"So, what do you think about the situation?"
Kevin remained silent for a mont.
After his introduction before Marquis Vratos and the brief glimpse he had gotten of phisto through the latter’s words, he had gone back down with Zero.
"This phisto... is he really the sa calamity that attacked Invinctus Fortress in the north of the Empire?"
Kevin asked the question even though he already knew the answer. He mainly wanted to clarify certain points.
He took a breath before answering:
"He must be eliminated."
"Oh?" Zero’s tone carried a slight surprise.
Kevin imdiately elaborated:
"This calamity has demonstrated remarkable intelligence, excellent political instincts, and disturbing knowledge about us humans. We cannot allow him to live any longer. He’ll only beco more dangerous with ti."
Zero softly applauded.
"Your analysis is correct. If it had been another calamity displaying such qualities, I would have ordered its imdiate elimination, but..."
He paused, naturally prompting Kevin to respond.
"If it had been another calamity?"
Kevin frowned, wondering what made phisto so special.
Zero answered with another question:
"Did you read the report written by the Bureau of Internal Affairs regarding the fall of Invinctus?"
Kevin answered without hesitation:
"That’s precisely why I’m saying he’s dangerous and must be eliminated."
Zero raised a finger while letting out a sigh.
"How did he bring down Invinctus?"
Kevin opened his mouth, but Zero imdiately continued:
"How did he discover what was beneath Invinctus when even we were unaware of it, and the Empire had carefully concealed its existence?"
Zero gave him ti to answer, but Kevin had none.
"How did he manage to introduce that so-called parasite into the brains of Astoria’s inhabitants?"
Kevin tried to speak again, but Zero continued:
"Where is that laboratory now? Who dismantled it?"
Kevin remained silent.
There were too many unknowns.
A heavy silence settled as Zero simply watched Kevin think. Then he calmly declared:
"You know what’s written in the report. Now tell what the report doesn’t tell you."
Kevin intertwined his fingers beneath his chin, recalling every word of the docunt. He analyzed the facts with all his experience until gaping holes began to appear in his reasoning.
Entirely black zones.
Questions without answers.
Zero let him think for a while longer.
Then suddenly, shock crossed Kevin’s face.
At that mont, Zero understood. Kevin had not found an answer... but he had just realized the extent of what he did not know.
"Good. Now I’ll ask you the question again: what do you think about the situation?"
"I don’t know..." Kevin finally admitted with resignation.
Zero imdiately applauded.
"Now that’s the right mindset."
His voice had turned cheerful before he finally continued:
"Eliminating phisto now would an losing the only thread leading to what we still don’t understand."
He paused briefly before adding, unhealthy excitent creeping into his voice:
"You want to know what I think?"
Kevin looked at him. His mask hid his eyes, preventing anyone from seeing the madness his voice nevertheless revealed.
"phisto did not bring down Invinctus alone. The Duchy of Araceae did not decide to invade us on a re whim of chance. There are currently movents within that kingdom... movents beyond our understanding that may catch us off guard."
Kevin felt a chill run down his spine, even stronger than when he had first stepped into this city.
Zero was the deputy director of the Bureau of Archives and Exploration. If he was saying such things, then perhaps the worst was still yet to co.
But Zero paid no attention to the fear trying to seize Kevin.
On the contrary, he let out a diabolical laugh.
The laughter of a demon gazing upon a world in flas.
"I’m going to slaughter them."
---
anwhile, phisto had just returned from the eting.
His mood was dark. The nobles’ absurdity had deeply irritated him.
That was why, upon reaching his residence, he ignored the greetings of the servants who ca to welco him.
He crossed the corridors without slowing down before beginning to ascend toward his private quarters.
Then suddenly, a brainwave transmitted a thought to him.
His footsteps abruptly stopped.
Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and headed into an underground tunnel dug beneath the residence.
The deeper he descended, the clearer a humming voice beca, while the lighting gradually grew brighter.
When he reached the depths forbidden to his servants, the dry, dusty sll of the tunnel gave way to the aggressive odor of chemicals.
The laboratory then revealed itself before him.
Capsules filled with liquid, asuring devices, dozens of pipes and electrical cables stretched across the room in an almost chaotic disorder.
The entire atmosphere resembled that of a clandestine modern laboratory that inspired absolutely no trust.
But phisto paid little attention to the surroundings.
His gaze imdiately fixed upon two pairs of capsules connected together at the center of the room.
Inside one floated a brain whose size and shape resembled that of a human.
Inside the other rested a far larger cerebral mass, grotesque and deeply inhuman.
Both were connected to additional capsules in which two calamities bathed, their appearances similar to phisto’s servants.
"It won’t be much longer now."
The humming voice echoed once again while its owner kept his eyes fixed on a screen displaying countless streams of data.
phisto then turned his head toward him.
It was a young man.
At first glance, one would have given him no more than eighteen years of age. Fair skin, brown hair, black eyes, and delicate features capable of making many won blush due to his breathtaking beauty.
Everything about him resembled an ordinary human... at least until one noticed the imposing pair of goat horns deeply rooted into his skull, far too real to be part of a disguise.
"The transfer has reached its final phase. They’ll wake up any minute now."
Barely had he finished speaking when the brains contained inside the capsules began to dissolve.
They completely liquefied.
The next instant, the connected capsules violently exploded.
Glass scattered throughout the room while liquid spilled across the floor.
But no one paid it any attention.
The two calamities abruptly opened their eyes before bursting out of the capsules.
Both appeared disoriented.
Then phisto’s voice echoed through the laboratory, authoritarian and overwhelming:
"Your nas?"
The two calamities imdiately knelt before him.
"Albart."
"Bernard."
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