The room's temperature seemed to drop several degrees with Kharzan's cold fury. "His idiot son went and got himself killed at the worst possible moment... Is the Strahlfang group already insubordinate?" "Yes, sir. They demand immediate retribution for the son of Patriarch Strahlfang and his men," the assistant confirmed. Kharzan rose from his seat, moving slowly toward the window that offered a panoramic view of his territory. 'The idiots of the tiger clan,' he thought bitterly. For generations they had been rivals of the lion clan, then after an internal war they had fallen under Goldcrest rule, and now that they had recovered numbers and power, they were relatively subordinate but increasingly independent allies. "If they weren't such a numerous clan with so much prestige in our zone," he murmured, more to himself than to his assistant, "I would never have entrusted this mission to young Strahlfang's firstborn." The patriarch had insisted. His son needed to start accumulating achievements to consolidate his position before the future succession. And Kharzan, thinking of future alliances and the power they would bring, had yielded. "What do we know with certainty?" he asked, turning toward the assistant. His eyes gleamed with purple predatory focus, the pupils contracting to slits in the room's dim lighting. "Commander Strahlfang is undoubtedly dead, sir. Two of his closest men are missing." The assistant nervously consulted his notes, the parchment trembling slightly in his hands. "They found his body near a burned house in district fifteen. The violence marks in his body suggest a prolonged attack before execution, possibly from someone of Silver 2 or 3 rank with focus on strength increases." "It must have been that cursed woman who trains the kid on behalf of the Ashenways... And now the information about the child with the 'concerning light' might escape," Kharzan concluded, his frustration visible in his gesture. The assistant nodded. "We've maximized surveillance at the border, sir. And we have observers on the plains. But if the perpetrators have already managed to contact the central government..." He left the sentence hanging, unwilling to voice the full implications of such a failure. Kharzan struck the table forcefully, startling the assistant who took an involuntary step backward. "That damned Strahlfang! Not only was he incompetent in life, but his death is causing even more problems." And it wasn't an exaggeration. The murder of a 'commander', and an important son, on the Goldcrest side had sent Patriarch Strahlfang into a state of fury, dispatching all his assets to the border, which threatened the stability of both the frontier and Kharzan's alliances if he didn't do something about it. Simultaneously, Julius and Selphira's faction had responded to his increase of troops at the border by doing the same on the other side. Tension grew by the hour, and all because of a child and his supposed purification ability. A capability that, if real, threatened everything Kharzan had worked toward. The stalemate persisted because the people who had joined the Goldcrest side weren't increasing; on the contrary... In recent months, support had reached a historic low. The golden tide he had counted on was ebbing, leaving his plans stranded. "All thanks to that trick of giving cultivation methods to poor people," Kharzan muttered with disdain. "With barely 25% assured support on our side, we can't start the war with certainty of winning or pressure Yino to attack first." The 45% objective had been close at a maximum of 35%, but each week since they released the methods seemed to take them further and further away. The central government's strategy had been too effective, winning them numerous victories in the battle for public opinion. The new methods were indeed too effective and much cheaper than any of the conventional ones. Selphira and Julius had played an incredible card that was difficult to counter. Even stranger was that if one could believe the mostly ineffective child of the Goldcrests abandoned on the other side, the same child with the weird light was the creator of such methods… This was a preposterous story surely developed to hide the truth from the enemy by the cunning old woman. The very idea that a child could revolutionize cultivation methods that had stood for generations was absurd. "We're in crisis... However," he continued, his voice turning more severe, "allowing the escape of the child my son Kassian told me about, who by the smallest possibility might be the reason for our political defeat, would be a grave error. His ability could be effective against more than just Bronze ranks..." The assistant waited, knowing that Kharzan was reaching a decision. "Despite the complications," he finally declared, "we have no alternative. Send the abyssals to the border and allow them to open communication." The assistant paled visibly, his complexion taking on an almost ghostly hue. "Sir, if we give them freedom, the agreements with Yino could lose…" "I know perfectly well what might happen," Kharzan interrupted. "But this is no longer just an internal matter. That ability affects them too and the possibility of an enemy genius must be ruled out." The assistant bowed deeply, recognizing the gravity of the order he had just received. "As you command, sir." When left alone, Kharzan contemplated the landscape through the window once more. The border extended like a scar visible even from this distance, an artificial dividing line that soon, he hoped, would cease to exist when the entire territory changed hands and what rightfully belonged to his family by divine right would be his again. "A genius child with the ability to purify abyssal corruption," he murmured. "If it's true... It would be ironic that he was born in the poorest part of my territory..." Kharzan had barely sat down again when the door to his study burst open abruptly. An officer entered, his breathing agitated, suggesting he had run the entire way. "My lord," he gasped, bowing hastily. "Altercation in the poorest district on our side of the border. A group is trying to escape!" Kharzan straightened. "Have they crossed?!" "No, we managed to stop them and are sending reinforcements." "Don't let them escape," Kharzan ordered, his voice urgent, leaning forward over his desk. "Surround them before the other side of the border finds out. If they cross into their territory, we could have a diplomatic incident that we don't want yet." The officer nodded sharply… ♢♢♢♢ The plain stretched out like a sea of silver grass under seven moons. Two figures wrapped in black glided through it, barely visible against the dark horizon. Ren and Lin had strategically waited for the moment just before dawn, when there was still enough darkness for their travel but the night patrols would be at their most fatigued and the day patrols barely preparing to relieve them. However, the occasional glow of lanterns in the distance indicated that their movement hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Beams of light swept the plains in systematic patterns, searching for disturbances in the tall grass. But they were now facing the forest. The leafy trees stood silent and watchful, promising both danger and protection within their depths.