Chapter 130: Daunting Observer
[Current Stats:
[Vitality: 27/27]
[Strength: 35]
[Stamina: 26/26]
[Speed: 28]
Midas dove up above the water, shaking the water out of his hair before floating over to the shore.
"Lord Midas!" Bzzrt flew down before his master, bowing respectfully. Yemo and the others also made their way over.
"Are you alright!?" Yemo yelled with concern, "That serpent... how did it manage to swallow you? What a horrible thing to happen!" He said, unable to express how upset he was.
"This is my fault!" Bzzrt abruptly yelled, "If I hadn’t been distracted, I would have helped you earlier!"
Midas smirked, "Enough." He stated, causing all voices to lower. "Are you two trying to insult my strength? If I needed help, I would have let you know. But, I didn’t." He said, looking toward Bzzrt. "Are you saying that I needed to be saved by you, Bzzrt?"
"W-what!? Of course not! No!" The mosquito king replied.
"Good... then that’s all settled," Midas said.
"My lord!" Yemo spoke up, "This appeared on shore after the serpent was felled. I believe it is the flag of the entire forest zone we are in." He said, holding up a large pole that had a green flag fluttering atop.
Midas smiled, "Perfect!" He said, taking the flag, "I will place this flag right here, where the serpent was. After all, my intention is not to hide and play safe. I want to play this competition to win. If I don’t believe that my army can defeat any other army, then what’s the point of competing at all?"
Yemo nodded along.
"Yemo... as you are an elder, you will be tasked with being in charge of leading not only the Pistol Squad, but the rest of the army present here except for Bzzrt," Midas said before thrusting the flag pole into the ground without hesitation.
"Make sure you defend it well. I trust you can come up with strategies to retain victory, since you can use that smart brain of yours." Midas said with a smile.
"Of course, my lord!" Yemo saluted eagerly, the rest of the army behind him following his lead.
Just then, a massive holographic panel appeared in the air.
It was the same leaderboard from before, but even larger now!
Midas immediately glanced at it, his eyes narrowing with intrigue.
The leaderboard was large enough for all those in the competition regions to see clearly.
The leaderboard was unranked. Not a single name had appeared in any of the placings. However, out of nowhere, a single name began to climb in points.
The points quickly totaled up to 100, causing Midas Kyrios Stars to be in first place! In second place, there was no one. In fact, he was the only one to be on the board as of yet.
"Look!" Toshy said from the shadows, "He placed the damn flag down! What are we supposed to steal now!?" He was clearly upset.
"Hmm..." Urus’s brows were furrowed. He was clearly stressed as well. "That... is not optimal. And it’s not like we can defeat his army for the flag either. Not only is his army exceptionally strong, but our abilities only work on a limited number of people. A single person would work best. I really didn’t expect him to place the flag out in the open like this. Most would hide it in a cavern or within bushes, hidden from sight." He said, beginning to bite his lip out of nervousness.
"Bzzrt!" Midas yelled, jumping up on top of the beast’s back. "I already have 100 points now. Next, I want to get the bounty zone of this region. Judging the difficulty, I’m sure it will at least be worth 200 points. With 300 points, I will definitely keep my placement in the top 10."
Bzzrt swooped up into the air.
"Wait!" Midas said before the mosquito zipped off toward the bounty zone. "Let me scan this area one last time. I swear I felt an odd... powerful presence in the area for a moment before I fought the drake." His eyes slowly gazed across the land.
"Toshy..." Urus said, "Looks like he’s going for the bounty zone. Since no one else is probably left in this zone, especially due to Midas being the first to be ranked on the leaderboard, we can ambush him for the flag of the bounty zone. Plus, he has already released his army. He will be alone, and ripe for the picking."
Toshy’s eyes lit up with eagerness, "Good idea..." He said, chuckling. "A bounty zone flag is even more valuable than a normal one."
The two quickly climbed down from the tree they were in and began heading toward the bounty zone of the region.
Midas scanned the area one last time, but found nothing. "Hm... maybe it was just my paranoia." He chalked it up to this. Bzzrt then quickly flew toward the bounty zone and exited the scene.
As he left, a figure observed him flying away from high in the clouds.
A formidable figure existed above, his aura leaking out of him like a yellow storm cloud.
He was dressed in a metallic suit that was white in color and streaked with yellow lightning. Behind him, ten wings made of transparent yellow lightning struck out wildly, as though he were some sort of angel.
The figure looked awesome. Awe-inspiring. Threatening and immensely powerful.
Apart from everything else, the one unique thing on their attire was a green circle sigil in the center of their chest.
"Midas Kyrios... Stars. Interesting..." The figure muttered under their breath for a split second before blitzing into the sky. As he flew, he touched a button near the ear of his masked metal helmet.
"I found him, Father. He seems very similar indeed. I don’t think that burglar was being deceitful." He said as he exited the scene.
Down below, Yemo quickly went to work.
"You all! Guard that front there! We will make an area of ambush here, and that entrance will be a trapped one!" He began spouting orders, "Trolls! Go stomp around the outskirts! Your footprints alone are a decent defense! And you all, form a barricade around the flag! It must not be touched by any living soul!"
"Yes, Lord Yemo!"
"On it, Lord Elder!"
...
Midas lay on Bzzrt’s back, his left leg crossed over his right knee, his hands padding the back of his head like a pillow.
"This is going swimmingly... but I want an actual challenge. To test my abilities. Let’s see if the bounty beast has what it takes." He smirked to himself.