The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

"He is still just sitting there? Well it seems like he has committed to the strategy of running away," Jacob said. I glared at him. He didn't cower at all under my glare. The incompetent pig that he was. His usefulness was quickly coming to an end.

"And you found nothing about this rumored sword?" I demanded. Something that powerful had to be out there. It would make a nice addition to what I had planned.

"It is real, make no mistake of that, but it is in hiding at the moment." I glared at him for his failure. It was expected and allowed me to complete several of my plans without his knowledge. I did not trust him. For while I met have used a skill to dominate him, nothing was absolute. "I did manage to bring back quite a bit of points."

"And that is the only reason why I haven't killed you," I replied and picked up my cup of water. All my supplies needed to be rationed out here in the wilderness. A little hardship was nothing when I aimed for absolute victory. Jacob was silent as I mulled over the current situation. I should have him skinned alive for his failure, and he would do the skinning. My mother often motivated people in that manner. But I did not want a mess made that would have to be cleaned up or a smell to linger. My thoughts drifted towards Michael and the biggest issue I had with him.

I just needed to get Michael to move. My spy was spreading rumors on board his airship, but there was no traction. Michael made up his own mind and my attempts at influencing him were falling flat. He would try to cash in the points that I would least expect. While others might think he would go back to Purgatory, that was too obvious.

He also would want to resolve the points issue quickly. New Delhi was an unclaimed city on the Western part of the Systemic Lands. It was the obvious choice. Too obvious. No, he would go somewhere close to avoid being intercepted in transit. I had been learning about his history for a while, a history he would never think that I would dig into as a source of knowledge.

But it would also be a city that would make it quite hard to set up a trap. I would have to gamble on the most likely choice. Meech would be his choice, since it was controlled by an opposing nation and was close. The danger of the sword would also threaten me and introduce unknown variables.

When Michael was losing, he liked to create more chaos to create opportunities for himself. It would be Meech. He knew his former Empire was compromised. He would want to avoid stumbling upon me. He would go West. It would be Meech, the city controlled by the Indian Sultanate.

"I have a job for you. Go back to Meech and take control," I told Jacob while I sipped some water. It was a simple and blunt job, one suited to his talents. He would act as bait for the first phase of my trap.

"The risk of the sword coming out of hiding-"

"Is nothing. Also set up the lensing technique there as well. Begin your preparations in that city, but maintain the façade that everything is fine," I explained clearly so there was no misunderstanding. It was time to commit to a city, since my original plan was not working, I needed to pivot to a new plan.

"Michael is heading there?" Jacob asked.

"It is the only option," I replied with certainty. After thinking on his actions for so long, I knew the man better than I knew myself by this point. Hearing every detail of his life that his mother could give me made it clear what was going on in that convoluted head of his.

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"That seems highly unlikely. He could go to Normandy or a city far in the West. I know he got along with the Leader," Jacob replied. I smiled as I explained my reasoning.

"He won't go back East. He is proud and wants to draw me out. So, he will stay in the West. Going back after all that I have done without killing me will be an admission of defeat. No, he will be worried about my movements and the control I have in his former Empire." I slowly shook my head.

"It will also take time to unload the crystals from his airship. So, he will want to be able to threaten whoever is in charge. The Indian Sultanate will bend to his whims. The possible presence of the sword makes it the first choice of all the remaining nations. For me to take over comes with risks, he doesn't think I will take," I replied.

"You are making me take them instead," Jacob replied.

"Well, you are disposable after all. Set everything up for your lensing technique and take control of the city in secret. Once Michael arrives, we can act," I replied.

"I still think we should attack while he is in the wilderness," Jacob suggested.

"No. I will gamble everything to achieve victory. If I am wrong this conflict will stretch out for thousands of days. But if I am right, I will win instantly." It was all or nothing and even if Michael did go to another city, I would still be alive. "I will keep monitoring him while you set up. Send word through the usual channels once your preparations are finished."

"As you command," Jacob bowed and left. He would not be surviving the trap I had planned. Once his preparations were set up, I would purge his mind and puppet his living corpse into position. I wanted to free up the skill for use on another high level target.

Monster Master Michelle was the backbone of Michael's ability to counter threats. The unspoken hero, who could deploy monsters to shield and attack all at once. I had overlooked her in the past, but no more. She would serve me.

Michael would arrive and he would be heavily pressured. I had no doubt he would win against Jacob's preparations. But his airship and his mobility would take a hit. Then I would activate the second phase of my plan. Massive long range targeted bombardment. That would exhaust him even more, but he would still win.

Then the third phase and fourth phase would come into play. And if all those failed, I was confident in acting myself at the very end. I suspected it would come down to such an occurrence. Michael was a survivor. He would not be killed easily. Even with all my preparations, the fact I wasn't confident was a testament to his immense strength and skill.

I sipped my water some more before setting my cup aside. I then closed my eyes and focused on moving my remaining forces towards Meech. It would be a pain to move them to the Western part of the Systemic Lands, but it was necessary.

His surprise once I unveiled all the traps would be priceless. I sipped my water with a smile. It was a complicated mind game we played but there could only be one winner at the very end. If I was wrong, then it would be a disaster and I would probably never catch up to Michael. All I could do was drag him down into the muck.

But if I was right, then nothing would be able to stop me. I was confident in my decision. I had no doubt that leading up to Michael's departure that there would be indications of other choices, but that would only confirm that my guess was correct.

It was truly impressive how much he had been able to thwart me by just doing the unexpected. But I had his measure now. One final gamble. If I was right, I would win. If I was wrong, this war would go on for quite a long while. I would have to adopt a completely different approach.

Perhaps someone who rescued his mother. It would be hard to make it believable, but it was doable. But planning for failure was planning to fail. But having a back up plan was prudent. I slowly shook my head, I would devote my entire focus to the trap I had envisioned and commit everything. If I could not win doing all of that, then I did not deserve to win in this battle of ours.

I closed my eyes and reached out. There was no response, even now the Heavens were closed to me. It would have been nice to have another meta-point before the battle, but it was not to be. The immense power of the Heavens would have swept away all opposition, but its Mandate was not given lightly.