Chapter 18
"Whadya think, Zuna?" Do you think his plan makes sense? Do ya think it'll even work?" The young man asked with his arms relaxed behind his head.
"That is none of your concern, Yukann." She scolded him. "It is your job to carry out his will, nothing more, nothing less." The group of four continued their walk down the lengthy, dark hallway.
"Jeez, I was just curious, but I can see you're in no mood for friendly conversation. Musta slept on the nasty side of the bed last night."
"Yu, it occurs to me that you will never learn. You are just going to keep pushing her until she kills you one day." The slightly older man said. He had a deeper voice and always had a more serious expression than his younger friend.
"Hee-hee I can't help it, Chisei. She always makes it so fun." He said with a grin.
Not being nearly as childish as Yukann, Zuna just ignored his comments. As far as she was concerned, the only issues worthy of her time were the ones that benefited her lord.
"You guys always make this trip so much louder than it has to be." The annoyed tone of the girl trailing behind them was evident. "I would just like silence for once."
"Ha! Not while I'm around!" Yu shouted. "I'm here to keep you entertained!" He clearly was unwilling to accept her point of view as he was quite proud of his obnoxious personality.
"I apologize on his behalf, Kowa. I tried to teach him to get along with others, but he seems to almost develop an allergic reaction at the mere thought of it." Chisei said with a sympathetic look.
"Excuse me, but isn't that why he recruited us. 'Not getting along with others' is literally in the job description!"
"Quiet down!" Zuna interrupted. "We are almost there, and we mustn't disturb him."
The group of four entered through large wooden double doors. Inside was an enormous room. The ceiling was so high it almost could not be seen, and most of the light was coming through the colored glass window that made up the majority of the back wall. However, the person they came to see was nowhere in sight. They expected him to be in his chair, it sat in the middle of the room and could easily be called a throne. It was at the top of a short, tiered platform. It looked like stairs leading up to the elevated throne.
"You took long enough. I've been waiting on you four." A voice rang out from above them. A man leaning over the banister of the second floor called down to them from behind the book he was reading.
They looked up to see him, but he didn't make eye-contact. He simply continued silently reading. They made their way to the right side of the room where an open staircase led to the second floor. It was more of a loft since it had no walls, only handrails to act as a boundary. There was a comfortable section at the top of the staircase, but the rest of the second floor was only a walkway that spanned along all three of the other walls in the enormous main room. The walkways connected back to the comfortable section. On the side of the open room was the handrails, but on the side of the walls was nothing but books. This room was an extremely vast library.
"Whatcha reading, Boss?" Yukann asked as they reached his position. There was absolutely no response. Yu's jaw dropped at the blatant disregard of his presence.
"Zuna, is everything prepared? Do they have their orders?" The man asked.
"Yes, my lord. We are prepared to move when you are."
"Very good. Chisei, how are your studies progressing?"
"With difficulty, Master. She continues to resist even in her state. I have still learned a tremendous amount, but I wish I could help more."
"That's quite alright, Chisei. You've already helped more than you know. I am going to send you in there for this upcoming mission. Someone will come for her. I'll leave it to you to dissuade them."
"Yes, Master."
"Pardon the interruption, my lord. Did you gain valuable information from the battles they had with the Gammas we sent?" Zuna asked.
"As a matter of fact, I did. There were still some secrets they were keeping from me. I'll need to prepare a weapon for Chisei so he can eliminate intruders with a single attack. You see, they have increased natural defense. Their skin is armor." He paused for a moment to think. "However, everything is going according to plan so you have no reason to worry."
"It's my job to worry, my lord. As your first Beta, I am your sword and shield. I believe in your flawless strategy, but I will not let my guard down until we accomplish your dream."
"And you are appreciated, Zuna. The next step of our plan will get us much closer to reaching it. Then, we'll pay a visit to the traitors who thought they could acknowledge me, the Alpha, to outsiders."
"So, what is this dream we're talking about?" Yukann questioned. "I haven't heard anything about it. I thought we were just going to kill some people because they're from that place that oppresses us."
The Alpha didn't turn to look at him. Instead, He returned to his original stance leaning on the banister. He stared at the stained-glass window for a second, then he posed his question.
"Tell me, kid. Have you ever heard the name 'Raymond the Conqueror'?"
Yukann looked at the others in confusion, but he knew he had to respond. "No, no I haven't, Boss. Is he a friend of yours?"
"Raymond the Conqueror was a king who is said to have conquered the known world several thousand years ago. It took him only eight years to conquer every conceivable threat to his reign on Atlas. Such an accomplishment has never been repeated, and is actually considered to be humanly impossible. How long do you think his kingdom lasted?"
"I'm not big on history, boss. I don't know...maybe 200 years?"
"He died at the young age of thirty-three, only five years after his victorious war ended. His top four generals split his kingdom into four different kingdoms. You see, he was a one-of-a-kind genius. Mere generals could never properly understand how to follow such a king. They only made it as far as they did because they had him. After he was gone, the generals were conquered one after the other. By the same reasoning, you don't need to know my plans. If you do what I tell you, you will survive, and we will conquer as I see fit."
Yukann was speechless, he decided to go with quiet obedience this time. He sort of felt as if he had been threatened. In any case, he knew he had called too much attention to himself so he just nodded at the Alpha's advice.
The Alpha concluded, "If Zuna has given you all your orders then you can go. Chisei, you can meet me in the Sanctum, and I'll prepare you for your part in this mission."
Chisei nodded, and the three of them exited the same direction they entered. Zuna stayed behind which was standard protocol after a meeting. She took the opportunity to speak with him about something that had been bothering her.
"Are you sure you want to do this now? I know you have taken this all into account, but these people are known to be powerful and unpredictable. They are obviously nowhere close to your power, but we still don't know enough about how their power works. It's so different from ours. I guess I just feel like it is a risk to attack them so soon."
"You are right as usual, Zuna." He said. "It is a calculated risk, but a completely unique opportunity has presented itself. They are finally coming for her. They will be in our territory so we will have the advantage. This will be the most strategic time to strike. If all goes to plan; we will kill Lux who is their future Tempestas. Then, we can use the girl's energy to gain access to their home and we can finally destroy it."