Child of Destiny

Bang!

While Donato was gathering his executives in the conference room, the door suddenly swung open, causing everyone inside to turn toward the intruder.

Swoosh!

The subordinate who had just entered couldn’t help but shiver after being subjected to the cold gazes of the executives present in the room.

"I... I’m sorry for the intrusion, Fortress Master! But there’s an urgent report that requires your immediate attention!" he said while bowing to everyone.

Donato narrowed his eyes after sensing the urgency in the subordinate’s voice. "State your report."

"Reporting to the Fortress Master!" the subordinate replied before quickly delivering the information. "There are currently unknown assailants attacking our personnel around the oasis!"

"An attack?" Donato asked coldly. "How many are there? What is their strength?"

"There... there are only two confirmed assailants, Sir," the subordinate replied with a stammer.

"Just two?" Donato asked again, unable to believe what he had heard.

"That... that’s right, Sir." The subordinate nodded with a trembling voice before continuing. "But their strength is far from ordinary."

"We have already lost dozens of personnel upon contact, including two Captains and several Elites."

"Just two people, and you can’t even stop them?" the Eastern Wall Commander scoffed with a smirk. "A bunch of incompetent fools."

"Tell us about the situation," Donato ordered, ignoring the Commander’s remark and signaling the subordinate to continue.

The subordinate immediately resumed his report. "They appear to be Otherworldly Individuals. Both possess extraordinary swordsmanship, and at least one of them can manipulate water with powerful magic."

"During their ambush, they attacked one of the main gates of the formation protecting the oasis before taking control of the surrounding area."

"Because of their ability to manipulate the water in the area, our personnel have been unable to effectively resist them."

The Western Wall Commander frowned upon hearing this. "And?"

The subordinate trembled before answering. "We were forced to abandon our positions and retreat to avoid complete annihilation, Sir."

"Tsk!" The Western Wall Commander clicked his tongue upon hearing this and stood up.

From the looks of it, he was preparing to personally deal with the situation.

"Since the incident happened on my side, I should clean up this mess as soon as possible," he said as he prepared to leave.

"Wait!"

Before the Western Wall Commander could take another step, the authoritative figure sitting directly beside Donato suddenly spoke.

This was Ivar Mosgov, the current Grand Marshal of the fortress, who served directly under the Fortress Master.

Ivar turned toward Donato and asked, "Didn’t the Fortress Master say that the poisoning of our people was most likely related to the water?"

"Isn’t it reasonable to assume that our current predicament is connected to those people?" he added coldly.

His son was directly involved in the incident, so it was only natural that he was seething with anger and already on the verge of losing his temper.

Because of this, no one dared make a sound after he spoke.

Donato understood this as well, so he answered calmly. "That is what the Head Physician suggested."

He paused before shaking his head. "But nothing has been confirmed yet. We still haven’t found anything wrong with the water source itself."

"Heh!" Grand Marshal Ivar sneered. "Isn’t this convenient?"

"We just happen to have a few little fish jumping into our oasis and acting recklessly to show off their abilities."

"They’re practically announcing that they’re responsible for our people being bedridden."

He pointed toward the direction of the oasis before continuing. "Even though we haven’t confirmed the true source of the poison yet, we can simply capture those bastards and drag them back here."

"I refuse to believe they don’t have the antidote with them if it is truly related to them!"

With that, Ivar stood up and prepared to leave.

No one dared stop him, fully understanding that doing so would only bring trouble upon themselves.

As the second-strongest person within the fortress, only the Fortress Master possessed enough strength and authority to stop Grand Marshal Ivar.

Unfortunately, Donato had no intention of doing so.

He was thinking that if this situation had truly been orchestrated by ’that woman,’ then he couldn’t afford to lower his guard and confront everything without a plan.

He understood that this could be a trap prepared by the opposing side to defeat or even capture one of their leading figures. Because of that, sending someone with merely decent strength would be too risky.

It would be safer to send someone stronger to eliminate any possibility of complications while capturing the two troublemakers causing chaos at the oasis.

He had originally considered sending the Western Wall Commander.

However, after thinking about it, he decided it would be better to send the Grand Marshal instead and catch the opposing side off guard.

"At worst, I’ll deal with the main battlefield myself," he smirked, confident that he wouldn’t encounter too much trouble so long as he could lure the opposing side onto their own territory.

He then turned toward the four Wall Commanders and issued his orders. "Return to your respective positions and raise the fortress’s security alert to the highest level!"

"We can’t rule out the possibility that our enemies will launch an immediate siege once Ivar leaves the fortress."

He specifically turned toward the Western Wall Commander. "Keep a close eye on the situation on your side and be prepared to assist the Grand Marshal if anything unexpected happens."

The Western Wall Commander immediately nodded, fully understanding the importance of the task assigned to him.

If something happened to the Grand Marshal while he was attempting to capture the two troublemakers, he would have to respond as quickly as possible, since he was responsible for overseeing that side of the fortress.

Donato paused for a moment before turning toward the other commanders responsible for the inner and outer districts.

"Place the entire fortress under martial law! No one is allowed to remain outside without authorization."

"All soldiers within the fortress are to remain in their assigned areas and may not leave without authorization. Anyone who violates this order is to be captured immediately or executed on the spot!"

They couldn’t afford to overlook the possibility that someone might be trying to infiltrate the fortress after everything that had happened.

Even if the evidence increasingly pointed toward the water as the source of the poisoning, most likely from the latest batch collected and transported into the fortress, there was still a possibility that those responsible were hiding among them.

Donato wanted to see whether they could still escape once the entire fortress had been placed under lockdown.

...

Not long after, the western gate of the fortress suddenly opened, followed by the appearance of Grand Marshal Ivar and his elite cavalry as they rushed out.

Given their current speed, they would reach the oasis within a few minutes.

Alucard, who had been keeping an eye on all the key figures stationed along the fortress walls from his elevated position, immediately noticed the movement from the western side.

He also spotted the Grand Marshal leading his elite forces toward the oasis.

Without hesitation, he sent a message through the party channel.

Alucard: A big fish is inbound!

Alucard: Siren One and Siren Two, prepare to receive the ’package.’

Felix couldn’t help but feel the corner of his mouth twitch when he read the message.

He could clearly tell that Siren One was referring to his twin sister, which could only mean that Siren Two was him.

Felix: Why am I Siren Two? I’m a half-human, half-Ocean Naga!

He couldn’t help but complain.

Alucard: Forget the minor details.

Alucard: The one who took the bait is the Grand Marshal himself.

Alucard: Do you need my assistance, or can you handle this one yourselves?

Felicia was the one who replied.

Felicia: Don’t bother. We can deal with him.

Alucard didn’t reply, but he continued keeping an eye on their situation.

Although he knew the twins possessed decent strength and skill, he still wasn’t very familiar with their capabilities.

It was better to observe them a little longer before deciding whether he needed to intervene.

...

...

At the same time, somewhere inside the fortress, Shin glanced at the team channel and chuckled.

He stepped out from his hiding place while keeping his stealth active.

He was currently standing atop the highest point of the tallest building within the fortress, which happened to be Donato’s residence.

At this moment, the Fortress Master was inside the command center, overseeing the entire situation.

His absence had given Shin the perfect opportunity to slip into his residence unnoticed.

From his elevated position, Shin swept his gaze across every corner of the fortress, which was currently under lockdown.

After taking in the fortress’s overall layout, he nodded in satisfaction.

He then glanced back at the team channel before deciding to join the ’fun.’

Sickarius: Shadow, report your status.

Diablo immediately understood that he was the one being addressed and quickly replied.

Diablo: I’m currently inside the command center. I’m waiting for the right opportunity.

Shin immediately understood what he meant before turning his gaze toward the eastern section of the fortress.

Sickarius: Artillery Squad, initiate full attack!

...

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