— 10 Minutes Before the Attack —
10,000 meters above the Kim Estate, an Atlantean carryall circled, as if waiting. It had been doing so for hours.
Inside the luxurious lounge, stocked with drinks and food, the bartender prepared drinks, and the chef cooked for their guests. This Atlantean carryall had been modified, stripped of military equipment except for a portable teleportation gate, communication, detection and the system for optimum flight. Daniel had added rooms and amenities for entertaining guests.
"You certainly know how to enjoy life," remarked the Kim patriarch, sipping his tea as his granddaughter enjoyed pancakes.
"What's the point of life if we don't enjoy it?" Daniel replied. "Patriarch Kim, the rumors might give you the wrong idea, but I'd rather live and enjoy my life with my family than sit on a high throne as the chairman of a mage's organization."
"Then why did you build that organization?" the patriarch inquired. "That Order of Ember of yours?"
Daniel chuckled. "Envy convinced me," he explained. "She said we needed an organization to govern the Curtained World, outside of Hightower's influence. Things could get chaotic with mage families vying for power left behind by the Hightower. And there's the issue of rogue mages. Someone had to step up."
"True..." The patriarch sipped his tea again before setting down the cup. "Why have you brought me and Yuna here, though? Is there something at our estate? Are you waiting for something? It's been hours."
"Patriarch Kim," Daniel said with an air of mystery, "I want you to see something. Let's just wait a little longer."
A few minutes passed, with Patriarch Kim and Daniel chatting occasionally, and Kim Yuna chiming in now and then. Suddenly, an announcement blared from the command room into the lounge.
"Mr. Emberweave, we've detected a strange anomaly at the Kim Family Estate. We've sent drones for scouting and the ground team is ready," the voice announced.
"Oh, it's begun," Daniel said. "Patriarch Kim, please follow me." He led the confused patriarch and Kim Yuna to the control room.
Entering the command room with the two Kims, Daniel saw Cao Cao and Gua Jia sitting at the commander's station.
"How are things going, Mr. Cao?" Daniel asked.
Cao Cao nodded at Daniel and displayed the situation below on the main screen. It showed the Kim family estate under attack, with assailants wreaking havoc.
"What is this!?" roared Patriarch Kim, drawing his sword. But he was stopped by the muzzle of a sawed-off shotgun pointed at his head.
"Freeze, human, before I blow your brains out," said a cold voice from a large, 1.9-meter tall man wearing sunglasses and a black jacket. His face was expressionless.
On screen, Guan Yu immediately slashed his guandao at Kim Chang-wook, who nimbly dodged the attack. Patriarch Kim was shocked. He knew his son Chang-wook was physically weak and focused on business. How could he so easily evade Guan Yu's guandao?
It wasn't that he wanted his eldest son dead, but he couldn't believe Chang-wook had hidden this from him! After all, the only reason the patriarch hadn't named Chang-wook his heir was due to his weakness in swordsmanship and his frail physique.
If he had known Chang-wook was this formidable, he would have made him the heir long ago!
"What... What is the meaning of this? Mr. Emberweave, can you explain?" Patriarch Kim asked. He had a suspicion, but it was one he didn't want to accept.
"As you can see, Patriarch Kim," Daniel began, turning towards him, "I had a hunch he wasn't what he seemed. So I investigated and found he's associated with the Lucifer cult in Greece, the one aiming to bring Lucifer into the mortal world."
"Why did you suspect him?" the patriarch inquired.
Daniel smiled, then explained his initial suspicion upon meeting Chang-wook. Chang-wook had recognized Envy, even though Yuna hadn't, and the patriarch himself hadn't mentioned Envy's features to Chang-wook.
He had Albert investigate further, confirming that Chang-wook couldn't have seen Envy's appearance anywhere else, neither within the Kim estate nor among his acquaintances, who consisted of business owners and influential businessmen, none of whom were mages.
Daniel had gathered enough evidence to suggest Chang-wook might be connected to the assassination attempt on him. Chang-wook knew Daniel would do anything to hunt down the assassins, and had used that to his advantage.
Daniel continued, "It seemed Chang-wook had planned this for some time, initially intending to simply kill his brothers. But for some reason, he changed his plan and added the part where he wanted to frame me."
"Frame you!? How? And why?" Patriarch Kim inquired.
"Do you remember the sword from the man in the demon mask that I gave you?" Daniel asked, and the patriarch nodded. "It seems someone used that sword as a medium to reanimate your deceased clansmen and create chaos," Daniel explained.
Upon hearing this, the patriarch immediately realized that if this plan had succeeded, with his clan devastated and his sons dead, he would have blamed Daniel and seen him as an enemy. He was certain he would have reacted that way.
"As for why... I wanted to ask him myself. But I have a guess... Who would gain the most if our friendship turned into enmity?" Daniel left the puzzle for the patriarch to solve.
"That's impossible! Chang-wook would never! He might be greedy, but he's not a traitor to his homeland!" Patriarch Kim roared, refusing to accept the notion.
Indeed, Patriarch Kim knew that the one who would gain the most from their enmity was undoubtedly the Qing Dynasty, their enemy. That's why he didn't want to believe it.
"That... remains to be seen," Daniel said, his eyes fixed on the screen.