“The responsibility of every employed staff within WBU lies solely with The Eye,” he declared firmly.
“He oversees all operations and will be held accountable for whatever occurred on that plane.”
He paused briefly, then added,
“As the Council Royal, I do not have the luxury of supervising every detail. I am constantly occupied with territorial matters and personal business.”
A lie.
I smirked faintly beneath my mask.
I never expected the truth from him anyway.
“I neutralized the assassins shortly after,” I continued calmly.
“But which type of drug could be so powerful to even put a powerful person to deep sleep?” Someone asked as they looked like they were curious about that.
“It was a stolen imperfected drug created by my Gamma Ivy, known to be a famous doctor. The main aim for the creation of the drug was to take some Shellers as test subjects for experiment” I declared.
“I see. So that means a perfect one has been created?” He asked.
“Yes and it can make anyone fall asleep instantly” I declared.
“She better get rid of something so powerful and never share the recipe after she is done using it, King Valtor” King Black declared.
“I will make sure of that,” I replied.
“Okay.. please back to the report, Councilor Valtor,” He added.
“I exited the private jet alone using a parachute and landed near the target zone. The vehicles meant to convey us were all rigged with hidden explosives.”
Murmurs rippled across the council chamber.
“The mission,” I went on, “was simple in concept yet difficult in execution. It was an assassination attempt. On me.”
I let the weight of those words settle.
“We may not yet have absolute proof of the culprit,” I added,
“but we have strong suspicions… suspicions grounded in evidence.”
After inspecting the area, I realized whoever wanted me dead would not stop at killing me in my sleep. So I hijacked a mountain bike to counter their plans and proceeded toward the sorcerers’ hideout.
“At that point, I had already called for backup,” I said evenly,
“because there was no one left within WBU I could fully trust.”
The room fell quiet.
“I engaged them all, sorcerers and their magically constructed army. I don’t know if anyone here noticed, but for a brief moment…”
I paused.
“The moon turned red.”
“Yes,” Councilor Gabriel spoke up.
“I noticed it as well. It was shocking.”
I scanned the chamber.
Several councilors nodded.. clearly, they had witnessed it too.
“It was dark magic,” I explained.
“A forbidden technique that allows one to manipulate lunar energy for personal gain.”
I raised my gaze.
“The strongest among them projected his eyes to the moon. When it turned red, his eyes followed and when he looked back at me, they glowed the same.”
A few councilors shifted with seriousness.
“It was a form of manipulation,” I continued.
“He attempted to weaken me by draining my internal energy using the moon’s power.”
I scoffed softly.
“Pointless.”
“I broke his spell with a single punch.”
Then, slowly, I reached into my coat and produced the blade.
“Just as we predicted,” I said, holding it up,
“The leader of the rogue sorcerers was an immortal.”
The room stirred.
“It took killing him twice before he truly fell,” I added.
“And just before his end, he activated a forbidden death spell.”
I paused, recalling his final words.
“Manamana.”
“What?!”
Councilor Davidson and the Sorcerer Councilor exclaimed at the same time.
“I noticed the earth shook. Could it be it”.
Councilor Black’s face darkened.
“He used that magic?” he asked gravely.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
Silence followed.
“How close were you when he activated it?” Councilor Black asked.
“I was on him,” I replied simply.
His eyes widened.
“And you survived?”
“No teleportation”
“Yes,” I said.
Now he looked genuinely stunned.
“That is… impossible,” he muttered.
“How did you escape a blast of that magnitude with speed alone?”
Then, after a moment, he shook his head.
“Incredible,” he said.
“Truly incredible speed.”
He hesitated, then spoke again, more cautiously this time.
“The sorcerer you fought…”
“I believe he was once a friend of mine.”
The room tensed.
“He resented the fact that I was chosen as the Sorcerer King.”
Suddenly, everything clicked.
That made sense.
The one I fought was powerful far beyond ordinary standards.
Powerful enough…
…to have been king.
“He is my distant cousin and also my friend,” the Sorcerer King explained further.
“We trained together from childhood, growing side by side. But one way or another, I always surpassed him.”
A councilor frowned.
“That sounds more like a close cousin.”
“Yes,” he agreed calmly,
“but he was distant by blood. He was taken in by my grandfather, the former Sorcerer King who raised him alongside me.”
He lowered his gaze briefly.
“If I had known that our rivalry would be used as a measure to decide the next king,” he said bitterly,
“I would have allowed him to win more often.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“And who told you that even if you had let him win, your grandfather would have chosen him as king?” I asked.
“Exactly,” another councilor supported.
The Sorcerer King exhaled.
“He left immediately after I was crowned,” he continued.
“But before he left, he told me this, if he could not surpass me through normal magic, he would do so by wielding dark magic.”
Murmurs spread.
“I warned him of the consequences,” he said quietly.
“But he refused to listen and walked away.”
He paused, then continued.
“Two years ago, he contacted me again. He claimed he had achieved immortality.”
The room stiffened.
“I attempted to trace the message, its source, its sender, anything. But every trail led nowhere. An anonymous signal. No location.”
He lifted his eyes.
“His name is Labata.”
The name lingered in the air.
“It could not have been easy,” the Sorcerer King said, turning toward me,
“fighting Derick and multiple sorcerers wielding black magic at the same time especially when Derick was the strongest among them.”
I remained silent.
“But it is fortunate you returned alive,” he continued sincerely.
“That attack would have killed anyone in an instant. A blast of such range can only be avoided through immediate teleportation.”
He shook his head slowly.
“Yet you survived it with speed alone. Only the Almighty knows how terrifying your full capability truly is.”
I inclined my head slightly.
“My speed is not the only thing that kept me alive,” I said calmly.
“My will is just as formidable.”
Then my tone hardened.
“Not long after the backup I requested arrived, it became clear they had been followed. Another attempt was made on my life.”
The room went tense.
I straightened.
“So, Royal Council,” I continued,
“You have stated that the supervision of staff employment within WBU lies solely with The Eye.”
A pause.
“What about the preparation of the vehicles?” I asked.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Deliberate.