Chapter 188: Roy’s Schemes [2]

One hour ago.

Inside the grand dining hall of the Edwaris Estate, a warm golden glow radiated from ornate mana-crystal chandeliers, illuminating a massive table set with fine porcelain, carved silver, and rare delicacies.

Councillor Edwaris—a middle-aged, sharp-featured Martial Master clad in rich velvet robes—sat comfortably at the head of the long table.

He raised a silver fork, savoring a slice of roasted venison, when a breathless servant burst through the heavy mahogany doors.

"M-Master Edwaris!" the servant stammered, bowing frantically, his face pale with sheer panic. "News from the western district! Chief Strategist Ackher... and four councillors of his faction... they have all been found dead in his subterranean mansion!"

Edwaris froze mid-bite, his sharp eyebrows shooting up in profound surprise. "Ackher is dead? Along with his entire inner council?"

"Yes, My Lord! Chief Strategist Ackher was decapitated, and the four councillors were slaughtered beside him!"

A slow, wicked smile spread across Edwaris’s face.

He put down his fork, dabbing his lips with a silk napkin.

Deep down, he was utterly delighted.

Ackher had been the single greatest threat to Mayor Henar’s regime—and by extension, a constant thorn in the side of the loyalist faction.

With Ackher gone, the political struggle for dominance in Kaelos City was effectively shattered.

However, a faint flicker of worry quickly crossed his mind.

The public impact of this slaughter would be catastrophic.

The rumors were already mounting; the populace believed Mayor Henar was executing his political rivals in a ruthless purge.

Either Henar had lost his sanity and ordered the strike himself, or someone was deliberately framing the Mayor to plunge Kaelos City into complete chaos.

’Not that it truly matters to me,’ Edwaris thought, waving his hand dismissively at the trembling servant. "Very well. Leave me. Do not disturb me again tonight."

"Y-Yes, My Lord!" The servant bowed hastily and hurried out of the dining hall, pulling the heavy double doors shut.

Edwaris picked up his silver knife and fork, continuing his meal in solitude.

From the reports he had gathered throughout the day, he knew Kaelos City was teetering on the edge of a violent abyss.

If the city garrison failed to contain the fallout, riots and open rebellion would inevitably erupt in the lower districts.

But despite the mounting tension, Edwaris remained confident.

In the end, every commoner and low-tier cultivator feared the absolute, crushing might of a true realm ascendant.

If Chief Strategist Ackher had managed to shatter his bottleneck and evolve into a Martial General, this conflict would have turned into a bloody civil war.

Edwaris took a slow sip of fine red wine, inwardly chuckling. Whoever had carried out that assassination had done the loyalist faction a massive favor.

He was genuinely thankful to whichever unknown shadow had delivered the strike.

He cut another piece of meat, entirely unaware of the silent observer in the room.

Near the shadowed corner of the dining hall, a microscopic crack ran along the base of the stone wall.

Out from the narrow crevice crawled a tiny, jet-black spider. Its microscopic crimson eyes flickered, fixing its gaze directly onto the back of Edwaris’s neck.

Roy had arrived.

Navigating the high-security estates of Kaelos City had proved embarrassingly simple.

Roy didn’t need elaborate maps, scout reports, or weeks of espionage to dismantle a city from within.

He possessed the perfect weapon for absolute infiltration: the Divine Authority of Mindcraft.

Mindcraft was not merely a tool for controlling minds, corrupting brains, or shattering memories.

In Roy’s hands, its applications were virtually limitless.

To map out the entirety of Kaelos City’s hidden political structures, defense arrays, and internal secrets, he didn’t need to torture dozens of guards.

He only needed to target a high-ranking official who possessed access to the city’s upper hierarchy, extract every drop of information directly from their neural pathways, and rewrite their consciousness in a single heartbeats.

Roy showed absolute, unyielding mercy to none of them.

From the moment he stepped foot into Kaelos City, his goal had been singular and absolute: total, uncompromising destruction.

Once Kaelos City burned to the ground, the Glorious Mythical Sect would inevitably send investigators to uncover what had happened to their beastmen supply hub and their regional hunters.

By embedding himself at the very top of the city’s command structure, Roy would control the entire narrative from the shadows.

The tiny spider on the floor dissolved into a dense swirl of crimson mist.

In less than a second, the divine mist expanded, solidifying into the figure of a breathtakingly handsome young man.

Roy stood in the warm light of the chandeliers, his radiant golden hair cascading down past his waist like spun sunbeams, his golden-crimson eyes burning with a divine, terrifying light.

Edwaris didn’t even have the chance to turn his head.

BOOM!

An invisible, absolute wave of spiritual authority slammed into Edwaris’s mind. The Martial Master’s eyes instantly lost all color, turning entirely milky and hollow.

His body went completely rigid, his silver fork frozen inches from his mouth.

His thoughts, memories, secrets, and soul were instantly laid bare, devoured, and cataloged by Roy’s divine consciousness in a fraction of a second.

Roy stepped forward, his boots making no sound against the heavy velvet carpet.

He slowly walked up behind the paralyzed councillor, extending a fair, elegant hand to gently caress Edwaris’s shoulder.

Leaning down, Roy pressed his lips near the hollow puppet’s ear, whispering a soft, melodic command.

A suicide order.

Edwaris’s hollow eyes didn’t blink.

Without a single twitch of resistance or a sound of hesitation, the puppet raised the sharp kitchen knife in his right hand—and violently plunged it straight into his own neck, severing his artery.

Blood spurted across the white tablecloth.

Roy casually reached out, giving the limp body a light push.

Edwaris slipped off his leather chair, collapsing onto the floorboards with a dull thud, his blood pooling into the carpet.

Roy gracefully slid into the warm leather chair Edwaris had just occupied.

He picked up the clean silver fork on the table, casually cutting a piece of the roasted venison and placing it into his mouth, slowly feasting on the late councillor’s meal as if nothing had occurred.

A dark, melodious laugh echoed through the silent dining hall.

Roy’s handsome face began to shift and warp.

His golden hair receded into dark, cropped locks, his towering frame adjusting to match the exact build, skin tone, and facial features of the dead man lying beneath his feet.

Within seconds, the Divine Spirit had vanished, leaving Councillor Edwaris sitting at the table.

Roy raised his goblet of red wine, his eyes glowing with a terrifying crimson light for a brief second before returning to a mundane brown.

He took a slow sip, looking down at the corpse on the floor with a cold, wicked smirk.

"Thank you for the meal, Councillor," Roy whispered into the quiet room.

"Your city will be served next."