Infiltration
Leylin was clear that this was a huge test for him.
If his disguise did not get through the leader of the Emberwings, everything was over. He could forget gaining his trust and the entire plan would have to be revised.
Hence, he had to go through with this, but it wasn’t as if he was entirely unprepared.
At least, the two Giant Kemoyin Serpent Dukes had stealthily entered as well and were constantly on the watch outside the residence. If the leader noticed anything, Leylin would immediately use his Kemoyin Serpent Transformation and attack. With three Morning Star Warlocks together, it would probably be enough to escape.
After all, the three Kemoyin Elders from before had the record of fighting evenly with a rank 5 Radiant Moon Magus. Though the most powerful First Elder had already fallen, Leylin believed he was no less powerful than him.
With three Giant Kemoyin Warlocks working together, it was enough for them to escape even if they could not win. That was what the three of them had counted on before daring to draw up this plan.
“A.I. Chip!” Leylin called out in a low voice.
[Beep! Beginning to conceal energy undulations.] The A.I. Chip intoned loyally, causing the aura on Leylin’s body to become more obvious as if he was a pure Emberwing.
The hidden strength of the point mass of a Morning Star, the secret technique to hide bloodlines as well as the support of the A.I. Chip gave Leylin the confidence that he could get away with all this under the rank 5’s nose!
Taking a deep breath, Leylin followed Schiker into the room, bowing to the figure at the middle.
This was a large study room. Simple armour, oil paintings and the like filled it with a history that changed the atmosphere. What surprised Leylin was the feeling that a domain had automatically been created in the study room.
This was not the domain of Morning Star, but a special space that had been formed due to the long period of time it had existed.
“Schiker, you’re here!” The head’s voice was gentle as he watched Schiker and the rest enter.
“Father!” Schiker called out after he went through a thousand different expressions.
“It’s been hard on you, get up. Are these your two subordinates? Excellent!” When the sound fell, Leylin felt his heart squeeze, and entire self get nervous. Immediately after, he felt something like a boiling hot gaze sweep at his body, causing him to tremble.
When the gaze was on his body, his point mass shuddered, as it his soul force defences was being forced to the surface, but Leylin firmly stopped it.
Meanwhile, his Fireplume, which had reached the peak of the ninth level, formed a giant energy tide that kept the point mass within. Terrifying flame energy began to revolve spontaneously, resisting the spying from outside.
“Hm?” The head made a light sound of surprise. “You must be Ley, right? Raise your head.”
Though the voice was gentle, it held the hint of an irrefutable command. Almost at the very moment the voice was heard, Leylin raised his head like it was a conditioned reflex.
Following that, he saw a handsome young man with red hair and eyebrows, looks slightly similar to that of Schiker. He wore a loose white robe, and his eyes seemed to hold… praise, within them?
“Pretty good strength, and a pure flame energy.” The red-haired young man nodded, and turned in the other direction.
Loke’s body shivered, but the head said nothing. It was no surprise either, though. Just a soldier at the seventh level of the fire feathered technique was not enough to attract the leader’s notice.
“I’ve already looked through your achievements in detail. I hope you will continue to work hard in the future and protect our Union…” The handsome head encouraged them and waved his arms.
Leylin and Loke immediately retreated with expressions of reverence.
*Thud!* The door to the room closed, leaving only Schiker and the head inside. The head’s aura changed once more, and his expression while watching Schiker turned emotional, “It’s been hard on you these past few years!”
“It’s service for the union!” Schiker had a taut expression while speaking, but his clenched fists displayed the dissatisfaction in his heart right now.
“Forget it. I know you care nothing for using my name and working, so I’ll let things move according to the usual procedure. Your contributions are enough for you to be promoted to be an admiral. Make some preparations, you will work at the Tylasus garrison!”
The leader’s voice was gentle.
“Understood!” Schiker answered coldly. Seeing this expression, the leader’s brows furrowed slightly.
“One more thing. There’s something off about your two subordinates, Ley and Loke.”
“What’s wrong? I don’t need to say more about Ley’s loyalty, and as for Loke, he’s a descendant of the Eiffel family…”
The muscles on Schiker’s face tensed. He cared quite a lot for these two subordinates.
“There’s not a large issue with Ley. He’s long since broken through to the ninth level of the fire feathered technique, but he’s been concealing it and only revealing the strength of level eight. It’s probably on purpose,” the red-haired head commented.
“He must have a pretty high potential to reach this level at such a young age, and you can definitely consider roping him in. His intentions are too complex… Give him the tenth level of Fireplume later, I’m sure he’ll definitely be even more loyal to you after that…”
“So he’s already reached level nine?” Schiker ducked his head, slightly ashamed. From his point of view, Leylin had probably hidden his strength because Schiker had yet to advance himself. He did not want to pressure his superior.
He raised his head to look at his father, the number one genius of the Emberwings, and could not help but let his head hang down, defeated. He did not seem to have inherited even an ounce of talent from his father, and no matter how hard he worked, he still could not measure up to those geniuses. This was why he had been discouraged and left Tylasus City.
“I understand.” Schiker huffed out a long breath and nodded.
The head’s next words caused Schiker’s brows to raise. “Loke, however, is a very serious problem.”
“His appearance is a pretence. I’m afraid the real Loke has already died, and the one in front of you is of another race!”
“Another race?” Schiker cried out in alarm.
“Yes! I can’t tell if he’s from the Triserpent Sect or Mobius Organisation, but he probably has his eyes on the Holy Solar Festival.” A sneer appeared about the leader’s lips.
“I’ll seize him immediately!” Schiker got up, understanding the situation. His heart was filled with fury from the betrayal.
Never had he expected that Loke— the man who usually worked hard, was responsible, and very much to his tastes— was a spy from the enemy. The shame from not realising this hovered in his mind.
The leader stopped Schiker, “There’s no hurry. They’re just a few bugs, what do they matter? What you need to do now is…”
……
After leaving the residence, Leylin bade Loke farewell and found an inn to stay in.
Though the Special Task Force members had a station in Tylasus City with many unoccupied rooms and better facilities, Leylin was obviously not going to choose to stay there. He would perhaps go there later, but for now, it was better to find a place that would not attract attention.
After sending the maid away, Leylin locked the door, and the light in the room dimmed.
“How is it? Are things going well?” Two translucent figures emerged from the dark corners of the room. They were Gilbert and Emma.
“Is this place safe? Make sure it’s secure!” Leylin’s brows furrowed.
Emma replied, “Don’t worry. We’ve long since set up a concealing spell formations and boundaries. Even the staff and guests of the inn have been \hypnotised, and we’ve also used some spiritual force pressure…”
Leylin did not ask more and began to narrate the happenings of the day slowly, “Things are going well on my end. I’ve obtained part of the map of the building, and even met the leader successfully…”
“So he didn’t suspect you? Tsk tsk! So that leader is a pretty boy!” Emma giggled.
“Probably not, but he did notice my faked Fireplume, something I intentional revealed,” Leylin laughed. He had long since gotten used to how these female Warlocks jumped from subject to subject so suddenly.
“How powerful is he?” Gilbert’s focus on his power more than his appearance was only expected. They had exchanged blows with the leader before, but wanted to know Leylin’s opinion.
“I can’t tell…” Leylin looked absent-minded, as if he was recalling the scene from the meeting. “But I can confirm that his soul strength is very powerful. It’s probably the strongest out of all the Radiant Moons I’ve seen!”
“He is the best of another world. He’s trained up to the thirteenth level of Fireplume, so he’s probably not any weaker than Radiant Moon Magi with level 5 meditation techniques in the Magus World. Not to mention he’s been using firasource stones and supplementing his soul…”
Gilbert sighed, recalling the scene when he had fought with their opponent, and his body involuntarily trembled.
“In our operation this time, we’ll try our best not to make contact with him, and all should be fine…”
Leylin’s heart sank but he continued and asked Emma, “How’s your preparation going?”
“It’s smooth-sailing. Hehe… From now, you need to call us Viscount Flower and Earl Violet…” Emma giggled. It looked like she was doing well.
Leylin was rather speechless. The Atlan Union had actually let outsiders do so well that they became earls. He had no idea how Emma had gotten through the nobility examination.
“Also, we’ve found traces of activity of several Jupiter’s Lightning Morning Stars in Tylasus!”
Gilbert’s other piece of information immediately had Leylin’s attention, “Are they here to take revenge on us?” he asked as he touched his chin. After all, Collins was slain by them.
Gilbert shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Their target should be the same as ours.”
“Is that so? Then the difficulty of our operation should increase by a large amount. Of course, things might also become more convenient for us…” Leylin’s eyes glinted profoundly.