Chapter 136: The Double Agent
Chapter 136: Chapter 136: The Double Agent
Chapter 136: The Double Agent
The VIP conference room was suffocatingly quiet.
Draven Mordis sat at the head of the obsidian table. The glowing particles of the executed Cult spy had completely vanished into thin air. The syndicate lieutenants stared at the empty leather chair in absolute terror.
"Continue," Draven repeated smoothly. His voice was completely devoid of emotion behind the featureless white mask.
One of the lieutenants swallowed hard. He was an older man with a cybernetic eye. He nervously shuffled his digital datapad.
"Y-yes, sir," the lieutenant stammered, avoiding eye contact with Draven.
"As I was saying. Cassian Stillbane controls the automated security grid. He is highly paranoid. He is planning a coup against his brother, Lord Commander Gunther Stillbane. But Cassian has a massive problem."
Draven rested his elbows on the table and steepled his gloved fingers.
"Gunther is surrounded by the Vanguard Knights," Draven stated. "His personal guard."
"Exactly," the lieutenant nodded quickly.
"Gunther is an Earth Magic powerhouse. He is a walking fortress. Cassian cannot use his official military troops to kill him. It would spark a civil war inside the city itself. Cassian needs untraceable killers. He needs elite black ops soldiers who do not exist on any Vanguard registry."
Aegon crossed his arms. He stood right behind Draven’s chair, wearing his heavy white and gold Eclipse Hunter uniform.
"So Cassian is hiring mercenaries," Aegon concluded.
"Not just hiring," the lieutenant corrected, his cybernetic eye whirring.
"Cassian is hosting the Blood Crucible. It is an underground mercenary competition. He wants only the absolute best. The format is a brutal one versus one combat bracket. The rules are extremely simple. You step into the cage. You either kill your opponent or you defeat them completely. The winners are selected to form Cassian’s elite assassination squad."
Nyx leaned against the soundproof wall. Her white mask hid the cold, lethal intent in her eyes.
"They are recruiting an army of killers to assassinate the Lord Commander," Nyx whispered.
"Captain," Lucien said, stepping forward.
"We need to move fast. We should locate Lord Commander Gunther immediately. We can warn him about his brother’s tournament and secure his safety."
Draven turned his masked face toward Lucien.
"No," Draven replied flatly. "Warning Gunther right now is a tactical error."
The squad looked at their Captain in confusion.
"Think about the political chessboard," Draven explained, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
"If we warn Gunther today, it becomes our word against his own flesh and blood. Cassian will simply deny the allegations. He will bury the evidence. He will paint us as rogue terrorists trying to divide the city. The coup will just be delayed, not stopped."
Draven stood up from his chair. He began pacing slowly around the obsidian table.
"We are not going to warn Gunther," Draven declared.
"We are going to infiltrate the Lord Commander’s castle under Cassian’s banner."
Aegon’s eyes went wide behind his mask. The sheer brilliance and sheer audacity of the plan hit him like a physical blow.
"You want us to enter the competition," Aegon realized aloud.
"Exactly," Draven confirmed.
"We are the Eclipse Hunters. We will enter this Blood Crucible. We will dominate the bracket. We will win Cassian’s favor. The traitor will personally hire us, arm us, and walk us directly into the Lord Commander’s private quarters."
Draven stopped pacing. He looked at his elite squad.
"We will act as Cassian’s loyal blade," Draven continued, his tone turning incredibly dark.
"We will wait until Cassian completely springs his trap. We will wait until he corners his brother and reveals his treason to the world. And in that exact final second, we will betray Cassian."
A chilling silence filled the room. The syndicate lieutenants were sweating profusely. They were witnessing the birth of a terrifying masterstroke.
"We will save Gunther at the exact moment he believes he has lost everything," Draven concluded.
"That is how you secure a man’s absolute loyalty. We will not just save Bastion Six. We will own it."
"Understood, Captain," Bram said softly, his massive frame shifting in his white uniform.
"The meeting is adjourned," Draven announced, looking at the syndicate lieutenants.
"Provide my squad with the registration codes for the Blood Crucible. And keep your mouths completely shut."
"Yes, sir!" the lieutenants chimed in unison, hastily scrambling out of their chairs.
They rushed toward the soundproof door, eager to escape the suffocating pressure of the masked Warlord.
A young syndicate member in a gray suit let out a quiet sigh of relief. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He reached out to turn the electronic door handle. He was the second red dot on Draven’s map. He truly believed he had survived the purge.
Draven raised his hand.
He activated his SS-Rank Vector Manipulation. He isolated the kinetic force exclusively around the young man’s cervical spine.
CRACK.
The sound was violently loud in the quiet room. The second spy’s neck twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees. His body went entirely limp, collapsing heavily onto the carpeted floor.
The remaining lieutenants screamed in horror, backing away against the wall.
Draven did not flinch. He walked over to the fresh corpse. He activated his Janitor skill.
[System Skill Activated: Janitor.]
A wave of digital white light washed over the dead spy. The body dissolved into glowing particles, vanishing without a single trace of blood.
"Captain?" Estella asked softly, staring at the empty space on the floor.
"He was the second rat," Draven answered coldly, adjusting his white military coat.
"He belonged to the Church. Never show mercy to the traitors of humanity. An enemy of the human race deserves no trial and no hesitation. They only deserve the grave."
The squad nodded in absolute agreement. They respected Draven’s ruthless pragmatism. It was the only way to survive the apocalypse.
"Let us go," Draven ordered.
The Eclipse Hunters left the nightclub through the heavily guarded back exit. They stepped out into the gritty, neon-lit streets of the lower industrial sector.
Thick white steam hissed from heavy metallic vents beneath their boots. Holographic advertisements flickered violently against the towering, rusted skyscrapers above them.
They walked for twenty minutes through the chaotic underworld of Bastion Six.
Eventually, the narrow streets opened up into a massive subterranean cavern. The noise was absolutely deafening.
It was the Colosseum.
This was not a pristine, hyper-advanced holographic battlefield. It was a brutal, terrifying slaughterhouse. A massive cage made of thick, rusted steel mesh stood in the dead center of the cavern floor. The metal was heavily stained with layers of dried black and crimson blood.
Surrounding the cage were thousands of screaming, bloodthirsty criminals. Syndicate bosses, illegal weapon smugglers, rogue mercenaries, and violent thugs cheered like wild animals as two fighters brutally tore each other apart inside the rusted steel.
The Eclipse Hunters stood at the entrance, looking down at the absolute carnage.
"Captain," Lucien asked, gripping the hilt of his Thunder Rapier.
"Should we hold back? Should we hide our abilities to maintain a low profile?"
Draven looked at the bloody cage. He knew the mercenaries competing in this tournament were signing up to murder a loyal Lord Commander. They were volunteering to destroy Bastion Six for a paycheck.
"Absolutely not," Draven answered, his voice dripping with lethal intent.
"Do not hide a single thing. These people are preparing to kill an ally of humanity. I want you to crush them."
Draven turned his head, his white mask reflecting the flashing neon lights of the arena.
"We are not here to put on a show," Draven ordered his squad.
"Go in fast and furious. If they do not surrender immediately, kill them on the spot. Leave a trail of bodies so massive that Cassian Stillbane has no choice but to hire us."
"Yes, Captain," the squad replied in perfect unison.
Aegon stepped up beside Draven as they walked toward the registration desk. The tactical leader of the squad was running constant simulations in his head. Something was deeply bothering him.
"Captain," Aegon muttered quietly over the secure comms channel in their masks.
"Cassian is extremely smart. He must know that even a hundred elite mercenaries cannot pierce an Earth Magic Vanguard shield. Lord Commander Gunther is over Level 200. Brute force will never work against a man like that."
Draven nodded slowly. He looked up at the towering ceiling of the underground city.
"You are right, Aegon," Draven replied quietly.
"Cassian is not planning to use brute force. He is planning something much more sinister."
The Eclipse Hunters stepped up to the rusted steel registration terminal. It was time to enter the Blood Crucible.