Chương 84: Chapter : 84

"That is impossible," Thorne stated, his voice completely flat.

"That has to be a typo in the system. Read the report again, Vance."

"It is not a typo!" Vance argued, turning the glowing tablet around so Thorne and Raven could see it.

"The Imperial Police just swept the Doom Tower. They confirmed it. The Curse Organization has been completely dismantled. The drug operation is gone. And Vane... Vane is dead." Dr. Raven slammed his fist onto the wooden table. The sudden noise made Senator Vance jump in his seat.

"How?!" Raven shouted, his face turning red with absolute fury.

"How could a weak, pathetic little girl with no political backing survive that mission?! We rigged the entire system!" It was true. The mission board was supposed to be completely random, giving the Royals tasks based on pure luck. But these three corrupt nobles had secretly paid off the clerks who managed the system. They had intentionally selected the absolute most dangerous, deadly B-rank mission available and handed it directly to Princess Iris.

Their goal was simple: they wanted to thin out the competition early. They knew Iris was the weakest link. They fully expected her small, underfunded team of girls to walk into the Doom Tower and get completely slaughtered by Vane's dark magic. If Iris died on the first day, it would mean one less Royal to deal with, making it easier for the corrupt nobles to control the remaining, stronger Princes.

"We gave her an impossible task," Minister Thorne whispered, staring blankly at the glowing screen.

"Vane was a monster. He had hundreds of armed men. He had parasitic Curse magic. Even a highly trained military squad would have suffered heavy casualties trying to clear that building. How did a handful of young female servants manage to kill him?" Senator Vance wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He scrolled down to the bottom of the magical report.

"The police report says the main lobby was completely destroyed," Vance read out loud.

"They found signs of heavy earth and fire magic. That makes sense. We know Iris has a few decent elemental users in her vanguard. But..." Vance hesitated, looking up at the other two men.

"But what?" Dr. Raven demanded impatiently.

"But the penthouse... the penthouse where Vane was hiding doesn't make any sense," Vance explained, his voice dropping to a nervous whisper.

"The police said they found Vane's body. But it wasn't a normal body. It was completely disintegrated. He was turned into a pile of gray ash." Minister Thorne raised an eyebrow.

"Ash? Like he was burned by fire?"

"No, not fire," Vance corrected him, shaking his head.

"The magical residue left behind in the room was completely overwhelming. The police scanners picked up traces of pure, blinding holy magic. A massive amount of it. They said whatever hit Vane split his heart in two and instantly erased his Curse magic from existence." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Dr. Raven paced back and forth in the dark room, his mind racing.

"Holy magic? That doesn't fit the profile of anyone on the 13th Unit's roster. We reviewed her servants. She has a wind user, a barrier user, fire, water, earth, and lightning. She doesn't have a holy knight on her payroll."

"What about that boy she hired?" Minister Thorne asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"The commoner from the outer districts. What was his name? Ken Eliot?" Senator Vance scoffed loudly, waving his hand in the air like it was a stupid joke.

"Please. I read his file personally. The boy is a total joke. He barely passed his basic magic exams in school. His mana capacity is lower than an average street rat. He was probably just hiding in the corner crying the entire time." (Little did they know, the "useless" boy they were laughing at was the exact same monster who had effortlessly dismantled the entire criminal organization the night before, completely unseen.)"Then how did Vane die?" Thorne pressed, his voice growing cold and dangerous. Dr.

Raven stopped pacing. He looked down at the dark wooden table, his eyes filled with a deep, paranoid suspicion.

"There are only two logical explanations," Raven said slowly.

"Explanation one: Grandmaster Finlay cheated. Finlay is her Advisor. He is a legendary knight. It is possible he broke the rules, followed the girls up the tower, and killed Vane himself to save the Princess."

"If he did that, the Upper Council's tracking charms would have flagged his direct interference," Vance pointed out.

"But the trackers didn't show any anomalies. Officially, Finlay stayed at the border of the dead zone."

"Then we are left with explanation two," Raven said, a grim, serious expression settling on his face.

"Princess Iris has a secret. She must have hired an incredibly capable, hidden fighter. Someone who operates in the shadows. Someone who uses high-level magic and leaves no trace." Minister Thorne picked his glass of wine back up. He didn't take a sip. He just stared at the dark red liquid.

"If she has a hidden weapon like that, she is far more dangerous than we originally calculated," Thorne warned them.

"We thought she was just a naive little girl playing dress-up. But if she is hiding a true killer in her ranks, she might actually be a threat to the candidates we want to win." Senator Vance swallowed hard.

"What do we do? We can't rig the system against her every single day. People will start to get suspicious."

"We do nothing directly," Dr. Raven decided, stepping back into the shadows of the room.

"But we change our strategy. We thought the 13th Unit was a non-issue. We were wrong. From this moment on, we treat them as a high-level threat." Minister Thorne nodded slowly in agreement.

"I will contact our spies within the palace staff. I want eyes on her crumbling estate at all times. I want to know everywhere they go, everyone they talk to, and everything they eat."

"Watch the servants closely," Raven ordered, his voice echoing coldly in the soundproof room.

"Especially the Vice-Captain, Sayma. She is smart. Watch the Vanguard. And watch that useless commoner boy, too, just in case he slips up and reveals something." The three corrupt noblemen agreed in the dark. The first day of the Succession War had completely flipped their expectations upside down. They had tried to eliminate the weakest piece on the board, but the piece had bitten back hard.

They had absolutely no idea that the "secret killer" they were terrified of was currently sitting in a messy bedroom, loudly complaining about how much he hated having noisy neighbors. The game had completely changed. The 13th Unit was no longer the laughingstock of the Empire. They were now standing right in the spotlight, and the most dangerous men in the capital were watching their every single move.

The sun was not even awake yet, but Naomi's fist was already doing plenty of work. Bang! Bang! Bang!