Minecraft: loading new world

While the Shadow Lord teleported away, the remaining skeletons dropped dead on the ground like puppets without string.

That only left me alone with the group of Brutes who seemed ready to continue the fight.

"Black armor, and unorthodox fighting style. Are you the one who defeated the second in command?"

Looks like I was popular in the Mad Prince army.

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine. Where's the Wither?"

"We don't know, that's why we got bolder and entered the land without bothering to burn the cursed flowers. Now it's your time to answer, are you the one who defeated the second in command?"

They were more talkative than I expected, so that threw me off a little.

"Yes, I was the one who defeated her. Is she looking for revenge by any chance?"

Instead of answering, they all cheered in unison and looked at me with respect.

"And where is your monster friend? We heard she almost wiped out the diamond squad while you were running away."

Uff, that brought some unpleasant memories from the past.

Because of them, we couldn't use the Nether to get faster at the Puperfish City.

I had to stop myself, since I was looking for excuses at this point.

"She's not here for now, so don't try looking for a fight."

"That's a shame, why don't you come to our camp and discuss with our boss then? I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

The friendliness they showed now made my guard raise up.

I couldn't believe that those people were the same ones that made so much trouble for us.

But at the same time, if I wanted to get some information about the Wither, they would be the ones to have it.

"Ok, I'll follow you. But don't get any funny ideas, unlike last time, I'll be able to kill everyone in the camp with one hit."

Everyone laughed and just told me to follow them.

That was weird, do they not fear death?

No wonder they were so weird, I'll have to be more careful of what kind of people I'm threatening from now on.

But it seems that the Brutes are a special kind in the end.

We walked for an hour in the death field, mostly because the Brutes spent all of the time trying to dodge the flowers.

While they were protected by the diamond armor, they didn't have magic resistance like me, so they had to be very careful; otherwise, they could go through a slowly and painfully death.

But in the end, we passed the field safely and arrived at their main camp.

It looked similar to the last one I saw, and I was told that It was because they moved very frequently.

That was the reason they had so many victories against the Withers army.

They could gather a large force and attack them, but first, they need to know their location.

That's why, the most they would stay in one place is a week, making it hard for the mindless skeletons to find their current location.

We arrived at the gate, which was under the surveillance of two diamond-armored guys.

They looked at my group and especially at me.

I think they recognized me since their stance quickly changed to one ready for a fight, but not in a provocative way.

Once inside, we quickly arrived at the biggest house in the camp, where we stopped and one of the soldiers knocked on the red door.

*knock knock

"If the Wither didn't attack, then don't bother me."

The Mad Prince yelled from the other side.

"Boss, I think you'll want to see this person. He's the one who defeated the second in command after all."

There were a few moments of silence after the soldier spoke, and I was starting to get worried that he would burst out and start a fight.

"Let him in. The rest of you can wait outside."

They didn't complain and signaled for me to get inside.

I looked one last time at my inventory, and readied myself for any attack that could come my way.

And after I took a deep breath, I passed the threshold and entered the house.

Inside, there was only one large room decorated with different kinds of black skulls, skeleton remains, withered flowers, and a lot of open books.

In the middle of this mess stood the Mad Prince looking at an open book.

"So you came back, and without your monster friend. At least that's what my scanner is telling me."

He lifted his head from the book and looked at me.

Then his eyes shifted towards the space beside me.

"Did you manage to take off the tracker from your friend? No that's not possible, and she didn't use invisibility potions. That leaves your blue pet as an explanation. Why do you even bring it with you? It looks very weak and I feel an unexplainable hatred when I look at it."

His eyes were truly sharp.

I mistook him as a mindless Brute who solves problems through strength alone.

But from this room alone, I could tell that he was taking his enemy seriously and studying everything possible about it.

And his eyes were truly something else, to see Alexa so easily.

"I feel like you're more confident since we last fought. I wonder what else did you cook up. So tell me Trader, why did you decide to visit me."

"I was wondering what's the situation with the battle between you and the Wither."

The Mad Prince looked around me some more, before going back to his book, writing something down.

"And why should I tell you something that could potentially endanger us?"

"Because I have a way to kill the Wither."

He quickly raised his head from the book and tried to peer deep into my eyes with no success.

"I did wonder what the new air around you was about. Turns out it's not just empty confidence, so what's your secret weapon."

I just brought out the Energy Mace and he looked at it with great interest.

He even tried to take a closer look at it by taking it, but I quickly put it back into my inventory.

Just because I wanted to reassure him, that doesn't mean I would go with all of his demands.

"I can feel the potential of that weapon, and it's amazing. Can I have one as well? I can pay whatever price you demand."

"I'm sorry, this is the only one I can make."

He let down his shoulders in disappointment and turned around to sit in his chair.

"The Wither is something that shouldn't exist. I wanted to put all the blame on you people from the Overworld since you have a history of messing worlds up, but he's too experienced with life in the Nather, making me think he's a native."

Then he gave me a book from the pile beside him.

Inside it was written the daily life of a group of skeletons, who were farming the Hoglings and Striders for their resources.

Even Endemans were hunted for their pearls.

It was quite detailed and easy to read, showing the ability of the researcher as a man on the field and as a teacher.

I think it's better if I don't tell him that I'm the reason the Wither is here in the first place.

"I've tried to understand the reason why he went to war with us, and concluded that he wants some information that we might have. One would be a way to go into the Overworld, but there's a better method for that, so that only leaves, information from the ancient people."

Well, he is right about that, but I don't think he can also guess what he's looking for.

"That's why I had to look through the forbidden library at home to see a reason for the invasion. And while we do have a lot of dangerous knowledge that would make anyone salivate over it, that wasn't enough reason for a being like the Wither to be interested in it. But there was something that caught eyes that would be useless for us but useful for the Wither. And that would be an energy generator."

He was so close to the truth.

The only step he is missing is just making himself strong enough to destroy the System in the Overworld.

"In the past few months, we've managed to have victory after victory against him. But only an elite group can fight in those battles, making our victories look hollow in compression with the grand field of scheme."

So they are still winning but can't keep up with the expansion of the Wither, and the only reason we didn't hear anything about this Is that he's attacking the opposite side of the Nether.

This means that currently, he's only making his army bigger while we celebrate the small victories.

That didn't make me feel good, but a part of me was satisfied to know that we didn't underestimate the Wither when I first heard about the war.

"From what your men told me, the Wither hasn't been seen for quite a while. Do you think he's planning something big?"

"Ohh, did they tell you that? Yes, I've been sending more scouts deep into his territory so I can gather more data. But from the looks of it, it wasn't too successful."

It's not like they could've done anything.

They were up against the Monster Lord, and this one was slippery as well.

"Do you know the rough direction where the Wither would be? I think I can go there by myself and deal with the problem once and for all."

"You're quite confident just because you got a new weapon. But there's no point in having it If you don't know how to use it to its full potential. Especially not against someone as powerful as the Wither."

He sure talks a lot for someone who doesn't have a plan on how to defeat the Wither.

And why does he assume that I don't know how to use the weapon?

Is he trying to steal it from me that way?

"That's a problem for me to solve. Now, can you tell me the way to the Wither?"

The Mad Prince got up from his chair and started to gather the books from the floor then putting them in different chests.

I waited patiently on the side, not speaking a word until he was done.

"I've decided, since you don't seem eager to give us your precious weapon, we'll be following you into the heart of the enemy and deal with this together."

Was he always this honest?

And why should I let you come with me? You clearly stated that your intentions to get my weapon!

"Why should I let you fallow me? I don't see any reason I should accept this deal."

"We can guide you to your destination."

"I can also make such a big mess, that the Wither has to come and deal with me himself."

"That could also be a solution, but you have to remember. No matter how powerful you are, your still one man, and even the Wither is fighting with an army despite his massive strength."

He was telling the truth.

If the Wither realized that I could kill him, he could tire me off with his endless army and deal the finishing blow when I can't move anymore.

I guess I could use them as a bait if it comes down to it.

And they could pull their own weight in the enemy territory anyway, so it's not like I'll be too worried in that regard.

"Ok, I'll accept your deal. But I still don't trust you."

The Mad Prince smiled as a response.