The stage was finally set for the collapse of Ephor's old order.
Allen, Josey, and Zion had already completed their assignments. Endless Ephor knights lay dead or scattered, the streets drowned in chaos, and the designated targets of Operation Specter: Phase Two The Wrath had been erased.
Almost all of them.
One target remained.
But he had been dealt with quietly slowly long before the chaos reached its peak.
His name was Andreas Crew.
The head of the Merchant Alliance of Ephor and its neighboring counties.
A man praised for his sharp financial mind, yet rotten to the core.
Andreas ruled through bribes and threats. Smaller merchants were crushed beneath his heel. Those who stood in his way were silenced sometimes along with their families. Shops were burned. Lives were destroyed.
And whenever trouble arose, Rudolf Steiner ensured Andreas walked free, shielded by corrupted law.
Countless families paid the price.
But his days had been numbered the moment Phase Two began.
With Zion's coordination and Andrew's resistance, the plan unfolded quietly.
Among Andreas's staff was a chef.
A man who had lost everything.
Each day, he mixed a low dose of poison into Andreas's meals slow enough to weaken him, subtle enough to go unnoticed.
Today, the dose was different.
Andreas never saw it coming.
He woke up bound to his ornate chair gold and carved wood pressing into his wrists. His clothes were soaked. The sharp stench hit him instantly.
A flammable liquid.
Panic seized his heart.
He screamed for help.
No one came.
In front of him stood a man holding a family portrait, tears running down his face.
"Today," the man said quietly, "you will receive peace."
"I am killing the one responsible for my family's deaths."
Andreas screamed louder, begging, promising everything he had.
The man stepped closer, lit a candle, and threw it.
Flames swallowed Andreas instantly.
His screams echoed as fire consumed flesh, chair, and room alike.
Before leaving, the man said only one thing:
"Go ask forgiveness from my family when you die."
By the time dawn neared, Andreas Crew's estate burned to ash.
He was dead.
Burned alive.
With Andreas's death, the final pillar of Ephor's old system collapsed.
Yet one wall remained.
The tallest.
The strongest.
The Magic Tower of Ephor and its master.
Damon Jerom.
This was the last obstacle before a new order could be established.
Velkan stood beside Jeremiah's unit, eyes fixed on the tower.
"Now," Velkan said calmly, "I will destroy their offensive and defensive barriers at once."
He turned to Jeremiah.
"Your task is to send your units inside using spatial magic and dismantle everything. Remember if they surrender, do not kill them. If they resist, injure them heavily. Do not kill."
"Young master wants their cooperation for rebuilding."
Jeremiah bowed. "Yes, Master."
Velkan stepped forward, hiding his face.
He raised his hand and began chanting.
Magic circles erupted beneath the Magic Tower, shaking the ground violently. The tower's mechanisms faltered as the earth trembled.
Then Velkan released a silver spell, sharp and condensed beyond reason.
It pierced straight through the artifact sustaining the tower's defenses.
The mechanism shattered.
Jeremiah felt it instantly.
"The defenses are down," he said.
He cast his spell.
Presia's mage units teleported directly into the tower.
Ephor mages reacted instantly, launching spells—intermediate, advanced, desperate.
It didn't matter.
Roman had trained Presia's mages personally.
Their mana output was refined. Their spells sharpened, modified, perfected.
Ephor's resistance crumbled.
It was a clean sweep.
Deep within the tower, Damon Jerom slept.
Chaos meant nothing to him.
Velkan hovered outside his office using flight magic, frustration visible on his face.
He hurled a massive fireball.
The office exploded.
Damon emerged unharmed.
Even in sleep, his mana had been active.
Velkan smiled faintly. "You never change, Damon."
Damon stretched and laughed.
"Hey pal, what's up, Velkan?" he said cheerfully. "Trying to kill me already?"
"You were my classmate. My friend."
He grinned wider. "But if you want to die, so be it."
"I was thinking of using you as a dummy for my next experiment how fast mana recovers, how healing magic reattaches severed limbs… how amusing."
He laughed wildly.
"Oh, and thank your team. So many bodies. Especially the one using spatial magic I've never seen such scale. I'm excited."
"You'll die first."
He finished speaking.
Too late.
Velkan had already cast his spell.
A barrage of invisible silver spears tore through the air.
The office and the floor beneath was obliterated.
Damon staggered back, shocked.
Snarling, he unleashed an attack of every element at once.
It vanished before reaching Velkan.
Velkan lowered his hand.
"Your days are over, Damon," he said calmly.
"You reap what you sow."
The final battle for Ephor's magical authority had begun.