Chapter 114 The New Commander [1] - Hivemind



[Results:

5. Eclipse

4. Architect

3. Death

2. Life

1. Greed]

'...' Silas simply stayed quiet before his eyes darted toward Archie to see his reaction. 

As expected, Archie wasn't happy either, however, there was one person who was.

Greed has a huge smile on her face as she walked off the branch and began to walk on air.

Silas could see dozens of runes on her boots shining at the same time to make her airwalk possible, but right now he was struggling to predict what she would do next. 

Sure, he had already thought of instances that might lead to Archie's loss, however, the thought of Greed winning was the lowest of them all. 

No one in their right mind would actually vote for her, right? That would not only be idiotic, but it would also be catastrophic to the organization.

Greed, just like her name suggested, only cared about herself. Silas knew that much already from their short encounters with one another.

He knew what kind of person she was the instant he met her. How could the people fall for her charade and simply-

Looking to the side, Silas saw everyone look at her with a gaze filled with awe and reverence.

"You can't be serious..." Silas chuckled mockingly.

Men were fawning over her, and women were cheering with the vigor and might of Taylor Swift fans.

However, even this he might have expected, but there was no way the generals and higher society would even think about voting for her...

If there wasn't an incentive put in place for them to do so...

'She showed no interest in the position before. Hell, Jessica would have told me in one of her reports if she had done so... But, Jessica did say something about Greed taking something out of her vault... 

Maybe she's manipulating them like a puppeteer? She tried it with me, so it makes sense, right? Wait, no... I would have realized something was wrong with Life straight away... She's showing guilt now so she must have done it willingly.' 

However, before Silas could think about anything else, he heard a feminine voice echo throughout the city.

"I must thank you all for voting for me. I could have not done it without all you." She spoke while stepping onto the small platform on the enormous tree.

Every floating crystal in the city showed her face, and when it did, people began to cheer and scream.

Greed we wearing a gold and lapis-blue skirt that reached all the way down to her knees, showing off the rest of her legs.

Her skirt was a low-cut one that showed off her arms as well. In a way, she looked like one of those dancers from the sixties... All she was missing was a top hat and cane.

Each one of her words reverberated with the people, sending shudders of shock through all most of them as the cheers became even louder.

"And to reward you, I will make all your lives better!" She threw her hands in the air and let out a blossoming smile that radiated like the warm light of a rising sun, shining from beyond the horizon.

'Something's off...' Silas narrowed his eyes.

He just realized that something wasn't adding up. The people were too obedient. Too quiet when she spoke, yet as if they knew the exact moment she would stop speaking, they would roar out with cheers that thundered throughout the cave system.

"Do you want better living?" She asked while leaning her ear closer to the crowd.

"Yes we do!" They all spoke in synchronization.

"Do you want more money!?" The roared before leaning forward with her other ear.

"YES WE DO!" 

"Then scream for me!" She roared and threw her hands into the air again.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They screamed in unison, making Greed smile even more.

"Roar for me!" She spun in place and waved her hands high in the air, however, this time Silas could see something crawling up her arms.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They all roared in unison.

"What did we want?" The things crawling up her arms began to glow with a sapphire glow before flying away from her arms and shooting above the crowds like small shooting stars.

"Better leadership!"

"Did we get it?!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

There was a long pause, but after a few seconds, Silas felt something.

Or to be even more specific, he also saw something.

Small blue speaks falling to the ground, causing the eyes of everyone around him to light blue.

"What's happening!?" A boy spoke with a fearful voice, causing Silas to look at him.

However, before he could react to seeing Alex not being affected by whatever was affecting the rest of the people, a screen popped up in front of him.

[Enchanter Beetle's enchantment has been repelled successfully]

[Your evolution blessing has assimilated the Enchantment Beetle's essence for a prolonged amount of time]

[Assimilation Complete]

[You have gained one bloodline ability]

[Lesser Enchantment: The ability to manipulate the feelings of the people around you. To activate the ability, you must make contact with the enchanted and look them in the eyes while thinking of what emotion you want to bestow upon them. 

Enchantment will only remain for a short amount of time before being dispelled. The enchantment will not be dispelled if you keep eye contact with the enchantee.]

She tricked them...

No... She outsmarted them. She outsmarted him. 

She played the fool the entire time, and Silas was completely blind to it.

She had been laying down her plan from the very start... From before he had even come to the city. Possibly even before he had been birthed.

She planned so far ahead that it had come close to impossible for Silas to see it coming.

"Those blue beetles..." Silas muttered with only a deadpan showing on his face.

She was unpredictable, yet everything had an incentive and thought behind it.

The assassins... The mission itself had been created to keep him away from the city while she planned.

'During the time I was away, she did something that specifically required me not to be here...'

'Or maybe...' Silas eye darted toward Archie who standing over the city with a look of... Fear? 

Shaking his head, Silas tried to look at the good side of all of this despite there not really being one.

"Well, at least now I have an idea of what I'm going to have to deal with." Silas thought.

If this was considered "Lesser Enchanting", then the beetles would definitely have a strong enchanting than he did.

'Or maybe... It lays in their biology...' Silas thought before looking up again and making eye contact with Life.

She looked at him with an expression of guilt before looking away. It seemed like she was ashamed of what she had done, but she most likely had a reason. That was something he learned from her. 

Despite only spending around a week with her, and only knowing her for a little more than 3, Silas knew her enough to understand that she wouldn't betray Archie for no reason, especially if she loved him the way Silas has seen.

'Looks like I'm going to have to make some changes to my plan...' Silas thought before turning his eyes in a certain direction. 

And when he did so, he saw a pair of eyes look back at him before nodding.

Those eyes belonged to none other than Grant, his rival to the Judgement throne.