Chapter 769

"I'm healed?"

"Of course, you are."

"Why would-?

"For my benefit," the room flashed awoke; faces were precisely shown, "-a contract must be followed under any circumstance."

"Fine," she sat upright, pulled her messy hair into a low-pony, left a few strands hanging near her cheeks, "-what should I do?"

'What sort of torture did she go through?' wondered the newly arrived guest, her menacing stare and heavy frown were among the fiercest to date, '-Igna Haggard, the reincarnation of Staxius Haggard, our old master's nemesis and savior. What type of person is he?' ;

The exposed Wendy sat with much thought, a small towel kept her waist unexposed, the same couldn't be said of her chest and body. Aside from a small chill running up her spine, the wounded body and the excruciating pain felt minutes ago vanished, the memories were present yet non-threatening, and by such, reference to mental scars, the culprit, Igna, watched nonchalantly, '-a contract…' he ambled to the nearby desk, scouring for the laptop, '-why do I always have to act so high-and-mighty. I'm not really forging contracts, a mere figure of speech,' a timid sigh escaped.

"Something the matter?" returned the cold mouth Kylsha, she hung just of his back, overlooking his shoulders to what he did, "-gloomy."

"Don't sneak up on people," he inhaled, "-is the demoness not curious to my actions?"

"Not really," she stepped into the light from the open hallway, "-I've seen worse inside the dungeon. I shudder to think about her state of mind. She looks unfazed, a bad sign, she must have rewrote the memories."

"More obedient she is, the better the pawn is for me," replied monotonously, no hint of empathy or compassion filled his mien. ;

'A wonderous man,' she observed, '-better secure a perimeter, never know who or what will attack,' her body rose into a mild hover, the hair and clothes followed suit. ;

"Wendy, tell me, who are you really?"

"What about me not needing to say anything?" ;

"Right," the head shook, "-there's the laptop, tis logged onto Phantom's servers."

"Why are you helping?"

"To satisfy a whim," he said, "-besides, you don't have any pull in the situation, a pawn is best kept a pawn."

"I've sent the information to my client," her lashes flickered, "-since we made a contract, I want revenge," the visage burnt, "-my name's Wendy Eizo, of the Eizo family. The girl you met yesterday was I, tis but a game of personalities. Since I was little, I don't remember the warmth of my mother or the comfort of my father's grip, we were raised somewhere overseas in a white room with tables and a chalkboard. Life wasn't hard, we had food and were somewhat in decent condition, so I said to myself. In actuality, we, children, had no concept of the outside world, what did it feel like to eat till you're stuffed, what is it like to play with other kids your age, what is a friend, what is freedom, the concept is so farfetched we'd never cared enough to think. As I grew older, the girls around my age, familiar faces I met, bathed, ate, and slept with disappeared. Our dormitories emptied and I saw nothing wrong – my day of age arrived, sixteen, my first assignment, become the daughter of the Eizo family. Assassins killed the parents, the grandparent, a mere pawn in a greater scheme could but watch – we defied the family and forcibly conquered their business and fortune. My life isn't much interest, there are other countless empty shells like me scattered around the globe, some take the seat of high-political member, others, the worse scum of the planet. My orders were always via phone, with no intonation nor feeling, I was tasked to live my life and one day take the dynasty for what it was worth. Then you showed up – at first, we had a lot of fun, and by fun, the night we shared, the drink we had, and the genuine joy I felt were sincere, those were a part of me that wanted to be free and meet people. All changed when I received new orders the following day; Infiltrate Phantom using you."

"Basically, you were raised to be a spy?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "-a spy without much pull or say in her organization, a pawn," her face felt gloomy, any sliver of self-worth scattered and faded.

"I did say pawns have no authority, tis to say," he placed a hand atop her shoulder, "-under the right circumstance, a pawn can become queen." ;

"Seriously?" ;

"Yes," he stood, "-we're bound by a contract, and I did say I'd help thee get revenge. Your organization needs to be stopped, the children are a no-go in war, they need to understand the battlefield is to be limited, senseless killing isn't the answer." '-Hypocritical from me,' he side-glanced, '-I'm spouting a lot of idealistic jumble,' her face shifted favorably, '-tis the best course to get her on my side.' ;

"Igna," frame tapped, "-we need to go."

"Kylsha," looked to the corridor, "-I'll be there in a moment, wait for me outside."

"Two minutes," she rolled her eyes and left.

'-Aggravating.'

"What now?" ;

"What do you mean, what now?" he laughed, "-Wendy, you're still alive and have completed thy mission, there's nothing else. Follow their lead and do what they say; however, don't be so uptight, I'm backing you as of this moment, thee have my word, if push comes to shove, I won't hesitate to take on an army."

She watched with a curtain around her shoulders, '-he fell for it,' she smirked while he hurried outside to Kylsha's side, a muddy reflection of herself rose with phone in hand, "-yes, hello, Igna thinks I've come over to his side. What are the next orders?"

"Good job, to celebrate, a child will be granted with an easy death tonight. Don't disobey, we know how shrewd he can be. Anything he's said needs to be forgotten, else, we'll kill them."

"Don't," she exclaimed, "-I won't disobey," the reflection fell to her knees, the call ended, '-why me, what did I do to deserve this… playing two sides is far worse than I've imagined…' ;

*Clop, clop, clop,* shoes against the asphalt, the outer gates soon passed them and the manor grew a distant memory upon reaching the labyrinth of alleys, "-she's going to betray us."

"I know," he said with hands in his pockets, "-not much I can do in the matter," the focus wandered from window to window, "-didn't realize Aria had a lot of junk." He walked, she stopped, "-what now?" he stopped, few passersby dodged, glanced the duo and shuffled along, a gray hue washed the area.

"What's running inside that brain?"

"Why is the lady Kylsha interested in my schemes?" he smirked, "-where's the standoffish attitude…"

"Quit playing games," a shadow hid her intent, partly due to her staring the ground and gritting, "-TELL ME NOW!" the head rose akin to a fired bullet, the echo channeled a few blocks down. ;

"Honestly," he looked forward, "-there wasn't a need to scream." Awkwardness filled much of the next promenade – they moved to the bridge into the first district. Headlights passed, engines roared, the train was seen over yonder on a plane of its own. ;

'I might have gone too far with the strong act,' the posture somewhat closed until the crossover, it arched with refined street lamps arranged at intervals. "Say, I'm sorry about earlier," she said at the peak of the curve. ;

"Oh, that?" he turned onto the balustrade, "-don't let it bother."

'What's with him,' she smiled, desperately hiding an inner sense of anger, '-I thought he was mad, the change of personality really pis-"

"Either a spy or not, we don't have much to lose," he lit a cigar and puffed, the dullness of his outfit matched the somberness of the weather, smoke rose similar to a chimney in cold winter, "-say, if she turns to ourside, the lass won't know much of her organization. Now, if the contrary happens, a spy is still a spy, she'll have more orders – said orders are puzzle pieces. So, it's best to use a spy without using a spy, the concept's a little moronic. I used my words to paint the narrative that I was going to take revenge on her leaders – said a lot of idealistic ideas in the process. What will her thought process be?"

"I'd have not cared," she replied, "-nothing's worse than a man who talks a big game."

"There," he puffed, "-my thoughts exactly. Now, if she thinks I'm said type of person knowing well I can do, her instincts will speak of two possibilities, ally or betray; two options which align with what I want."

"Huh?"

"First rule of manipulation, let the other conclude to what thee wants. If the task seems manageable and mundane, all the better. There's a 70% chance she'll betray us, no matter, we've already tapped her phone, the database we gave access has a lot of information on the four conglomerates."

"Won't it jeopardize…"

"No, on the contrary, tis a bait, if the information is used, we know the organization isn't affiliated to them, and if the opposite happens, we know it's them," he puffed, "-it's all a big game of chess."

"What about her, she's a pawn…"

"I meant what I said, a pawn can be promoted to queen when granted the opportunity, if she goes behind enemy lines, there are ways we can act to support her actions."

"Not fun," she sighed, "-it's set up so you don't lose, how lucky."

"Foolish Kylsha, tis not luck, I had everything in my grasp from the beginning," the cigar reached midway, "-go on, let's go into the tower, we must greet a hero."

'Looks like Vesper was right,' she followed his steps, '-our king is someone scary – no matter the blessing he wields, a numb death-element or whatnot, the true strength comes from his mind; I didn't realize what he was up to, makes me wonder, how many steps ahead is he thinking?'

Somewhere hidden, a link to Phantom's servers was established before a multitude of monitors. Lab-coat-wearing outlines watched, information flowed endlessly, "-we've broken through the first level," said one, "-here are the available data." ;

Éclair sat across the continent before a somewhat smaller screen, '-idiots,' he laughed, '-gaining access doesn't mean much – trying to steal is the problem,' the fingers flew from key to key, '-do your worse, picking a fight with my master is the last thing you'll ever do.'

Water fell smoothly upon the lake, droplets partially made a rainbow, '-how long have I been here?' a campfire burnt, bones and remains of animals laid in a sack, '-the wildlife is delicious. The gate doesn't seem to want to open; did I lose my comrades for nothing?'

Rather than armor and a massively overbearing cape, Igna teleported to the final floor courtesy of Kylsha, he wore a gray suit with a marine-blue tie. An oversized throne room stretched for a few meters, the stone pillars bore an engraving of skulls, statues of previous demons lined the red carpet – the end held a powerful entity. Strong in body and stronger in the aura, "-Demonlord Kanad."

"Who are you?" echoed, the golden chair lined by crimson cushion added to the amplification, "-Kylsha, shame on you for losing the battle of floor 100."

"Whatever," she shrugged, "-lady Vesper said to leave the rest into this man's hand."

"Excuse you?" he rose, "-why would I leave my post to some stranger?"

"Because, I'm your monarch," the monster ring shimmered, "-Kanad, I say this in thy best interest, do not stand in my way."

"Monarch?" he laughed, the floor practically rumbled, "-YOU THINK THIS A JOKE BOY?" he leaped, a battle-ax materialized into a lethal downswing. *Cling,* metal against metal, Orenmir unsheathed, *CLASH.*

"Kanad, this won't be pretty," said Kylsha, "-fighting the king is a bad idea," she scurried to the throne and ate an apple, "-if lady Vesper finds out…"

"I'm not scared of her. Besides, if he can't win, what's the point of being a king?"