The Glorious Evolution

Simon went silent after noticing how agitated the hired task force was... he steeled his expression and calmly asked them what had happened. Before the feed was cut, his spies had managed to show him brief glimpses of gigantic green structures appearing amid the chaos.

He knew at once that his spies must have been injured during the mountain’s collapse, as he hadn’t warned them about the terrorist attack on the estate.

’I assure you that we haven’t kept any information hidden from you.’ Simon tried to calm the team down with a composed tone. ’We want the mission to succeed, and I believe the agreed payment reflects that.’

’Whether you omitted crucial data or not, it’s your job to give us an honest difficulty rating for each mission...’ Alpha sneered coldly. ’You paid for a B-grade mission; meanwhile, House Zen had recruited a monster who can lift millions of tons and hurl a mountain many kilometers away... we almost died, and we weren’t even close to him!’

’What?’

Hearing this, Simon was left stunned... he found it hard to imagine such a scene, as he knew that no one with such immense strength should be poking their nose into the affairs of two small Noble Houses.

However, the rumbling earthquake and the strike force’s enraged reaction made it impossible for him to dismiss their claims.

Without hesitation, Simon emerged from his cocoon and checked the surface with his own eyes... he used a Solar Totem to hide his presence, then ripped through the cocoon’s surface with his long, sharp black nails. He dug upward and reached the surface right away.

Immediately, his expression turned dark at the sight of a massive dust storm raging near the borders... it was so thick and tall that he couldn’t see what lay beyond it.

Wanting to get to the bottom of it, Simon unfurled eight thin, translucent, bug-like wings from his back and instantly soared hundreds of meters above the ground.

His wings flapped nonstop, moving so rapidly that they created a hypnotic, beautiful effect... yet, the only ones nearby were in no mood to admire them.

Alpha and his squadmates gazed at Simon with frigid looks... Simon ignored their death glares and stopped his climb the moment his eyes captured what lay beyond the dust storm.

A gigantic aetheric hand hovered where the estate’s mountain once stood... Near it was a small burning figure, his entire body engulfed in wild aetheric energy. Above them, the Runehoof Kin constellation that dominated the sky was slowly dimmed away.

Simon tried his best to disbelieve his eyes, but he knew it was futile... their mission had failed in the most unexpected way possible.

Worse, this plan was considered an extreme approach meant to scare House Zen into obedience, along with anyone daring enough to take their side... Silas had gone through with it only because there wasn’t much time left before their plans came to fruition, and he had no patience for anything hindering them.

Yet, even such an extreme approach... failed?

Before Simon could utter a word, he suddenly felt a shiver course down his spine after noticing a giant aetheric eye emerging above the burning figure.

Its pupil was affixed to him... unmoving, emotionless.

’Shit!’

Simon swiftly tried to hide himself to avoid further detection... he never imagined that his cover could be blown from many kilometers away, especially while concealed by a Solar Totem.

But as he descended toward the ground, his eyes captured one last fading scene... the gigantic aetheric hand began breaking apart from both sides until only its middle finger remained.

It positioned itself where the estate’s mountain once stood, except much higher... when it lined up with the surrounding finger-like mountains, from a distance, it looked like...

’Did he flip us off?’

Simon’s lips tightened into a hard, thin line... the image was forever printed in his mind, whether he liked it or not.

...

’It’s over...’

In the meantime, as the aetheric hand faded completely from the sky, the last of Levi’s energy left his body... the adrenaline vanished, leaving behind a deep exhaustion that ate away at his body, and even more so, his mind.

Against his will, he felt his arms turn limp, and his knees buckle... then, he fell into a graceful unconscious drift as his mind finally shut down.

Before his body could fall more than a few meters, Brahmin and several Runehoof Kin caught him, supporting his weight with care.

”He’s completely drained...” one of them murmured, checking his faint but steady pulse.

”Take him to Samsara Temple and guard him while he rests,” Brahmin ordered, his tone stern.

After everything that went down, Brahmin didn’t see Levi as an outsider anymore... he saw him as their savior, someone who had just stood between them and annihilation.

It didn’t seem like he was the only one who felt this way.

Word quickly spread through the ranks, and more of the Runehoof Kin gathered around the escorting party, forming a protective circle.

They began the march back toward Samsara Temple, moving at a respectful pace so as not to jostle Levi’s exhausted body... Along the path, rows of Runehoof families watched in silence, bowing in deep gratitude as their savior was carried past them.

Being saved like this was a first for them... they didn’t even know why an outsider was here, and the last thing they had expected was for him to risk himself to stop such a disaster.

Most Runehoof Kin had long since lost faith in outsiders, seeing them as nothing more than predators who wanted to take advantage of their pacifistic culture.

Seeing the way his people treated Levi on the way to the temple, Brahmin felt relieved... relieved that he hadn’t signed a contract with another parasite who wanted to feast on their weakness, but with someone who genuinely wanted to help them.

Brahmin knew that if it were almost anyone else, they wouldn’t have bothered getting involved... no one was daring enough to risk their life stopping a collapsing mountain for people they had met less than a day ago.

It wasn’t just him who was taken aback by Levi’s involvement.

In the neighboring territory, inside House Targon’s estate, Silas had just received the full report of the mission from his son... including the strike force’s recordings, which they handed over after being paid double the agreed amount to conclude their contract.

Silas didn’t hesitate to pay them more than what was written in the contract after hearing their complaints about the mission’s incorrect difficulty grading.

He knew that if he paid only the penalty, the strike force was bound to leave a negative review with the other mercenary squads... This would affect the House’s ability to hire quality squads in the future, since good references went a long way in the underground.

”How bothersome...”

Silas massaged his forehead while watching the recordings, not too pleased with the appearance of such a massive obstacle in their path of conquest... he had assumed that Levi was merely a businessman or an ignorant mercenary who would be easy to scare away.

Instead, his plan had backfired... By forcing Levi to save the Runehoof Kin, he had only strengthened their bond, and worse... it gave them false hope that their demise wasn’t already a done deal after experiencing their first victory against House Targon’s plots in decades.

Silas knew that even a sliver of hope could go a long way.

And he couldn’t have that.

”Simon, it’s time for the carrot,” Silas uttered indifferently.

Simon curled his lips, disgruntled... he didn’t want to sit down with Levi and bribe him into leaving, as they had done with previous interfering parties.

How could he accept giving Levi money to screw off after he had already foiled their plans and cost them so much money without producing any results? More than anything... he just couldn’t remove that aetheric green middle finger from his mind, feeling as though Levi was making a joke out of their prestigious Noble House.

Sensing his displeasure, Silas added in a calm tone, ”His identity is still a mystery, and we have no idea if he is moving alone or being backed by a powerful force... but at this point, I don’t want to know. We tried the stick, and it backfired... There is barely any time left before House Zen’s demotion. It’s best to avoid any further complications.”

He paused for a moment, tapping his slender gray finger against the armchair... his brain concocting the best offer to buy him off the conflict.

”Set up a meeting and offer him a maximum of five hundred thousand credits to look elsewhere for easy profits... if he refuses,” Silas gave him an emotionless side glance and said, ”mention our Patron.”

Hearing this, Simon bowed his head slightly in acceptance and left the office... whether he liked it or not, the decision on how to deal with Levi was no longer in his hands.