Chapter 67: The Crowns

Outside the central city of the human Nation, in forests where people dare not enter without specialized guards. 

Far from the safe and stable paths, in a place where no human had set foot in the past hundred years, there stood a large wooden cabin. On a small porch outside, sat a woman with an ethereal appearance, someone no living human could fail to recognize immediately.

One of the two individuals who provide security and safety to all humans, and the only reason humans are not slaves to other races at this moment. The second strongest being in the human race.

She sat on a simple wooden chair on the porch, her hair flowing back like endless waterfalls. Despite her extraordinary identity, she looked like an ordinary human girl now, which only added to her charm.

Her eyes glowed with a captivating purple light as she stared at the papers in her hands. "Chaos comes in clusters…" she said, looking at the report on the Puppetss Society sent to her from all human territories.

"Survivors of that incident from the north, south, east, and west are spreading the news among their relatives and acquaintances. The news cannot be controlled."

Daphne spoke out loud even though no one seemed to be around, or so it appeared to the naked eye. She was deeply focused on the papers in her hands, time seemingly standing still around her, giving her enough time to read at her desired pace.

"Is this necessarily bad?" A man with short black hair appeared out of nowhere, just looking at him could bewilder unawakened minds. His eyes appeared devoid of emotions, but that changed when he looked at Daphne from behind.

He was behind her chair at this moment.

He tilted his head slightly to read the report, not taking long to understand.

"The total forces that survived the Puppets Society are equivalent to the average forces of a royal family. Doesn't this compensate for the MoonHold massacre?" Amon asked after a while.

Daphne quickly responded, "You may be right, but if everything in these reports is accurate, it might be better than we expected."

"Are you referring to the mechanical arms?" Amon asked, placing his hands on the chair's handles and focusing more on the numerous papers. Daphne could feel him behind her.

"Greater storage space than average, can be used with ambient mana rather than the user's mana. A mechanical sword that can be reassembled if broken, a hook made of materials not found in our lands, an air cannon, and the ability to output more power than the user... This sounds like something out of a fantasy."

"Yes." Daphne replied, then added, "The survivors from that place are 6,000 people, 2,000 of them have the mechanical arms, 1,500 of them are at rank A-. It's estimated that 400 of them will soon break through to rank A."

"That's a lot, but it's in our favor." Amon said, his head moving closer to the papers, placing it over Daphne's shoulder, who did not seem bothered.

"But comparatively, I'd rather think about that fruit mentioned in the report - the sacred fruit." Daphne said, and Amon continued:

"Small like grapes, but can develop the user's body to unimaginable degrees, and that without any long-term effects except addiction."

"Addiction is not a big problem, the elite scientists at the academy will find a solution in a matter of days if they cooperate." Daphne spoke with clear confidence.

"If only I had discovered that island before reaching the limits of my body…" The emotionless look returned to Amon's face, making Daphne frown for a moment.

"It doesn't matter anyway, you are still the strongest even without that fruit." She quickly changed the subject, the last thing she wanted was for him to lose control.

"I suppose you're right... Should I take a trip there?" Silence followed Amon's words, sweat forming on Daphne's forehead when she heard his words.

"You cannot leave the human Nation under the current circumstances, the goblins and dwarves won't ignore that. One of my sources informed me that Ceasar has already sent a fleet."

Amon's eyes stopped wandering over the paper and focused on Daphne's face beside him. "Were you hiding this from me?" His voice was calm, but the ambient mana began to rage with fear.

"No, no!, of course not! I planned to tell you eventually!" Daphne spoke and tried to stand up, but Amon's head on her shoulder prevented her from moving up.

All her energy became futile when he touched her, and no amount of mana could harm this person no matter how strong she was.

Royal families? Dwarves? Goblins? Even if they all gathered before him, they wouldn't be able to scratch him. For this reason, not even Daphne, who was equal in level, could oppose his opinion.

"I see… Send orders to Ceasar, I want a portion of the fruit stock he will bring, and all the information." The surrounding mana returned to normal as he finally calmed down and returned to reading the report.

"But what seems more important to me is that person." Daphne pointed to a particular paragraph, her mind finally at ease.

A white-haired man was described, the one who freed everyone, named the savior, the liberator...

"All the reports about him were consistent, every person praised and glorified him without exception as if he were an angel. Some painters have already started drawing and spreading his image on social networks." "Analyzing his actions as reported to us, we can infer a connection between him and the Puppets Society. He was able to eliminate the need for oil in the mechanical hands and replace it with remote mana, and he disabled the barrier that had not stopped working for years."

While Daphne was busy recounting his achievements, Amon could only lose himself in the paper's contents, imagining the scene those people saw.

"What do you think of him? Personally." Amon asked, Daphne frowning at that second. She had been through similar questions before; there was only one answer.

Praising any man in front of Amon would only bring trouble.

"You can use him well." She finally settled on that answer.

"If this person wants to grow and increase his position, will the 6,000 stand by me, or by him?" He asked, the blackness in his eyes becoming overwhelming.

It was clear he wasn't pleased with what he saw.

"Between the person who provides security for billions of humans, and the one who saved a few thousand, I see the choice as clear." Daphne smiled as she lifted her face and met Amon directly.

"Let's go inside…" she said, and Amon quickly responded with a nod.

She could no longer bear his constant threats... She would return to reading the report later.

For now, she would do her best to calm him, bring him back to his senses. Then she could issue orders to the other royal families on how to handle this matter.

Although they had the authority to decide what happens in their cities, she wanted to intervene in such matters at least.

As soon as Daphne entered the cabin after Amon and closed the door, she stopped thinking immediately.

'I need to do something about those news…' were her last thoughts before closing the door.