Novel Full Chapter 138: The Traitor’s Contract
Chapter 138: Chapter 138: The Traitor’s Contract
Chapter 138: The Traitor’s Contract
The heavy steel doors of the VIP suite hissed open.
Draven and the Eclipse Hunters stepped out of the bloody, deafening Colosseum and into a world of absolute, insulated luxury. The walls of the private backroom were lined with glowing amber crystals and polished obsidian. A massive holographic window offered a silent, panoramic view of the brutal cage matches happening down below.
Cassian Stillbane stood by the window. He slowly reached up and removed his dark visor, tossing the disguised guard helmet onto a velvet sofa. He turned to face the squad.
"I am Lord Cassian Stillbane," the traitor announced. His voice was dripping with arrogance and immense satisfaction.
"Commander of the Bastion Six Defense Grid. You people put on quite the show down there."
Draven stepped forward. His white coat drifted silently over the expensive carpet. He did not bow. He did not show a single ounce of respect.
"We are not here to put on a show," Draven stated coldly, his voice modulated behind the featureless white mask.
"We are here for business. You wanted the best killers in the underworld. You found us. What is the job?"
Cassian smiled a vicious, calculating smile. He walked over to a crystal decanter and poured himself a glass of amber liquid.
"I need you to assassinate a highly valuable target," Cassian explained, taking a slow sip.
"This target lives inside the Central Core. The security is absolute. The guards are elite Vanguard Knights. I will provide you with the clearance to bypass the checkpoints, but the kill itself falls entirely on your shoulders. Can you handle it?"
"We are the Eclipse Hunters," Draven replied flatly.
"We can kill a ghost if the price is right. But standard underworld credits are completely useless to me."
Cassian raised an eyebrow. He placed his glass down on the table.
"You do not want money?" Cassian asked, clearly surprised.
"Then what exactly do you want, Zero?"
Draven crossed his arms. He played the role of the greedy, power-hungry mercenary to absolute perfection.
"I am currently at a critical bottleneck," Draven lied smoothly, blending truth with deception.
"I am Level 98. I am standing right on the precipice of a major breakthrough. To cross the threshold to Level 100 and awaken my Seed of Valor, I need an immense, pure energy source. I know for a fact that Bastion Six holds several ancient Magic Cores in its deepest Vaults. I want one of them."
Cassian’s eyes widened in sheer shock. The Bastion Vault was highly classified.
"Those Vaults are restricted to the highest military echelons," Cassian narrowed his eyes.
"That is an outrageous demand for a single assassination."
"Then find someone else to do your dirty work," Draven said instantly. He turned his back on Cassian and gestured for his squad to leave.
"Wait," Cassian barked sharply.
Draven stopped. He smiled unseen beneath his mask. The bait was taken.
Cassian rapidly calculated the variables in his head. Giving away a Magic Core was treason on top of treason.
But having a Level 100 assassin on his payroll would absolutely guarantee the success of his coup. The sheer destructive power of a Warlord possessing a Seed of Valor was worth a hundred Vault treasures.
"Fine," Cassian agreed through gritted teeth. He walked over to a secure terminal on his desk.
BEEP.
Cassian unlocked a small biometric safe. He pulled out a stack of glowing, platinum-plated identification chips. He tossed them onto the table.
"These are Platinum-tier access chips," Cassian explained.
"They will grant you unrestricted entry into the Central Core and the Lord Commander’s private castle. They will also grant you temporary access to the outer ring of the Vault. Take your core. Break through to Level 100. Because the target you are going to kill is my older brother."
Aegon stood perfectly still behind Draven. He forced his breathing to remain entirely calm.
"Lord Commander Gunther Stillbane," Draven noted aloud, acting completely unfazed.
"He is a Level 200 Earth Magic Warlord. He is a walking fortress. Brute force will just bounce off his mana shields. How do you expect us to kill him?"
Cassian let out a dark, booming laugh. He walked back to the window, looking out over the arena.
"I am not an idiot, Zero," Cassian sneered.
"I know brute force is useless against Gunther. That is why I have been feeding him poison for the last six months."
The squad listened in absolute, chilling silence.
"It is a highly specialized, untraceable micro-toxin," Cassian revealed proudly, boasting about his own treacherous genius.
"It accumulates deep inside the mana core. It does absolutely nothing on its own. But its lethal effects can be activated remotely using a specific strain of Forbidden Magic. Magic that belongs exclusively to the Church of the Eternal Eclipse."
’The Cult,’ Nyx thought, gripping her daggers tightly.
"In three days, Bastion Six will host the Festival of Lights," Cassian continued, outlining his apocalyptic master plan.
"The entire city will be celebrating. During the height of the festival, I will personally disable the outer defense grids. The Cult will launch a massive subterranean invasion. They will flood the streets."
Cassian turned around. His eyes were burning with fanatical ambition.
"My brother is a stubborn hero," Cassian mocked.
"Gunther will not hide. He will march directly to the front lines to protect the citizens. When he does, he will face the Fifth Elder of the Church. The Elder will use the Forbidden Magic to trigger the poison in Gunther’s veins. His Level 200 Earth shields will instantly collapse."
Cassian pointed a finger at Draven.
"That is when you strike, Eclipse Hunters," Cassian ordered.
"While Gunther is poisoned, paralyzed, and distracted by the Fifth Elder, you will execute him from the shadows. I will swoop in with my loyal forces, kill the remaining Cultists to look like the savior of the city, and take my rightful place on the throne."
"A thorough plan," Draven complimented coldly. He reached out and pocketed the Platinum chips. "Consider the contract signed."
---
Two hours later, the Eclipse Hunters rode a private, high-speed maglev train straight up into the Central Core.
The Lord Commander’s castle was a breathtaking feat of engineering. It was a massive fortress built entirely from polished white stone and reinforced titanium, suspended directly over the glowing blue fusion reactor of the city.
Cassian’s men escorted the squad into a luxurious, highly secure suite of chambers located in the guest wing of the castle. Once the heavy doors locked behind them, the squad gathered in the center of Draven’s grand living room.
Cole stepped forward immediately. The young mechanic raised his customized gauntlets.
WHIRRR.
A pale blue scanning laser swept across the walls, the ceiling, and the furniture.
"The room is clean, Captain," Cole reported quietly.
"No listening devices. No hidden cameras. Cassian is arrogant enough to think we are just loyal dogs hunting for a paycheck. What a fool!"
Aegon immediately removed his white mask. The tactical spearman was sweating heavily.
"Captain, this is worse than we thought," Aegon whispered urgently.
"The Fifth Elder is coming here. Cassian is going to let thousands of Cultists slaughter innocent civilians just to create a distraction. We need to stop this right now."
Aegon tapped his Vanguard terminal on his wrist.
"We are inside the Central Core," Aegon suggested.
"The signal jamming is gone. We can log into the Astral Server right now. We can send a highly encrypted, secure message directly to Lord Commander Gunther. We can warn him about the poison in his body and the Cult invasion."
"No," Draven commanded instantly.
Draven removed his own mask. His sharp, calculating eyes locked onto Aegon.
"If we warn Gunther today, what happens?" Draven asked rhetorically.
"Cassian is arrested. The coup is stopped. But the Fifth Elder and the Cult army will simply abort their mission. They will retreat back into the deep shadows. They will crawl back into their rabbit holes, and we will never find them."
Draven walked over to the large window overlooking the glowing fusion reactor.
"We are not here to play defense," Draven stated, his Warlord aura leaking slightly into the room.
"The Cult is a cancer upon humanity. I want them to attack. I want them to commit their elite forces. I want the Fifth Elder to walk proudly into this city believing he has already won."
The squad stared at their Captain in sheer awe. They finally understood the terrifying scope of Draven’s vision.
"We will let Cassian spring his trap," Draven explained softly.
"We will let the Cult step out into the light. And then, we will crush them all at once. We will secure the Magic Core from the Vault, eliminate the Fifth Elder, and save Gunther at the exact moment he needs a miracle. We must take absolute control of the narrative."
Draven turned back to his squad. The fate of the entire world rested on his shoulders.
"Our end goal is not just saving one city," Draven declared, his eyes flashing with a cold, unrelenting fire.
"Our goal is to reclaim the surface. We need the Vault cores to open the cosmic gateways and bring our interdimensional allies back to this world. To do that, we have to play the villains for a few more days."
Draven looked at his Vanguard terminal. The digital clock was ticking down to the Festival of Lights.
"Rest up," Draven ordered. "Tomorrow, we do the real job."