BXBX NOVEL Chapter 167: Declaration of War
167 Declaration of War
"Do you guys want any?" Ray asked, his hand out with the plate of microwaved chicken nuggets.
What followed was the most awkward 2 hours Moby and Alex had ever experienced as they all just sat down and watched TV with small talk every now and then as they were waiting for Ray to make a move. It was almost like he was stalling for time in a way that would seem ordinary.
All 3 of them were acting extremely fake as they needed to fool the person spying on them, so they did what they had to do to make it seem as natural as possible even though in their hearts they knew that it was not at all the case.
Moby was almost certain that Ray also knew that he and Alex had gotten his message but he had no real way of confirming it other than picking up on what seemed like subtle hints in their conversation.
At times like these, he really wished that he had already turned Ray into a demon just so he could communicate with him using mind-link which would have avoided such a problem in the first place. But sadly, even if he wanted to turn him in secret, he did not have any open slots at the time so he was not able to do it.
Suddenly, Ray turned off the TV before casually looking at him.
"Hey, Moby would it be possible if I just talked with you in private? I have noticed a problem in my ability, I can\'t seem to get it any stronger than it already is, can you help me out?" Ray nervously asked.
"Huh? Why me? I just got my ability very recently and I\'m super inexperienced in using it, wouldn\'t asking Alex be a better idea?" Moby replied in confusion.
"Well, you are like the fastest-growing student I have ever seen, you went from F rank to nearly A rank in the span of a few weeks. You must have some sort of secret to getting strong right? Can you please share it with me?" Ray said, bowing deeply.
"Well, I think it was just due to the nature of my ability that it grows fast at the start, not because of anything special I am doing. But, I would be glad to give you some pointers, we are friends after all," Moby said with a smile.
Moby knew that what Ray said was a trap but he had to go along with it for his sake.
"Really! That\'s great! You\'re the best!" Ray said in excitement.
If Moby did not know Ray for so long, he would have thought of him as a traitor and just simply abandoned him to his fate. But, it was the fact that he knew him for so long that he understood that he was doing this against his will and had no other choice.
He also knew that Ray was the type to have a plan in such situations, just like what he did with the SOS message. So, he decided to put his trust in him for now until proven otherwise.
Now Moby knew everything, there was going to be some sort of ambush somewhere in the forest. If he did not know any better and if Ray did not show him any signs or hints, he would have thought of it as nothing but a simple request. But now, Moby was heavily on guard.
Even though he was nearly 100% certain of his deduction, he still needed to confirm it with his own eyes and gauge the strength and numbers of his enemies.
\'Abby! Can you hear me?\' Moby asked, opening up a mind-link.
\'Yes, my lord! I can hear you loud and clear!\' Abby replied as she stopped swinging her scythe, wiping the sweat off her forehead.
\'I have an update on the situation, my friend is completely safe but it seems like he is being manipulated into luring me into an ambush in the forest, I need you to send a wisp or 2 to scout the area around the forest and report your findings to me as soon as possible,\' Moby said in a firm voice.
\'WHAT! Luring my lord into a trap! Unforgivable! That is a sin! No! That is far beyond any sin! If you allow me to speak my opinion, he should be either abandoned or executed for such actions, in his place I would have gladly sacrificed my self for your sake! My lord, my life belongs to you,\' Abby replied in a stern voice.
\'Calm down Abby, there must be some sort of reason for this, that is why I have decided to follow along with this trap and take them head-on. Ray is a very important person to me and I also feel like his skills and talents would serve me well in the future so please take that into consideration as well. For now, just search the forest and report your findings so I can formulate my thoughts,\' Moby replied, trying his best to calm her down as he was slightly taken aback at how fanatic she was growing before deciding to ignore it for now as there were more urgent things to worry about.
\'Understood, it shall be done. I was just trying to provide my opinions and suggestions like you had previously asked my lord. I will of course trust your judgement as you are more knowledgeable than me,\' Abby said, bowing from the other end before sending out her wisps to spy.
Moby then thanked her for sharing her opinion, and her good memory and listening before he closed the mind link and waited for her to respond.
He told Alex everything he and Abby talked about. In the meantime, he still had to stall for time and get more information out of Ray while trying to fool the people spying on them into thinking that they were clueless. Seeing that nothing had yet to happen, it seemed like they were doing a good job so they just had to continue what they were doing to make everything seem as natural as they possibly could.
The person spying on Ray was sitting beside a computer, his hands hovering over the abduct button with bored yet keen eyes as he had yet to notice anything wrong or out of place in what was happening. Moby and Alex did not voice their true thoughts or whisper secretly between each other, and they did not push anything on Ray or disagree with him in any way which would have urged him to press the button.
Plus, the hologram censor of Ray was not completely perfect. It was able to pick up on all the movements of his naked body but complex facial expressions were not completely replicated. This meant that a slightly shaky smile from Ray seemed completely natural from his perspective and he found no evidence of Moby and Alex reacting badly to it or finding it suspicious so he did not think much of it. If they did, then they would voice their concerns and observations like normal people, however, the problem was that they were not normal people.
He was actually fooled into thinking that everything was as it was supposed to be. From his perspective, it seemed like everything was going according to plan as he had absolutely no idea of the existence of mind-link.
In the time that Moby was waiting for Abby to respond with her findings, the group just had casual chatter.
Before their conversation progressed too much, according to plan, Alex voluntarily left saying he wanted to go on a walk and do some training in the yard. This was so just in case there were cameras in the room, it would not seem like he left the room a few minutes after, making it look very obvious that he was going to follow them which might lead to some trouble. And, since he left before Ray told Moby the exact location they were headed, it would give off the illusion that he had no idea where exactly they were going and that he would not be able to follow them even if he wanted to.
After talking for a few minutes, Moby and Ray finally decided to leave the dorm room, heading straight into the forest located behind the dorm building.
The time was around 6 pm, far from curfew yet it was still very dark outside as the sun was almost completely set due to it being in the winter season, which definitely made sense for an ambush.
As they left the room, Ray reached into his bag and grabbed 2 pairs of black night vision goggles with green lenses. Of course, Moby had no use for them due to his natural night vision as a demon but he accepted them anyway.
When he put them on, it clamped fairly hard on his face. And, it was not at all green like he thought it was going to be. Instead, it seemed exactly just like his normal vision but slightly blurred due to the fact that he was now looking out through a lens.
They both walked down the stairs of the dorm room building and immediately strode towards the dark, yet now not so dark forest ahead, slowly walking through a muddy, unorthodox path as the cold winter wind struck them in the face, making Ray slightly shiver while Moby seemed completely fine, most likely due to his new cold resistance passive.
"Where exactly are we going? Do you have someplace in mind?"
"Don\'t worry, I know of a good area where we could practice. By the way, are the goggles still good?"
"Yeah, they are working perfectly, seeing clearly at night is quite the experience,"
"I see… I am glad to hear… Also, I have been meaning to tell you this for a while now but I never got around to say it. Please trust me, I know exactly what I am doing… The monsters in the forest won\'t be a big problem," Ray said with an actual smile that Moby could tell was not fake, his first real genuine smile the entire time.
"Don\'t worry, of course, I trust you… I wouldn\'t be here if I didn\'t," Moby replied back with a genuine smile of his own as he probably guessed the metaphor Ray was going for, plus he truly meant what he said.
Then, suddenly, he heard a familiar, soft, womanly voice enter his ears, something that he had been patiently waiting for and expecting.
\'My Lord! It\'s Abby reporting in! From what I see, it\'s pretty bad… I spotted at least 50 people in the forest in a clearing very far ahead of your location. However, that is only a rough estimate… The trees were mostly blocking my line of vision and I did not want to swoop in closer just in case I get spotted so, I can guarantee there to be more students waiting in ambush. They are very serious about capturing you, my lord... What are your orders?\'
\'More than 50!?... If they have any B or A ranks in their mix then this will indeed be far more troublesome than I thought…\' Moby pondered, with real thoughts of retreat in his mind as he was now really doubting his chances of success.
It was either his life or Ray\'s and he would much rather save his own any day… He really wanted to abandon him yet a part of his mind kept aching every time he wanted to leave, even though he knew that it was seemingly the only logical thing to do.
Ray\'s earlier words played over again in his head and his words of trusting him did as well. Was he really about to become a liar and go against his own words so quickly?
Then, he shook those thoughts out of his mind. He steeled his resolve as he knew that he was not the type of person to so easily go back onto his words as he tried to think about the positives of facing them.
He was bound to fight the Zexis gang sooner or later and he would rather do it at night in the forest with no spectators and where he had the advantage than any other time and place. Plus, he would be able to catch them off guard as they would think that he had no idea of the ambush. The more he thought about it the more sense it made and the more he began to believe that it was the perfect time to strike. Plus, he still wanted to save Ray who seemed like he was now more of a wild card than ever and might have something up his sleeves. It was now or never.
\'Okay! I have decided! We will all go on the offensive and take them out with an all-out attack! It might be tough but this is our best time to strike when they don\'t expect it and when we have the advantage! If we flee right now, we are bound to fight them in the next few days when Ray\'s circumstances would be worse and when they would be more prepared for all of us and hold the upper hand. That would be less than ideal. So it is now or never!\' Moby announced to Abby.
\'Understood my lord!\' Abby replied with a bow, clear excitement in her voice.
\'This is war! They chose to mess with the wrong demons! Let us show them the errors of their ways! Let us show them what the house of blissful demons is truly capable of!\' Moby said in a serious, motivating voice.
\'Yes my lord! Your will is absolute! All your enemies will fall!\' Abby responded, her excitement growing even further than before as she could finally fight by her lord\'s side for the first-ever time and prove herself once more to make up for her previous failures.
\'I will inform Alex and Jayden about everything. In Jayden\'s case, it might take a while for her to arrive so I will try my best to stall to give her more time. In the meantime, wait on standby somewhere that you could easily rush into the battlefield and wait until further orders from me. Report if you find anything suspicious during your wait,\' Moby ordered with a kind yet commanding voice.
\'My lord, your wish is my command. I wish you the best of luck on your endeavours! The Zexis gang shall pay for all of this!" Abby said with clear hate and animosity in her voice.
\'Indeed,\' Moby replied, inwardly smirking as he closed the mind link with Abby.
He then looked over at Ray who had a slightly serious expression on his face as he slowly and calmly navigated through the thorny forest, taking note of the state he was in before opening a mind-link with Jayden to inform her about everything that had just transpired and ask her to come and help.