Chaos' Heir

A few hours after the battle against Miss Christen, teleports activated non-stop inside a secret space station far from Baoway, bringing items and important figures to one of its reinforced areas.

The area was a simple dark room equipped with all kinds of machinery. Scanners and more littered its walls, pointed at the fancy box at its center. The container seemed made to carry expensive and luxurious items, but something gorier rested at its bottom.

The dim light from some machines shone on the box's bottom, highlighting the features of Miss Christen's severed head. Crews with the highest clearance level possible tinkered with those tools, doing their best to assess the situation. Yet, no matter how much they investigated, the results looked undeniable. The noble evolved warrior had truly died.

After all the available tests ended, the representatives in the room could only contact their leaders. It took a while, but the Nognes Excellencies' holographic figures started to rise from the interactive floor, and their eyes inevitably fell on the fancy box and its contents.

The Excellencies didn't arrive at the same time, but the meeting didn't start until all six appeared. Still, a tense, grim silence followed even after their holograms materialized, highlighting the situation's seriousness.

The representatives understood what the situation demanded. They ordered the crews out, leaving the room as well after performing polite bows. Soon, only one sitting figure and the six holograms remained in the area, and someone finally broke the silence.

"How is this possible?" Elijah, the Excellency from Prince Jack's faction, asked. "You said Prince Khan couldn't have achieved evolved status for longer than six months. Did he receive any help?"

"Even if he did," Francesca, the Excellency from Prince Ethan's faction, commented. "Would that change anything? Besides, who on Baoway can help kill an evolved warrior?"

"I told you this was a bad idea," Zachary announced. "We should have been content with reaping benefits from Prince Thomas."

"Don't get cold feet now," Mildred warned. "The decision was unanimous. We have all agreed to this."

"After much convincing," Zachary pointed out. Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire

"Are we ignoring the issue at hand?" Julianne questioned. "We just lost one of our evolved warriors. If the news were to reach the other noble families …"

"We didn't lose her," Elijah corrected. "Prince Khan killed her. This is the final straw. He is basically declaring war on the family!"

"And what would you do about it?" Francesca asked, half-mocking her fellow Excellency. "We sent Miss Christen specifically due to her less combative inclinations. I think Prince Khan took that into account."

"What makes you say that?" Zachary asked.

"If we sent someone into a proper assassination attempt," Francesca guessed, "Prince Khan would be flying toward one of us as we speak."

Silence fell in the dark room again. Due to Khan's famous history, everyone knew Francesca was right. He wouldn't have stopped at just killing the spy in other situations.

"Are we certain Prince Khan is still on Baoway?" Julianne couldn't help but ask, giving voice to the general worry.

"Yes," Cassius, the only middle-aged man among the Excellencies, spoke for the first time. "All our assets on the planet confirm that Prince Khan is still there and is making no plans to fly after us."

"So," Elijah exclaimed, "What now? Do we accept the loss of an evolved warrior and move on?"

"Technically," Francesca stated, trying to look at the positive side, "We didn't lose anything. Prince Khan was confirmed to be an evolved warrior, so the family's power remains unchanged."

"Are you jesting?" Julianne questioned. "How are we supposed to spin that to the other families? Should we celebrate Prince Khan now?"

"Such extreme reaction also needs to be addressed," Mildred added. "We all have spies among our factions. It's a known fact and an unspoken rule. Miss Christen simply was the most suitable asset for the task."

"How do you plan to address it?" Francesca wondered. "Launching a full-scale war against Baoway? Now that the Thilku Empire is wholeheartedly backing it up?"

"I'm just voicing my thoughts," Mildred explained, "Which is far more than your mocking questions."

"I did voice my opinion," Francesca stated, "Both now and when we made this decision. We should have left His Excellency Khan alone and focused on reaping benefits from his exploits."

"You have always supported him," Mildred pointed out. "His faction was in shambles just a few years ago. He couldn't have expected us to relinquish our leverage without a fight."

"Yes," Francesca nodded, "But the fights happened, and this is the result. Pushing Prince Khan any further will only bring him to our doors."

"And leaving him unchecked might bring our deaths in a few decades," Elijah commented.

"It was just a spy," Zachary declared. "I agree with Francesca. The interferences have to stop."

"Can he really kill us?" Cassius asked. "Mister Bruno?"

Silence unfolded again, but the holographic figures now turned toward the man sitting in a dark corner of the room. The evolved warrior stood up at the question, walking solemnly toward the illuminated box to look at its insides.

"It's my fault, My Excellencies," Bruno announced. "I believed Miss Christen would have been able to hide from Prince Khan's senses. I was mistaken."

Of course, Bruno didn't know Miss Christen's discovery had been purely random and unrelated to Khan, but that didn't change the outcome.

"As for His Excellency's question," Bruno continued, "I believe the threat Prince Khan poses is very real."

The revelation rekindled the wary tension inside the dark room. The atmosphere conveyed the Excellencies' mood even when they were physically absent.

"So," Cassius exclaimed. "We must decide how and in which way to handle him."

"If I may, My Excellencies," Bruno called. "The box and Miss Christen's head weren't the only items delivered to our messengers. Prince Khan also left a message inside."

"Why are we only hearing about this now?" Elijah asked, raising his voice. "What did the message say? Where is this message anyway?"

"It's with me, My Excellency," Bruno revealed, drawing a small piece of paper from his pocket. "It reads: You all are my hostages now."

Different reactions unfolded on the holographic figures, but the worry was shared. Few things were worse than having an evolved warrior as a mortal enemy, and they didn't feel too bad when the threat in question came from Khan.

"What do you make of it, Mister Bruno?" Cassius questioned. "What does this mean?"

"Well, My Excellency," Mister Bruno uttered, lifting his head at Cassius' hologram to show his amiable smile. "It means that the Nognes family is Prince Khan's hostage."