Chapter 230: Failed Flex

Enzo started the call with a casual, amiable greeting, and he also greeted Moon by name.

Moon listened to this; he instantly felt troubled.

‘What was this stalker’s name again?’ he tried so hard to remember while listening to him talk.

He remembered the name sounded somewhat impressive the first time he heard it, or the only time he heard it.

Back during their first meeting with Talia.

Some time had passed, and he didn’t remember hearing the name a second time since that day.

Moon frowned… ‘What was that bastard’s name, dammit?’

‘Should I just say I forgot it?’ Moon wondered. ‘Or would it be too rude?’ he got the thought running in his head, but still he couldn’t make up his mind.

“Sorry, things got too complicated… I had a hard time trying to contact you too,” Enzo said.

‘Is that bastard calling to flex?’ Moon suspected, but he had no evidence.

Still, he decided to ask.

“Oh… Yeah, hey…” Moon paused. “Sorry, but what was your name again?”

Pfffft~

In the Control Centre, Ed’s laugh forced itself out. “Way to go, kid,” he said before turning to Lucen. “Good job turning on the audio there.”

Lucen didn’t say anything; he only observed.

Lazzaro, on the other hand, shot Ed a dirty glance. “Is that your illegitimate son?” he asked.

“Not legitimate or illegitimate, though I wish I had a kid like that.” Ed laughed more. “Did you see how that brat of yours wanted to act high but got an ice bucket on his head instead?”

Lazzaro’s face looked unimpressed and not humorous. “You taught him this?” he asked.

Ed dismissed the claim. “He came without a trace of basic decency; don’t blame it on me.”

Though Ed’s words held some truth, he also knew that Moon had probably forgotten for real. Yet he decided not to mention that to the audience here.

Yutian, Hugh, and Everly didn’t dare make a sound.

They weren’t even present when Lazzaro had made his entrance; thus, they weren’t aware of the situation between the seated old men.

But no one dared to ask.

Meanwhile, Enzo was caught in a fit of laughter, so violent that his veins started to bulge.

Moon leaned closer to Talia. “Has he finally gone insane?” he asked.

Talia gave him a weird, dubious look but didn’t say anything.

After a moment, Enzo ran his fingers through his hair. “Fair enough.”

With that, the call instantly ended. Moon scratched his chin. “Well, I guess he really did call to flex,” he exclaimed before turning around to leave.

“What are you talking about?” Talia asked.

“He wanted us to be here and listen to how sorry he was that we lost so many ascenders and that the battle would turn bad gradually for us, blah blah blah…” Moon said. “Not interested in that.”

Talia blinked at the realization. “Was that his purpose?” Surprise was written all over her face. “To gloat?”

Moon nodded. “Pretty much.” He looked up at the sky; the numbers had yet to change.

“I guess they’re still travelling there,” he concluded.

The distance was around three days of walking; it could be cut to a day if they ran at full speed.

He couldn’t help feeling lucky that the site Lyncarter had locked himself in wasn’t a month’s distance of running.

“Gustav will start moving the civilians from the first two lines and bring them inside the castle walls temporarily.” Talia changed the subject.

Moon nodded. “Good, we need to start moving as well.”

“We will start moving the next morning; the troops are already stationed within the range of the three lines,” she reported.

“Can we find out how many arcanists we have and how many special items we can use?” Moon asked suddenly.

Talia didn’t answer immediately. “What are you planning exactly?” she asked. “Your reasoning regarding the defence lines isn’t wrong, but under normal circumstances, I believe the first line, the mountain pass, would give the most advantage.”

Talia was speaking from a sound point of view; if it was just to compress the defence into a stronger whole unit, wouldn’t it have been better to use that on the first line instead?

The mountain pass was narrow and allowed for a direct confrontation between the two forces that weren’t evenly matched at a perfectly matched grinding point.

They could even surround them as they passed and use different tactics against the enemy.

Yet, Moon suggested giving it up. Talia also supported him, even if she wasn’t truly convinced.

“What was his name again?” Moon asked first. “That blue stalker.”

Talia pursed her lips. “Enzo,” she answered reluctantly.

“Damn cool name. Now I remember.” Moon nodded instantly.

“Who do you think is truly leading the faction there?” he asked. “Enzo or the other sassy-looking guy?”

Talia paused; she didn’t seem pleased with his choice of words, but she still answered.

“Enzo.”

Moon nodded. “I know a scavenger when I see one; Enzo is a scavenger.”

“What do you mean?” Talia asked, truly unable to relate to what Moon was trying to say.

Moon, on the other hand, wasn’t sure how to explain this in words. How was he supposed to say that Enzo was too proud and leaning toward entertaining himself more than anything?

He was supposed to place these thoughts into comprehensible speech, but he just couldn’t find the right words.

The topic was too profound for his ability to express himself in words.

He knew Enzo wouldn’t allow for a bitter victory, and he also wouldn’t allow for an overwhelming victory.

In the end, Moon’s mind stopped racing, and he decided to explain in a simpler way.

“Enzo will give us the first win regardless of anything.”

“What are you—” Talia’s eyes widened.

Moon cut her off. “Just don’t tell anyone. Enzo will give us the first victory and might as well make it easy for us… Too easy.” He started explaining.

His gaze met Talia’s. “If that’s what he’s aiming for, let’s make it a flawless victory.”

With that said, Moon walked, leaving Talia behind, staring at his back.

On his way, Moon met two of the newly joined members of the faction. Two promising individuals that he was both glad and worried to see here.

The story goes back to when Uon first mentioned the Assault Facility, the emblem of a golden sword.

Followed by the hidden rewards he had gotten from winning the duel against Dave.

Moon realized that two of these ascenders had joined his faction, and he had met them for the first time last night.

Even more to his surprise, one of them was an arcanist.

The two were twins, girls who had almost the same soft face with delicate features, the same orange hair, and the same green eyes.

Yet one was shorter, with a gentler feel, wearing robes similar to the ones Uon had, but with a golden sword instead of a golden shield.

The other one was taller, on her back a large shield and sword. Her armor was structurally similar to Lucen’s but feminine.

Delilah the arcanist and Ophelia the Warrior.

Moon wasn’t sure why they were waiting for him at the inner palace gate, but he knew they were waiting for him from their glances.

“You waiting for me?” Moon asked; he was heading to the stairs back to his room to rest.

The twins exchanged glances, looking hesitant and conflicted.

Moon instantly understood.

“You may leave if you want to; I won’t hold anyone back.”

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