2448 Last One Standing
News of the dozens of simultaneous and coordinated assassinations in the middle of an Alliance Summit spread across East Panama like a shockwave. It spread across all sectors and strata of the human civilization of the eastern side of the Panama Continent.
[Dozens of leaders assassinated simultaneously!]
[Members of the East Panamic Treaty Alliance brazenly assassinated in the East Panamic Summit!] Nôv(el)B\\jnn
[Military analysts unanimously point the finger to the Kandrian Empire!]
It couldn't be hidden.
An enormous commotion was evoked across each of the victim nations, drawing immense attention.
Once the world learned of the full extent of the sheer number of assassinations and the circumstances that unfolded with it, it became evidently clear exactly who was responsible for each of those deaths.
The Kandrian Empire was the only power in the world that had the motive and incentives to assassinate all the leaders of the enemy alliance and the only one with the ability to do so. The entire political sphere shuddered with fear as they read intelligence reports detailing the deaths of these powerful political figures.
Killed by their very own bodyguards.
Every politician's nightmare.
As people of power, there were countless forces that sought to kill them. The only thing standing between them and death were their own bodyguards. They could only focus on their work without worrying about dying because they trusted the bodyguards trying to protect them. Yet, after what had happened with the enemy alliance, the chilling realization that the Kandrian Empire could effortlessly flip bodyguards into their very own assassins gave them goosebumps.
It gave the illusion that the Kandrian Empire could execute this form assassination anytime they ever wanted, increasing the entire world's evaluation of how lethal and dangerous the Kandrian Empire was. This was especially the case for the undecided Sage-level and Master-level powers of East Panama. They had been on the verge of joining the East Panamic Treaty Alliance out of fear of suffering the same destruction as what the Shionel Confederation had suffered.
And yet, in that very meeting, they learned to fear the Kandrian Empire just as much as, if not even more than, the East Panamic Treaty Alliance.
Each of them had heard the message the Kandrian Empire had sent with those coordinated assassinations loud and clear.
Whichever force dared to join the East Panamic Treaty Alliance would be the first one to succumb to an assassination of their own. This was too terrifying of a threat for most of these cowardly leaders. They couldn't even trust their own bodyguards any more in fear of the thought that they had been compromised by the Kandrian Empire!
In reality, they hadn't.
His eyes grew bloodshot as he stared at his hands with gnawing frustration.
A single question escaped him. "...Why can't I win?"
He wanted to win.
So badly.
And yet, Tokugawa Ieyasu betrayed him.
His grand scheme ground to halt as his enemy exposed one final Trump Card.
Time after time, he couldn't achieve it.
"Why... can't I win?" He gazed at his hands with blood-curdling frustration. He wanted a perfect victory.
He wanted a dominant victory.
He wanted a painless victory.
And he was unwilling to settle for less.
And yet, he couldn't have it.
He gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists as his eyes grew blood-red with rage.
"If I can't have a perfect victory..." a whisper escaped him. "Then I'll to settle for a pyrrhic one."
Murderous vengeance lit up on his face. "I will be the last one standing, Rael."
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