Chapter 134 (2)
The training ground behind Lucas's manor had grown quiet as the afternoon wore on.
Tracy stood at the striking post, her hands wrapped in cloth that was now stained with blood from her split knuckles.
She had stopped counting her punches an hour ago.
Her arms moved in a rhythm that had become automatic, her body pushing past the limits of what she had thought possible.
Kaya sat on a flat stone nearby, her legs crossed, her eyes closed.
Mana flowed through her body in slow, deliberate cycles, and she could feel the changes that had taken place in her core since she broke through to the Silver Stage.
The energy was denser now, richer, and her lightning responded to her will with a speed that shocked her.
Aris was somewhere behind her, his Ore Senses extended across the training ground, tracking everything.
He had been quiet for the past hour, his focus turned inward as he cultivated in the mana-dense air of the estate.
Kaya's eyes opened. She had felt something—not a sound or a movement, but a shift in the mana around her.
The golden bird appeared above the manor.
It dissolved before it could fully form, the message written in light that only she could see:
Return, Two hours. Throne room.
Kaya stood. Her lightning crackled faintly across her skin, a reflex born of training.
"I have to go," she said.
Tracy stopped punching. She turned, her chest heaving, sweat dripping from her forehead. "What is it?"
"A mission." Kaya's white eyes met Tracy's for just a moment.
She vanished before Tracy could respond. Her speed had increased since her breakthrough, and she covered the distance to the city in minutes rather than hours.
Aris opened his eyes. His pale gaze followed the path Kaya had taken, though he could not see her anymore. "She is gone," he said quietly.
Tracy nodded and turned back to the striking post.
The waterfall cascaded down a cliff face deep in the mountains north of the Hidden City, its roar filling the narrow valley with sound that drowned out everything else.
Ethan sat cross-legged on a flat rock at the waterfall's base, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and even.
The mist from the falls clung to his skin and dampened his hair, but he did not move.
He had been meditating for hours, letting the rhythm of the water clear his mind.
The golden bird materialized above the waterfall. Ethan opened his eyes.
"The war is about to start," he said to no one.
He sighed and rose to his feet and his thoughts turned inward as he looked at the sky.
I must stop this before it becomes another war, he thought.
He gathered wind mana around his feet and launched himself forward, his speed climbing rapidly—one hundred meters per second, then one hundred and twenty, then one hundred and fifty.
The forest blurred beneath him as he raced toward the Hidden City.
The throne room was quiet when they arrived.
The four figures stood in a line before the dais, their masks in place, their combat attire dark against the pale stone of the floor.
Lucas wore his clown mask, its painted smile a stark contrast to the seriousness of his posture.
Austin stood beside him in his wolf mask, his fire mana contained but ready.
Kaya's raven mask obscured her features, but her lightning crackled faintly at her fingertips.
Ethan stood at the head of the group, his mastiff mask in place, his presence commanding despite his silence.
Arthur sat on his throne above them, his golden hair bright in the light of the crystals that hung from the ceiling.
His red eyes moved across each of them in turn, and when he spoke, his voice carried the weight of a king who had made difficult decisions.
"The situation at the border has escalated," Arthur said. "The Zenith Empire is moving its army. The Hidden City of Lightning is moving with them. We are mobilizing our own forces in response, but I did not call you here to fight on the front lines."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"I do not want another war," he continued. "We are barely recovered from the last one. We have lost three Saint Classes, and our Moon Class ranks have depleted by a large amounts. If we fight the Hidden City of Lightning now, we will win—but at what cost? How many of our people will die? How long will it take to recover? And what will the other Hidden Cities do while we are weakened?"
None of them answered. They knew he was not asking them.
"Your mission is to prevent this war from starting," Arthur said. "You will locate the food supply bases and weapon supply bases that the Hidden City of Lightning is using to support their army. You will destroy them. Without supplies, their advance will stall. They will be forced to negotiate."
He leaned forward, his eyes fixing on each of them in turn.
"There is a complication. The Tier Three Holder is stationed near the supply bases. Her name is Tisha. She is a Moon Class elite with a Tier Three Mana Beast bound to her soul. Your secondary objective is to distract her—draw her away from the bases long enough for the sabotage to be completed. If you can injure her, do so. But do not kill her. Her death would make peace impossible."
Arthur's expression hardened. "The Empires will deal with each other on their own terms. Our concern is the Hidden Cities. We must ensure that the Hidden City of Lightning does not enter this war, and we must ensure that the other Hidden Cities do not follow their lead. If we can delay the conflict, we can find a way to sign a peace treaty. That is your mission. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Ethan said, his voice steady.
"Yes, sir," Austin echoed.
"Yes, sir," Kaya said.
Lucas was the last to speak. His voice was calm, but beneath his clown mask, his eyes were burning with calculations and memories and the weight of everything he knew was coming. "Yes, sir."
The war had started earlier than the novel had predicted. Austin had not yet revealed his Four Leaf Clover Eyes.
The Royal Council had not yet decided to kill him. But if the timeline was shifting, if events were accelerating, then Lucas could not afford to wait.
He would need to act faster. He would need to protect Austin.
The four Black Ops agents turned and walked toward the doors of the throne room, their footsteps echoing on the stone floor.
Behind them, Arthur watched them go, his red eyes following their movements until the doors closed and they were gone.