Chapter 142: Power Play "LISTEN WELL!" The Agent’s voice thundered across the field with authority, and every soldier snapped to attention. The voice wasn’t loud through volume alone. It was felt deep in the bones. Like a superior creature was making its presence known. Finn recognized the technique. Master-rank Arcanists could infuse their voices with enough mana to make their words physically felt by those of lower-ranks. The Agent took a deep breath and bellowed: "General Orin Thrace was a CONSPIRATOR!" The soldiers went rigid. Though they already suspected something along those lines after seeing the General’s corpse lying in a pool of blood. The Agent swept his gaze across the assembled troops, making sure they felt his ’anger’ at the turn of events. "The beast hordes that ravaged Greystone, Stonegate, Winterfallow, and Ashford! The civilian deaths! The destroyed homes! The orphaned children! They were NOT accidents! They were ORCHESTRATED! Artificial creation of magical beasts for profit and experimentation!" He gestured down at the General’s corpse. "General Thrace was part of the conspiracy. And he is not alone. There are accomplices among you even now. Traitors wearing our uniform. Cowards who helped murder innocent citizens for gold and advancement!" The Agent’s mana surged and Finn felt the pressure of it even through his suppression chains. Several nearby soldiers actually staggered. "By order of the Crown of Astoria, ALL conspirators are to be executed on sight! I will personally oversee the elimination of every traitor in this camp!" He grabbed Finn’s chains and yanked him forward, dragging him like a high-value prisoner. "This witness," the Agent continued, "uncovered the conspiracy. He is a critical asset and will be transported under special containment to the capital immediately. Anyone who attempts to interfere will be treated as an accomplice and dealt with ruthlessly!" The Agent barely paused for breath before barking more orders. "Master Felra! Assemble an escort detail! Grade 1 Adepts and Masters only! We leave within the hour!" A woman in Master-rank insignia saluted sharply. "Yes, Agent!" Without needing to be told, those of high ranks had already figured out the Grade 1 Master was an Agent working for the Crown. "Captain Yorin! I want every soldier in this camp accounted for! Full manifest! Anyone missing gets flagged immediately!" "Understood!" The Agent turned, scanning the crowd until his gaze landed on Elara, who stood near Lyssa’s team with wide eyes. "That girl!" He pointed directly at her. "She’s a firsthand witness. She comes with us to the capital to provide testimony. Prepare her for transport!" Elara’s expression flickered with surprise, but she remained calm after exchanging a look with Finn. Throughout all of this, the Agent never once mentioned Finn’s magic at all. He treated the earlier public display as if it hadn’t happened. As if it was a matter that would be handled by different people entirely. Specialists. Agents like him whose duty it was to manage and spin narratives, controlling information flow. The soldiers didn’t have the mind to question the matter either. They quickly scrambled to obey. Their shock at the General’s death and the conspiracy revelations was enough to occupy their minds for the meantime till the other Agents came to carry out their own duties and insert a believable narrative for what Finn had displayed. Finn allowed himself to be dragged forward, playing the part of restrained prisoner. As they passed near where Lyssa stood with her team, he caught her eye. She was watching him with an expression that was impossible to read. As if she could see beyond the surface level order the Agent had just given. Their eyes held for a few seconds. Then the Agent yanked on the chains, and Finn turned away, allowing himself to be led toward one of the waiting carriages. The escort detail was assembled in record time. Three Masters and seven Grade 1 Adepts. All of them looked grim and focused. These weren’t ordinary soldiers. They were top of the rank soldiers who were excellent enough to be selected on such short notice. Finn observed the efficient dispatch of everything with surprise. He even suspected most of these soldiers selected were Agents like the Grade 1 Master Arcanist too. They had very quickly prepared a special carriage that Finn wondered how they had gotten at all. It was built from some kind of special ironwood, reinforced with artifact metal plating. It had narrow windows that appeared to be one-way glass — he could see out, but anyone looking in would only see their own reflection. The beasts pulling the carriage were also not common. Direhorn Elks. They were easily twice the size of horses, with massive antlers that glowed faintly with mana. Their eyes were intelligent, almost disturbingly so, and their hide shimmered with scales beneath their fur. "It’s a peak D-Rank beast," the Agent muttered, noticing Finn’s interest. "Bred specifically for endurance and speed. We’ll reach the capital in less than a day. Under normal circumstances, it would take two or three," the Agent explained, then pushed Finn unceremoniously into the carriage. A moment later, Elara was brought up and helped inside more gently. She settled across from him, her eyes immediately finding his face. The Agent climbed in last, taking a seat near the front. He rapped on the wall twice, and the carriage lurched into motion. . . . Unsurprisingly, the journey was fast. Extremely fast. The Direhorn Elks pulled the reinforced carriage at a pace that would have been dangerous had they been normal horses, but somehow the experience remained smooth. Finn suspected there was mana being channeled through the vehicle itself, dampening the worst of the impacts like a shock absorber and stabilizing the passengers inside. He watched the landscape blur by through the one-way window. They had long left the outpost behind, closer to the capital now than they were the outpost. Elara sat quietly across from him with her hands folded on her lap. She was looking at him with that particular expression he’d come to recognize over the past two years — the one that said she was trying to read his thoughts. After several minutes of silence, she finally spoke. "You’re doing it again." Finn glanced at her. "Doing what?" "That look." She gestured at his face. "The one you get when you’re scheming something..." Finn sighed and turned his attention back to the window, not denying it. Because she was right. His mind had already started working through the next steps to take immediately when they arrived at the capital. He already knew the conspiracy involved one of Astoria’s major houses. And now that everything was being exposed, that house would be in crisis. Finn didn’t delude himself into thinking that the Crown’s justice to be served would end a House as big as the ones Finn suspected were behind the beast horde. They were just that much above the law. At most, the House was going to lose a large chunk of their wealth, power, offices, and maybe rights to certain things, just to show their ’remorse and sincerity’ to the crown — all under the wraps, of course. The Houses that would bear the real, public brunt of condemnation would be any house a step below, who were also part of the conspiracy. The Crown could use them as examples without worrying too much about destabilizing the status quo. All in all, what all of this meant to Finn was... Opportunity. As a Transcendent who’d been targeted for assassination by conspirators, who’d nearly died because of their ambitions, he had leverage. Based off what he could see so far from the Agent’s conduct with him — despite how much the man tried not to let it show — Finn knew the Crown valued Transcendents. Why wouldn’t they? They were literally a group of people that could bend reality to their will in certain regards. Finn knew this, and he was definitely going to use it to fish for benefits. He would push for compensation from the House in question when he found out who they were. He’d demand concessions and play up his trauma from the attempt on his life. And the funny thing was that the House would likely concede to his requests, simply because of their desperation to appease the Crown and minimize their losses. It was a straightforward move, one that his two years of hollow existence had taught him to spot easily and exploit. Finn took another subtle glance in Elara’s direction and saw her still staring at him with a cross expression. ​His lips tugged up slightly. He put on a begrudging expression as he raised his chained hands to signal a wordless concession. ​Her gaze seemed to ease a bit, and she eventually looked away in embarrassment as Finn continued to watch her with a soft, unreadable depth in his eyes. ​The Agent observed their exchange stoically before turning toward the window with a sigh. The man clearly had a problem with it — perhaps he viewed her as a shackle to Finn as he entered this world of Transcendents. But again, Finn just did not care for any of that. ​He released a breath and looked out his own window, watching the trees and terrain blur by. ​He thought back to his earlier plans. ​He would have to disappoint Elara this time. ​Because there was no way he would let such a massive opportunity go to waste. . . Their journey continued into the night. Elara dozed fitfully across from him, her head nodding with the carriage’s motion. The Agent remained awake, occasionally scanning the darkness beyond the windows. Finn didn’t sleep either. His mind churned through the paradox of his life as Arros, mentally cataloging the major events he knew were coming and how he might survive them. Soon enough, dawn broke over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and gold. And with it, the familiar outline of the capital, in all its splendour and glory, came into view. As they approached, the road widened and became much more busy with merchants, travelers, and Arcanists flowing toward the gates despite the early hour. Their carriage branched into a separate lane reserved for special personnel and VIPs. But just as they reached the archway, the vehicle jerked to an abrupt halt. The Agent immediately frowned and leaned forward in his seat. "What’s going on—?" Finn started to ask. Then he saw them. Arcane Knights. Dozens of them, positioned like statues along the road to the gate. Their armor was a matte black trimmed in gold, with a crest of serpent intertwined in a crown. Finn’s eyes widened fractionally as he noted that detail. He knew that crest. Everyone in Astoria knew that crest. House Flumen. One of the three Great Houses. The major noble families that stood just one step below the royal family itself in power and influence. The conspirators’ backers had made their move. Finn’s mind moved at a mile a minute. He’d suspected the conspirators’ backers would be one of these three houses. But House Flumen? Even he had not expected that. This was a family with such a deep history and influence that Finn felt even if they directly and openly clashed with the Crown, they would very likely still come out alive. It made him start to rethink his entire exploitation strategy. The Agent’s expression had gone completely neutral — the kind of blank face that suggested intense calculation happening behind it. The carriage started its approach again, slower now, more cautious. Finn watched through the one-way window as the Flumen knights parted, creating a clear corridor. Wait... They aren’t blocking the path. They are... clearing it? 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 The carriage picked up speed again, moving faster now. The Direhorn Elks surged forward, and Finn realized what was happening. House Flumen was facilitating their passage. The knights weren’t there to stop them. They were providing an escort. Clearing obstacles and ensuring a smooth, rapid entry into the capital and towards their destination. Finn almost laughed. Of course. The conspiracy had spiraled out of control. The Crown’s attention was now fully focused on House Flumen. And while their roots were deep enough to hold their ground, the situation didn’t yet warrant such a drastic action — one that would completely antagonize the Crown. So House Flumen instead chose to face the consequences of their actions and show their sincerity by doing what powerful entities always did when faced with such situations: Damage control. They were showing cooperation. Demonstrating their willingness to help bring the matter to resolution. Making a show of supporting the investigation and facilitating the transport of witnesses. All in the hope that when the reckoning came, the Crown would be more merciful. Such is life, Finn thought distantly. People above a certain level can cause mass genocide, but when reckoning comes, they can still weave their way out of it while smaller families take the fall. The carriage passed through the cleared corridor at high speed, Flumen knights saluting as they went by, all of them Grade 1 Master-rank Arcanists like the Agent. The gesture was almost comical — acknowledging the Crown’s authority while simultaneously demonstrating their own power and reach. Look, the display said. Look at how thoroughly we control this approach. Look at how many resources we can mobilize. We’re cooperating now, but remember what we’re capable of. A threat and a surrender, wrapped in the same gesture. . . . . A/N: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ 8/11 Reviews so far. Let’s get to 11 guys! 👍