While Ainz Ooal Gown and Umbrella Corporation are having a get-together, another faction is doing the same... but the motives are a lot less cheerful.
Mercer, Harran, Allen, and Cateline are back in the meeting room. This time, two people are with them. Cere and Lucus.
Lucus is a robust blonde man with a bloated belly. His regal outfit has him looking like a baron of a kingdom, a match with his prideful and exceedingly boastful attitude.
Cere is a redhead woman that looks the same age as Elena. She wears commoner clothes as to not stand out in the crowd. Compared to Lucus, she is quiet, calculating, but emotionally vulnerable.
"Now that we are all here. Let us commence this meeting. Cateline will fill you up on where we are now." Mercer said, wanting everyone to participate and take this one seriously.
"We are currently at war with someone. A Virus that is weirdly not from the Lab. His identity is unknown, as well as his mutations." Cateline started.
"After Harran's ridiculous attempt at trying to spy, he now has three mutations from Harran, and I don't doubt he knows we exist." Cateline continued, grinning at Harran, who scoffs at the mention of his failure.
"He also has a hold of Elena. Knowing how weak the girl is, she probably spilled all the info about us already." Cateline added, now taking a jab at Allen and his sister.
"Would you refrain from starting another argument, Cateline? I don't want this meeting ending up like the rest." Mercer commented, glaring at Cateline. The lady stares to the side nervously before nodding.
"Well, this individual is... interesting. But why couldn't we just recruit him? Surely a man of his stature would be grateful to be with us." Lucus interjected, thinking Cateline was already done with the briefing.
"Cateline, continue." Mercer simply said.
"This individual has a kingdom at his disposal. Not to mention that he built this place from the ground up without any help from the neighboring kingdoms. And now he's expanding territory. A village had just been built near E-Rantel." Cateline finished. Saying Lucus was surprised is an understatement.
So surprised that all glossed over the fact that he had a vulnerable village near E-Rantel without any protection.
"Now. How do we find out more about this man without risking our Mutations falling into enemy hands." Mercer said, not taking any mentions of Harran.
"What kingdom is near his?" Cere spoke up after a couple of seconds, stressing over her friend who was in the hands of an enemy.
"From Harran's report, his kingdom is near Slane Theocracy." Mercer answered, eliciting a sound of surprise from Cere.
"Brave." Lucus noted. No Virus dares to acquire a domain near the Theocracy since their human beliefs tend to destroy any non-human stepping near their kingdom.
Sure, Viruses have the power to shapeshift, but they can't risk it considering the Theocracy's manpower, strong individuals, and battle prowess.
"And the fact that he was able to build a kingdom near Slane is evidence enough of his skill." Allen added, a first-hand recipient of the Theocracy's power.
"He's either really skilled in stealth, or his army is incredible to withstand such an attack from the Theocracy." Cateline continued with slight envy, drinking from a wine glass filled with blood.
"If what you said is all true, we have no way of finding out about him without sacrificing something." Harran said, trying to tell the others that what he did was justifiable.
"Maybe. But this doesn't excuse you for going after enemies without permission!" Cateline scolded. Harran hisses in anger. He stands up and glares at Cateline.
"You do not have the right to scold me, Cateline." He growled. Cateline felt fear swallow her, seeing Harran stand up and bare his mandible-like mutations at her.
"Remember that I am higher in ranking than you! Just because Mercer has been using you for the latest missions doesn't mean your position changed." Harran shouted in pure anger. Cateline was taken aback, remembering the domain difference between him and Harran.
The lady sat down, embarrassed at what Harran spouted. Being Mercer's lapdog got through her head, completely forgetting that she's below Harran. But it angered her pride. Being stepped down was something she never liked.
"As I was saying." Harran said, fixing his composure, "We don't have a choice but to either sacrifice our mutations in exchange for information or blindly attack and hope our numbers as a whole can overwhelm him." Harran suggested before sitting back down.
All were silent as they thought of the words Harran revealed. Cateline looks around, seeing the emotion of worry from Cere, Elena's friend.
Cere was intelligent, sure, but she was emotionally vulnerable, a weakness even the most tactical people suffer from. And Cateline being a manipulator, smiles, and whispers something to her friend Lucus.
"Is that all? Because from the look you all have right now, Harran just gave the best answer in this situation." Mercer said before sighing. This knowledge of another Virus stressed him out.
"Elena grew..." Allen mumbled. He was weighing his choices if he wanted to say this or not but decided that it should be revealed.
"Elaborate." Mercer said, all eyes were now on Allen, waiting to explain what he meant when he said that Elena grew.
"Elena and I have a physical connection. We can feel changes in each other's physical bodies, wounds, stabs, slices, cuts, bruises, hits, basically everything." Allen revealed, he makes sure that he is always notified if Elena gets hurt so he can save her.
"This individual tampered with the green flu and elicited an upgrade in just one night." Allen said, not mentioning the caliber of power he felt Elena acquire earlier.
The room is filled with diverse emotions coming from the members. They feel intrigued, fearful, envious, anger, and indifferent.
"So, we really don't have a choice? Well, that concludes it." Mercer said, disappointed at the wasted meeting, "Make sure to stay cautious. I will relay this to the others." Mercer continued, standing up then leaving.
The other members stay there, all thinking of their own plans to hide from the enemy or gain the upper hand. Cere couldn't handle the pressure. She stood up and left.
Cateline smiles, seeing the young Virus leave. She stares at Lucus and winks. The man receives the message and stands up to go with her.
Harran and Allen have been left there... awkwardly. Both their ranks were the same, four domains and currently trying to one-up the other. Harran grins at Allen.
"You want to continue that bet." He asked. Allen pinches the bridge of his nose and stands up.
"Sorry, Harran. But you can't expect me to participate in your bets while my sister is in the hands of the enemy." He said, leaving Harran in the room.
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Cateline and Lucus walk through the halls, arguing about Cateline's plan to get rid of another competitor. She and Lucus both have three domains.
"I don't get why you want to get rid of Cere this much. Your plan might be used against Allen. We could get rid of him rather than this small fry." Lucus argued, on board with Cateline's plan, but his goal was different.
"No! Allen is too stoic to be swayed, plus he hates both of us. This small fry is easier to manipulate. This is what? Like her third time meeting us?" Cateline said, showing her motive to get rid of the newcomers.
"Us old Viruses that weren't given that much power are going to get replaced with these youngsters, so it's best to get rid of them quickly." Cateline continued. Lucus nodded. The infections he posses look weak against newly created ones.
Just as planned, Cere was out there pacing back and forth in worry for Elena. They were best friends. Even after she got her first domain and Elena didn't, rankings weren't something of value for her.
"Cere, is it?" Cateline appeared beside her, surprising the girl a bit.
"Lady Cateline?" She asked in surprise. While ranking means nothing to her, superiors are still superiors.
"We didn't want to reveal this, but we need to act now!" Cateline said, acting worried about Elena and her precarious position.
"What do you mean?" Cere asked. From the meeting she attended, Cateline's spouting was not included.
"Didn't you hear Allen? Our enemy already utilized the Green Flu from Elena. That means she's nothing now." Cateline said, signifying that Elena would be exterminated.
"Oh no." Cere gasped, "We should warn Allen!" Cere said, her emotions clouding her judgment.
"No! Cere." Cateline shouted, grabbing Cere and pulling her. She leans into her and whispers, "We can't reveal it to Allen! He'll go nuts and attack on full force without any planning." Cateline lied.
"Then what do we do?" Cere asked, slowly being pressured into fear by Cateline. They have her in their hands, now comes flattery.
"You, Cere. You can save Elena." Lucus said, appearing to her right, "Mercer is quite fond of your skills in battle, seeing you conquer a heavily guarded city so easily." Lucus continued.
"B-But that will go against our orders..." Cere said, getting mixed emotions on whether she should act up or not.
"But what about Elena? Mercer is too cautious, but Elena is running out of time. You are our best pick into this mission." Cateline said, her guise of sadness worn tightly.
Cere was swayed easily. She stared down with determination, nodding at her superiors before leaving back to her domain to try and make a plan of attack.
"These new Viruses are so trusting. Remember when we had to fight each other to gain favor from that old Scientist." Cateline said, remembering how many Viruses she took down before just to reach her rank.
"Too easy." Lucus agreed, laughing at the naivety of the girl.
"You want some Overcharge Delirium to celebrate? My treat." Lucus said offered. It's been so long since they had the chance to reunite without it being business and competition.
"You expect me to drink that peasant beverage from Solis? Let's go." Cateline agreed, remembering the drink made by Solis that can only be drunk safely by Viruses.
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Cere ran back to her domain. Hers was not very far from the kingdom of Baharuth. A noble owned it, but when the ruler of Baharuth killed many of the remaining nobles, the people of the village rebelled and created their safe haven on it.
This leads her to clear it before buying it from Jircniv herself for a small price. Rather than keeping it a village, she grew tall trees, hiding her Viruses on tree branches as well as the Cordyceps she cultivated.
"I can't formulate a plan if I have no knowledge of the enemy!" Cere screamed. Frustration is slowly eating her as she tries to make a plan of attack without base knowledge.
"I could drop a dead infected of mine to infect some of them... but I haven't really seen the spores infect another Virus." She mumbled, trying to whip up a quick plan.
She groans in frustration before lying down the wood floors of her treehouse. The chirping of the birds soothed her along with the clicking of her clickers mindlessly walking on the grass.
"Wait!" Cere sat up, remembering crucial info she heard from Cateline.
"Our enemy has a village near E-Rantel. If I can get at least one of the minions, I can extract their memories to give me the information I need." Cere planned, smiling at the eureka moment she had.
Not wanting to lose the energy, she jumped down from the tree and landed on the grassy ground underneath. There she called upon her infected.
"Ten Stalkers, five Runners, and ten Clickers should be enough." Cere said, counting the roster of infected in front of her.
Despite the highly contagious Virus she held, her troops were small in number. Considering that the only ones she can infect are those who wander in her forest or hostages, the other Viruses are willing to give her.
The mere fact that she will try to cultivate the Cordyceps outside her own domain is risky. Many people can acquire it, revealing her existence and, worse... a cure for her infection.
"Let's go!" She commanded. One of the trees is hollow inside, containing an entrance to the ground underneath.
All acquired domains have underground tunnels built, courtesy of Mercer's Hydras. It gives them a safe journey around without being seen by humans.
As a plus, pressure underneath, heat, and lack of oxygen limits humans from actually reaching the safe route they created, a foolproof way of protecting something.
And if a magic caster might cast something that can give them resistance to all those variables. It's a mix & match of infected down here they'd have to kill.
Cere slowly made her way to Lucus' Domain near Re-Estize. It is closest to E-Rantel. As she got closer and closer. The Variety of Viruses changes from random to the Freaker Virus by Lucus.
"These things really weird me out. They still look like humans... but not at the same time..." She mumbled. Taking a glance at her Stalkers, she reminded herself that she had no right to say that.
After a couple of minutes, she arrived and went up the stairs into Lucus' Domain. The man was there to greet her.
"I suppose these are for the attack on our enemy?" Lucus, staring down at Cere's Viruses.
"Yes. I have a plan to get a bit of information on our enemy." Cere proudly stated. Lucus gives a fake smile and helps her up.
"Get on with it then." He says, turning to leave, "Don't want my noble associates seeing someone as unrefined as yourself." He mumbled. Cere picks up on what he said but decides not to push into it.
After leaving Lucus' mansion and main domain, she started her trek to E-Rantel. She walks through the path and through the villages herself. While she carefully leads her infected through the forests and shrubbery.
She regretted last time, walking with her infected through the trees. Who would've known mages did practices in the forest? Well, she killed them all, but she got a couple of wounds from thunderlance spells and magic arrows.
She arrived at E-Rantel and visited where Elena would've been plotting her scheme to take over E-Rantel. Her pupils shrunk, seeing blood on the ground and inside the house.
Without any hesitation, she ordered her infected to get ready. She already located the little village in the Great Forest of Tob, and it was surrounded by her infected already.
"I have to go. Can't keep our enemy waiting." Cere mumbled, removing her eyes from the bloodstain on the floor and went ahead to oversee the upcoming battle.
"Humans?" She stared in confusion. Stood in the village were humans, doing daily work like planting crops and feeding livestock.
"They don't smell like humans..." She found out, confusing the girl more. She dismisses the thought and sends a single Stalker to see the capabilities of her enemies.
She watches as the Stalker scales the stone wall and jumps the guard in the tower. The human tries to pry the Stalker off, resulting in both attacker and victim falling to the ground.
From her standpoint, the Stalker won as it took a bite out of the human's shoulder. But what concerns her is the way the other humans stood there rather than scrambling as most do.
Cere almost falls off the branch as the human's hand shoots up and grabs the head of the Stalker. Her infected tried to break free, but the human bashes its head on the ground, squishing it.
"Guess they're not humans then." Cere chuckled, hiding the fact that she's shivering in fear right now, "I still need to get just one." Cere continued, steeling herself for the fight... or the sacrifice she'll have to do.
With just one whistle, all hell broke loose. Her infected collides with the enemy. While chaos ensues, Cere hid around the village, trying to find a weak enough enemy to subdue and take away.
Lucky for her, one enemy infected sat there. Its left hand and leg have been mutilated but still breathing. Multiple flying infected emerged from the wells around the village, signaling her to act quick.
Cere went to grab the enemy's infected, but someone was there to stop her.
"I don't think that one belongs to you, child." A woman said, gaining the attention of Cere. She wore a blue tight-fitted dress, a red belt with a silver buckle, and a beautiful red scarf she wore around her neck.
Cere stared as her Clicker took a stance behind the girl to try and pounce at her. It tried but failed miserably as the woman grabbed it mid-air and inspected it.
"So this is your infected... intriguing. My Creator would certainly love playing with something like this." The woman said. She moved her hand to the mouth of the Clicker, and it wiggled uncontrollably, trying to break free before all movement ceased.
"My Creator wanted me to fetch you... alive. So don't fight back, or I'm going to have to alter the orders given to me." The woman commanded. Her tone didn't seem to have a hint of fear or insecurity.
Cere mutated both her arms akin to her Shamblers. Thick fungus grew on her arms as she readied herself to face off with the unknown woman.
During this time, an infected of her enemy arrived and kneeled in front of the woman. The woman nodded and giggled at Cere.
"Looks like your infected got wiped out." She laughed, further mocking her, "Are you sure you still want to fight?" She continued, not breaking eye contact.
Cere couldn't believe it, she checked and listened for the sound of her Clickers, but none was picked up by her heightened hearing. This angered her more.
"Yes. You'll be the one I'll take the information from." Cere hissed, taking a much feral stance as the one she had before.
"I sure hope you exceed my expectation." The woman said, not even taking the battle seriously.
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Well, Chapter 23!
The war had just started. And I'm sure you'll all like this. (Y/N) will be barely seen in the couple chapters following this one. He has been in the spotlight for too long. It's time to give our favorite Viruses some action!