Jefferson had the oddest feeling in his mind.
"Sir? We're ready if you are, Sir."
The words of the 20-something-year-old in front of him brought him back to reality, and with a sneer, he said "Speak when you are spoken to. Let's set out."
Today was the day when the plan of the Order would all come together: it was a fairly simple one, as plans went. A few hundred thousand would die, and millions would become prepared to march out and avenge their deaths when the opportunity was presented right in front of their eyes.
Just like all those made by the Overseer, it was extremely practical, and of course, extremely necessary for the continent.
This was a war against a force which would be able to crush them if they were in the same place where it was located, but because they were so far away, it had needed so much time to even mount the attack that would soon come which would decide everything.
Until now, almost each and every conflict they had had with the Church had been quite disastrous for them, showing clearly just how insignificant they were if their opponent ever decided that it had had enough of this buzzing bee that had been irritating it for far too long.
Many wondered why that was not already happening, but as the eminent son of the famous Leoinia family, he had access to certain information that was not commonly known.
He knew that the Church had a lot of trouble in the Mainland, and that that was the main reason why it had not been able to put its full force forward until now. However, things were changing, and if they did not achieve a conclusive victory… Well, it would be enough to say that everything he had treasured until now would no longer exist.
He, along with the elders of his family had seriously considered whether they should do what many others had apparently already done secretly: throw their lot behind the Church, and maintain the only rule that was present for all those who were powerful- that they should retain that power, no matter what needed to be done to make that happen.
Yet, it was the words of their most senior elder that had stopped them. He had said that he had seen something in the Overseer which told him that that decision would probably not be the best one, and because the man's talent for precognition made his words carry a lot of weight in the family, the Leoinia family had decided that it would do everything in its power to help the Overseer, and they had stated the same and even allowed themselves to be bound by the strictest of oaths.
This was why they knew that the charges against the one known as the Overlord were false, and that they had been fabricated due to reasons that the Overseer had not told them. Still, seeing how much importance was being attached to this issue, it became clear that either that young man had something which might change the tide of the war, itself, or that he was such a huge threat who had been hiding all this while right under their noses.
Either way, it was their job only to follow the orders that were given while keeping the future in mind, which was filled with a world where almost all the resources that were present would be theirs to access and devour, until each of them reached the next realm, even if they had to squeeze Angaria dry to achieve this.
However… why did he keep getting this feeling that he had missed something?
The more he thought about it, the more he found himself reflecting upon the strange incident two days ago. He had come to take over the responsibilities of his brother, who shouldn't even be alive.
Thinking of that man, Jefferson grimaced, just like he always did each and every time that he remembered the truth that only he knew- that their mother had tried to use a technique which would allow one, in a pair of twins, to absorb all the potential of the other so that they would rise far above any realm that they would have been bound to normally, and that this plan had failed.
Well, it wasn't a complete failure, but every time Jefferson thought about how much more talent he could have had, he would find himself resenting that block-headed Fighter who shared his blood, and looking forward to the day when he would die.
Discarding this image which he was used to dreaming about occasionally, he continued recalling that memory.
He had taken over the control of all of the formations which were keeping an eye on the Kingdom of Lanthanor and the individuals who used to move closely with the Overlord, and even the one which created apparitions that were supposed to be sent at a few intervals in order to see whether any of these individuals could be swayed against that man, and be used as bargaining chips in the future.
After that, his brother, who had always had a thing for cleanliness had gone to the bathroom, while he had started to scold the man due to the shoddy work he had done until that day.
Pissed off at how the man had the gall to ignore him, Jefferson had sat there, fuming, and after that… there was only a blank spot.
He had woken up quite a while later, and out of panic, he had almost sent an alarm to the Order.
However, thankfully, he had stopped at the last moment, knowing that an alarm that was raised without there being enough of a cause would only irritate the Heroes that would be sent out. And annoying Heroes… Was simply not something that anyone sane would want to do.
Calming himself down, he had checked his body and found nothing amiss. He only found his mind clearer than before, and this right away made him wonder whether he had fallen asleep.
The only problem with this… was that he was a damn Peak Champion who was supposed to have a firm grasp over his consciousness! Was it possible that he would allow himself to do something like that, right when he was supposed to be handling something so important?
No!
But still, all evidence pointed in this direction.
He had even contacted his brother to find out what had happened, and after hearing that the man had left abruptly due to not wanting to listen to the rest of his tirade, which was something he typically did, Jefferson had only been even more puzzled.
He had even checked upon everything in the kingdom, and again, there had been nothing. All the individuals who had been marked as important were still oblivious to the truth, and they were still acting in the same way that they had been for the past few days.
With that, Jefferson had tried to let it go, but it kept coming back to him. True, he had been quite tired because he had been training a lot to attempt to break through quickly, and it was also possible that it might even have been a prank by his brother to make it seem as if he was being lax in his duties. He didn't put it past the man, at all, because there had been previous attempts to make him fail, perhaps out of jealousy or even avarice.
Now, as he reached the spot where they were going, Jefferson wondered whether he should really report the matter to his father, at least.
True, as this was just a mission in the central continent, the Overseer had only allocated the most minimum of resources to it. Even these individuals who had come now were only warriors experienced with the skills that were needed for this mission, and he was the most powerful individual on their side.
It wasn't a far cry to say that he was also the most powerful individual in this area, so there should be no problem, but he just couldn't let go of this itch on his back.
However, noticing the others looking at him strangely, he humphed and said, "Well? Get on with that! We don't have all day!"
With hurried nods, knowing of his temper, all four of the individuals who had been flying with him shot off in different directions.
They had arrived this morning to set up the final step, and now, they were just going to check whether everything was perfect.
With his hands behind his back, Jefferson surveyed the city below him.
It had a population of over two hundred thousand citizens, and it was mostly an unremarkable place that had almost been unaffected by all the things that had happened in the central continent in the past few years.
Only...it had been chosen for exactly this reason.
A few minutes later, the Warriors that had left returned, and the one who had been leading them said, "The explosives are ready to be detonated, sir. When the perfect time comes, we can just do it remotely."
With a nod, Jefferson replied, "Good. Get out of here. I'll go back on my own. And remember: don't be late, or there may be a little...infighting."
Seeing the Warrior who had spoken gulp with fear, Jefferson smiled to himself and saw the four in front of him bow respectfully and leave.
They would soon be drenched in the blood of hundreds of thousands of people, and at that time, wouldn't it be disastrous if one of those who were acting as the 'demons from the Church' got too excited and started killing those on their own side?
It might even add an additional layer of fear that could be useful later!
Deciding to propose this to the Overseer, Jefferson gave one last look at the city, and the surrounding villages.
Come nightfall, the entire place would be going up in flames, and with that image in his mind, he teleported away with the corners of his lips turned up as far as they would go.
A few hours later, he was looking at himself in the mirror.
He was wearing white robes with a golden hem that shone even if light didn't fall on it, and his face was covered by a mask.
The robes were bulging as if he was hiding a lot of things on his body, and with a flourish, he opened the robes with both his hands to reveal a chilling sight.
Torture instruments of all kinds were present on the inside of the robes, from twisted pokers to dig into one's skin and special clipper-like instruments that could peel the top layer off of one's body if they were filled with Energy.
Today…Lanthanor would see and understand what the word 'hell' truly meant.
Nodding to himself on seeing that he was the perfect copy of a cruel Executioner from the Church whom the Order had dealt with secretly but with great losses before, Jefferson said, "Detonate."
As if waiting for the perfect note of a symphony that was playing, he closed his eyes as the man who had been waiting behind him activated a trinket that he had been holding all this while.
BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
It was as if night had turned into day. An explosion of a size that had not even been heard of on Angaria rocked the spot he had visited before, and even though he was more than a hundred kilometers away, he could feel the tremors in the ground that were spreading rapidly everywhere.
Jefferson's features had lit up with brilliant joy at the moment of the explosion, and seeing them in the mirror, the young Warriors who were waiting in the same room were all thoroughly spooked out.
Fear. Oh, how sweet did it taste.
Smirking, Jefferson gave the signal to head out.
A few moments later, they were above the spot where a large fire was blazing, right in the spot where the city had used to be.
Like a predator taking in the irresistible smell of the prey that it had already bloodied, Jefferson closed his eyes and breathed in deep.
In reality, he was engaging all his senses. He wanted to smell the burning flesh of all those who were in the city, hear the screams of all those who were being immolated to death and feel the cruelty that was being wrought upon the continent on his command.
Only…something was wrong.
Opening his eyes abruptly, he saw the Warriors in front of him looking puzzled, too.
Why…was it that they could hear nothing from the city and the surrounding villages?
They had placed the explosives perfectly so that a large portion would be killed, whereas the rest would be injured and waiting to be tortured and slaughtered.
By all rights, by now, they should be able to identify these unlucky individuals who had been subjected to low-power explosives.
However…nothing of the sort could be heard.
Striding forward in the air with anger, Jefferson caught the collar of the 20-year-old Warrior who had been in charge of setting up the explosives.
"YOU MESSED UP! HOW THE F*CK DID YOU FAIL IN SOMETHING SO-"
Probably blown into the air due to the explosion, a flyer that was half burnt suddenly floated into Jefferson's line of sight.
He had spotted something on it that had made him pause, and raising his hand in its direction, he made it enter his palm in a second.
It said: "Breaking news! All citizens are hereby notified of a miraculous 'Rock of Destiny' that has come into being at a spot three kilometers east of Fairydust Village! Head over there if you would like to change your fate! Even the Grand Court Mage of the Alliance has decreed that there is something strange about it, so don't miss this chance! Take your children to have their potential increased, and take your elders to have their lifespan extended! Above all, move now, as it will be closed an hour after dusk by the authorities! DON'T MISS THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY!"
With each word he read on it, his anger grew to new peaks, and by the time he was done, the four Warriors became convinced that they would be the ones being tortured soon, in the place of all those who had miraculously been saved by a weird twist of fate.