Both Syril and Dilliard frowned again, but this time for different reasons.
'Nathan's family?' Syril thought, looking out the window again.
"That man? ...How troublesome" Dilliard sighed as he learned the identity of the government representative.
Syril looked at him curiously.
"You talk as if you know him"
Dilliard folded his arms and tilted his head thoughtfully.
"Well, I confronted him several years ago"
Syril's eyes widened in surprise.
"¿And?"
Dilliard looked back at her.
"¿And? Well, it was actually a draw... or you could say we were interrupted. Although if the fight had gone on longer I would surely have lost"
Syril was aware that Dilliard was powerful, not for nothing was he a general like her master. But compared to both of them, she had never seen the leader of the Aeterna family fight anywhere but on television.
"He's technique is related to time itself, just like his eldest daughter and his eldest son. It's as if they are blessed by the God of time himself. What a troubled family, I wonder if their youngest daughter will also have a similar technique growing up"
Syril lowered her gaze and looked at the ground.
'And you, Nathan? Are you also blessed by the god of time?'
Suddenly the cadet's shout made them react.
"General?!"
Dilliard looked at the sweating young man and opened his eyes slightly.
"Ah, yes, the meeting. Take them to the lounge, we'll go there"
The cadet nodded and ran off leaving them alone again.
"Gather Lloyd and Maya and take them to the room" Dilliard gave the order to Syril who nodded and quickly went off in search of both cadets.
Several minutes later, Dilliard was sitting in the center of a large couch with Syril, Lloyd and Maya standing behind him.
It was then that the door to the lounge opened, and two guards entered before taking up positions either side of the door leaving room for the people behind them to enter.
It was then that a large, muscular man entered the room releasing his full aura worthy of a leader of a large family. His blue eyes focused on Dilliard without even noticing the three cadets behind him.
Syril clasped her hands behind her back while her eyes were fixed on Byron Aeterna. The pressure the man was exerting was simply absurd to them, even Lloyd who always boasted of being the strongest cadet also clasped his hands behind his back.
It was then that her eyes fell on the next person who came through the door behind Byron.
Syril didn't show it on her face but internally she was completely flabbergasted.
'Damn... they look exactly alike'
Noah Aeterna, Nathan's twin brother.
Unconsciously, Syril began to compare them. Nathan was always outwardly stoic even if his face was covered with the mask, but Noah was quite similar in that respect, his face reflecting no emotion.
Still, after several months together, Syril had come to realize that Nathan was not emotionless, he just preferred not to show it because of his past experiences, even though he could be quite clumsy at times.
The two had more obvious differences, such as their hairstyle or the way they stood and walked. Syril could definitely tell them apart if they were right in front of each other... but someone else might have no idea who was who.
Another difference between them was that Syril could sense that Noah was stronger than her... he was second rank first category and therefore stronger than Nathan.
Sensing her gaze, Noah looked back at her with an indifferent expression, stared at her for a couple of seconds and then ignored her again as if he didn't care about her existence.
Syril sighed internally.
'Yeah, Nathan is definitely better...'
Byron walked over to the couch across from Dilliard and sat down imposingly as Noah walked behind the couch and positioned himself just diagonally across from his father.
"How long has it been, five years?" Byron was the first to break the silence, causing Dilliard to snort.
"I flatter myself to think you kept track of time, but it's actually been six years" Dilliard replied, causing a faint smile to appear on Byron's face.
Syril was surprised by the exchange between the two, thinking that the encounter was going to be more violent and aggressive.
Both men chuckled lightly, then the atmosphere changed completely, causing a shiver to run through the bodies of everyone in the room except for Noah, Dilliard and Byron.
"What's your reason for coming?" asked Dilliard getting to the point of the matter and not taking any more time to speak amicably.
Byron rested his elbows on his legs and leaned forward.
"We want to propose a truce"
Dilliard rested his arm on the back of the sofa.
"A truce? I thought we already had one"
Byron denied.
"An unspoken truce... neither of us can afford to clash, not when faced with a possible cataclysm"
Dilliard remained silent and continued to listen to Byron.
"Even you are not safe from this"
Dilliard sighed and scratched his neck in annoyance.
"What makes you think we're going to stay here?"
Byron snorted and folded his arms.
"If that were the case then you wouldn't still be here with the danger of the rift exploding at any second. We know you have a purpose in this place, that's why you can't afford to leave"
Dilliard smiled slightly.
"Pretty clever. Yes, we have a purpose" Dilliard was losing nothing by revealing that they did indeed have a target in mind.
After nearly half a minute in silence, Dilliard spoke.
"All right, I accept a temporary truce. But I have one condition"
Byron frowned.
"Speak"
A faint sly smile appeared on Dilliard's face.
"I want Kaeser released"
A sour grimace appeared on the faces of both Lloyd, Maya, and Syril. While Byron remained completely calm responding after thinking for a couple of seconds.
"Fine, it's a deal"
Dilliard laughed loudly and held out his hand.
Byron looked at him for a couple of seconds before signing the deal by shaking his hand.
Without sharing any more words, the father and son duo walked out of the room and disappeared from everyone's sight, then Lloyd couldn't take it anymore and exploded.
"Why would you release that bastard?!"
Dilliard scratched the inside of his ear with his finger and without looking at Lloyd snorted.
"Swallow it, if you don't want a repeat of a year ago then make sure you train harder"
Lloyd growled and also left the room. Then Syril looked at Dilliard not knowing what to say.
"Are you sure?"
Dilliard nodded.
"As troublesome as he is... he's still a valuable asset to Khan. I wonder how he's doing after a year in prison..."