Host, Please Be Honest! What Exactly Are You?

645  Pre-Preparations

"Not to sound like a broken record, I'll only say this once… Time… is something we do not have." Several people's bodies trembled when hearing the Grandmaster speak so many words. Oh my God, is the Grandmaster angered? Who has provoked him? Will the world suddenly go up in flames now that he said so many words? Terrible! Everyone, no matter how strong they were, now started shaking in their boots. Their ears were perked to the skies and they swore to complete any tasks given to the best of their capabilities. Thus began the great divide, where all factions were assigned their duties of what they will be doing not just now, but during the war. "How's Protocol C going?"

"Grandmaster, we've been able to evacuate 20~25% of residents in all areas we were originally assigned to." Someone replied.

"Yes, Grandmaster. And like you said, even after evacuation, we allowed them to go out once in a while, soi the place doesn't look so deserted."

The streets must still remain in use, there must still be people in coffee shops, and the world must still continue to operate as 'normal' until the big day comes. They also installed special Countdowns in their phones. For their own sakes, they must keep acting like the 'oblivious' humans that they were.

"Not bad," Dorian nodded. "However, we have to speed it up."

"Intelligence, Defense, and Attack." "Some will defend, some will guard the civilians, while others will collect all intel, while destabilizing the battlefield like unseen shadows." Everyone nodded heavily, knowing that the battle would happen not in major cities, but everywhere all across the world. Every town, village, city and even forest revisions too. No place was truly safe. All hands will be on deck. .

Dorian's lashes fluttered softly. "There'll be a list. You, as elders, and your disciples, will be stationed in various points across the planet." "I expect you all to start moving and setting your <traps> for the eventful day." Right. All the elders and top superiors bobbed their heads vigorously. The fact that the enemy still didn't know of their existence as exorcists, meaning they could set as many traps around the places they were tasked with guarding and protecting. As for Butler Sheng and a few others, they were tasked with fighting specific commanders, as well as Princes. Yes…. By the time the war comes, Butler Sheng alone still won't be able to take on a single Prince. But, if he worked with Bewoh, Haru and a few others, all of them might have a chance against that one prince. Of course, Dorian was going for the big fish, Beelzebub. He was the strongest, and no doubt the most cunning. No matter where these top bosses appeared, those assigned to attack these bosses, must appear and deal with them. Old Gia and several others would target their top commanders. Dorian took his time to sketch how each of these top bosses looked, even in human skin. Their strengths, their possible weaknesses from what he recalled in his former life, were also scribbled down. In addition, he didn't forget to scribble down a bit about the mischievous Heavenly Being who called himself a Trickster. Despite knowing that Loki would g participate in the war, he still didn't want anyone attacking or provoking that lunatic. Not that he was afraid of Loli, but he just hated anyone ruining his plans. If they sensed that some bird or shape shifting bastard was watching, just ignore. "Remember, don't provoke that mad man."

"No worries, Grandmaster, we will warn the disciples to be cautious." The more they learnt about Loki over the months, the more annoyed they were with him. You are a heavenly being. Why are you constantly meddling with mundane matters and causing havoc here and there? Shouldn't you be on the side of humans and not on the side of underworld beings? Why have you constantly helped them for tens, hundreds, thousands and even millions of years? Tch– Even hearing of Loki's rampant acts in other worlds made them wish to exorcize him. Too bad he was already a heavenly being and not an underworld creature. How do you exorcize a being that already belongs to the heavens? He toyed and played with humans, even creating cults of believers who did abominable things after listening to a few whispers from him. If it was that he watched these humans fall deeper and deeper into darkness, before chuckling and letting them go through all stages of denial, depression and suicide when they finally realized he had just been messing with them. Some sacrificed their children and everything they had just for him, only for him to finally appear, mocking them for being idiots. In his words, it was fun to watch them kill. It was fun to watch them do crazy things, and even cause wars too. Amusement, entertainment, tricks, those were things Loki was addicted to. It was almost as though he couldn't breathe without them. What's amusing is that the more locked he was, the more chaotic his mind grew, like an addict thirsting for drugs. That's why whenever he secretly escaped his holding cell, the first chaotic thing he did was often greater than the next that would follow. Knowing that crazy, unpredictable bastard, he should have either broken out again now, or might do so in the next few weeks or days. Many couldn't help wondering what the first thing he would do would be. Will he cause chaos in their world, disrupting their plans for the Big Day?

(-w-): [Loki who just finished making things hard for the underworld Princes.]

Loki: Hey, hey, this time, you guys got it all wrong. I'm 'partially' on your side, okay? . Dorian gave his introductions and left as quickly as he came. However, many were still taken aback by how much talking he actually did. Terrible… they suddenly felt they preferred the Grandmaster when he was more silent. That sort of Grandmaster, they understood and were used to. But the one who speaks more than force words in one sentence, made them feel like they were walking on eggshells. Phew~

They looked at each other with wry smiles, before saying a few more words and vanishing. There was too much to do right now, and they didn't have much time for chitchat. Like so, time flew by in a flash. 5 weeks… 4 weeks… 3 weeks… 2 weeks. 2 weeks left! Can you believe it? Already, the world was left with just 2 weeks left. That's it, 2 weeks. Now, both sides were preparing like crazy... And back in Vardos, Doyle was sweating buckets. Doyle, who was typically cool, confident and arrogant, was sweating green goo from his human skin. It was awful. The entire room smelt foul, but he didn't care. Boom! He destroyed several subordinates under him, sending them to reincarnate back into the Abyss where they belonged. "It's all your fault! It's all your fault! A simple job… a simple job of hunting that Horseman, and you make me look like a fool?" Ahhhhh!!!~

Several creatures found their human skins cracking and their true bodies heavily injured. Hell, help~

They wished to flee. But how could they escape their boss that was far more powerful than them? It burns… it burns… They melted in a flash, dying and returning to their birth places with no memories of their time now. But despite their deaths, Doyle didn't feel any better. Instead, he was shaking like a leaf, quivering and fearful of the time when the portals would get opened. 'Of my guess is so true, Lord Beelzebub and the other Lords should be arriving back into the Underworld any day from now.' Then, they'll end the war down there before heading into the Human world. So what happens when they return and hear that all earlier plans for the Apocalypse all failed? What? You say the culprit is a measly Horseman and yet you couldn't even stop him at all? What they expect when arriving in the human world, is to see heightened negative emotions in humans. Don't you know that when there is war, hatred and chaos, the level of fear in humans grows 50 times higher than normal when faced with abnormal circumstances?

What were humans to them? Prey… food… meals… —And when is this meal ripe for the taking? When fear and all sorts of negative emotions were at the pique. What's more, the collective forces and powers of all horsemen in the world, were supposed to create a mysterious catatonic force that would aid in awakening the heavenly bond with humans of this world and the heavens. So that when the planets finally ign and the Heavenly link is at its weakest, the devouring of humans would be far easier for them. .

Dammit!

Doyle felt the world spinning around him.

Everything has been planned for so long, and even he thought the job would be a synch. Yet, here he was, with a fucked up badly done job. It's over… he was finished

Where can he run? Nowhere. His failure can only result in one end for him.

'Lord Beelzebub is going to kill me!'