Van narrowed his eyes. "I don't care what you believe about me. I don't care what you or O'Hara think I'm capable of, but you should know this right now: I'd never betray us."
"And I’m saying that I think you're lying to yourself and to me," Neil replied. "Now… Eat up. We've got a war to win in less than three hours."
"The clock is ticking," Sang said as she began to walk toward the Iron Dragon's camp. When they had logged back in, they'd discovered that they were back at the fairgrounds where they had first entered the tournament. The entire area had been abandoned since then, however, and the tents themselves had even vanished. The only thing that remained was the trash from all of the players who had been camping out there in the hopes of becoming a Draco pro. Kylian and Sahara were walking alongside Van as they waited for their ride.
"Yeah," Van said as he looked toward the sky. "I really hope Jet gets here soon."
Sang nodded. She checked her map and started to do some math in her head. The plan was relatively simple. All they had to do was inform Jet of the feast's location and then head to the Feast Hall. Reaching the hall would barely take any time at all, for it was located in the heart of a castle named Castle Eliorn. Eliorn was 10 miles away and was heavily fortified. With everyone being granted a position as a Draco pro, though, they'd all been given rings that would allow them to teleport to the hall.
"There!" Sahara said, pointing to the sky. Jet was in the distance, flapping his massive wings all the harder as he got closer to them.
"Great!" Van said. "Get ready to teleport."
Jet swooped down low and landed on the ground. Bidane was holding onto his neck.
"Well, I'm glad to see you guys!" Bidane said as she climbed down from the dragon. "What's the plan?"
"We've managed to leak to Draco that the Iron Dragons are moving toward a DRZ," Van said. "We're hoping they fall for it and move in that direction. But you'll need to send a small force out there."
"We've got enough illusionists and decoy players to make it look like the army is moving out there," Bidane said. "And I'm guessing you know where the feast is going to be?"
Van nodded. "Yeah, we do. It's in Castle Eliorn, about 10 miles from here. But it's heavily fortified. I’m talking like, they have insanely high walls and an NPC army that's there at all times."
"So what are you thinking?" Bidane asked. "I doubt we'd have a chance of getting in there if the place is that impenetrable."
"Well, according to Sang, we should be able to screw with the teleportation device's settings," Van replied.
Bidane raised an eyebrow. "Really? How so?"
Sang smiled at Bidane. "It's simple; we can just change the area of effect with a tiny little tweak. We'll change it from affecting 1 person to the entire army, and pop in there when the time is right."
"That's more like it!" Bidane said. "So I'm guessing I’m taking you with me?"
Sang nodded. "We don't have a lot of time. I'll be going with you and the rest of the team will be moving into the castle so they can figure out a strategy for when you arrive."
"Now, it's going to be cutting it close, but you guys have to wait for my signal before you teleport in," Van said. "We're going to try and make sure that things are set up enough so that you are able to get in and attack the Emperor without him having enough time to react."
"And what do we do if you're cut off for some reason? What if they jam your communications?" Bidane asked.
"I'm running a timer," Sang said. "When it hits zero, even if we don't hear from Van, we're going in there."
Bidane nodded. "Alright, if you say so."
"Are you ready, Jet?" Van asked.
Jet looked at Van and slowly nodded. "I am prepared to see the end of this struggle," Jet said. "My race has been waiting a long time for Draco to receive their just rewards."
"Good," Van said. His heart was beginning to pound again. "This is it, people! We've got less than three hours before the world goes kaboom! It's now or never!"
"Let's do this," Fredlin said.
"For Kylian!" Sahara replied.
"I heard the news from Capello," Bidane said as she shook her head. "Poor guy. Draco's gonna pay for that."
"They're gonna pay for all of it," Van said as he adjusted his ring. "I'll see you guys soon." And with that, he activated the ring and allowed it to transport him to the feast.
The teleportation effects made a cool schwoom noise around him and, the next thing Van knew, he was standing in front of a large red door. He glanced to the right and left of him to see that Fredlin and Sahara had teleported alongside of him, as well.
The red door had big words emblazed on it. Welcome, Professionals! it said. There was an ornate, golden handle just waiting to be twisted.
"Alright, team, remember, we're trying to survey this place, but we need to blend in," Van said.
"Got it," Fredlin said.
"You bet!" Sahara replied.
Van took a deep breath and twisted the knob, causing the bright red door to swing open. A parade of laughter, music, and smells assaulted them as they entered the large banquet hall. There were hundreds of tables where players were sitting and feasting merrily. The stained glass windows high above everyone allowed for colorful light to shine down upon the party. There was a large band of NPC musicians playing in the background, and dozens of waiters were walking by with all kinds of foods on their trays. At the opposite end of the hall was a large throne where a red dragon sat. This dragon was nearly three times the size of any of the other dragons Van had seen. He wore a large crown adorned with diamonds and sapphires atop his head.
"That's gotta be the Emperor," Fredlin whispered.
"Gee, you think?" Van replied as they walked further into the banquet. As they were examining the area, a scaly humanoid approached them. It was a lizardman who looked identical to the Draco individual that Van and Sang had faced off against before. Van stiffened as it walked up to him.
"Greetings, greetings," it said as it clasped its hands together. "Draco welcomes you to this festival. You are the tournament winners, correct? There is another one here already, but where is the fifth?"
"She'll be on her way," Fredlin said. "Just had to take care of some stuff first."
"Of course," the thing chuckled. Its large, yellow eyes blinked a few times as it looked at Van. "You are a fortunate bunch. The world changes in but three hours. Your courage has saved you. Take a moment to feast and enjoy yourselves. There will be a lot of work to do when we reshape the image of the world, so enjoy this time while you still can."
Van nodded at the creature as it walked off to greet some more players who had just arrived.
"I'm counting a lot of people here," Fredlin said with a whisper. "Nearly 2,000. If the Iron Dragons show up now, they'll get the crap kicked out of them without the dragons having to lift a finger."
"Yeah…" Van replied as he eyed the gigantic dragon that was overseeing the entire event. It didn't seem to notice him.
"We've got to get rid of all these players," Sahara said. "Any ideas, Van?"
Van shrugged. "I have no idea. Just fan out and poke around. We've got an hour before I need to give the signal. Maybe we can find some kind of weakness before then."
"Yeah, like some kind of lever we can pull that will make everyone log out," Fredlin said. "I'll look, but I doubt we can figure some kind of solution that doesn't involve violence."
The three split up as they all went about investigating the area. More players were trickling in by the minute, and most of them seemed to be in good spirits. They were laughing and clapping for each other, telling tales and talking about their excitement for the new world that was to come.