I Hate Systems

In the underground cellar, a spark flashed into existence near the ears of the Pseudo-Saint Royal Guard, Bilfuren as Horan's voice resounded, "I'm Horan, a Lightning Mage. I'll free you up in the morning. Hold on until then, alright?"

"Thank you for trying to save me," Bilfuren spoke, noticing that the guards stationed nearby didn't notice anything amiss.

A faint spark covered the walls of the cellar, emanating a subtle electrical discharge that damped the sounds he produced, preventing the guards from hearing anything.

Thanks to that, Bilfuren was able to speak without issues, saying, "Are you the Tentuna City's Lord?"

"I'm not," Horan replied, "But I've already informed the City Lord regarding this. They'll mobilise their forces to uproot this organisation soon."

"That won't be necessary." Bilfuren said all of a sudden, "Please tell them to not take any action. This is an internal matter of the Burnak Kingdom. So, please don't interfere."

"But, this is happening in the Xetuka Kingdom. Do you understand the implications of a captured prince being held captive here? The authorities won't like that, especially considering the relationship between our two Kingdoms." Horan retorted.

"Please don't interfere in our Kingdom's affairs. That's all that I can say." Bilfuren's voice turned cold all of a sudden, "Any interference from the Xetuka Kingdom would be considered as an action against our treaty."

"This fucker." Horan cursed in response after cutting off communication with Bilfuren, looking at Teto as he said, "I was suspicious regarding this all along. You didn't have to help treat the effects of the drug on him."

"Yeah, my bad." Teto nodded in apology, "Only when I began to treat him did I notice that he had countermeasures in place against the drug already. Even the two Grandmasters were the same."

"They have been captured voluntarily."

As a Grandmaster Metal Mage, Teto claimed to have abilities that had a filtering nature, hence using it to treat the three captured Birdmen—that was what he claimed. It wasn't false though as he could indeed do that using his Dragon Bullets, just that the method was different from what he claimed.

Horan looked at Gehera that had been silent all along, "What do you think?"

"I'm sure of it now." Gehera nodded in confidence, "Luthak has clues regarding my mother. I can feel a strong scent of the Titans on him. He's been using the smoke from the cigar to mask that scent, but I can still smell it."

Teto sniffed the air in response, unable to smell anything that Gehera spoke about, only able to smell a faint stench of the cigar smoke. He then focused on the Personal Fragment in her body, sensing that it had become active for an instant when Gehera was smelling the air intently.

'I'm not sure, but there seems to be a key in this situation that can awaken her Personal Fragment.' Thinking as such, Compass Carburettor remained in Teto's character, a middle-aged man with versatile experience due to his constant travels.

The trio then turned silent, watching Luthak converse with Zuhar. Currently, they had already infiltrated the house where everything was happening.

Horan had created a barrier around them that shielded all sorts of sounds, biological activity, etc. masking their presence while allowing them to spy on their opponents openly.

Using his lightning mana, he manipulated the electromagnetic radiation of the region, ensuring Luthak and Zuhar couldn't see and hear them. As for the smell, in this cigar smoke-filled room, it would be a surprise to smell anything else.

As for any mana fluctuations, a mere Master couldn't see through a Pseudo-Saint. Horan was confident in his skills being able to fool even a Pseudo-Saint. After all, unlike the other Pseudo-Saints, he was both a Mage and a Warrior of the Lightning Element, able to take advantage of both the professions to wield the Lightning Element in ways either profession deemed inconceivable.

That was why he seemed capable of doing practically anything.

Indeed, Horan possessed the strength to take care of any situation through his own decisions.

As they continued to spy on Luthak and Zuhar, there was a spatial fluctuation in the room as part of the cigar smoke was suddenly sucked into a portal that appeared. Immediately, the sounds of someone coughing could be heard as a man walked out, cursing in response, "Which retard smokes so much that he turned this place into hell?"

"Your Advisory!" Luthak stood up in response, snuffing his cigar as he bowed in response, offering his seat.

"Ahh, Luthak." The man waved his hand, "No wonder this place is filled with smoke."

He suddenly snapped his finger, condensing a mana circle on his hand where countless runes flashed into existence, revolving at rapid speeds as his mana rippled out into a fluctuation, covering the entire house.

"Is something wrong, your Advisory?" Luthak asked nervously, looking around to see if everything was fine at the place.

"No, there's nothing." The man shook his head, sighing as he created a portal that sucked in all the cigar smoke, taking a seat on the nearby chair after that, "I felt like I had sensed something, but it was just my imagination."

He then relaxed, staring at Luthak to say, "So, my superiors told me to help with your plan. What all do you need?"

"I need a Griffin, your Advisory." Luthak said, "It's to transport the captives to the capital tomorrow morning. The Birdmen would chase after it, resulting in an invasion and force the Xetuka Kingdom to retaliate."

"I'm aware of the plan." The man nodded, saying after a moment, "I'm asking about the strength of people that you need."

"That won't be necessary, your Advisory." Luthak let out a cunning smile, "The people working on this task are expendable, as they would be killed by the Birdmen. I've already made them ingest a poison that would kill them by evening tomorrow."

"So, we don't need to waste any of our valuable people." He spoke.

Compass Carburettor heard their conversation, suddenly noticing that the moment the cigar smoke in the room was sucked out by the man, the Personal Fragment within Gehera began to pulse with Mental Energy as veins gradually protruded on her hands and neck as her eyes began to morph.