Chapter : 54

  The girls nodded slowly, their pride bruised but their determination returning. They began to split off, heading toward their individual guest rooms.

  Ken shoved his hands back into his pockets and shuffled toward his own door.

  "Hey, farm boy," Naomi called out, stopping him before he could go inside.

  Ken turned around, expecting her to yell at him for embarrassing them again. "Yeah, boss dy?"

  Naomi looked at him, shaking her head. "I can't believe I am saying this, but... good job ignoring her. If you had yelled back, it would have started a fight. You being an idiot actually kept us out of trouble."

  Ken gave her a bright, goofy thumbs-up. "Being an idiot is my superpower! Now, I am going to go sleep for twelve hours. Goodnight!"

  Ken opened his door and walked into his dark room, letting the heavy wooden door click shut behind him.

  The smile instantly vanished from his face.

  The room was quiet. Ken let out a long, quiet sigh and dropped his slouching posture. He stood perfectly straight in the darkness. His sleepy eyes sharpened, turning cold and focused.

  He thought about the arrogant 16th Princess. He thought about Zaima insulting Sayma. But mostly, he thought about the Doom Tower waiting for them tomorrow.

  If the 13th Unit went into that tower exhausted and angry, Vane and his army of thugs would absolutely sughter them. Naomi, Sayma, and Laxmi were strong, but they were not invincible. The mob in that skyscraper would overwhelm them, and Vane’s Curse magic would finish the job.

  "They need to win tomorrow," Ken thought to himself, his internal voice shifting into the deep, calcuting tone of the Sovereign. "But if they fight the entire Curse Organization at full strength, they might not make it out alive."

  Ken walked over to his window and looked out at the night sky. The city was dark, but he knew exactly where the Doom Tower was.

  "Looks like my nap is going to have to wait," Ken whispered to the empty room. "It is time to do some overtime."

  ----

  Later that night, the crumbling estate of the 13th Unit was completely silent. The girls had all gone to their rooms to get some rest before the massive raid the next morning. But Ken Eliot was not sleeping. He y ft on his dusty mattress, staring up at the dark ceiling. His hands were tucked behind his head. The zy, goofy smile he wore all day was completely gone.

  Ken was thinking about the Doom Tower. He knew exactly what was waiting for them inside that abandoned skyscraper. Vane was not just a normal criminal; he was a master of Curse magic. And worse, Vane was not alone. The tower was going to be packed with hundreds of heavily armed thugs, gang members, and loyal followers.

  "If we just walk in there tomorrow morning, it is going to be a total bloodbath," Ken thought to himself, his mind completely clear and cold. "Sayma, Naomi, and the rest of the girls are strong. But they are already tired from today. If they have to fight their way up a giant tower through hundreds of angry men, they will be completely exhausted before they even reach Vane. A mob like that will just overwhelm them with sheer numbers."

  Ken let out a long, quiet sigh. He really hated doing extra work. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes, fall asleep, and dream about his peaceful future farm. But he couldn't just lie there and let his teammates walk into a death trap.

  "I guess I have to do some overtime," Ken whispered to the empty room.

  He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He walked over to the small window of his bedroom and pushed it open. The cool night air blew in, but Ken did not shiver. He stood on the edge of the window frame and looked out toward the center of the capital city, right where the dead zone and the Doom Tower were located.

  "Anime logic, equip," Ken whispered softly.

  Instantly, without a single sound or fsh of light, his cheap, wrinkled dark blue servant uniform vanished. It was repced by his secret persona. A high-colred, dramatic bck cloak covered in elegant gold embroidery wrapped around his body. The fabric flowed around his legs as if an invisible wind was gently blowing against it. Finally, a smooth, terrifying bck mask appeared over his face. The mask had no mouth and no nose, only a single, glowing purple eye in the very center.

  Ken was gone. The Sovereign had arrived.

  He didn't climb down the wall. He simply stepped out of the window and vanished. He moved faster than the speed of sound. To anyone looking, he wasn't even a blur; he was just a gap in the air.

  In less than a minute, The Sovereign arrived at the dead zone. The Doom Tower loomed in front of him. It was a massive, dark skyscraper that looked like a rotting giant standing in the middle of the city. The lower levels were heavily guarded by dozens of thugs holding weapons and magical staffs. They were patrolling the entrances, ughing and smoking, completely unaware that a monster had just arrived at their doorstep.

  The Sovereign did not care about the normal guards. He walked right past them. He moved so incredibly fast that the guards didn't even feel a breeze. He walked right through the front doors and into the dark, dirty hallways of the lower levels.

  "Normal grunts will run away if their leaders fall," The Sovereign calcuted, his deep, commanding voice echoing only inside his own mind. "I need to thin the herd. Vane has three top lieutenants managing this army: Mali, Glum, and Blight. If I take them off the board tonight, the mob will have no leadership tomorrow."

  Usually, The Sovereign used his sleek, bck poison sword to deal with enemies quickly and quietly. It was highly efficient. But tonight, he decided to leave the sword put away. These lieutenants thought they were powerful magic users. They thought they ruled the criminal underworld. The Sovereign decided he was going to completely break their pride by mocking their magical superiority.

  He would beat them at their own game.

  The Sovereign walked down a long concrete hallway on the second floor. He could easily sense the magical signatures inside the building. He stopped in front of a heavy metal door. Behind this door was the first target: Mali.

  Mali was a high-level fire magic user. He was known for being brutal, hot-headed, and incredibly destructive.

  The Sovereign reached out and casually pushed the heavy metal door open. The hinges groaned loudly.

  Inside the room, Mali was sitting on a dirty sofa, cleaning a rge hunting knife. Several of his lower-level gang members were sitting around a table, pying cards. When the door opened, they all looked up. They saw a man standing in the doorway wearing a flowing bck cloak and a mask with a single glowing purple eye.