The Hidden Agenda

Liam was sitting at the end of his dorm bed with his mind racing. The godfather, the oldest son, the dark jewellery, the portents of destruction... The whole picture began to take shape, but there were still too many unanswered questions.

Waiting throughout the day with the Wind Spirit tailing the priest, Liam just bided his time. The spirit's return bore jarring news.

"Priest sighted entering church in daylight. But at night, this route became an alley."

An alley? What, pray tell, would a priest be doing there? That was beginning to arouse a few more of Liam's potentials. Now he would follow him personally.

The Trail to the Brothel

As the night wore on, Liam donned his invisibility cloak and shadowed the priest at a distance. He was fast, sure and purposeful in dodging the shadowy pathways, finally stopping outside a particularly luridly luminescent brothel, bright red lights in a sea of black shadows.

Liam's eyes narrowed. "A priest... Nothing is right about this visit to the brothel."

In his present condition, it was impossible for him to enter unnoticed. He opened the Tower Shop window. After searching through the tools that could help him, he found just what he needed:

[Face-Changing Mask]-changes the face of the one who wears it into someone hardly recognizable.

Cost: 2000 Tower Points

Without a second thought, Liam purchased the mask, wore it, and entered.

Within the Brothel

Cheap perfumes and spirits hung around the passageways in the brothel where Liam wondered. He was searching for the priest in every corner, but the priest was nowhere to be found.

Before he could think further, a woman came forward to him, her voice sultry welcoming.

"Looking for some company tonight, sir?"

Without wasting any time, he spoke in Nyx's enthralling charm, "Lead me to the priest who came here tonight."

Her gaze went blank, bending her mind to his will. She turned and, with no resistance, gestured for him to come along. "This way."

Stumbling through a dimly lit passage concealed behind the bar counter, she led him down a chilly creaking staircase into darkness... At the end of the corridor, several doors lined the wall, but the woman continued until arriving at the last door fitted into the farthest end.

"This is the room," she said blankly.

Liam nodded at her. "Go inside and ask if they need anything."

Like a good servant, the woman opened the door and stepped within. Liam followed behind her soundlessly , once again invisible.

The Harbingers of Ruin

Liam froze inside the dim light room. At a circular table, the priest sat, and across from him around that same table sat the two figures in black robes-the unmistakable Harbingers of Ruin.

The face of the priest twisted with fury at the glare towards the woman. "Why the hell are you here? We were not to be disturbed!"

She blinked first; it was as if the hypnotic hold had just broken. Staring wide-eyed at the petrifying look of the priest, she gasped and dashed out of the room.

"Useless wench," the priest spat under his breath, cursing her.

One of the harbingers raised his hand and muttered an incantation. Glow sigils on the door sealed the room.

Liam remained motionless under the protective aura of the Moon Stone. The harbingers' dark powers could not detect him.

The Conspiracy

"Now," the priest began, low and somber in his voice. 

"There's more. Tomorrow the eldest prince will proclaim himself for the throne, and then he will be on our palm."

The harbinger chuckled darkly at his right. "And the second prince?"

"The second prince already has been owned," the priest replied. "His loyalty confirmed."

"And the youngest son," asked the other harbinger.

The priest smirked. "That weakling? He won't survive more than a few days. Not with what we have planned for him."

Liam's fists clenched tightly, the fire of rage boiling in him. So that was the reason why the youngest prince was so sick; it was their doing!

The harbinger leaned back. "And the princess?"

At this, the face of the priest darkened a little. "She is... irrelevant for now. We first want to secure the throne and then prepare the kingdom for the sacrifice."Liam's heart did a flip. Sacrifice?

"The blood of the kingdom will be the offering for that when the kingdom falls into our hands," continued the priest, "and we send for the Demon King in that ritual."

Liam's mind spun. Summon the Demon King?! They are sacrificing everyone's last hopes...

The Ambush

At the end of this report, the priest stood and made his way toward the door. This Liam knew was his opportunity.

At the moment that the priest's hand touched the surface of the doorknob, Liam struck.

A blur of motion as he lunges and slashes the priest's neck, severing his head by a single clean cut. Blood spray against the walls as the dead body of the priest crumbled to the floor.

Nyx leapt from Liam's shoulder and lunged with razor-sharp claws at the second harbinger. The scream from the harbinger was cut short as Nyx ripped into him.

Only one harbinger was left. Before he could make a move, Liam barked, "Nyx, hypnotize him!"

The harbinger was made still when Nyx's magic took hold from its source.

Liam stepped forward with a glare and voice cold as ice. "Speak. All that you know on whose behind this madness?"

Still under Nyx's command, the harbinger replied. "We have got the entire kingdom to summon the Demon King before sacrificing it."

"Who is the one behind this?" Liam demanded further.

The harbinger's mouth opened, but their words became a blood-chilling scream before it could leave his mouth. His body bucked and convulsed as blood poured from his mouth and eyes. Seconds later, the harbinger fell dead to the ground.

Liam's eyes widened. "A failsafe... He was under the spell to prevent any talking."

The very next day, Liam was at the ceremony, not only attending as a servant but observing the royal family keenly.

The eldest prince was there, towering over everyone, draped in all the fine clothes and the ominous jewelry he had seen before; the king was no longer young but well seated on his throne in all his authority.

The second prince and the princess were also attending, but there was one thing Liam greatly noticed: absence of the youngest prince.

Among the guests, Liam moved and brought forth whispers.

"Is the youngest prince not here? Hah, no surprise, really. That boy's an all-out disgrace-weaker and sickly, the progeny of a concubine."

"Indeed. He doesn't belong here."

Liam grit his teeth with simmering anger. So that's why nobody cares about him. He's abandoned...

The ceremony reached its climax as the king stood to address the gathering hall.

"I declare my eldest son as rightful heir to the throne!" the king had said, his voice boomed. Cheers erupted from the audience.

Suddenly, a notification popped in front of Liam.

[New Mission Update: The King Will Die in 2 Weeks.]

Liam's blood turned to ice. Two weeks... That's all the time I have.

His hands brought in fists, fire burning fury in his eyes. "Speed is what I need now. I can't let this kingdom fall."

To be contiue...