[Bonus thanks to Eeshoo97 <3]
"Holy shit, did you see that? Heâs crazier than me!" Gwenu practically hissed into Khanâs ear as though she was being subtle. But the sound of her hissing was almost as loud as the opening of the ship itself.
Khan wanted to whimper but didnât have the words. Why did his master let such a loose cannon control things? And why could Sylas order around a C-tier so casually? Did he come from a powerhouse of a family or something? But which family could spare such a powerful C-tier to just wait around on Sylas?
Thinking about Sylasâ strength and feats, though, Khan felt that maybe, to protect such a young man... it was probably worth it.
This actual action, though... that was a different matter entirely.
...
High in the skies, Gralith raised an eyebrow. But after a moment, he understood Sylasâ actions and decided to remain mum and say nothing at all. If the others wanted to complain, theyâd have to go through him first.
...
The man blinked, his eyes opening wide. Unfortunately, even that didnât last long as the light of his life slowly dimmed. Even until his last breath, he couldnât believe that he had died just like that. He didnât even get the chance to speak a single word.
Cheers erupted in a chorus. Those that had been hanging around the hub had gotten very annoyed with what was happening, but every time they tried to get close to the ship, they passed out.
All of the teleportation channels, various electronics, and gadgets in the surroundings had stopped working as well. It was like the ship was stealing in broad daylight and they couldnât do anything but look at it from a distance.
Sylas might have been humiliating some of them just the other day, but setting aside the fact that internal matters were different from external ones, it wasnât as though Sylas had offended them all.
As for why he had taken such crazy action, none of them thought so deeply. It wasnât as though the common people cared to consider the inner workings of everything.
All they knew was that they were being humiliated by outsiders and that someone should take action.
Sylas waved a hand and a spatial device on the manâs arm shot to his hand.
"Open it." He handed it to Old Brama. The protections on the ring were within his capabilities to handle, but everyone else didnât need to know that.
Old Brama obliged, seemingly sighing a breath of relief that Sylas at least had some limits. When he was done, he handed it back. It was a process that took no more than a handful of seconds. Those inside the ship still hadnât even reacted before Sylas took out what he was looking for.
Pouring his Aether into the device, it pulsed with light and the projection of an image appeared.
"Sharpe, youâre calling much sooner than I expected. Has the situation changed?"
The voice echoed, but Sylas had already tossed the badge forward. It landed in the hole in Sharpeâs chest, the image focusing on the vacant look in his eyes.
The man on the other end fell into silence, looking at the dead man before him for a long while. Unfortunately, the deviceâs scope was too limited. He couldnât see the situation around. It was as though whoever killed Sharpe wanted him to wallow in the death for as long as possible.
Without a word, the image cut off and the badge self-destructed.
A barrier appeared around them, projected by Old Brama to protect Sylas from the blast. Unfortunately, Sharpeâs corpse didnât get the same benefit, being ripped and shredded apart.
The ship, however, was unblemished. It was as though nothing at all had happened.
By now, Old Brama seemed to understand something as well.
Sylas had studied the nuts and bolts of the Rune Mastery of this Sector during his first sessions with Andromeda. Although every power had their own unique languages and approaches, the logic and systems behind it would be relatively uniform.
The problem was that this ship didnât follow any of the usual logic Sylas was used to. Of course, his talent was still high enough to understand it, but that wasnât the point.
The real point was that this couldnât have been a Leava Clan ship. So why had a Leava Clan member stepped out?
There were many possibilities to what could be happening, but there was something very peculiar about the manâs posture.
For one, he was strongâa C-tier. And that led to the second peculiarity: he was actually weak.
Meaning, for a C-tier, he was bottom of the barrel, so much so it only took Brama a breath to kill him.
This wasnât normal for the Leava Clan, one of the most powerful powers in the Sector.
It smelled of... having one foot out and another in, of being pressured by a stronger power and yet not wanting to offend either side.
So then why would Sylas kill him? Wouldnât this push the Leava closer to their enemies?
No.
This wasnât a simple either/or conflict. The Sanctum wasnât even "one side" of things. They were just one of the many powers in a Sector the Thryskai were trying to rein into their sphere of influence.
While the Leava Clan might be enraged by this, they would also be smart enough to realize something else.
Why would the Thryskai, so great and powerful as they were, put their weak C-tier in danger in the first place? Unless... they were just casually using their people as cannon fodder.
Of course, that wasnât actually true. They were just using the Leava Clan as a greeter. Disrespectful, sure. But it didnât cross any huge lines.
Unfortunately for them, Sylas didnât want to play their games, and now the Leava Clan wouldnât either, because it was no longer capable of playing both sides while vying for the perfect path of least resistance.
That was to say... Sylas hadnât even met these visitors yet but had already forced them to suffer a loss that wasnât easy to swallow. Their chances at using the Leava Clan as their vanguard to ease the blow on them had plummeted to zero.
In all likelihood, the Leava Patriarch was calling back anyone they had sent out right this moment.
âA Dominus Paragon indeed...â
Gralith thought silently.
At that moment, the clicking of shoes echoed through the cheers.