"Zion, did you use some kind of illusion spell?" Char asked after she had regained her composure. "I have a Skill Ban, so I can’t use any skills or spells," Thirteen replied. "Then did the three of us hallucinate at the same time?" Clark inquired. "Did you use vapors or anything to make us hallucinate?" "No?" Thirteen blinked. "Then was everything we saw just now real?" Vincent looked at the teenage boy with a solemn gaze. "Yes," Thirteen answered. "What the three of you saw is real. As real as you and me." An awkward silence descended inside the room as the three teenagers tried to get over the fact that they might have recklessly joined an organization that was way out of their league. "Well, you guys don’t have to think too much about it," Thirteen said. "Right now, your priority should be the competition. "I’m sure that the Monarch Clans and the Prestigious Families are going to reach out to you guys or have already reached out to you guys in order to discuss the matter of the competition. "In this regard, you are free to team up with the others to beat the crap out of the winners. Also, don’t hesitate to target my brother and sister." "Are you sure?" Char asked. She wanted to have a rematch with Shasha. Experience exclusive tales on empire And if Zion wouldn’t step in to stop her, she would definitely try to hunt her down and eliminate her from the tournament. "I’m sure," Thirteen answered. "But it will not be easy to defeat my siblings. Attack them at your own risk." Char nodded. "No take backs, okay?" "No take backs." Thirteen smiled. Similar to Char, Clark wanted to have a rematch with Roland because he was not convinced of his loss against his opponent. He just couldn’t put his finger on how Roland was able to overpower him, despite the fact that he had already neutralized the latter and was only about to give the finishing blow to win their match. Everything was still a blur to him, and he wanted to understand just what had happened back then. "Remember this—just as you guys can make alliances, the others will make their own alliances," Thirteen reminded. "The members of the Hero Party will definitely work together, and my Squad Captains will stick together as well. "Combined, they are a force to reckon with. So if you guys really want to win, teaming up is the only way to overcome the current situation. Lastly, know that even if you guys are allied with the others, only two survivors per each bracket will proceed to the semifinals. "Be vigilant lest you get stabbed in the back by your allies. It will really suck when you’re almost there but suddenly your path is cut off." The three teenagers nodded in understanding. Clearly, this Special Event was quite vicious and would definitely make people hold grudges unless some kind of agreement was made. Of course, this was also part of Thirteen’s plan to throw some friction between the Monarch Clans and the Prestigious Families. He was certain that somewhere out there, these families were negotiating with each other on how they would proceed in the tournament. Each group would only have two survivors, which meant that only a total of eight people would remain in the four groups combined. This eight would then fight until four remained. And the four winners would then enter the Semifinals. On the surface, there was nothing complicated about this setup, but many important factors would happen during this special event. In fact, some of the Families had tried to bribe Thirteen to put their people in more favorable locations in the map after they had spawned inside of it. Naturally, Thirteen pretended to be indignant and disappointed that the Monarch Clans and the Prestigious Families had tried to bribe him. But he didn’t reject their "gifts" and told them that they shouldn’t do this again in the future. These people were sly foxes, so it was very obvious to them that although Zion was saying that he wouldn’t do anything unfair in the tournament, he would still compromise to make everyone happy. When the three dazed teenagers finally left and returned to their lodgings, they thought about what happened and pondered a bit. Clark, who knew that his family had a beef with Zion, immediately felt anxious, so he decided to look for his father. The young man planned to tell his father to not mess with the teenage boy, including his friends and family. The sheer horror he felt when he saw the Majin Prince and the two Majin Princess was enough to make him believe that, if Zion wished to eliminate their Clan, all he needed to do was raise his hand, and their territories in Solterra would be razed to the ground. Of course, Thirteen had no intention of doing that. He only had a grudge against Aaron Ashford, not his entire clan. Moreover, he already reached his immediate goal. What Clark was doing right now was the same thing that he expected him to do after returning from the Order of the Apocalypse. He returned to the order and sat beside his Overlord Beetle, Gwenn, who was currently monitoring Clark and passing the information to her Master. "Father, there is something important we need to talk about," Clark said as soon as he opened the door of his father’s office. He had even forgotten how to knock due to the worry that he was feeling. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚 Claude, who was talking to someone via a projection, frowned before making a gesture to his son to not say a word until he was done talking to his business partner. The young man knew that he had barged in at a very important time, so he sat on the couch and tried to calm himself down. A few minutes later Claude finally ended the call, he looked at his son, who seemed to look stressed and troubled. "What is it?" Claude asked. "Did something happen?" "Yes, Father," Clark replied. "The truth is…" Just as the young man was about to report what had happened earlier, his eyes glazed over. "I was just about to say that I will do my best to win in this special event," Clark said calmly, which was the complete opposite of what he was feeling earlier. "You can count on me, Father." "That’s it?" Claude asked. "You barged into my office to say that to me?" "Yes, Father," Clark replied. Claude pinched the bridge of his nose before waving his hand. "Okay, do your best and rest properly." "Thank you, Father," Clark replied before leaving the office. Once he was inside his room, his eyes finally regained a bit of color. When he realized that he was now inside his room, instead of his father’s office, a look of horror appeared on his face. ’W-What happened?!’ Clark thought in panic. ’I was certain that I was in my father’s office earlier. Why am I here now in my room?!" Suddenly, his communicator made a ringing sound, making him almost jump in fright. After checking the name of the caller, he realized that it was none other than Zion, making Clark’s heart beat wildly inside his chest. "H-Hello?" Clark felt as if countless hands were pressing on his body, making him feel stressed out. "Since this is your first offense, I will turn a blind eye in your attempt to divulge my secret earlier," Thirteen replied. "However, the next time you do something like this, you will find yourself butt-naked and pole dancing in the main plaza of Glory City." After saying those words, Thirteen ended the call, leaving Clark panting for breath. Slowly, he sat on the couch, and covered his eyes with both hands. The reality of what just happened hit him like a truck, and after Zion’s threat, he no longer had the heart to break the conditions of the contract that already changed and would continue to change his life forever.