Chapter 1579: The Betrayer (Part 1)

Tommy told Alen everything. He spoke with trembling hands and a quivering voice, recounting every terrible thing that had happened since the joint attack between the military and the Dark Guild against the Cerebus Group.

He described the fall of their division, how it wasn’t the enemy that destroyed them but Harvey and his men themselves. The story poured out of him in fragments, but the meaning was clear. The massacre had been deliberate.

“The only reason I’m alive,” Tommy said, voice cracking, “was because one of the Dark Magus members helped me escape. If it weren’t for him… I’d be dead like the others.”

He paused to wipe his tears with the back of his sleeve. “I was terrified to return to the Dark Guild. If they saw me, they’d know I survived. They’d finish what they started. So I’ve been hiding, watching, waiting, praying I’d find you somehow. And now, the skies have finally blessed me.”

Alen’s jaw tightened. His instincts screamed that Tommy wasn’t lying. The pain in the man’s voice, the fear behind his words, it was real. But that truth carried a new dread of its own.

“I’m going to have to ask you to stay hidden a little longer,” Alen said quietly. “The situation has changed. We’re living with the Dark Guild in the Underside for now, and things are… tense. Too tense.”

Tommy’s eyes filled with confusion and worry. Yet even through the fear, there was relief, relief that Alen and his men had survived, that at least some of them had escaped the same fate.

“But if what you’re saying is true,” Alen continued, thinking aloud, “then there’s something worse at play. Now that we’ve split up again, there’s a real chance the Dark Guild might move against Varkos and his people next.”

That thought decided everything. Without hesitation, Alen sent out orders to his men through a silent communication link. The attack on the Cerebus Guild was to be aborted immediately. Instead, they would regroup and move toward Varkos’s position before it was too late.

Meanwhile, the real Harvey was already en route to that same location. The building was a large distribution factory, one of Gizin’s mid-city holdings. It wasn’t where materials were produced but rather processed and shipped, which explained why it sat in the heart of the city instead of the outskirts.

Harvey moved like a shadow through the narrow streets. He silenced his steps with a touch of wind magic, then pressed his palm to the outer wall. A whisper of Dark Magic spread outward, disintegrating parts of the wall just enough for him to slip through.

Inside, the air smelled of oil and ink. Crates were stacked along the corridors, each marked with Cerebus symbols. Harvey’s eyes narrowed as he crept deeper. Whenever he sensed movement, his hand twitched, and with a silent burst of darkness, anyone in his path was erased.

After several minutes of stealth, he reached the staircase leading to the second floor, and froze.

There, walking calmly up the steps, was Varkos. And beside him… a member of the Cerebus Guild.

I knew it, Harvey thought, his pulse tightening. My instincts were right.

Years in the police force had honed his ability to read people, and what he saw now was damning. Varkos had left most of his soldiers outside, posted as guards around the perimeter. That could only mean one thing, whatever was happening here, they weren’t meant to witness it.

Harvey watched the two men climb the stairs together, talking casually as if they were allies.

You’re the one leaking our locations, Harvey concluded. It all makes sense now. Every failed mission, every ambush, they all trace back to you. I knew it. We can’t trust outsiders. The Dark Guild can only trust its own.

Still, Harvey didn’t attack. Not yet. There were too many Cerebus members inside, and his own men wouldn’t understand. If he struck now, chaos would erupt. In the confusion, they might side with Varkos out of loyalty or ignorance. Fighting both sides would be suicide.

So he turned back, slipping silently into the shadows once more. Outside, his Dark Puppet, the clone he had created earlier, halted in place. It had been moving slowly with the main Dark Guild force, acting as their leader. Now, it turned, signaling them to stop as well.

At that same moment, Varkos reached the top floor of the factory. He and the Cerebus operative entered a small office space lined with glass windows overlooking the production floor below. They sat across from one another at a dusty table, speaking in hushed tones.

“It’s best if you and your people leave,” Varkos said firmly. “The plan is to follow you, to tail the Cerebus Guild until they can locate Gizin himself. If you withdraw now, it’ll look like I did my part. I can tell them there was no one here when we arrived.”

The Cerebus member’s expression twisted into disbelief. “You really think the Dark Guild has the strength to challenge Gizin and the Grand Magus? You’ll be wiped out before you even reach him.”

Varkos met his glare without flinching. “It’s not just the Dark Guild you’re up against,” he said. “The Dark Magus has gathered powerful allies. You’ve seen it already, he’s proved twice now that the Grand Magus are not untouchable gods. If you don’t act soon, all of Alterian will crumble.”

His voice carried the conviction of someone who had already made peace with his choice. Whether the Cerebus operative believed him or not didn’t matter.

But downstairs, the situation had already turned dangerous. The Dark Guild’s forces, following Harvey’s puppet, arrived at the factory entrance. Around them, the military personnel who served under Alen were quietly positioning themselves as well, unaware of what was unfolding inside.

Some took cover behind delivery trucks; others lingered near the loading bays, pretending to be workers. None of them realized they were walking into a trap of their own.

Varkos’s men were the first to notice movement through the windows. They saw the dark-cloaked figures approaching and immediately drew their weapons.

“What’s this?” one of them shouted. “Did Varkos call for reinforcements?”

But when the Dark Guild agents moved closer, their eyes glowed faintly with killing intent.

“No…” one of them said coldly, his voice echoing through the hallway. “We’re not here to help.”

He raised his hand, black energy forming at his fingertips.

“We’re here to eliminate you.”

****

For updates for MWS and future works, follow me on:

Instagram , @jksmanga

*Patreon , jksmanga