Chapter 204: The Truth Beneath The Mask

The woman stood before the Ashcrofts with her hands folded behind her back. "First, allow me to thank you for stopping the Black Moon incident in Marvello," she said with a pleasant smile. "If things had gone differently, I would have been forced to purge the entire city."

Several people exchanged uneasy glances.

Reinhard studied the woman standing before him. "Before we discuss Marvello, could you tell us who you are?" he asked.

The woman tilted her head. "How rude of me. You can call me Athoth. I am the Unmasker Sentinel serving under the Arbiter."

Maki’s expression changed immediately. "She really is a Sentinel..." she murmured.

Athoth giggled when she noticed Maki expression. "You don’t need to look so nervous. I didn’t come here to frighten you."

"That’s reassuring," Reinhard replied. "Although, considering everyone reaction, I suspect frightening people isn’t particularly difficult for you."

Her smile widened.

Nearby, the surviving members of the Baal Family exchanged uneasy looks. Their defeat had already been disastrous, but the arrival of someone serving under the Arbiter threatened to make matters considerably worse.

One of the alliance representatives finally gathered enough courage to speak.

"Lady Athoth, we apologize if this situation has become troublesome. The Ashcrofts attacked the Baal Family, and both sides have presented conflicting accounts. We were hoping to establish the truth through an investigation."

Athoth turned toward him.

"Troublesome? I wouldn’t say that. If things had truly gotten out of control, neither the Ashcroft nor the Baal Family would still exist."

The representative immediately fell silent.

Athoth surveyed the courtyard before continuing. "I originally planned to meet both families. The incident in Marvello gave me another reason to come here, and I wanted to thank those responsible for preventing it from becoming worse. There were other matters I intended to address, but perhaps that won’t be necessary anymore."

Her gaze settled on the Baal survivors.

One of them stepped forward, his face tightening with anger. "Lady Athoth, you cannot simply accept their claims. Reinhard Ashcroft attacked our family, killed our people, and now presents fabricated evidence to justify his actions. The Baal Family has served Aurlieus for generations!"

Another survivor supported him. "Those documents could have been altered. The recordings could have been manufactured. We cannot allow a powerful Awakener to destroy an established family simply because he possesses convincing evidence."

Several representatives nodded, while others remained silent. Their organizations had maintained relationships with the Baal Family for years, and none wanted to see those connections examined too closely.

Reinhard understood their hesitation. Some might have cooperated with Xanxus willingly. Others might have been threatened, while a few might have known nothing about his worst activities. Until the truth emerged, nobody could be certain where they stood.

Athoth listened to the arguments for several seconds before raising one hand.

"You’ve all been arguing over evidence. How amusing. Evidence can be questioned, altered, or destroyed. Let us look at what actually happened."

A faint ripple passed through the air.

A vast reflective surface unfolded above the courtyard, stretching high enough for everyone outside the Baal mansion to see it. Its surface resembled a perfectly still lake suspended in the sky. The surrounding world gradually disappeared from its reflection, replaced by an image of the Baal mansion several weeks earlier.

Xanxus sat behind his desk, reading a report. After placing it aside, he issued orders to Silent Night and the Collectors.

The Ashcroft Family was to be watched, isolated, and captured when an opportunity arose.

Reinhard Ashcroft, Maki, Yuna, Lily, Emily, and the remaining family members were all listed as targets. Their movements, connections, and abilities had been recorded in meticulous detail. The orders even authorized force if any of them resisted.

The courtyard fell silent.

Maki stared at the names displayed above them. She had suspected the Ashcrofts were being watched, but seeing the operation laid out so plainly left no room for doubt. Xanxus had personally approved their capture.

"That doesn’t prove the orders were carried out!" a Baal survivor protested.

The vision continued.

It showed Xanxus discussing the Ashcrofts with representatives of another organization. When Emily’s previous sponsor refused to withdraw support from her, Xanxus threatened them. Several guards attempted to resist the pressure, and the recording ended with their deaths.

A woman among the alliance representatives covered her mouth.

"Those guards were only following their duty," she whispered.

The representative beside her lowered his head. He recognized the location. His organization had received reports about the incident, but the official explanation had blamed a dispute between Awakeners.

He had accepted that explanation without demanding further investigation.

Reinhard barely noticed their exchange. His attention had shifted to Emily, who remained unconscious in his arms.

He remembered the effort she had made to reclaim her life, the pain she had endured, and the determination with which she had returned to the Awakener world. Now he was watching proof that people had deliberately tried to strip away the support she needed, even before the latest confrontation with Xanxus.

Reinhard tightened his hold on her slightly.

For a moment, the satisfaction of defeating the Baal Family felt insignificant. He had suspected Xanxus was responsible for much of their suffering, but seeing the truth laid out before everyone made it impossible to dismiss what had happened to Emily as an unfortunate consequence of their world.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"It’s over," he murmured. "You don’t have to deal with those people anymore."

Maki noticed the movement but said nothing. The evidence would protect their family from those who might otherwise have twisted the story, yet it could not return the time Emily had lost or undo what had been done to her.

The vision shifted to Marvello.

Collectors moved through hidden facilities beneath the city, dragging civilians into rooms where they were subjected to deliberate torture. Some begged for help, while others screamed until their voices failed. The people responsible recorded their reactions and monitored the growing distress spreading through the surrounding population.

Reports passed between Baal personnel and the Collectors. Panic, resentment, and suffering were being cultivated rather than prevented. The operation continued even as its effects spread beyond the original victims.

An Aurlieus Security officer stared at the vision, his expression hardening.

"Those facilities were operating beneath a populated city," he said. "Who authorized them to continue?"

No one answered him.

Another officer watched the reports pass between the Collectors and the Baal personnel. "They weren’t merely hiding the victims. They were coordinating the entire operation."

Maki followed the records with a measured expression. Her investigation had already established the connection between the experiments and the Black Moon incident. What the vision added was direct confirmation of the Baal Family’s involvement and the deliberate coordination behind the operation.

That was the evidence she had needed.

The Baal survivors began protesting again, but their voices lacked their earlier confidence. One demanded that Athoth distinguish between the actions of individual subordinates and orders issued by the family. A representative from another alliance immediately turned toward him.

"You were just insisting that the evidence against your family was fabricated," the representative said. "Now you want us to believe the people giving those orders acted independently?"

The survivor opened his mouth, then closed it.

Athoth watched the exchange without interrupting.

The vision did not explain the Black Moon’s true nature, nor did it reveal every secret behind the phenomenon. It showed enough to establish that the suffering in Marvello had been deliberately engineered and that the Baal Family had played a part in it.

Reinhard glanced at Athoth.

She watched the vision with the same pleasant expression she had worn from the beginning. Her earlier warning no longer sounded like an attempt to intimidate them. If the operation had continued unchecked, an entire city might have paid the price.

The vision moved on to the final set of records.

Xanxus appeared in meetings with representatives from several companies and Awakener alliances. In some meetings, he offered money and advantages in exchange for cooperation. In others, he threatened to expose secrets or destroy organizations that refused to follow his instructions.

Some accepted eagerly. Others argued before eventually giving in. A few concealed their involvement through intermediaries, pretending they had never dealt with him directly.

The differences were impossible to ignore.

A representative near the front slowly lowered the document he had been holding.

"Our organization received a transfer from one of those companies," he said. "We were told it was payment for security services."

His companion stared at him. "You told us it came from a legitimate contract. Why did you refuse to let the auditors examine it?"

The man had no answer.

Across the courtyard, another representative hurriedly contacted someone through a communication device. His expression changed as he looked back at the fading images.

"Get the financial records from the last two years," he ordered. "All of them. I don’t care who has to authorize it."

A few steps away, another alliance leader quietly instructed his assistant to contact their legal department. He had not been shown committing a crime, but the possibility that his organization had received money through Xanxus’s network was enough to make him reconsider every transaction connected to the Baal Family.

Maki watched them. The Ashcrofts had come here to settle matters with the Baal Family and protect themselves from accusations. Instead, Athoth had exposed crimes that could drag several other organizations into the investigation.

The Baal survivors were no longer the only people afraid of what would happen next.

The reflective surface slowly faded, leaving only the evening sky above them.

Athoth turned toward Reinhard. "There. That should save everyone a considerable amount of time."

"Why go to all this trouble for us?" he asked.

Instead of answering, Athoth appeared directly before him and raised one finger beneath his chin.

"You can think of it as me thanking you for not making my job harder."

Reinhard gently moved her hand away. "I’m flattered, but only my cute wife gets to touch this handsome face for free."

Maki stared at him. Even after everything that had happened, he was still willing to tease someone whose power he clearly could not measure.

Athoth laughed. "You know you could die if you make the wrong move, yet you still have the courage to tease me."

"I’m more concerned about getting my wife to a hospital." Reinhard glanced at Emily in his arms. "She’s been through enough for one day."

For a moment, Athoth studied him without answering. Then she produced a small key and tossed it toward him.

"My hover vehicle is parked outside. Take your wife to the hospital. Consider it an additional thank-you."

Reinhard caught the key. "And if I happen to make your job easier again?"

"Perhaps I’ll reward you properly." Her smile returned. "There are plenty of troublesome things happening across the megacities. I’m sure someone like you will find them eventually."

"Then I’ll look forward to it."

Athoth’s expression revealed nothing more. The space around her shimmered, and she disappeared.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

The Aurlieus Security commander finally turned toward the remaining Baal survivors.

"You have two choices," he announced. "You can come with us willingly and cooperate with the investigation, or the Great One may decide to handle you personally."

"We’ll cooperate," one survivor answered immediately.

Another dropped to his knees. The remaining members followed, abandoning their earlier protests without another word.

Reinhard watched them surrender before looking toward Maki.

"Just how lucky were we?" she asked.

Reinhard glanced at the place where Athoth had disappeared, then at the key in his hand. "A lot, judging by everyone’s reactions."

Maki looked back at the courtyard. Representatives were already arguing among themselves, and several had begun making urgent calls.

"We should leave before someone else decides they need to ask us questions," she said.

"Agreed. Emily needs a hospital more than we need another conversation."

Reinhard adjusted Emily in his arms, and they headed toward Athoth’s vehicle.

Maki glanced back one final time. "Soon, everyone will find out what happened here."

Reinhard chuckled. "Well, I can’t even imagine how many people will be scrambling to protect themselves."

He looked down at Emily and continued walking.

The Baal Family had fallen, but the truth behind its crimes had reached far beyond its walls. Somewhere among the organizations now rushing to protect themselves, there were people who knew more than they had admitted.

And sooner or later, Reinhard intended to find out who they were.