Versatile: Alternate World

Alain is now convinced that the Castellan is ready to deploy his troops to kill everyone in the camp. Just based on the letter alone, he is now sure that they are keen on wiping them out from the face of the planet.

The rebels are pretty weak and only a few of them can properly fight. In fact, most of the members of the rebels are not capable of fighting and are escapees from cruel angels who have enslaved them. If you count those who are indeed capable to fight, only a few of them qualifies and one of them is Alain who is forced to join the battle instead of commanding the battle behind the scenes so that he can make better decisions.

Currently, we are still discussing with Alain what is his next move.

"Now that you know the Castellan and the Tactician's plan, what are you planning to do?" Sigma asked.

Alain sighed and splash his palm on his face. "As much as I want to go to war already and prevent everything the two are trying to do, I can't prioritize that as the people of this village are already starving and are having a bad time. In fact, we needed to prioritize obtaining materials to fortify the village to last against attacks from the Angel Faction."

"Isn't it easy to obtain materials to fortify the village?" Harmless Sparrow asked.

"No, it's not. It would be easy if all we just needed are wood but that is not all there is to it. We also need various materials that are not nearby and not easy to obtain and the only way to get them is by buying them but that's where the problem comes in. Because most of the businesses available in the Angel Faction are owned by the Castellan, that also means he controls every single thing about the materials. He can easily swap out the materials and just give us defective ones, which will make our whole village brittle and easy to destroy."

Alain is right. Buying materials in the Luminous Continent is a big no-no for players. Not because they are expensive but because they are easily controlled and sometimes they are of poor quality at times especially if you buy bulks of them. And because they have the policy of "No Return, No Exchange", many players don't bother buying pure materials in the Luminous Continent due to this. That only makes the prices underserved as most prices are pretty expensive.

"Still, we will join forces with you. Now that we have alerted the Angels about our actions, our only choice is to join you in this battle and win," Sigma declared.

"Are you guys sure? This is a hopeless battle and we already know we will be losing this war," Alain looked at us with a sad look in his eyes.

"And yet you fight. Despite the pointless struggle, you still fight. So even if we don't have many things to help, perhaps we can help you get the rebels to have their lives a little bit better?"

Alain looked at us and shook his head but he smiled bitterly.

"Thank you. I know that our struggle will be pointless but we can't allow them all to win without a fight. Even if we are bound, to lose, then we have no choice, but we are not going to just stop and give up. Not with everyone behind us."

So this is how hopeless his situation is. It was a miracle in the past timeline that he managed to reach so far that he was in the final showdown. Because at that time, I was in the faction with the Angels, he killed alongside the rebels themselves after the battle and the angels remained in position. He was almost there but he still failed. This time, I will change what occurred and I will have him win this time around.

After wiping off the tears forming in his eyes, his expression turned serious immediately.

"I know that you guys have just joined but I still need to know how capable you guys are. Call it some sort of initiation rite. Don't get me wrong, you guys have already shown me how good you are in combat but our tasks here don't just focus on combat we also need to perform sabotage missions too. I want to see if you guys can pull it off."

"Sabotage huh? I have done similar things so it doesn't matter much to me," Sigma proudly revealed. I am not surprised as she has done quite a lot of questing before she teamed up with us and I still don't know why she is sticking with us.

"I have done the same missions with her a few more times that involve sabotage so I am not new to that mission type. Bring it on!" Harmless Sparrow also added. This is true as she and Sigma are able to team up from time to time alongside Dolly and the others.

"I am quite familiar with doing sabotage to things myself, but I have not done much in sabotage missions itself. However, I am still confident I will be able to do just fine," I answered truthfully. And yes, I barely did any sabotage missions as that was very annoying to do but now that I am more capable than I was in the past timeline, this is nothing for me especially since I have the class that is specialized in Sabotage itself, the Saboteur.

"If that is the case, then I have the perfect mission that will serve as your first mission. Since we have lots of mouths to feed here, and the harvest is pretty bad due to how the Angel Faction is messing up with the harvest, food is the most and biggest problem we have here. I just received intel from one of my trusted intel providers that one of the Castellan's granaries and farm had just harvested a load of vegetables and wheat. This may sound like we are stealing things cause we are indeed doing so. However, there is no other choice and this will help feed off everyone plus this will also weaken the Castellan slightly too. I want you three to intercept the delivery, and sabotage it, but make sure the goods are intact as that is our only hope to feed everyone else."

"Oh, so this is a Robin Hood-style quest huh? Interesting, this is a nice change of pace to become a villain huh?" Harmless Sparrow happily readies her weapon.

"This might not do good to the people of the Angel faction but if it can save the lives of those who are starving and dying, then it's a good sacrifice to make. It will also help shake things up for the Castellan and slow down his progress. There is no avoiding of casualties as this will decide who will win and who will lose in this battle. Tell us the location and you can see us doing it," I took a glance at everyone and they all agreed to it.

"Thank you. The Delivery will be held tomorrow at the beginning oF dusk. They will be using the route to reach the City of the Clouds so you can ambush them on the way or you guys can sabotage them much earlier, your choice."

"Alright, that is settled then. Let's all rest up and meet up tomorrow guys."

And so, the first mission is now delivered to us. As much as this will be labeled as an evil act, it is a necessary evil. If we don't do this, everyone will die, and everyone will be having trouble too. Whoever thought of this morale dilemma takes a lot of notes to all the necessary ways to make the players who side with the rebels rethink whether their actions have consequences or not.

"What are your thoughts on this mission, Bladeheart?" Sigma suddenly asked as we go outside the office of Alain.

"My thoughts?" I frowned. I didn't know Sigma can be a bit more curious about that.

​ "Yeah. We are clearly at a big disadvantage here and yet you accepted and joined. I don't know why you did it but why did you give up your standing to the Angel Faction? Isn't it much better to join them as your prestige and reputation are already high enough?" Sigma explained before looking at me, waiting for a response.

"I think I wanted to at least wanted to see what these guys can do once they win. I don't really mind what will happen but perhaps they might be able to help the Luminous Continent flourish more than the people who are already positioning themselves. Sometimes, facing the system is the most optimal way to make changes. And just because things are working well doesn't mean everything else does. And besides, I hate the Tactician. I want to at least see him get mopped into the ground and get humiliated for being an *sshole."