n

n

n

"...hm? Hold up

"

nJust as Smallsnake was about to place his piece down, he frowned.

n

"Did you just say that a camera caught you taking off your mask?

"

nLazily supporting my chin with my arm, I nodded.

n

"Yup

"

nConfused, Smallsnake tilted his head and frowned.

n

"...isn't that bad? I mean-

"

nSeeing Smallsnake's confusion, before he could continue, I cut him off

n

"Well that is if what they saw was my real face

"

nComing to an understanding, Smallsnake's brows relaxed

n

"Ah...so you didn't reveal your face?

"

nNodding my head, I pointed at the board. Urging for him to continue.

n

"Don't you remember the photos I sent you? The ones you used to create multiple facemasks for me?

"

n-Tak!

nMoving one of the pieces, Smallsnake nodded his head.

n

"Yeah

"

nHe did.

nAlthough he didn't know who the people in the photos were, Smallsnake remembered receiving a text a couple of days ago regarding the creation of a couple of skin masks.

nWith current technology, creating such high detailed masks didn't take much, so he had it promptly made the next day.

nSeeing that he understood, I lethargically said

n

"...well I was wearing two at that time.

"

n-Tak!

nWith one of my eyes closed, I moved my bishop diagonally across the board.

n

"I see...and who's mask does the other one belong to?

"

nHearing his question, I didn't answer immediatly. Instead, I answered with another question.

n

"Smallsnake, who do you thinks stands to gain the most from the conflict between Sword of light and Luxious?

"

nGetting answered back with a question, Smallsnake thought for a moment before hesitantly saying

n

"...errr, the ones who wins between them

"

nShaking my head, I lightly smiled.

n

"Tut, tut, tut, not necessarily true...

"

n-Tak!

nMoving one of his pieces, Smallsnake frowned.

n

"...then who?

"

nSmiling, I glanced at him and said

n

"Have you ever heard of the term, 'the mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind?'

"

nNodding his head, pausing and thinking for a moment, Smallsnake's eyes widened

n

"...you don't mean

"

n-Tak!

n

"Yup

"

n...

nLuxious Headquarters, 80th floor.

nOverlooking the city from the tainted windows of the highrise building, a tall muscular man interlocked his fingers behind his back.

nA cold and indifferent aura exuded from his body. Briefly glancing towards the bottom of the building, towards the busy streets of Ashton city, the tall man coldly spoke

n

"Victor, has there been any news regarding the two people we sent to recruit that kid that caught my eye?

"

n

"No, we tried contacting them, but so far, we haven't heard from them yet

"

nStanding a few feet away from the muscular man, a man dressed in a simple grey suit curtly replied.

nHearing the reply, after a short pause, the tall man's brows furrowed

n

"...hmm, strange

"

nNoticing the guild master thinking, the grey suit individual asked

n

"Guild Master, what are your orders?

"

n-Bang!

nJust as the guild master of Luxious, Patrick Reid, was about to speak, the sound of the door smashing reverberated across the space as an individual wearing a black suit hurriedly ran into the room with a report in his hand.

n

"Emergency report!

"

n

"Young master has gotten into a conflict inside of a nightclub!

"

nFrowning, an invisible pressure instantly bore down on the individual that had just rushed into the room.

n

"khhh...

"

n-Thud!

nFeeling the pressure bearing down on him, the subordinate that had just barged into the office felt his knees give out as he knelt on the ground of the office space.

nObviously angered by the sudden intrusion, Patrick coldly spat as he glanced at his subordinate.

n

"You better have a good reason for suddenly barging into my office like that...How is this piece of news deemed to be an emergency? Speak your next words carefully

"

n-Gulp!

nSwallowing a mouthful of saliva, trembling, the individual started speaking

n

"Y-young master got into a conflict and...

"

n-Gulp!

nHesitating, swallowing another gulp of saliva, the poor man continued

n

"lo-st an arm in the process

"

n-Vauuuam!

n-Bam!

nInstantly a tremendous pressure shrouded the whole office space as the furniture around the room was obliterated into dust. Papers flew everywhere, and the whole room shook.

nTrembling, Patrick looked towards the kneeling subordinate and slowly said

n

"Repeat what you said...recount me everything carefully

"

nFeeling Patrick's gaze on him, without a second thought, the subordinate nodded his head

n

"Y-es...A-ccording to the report, Youn-g master Jacob got into co-nflict with Nolan Valdev...son of current guild master of Sword of Light

"

nFrowning, the aura around Patrick slightly dissipated as he said

n

"Sword of light? Nolan? Continue...

"

nRepeating the words inside of his mind, nodding his head slightly, Patrcik gestured for his subordinate to continue reading the report

nBeing told to continue, without a second thought, the subordinate instantly started speaking again.

n

"Y-es, according to the reports, as the two were in the middle of a conflict inside of the nightclub, out of nowhere, someone attacked Jacob...the result was his arm getting detached from his body--khh

"

nOnce again, a massive overbearing pressure started emanating from Patrick's body.

n

"Oh? Since when was Sword of Light that impulsive...

"

nTo think they actually dared to make a move against their son...

nHow daring of Sword of light.

nIt looks like, Sword of Light didn't regard Luxious as an opponent

nClenching his fists tightly, Patrick turned towards Victor who stood by the side and coldly said

n

"Immediatly summon all of our high ranking members...in a week's time, I want everything prepared...prepare the paperwork. We are going to declare a guild war against Sword of Light!

"

nShocked by the news, Victor's eyes opened wide as he couldn't help but exclaim

n

"Guild master!

"

nWith an expressionless face, Patrick once again stared at the city below him.

n'It doesn't matter if the opponent is another gold grade guild, if you hurt my son, I'll make sure to return everything with interest!'

n...

n-Tak!

nPlacing my pawn down, I glanced at Smallsnake and smiled as I spoke

n

"...and so the guild master of Luxious will most likely prepare for a Guild war

"

nTaken aback, Smallsnake's hand, which was holding onto a pawn, paused. Looking at me, he couldn't help but ask

n

"A guild war?

"

n

"Yes

"

nNodding my head I confirmed.

nIf everything went according to my predictions, as soon as the guild master of Luxious found out what had happened to his son, he would without a doubt start preparing for a guild war.

nThis was inevitable.

nHe only had one son.

nNow that he lost an arm, he, without a doubt, would instantly try to fight against the person responsible for crippling his son.

n...and the only way he could do that was through a guild war.

nA guild war was something that the central government established to legally resolve conflicts between guilds.

nBecause several conflicts between guilds in the past led to a lot of deaths, the central government had no choice but to establish guild wars as a mean to legally allow guilds to fight each other without suffering any casualties.

nThis set up was specifically made to avoid deaths, as at the moment humanity could not afford to lose any more talented warriors. With the pressure coming from all sides, the more Heroes they lost, the worse they would be.

n...Therefore, after a lot of discussions, the central government set up a system called 'guild wars'

nIn guild wars like the name suggested, guilds would compete with each other.

n...and this conflict would all be done inside of a virtual world.

nAfter investing billions and billions of U, the central government managed to create a state-of-the-art virtual machine that could replicate 99.99% of reality. The closest to reality to date.

nThrough fighting in the virtual world, the guilds could compete against each other under fair rules without losing any member of their guild.

nThe winner of the guild war would gain something that was agreed upon prior to engaging in a guild war.

nMoreover, with the central government acting as the intermediary, there was no need to fear for the other party not holding up on the agreed terms.

n

"...are you really sure he's going to declare a guild war so suddenly?

"

nSmallsnake, who was once again confused, looked at me and said

n

"I mean, if the Guild Master wasn't stupid, he would instantly notice a few irregularities in the events that had happened in the nightclub...I mean there are a lot of things that don't make sense if you think about it rationally

"

nSmiling, I lazily yawned

n

"Huaaaam, you're spot on...After a bit of thinking, the guild master of Luxious, Patrick Reid, will instantly realize that something was wrong with the events that led to his son losing an arm...

"

nNodding his head, Smallsnake curiously glanced in my direction

n

"...if he realized that, wouldn't that mean your plan failed?

"

n-Tak!

nMoving my queen a few squares diagonally, I smiled

n

"Fail? No, that's exactly what I'm hoping will happen...

"

n...

n

"Victor, pause everything that you've been doing

"

nFrowning, after a couple of hours of deep thought, Patrick realized that something didn't add up with the report he received from the incident.

nHe had let his emotions get the best of him.

nBecause of how much he loved his son, as soon as he heard of what had happened to him, he immediately mobilized the guild into partaking in a guild war.

nHe didn't even check the full details of the situation...

n

"Hmmm, something just doesn't add up to this story...the heir of Sword of Light shouldn't be this impulsive

"

nThe more Patrick thought about it, the more the story didn't add up.

nThere was no way, the son of the current guild master of Sword of Light would be impulsive enough to suddenly resort to removing the limb off of a direct heir of another gold-graded guild.

nNo.

nHe was an elite trained since birth.

nThere was no way he would be irresponsible to the point he would actively seek to fight against the whole guild directly...

n...yeah, this definitely didn't add up.

nAs they were both heirs of gold-graded guilds, they should obviously know when to attack and when to retreat.

nTurning towards Victor who was wearing the same grey suit as before, Patrick ordered

n

"Victor, get someone to collect all of the reports regarding the incident. From eyewitnesses to cameras and anything that can be useful in getting a better idea of what happened

"

nHe was going to get a real look at what had happened.

nIf he caught sight of anything remotely suspicious, he would immediately get to the bottom of it.

nHe was not going to let someone who hurt his son get away with it

n...

n

"Guildmaster, everything regarding the incident is here

"

nThirty minutes after issuing the order, Victor walked next to Patrick and handed him a tablet

n

"Thank you

"

nTaking the tablet, Patrick looked through the files and numerous footage. As he looked through the files, Patricks' expression would change from time to time.

n-Click!

nSoon, after reviewing the data for an hour or so, he turned off the table and solemnly said

n

"Most likely, someone is trying to instigate a conflict between us...

"

n

"What?!

"

nStanding next to Patrick, Victor couldn't help but exclaim in surprise

n

"Are you serious?

"

nSolemnly nodding his head, Patrick placed the tablet down on his desk

n

"Yes

"

n

"Then we need to report this to Sword of Light, maybe they know something regarding the situa-

"

nFreezing half-sentence, Victor's brows twitched as he recalled something.

n

"Err, actually, now that I recall...I remember hearing that young master Jacob, in his rage, used the artifact that you had given him and almost crippled Nolan...

n

"Right now according to the reports, he is bedridden with no signs of waking up

"

nWithout saying a word, Patrick fell into deep thought.

nIt seems like both sides suffered losses.

nHis son lost an arm, whilst Nolan, the heir of Sword of Light also seemed to have been heavily injured...

n...if Zack Valdev, the current guild leader of Sword of Light didn't lose his mind, he too would have reached the same conclusion as him. Someone had instigated the conflict...

nReaching this conclusion, Patrick's aura intensified

n

"Now, I really am curious as to who's daring enough to mess with two gold-graded guilds...

"

nGlancing at Victor, in a deep voice, Patrick ordered

n

"Take all of the video evidence of the conflict and analyze it frame per frame, Don't miss anything

"

n

"As long as something looks suspicious immediately report it to me...

"

n

"There definitely might be something we overlooked...

"

nNodding his head, Victor took the tablet and left the office.

n

"As you wish

"

n