Chapter 97: As She Wished

The Judgement Hall.

Led by the three leaders, every member of the Volturi who remained within Palazzo dei Priori had gathered beneath its vaulted ceiling.

By the time Sophie and Jane arrived, rows upon rows of vampires in black and gray cloaks were already standing in disciplined formation, silently awaiting Aro's orders. With an almost imperceptible shove, Jane guided Sophie toward the last row.

The surrounding guards instinctively stepped aside, opening a path for Jane without a word. She accepted the courtesy as naturally as breathing, walking straight to the front, where she took her place beside her twin brother, Alec.

Even amid such tense circumstances, their master greeted his beloved twins with his usual warmth. Only after confirming that everyone had assembled did Demetri enter the Judgement Hall last.

"Demetri."

Aro was not greeting him. It was the signal for Demetri to report the emergency to everyone present.

Drawing a slow breath, Demetri spoke with a gravity that completely replaced his usual theatrical manner. "William is dead."

Sophie had no idea who William was. Perhaps she had met him before losing her memories, perhaps not.

She simply remained silent and listened carefully as Demetri explained the crisis unfolding within the vampire world. After all, whether she liked it or not, she was now one of them.

According to Demetri, after the banquet in May, vampire covens across the world had followed the Volturi's orders and begun carefully monitoring their territories for signs of vampire hunters and the Children of the Moon. The Moroccan coven had been the first to uncover substantial evidence regarding the vampire hunters.

As a result, the leaders dispatched the guard William to investigate. Yesterday, however, Demetri sensed William's trail vanish completely.

Along with him...

The entire Moroccan coven disappeared as well.

"Thank you, my dear Demetri. Your tracking Gift remains as extraordinary as ever."

Aro gestured for Demetri to step back. The moment Demetri reported the incident, Aro immediately ordered everyone to abandon Naples overnight and return to Volterra to strengthen the city's defenses.

Clearly...

Demetri's Gift had served as an advance warning of impending danger.

"This..." Aro rose from his throne and looked across every guard gathered before him. "...is extermination."

"There can be no doubt. The Moroccan coven has been completely annihilated. Poor William... he gave his life for the peace of our world."

Without hesitation, Aro declared the massacre an outright declaration of war by the vampire hunters against vampire society itself.

The Volturi had to respond.

"Jane. Alec. Demetri. Felix."

The four elite guards immediately straightened, prepared to depart at a moment's notice as they looked toward Aro. Clad in black, Aro wore an expression of unusual severity.

"You will leave tonight. Travel immediately to the territory of the Moroccan coven and the place where William's trail ended."

"Jane will command the mission. Demetri will lead the way. You will uncover whatever clues remain."

Once Aro finished assigning their mission, Caius rose from his seat behind him, silently waiting for further instructions.

"Caius, my dear brother. Using the locations Marcus has compiled, search for traces of the Children of the Moon."

"And this time... be thorough."

"Your objective is not extermination. We have no need for another survivor like the specimen currently sitting in our vault."

This arrangement had already been decided among the three leaders. Since vampire hunters crafted weapons from the bodies of the Children of the Moon, investigating both sides simultaneously would greatly improve their chances of uncovering the truth.

"Choose whichever warriors you require first, Caius. As for everyone else... I shall personally arrange the palace's defenses."

"Our home must remain protected."

Having personally trained every member of the Guard, Caius knew their strengths better than anyone. The four strongest fighters had just been assigned elsewhere by Aro.

That meant, among those remaining, the strongest should be. His sharp silver eyes landed upon the smallest figure standing at the very end of the formation. A tiny figure wrapped in a red cloak.

The tall, broad-shouldered man with silver-white hair raised his voice and bellowed across the chamber. "Sophie. Step forward!"

Sophie froze. Me?! She had never imagined this meeting would have anything to do with her. Every guard wearing black and gray cloaks turned in perfect unison toward the lone figure dressed in red at the rear of the formation.

"I'm coming!" Sophie hurriedly answered, terrified Caius might call her name a second time.

"Hurry up, Sophie!" Caius barked without the slightest trace of patience. "You're coming with me to investigate the werewolves." "You helped Marcus compile those locations. You should remember them better than anyone."

Caius sounded so completely convinced of his own reasoning that, including Sophie herself, most of those present couldn't help feeling his logic made perfect sense. The guards quietly stepped aside again, opening a passage for her.

After several encounters, Sophie had already realized that Caius' orders meant exactly what they sounded like. No hidden meanings. No subtle implications. Oddly enough, she found that refreshingly straightforward.

Obeying immediately, Sophie hurried from the very back of the formation to the very front, taking her place beside Jane in the first row. It was obvious even Alec and the others hadn't expected Caius to make such a choice.

Jane, in particular, reacted so visibly that even Aro noticed the shift in her expression. Without thinking, she stepped closer. "Master Caius, Sophie is still a newborn." She tried to persuade him to reconsider. She wanted Sophie to remain safely inside the palace, protected within the Volturi's walls without taking a single step beyond them.

But no guard possessed the authority to question a leader's command. Not even Jane. Her words had already begun crossing the invisible boundary separating the authority of the leaders from that of the Guard. Aro narrowed his red eyes. Without drawing attention to himself, his fingertips lightly brushed against Marcus'.

Caius, meanwhile, answered as casually as though discussing the weather. "Precisely because she's still a newborn. She's physically stronger than every single one of you standing here." "So isn't it only natural that I'd choose her for the mission?"

"But."