Sylas stepped out of a glass elevator, his gait calm, his eyes obscured by a pair of sunglasses that flashed emerald from time to time. If one looked closely, this pair of glasses was far from normal, carrying the weight of a D-Grade treasure.
It only really had one function, though, and that was to suppress the might of Sylasâ gaze. If it did anything more forward or hands-on, it was a certainty that the Scorned Wraps would have had something to say about it.
One might have expected an entire army of Beast Warlord Sanctum disciples to appear. But in action... it was just three.
Only Sylas, Gwenu, and Khan appeared. As for others... there were none in sight. And somehow, the three of them let the F-tier lead the way.
Sylas swept a gaze over the area, and the first thing he noticed was actually Megean and the others. The moment he saw them, he knew that something was wrong.
They shouldnât be here.
The only reason they would be here was if Cassarae had done something absolutely wild.
The problem wasnât the Petals of the Seeing Thorn being hereâthat much wasnât enough to raise any red flags. But F-tier members? Even if Megean was nearly a D-tier and could shore some of that up... she shouldnât be an official member, and even if she was, she wouldnât have been part of them long enough to be involved in something so important.
Sylas slowly shook his head inwardly.
That woman had definitely gone and done something wild. Her believing in him was definitely only half the reason, too. The other half of the reason was certainly because someone had gone and pissed her off. Now she would rather burn the whole thing down.
Megean and the others were already looking toward Sylas. Nyssa was the first to look away, not quite sure how to face him, while the others were staring at him trying to figure out how come he was here as well.
Was Cassarae right to believe in him so much? The only reason heâd be here was if his standing in the Beast Warlord Sanctum was especially high.
Gwenu suddenly sneered, her eyes landing on someone she would particularly like to rip the throat out of. But Gralith had already told them to let Sylas set the pace, so she didnât say a single word. She only gave the person a sneer and then looked away.
Sylasâ gaze moved and scanned everyone in the room one by one. His Will was very muted behind his sunglasses, but that did nothing to mute the Wills of those that were bearing down on him now.
And yet, he was entirely unmoved.
"Is this considered waving the white flag?" Vaernon chuckled, looking at the pitiful display before him.
Sylas didnât respond.
"This is much cooler than snapping, donât you think?" Khan whispered to Gwenu.
"What are you trying to say?!" Gwenu hissed back at him.
"If the shoe fits." Khan chuckled.
"If it werenât for Masterâs orders, youâd have to bury your shins six feet deep!"
At that moment, Cassarae and Wei came from around the corner, and Khan choked on his breath.
"Shit..." he mumbled beneath his breath.
Gwenu seemed to immediately find a weakness to grab onto, but she didnât get the chance to pinch and squeeze because Cassarae had already strolled over with long strides until she was practically in Sylasâ breathing space.
She looked up at him with a glare that could cut glass, and Sylas was looking back with a calm expression. Well, an expression that was as calm as it could look behind those shades.
"You look like a complete and utter douchebag wearing those indoors."
Gwenu choked on air, and Khan suddenly found something far more interesting than his own love affair.
"Nice to see you, too."
"Itâs not nice to see you at all," Cassarae snarled. "What have you been up to? And whoâs this?"
Cassarae leaned and looked toward Gwenu.
Suddenly being the target of sparks she wasnât responsible for, Gwenu almost yipped back in shock as though a cat with its tail stepped on.
"This is my senior sister."
"Senior sister?" Cassarae seemed taken aback. "... You of all people took someone for a master?"
"The circumstances demanded it."
"Should you be saying that in front of your fellow disciples?" Cassarae said with a raised eyebrow.
"Honesty is the best policy."
"Oh, yeah? Is it? You want to tell me why you keep sending me women to âhelpâ me, then? Is this your way of trying to butter me up? Do you think that if you send enough of them Iâll start warming up to the idea of more than one? Do you need me to snip your balls for you?"
Gwenu choked on air again. She hadnât known Sylas for long, but she was convinced he never allowed anyone to talk to him like that.
Unable to help it, she looked at Khan as though to confirm he was seeing this too, but his eyes seemed glued to the situation.
"It seems to me that they havenât been helping you enough, otherwise you wouldnât have gotten into this mess."
"Ah..." Cassarae didnât know how to respond for a moment. She hadnât told Sylas anything about what was going on just yet. But then again, she should have expected him to see that something was wrong. "Donât try and change the subjectâ"
Cassarae jumped as though struck by electricity when she suddenly felt Sylasâ hand on her back.
"Is this open-back concept mandatory?"
Cassarae took a breath before regaining her composure.
"Whatâs it to you?"
"I donât like it," Sylas said calmly. With a flash of his hand, his coat was off and on Cassaraeâs back, draping over her shoulders.
Cassarae didnât know what to say for a while. She forgot that she was supposed to be interrogating this man about the women he had on the outside. But by this point, Sylas had already pulled her to his side and rolled up the sleeves of his crimson dress shirt.
"Those are the rules..." Cassarae eventually managed weakly.
"Then Iâll change them."
She had no response to that.