Chapter 168 - 168 Relaxing On The Beach

These puppets have a distinct advantage over the [Voodoo Dolls] spell not only in that they are permanent, but they can also be added to inventory. Cain isn't sure if he'll need to reprogram them when taken back out, but the option is there to store them for easy transport.

The basic instructions he gave this one seem sufficient for the day, the Puppet is carrying a full picnic and following them around silently, staying out of everyone's way. They can see the beach now, and a large crowd gathered, so the girls are likely at the center of that. Cain changes to beach wear, shorts and sandals, enjoying the afternoon heat on his skin, while Symbia enjoys the view. 

"Incognito was never really an option for your guild was it? It's like you naturally attract attention everywhere you go." Symbia laughs, pointing to where Laura has flown up in the air to wave at them. 

Red and Arial have set up umbrellas in the sand and laid out blankets while the girls have released their clones. No wonder they're getting attention, twins. Nemu has also put her costume skill to work, shifting to a Neko look, mostly human with cat ears and tail. Her coloration is still roughly the same, platinum blonde hair and pale skin with black ears and a black tip on her cream colored tail. 

The ladies have all changed in to various colors of bikinis while Red is in a long pair of shorts and a shirt. Even as a fire dragon he shouldn't be cold, it's scorching out here and Cain is sweating from the sun. He must be body shy. 

"I hope you've got beach wear. It looks like everyone has settled in already." Cain laughs as Vala spreads her wings, reclining in a chair and Laura moves to use them as a sun shade. 

"I did, but do you think it's alright to keep the Puppet out?" Symbia asks. 

"The shirt and skirt don't look too out of place, let's have it serve drinks and snacks to see how the programming holds." Cain suggests.

"You found even more women? Oh, that's a Puppet. So lifelike." Misha says, coming over to look it over. 

"I could use one of these when crafting. Mannequins don't move to show you if things are hard to move in or bunch up in strange places. Is that what you made it for?"

"Not exactly, but it would work. They're anatomically correct after all. Except the ones specifically ordered in exaggerated dimensions."

Misha looks confused, so the Elf leans in close and whispers something in her ear that makes the Dark Apostle turn bright red in the face. 

Any response she might have made its interrupted by an argument from the direction of the other girls. 

"Don't you know who I am? Turn over the cat girls and I'll spare your miserable lives." A nasal voice shouts and Cain can hear Vala laughing at him. Not good, as the city guard said, if they get in trouble, he's in trouble. Cain quickly calls out nine more of the Oath Breakers, merged with him instead of free to roam. That should be enough to deal with any sort of trouble he's likely to find. 

"Fine, we can do this the hard way. Don't say I didn't warn you." The voice shouts of enough everyone nearby turns to look. 

[Area Notice: Nut Up Guild has declared war on Darklight Host Guild] 

[Guild Notice: Guild Master Odin has attacked Guild Master Cain, instigating a Guild War for the next 24 hours.]

"Everyone run, Golden God has attacked the Dragon Lord." Someone screams and the beach rapidly clears. Symbia gives Cain a sympathetic look before she too turns to run.

Summons are appearing all over the beach as everyone calls forth their Bonded Forces. Vicious looking Snapping Turtle Kin, shell backed humanoids with Turtle heads and heavy shields, have surrounded the Darklight Host members and the sky is filling with Dragons and Drakes as Cain calls forth all his summons, then the Nut Up Guild starts filling the other end of the beach, charging in to assist their Guild Master. 

"Last chance scrubs, give me the twins and I'll let most of you live." The Guild Master Odin sneers. 

"You see, that's just not going to happen. I'll thank you in advance for the new Guild House though." Cain laughs, looking him over. He's wearing a red bracelet that says "Odin 271". Many of his other members have them too, but all low 200s.

Cain calls the final two Oath Bringers and directs them to merge with each other. That should put them well over level 200 in strength, with the durability and damage of a raid boss. 

The Wrath Bringers, both his and Vala's, lead the charge into the Nut Up Guild, the Lamia greater Golems right behind them and the Drakes overhead preparing a breath assault. 

"Kill everyone but the twins." Odin commands, charging Cain. 

"In Formation, we all know the drill. Guard the healers." Cain calls, bringing out a pair of Scimitar to meet Odin's spear.

Cain can hear the city guard blocking off the beach to allow the battle to proceed uninterrupted. Odin is charging him, but he's so slow to Cain's senses it looks like he's almost frozen in time, the benefit of a ridiculous amount of DEX Stat. 

[Dying Last is still dead. Let's play with the others first.] The Oath Breakers merged with Cain suggest into his thoughts.

That's an excellent idea. In these few seconds [Might of Many] has given him a huge damage increase on top of what he can do merged with the demons, so a little fun wouldn't be out of order. 

Cain sidesteps the spear attack and charges a nearby Paladin, a backhanded strike with the flat of his blade shattering the tank's shield and the area damage effect granted by the Oath Breakers red lining every Nut Up fighter within ten meters, except Odin, who Cain excluded.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Next time I'll use the blade. Fair warning." Cain teases, quickly recording every new combination in the area, including Red and Arial who are still here, guarding Misha. 

Odin rages and charges him again, but can't move nearly far enough to catch Cain, who even has time to check his merged stats.

[Name] Cain

[Stats]+60

[STR] 125 (+1000)

[DEX] 125 (+1500)

[CON] 125 (+2000)

[INT] 125 (+1000)

[HP] 1000 (+75000)

[MP] 1250 (+35000)

Oath Breakers only have ten thousand HP? He thought they were tougher, but maybe that's just because of the damage reduction effect granted by being Legendary quality Dungeon Boss. 

Cain stuns a Healer with a strike to the back of the head, suppressing the damage from might of many to not kill everyone in the area.

The area damage effect still drops most of them below half health. 

"Boss, we can't keep this up, there's too much damage coming in and we can't kill these accursed demons." Someone shouts.

"You'll never find another Guild on this continent if you flee, coward. Now get me my prize while I deal with this insolent upstart. And someone call my father."

"I'm already here." Comes a booming voice. Cain looks up to see a wing of Gryphons with riders, all wearing matched blue Tabards over silver armor. His title declares him Duke Lancelot, Knight Commander of the Landis Kingdom. That would be the human kingdom south of the desert and east of the Orcs Ghazzul Kingdom. 

They're a long way from home, but the son seems to have a Guild house here, so the Knights might be vacationing here. The fighting calms as the Nut Up Guild disengages to regroup and Cain told his summons to retreat a little, hoping to end this without turning the beautiful yellow sand to red mud. 

"Not so brave now are you? How dare you stand against the Son of Duke Lancelot and the Landis Kingdom." The boy sneers and Cain starts reconsidering his aversion to mass murder. But thinking of it, shouldn't he be more bothered by killing people? Certainly in his last life he'd have been panicking right now. A lot of Nut Up members were killed in the last minute. But somehow it's hard to care, like the system affects the mind to help deal with trauma. 

Cain sets his title bar so the Duke title and Terror is the Naga title are visible. Maybe that will help someone see sense. 

The Gryphons land in a circle around Cain, the riders dismounting in unison, making an impressive show of military discipline. 

"In the Landis Kingdom, we have a tradition of duels to solve such problems between Nobles. Until concession, unconsciousness or death. Would you agree?" Duke Lancelot asks. 

"What are the terms?" Cain asks. 

"If you lose, Odin gets the twins, if you win, you may claim reparations for the insult." Duke Lancelot informs him. 

"Should I win, I will ask for all properties affiliated with the Nut Up Guild here in Assah. Or his life, should that be too steep a price." Cain says resolutely, watching the answer flash in the other man's eyes. 

[What are you doing? He's like level 300] Kone sends in Guild chat. 

[We've got this. Oath Breaker is virtually immune to status effects] Cain sends back and the little Beast Lord rolls her eyes at him. 

"If both parties agree, on behalf of Earl RhickJaymz, the local Lord, we shall referee the duel. Anyone interfering will be summarily executed under local law." Red says, stepping forward with Arial. 

The boy is gloating, but his father looks grim as he grits his teeth and nods his head. 

"Agreed"

"Agreed"