"What are you saying?" Loana put the phone to her ear, her expression changing slightly as she listened to the contents of the call.
"A military assault vehicle entered the city?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.
"And you allowed it in?"
Loana placed her hand on her forehead. Everything had been going well for her recently; her son Darian had officially become the king, but she still needed to lead on his behalf for now.
This was because she wanted him to stay at Hope Academy for as long as possible, where Amon and Daphne would look after him whenever they could.
With direct support from the leaders of the government and soon the entire StarHold treasury, Darian would reach rank S- within two-three years.
He would be twenty years old by then, the youngest person to reach that level in history. Although he would have to participate in the war in five months, he would be under the protection of extremely powerful warriors during that time.
After all, he was the only means for humans to suppress the monster waves and then focus their forces on the dwarves and goblins.
The human race and most of the family's soldiers were still ignorant of the war, but that wouldn't last much longer.
And when despair began to spread in everyone's hearts due to the addition of another threat to the list, Darian would immediately solve the monster wave problem.
This would establish him within the human race as someone worthy of being a king, and he might even grow to become a successor to Amon and Daphne.
The position of the human council leaders wasn't hereditary but elected…
Putting dreams aside for the moment, there was a problem she needed to solve as quickly as possible.
"Why did you allow the vehicle to enter, and who was inside?" Loana took out a paper and pen as she spoke, wanting to write everything.
"Prince Cassian, accompanied by some other people." The pen fell from her hand; she couldn't write anymore.
"Come here!" Loana ordered, and a shadow appeared behind her immediately.
After executing Jin (or so she thought), this shadow was put in his place.
A person in her Legion stronger than Jin, ranked S. He was responsible for protecting her and sending her orders to the others.
He wore light, all-black clothing like his mask and waited eagerly for his lady's orders.
"Don't let him reach the palace gates." The shadow disappeared immediately upon hearing the orders.
Since he had been listening to the phone call with her, he didn't need any additional content or explanation of what he had to do.
Finding a war vehicle of the assault type in the middle of the city streets. He should resign and kill himself if he couldn't do it.
But Loana trusted him, especially since all the members of her Legion were the best elites. Although she had used unethical methods to recruit most of those in this squad, she hadn't regretted it for a moment, seeing it as worth it.
Her Shadow Legion could even assassinate people like Octavius. There were five people with irreplaceable skills in the Legion, each considered a treasure to Loana.
Although the strength of the legion had greatly diminished after facing Octavius, she still had enough power to eliminate any other opponents.
'Once Alios finishes the monster cleaning campaign outside, I'll send some people to take him out.' Remembering one of the few who still opposed Darian's rule, Loana couldn't help but frown.
Although Alios was the weakest member of the family council, he was the hardest to pin down in one place. Even without his beast form, he was still faster than anyone in her Legion, and his combat intelligence was illogical.
And for the other person - Lionel, his assassination would require another ambush similar to Octavius's, even if he was weaker. She would take things slowly; once the war officially began in five months, she wouldn't give the family elders time to adjust.
In quick succession, she would assassinate Alios and Lionel… And as for Cassian, there was no need to worry about him anymore.
Although killing him now might be a punishable crime, she could escape the consequences since her son had become the king. She wouldn't have done it if Cassian hadn't disappeared for so long, but he did, and this was his punishment for doing so.
"But how did he survive the Mountain of Fog? Was there something I missed in the contract? Or is this a trap set by the council members to put me in trouble?"
Thinking about it… how could he survive that, and her slave witnessed him entering there himself, and it was impossible for him to lie under the terms of the contract?
"Stand down, cancel the order I gave you." With a press of a button on the table, Loana contacted the assassin she had just sent.
"Yes, I suspect it's a trick from the family council. Be cautious and make sure no one discovers you."
Loana lifted her finger from the button, ending the call immediately. Then she returned to her work.
It was impossible for Cassian to survive the Mountain of Fog; even though the mountain's curse was lifted, it happened two and a half months after his entry.
Even if he lived, what had he been doing for the past four and a half months, and why did he decide to return now?
She focused on the papers in her hand, finding them more important. "Puppets Society? What is this?"
****
Hundreds of kilometers away…. In a palace no smaller than that of the StarHold family. Specifically in the east of the human nation.
Flags of the SunHold family were placed everywhere, depicting a blazing red sun, with a broken sword and spear beneath it. Expressing that everything was doomed to fail under their sun's power, and no weapon could survive that heat without melting.
In the room at the top of the palace, Ceasar sat on a large wooden chair, with a table made of the same material before him. The materials used to make this pair of furniture were certainly very solid, as they hadn't broken even after he had struck them several times in the last few minutes, even if he hadn't used all his strength.
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Looking at the terrifying amount of reports about what was called the 'Puppets Society,' Ceasar couldn't help but change his expression every second.
"This system of rule and slavery… the skills that made such prosthetics, and that fruit that strengthens the body without any side effects on it… All these things were hidden within the boundaries of the eastern seas…" Ceasar put the papers back in place, then pressed a button on the table's corner.
"Is it too late to stop the news about the Puppets Society?"
Ceasar's expression darkened with every additional word from his assistant, ending up closing the call mid-sentence.
"Useless… useless…" Ceasar sighed as he reviewed the information once more.
He ended up pressing the button again.
Before the assistant could finish, Ceasar interrupted.
"Send a fleet of ships to the mentioned island and make sure that society has been wiped off the face of the earth, and bring back some of that mentioned fruit if you can. Make sure the fleet returns within four months, and don't let them cross through the goblin sea routes."
As soon as the line was closed, Ceasar leaned back and relaxed completely on the chair, feeling strangely that everything was about to turn upside down for some reason.
"Four thousand people at rank B+, one and a half thousand at rank A-. About 50% of them from the east, all thanks to the Puppets Society." "The ability to modify the body to become stronger, that fruit… Everything about that place screams treasures beyond human comprehension. Maybe I can reach his level…" Ceasar soon drifted into his dreams…