The heavy magical chains binding the President glowed with a dull, fading purple light before snapping completely open.
The heavy ropes fell to the cold stone floor.
The President rubbed his bruised wrists, keeping his eyes pointed down at the ground.
He was completely defeated.
He nodded his head slowly, agreeing to every single condition and command that The Obsidian Syndicate had forced upon him.
Chrites stood over him, his demon mask looking absolutely terrifying under the bright ceiling lights.
“Okay,” Chrites said, his voice cold and flat.
“Before you go back to your comfortable government palace, there is one more thing I am going to tell you.
We are assigning a highly trained spy to watch you.”
The President looked up, his face pale with fresh fear.
“This spy will be standing right next to you at all times,” Chrites continued, leaning closer.
“You will never see him.
You will never hear him.
But he will be watching every single move you make.
If you try to run away, if you try to reattach your army, or if you dare to retaliate against us in any way, my spy will kill you instantly.
And then, we will kill your entire family.
Your life and your family’s lives are in constant danger now, so be very aware of your actions.
Do not dare to betray us.
Betraying The Obsidian Syndicate is not the way to survive.
You know that now.
You are really clever, so act like it.”
The President swallowed hard and nodded again, completely terrified.
“Take him away,” Chrites ordered.
Two large syndicate guards stepped forward.
They pulled the dark canvas bag back over the President’s head, completely blinding him again.
They grabbed his arms and used a highly advanced stealth teleportation spell.
The magic was totally silent and left absolutely zero mana trace behind.
They were teleporting him directly back to his home council in the Rint continent.
Because of the stealth magic and the blindfold, the President would never be able to sense the presence of the underground base, and he would never be able to send his military forces to retake the canyon.
Once the President was gone, the heavy tension in the holding room relaxed just a little bit.
Linease stepped forward from the doorway.
She looked around the room at the highly trained soldiers and the elite Masters standing guard.
“Chrites,” Linease said clearly.
“What mission is left for us to do now?”
The entire room completely froze.
The silence that followed was so heavy and sudden that it felt like the air had been sucked right out of the room.
The elite guards stopped cleaning their weapons.
The Masters standing near the computer terminals turned around with wide, shocked eyes.
Vane, the tall Master who had captured the President, actually dropped his digital tablet onto the floor.
Everyone in the room was completely paralyzed with shock.
Who the hell was this new girl?
How dare she just say the real name of the boss out loud?
To them, saying his true name was a massive sign of disrespect, something that could easily get a person killed.
They stared at Linease, expecting the boss to punish her immediately.
But Chrites just let out a quiet sigh.
He did not get angry at all.
“There is one more thing I want to tell you, Linease,” Chrites said, completely ignoring the shocked faces of his elite soldiers.
“We are changing the head of the department of this continent right now.
We are replacing their military commander with another person from our own group.”
Linease was shocked.
“Who is going to take charge of a whole continent?”
One of the heavily armed guards who had traveled with them on the flying disk suddenly stepped forward.
He took off his plain black mask, revealing a scarred, serious face with piercing gray eyes.
“I am going to take the charge here,” the man said loudly, his voice echoing with deep confidence.
“My name is Zareth.”
Linease looked at the man named Zareth.
He did not look very different from the other guards, but the aura around him felt incredibly heavy and dangerous.
Vane stepped up next to Chrites, looking very worried.
Is Zareth really capable of taking the charge of this entire continent’s operations?”
Chrites turned his head slightly toward Linease and gave her a quick, hidden wink from behind his mask.
“Yeah, he is super capable,” Chrites said with a confident tone.
“Zareth is not just a regular guard.
He is ranked as a Legendary Master Tier One.
He is one of the absolute strongest members in our whole organization.”
Linease gasped quietly.
Another Legendary Master?
The military academy taught them that Legendary Masters were basically gods walking among normal humans.
Knowing that the man standing right in front of her was that powerful made her heart race.
Driven by her own curiosity, Linease looked over at the tall lieutenant who had captured the President.
“Vane, what is your rank then?”
Vane stood up straight and crossed his arms.
“I am ranked as a Master Tier Three.
I am one of the five Master-level members currently present in this specific base.”
Chrites nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it is true.
Vane is super strong, and he handles missions perfectly.
But we need someone who is even stronger than him to provide the ultimate security for this base.
We are really playing a game which is not that easy right now, so we need the best security we can get.
Zareth will handle this continent.”
Chrites then pointed a finger directly at Vane.
“And the other thing is,” Chrites told Linease, “Vane is going to be your new teacher.
He is going to teach you everything from now on.
I do not have the time to train you myself, and I do not have the same attribute of magic nature as you do.
My magic is far too different.
Vane will teach you every basis of magic so you can become a really great fighter and protect yourself.”
Linease nodded, feeling a mix of relief and excitement.
“I understand.
I will train hard.”
“Good,” Chrites said.
“Let us leave.”
Chrites, Linease, and Vane walked out of the heavy metal doors, leaving Zareth behind to rule the base.
They walked back down the long stone tunnel and stepped out into the dark, dusty canyon.
Chrites raised his hand, gathering a massive amount of pure mana.
The giant, house-sized flying disk materialized out of thin air once again.
They boarded the sleek metallic disk.
The transparent air shield completely wrapped around them, and the machine shot directly up into the night sky, flying back toward their home continent at unbelievable speeds.
Meanwhile, miles away in the capital city of the Rint continent, the scene was pure chaos.
Inside the Grand Hall of the government palace, dozens of high-ranking military ministers and politicians were running around in a complete panic.
Their President had gone missing for hours during the most critical moment of their massive border invasion.
Suddenly, the heavy wooden doors of the Grand Hall swung open.
The President walked into the room.
He was walking normally, trying to keep his posture straight, though his expensive suit was dirty and wrinkled.
“Sir!” the head of defense yelled, running up to him.
“Where were you?
We have been looking everywhere for you!
Our forces at the Grovics border are waiting for your final command!”
“I am fine,” the President said, waving his hand dismissively.
“I was just lost in my thoughts.
I went for a long walk on the streets to clear my head.
We have a crisis to manage.”
What the ministers did not know was that a highly trained syndicate assassin was standing less than two feet behind the President.
The assassin was using advanced stealth magic, completely invisible to the naked eye and totally undetectable by any magical sensors.
The invisible spy was breathing right down the President’s neck, holding a lethal blade ready just in case the politician tried to break the deal.
The President walked up to his main podium.
He gripped the edges of the wooden stand, his hands shaking slightly.
“I am issuing an emergency order to all military units,” the President announced, his voice echoing across the silent hall.
Pull every single soldier back into our territory.”
The ministers gasped in shock.
“But sir, we are winning!”
“Do as I command!” the President shouted angrily.
“Furthermore, we are going to sign an immediate peace treaty with the Grovics government.
This attack was a terrible mistake.
It was carried out without my official approval.
General Thorne is the one who organized this illegal invasion.
He is the one behind this attack.
Arrest him immediately and prepare him for trial.”
The President did exactly as he was directed by Chrites.
He took all the decisions according to the syndicate’s plan, successfully framing the corrupt general and ending the war before it could truly begin.
The invisible spy standing behind him slowly lowered his weapon, satisfied with the results.
Back in the Grovics continent, the massive flying disk hovered silently over the abandoned shipping yard.
Chrites, Linease, and Vane walked down the metal ramp.
As soon as their boots touched the concrete, Chrites snapped his fingers and the flying disk vanished completely into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
“Well, your training starts tomorrow,” Chrites told Linease.
“You do not need to really worry.
Vane is going to teach you everything about the basics of magic combat so you can be really protective and strong.”
Vane bowed his head toward Chrites.
“I will head down into the main bunker now, sir.
I need to check the security systems and relax for a while after that extraction mission.”
“Good work today, Vane,” Chrites said.
Vane walked over to the hidden freight elevator and disappeared underground.
Chrites and Linease were left alone in the shipping yard.
They began the long walk back to their neighborhood.
The city streets were quiet and dark, lit only by the flickering yellow glow of the streetlamps overhead.
Chrites kept his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.
He let out a long, tired sigh.
“What a really busy and boring day today was,” Chrites complained, kicking a small rock down the sidewalk.
Linease looked at him like he was completely crazy.
“Boring?
Are you joking?
It was really surprising!
You guys are really, really strong.
Kidnapping a global leader, stopping a massive war, and flying across the ocean in a magical disk?
I really love this organization.
It was a really interesting and adventurous day for me.
I really liked the day.”
Chrites smiled a little bit, looking straight ahead at the empty road.
“I guess it was a little bit fun.”
Suddenly, the quiet night was completely shattered.
A sharp, deafening crack echoed loudly off the brick walls of the alleyway to their left.
Before Chrites could even turn his head, a highly compressed magical bullet tore through the air.
The bullet shot out from the dark shadows behind a concrete wall.
It moved with terrifying, lethal speed.
The magical bullet pierced directly through Linease’s body.
A sickening sound of tearing fabric and breaking bone filled the quiet street.
Blood sprayed violently onto the pavement.
Linease gasped, her eyes going wide with sudden, unbelievable agony.
The force of the heavy magical impact threw her violently to the side.
She collapsed heavily onto the hard concrete floor, completely motionless, a dark pool of crimson blood quickly spreading around her.
Chrites spun around, his blue eyes flashing with instant, uncontrollable rage.
He stared into the dark alleyway.
Stepping slowly out from behind the brick wall, holding a smoking magical rifle, was a guy wearing a dark hood.
The shooter looked directly at Chrites, a cold, empty smile spreading across his face.