A week went by.
The Kingdom of Kront. Semi-darkness hung over King Olgerd's personal chambers. The ruler himself was nervously pacing the room, clenching and unclenching his fists every few seconds.
Suddenly, the doors to the chambers swung open.
Olgerd flinched sharply and turned around, reaching for the hilt of the dirk at his belt. However, upon recognizing the figure who had entered, the king instantly pulled his hand back, hastily bowing his head.
A man walked into the room.
He cast his eyes over the place and said with a slight smirk:
"Olgerd. I heard you're already back from Dornheim."
"Ah... yes, my lord," Olgerd replied in a raspy voice, not daring to lift his eyes. "Forgive me. I... I failed to strike a bargain with him."
The man simply waved a hand, walked deeper into the room, and sat down on the throne.
"That was more than predictable."
Olgerd took a hesitant step forward.
"But how... how are we going to wage war against them, my lord? Their progress... it's moving at an impossibly frightening speed! Plus, the divine spirit Elyria is on their side now. And... there was another strange guy there named Noah."
"You panic too much, Olgerd. Am I really getting into your head?" the man asked coldly.
He slowly raised his right hand and opened his palm. In that exact second, a tiny device flew out from behind the king's back—a matte-black disc with glowing turquoise indicators. Looping through the air, it settled onto the man's open palm.
"A spirit and Noah?" The man gave a cynical chuckle, looking down at the shimmering device. "All of that only matters when your opponent is the one dictating the rules of the game."
The man sharply raised his left hand and snapped his fingers.
In that very instant, space warped in the center of the chambers. Mountains of advanced technology spilled onto the parquet floor with a metallic crash.
Olgerd instinctively recoiled, shielding his face with his hands.
Massive crates made of an unknown dark alloy, inside which purple energy cells pulsated; strange, futuristic rifles with smooth barrels; obscure metal units studded with sensors, and coils of glowing cables. A high-frequency hum radiated from the heap of weapons, making the king's ears pop instantly.
"What is this?..." Olgerd whispered in shock.
"Your new arsenal," the man tossed out, stepping past the frozen king. "Just use it. I left detailed instructions, everything is written out in plain language. You should figure it all out quickly."
Olgerd slowly approached the nearest crate, reaching a hand out toward the smooth metallic surface.
He lifted his eyes to offer his thanks.
At that moment, a quiet voice sounded in the man's mind.
"Lucius, we need to meet."
"Well, finally," he whispered.
Lucius snapped his fingers and materialized inside a colossal hall.
A man stepped out from the base of the stairs.
"Well, hello, Valerius. Long time no see," Lucius said calmly.
"Indeed," he replied with a brief nod.
Lucius walked forward unhurriedly, heading toward the dais.
"Speak. Did something happen in the Council?"
"That's right," Valerius said, tracking him with his eyes. "After you ordered me to fully infiltrate the Council of Five, I didn't waste any time. I managed to uncover a lot of critical information."
Lucius climbed the stone steps, turned around, and sat down on the central throne, leaning back against the seat.
"So speak. What information?"
Valerius took a step closer to the throne and spoke in a calm tone:
"First. Exactly six months from now, the Council plans to host a global tournament. The winner will receive the official title of the number one Rank Z."
"Decided to take stock of their strength," Lucius scoffed. "What else?"
"Second. The Council is an entirely independent power. High society and the other major factions have nothing they can leverage against them. At present, they are the ones maintaining the balance of power among all mages. And third—the Council is currently secretly harboring a new Rank Z mage. Officially, he hasn't been registered anywhere yet."
Lucius interrupted him:
"But you found out his name, didn't you?"
"Yes," Valerius nodded. "His name is Raul Werner."
Lucius touched the sensor panel on the wristband on his left wrist. A hologram displaying personal dossiers instantly unfolded above his hand. He quickly flipped through several pages, inputting the new data.
"Raul Werner..." Lucius repeated softly, logging the info. "Added to the database. Do you know where he is now?"
"Yes. He lives in the Kingdom of Blackridge, house number 157/A."
Lucius smiled with satisfaction and closed the hologram:
"Good. Continue monitoring the Council. And be careful. I have no intention of saving you a second time."
Valerius was already turning to leave, but hesitated for a second. He looked up at Lucius sitting on the throne.
"Can I... finally see Iron?"
Lucius turned his head slightly, his gaze growing a fraction colder.
"Wait a little longer. I'll give you the signal myself when the time comes."
Valerius gave a short bow of acknowledgment and left silently.
Left alone in the castle, Lucius rose from the throne. He walked unhurriedly through the corridors, ascending and descending spiral staircases steeped in silence.
On the move, he pulled two small devices from his pocket. One was a miniature bug that had secretly recorded every conversation during King Olgerd's visit to Dornheim. The second was a portable decoder.
Inserting the bug into the device's port, Lucius hit the power button. A faint crackle of static came from the speaker, followed by clear voices.
Lucius walked slowly through the dark halls, listening intently and analyzing. Finishing the recording, he turned off the device with a flick of his finger and tucked it back into his pocket.
Unlike the silent castle, work in Dornheim was in full swing. The settlement buzzed with non-stop labor.
On both sides of the bunker, two massive towers stood about three meters high. On their summits, turret structures were already mounted, pointed toward the forest. A little further off, under Marek's loud commands, workers were actively laying foundations and erecting frames for two more matching towers.
In the middle of the construction site stood Iron. He now stood firmly on his own two feet, watching as log after log and sheet after sheet of steel took their places along the defensive line.
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