Godric POV
The subordinate stood at the center of the room, lowering his head in front of Godric.
“We lost contact with the hidden outpost near Sanctum of Master’s Stronghold,” the man said, his voice steady but subdued.
Godric didn’t speak. He sat back in his chair, listening quietly. Behind the him stood Vespara with her arms folded, and a expression blank decorated her face.
The subordinate continued, “The bodies of our men were broken. They had crushed joints, clean cuts, nerve damage. They are alive, but none of them could talk properly, let alone move or walk. And they seem to have gained a deep mental trauma.”
Godric’s brows furrowed slightly. “So they were crippled.”
“Yes, sir,” the man replied. “Whoever did it was superior in skill and strength. They could’ve killed everyone easily. But they didn’t. They made the torture slow, and painful, and let them live as if to warn us.”
Silence returned for a moment.
Then Godric exhaled, leaned forward, and muttered, “That disgusting way of fighting…”
He glanced toward Vespara.
“It’s Evil Sword’s style,” he said flatly.
Vespara’s lips curled slightly at the corners. “It is exactly as you’ve said, sir.”
Godric stayed silent. The subordinate bowed and left after a nod from him, the door closing behind with a soft click.
The moment they were alone, Vespara stepped closer. Her heels echoed softly on the metal floor, and her snake-hair hissed.
“You should make a move,” she said.
Godric raised an eyebrow. “Already?”
“Yes,” Vespara said simply. “You already know what’s coming.”
Godric’s fingers drummed against the armrest.
Vespara noticing his expression smiled.
“I received the an interesting news from the spies I have placed inside the Stronghold. The Stronghold is planning to start an aggressive search for all of your bases. And once they find them, they’ll pick you off, piece by piece until there is nothing left of you”
He frowned.
“I see. Then, we can attack them with the force we have. We will win. But if we want to hit the Stronghold directly and leave them no hope of victory, it might be hard to do it with assassins which are our main force.”
“That’s not how you should do it,” Vespara replied, glancing at the maps on the wall. “You’re still thinking too plainly.”
He frowned. “Then say what you mean.”
She tilted her head slightly.
Godric narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t depend on brute force alone, Godric. It’s your bad habit. Be smart. Try to think of a better, easier plan.”
He picked up the report on his desk, flipping through it. Charts, timelines, numbers—everything the scouts had managed to gather.
She tapped a section of the report with one finger.
“The boy. Isaac Hargraves. That’s their weak link. If you’re going to act, start with him. If he dies, the Stronghold would be thrown into chaos. And, there is another reason he needs to be eliminated.”
Godric didn’t reply.
He kept reading the document.
After a few moments, he muttered, “The Titan Edge Guild is moving.”
“Yes,” Vespara said. “They’re preparing to enter the Akaza Ruin all because of Isaac. The moment they establish a foothold, this stronghold’s military power will double. And once that happens…”
She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.
“They’ll start claiming land by force,” Godric said. “Then they will locate our bases easily.”
Vespara smiled and took a step back. “Yes, so you should be careful.”
Godric’s jaw clenched, and shifted his gaze towards Vespara.
He knew she didn’t care if he lost a base, or his men. All she cared about was making sure the humans were kept inside the Akaza Ruin.
It was too much of a risk to allow anyone to step into the main areas of the city.
Vespara couldn’t allow such a risk to exist.
Her smile grew cold.
“Don’t disappoint me, Godric. You’ve come far, but I’m the one who helped you crawl out of the dirt. I gave you weapons, shelter, information. I made you what you are.”
She turned her back to him. “I can unmake you just as easily. So don’t disappoint me, even if it costs you your everything.”
Vespara stepped out of the room, leaving him alone in the room.
Godric stared at the maps again.
He ran a hand down his face, then stood and walked to the wall. His eyes moved over the markers, the movement of factions.
His fingers hovered over the picture of a young girl.
“Selene Calloway,” he muttered. “She is the most likely person to become the next chairman of Calloway Conglomerate.
“But she antagonized Isaac Hargraves, an SSS rank Farmer, and he favors her cousin, Alice Calloway. This has lowered her chances of becoming the chairman in Alice’s favor.”
A plan started to form in Godric’s mind.
A simple, but effective plan.
…
Isaac POV
Isaac woke up early.
He yawned and opened his system.
AP Balance: 280.912 → 430.061
’150 AP overnight.’
’0.004 AP per second is passively now, so around 80 from just sleeping. The rest came from what came after, though the massage really bumped it up.’
He turned his head.
Emily was curled up beside him, still asleep, hugging the teddy bear tightly. Her expression was soft and relaxed.
’That’s quite a blissful expression.’ He chuckled.
He slipped out of bed carefully, making sure Emily didn’t wake up. Quietly, he walked out of the room and stepped into the living area.
As expected, Alice was asleep at the desk again. Papers were scattered across the surface, and her laptop was still open.
She hadn’t even removed her shoes.
Isaac sighed and walked closer. This time, he didn’t bother with just a blanket. He gently shook her shoulder.
“Alice? Wake up. If you sleep like this again, your back’s going to give out.”
She mumbled something and turned her face toward him but didn’t wake up.
Isaac knelt beside her and picked her up.
He carried her in a princess hold. Her body was warm, and her head rested against his shoulder.
Just to check, he used Inspect.
[Status: conflicted, she thought you would just place a blanket over her like yesterday and didn’t expect you to actually pick her up, now that it’s actually happening she’s getting cold feet, feels happy in your arms.]
His eyebrows twitched.
’She’s awake. And it seems she was awake yesterday too, and purposely faking sleep in the living room.’
He adjusted his grip slightly and muttered to himself to tease her, “She has gotten heavier.”
A few steps later, her status updated.
[Status: conflicted, she thought you would just place a blanket over her like yesterday and didn’t expect you to actually pick her up, now that it’s actually happening she’s getting cold feet, feels happy in your arms.]
[Status: she thinks, of course she now feels heavy, you must have forgotten how normal people weigh after holding that little bitch every night.]
Isaac’s lips twitched.
’At least she’s confident in her figure.’
He entered her room. It was clean and mostly plain. He laid her on the bed gently.
After removing her jacket and shoes, he used a warm towel to wipe her face, then tucked her under the blanket.
Her cheeks had a faint pink hue. Still pretending to be asleep.
Inspect updated again, and the screen changed.