"Tier 3 Magic, huh..."
Scarlet Queen let out a bitter laugh. The last shred of resistance in her heart—however ridiculous—vanished completely.
In fact, deep down, she even felt a hint of relief.
That final statent from the other side had given her a way out.
Otherwise, what did it matter if they were one of the top ten guilds?
What did it matter if they were Scarlet Legion?
If war broke out, Scarlet Legion would inevitably follow in Sterling Group’s footsteps. And by then, regret would co far too late.
With that thought, Scarlet Queen turned to look at Edward, whose face was ashen with despair. Her voice was calm but firm.
"Edward, you know what you have to do, don’t you?"
Edward’s expression twisted—first turning green, then purple, then white, then black, then back to white again...
Until, in the end, all that remained was a pale, desolate smile.
A smile of utter defeat.
"It’s over... it’s all over." Edward shook his head, his voice hollow as he spoke to Scarlet Queen. "I’ll handle the Whitestone situation myself. Within three days, I’ll announce the dissolution of Sterling Group."
At that mont, Edward Sterling—the chairman of Sterling Group—along with the upper echelons of Scarlet Legion, the leadership of Nocturnal Crescent, and even William...
All of them seed to wake from a dream.
They exchanged glances, their faces unable to hide the shock and fear gripping them.
Sterling Group had bowed its head.
Scarlet Legion had bowed its head.
And standing before them was an 11-Tier Unicorn.
When all of this was laid bare on the table...
The sheer weight of it was suffocating—so much so that even a financial titan like Sterling Group couldn’t bear it.
It was like a teor crashing down from the heavens.
—
anwhile, William stood frozen in place, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
After a long mont, he suddenly turned to Nightfall and smacked him across the face.
Then, in a daze, he muttered, "Hey, Nightfall... does that hurt? Hit back, I need to check sothing..."
"Hiss—"
Nightfall winced, baring his teeth in pain.
But he didn’t waste ti asking questions.
Instead, he imdiately swung his hand and slapped William hard on the shoulder!
"Hiss— What the hell, why’d you hit so hard?!"
"Didn’t you just tell to hit you?"
And just like that, the conversation stopped.
The two of them locked eyes.
Neither spoke.
But both of them were trembling—not from fear, but from sheer, uncontrollable excitent.
And then, the laughter ca.
"Hahahaha—"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—"
They laughed like lunatics.
Like absolute madn.
...
A mont later, the upper ranks of Nocturnal Crescent erupted into wild celebration.
From a distance, they looked like a bunch of lunatics.
But neither Scarlet Queen nor the leadership of Scarlet Legion said a word.
No one dared to speak.
In fact, as they watched the Nocturnal Crescent mbers acting like fools, their own faces were filled with envy.
Everyone knew about Nocturnal Crescent’s connection to that absolute powerhouse.
"A rising tide lifts all boats..."
From now on, whenever they encountered soone from Nocturnal Crescent, they’d have to greet them with smiles—maybe even go out of their way to curry favor.
...
At that mont, Selene hesitated for a second before stepping toward Scarlet Queen. Lowering her voice, she said, "Queen, you should take a look at this..."
As she spoke, she sent Scarlet Queen the video Ethan had forwarded to her.
Scarlet Queen blinked in surprise, then opened the file.
A few monts later, her expression darkened.
She turned to Edward, her voice cold. "Edward, was this your doing?"
There was even a faint glint of ice in her eyes.
If the other party had simply been throwing their weight around, using brute force to crush them, that would’ve been one thing.
They lost because they weren’t strong enough—fair and square.
But now she was being told that this whole disaster had been triggered by Whitestone and Sterling Group’s shady dealings behind the scenes?
How could she not be furious?!
Edward froze, his face blank with confusion. "Queen, what... what do you an? I don’t understand..."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Scarlet Queen studied Edward’s expression carefully.
She didn’t see any signs of deception.
Tch.
She let out a cold scoff and sent him the video. "Take a look at the brilliant work your Sterling Group idiots have done."
Edward’s pupils shrank as he opened the file.
The mont he saw the footage, his entire body trembled with rage.
His face turned an ugly shade of green, and he nearly choked on his own breath.
His lungs felt like they were about to explode.
"Queen, I... I-I... I swear, I had no idea..."
After a long silence, Edward finally managed to squeeze out a response, his face deathly pale.
"Whether you knew or not, you owe all of us an explanation."
The Scarlet Legion executives spoke in icy tones.
"...I understand."
Edward was drenched in cold sweat, but he nodded without hesitation.
Then, his eyes filled with pure, unfiltered rage. His voice was twisted with fury.
"Everyone involved in this— not a single one of them is walking away from this alive. I’ll make sure they suffer a fate worse than death."
"Sigh..."
Scarlet Queen let out a soft sigh and shook her head.
She turned to Selene. "Why didn’t you tell about this sooner?"
Selene hesitated before answering slowly, "...I didn’t dare."
Scarlet Queen blinked in surprise.
Then, she let out a bitter laugh.
She didn’t press the issue any further. Instead, after a mont of thought, she asked, "His sister... she’s under your command now, isn’t she?"
Selene was caught off guard for a second, but then she nodded. "More or less. But after everything that’s happened, I don’t know if she’ll want to stay."
Scarlet Queen nodded thoughtfully.
"Whether she stays or not, try to keep her close. Being friends with his sister... that’s beneficial for you, for , and for Scarlet Legion as a whole."
Selene took a deep breath. "...I understand, Queen."
She forced a small smile and nodded.
But for so reason, her emotions felt... complicated.
...
anwhile, Ethan, Emily, and Isabella had already returned to Isabella’s in-ga residence.
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