no other choice.

Over this period of time, I accumulated 270 750 additional regular points and four additional class points.

On the fourth day, something changed though. Even before we managed to reach the wolf's territory, some howling could be heard. At first very little, but it changed, and very soon it became clear, that somebody was clearing the spot.

We accelerated the match, to find out who dared to do such a thing. After a solid hour of marching, we saw the first hunters. I didn't recognize any of them. They noticed us and started to gather, only then I identified a few. They were members of Wuxia, which didn't make any sense to me for a solid few seconds, but soon after everything clicked.

Blue made his move.

The group was large. Outnumbered us more than two to one. They weren't just some random newcomers, but also veterans. I noticed Williams and a couple of others that came to this world with the first or second batch of people. Definitely strong individuals. The closer I got, the more of them I could notice. There was more than half of the whole organization.

The man, the myth, the asshole, emerged out of them.

- We are taking this spot! - he shouted.

- Fuck - Will muttered under his breath.

- If you wanna die for this hunting ground, you are very welcome! - replied Nobuo.

- Hold up - Boris said to Adachi. - This fight is not the smartest move.

As they started a discussion, I headed out, to close the distance to Blue.

- We do not wish to fight you, but we will if we have to! - was his reply.

Upon noticing my movement, he also started to walk, ignoring everybody else. We met somewhere in the middle.

- Sorry Peter, but you gave me no choice - he said.

- I could kill you right here, right now.

- Maybe, but I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. All I need to do is a retreat, and allow my men to join the fight. You have the advantage if it's just us, but in a grander battle, you would lose. I have more soldiers, and they are stronger. Look closely, there are some top dogs from Wuxia - he said with a smile.

I immediately knew that he was right. There was a chance of us winning, but the price for that was too big. Most of us if not everybody could die in such a clash.

- I knew you have some rats in Wuxia.

- Obviously, I made it pretty clear when they helped me escape, but did you expect this many though?

- You are a snake, and one day I'll cut your head off.

He laughed.

- Why such terrible threats? I still want us to uphold the truce, leave in peace. The city is big, we can share.

- I'm not gonna share anything with you.

- You will. You are a smart guy Peter, and eventually, you will notice that there is no need for us to fight. We should unite instead, and lead the humanity of this place back to earth.

- What did you do to Hatta?

- Nothing. We just left at night in peace. I suggest you do the same.

I just spat on the ground, turned around, and went back to my group.

- What did you talk with him about? - Will asked immediately.

- Let's return to the city. We can't take them on anyway.

- As much as it pains me to say, we should retreat now, and pick a battle with more favorable odds - said Nobuo. - If it would be just me, I wouldn't say such shameful words, but I can't allow my people to just die here.

- He is right. We should retreat and gather our forces in the city. They have a lot of people from Wuxia, but not all of them - said Boris. - Besides we need to check if Hatta is alive.

I nodded.

- He is, at least that's what Blue said. I believe him. Hilling Hatta would just start an all-out war, and I didn't believe that Blue want it. At least not for now, so let's go.

We headed back. Unlike us, some other people in our group were pretty eager to fight. Especially from Bushido. Newcomers that didn't understand the difference in strength yet, and were blinded by their honor and pride.

During all the way we talked tactics. There were propositions of reclaiming the spot the next day and setting up a camp here with bigger forces. Or just resolving it with a grand battle. I didn't like any of them.

If we were to start the war with him, other forces in the city would join the front against us. It was as clear as day.

Setting up a camp here would weaken our position on other territories, that were way more attractive to weaker people that could only gain class points on the goblin boss.

I had many ideas but nothing seemed to be the right one.

- Let's just give them the spot - Boris finally proposed. - I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but we lost a major part of our forces, and on top of that they joined the enemy. It's simple math. Besides other places are way more attractive than wolves. We can re-establish ourselves at rats nest and goblin cave, kick everybody else to join Blue if they want, and you Peter with Will can hunt orcs.

- We can not back down this easily - Nobuo protested.

- He is right. We can just back down, and for sure we can't allow others to join Blue - said Will.

- No, he is right. We should re-establish ourselves at other hunting grounds. We don't have enough people though, so we should take only the nest and the cave. Leave the rest to others, it's not efficient anyway. Will and I will go back to the canyon. It's the best solution - I said. - It's this or second war, but this time it won't end so easily. There will be blood, and the city will burn.

The images from my dream flashed in my head. I didn't want this scenario to happen. The war had to be avoided. We needed a plan to not only grow in strength, but also in numbers. We needed the support of people other than just our own groups.

With Aisha's help, it probably wouldn't be so hard to achieve, but we didn't have her on our side. She was either our own Switzerland or an enemy. I just needed to figure out which one.

There was much to do and very little time.

- Even Peter agrees - said Boris. - We need to talk with Hatta and make a clear plan. Blue is at least a few moves ahead of us. We also need Aisha and Jayadeva.

- I don't know about Jayadeva, but Aisha is out of the question. For what I know she could be supporting Blue - said Will.

- What? - Boris looked at him with shock painted all over his face.

- There has been a lot going on in the shadows. I and Peter were planning to fix everything behind Hatta's back, but as you can see, it all went to shitter.

- Explain - said Nobuo.

- We wanted to kill Blue. Quickly and silently. That would finish all the problems. Of his schemes in the dark, of Aisha supporting him from shadows, of his spies in Wuxia. We just were a bit too slow. Fuck - he kicked the dirt while still walking.

Boris just sighed, then chuckled sadly.

- We have clearly a lot to talk about.

- Yes. We clearly do - Adachi quickly agreed.

- Sorry guys. We had a lot on our heads - said Will. - We wanted to fix it, and really thought we could. It was just a matter of days.

- It didn't work, so this time let's think about something together - Boris proposed.

He was not angry at all. Nobuo on the other hand was clearly upset.. We kept matching in silence, eventually reaching the city.