I could see Ryoma charging up something, getting ready to launch his attack.

“Fair enough,” I said, raising my hands as if to concede his point. “[Pause()].”

Ryoma’s eyes darted down at his hands then frantically looked around him.

“What? What’s this? Again?” he hissed.

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Shield Stone (medium) Fire Stone (small) Explosive Stone (medium) Ice Stone (medium) Recovery Stone (medium) x3

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“What was that... What did you do?” Ryoma said, looking worried.

“Every spell you have, everything that runs on mana in your body, is now frozen. And every mana crystal on you has now been wiped clean of all of their embedded spells.”

“How?!? How is that possible? You can’t do that!!” he screamed.

“Don’t blame me for how this world works,” I snarled.

More of the royal guards had arrived, and had surrounded the princess. Via KickBack, I could see that the thugs that were hovering over Shea and Devin had been subdued by Captain Sunni. The crowd looked terror stricken and on the verge of panic. Not that I could blame them. Not only did they suddenly learn that there was a being that could shut down their magic and nullify any of their mana crystals, but that this being was in the form of something they thought was a non-living slave tool thing.

Shrapnel had moved around to the only entrance and managed to close the doors. Getting the locking bar down on the outside was a little more difficult given his size but he managed.

Time to put a little “fear of the robot uprising” into these people. I stalked towards Ryoma and he dropped his spear, stumbled backwards and landed on his backside.

“You don’t get it yet, do you Guild Master? I have no need to throw down my weapons, bind my hands, and agree to some flimsy gentleman’s agreement that grants you what you think is enough advantage to use me as a punching bag. I wouldn’t say I’m a dragon... but to fight me...”

I pulled my proxies out, one by one, around me. Cyclone to my left. Sentinel appeared on my right, followed by Alfred, then Ram, then Rom, then Ratchet. Shrapnel, BombShell, and KickBack flew in and hovered over me. IronHide, in bot mode appeared behind me, and the newly completed Carnivac Mk II in front of me.

“...Is to fight. All. Of. ME,” I said, synced across all my proxies.

Ryoma squeaked and took off running, he hit the locked doors and started banging on them. IronHide reached over the crowds and plucked Ryoma from the doors and dropped him back into the arena. A stray comment from the crowd said that Ryoma was finally getting his while another tried to defend him, saying that this high end Auto was making him look bad. For the most part, though, the crowd was hushed, a mix of terror and curiosity about what would happen next.

“But I’m no monster,” I said, mimicking Ryoma’s words, “I’ll give you a chance.”

“Ryoma Nagare, I challenge you for the position of Guild Master,” Carnivac said, stepping forward, drawing a blade, and directing it at the oni.

The crowd erupted in shouts of incredulity and surprise. Ryoma just scoffed and picked himself up off the ground.

“Only an A rank or above can challenge for the position of Guild Master. You’re not even an Adventurer,” he snarled.

Carnivac scanned the crowd until he found the guild staff receptionist, Talios, and walked over to the seating area. He then pulled out his guild card and handed it over to them.

“Is this legitimate?” he asked them.

“Um... it, it is...” they mumbled.

“What rank am I?” he said, evenly.

Talios looked flabbergasted at the card then up at Ryoma.

“It says he’s rank S, but I don’t understand, I thought you were a rank D... and these stats... they’re nothing like what I saw when you registered,” they fumbled.

“Those are my true stats. Are you aware of any means of counterfeiting or falsifying a guild card?” he asked, while looking at Ryoma.

“I’m not... it should be impossible,” Talios said, confused.

Carnivac plucked the card out of their hands and gave them a wink. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll get you that drink after all.”

Talios’s cheeks flushed, though their look of wide-eyed surprise didn’t waver. Carnivac heard a pouting sound from nearby and looked to see the catkin Lily, crossing her arms and looking disappointed. He gave her a wink too, and she turned away. He turned and was about to walk back to Ryoma when a shadow appeared on the ground and the distortion was replaced by the prostrated form of the wolfkin ninja, Victoria Graywind.

“Lord Fenrir, it is good to see you recovered, you look different... more... alive somehow. I heard the tale of your mission to Trone and rumors of your demise but I knew that no death could stop you. I am at your service. I will gladly take on the guild master in your place if you command it.”

Carnivac sighed, how did she even learn about his trip to The Factory? Her information gathering skills were not to be trifled with. Ever since his fight with Victoria, and her brother Ryuski, she got it in her head that he was the god of death from their tribe’s religion. He guessed it was better than her freaking out over the uncanny valley effect he’d had on her and trying to kill him. He glanced at Ryoma, who had a “Dude, are you kidding me??” sort of look on his face.

“Not to worry, Vicky. I got this,” he said, casually.

“The guild master is very crafty and very strong my lord... not that I doubt my lord but if I may be of use I would gladly lay down my life...” she said, worried.

Carnivac looked down at her, and for just an instant, as she looked up, his black wolf face was replaced with a steel wolf skull with glowing green eyes, wreathed in black flame. Her eyes bugged and she banged her head on the ground, bowing lower. Carnivac knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“If you fight him, it will have no meaning,” he told her. “Have some faith in your lord.”

“Yes! Of course my lord! My apologies! Thank you my lord! My lord is merciful! Death brings peace!” she said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

Carnivac rolled his eyes and stood up, directing his attention to Ryoma.

“Rank S Adventurer. Challenge issued,” he said coldly.

“I don’t have to accept every challenge that comes along, only ones that have the support of a majority of the Adventurers,” Ryoma huffed. He was starting to sound more like a kid as this went on.

I slipped over to him and tugged on his pant leg until he looked down at me.

“I know who your client is. I also know who you’re actually reporting to; and it isn’t the empire. How might the future emperor or the Adventurers here react when they learn what’s really going on?” I said, trying to sound "cute".

“You’re grasping at straws, you don’t have anything. Besides, these Adventurers will never support some crappy magic tool with delusions of grandeur.”

“Maybe,” I said, turning to the crowd. I boosted my volume back up again. “Brave Adventurers, Is this,” I indicated Ryoma, “the sort of organization you intended to join? One that openly, in front of royalty, takes hostages? One that defies the will of the Imperial Crown Prince in favor of secret pacts with shady organizations? One that flirts with being marked for treason? You have been lied to. You have been treated as the personal army and workforce of one man. Is that what you signed up for? When this man, and the organization he runs are branded as traitors to the crown, what will become of its members? When the hammer of justice falls on this guild for treason, won’t it also fall on every member?”

“It’s lying!” someone from the crowd yelled out.

“Proof! Where’s the proof?” another called.

“See?” Ryoma smirked, “these baseless accusations don’t hold blood. They’re only curious about you, but they fear me.”

I dropped my volume to a whisper and leaned in close. I then replayed for Ryoma the conversation I’d heard at The Factory.

“How are things coming along Gree?”

“The empire is becoming suspicious sir, though our man in the guild, Ryoma, is playing things down. For now, we’ve directed our harvest teams across the border into the kingdom of Kokoli.”

Ryoma’s face went pale. I didn’t actually know that Ryoma was their man in the guild but figured it was a good guess and manipulated the audio recording to inject his name in there. By his reaction, I was on the money though.

“Just to make things a bit more fair,” I said, patting his thigh, “I’ll only be fighting with Carnivac. You beat him, and I’ll quietly surrender and you can take me to Jhaix.

Ryoma turned serious and picked up his spear, walking back to the center of the arena.

“I accept the challenge from Rank S Adventurer Carnivac for the position of Guild Master!” he announced, planting the spear into the dirt.