abnabooks Chapter 155 Hick's Pawns and Arrangements
Chapter 155 Hick's Pawns and Arrangements
Chapter 155 Hick's Pawns and Arrangements
The subordinate trembled like a withered leaf in the wind, and with almost all his strength, he managed to squeeze out the name that made his very soul tremble!
Nia Moreno!
One of the most prominent "twin stars" in the White Wizard faction, the pride of Anse Academy, and a figure on par with the radiant "Bright Flame" Silian of the Eternal Tower.
If we say that Silian's rise to power was filled with tragedy and the ultimate brilliance of her talent!
The tragic death of her beloved sparked unimaginable potential within her, allowing her to enter the realm of a formal wizard in her early twenties and quickly become a contemporary icon highly regarded by the Tower of Eternity, whose story is full of legend and impact.
The rise of Nia Moreno was more like an unexpected surprise that delighted and even caught the higher-ups of Anse Academy off guard!
Thus, various forces and busybodies who had long harbored resentment towards the Eternal Tower for its long-standing dominance and monopolization of too many resources and prestige came to the rescue.
They then conveniently paired Nia, who was also young and had miraculously become a formal wizard in her twenties, with Silian, calling them the "White Wizard Twins," in an attempt to create a new benchmark to counterbalance the influence of the Tower of Eternity.
Anse Academy, in particular, treats Nia as a treasure. They take him with them to any important event or visit any power, and do their best to promote and show him off. Their intentions are self-evident.
Look! Your Eternal Tower can produce a peerless genius, and so can my Anse Academy! And it is in no way inferior!
Of course, if it were the original Nia, no matter how hard he worked or how talented he was, it would have been impossible for him to achieve such astonishing success in such a short period of time.
But who has him backed by the most loyal minister of the Silent Forest! And what about Hick, the newest member of the Sanctuary!?
Hick was really going all out in "sponsoring" us!
Furthermore, under Hick's instruction, he intentionally or unintentionally "leaked" some of the whereabouts of the Shadow Society or other dark forces that were at odds with him, allowing Nia to go there to "farm" reputation and combat experience. How could his reputation and strength not increase rapidly?
"So—you know me?"
Nia's tone remained as gentle as if she were attending an aristocratic salon, with a faint smile playing on her lips, as if what was happening before her was not a tense chase scene, but a chance encounter on the street.
"In exchange, could you tell me where Kia is right now?"
"Lord Ki-Kia, he-he was—" The subordinate was so frightened that his tongue was tied, and he almost fainted, unable to utter a complete sentence.
"Kia has been captured by Srian!"
A cold voice suddenly rang out, answering Nia's question for the terrified subordinate.
Immediately afterwards, a pale figure appeared silently in front of Ono and his subordinate, just in time to block Nia's gaze.
"Lord Sean!"
Upon seeing the white figure that suddenly appeared like a lifeline, the subordinate almost burst into tears, his voice trembling with excitement.
Upon hearing Sean's words, Niana's usually relaxed brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and her seemingly flawless, gentle smile faded slightly, revealing a hint of just the right amount of trouble and regret.
"Ms. Slyan's style of doing things—well, always has been—is swift and decisive, leaving no room for compromise."
He carefully chose his words, maintaining his impeccable aristocratic elegance, but anyone could hear the hint of unease and helplessness hidden beneath his gentle tone.
"This sudden change has indeed disrupted some of our original arrangements and plans."
His gaze swept lightly over his kneeling, trembling subordinates, seemingly piercing through Sean's defenses, and landed precisely on Ono behind him.
Those seemingly calm and gentle eyes now seemed to contain a power that could see through illusion.
Ono felt a chill run through his body, as if he had been completely seen through. The restless energy of the drug within him, which had not yet fully subsided, seemed to become more active under the other person's gaze, yet it was also bound by an invisible pressure.
"So, this person—is the one who caused the accident?"
Nia's tone carried a subtle hint of inquiry, as if she were assessing a lost but now damaged antique.
"Special cargo that Gia risked his life to deliver?" It seems—its condition is very unstable, and its energy is dissipating chaotically.
His fingertips twitched slightly, as if he instinctively wanted to do something, but he ultimately restrained himself.
A hint of obvious impatience flashed across Sean's pale face. He stepped to the side, blocking Nia's view even more completely, his voice as cold and hard as ice.
"Nia, there's no point in saying all this now. What's done is done. It's your job to deal with the mess that Silian made and the chaos it caused."
"Appease the bigwigs in Kus City, clean up any traces that might point to us, and don't let those guys in the Eternal Tower find any more leverage—isn't this kind of cleanup work exactly what you're best at?"
He paused, his tone resolute and brooking no argument: "As for this kid, he's now under my control. Lord Hick's things cannot be wasted on the whims of a madwoman."
He must be taken back immediately for a comprehensive physical evaluation, data collection, and—the necessary guidance and control.
Nia listened quietly, her signature gentle smile completely gone, replaced by a deep calm that revealed no trace of joy or anger.
He sighed softly, the sound particularly clear in the empty logging camp, like a kind-hearted older brother who was always forced to clean up the messes of his willful companions: "I understand—I will do my best to quell the mess caused by Sirian, and I will also handle the compensation for the losses in Kus City and all subsequent matters properly, minimizing the impact as much as possible."
His gaze fell once more on Ono, who was firmly protected behind Sean. This time, his eyes held an almost pitying scrutiny, as if he were looking at a tragically fated experimental subject: "I hope that he—in the end, can live up to Kia's final sacrifice, and—the enormous expectations that Lord Hick had placed in him."
He deliberately emphasized the words "Lord Hick" slowly and clearly, as if reminding Sean, and also as reminding himself, of the will and interests of the being behind this young man.
"No need for you to worry about that."
Sean retorted coldly, his tone showing no softening whatsoever.
"Managing the trouble caused by your good partner is enough."
Having said that, Sean gave Nya no further opportunity to ask questions, probe, or interfere.
He turned around abruptly, his pale, slender fingers, which seemed delicate, gripped Ono's arm firmly like cold steel clamps.
And that subordinate—who clearly knew too much—was also on the list.
Before he could even react, Ono, who had been captured, felt a chilling yet immense power instantly envelop his entire body!
An abandoned wooden house, the gentle yet unsettling Nia, and her henchman lying on the ground like a pile of mud—
Everything was violently distorted and shattered like a broken mirror, stretched into countless dizzying, bizarre, turbulent streams of color.
A strong sense of weightlessness and a nauseating feeling as if space was being forcibly distorted and torn apart suddenly struck. Ono felt as if his internal organs were about to be thrown out of his body, and his consciousness became blurred in the rapid spinning.
Is this the power truly wielded by a wizard?
After a brief, intense dizziness that almost made me lose track of time, the feeling of being grounded returned abruptly, with a jarring stiffness.
Ono staggered forward several steps uncontrollably, his stomach churning, and he gagged several times before he could barely steady himself, his face as pale as paper.
He looked around in shock and realized that he was no longer in that dilapidated and oppressive log cabin at the logging camp.
Instead, there was a completely unfamiliar environment: a stone room with extremely dim lighting and air so cold it seemed to seep into your bones.
The walls were made of huge, roughly cut black stones, inlaid with complex runes that emitted a faint blue glow, replacing traditional torches for lighting and enveloping the entire room in a cold, dark blue hue.
The room was almost empty, with only a few cold, hard stone chairs and a large stone table of the same material, making it feel spacious, oppressive, and lifeless.
A faint, strange smell permeated the air, mixed with some indescribable, bitter herbal aroma, which caused a slight stinging sensation when inhaled.
This is clearly another, more secretive, and higher-level safe haven for the Shadow Society.
Sean released his grip on him, the movement as casual as if he were simply throwing away a piece of trash.
He paced to the center of the room, his back to Honoré, his voice regaining its usual flatness, yet carrying a deep-seated, unquestionable command, each word like a chisel etched into stone: "From this day forward, forget the name Honoré. It has been discarded, along with your past life, into the sludge of the sewers."
"Your new name, your number, is 'Number 7'."
He uttered cold, emotionless numbers, defining Ono's new identity.
"Here, you will receive the most basic yet most rigorous training, learning how to control the faint but dangerous power within you, instead of being consumed by it and turning into a pathetic madman or an out-of-control monster. This is the only value the organization has in keeping you here, allowing you to continue breathing."
"Do not try to spy, do not try to escape, do not have any foolish or inappropriate thoughts. Here, death will be the easiest and most pleasant way to escape that you can imagine."
He slowly turned around, his unfathomable, emotionless eyes staring coldly at Ono, as if he were examining a raw material about to be sent into the furnace for forging, whose ultimate fate was uncertain—whether it would become a weapon or scrap metal.
"Survive, and then, do everything in your power to become useful. Otherwise, Lord Hick might only lose a vial of potion sample worth twelve thousand magic crystals; and I, I would only lose a negligible amount of observation time. But you,"
His voice was even lower, carrying a deadly chill.
"You will lose everything you have, including your worthless second life that has just begun."
Having said that, he ignored Ono's expression and thoughts, and his figure, like ink dripping into water, silently blended into the darkest shadow in the corner of the room and disappeared completely.
Only Ono was left standing alone in the center of this cold, unfamiliar, eerily silent stone chamber, seemingly isolated from the entire world.
Ono stood frozen in place, the spot on his arm where Sean had grabbed him still retaining a cold, branding sensation, as if it had been branded by cold iron.
Number 7 — Rigorous Training — Control. Strength — Continue — Become. Possess. —
The desperate and crazed figure of Kia as he was captured by Silrian; Silrian's terrifyingly powerful, chilling killing intent, like the might of heaven; Nia's unfathomable scrutiny beneath her gentle and elegant mask; Sean's inhuman, ruthless coldness that regarded all things as mere straw dogs—
All of this, like countless cold and heavy shackles, tightly bound around his neck, dragging him into a deeper and darker vortex.
However, the faint yet real sense of power brought about by the mysterious potion worth 12,000 magic crystals within him was like a seed struggling to survive, buried in an endless abyss of darkness and despair, stubbornly emitting a faint warmth.
Is it to succumb to fate, become the Shadow Order's number 7, struggle to survive in this dark lair where the sun never shines, and ultimately become a useful, cold tool in the hands of the other party?
still----
Ono clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, causing a sharp stinging pain, but also bringing a bit of clarity to his almost numb consciousness.
He must survive.
Only by surviving at all costs can one possibly find—in the slim, almost nonexistent, possibility of the future—
That faint glimmer of hope—a glimmer of light that might allow one to break free from shackles and even become a legend.