Chapter 133: Mastermind

Kaelen froze on the spot.

He didn’t want to believe his mother was responsible for not just the death of 80% of humanity during the first wave, but also for the lives lost in Stronghold 2 that fateful night.

If she had the power and knew what was coming, why didn’t she try to prevent the Stronghold 2 disaster or at least save Stronghold 2?

Was everything she told him really a lie?

Was she just using him for her selfish interest?

It was hard to believe, but the evidence was right there in his face. The fact that Aria didn’t deny any of it proved it was in fact nothing but the truth.

"Do you understand now, Kaelen? Why we need to apprehend that woman?" Felix asked from behind the pod. "Or are you no different from her, and are willing to watch humanity’s downfall?"

"Before you decide, I’d like to remind you this was the exact same spot you put Black Rose in when you came after the Emperor. As much as he was her birth father, she stayed put when you broke into the estate to let justice prevail and called for your arrest after the deed had been done," Felix said as he slowly stood up from his hiding spot.

"W-What? That’s not..." Black Rose mumbled, but a single glance from Felix made her understand what he was trying to do.

Kaelen looked extremely unstable at the moment and could explode at any point in time. Even though he was twisting the truth, it was the only way to let his guard down and apprehend the woman.

"She didn’t have much of a choice either. She chose justice over her own father. She understood your pain of losing your parents in that tragedy. She’s not the villain here, and is only trying to keep humanity safe. So it’ll be nice if you return the favor and let us do our job—what’s best for humanity," Felix said and began moving forward with a calm stride, arriving before Kaelen and patting his shoulder before walking past him towards Jessica’s pod as everyone watched in surprise and disbelief.

"Don’t you dare touch her!" Aria screamed and dashed forward with Cici, but Felix casually waved his hands at them without breaking his stride, and the two women instantly froze on the spot in thick blocks of ice.

Kaelen didn’t move an inch from the spot and kept his eyes on the ground as all this happened, letting Felix arrive before Jessica’s pod before the eyes of everyone.

But before he could lean over to open it, a voice suddenly broke the unsettling silence.

"Y’know, I almost believed you were doing the right thing for a moment, until you brought up Black Rose," Yelena said as everyone’s eyes snapped towards her.

She didn’t stop there. "Black Rose never chose justice over her own father. She was on her way to defend her father when I intercepted and almost ended her pathetic life if it wasn’t for Kaelen and the Emperor destroying the estate and giving her a chance to escape. For that fact, I can’t say if I still trust a single word that just came out of your mouth."

"First off, who are you again?" Felix asked nonchalantly with a raised brow.

"My name’s Yelena Petrova, a refugee from Stronghold 2, and a girl who grew up with the trauma of watching my parents die and my younger brother, who didn’t understand the meaning of death, have his throat slit before my very eyes on that fateful night."

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise, most especially Kaelen, who finally lifted his head to stare at the blonde woman with crimson and purple eyes. At that moment, the image of a little boy holding out a yellow flower with their exact same eyes flashed across his mind, and Kaelen’s eyes spread further.

"Kaelen, I must say I’m disappointed in you. I always idolized you as a man ten steps ahead of his enemies. You always were in all the clips I’ve watched of you, but ever since I met you in person, I’ve come to realize you’re human after all, who isn’t beyond making mistakes and false judgment. Lady Jessica never struck me as the type who would sacrifice innocent lives all for nothing, and the one thing I could still assure you about her is that she cherished you and took her family into consideration before doing what she did. I don’t want to blame her for the death of my younger brother, and want to believe he died for a greater purpose," Yelena said and fell silent.

Kaelen heard all this and didn’t say a word before his gaze dropped to the floor again.

"Are you done?" Felix asked dismissively.

"I have one last thing to say to you," Yelena said as she shifted her gaze to Felix.

"You seem so smart to have figured all these things out and connected all the dots back to Lady Jessica. You call her the devil and make her sound like the greatest manipulator... but don’t you think you’re looking down a bit on the mastermind of the apocalypse?"

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Felix asked as his brows furrowed.

"If you make out Lady Jessica to be smart enough to predict she didn’t need any more warriors guarding the ruins because she knew Kaelen would be here... then what makes you think she didn’t predict you’d be here as well?"

"I don’t think I get your point, weirdo."

"If Lady Jessica could return to the past and know the future, what makes you think she didn’t already predict you’d be here to reveal her true nature to Kaelen?"

"If there’s one thing I can agree with you, it’s the fact that she’s the manipulator you make her out to be. If that’s the case, then she probably predicted something like this to happen, but at the same time... also predicted I’d be here."

Felix stared at Yelena blankly for a moment before he suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter.

"I’m sorry, you almost got me for a second. If you’re the backup plan, then she probably made a huge mistake."

"That’s where you’ve got it all mixed up. I’ve already served my purpose, and it’s all up to him now."

"You mean this guy?" Felix asked in amusement as he gestured towards Kaelen’s unmoving figure.

Yelena’s lips slowly curled up into a faint smirk.

"If you had been paying a bit of attention, then you would’ve noticed Kaelen left that spot a while ago... and he probably already took Lady Jessica with him."

Felix’s eyes widened in surprise as he snapped his eyes towards the unmoving Kaelen, but Yelena wasn’t done yet.

"My purpose was never to stop you. It was to give him the benefit of the doubt to think rationally and buy enough time for him to get her to safety. Only then can he unleash his full power without holding back."