Chapter 1569: They Meet Again (Part 2)

“Well, I suppose we’re all here to update each other on our situations,” Harvey said, his voice steady but low. “So I’ll go first.”

He leaned forward, resting both arms on the round table. The tension in the room thickened instantly.

“We encountered fifteen members of the Cerebus Guild,” he continued. “The ambush went according to plan, at least in the beginning. But their strength… it was far greater than we anticipated.”

A heavy silence followed.

“There were losses,” Harvey said finally. “On the Dark Guild’s side and among our allies. Unfortunately, the War Magus, as well as the rest of your men, ” He looked toward Alen and Varkos. “, they didn’t make it.”

The air left the room. No one spoke for several long seconds. The news was expected, everyone knew this mission came with risk, but hearing it said aloud still struck like a blade.

Alen lowered his head, eyes fixed on the table. He had been the one who convinced those soldiers to join them, to believe in their cause. Now, they were gone. The guilt pressed on his chest like a weight he couldn’t shake.

Varkos clenched his fists. “Mordain was a War Magus,” he said. “Even if the enemy was stronger than expected, with him there, and with your entire force present, you’re saying he was still killed?”

Harvey’s eyes flicked toward him but didn’t waver.

“No,” Alen interjected before Harvey could answer. “If the Cerebus Guild members were anything like the ones we faced… then it’s not so unbelievable.”

He and Beatrix then took turns recounting their experience, everything from the infiltration of the facility to the horrors they had uncovered inside. They described the experiments, the power their enemies wielded, and how the entire operation had nearly been lost, until Beatrix intervened.

“If she hadn’t been there,” Alen said solemnly, “none of us would’ve survived. Numbers wouldn’t have mattered. The Cerebus Guild’s members are stronger than we imagined.”

What Alen didn’t realize, however, was that the group he had fought was different. The enemies Harvey and the Dark Guild had faced weren’t on the same level as the ones who had nearly wiped out Alen’s unit. Their magical energy, their abilities, even their resilience, were nowhere near equal.

But no one else at the table knew that.

From the details alone, Harvey understood. The ones Alen had encountered were the elite, and that gave him a small, quiet escape from the scrutiny that was sure to follow.

“Did you even do anything?” Varkos asked suddenly. His tone sharpened, frustration bubbling to the surface. “How is it that you’re alive, and every single one of our men is dead? Not one survivor? If the entire Dark Guild had been wiped out too, I could understand, but this?”

The air crackled with tension. The alliance had already been fragile before this meeting; now it threatened to fracture completely.

Varkos wasn’t wrong. The imbalance didn’t make sense.

Harvey took a breath, then said evenly, “If you want my honest answer, no, I didn’t risk my life for them. I focused on protecting my people. That’s why the members of the Dark Guild survived.”

He straightened, his expression unreadable. “This is an alliance, yes, but I will always put the Dark Guild first. I won’t apologize for that.”

The words hung heavy in the air.

Varkos’s jaw tightened. Alen looked ready to argue, but deep down, both of them knew Harvey wasn’t entirely wrong. In his position, they might have done the same. The silence stretched on until Raze finally spoke.

“Enough,” he said, his calm voice cutting through the tension. “There’s no point turning on each other. What’s done is done.”

He looked around the room. “We’ve all suffered losses. But overall, the results are in our favor. The Cerebus Guild has taken damage. We’ve gathered information that can shift public perception, and the Underside has already begun to change.”

Everyone’s attention turned toward him as he continued.

“Because of the sacrifices we’ve made, we can move forward.”

His tone softened slightly. “We can’t let those deaths be in vain.”

Raze leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Varkos, I want you to prepare the timing for the next step. We’ll release everything we’ve uncovered, all the information, all the evidence, at once. Send it to every media outlet we can reach. And I want a direct broadcast to the public as well.”

“You mean to show them everything?” Varkos asked.

“Exactly. Every atrocity the Grand Magus has tried to bury.” Raze’s eyes glinted with determination. “Once that happens, the Cerebus Guild will be forced to retreat. They won’t be able to act freely, and the world will start questioning everything. It’ll buy us time, time we can use to strike again.”

He turned toward Alen. “It’ll also stop them from pursuing you. Once the truth is out, even they’ll hesitate. Their hands will be tied.”

Alen nodded slowly.

“Figure out the logistics with your teams,” Raze said, standing from his seat. “When everything’s ready, we’ll reconvene here tonight to finalize the plan.”

Everyone agreed.

The meeting was over.

And though the results had been mixed, success wrapped in tragedy, each of them understood that this was the cost of rebellion.

They needed time apart to breathe, to process, to prepare for what was coming.

When they stepped out of the church, the air outside felt thick with the scent of smoke and wet stone. The ruins of the Underside city stretched around them, now slowly rebuilding under the Dark Guild’s guidance.

Raze walked ahead, descending the worn path that led toward the lower sector. He planned to return to the infirmary, to check on the rescued patients that Beatrix and Alen had brought back. Maybe he could learn more from them, names, details, fragments of what they had endured inside the Cerebus facility.

He moved quietly through the narrow street, the sound of his boots echoing off the walls of nearby homes.

The people here still watched him like a symbol, half hope, half fear.

He didn’t mind.

“Raze!”

A voice called from his right.

He turned to see Londo, one of the Dark Guild’s more experienced members, stepping out from the shadows.

“I need to speak with you,” Londo said, his tone serious. “But not here.”

He glanced around the street, making sure no one was close enough to overhear.

“Let’s go somewhere more private.”

****

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