In a shadowy chamber far from the chaos, a man stood with his arms crossed. He gazed at a group of henchmen who kneeled before him.
"What happened to 01 and 02? They were tasked with retrieving the scale from the Garrans, weren't they?"
One of the henchmen hesitated but still spoke. "Master, we... we don't know. There's been no news from them. After a few days of silence, we sent a team to check the situation in Garran territory."
The man glanced at them. "And?"
The henchman swallowed hard, glancing at his companions before continuing. "When we arrived... the city was in complete chaos. It wasn't just a failed mission—it was something far worse."
The henchman also trembled, remembering the sight. "The streets were littered with corpses—humans and beasts alike. The entire city... it had turned into a blood-soaked ghost town."
Another trembling henchman chimed in. "The Garran estate was no better. Bodies everywhere. But what shocked us the most... we couldn't find the corpses of 01, 02, or even Dorian."
The man was surprised. He uncrossed his arms and took a step closer. "You mean to tell me that not only did they fail, but they also left behind a massacre? Just what the hell did 01 and 02 do?"
The henchmen exchanged nervous glances. None of them dare to meet his gaze directly. "We... we don't know, Master."
One henchman then explained the original plan. "The original plan was simple. Use drugs to make some beasts berserk. Retrieve the scale in the chaos. It was supposed to be clean."
The man clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. "Clean? Does this sound clean to you? A ghost town? Corpses everywhere? That's the kind of attention we were trying to avoid!"
The henchman flinched but pressed on. "We swear, Master, we had nothing to do with this. Whatever happened, it wasn't part of the plan. Something else must have gone wrong." Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire
The man turned away. He clenched his teeth. "01 and 02 were competent. They wouldn't have gone off-script. But for an entire city to end up like that... this isn't just incompetence. This is something else."
As the henchmen were nervous, one of them suddenly perked up as he remembered something.
"Wait a minute. There's... something else. When we searched the Garran estate, we found this."
He fumbled inside his satchel and pulled out a small, dull-white scale. "It was in the Treasury, my lord. But we're not sure if it's what you're looking for. It's... not red like you described."
The man looked at the scale. He went forward and snatched it from the henchman's hand. He held it up to the dim light.
His gaze was fixed on the white scale. "This is it. The legendary reverse scale of the red dragon."
He turned it over in his finger and frowned. "But... why is it white? Why is it lifeless? It should be deep red, burning with energy."
The henchmen exchanged uncertain glances, unsure whether they should speak. One of them bravely stepped forward. "My lord… Could it have lost its power?"
The man glared at the henchman. He lowered the scale. "Lost its power? Do you think a legendary item like this simply 'loses' its power?"
He looked at the lifeless scale again. "Something must have drained it. Something—or someone—tampered with it."
He suddenly realized something. He thought back of the chaos and also the lifeless scale. "Could it be... another group? Someone with the same goal as us?"
He then continued. "It makes sense. The chaos in the city... the missing corpses... this scale stripped of its essence. This wasn't a random incident. Someone else is hunting for these items."
The henchman hesitated before speaking again. "My Lord, if that's true, what do we do? Do we track them down?"
The man turned to face the group. "No. Not yet. We don't know who we're dealing with or how much they know."
He turned around and clenched his fist. "If there's another group, they've already shown their hand by interfering. That gives us the advantage."
He looked at the scale again. "For now, we focus on understanding what's been done to this item."
He then smirked. "If there's even a fragment of its power left, we'll find a way to restore it. And when we do... We'll see who else dares to challenge us."
The henchmen nodded in unison. The henchman glanced at the scale and then back to his lord. "And the city, my lord? What about the Garrans?"
The man scoffed. He tossed the scale lightly into the air and caught it. "The Garrans are irrelevant. Let them rot in their blood-soaked ruins. If anything, their destruction makes it easier for us to move unnoticed."
He then turned to the henchmen. "Instead, focus your efforts on gathering information about this other group. I want to know who they are, what they want, and why they dared to interfere with me."
The henchmen bowed and quickly left the room, leaving their master alone with the lifeless scale. He stared at it and scowled. "Another group, huh. Let's see how long they last."
He placed the scale on the table before him and sat down. The scale may have been drained of its power, but the game was far from over.
If someone else wanted to challenge him for the Red Dragon's legacy, they would soon learn the price of crossing him.
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At Astra Academy, Kaltrik was sitting on his chair. He had just finished wrapping up some of his family problems for the week.
With a dismissive flick of his hand, he activated the crystal news panel embedded in the wall, ready to catch up on the latest updates. "Let's see what the common rabble are stirring up this time."
The first headline caught his attention, and his smirk quickly vanished. His eyes narrowed as he read it. "Garrans Family Wiped Out in a Single Night—Estate Reduced to Ghost Town."
Kaltrik blinked. He was certain he had misread it. He looked at the news again. He clenched his jaw as he read the news again.
He slammed his fist on the table. "What the hell is this? The Garrans… destroyed? In a day?"
He rose from his seat abruptly. He frowned and frustated. "Three damn months I ignored them because of their failure. But how can it be like this?"