Lord Shadow

Loki then said

‘It seems you are not that uninformed as the world believes you to be. I already reminded the Corleone family that underestimating you is an unwise move. Yomi however were quite wary of you.’

Nathan then said

‘I know some of their secrets’ Loki laughs

‘It must not be some small secret if Yomi is that wary’

Nathan only smiles bitterly and said

‘It is not that damaging to the world. But it will create a lot of problems for their internal structure. I don’t think it would have made a difference that much. But you know that the people who created Yomi is not exactly the most open minded bunch. Some secrets are better off being buried after all. They should have not been that worried. I already destroy that secret and did not pout it anywhere. No one knows that secret other than me’

Loki only smiles and then he said

‘It seems you still have a lot of eyes and ears all over the world. But still, this is remarkable. It is almost like you have never left. Or is it because of the Book of Secrets?’

Nathan did not say anything about the Book of Secrets.

Loki chuckles. 

‘It seems you are a bit defensive. Don’t be. Before I came here, I already have some fact about the Book. Of course, the facts that I have is unconfirmed. But, if it was really as some of my people told me, what you did, what you were able to do to create that Book……it is remarkable. I even feel it is a waste to kill you’

Sighing, he then said

‘What did you think I was doing during those six years? I still need to have leverage. Sasha is not some doe eyed naïve woman. Underneath that beautiful face, lies the coldness of winter’

Loki chuckles

‘Yes, she is a cold hearted woman sometimes. She takes her job very seriously. It is no wonder Death Monarch trust her very much’

Then Loki looks at Riana. Riana was trying not to show any expression on her face but her body language betrays her expression

Riana was shocked. 

She never knew that her teacher did any investigation regarding Nathan

Loki knows what she was thinking so he immediately said

‘A conflict of interest. That is why’ Riana did not seem to understand what he means so he elaborated on his words

‘I hid it from you because I know the moment the mission is known to you; you would have probably told him. As you have demonstrated, love for him is higher than love for me.

‘Father. I’m…’

‘I will save you the trouble of lying to my face, Ana’ Then Loki suddenly smiles like nothing had happened and his gaze return back to Nathan

‘Dear God, look at me rambling about when you are speaking. Pardon me’ he said while smiling

‘Continue’ He, after all still has a lot of time to kill. 

After all, for his scheme to succeed, it needed to be done at the right time, in the right place.

He is already in the right place. 

He is just not yet at the right time. He still has time to kill. He also wanted to know how much of his plan that Nathan had been able to foresee

Nathan continue by saying, brushing off about Loki words that he was in investigating him since six years ago

Even if he starts talking about it, it did not have any value. What is valuable right now is his continued survival. 

He still wanted to live after all.

‘I think since that time you were preparing for this. Unlike Death Monarch, you did not have enough clout and trust of the world if you were to strike it out of your own. Of course, Death Monarch would always protect you. But it is clear, that it is not the protection of Death Monarch you wanted’

Sighing, he then said 

‘I don’t know the conflict between you two brothers but it is clear that he seems to want to control your movement. That is what I concluded’ Loki smiles a bit listening to Nathan deduction

He was not wrong about the matter. 

Loki continue listening. 

‘He did not want to harm you yet at the same time he tries to keep you out from a lot of matters. Pandemonium under you thrive. But if I’m right, the responsibility of guarding Pandemonium is to chain you down.’ 

Loki only chuckles as he gestures for Nathan to continue.

‘You might have taken the blame for Death Monarch because of brotherhood. But you also want to get out of Pandemonium. You wanted to be free doing whatever you wanted to do. You always have your own scheme.’

There was a pause for a while before he said

‘There is another way to get out, to amass power and influence other than being in the upper echelon of the World Powers. And that way is on the other side of the law. You were already planning to join the Crime Alliance didn’t you? It was a little contrived but everything seems to fit perfectly like some kind of an ingenious plan’ he said

‘Compliments. That is always music to my ears’ Loki said, smiling. Nathan ignore Loki comments and continue by saying

‘That questionable decision you made were all to prepare for today. So, that you could enter the criminal underworld’

Loki did not deny it 

‘Those people might not have honor, but they do know that favors needs to be repaid. Contracts and promises is nothing but wind for criminals. But reputations are something that needs to be protected at all cost. You understand this. Which is why even though you help some of the criminals, you did not help just anyone. Just the one you knew who would have had their reputation damaged if they did not repay the favor you have given them’

‘But…. that is not enough. they are criminals after all. Beast like that do not change their stripes easily. Reputation is important. But that would only last you for a few days. At most a week.’

Loki nodded

‘Benefits. Benefits is one way of reeling them in’ Nathan said.

‘For them to really fall in line, you have to offer some benefits. That’s where I come in. The Book of Secrets contain among others, the identity of all the spies in the World Powers including that of Pandemonium. Other than the name of spies, there is also information about all kinds of secret experiments, black sites, personal secrets of some powerful men and women in all of the Seven Great Powers and the Great World Powers deep and darkest secret. Secret network, secret places and secret information.’

‘The Book of Secrets is the culmination of all the information that I had’

Loki nodded. There was silence between them for a moment. Nathan look at Loki expecting some kind of reaction. Sitting beside him is Riana who is holding his hand tightly.

Around them, the green mist is getting thicker.  A second later, Loki said

‘Yes’ he admitted. Then he added

‘I know a lot of people in the Crime Alliance. They have fragmented a bit after that assassination attempt toward Void but I still have a lot of connection in the criminal underworld. The fact that Void had become the figurehead leader of the Crime Alliance for that long is actually remarkable to me knowing how hard it is for those crime lords to agree on one thing’

Smiling he continued

‘But, unlike the World Powers, the Crime Alliance power increase more when they are scattered instead of being united under a single banner. I know, I know. The Crime Alliance was never supposed to be a long term thing. You just wanted to threaten the world with it. Void holding the leash of the monsters and you are the dog trainer’

Nathan nodded and said

‘A move born out of necessity and desperation’

‘Yes, but nonetheless, that desperate move does have a threatening effect to the world. But for criminals, it is very dangerous if they were to meet at the same place all at the same time. If Death Monarch ever decided to hurl some red lightning or swing his sword to the place you are meeting, I could foresee a terrible future’

There is a pause and Loki with a smiling face then said 

‘Yomi, The Corleone, the Inquisitor of Darkness, new factions have risen under the umbrella of the Crime Alliance’ 

Smiling, Loki then said.

‘I need the Book of Secrets because I simply could not move as freely as before if I did not have information. I have been the Regent of Pandemonium for the last six years so I know a lot of things. But I bet the information that I had on the world would not be as comprehensive as the one you have in your Book of Secrets. I had a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy and he told me how you crafted the Book of Secrets. 

Nathan eyes furrowed.

‘Like I said, it was very revolutionary’ Loki said as his eyes seems to look deep at Nathan.

‘Ah, I’ll spare you the suspense. He told me you have extract the power of the Will inside your class and seal it into a book’

‘The Sealing of a Will. How novel of an idea’ Loki said. 

And he was smiling wide. This kind of thing is not uncommon later in the future. But that is still a long time ahead. 

The fact that Nathan could have think of such methods shows that his understanding toward the system given to humanity is quite high

He probably had crack the mystery of the system. The fact that each class represented a Will. The Will of an Etherna.

Etherna destruction paved the way for the creation of all beings for they make up many of the building blocks of creation.

Their bodies and the traces of their history might have been erased by the passing of time but their Will remains.

Those who could summon them, resonate with them will be given their abilities like the Savi’krian race that could use the Speed Source 

That is why when Loki heard about how Nathan managed to create the Book of Secrets, he was pretty shocked. Because it touches upon the operation of the system windows itself

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