Chapter 244. The Ghost Strategist 1.

Western Continent.

Iron Empire.

Waldhar State.

York City.

Mayor’s office.

Bang!!

The mayor’s hand hit the table with a resounding bang, breaking it into smithereens.

Her chest heaved up and down in anger.

Streaks of flames flickered through her eyes from time to time.

Before her, two men were cowering. They were currently shaking on their knees.

"Are you two fuckers telling me that you don’t know how the information about the energy core vein leaked?" Every word from the mayor’s mouth was laced with extreme discontent and coldness.

"Ma’am," the Warriors Association Head in the city said, "we honestly don’t know anything about the situation. Please, spare us."

"Yes, ma’am. Someone must have sent a spy to spy on our conversation. We—"

Before the subordinate of the Warriors Association Head in the city—the man whose nephew had an altercation with Aiden recently and got expelled—could finish speaking, a stream of fire washed over his figure.

"Augghhhh!" he screamed and drowned in the fire.

A few moments later, only his ashes remained.

The Warriors Association Head was terrified. He banged his head on the ground constantly.

"Ma’am, please... reconsider. Don’t kill me. If you kill me, the Warriors Association HQ in the state will come after you..."

The mayor’s eyes were calm and cold.

The flames washed over his figure.

His tantrums turned into agonizing screams that caused the guards of the mayor outside the room to even shrink in fear.

Very soon, his screams died down. Not even his corpse remained.

Only ashes were left.

"I had surveillance drones all over the villa during my conversation with you, and you are telling me someone sent a spy to spy on our conversation? Hmph. If you both didn’t leak the information, who did?" She snickered with contempt and spat on their ashes.

"As long as there is no evidence that I killed them, the state HQ of the Warriors Association will not find any reason to come after me," the Mayor said. "Get rid of the ashes and destroy every evidence in the room."

"Yes, Mayor Erash." Someone entered the room and left to make arrangements to execute the order.

"It’s time to head to the ruined city. Seriously, now I have to compete with others for the energy core vein." Mayor Erash sighed.

*****

In the ruined city, Aiden was seated on the tree, wearing his invisibility bracelet.

He smiled.

"Looks like the deal went smoothly," Aiden thought. "Now, I won’t have to worry about securing expensive poisons freely. I can’t pin all my hopes on Arica’s supply of poisons.

"As for Rank 4 invisibility bracelets and poisons, one can’t get them from anywhere, except the International Union. All Rank 4 resources, including battlesuits, poisons, among others are only available in the International Union, and members are not allowed to share them with others, else they will be kicked out of the International Union and blacklisted. It’s something done to ensure exclusivity among Rank 4 warriors and set them apart from the rest of the population. Not even Armstrong Lee, Ashbourne, and Vandaport can help me secure a Rank 4 invisibility bracelet or poisons. Had that been possible, dealing with Rank 4 enemies would have been actually possible," Aiden thought.

He wasn’t disturbed. There were some threats he could only deal with when he was a Rank 4 warrior.

For now, he’d handle what he could and grow stronger.

"Also, Desmonda and the others can now have free access to university resources without paying anything. That will make growing stronger quick for them. At the end of the day, their individual strength is the best form of security," Aiden mused.

Suddenly, his crimson eyes narrowed.

Several figures in different battlesuits, expert Rank 3 warriors from different powers across Waldhar State, were arriving in the ruined city from different directions.

"It’s her. The mayor of York City. Now that the news has leaked, she must have assumed her two accomplices leaked the news. She must have killed them and gotten rid of the evidence that she killed them. Anyway, it’s time to harvest blood essence," Aiden thought calmly.

He had already set the traps and invited the prey over. Now, all he had to do was sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

At one location, a woman in a battlesuit, the mayor of York City, was currently staring at a man also in a battlesuit.

Their squads trailed behind them.

"I didn’t think I would meet you here," the woman said.

"Well, who would have thought you’d also show up here, Erash?" the man replied.

"Are you still holding a grudge over what happened several years ago?" Erash shook her head and sighed.

"Oh, please..." The man waved his hand. "We were kids by then. So what if you cheated on me? We are both accomplished warriors now. I hope you don’t take it personally that I am about to kill you, though. The Artifact Engineers Association branch in Reparo City needs the energy core vein."

"Hmph. If you are so eager to die, then I won’t hesitate to kill you. We haven’t even confirmed the rumor of the existence of the energy core vein yet and you want to kill me because of it?" Erash said.

"It’s a risk worth taking," the man said.

A staff appeared in his hand. He waved the staff and brought it down on Erash.

Wind gales spread across the place as he brought the staff down. The wind gales condensed into a large wind bell. The wind bell rotated and spun, coming down on Erash. It blotted out the sky. The surrounding trees fell apart and weaker chaotic beasts in the vicinity died.

Erash was not idle. She pointed her hand forward.

Flames spiraled forward and spread out of her hand. The flames transformed into a large flame serpent and shot towards the wind bell.

The two attacks collided. Rings of shockwaves rippled outwards.

The two attacks snuffed each other out and dissipated.

"You have grown stronger, Frenand," Erash said.

Frenand merely smiled. "So have you."

"Attack them," Erash commanded.

"Kill them," Frenand commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, ma’am!" Their teams replied. Affinities ranging from wind, flames, water, gravity, wood, metal, among others flickered across their battlesuits and weapons as they clashed into each other.

Several attacks were unleashed. Weapons clashed together. Streaks of wind tore through water bullets, and figures turned into streaks of different lights. The air shook with each exchange.

At the same time, Erash and Frenand were at each other’s throats.

They unleashed catastrophic attacks one after the other. They had turned into streaks of orange and ethereal light, flashing across the place, their weapons, affinities, fists, and legs clashing and separating with each brutal exchange.

Aiden watched the battle calmly from the tree he was on.

"So this is how powerful expert Rank 3 warriors are," Aiden thought. He was also studying the affinity constructs they manifested to enrich his battle experience.

Very soon, two figures fell from the sky.

It was Erash and Frenand.

They crashed into the ground.

Each of them was battered in several places across their bodies.

They stood up and locked gazes.

"Something is wrong," they said at the same time.

"Halt the fight," Erash said.

"Cease assault," Frenand said.

Their teams ceased the battles. By now, several dead bodies of advanced Rank 3 warriors were strewn across the place.

"Have you noticed that we are getting weak by the second? This is not normal. Our worldly energy as expert Rank 3 warriors is not supposed to be depleted this quickly," Frenand said.

"That’s true," Erash said. "Initially, I thought it was the battle taking a toll on me, but something is wrong."

The moment Erash spoke, dull thuds started resounding across the place.

They looked at their team members. All of them had greenish skin and bloodshot eyes. Their eyes started going lifeless as they fell down and died.

Expressions of terror appeared on the faces of Erash and Frenand. What the hell was going on?

There were no poisons, no attacks, no other person, or even a chaotic beast in the vicinity.

This was completely abnormal.

Could it be...

"Someone has set a trap for us. The person who leaked the information... wait... so it meant those two fuckers I killed were being honest...?"

Before Erash could finish speaking, her eyes turned bloodshot, her breathing slowed, and came to a halt. Her skin turned greenish. She fell down with a lifeless expression.

She was dead.

Frenand looked around him. There were corpses everywhere.

Greenish, bloodshot-eyed corpses with expressions of fear on their faces.

"The person who leaked the information is a madman. They wanted to lure people here to clear out the chaotic beasts so that they can have an easy time securing the energy core mine for themself. How terrifying. I don’t even see any traps or poisons, so how are they doing... this... I need to contact..."

Before he could take out his phone and contact his superiors, his eyes grew bloodshot... his breathing ceased... his skin turned greenish, then he fell down and died...

Aiden observed everything calmly from the tree.

He absorbed the blood essence of the corpses.

His gaze shifted to another location...