( Karna's pov , 6 months ago , Purplehaze city )
Rudra had invited Karna to his palace gardens for a ' talk ' . Over the past few days Rudra had been abundantly busy with handling the guild and the church of death , which was why Karna had seldom seen the man over the last few weeks.
His invitation seemingly came out of nowhere and it made Karna worry that he had maybe made a mistake or was due for a scolding from the guildmaster.
Rudra usually never invited Karna alone for a talk, all guild matters were either discussed inside the elders meeting or if Rudra did talk to karna in private it would be about a plan or a role in an upcoming war.
Since both those scenarios seemed unlikely at the moment , Karna started to think about all the mistakes he had made in the past two weeks , as it could be the only reason why he was summoned in private.
Karna had a slight fear of Rudra . Although Rudra was his best friend and he was not a spineless man who could be suppressed when he was not in the wrong. Something about Rudra's anger scared him , as he had immense respect for the man and his power.
However when Rudra welcomed Karna to the palace gardens with a wide smile , Karna breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed as if he was not being called for a rebuke afterall.
" Why did you call me here ? " Karna asked sounding a little curious and a little irritated.
Rudra chuckled as he said " Straight to the point eh? No Hello Rudra? How are you? How is your day going? ".
Karna rolled his eyes and said " What am i , your wife? ".
Rudra gave Karna a devilish grin and then shouted " RUBY..... HONEY ..... ".
Karna paled immediately as he hurried to cover Rudra's mouth with his hand.
Rudra shrugged him off and continued his sentence " Vice guildmaster Karna sends his best regards ".
Karna exhaled as if he narrowly dodged a bullet , then continued to give Rudra a fierce glare.
Rudra coughed then said " I see you handle the guild well in my absence".
Karna once again shrugged his shoulders and said " I swear if i ever see you dissapear like this again , I'm gonna quit , this guild can't function without its guildmaster for too long ".
Rudra had been missing from action for a long time when he underwent his tier 5 promotion and it made things very difficult for Karna. It was a phase best left alone.
Rudra nodded to Karna's words and said " Aye , a guild definitely needs a reliable guildmaster who is always present ".
Karna's eyes widened in shock when he heard this , usually Rudra would never acknowledge the fact that the guild was dependant on him , and always claim that it was the collection of the best players in the world who could sustain themselves in a self sustaining eco-system, even without him.
Karna said " It's good that you understand this , so tell me now , why did you really call me here ".
Rudra walked with a gentle smile on his face and said " The worlds going to change after the next two years you know . It won't be a game anymore ".
Karna nodded, the said " Aye, it won't be, it's scary but i guess the elites will weather through it together ".
Rudra's smile broadened " Aye we will , however not with me as the guildmaster ".
Karna stopped in his footsteps as he almost blanked out from Rudra's words . Stuttering he said " You-you you're quitting the elites? ".
Rudra shook his head " I'm an elite , it's not something I can quit. It's a part of my existence. But I'm kind of quitting too , because although I'll be a part of the guild i won't be it's guildmaster anymore".
Karna frowned as he heard this " Nonsense, the guild will accept nobody else as their guildmaster, if you vacate the throne , let me see who dares to claim it ".
Rudra replied " You.... You will be the next guildmaster ".
Karna's frown increased even further as he said " not in a million years , no ".
Rudra put a patronizing hand over Karna's shoulders and said " Since day one , it has always been you and me. The guild members and i respect you the most.
Although sir Jhonny is also a good candidate for the role of guildmaster, i think beurocracy and diplomacy are not his strong suits.
To be fair they are not mine either.
The guild sees me more because it's me leading everyone into wars and dumb stuff , however only us elders know how many alliances you have secured for the guild and how hard you work to mentain internal stability in all of the territories we control.
In a way you are working even harder than i am".
Karna scratched his nose at the compliment , it oddly felt good coming from Rudra.
Rudra continued " you are better than me Karna. If you strip down my moves , my level advantage, my armour and my skills and stand me infront of you in a fist to fist fight.
I'm not sure if i will win 5/10 times against you .
Whereas you are undoubtedly a better and stable leader with many good policies brewing in your head.
Id feel at ease if you step up ".
Karna remained silent for a full solid minute then asked " Why are you stepping down tho? "
Rudra breathed in deeply and said " I have a planet to care for my brother , the earth will soon be my people and i cannot lead mankind if I'm stuck on just one section of the population can i?
,m To be fair im not sure if i can fill those shoes , just like you maybe feeling you're not sure to fill mine. But i guess both of us are going to have to try our best ".
Karna shook his head and said " i can do everything Rudra , you can remain the paper head. It's not a big deal - we can "
Rudra cut karna off and said " A guild cannot be without its guildmaster for long remember, you said it yourself.
This is not a discussion my friend , one year later once the war in hell is over. I will announce you as the guildmaster and vacate my position , it will be upto you then what you do with it".
Karna sucked a breath of cold air , this was a lot for him to digest , but in the end he replied meekly " nobody will respect me like they respect you ".
Rudra refused to believe that and said vigorously" Then earn their respect! EARN IT ! Lead them into battle like i do and bring them glory.
Make them forget they need shakuni won knight as their guildmaster and you shall make me a happy and carefree man ".
********
( Current day , outside the fort of Mirzapur)
Karna recalled that day and that talk with Rudra as he stared at the tall walls of the fort. For now the only people who knew about Rudra's eventual resignation were him and Rudra and not one more soul.
Secretly karna hoped that Rudra never resigned, however he also needed to be prepared for the inevitability of that days arrival.
Asmodeus had camped outside the fort however even after 40 days he was unable to make enough progress to weaken the walls or strangle the supplies.
Karna was growing tired of the demons incompetence and was thinking about taking charge of the situation with the elite legion under his command.
If it were the Karna of the past he would not have chosen to act under the circumstances, however this Karna needed to learn to take charge of the guild in Rudra's absence and build credibility before that dreaded day eventually arrived.
Hence for the first time ever , Karna decided to march the elite legion into war out of his own free will as the acting commander of the forces.