Athena in Tower Defense Game! [LitRPG]

Chapter 130: The Spark of Rebellion

As the tension in the air thickened, more and more people began to step forward, their faith placed in Babron, choosing to follow him to the palace for an investigation. Others, weary of further turmoil, remained indifferent; to them, the emperor, no matter who he was, mattered little.

After all, it was Babron who had just saved them, and standing by his side was Athena Ravencroft, the Director of the Eagle Claw Agency. The Eagle Claw Agency was a loyal organization dedicated to the emperor, a symbol of unwavering allegiance. Now, with Athena aligning with Babron, it was clear that something significant was amiss.

Among the crowd, some clever minds were steering the course of opinion. They feared that if they voiced dissent now, the very soldiers who had been protecting them might suddenly withdraw, leaving them to be torn apart by the lurking monsters.

Babron, of course, did not forget to invite Athena to join him. If he could marshal his soldiers to launch a unified assault on the Ratman—the creature relentlessly spawning these pests—they might indeed secure victory.

At the very least, they could eliminate a major threat and save more lives.

But Babron chose differently. He decided to disperse his forces to rescue civilians instead of launching a direct attack on the source of the danger.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Claw Agency and the city guards were occupied with high-level monsters, unable to spare any manpower.

The Ratman, far from being foolish, seldom lingered above ground, choosing instead to remain in the labyrinthine sewers beneath the city. He would only emerge briefly to release hordes of rats, never for more than half a minute.

Mikmik’s ears twitched continuously, while Athena remained vigilant. Finally, after another pinpointing attempt, she sensed the creature’s energy fluctuations deep within the sewers.

“Your Grace, do take care of my cat for me,” she said with an air of finality. “I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Before the Duke could respond, she was off, sprinting towards an open manhole, disappearing into the darkness below.

The moment she descended, the soft, nauseating sensation beneath her feet caught her off guard. The ground was gone, replaced by something soft and repulsive—an endless mass of rats.

The darkness within the sewer was more oppressive than she had anticipated. She quickly retrieved a lens, clipping it onto her ear, and her vision brightened, revealing the extent of the blackened surroundings, a reward she get from the regional battle.

The Ratman, alerted by her sudden descent, had summoned swarms of rats to block her path while he himself made a hasty retreat.

The rodents swarmed around her, undeterred, some even trying to crawl up her legs. But when Athena produced a half-detonated firebomb from her pack, combined with her natural aura of intimidation, the rats scattered in fear.

She had no intention of using the bomb. In the gas-filled sewers, a detonation would trigger a chain reaction, possibly blowing up the entire network and causing untold destruction above ground—damage that might rival the monsters themselves.

The Ratman, fleeing for his life, called upon his allies, sending out small rats to fetch other creatures. He couldn’t comprehend the sheer audacity of someone who would dare enter the sewers alone, just to hunt him down.

To him, only a fool or a maniac would do such a thing, and neither was his concern. His job was to unleash the rats, leaving the rest to those other imbeciles.

Though Ilinaya had taken the world’s energy, the secondary world source—the true prize—had been theirs for the taking. Do not underestimate even a sliver of it; it had taken them a considerable amount of time, careful planning, and execution to seize such an opportunity.

Opportunities like this were rare.

Athena moved as if the sewers were deserted, quickly locking onto the Ratman. He hadn’t expected her to arrive so swiftly, and a shiver of dread ran through him when he recognized her as the human from the chapel. He had not forgotten the bloodlust in her eyes that day.

“Where are those idiots?!” he cursed under his breath. They had no loyalty to one another, only a shared goal. If the Ratman were to die, their entire plan would suffer a devastating blow, and the world’s secondary source they had harvested would be significantly reduced.

Outside, the monsters, receiving the rats’ distress signals, rushed to the Ratman’s aid. Ilinaya was the last to leave, casually stowing away the vial of energy. She had only promised to collect it, not how much.

To be honest, the humans’ delay in attacking the Ratman had been a pleasant surprise; things had gone smoother than expected.

For some reason, the first thought that crossed her mind when the Ratman was under attack was Athena’s face.

As the monsters dove into the sewers, the guards and Eagle Claw Agency agents above ground breathed a collective sigh of relief. With the monsters gone, they could finally focus on clearing out the surface rats.

There was no time to mourn fallen comrades; every second counted.

Babron led his massive retinue away, the temporary surge in fighting power having improved the situation somewhat. But with his army’s departure, everything reverted to its previous state.

He had steeled himself to embrace the now filthy Mikmik, who had been soiled beyond recognition.

To his surprise, Mikmik recoiled, disdain evident in the cat’s demeanor, as it trotted ahead, showing no interest in being held.

Babron didn’t mind in the least. Being slighted by a cat was a small price to pay as he led his grand procession towards the palace, a clear act of rebellion.

Inside the palace, preparations were finally complete. The cloaked monster gazed at its work with satisfaction; the handsome prince was now nothing more than an empty shell.

The emperor, trembling with excitement, could hardly contain himself. He was about to be reborn.

Once he transferred his soul into the new body and activated the defense tower, it would be as if none of this had ever happened.

The monster knew that the emperor must not die. This lunatic held the lifeblood of an entire nation and had far more resources at his disposal than they had ever imagined. In his madness, he might drag them all down with him.

But this old emperor was a rare collaborator. Human desire, once satisfied, only grows, leading to the second, then the third...

Desire would consume him without end.