"So, how did it go?"
The woman's forehead wrinkled when her eyebrows frowned. If she had been a bit quicker to realise this, the girl would've still been a member of the organisation.
It was such a grave mistake on her part that she even suggested that girl resign from her post.
Who knew that the girl would be serious about it? It didn't even take her five minutes to completely disappear without leaving behind a trace.
"Q-queen, I-i can't find h-her using my a-ability-"
At those words, the figure on the huge blue screen made Queen darken her expression. An unknown fear grimaced on her face.
If certain two individuals happen to know about what was going on, there was no telling what would occur. That was the precise reason why Queen could feel her face grow pale.
"You can't let Ace find out about it-"
Heh-
She came to a pause, and her body shuddered at the snickering sound. The blue crystal screen, which had only one figure displayed, was split into two halves.
In the corner of the screens, something was scribbled to form two different shapes. The queen's eyes narrowed at the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest.
"You are too late for that. Now only Jack needs to hear it from Ace."
The boy spoke while spinning his index finger in the air. The pink-coloured symbols in the corners glowed brightly, making the heart and the diamond visible.
Queen could tell that Diamond wasn't messing around when he said that. That left one question on her mind.
'How did Ace find out...?'
That's when her gaze fell upon the flustered and panicking figure of Heart. The words Heart had said in the middle of a meeting they held quite a few weeks ago came to her mind.
-I... don't think... brother 'Ace'... will fail...
After Queen ordered Heart to look for Knight's location, Heart was the one who asked for some time. At that time, no one but Queen was aware of Knight's disappearance.
Not much time had passed, and rumours about Knight's resignation were floating around within the organisation. How could that even happen?
"No way... Heart, you-!"
Chnk
The screen became one again when Heart disconnected herself. She caught on to the fact that Queen had figured out everything thanks to Diamond.
For a second, the silence spread faster than one could expect. The rage Queen felt left her blood boiling and burst out with her loud voice.
"HEARTTTTT!!!"
Witnessing that reaction of hers, Diamond was enjoying himself to the fullest. He had already anticipated what would happen next.
There was no person within the organisation who was clueless about how close Knight was to Jack and Ace.
Ace had already discovered it when Heart happened to relay the news of it. Once Jack manages to hear that out from Ace, a storm will be brewing.
Queen's cries filled with anger continued to spread around in the air. Then it stopped when a sound fell upon her ears.
Haha
"You should prepare your grave after this."
Diamond couldn't just cut off the connection, trying not to abandon the entertaining show in front of him.
The moment he and Heart were being held under the thumb of the Queen in the previous meeting came back to his mind. That time, he had to just swallow his frustration.
But now things were completely different, and Queen had provided a valid reason for Jack and Ace to be hostile towards her. There was no reason for Heart and Diamond to stay on the sidelines, watching chaos unfold.
Unlike Heart, Diamond was a very meticulous and cunning fox. If he were to join forces with Jack and Ace, along with Heart, they would've been able to take down Queen.
"T-they will fail their mission, after tha-"
Puh-
The childish voice of the boy tried to bury itself in his palms to make sure Queen didn't hear his laughter. The figure's shadow was clear to her, though.
He quivered a bit before coughing to clear his voice. Queen's expression stiffened up witnessing his absurd reaction, which looked no different than mockery.
"You think that will matter?"
A cold sweat formed on Queen's forehead at those words. The chills spread around her body, making the strands of hair on her arms stand up. She was getting goosebumps for the first time ever.
Whatever Diamond had said was absolutely correct. The results of Ace's mission were far from succeeding, but what would even happen after that?
Ace was someone who had been crazy since the beginning. And thanks to Jack's formidable knowledge, the 'probables' managed to reach their current heights.
More than that, Knight was treasured by both Jack and Ace. Heart, who was aware of the two's real nature, couldn't understand why they were even caring for someone who couldn't even kill her targets.
In their eyes, Knight was the weakest person in the group. The only thing that was good about her was her inhumane speed.
"This is none of my business for now. I will just enjoy the show."
Diamond was totally looking down on Queen when he said that. He threw a last smile at Queen before cutting off the connection.
He had forgotten who exactly Queen was. If things were going according to her wishes, she would start pulling strings one way or another. And more than that...
"You people are forgetting 'King'."
A smile crawled on her furious face as she titled it slightly. There was no reason for her to be afraid of Jack, Ace, Heart, or Diamond when she still had King on her side.
It was more like she was on King's side. She was the one who had brought him into the organisation to fill that position almost ten years ago.
Nothing could possibly go wrong when she and he were on the same side. Queen would've achieved her goals sooner or later.
"I don't need to worry too much. Knight wasn't even significant..."
---------------------
"Knight left...?"
The shocked expression he had on his face was something new to the man he had given a task to handle. Since the situation was a bit bothersome, it was understandable.
They both had a clue what might've happened during their absence. His serious eyes glowed with an eerie coldness as he let out a sigh before speaking.
"That's what Heart told me an hour ago."
Ace was a bit unsure in the beginning, but at the mention of Queen, he became certain that she had pulled something again.
This time, it seemed like she had crossed a line that wasn't meant to be. At least Ace's and Jack's reactions said so.
"Is it Queen again...?"
Ace flinched at the guess Jack had made. He felt as if trying to hide it from Jack was useless, which made him nod his head lightly.
In truth, he had decided not to tell him about it before completing the mission. But then again, he was aware that Jack had all the right to know about Knight's situation.
As he didn't want Jack to get distracted from their mission, he decided not to mention Queen. That was a futile thing to do.
Jack was far smarter than anyone in the organisation. Even the Queen and King wouldn't be able to win against his intelligence. Physically, it was a different case.
"What do you plan to do now?"
Ace couldn't comprehend what Jack was thinking about so deeply. What Ace had planned was that he would somehow complete the mission and then go search for Knight.
He had to put those thoughts to an end after seeing Jack's expression. He was angry, frustrated, and craving revenge.
Sigh
The eyelids shut off the last bit of light as the air flowed out of his mouth. He vigorously massaged his eyeballs before speaking.
"You will continue with our plan for now..."
Ace flinched at the words that sounded odd to him. Jack was only mentioning him specifically for staying behind and completing the task.
A smile surfaced on Jack's face as he continued speaking. The next words Ace heard were something he had already expected.
"And I will go look for Knight."
If it were possible, Ace would've refuted what Jack just said. Sadly, he was aware that Jack was a stubborn person when it came to such cases.
Had it been someone else, Ace would've argued and made them agree to his demands. Here it was Jack, against whom he had never won a single argument till then.
Hah
As annoying as it felt for him, there wasn't any other choice but to silently agree to what Jack had said. It wasn't even a suggestion that he had made.
"Fine..."
That was a lie. Ace wanted to make a rush in search of Knight. But since Jack would be persistent, he had no choice.
Handling the situation over there would be a bit of a challenge for Ace since he would always get full of himself. Jack knew this fact very well.
He couldn't help but worry about what would happen in his absence. Also, there were a few things he had no idea about.
"You are sure that 'that monster' isn't here, right?"
He had to confirm it one last time before taking his leave. The plan he had thought of would take two weeks, which meant there was still one week left to execute it perfectly.
That was the reason he had been keeping an eye out for any variables that might hinder his goals.
"That's certain."
Neither Jack nor Ace had any idea that not only Adrienne but also more than two individuals whose powers were beyond common sense existed within the elven forest.
Blaise and Jaden aside, there was also Sierra, who had all the restrictions lifted. Even if they managed to reach her, it wouldn't be easy to take her down.
At the words he heard from Ace, Jack laughed lightly. He was sure that his plans were flawless, despite facing a minor failure earlier.
"Then I'll be leaving the rest of this to you..."
Thnk
He tossed a bundle of keys at Ace and disappeared into the thin air again.
Those keys he handed to Ace were the keys to unlocking the cells in which he locked the monsters. Now everything was in his hands.
The monsters he had prepared for the next few days wouldn't be easy ones to handle. That's how things were planned to be by Jack.
Not to mention the basilisk that was currently lurking around in the dense forest in search of its prey.
'Yeah. Basilisk will kill some elves today, for sure.'
The main aim of their plan was, indeed, to kill the World Tree. But at the moment, they needed to weaken the elven battle forces.
That was necessary so that there wouldn't be any interference later on. Ace smiled at himself, trying to figure out something.
'I will just prepare for tomorrow...'
He couldn't conclude which monster would be better to release next. He was thinking about some equally strong beast among those that were left behind.
Even though the day had yet to end, he was thinking about the next day. The confidence he had in himself and Jack's plan was too much.
Little did Ace know that, as he was thinking that, the monster he was confident in was being devoured by the darkness of another monster.
It was about time to see whose plan was more effective. That of a member of the Terminus Consortium, or that of the Magic Tower Master. The show had just begun.