"General, the black guard leader has recovered and I've come to inform you of something strange"

The maid bowed as she repeated

"So I've been told, and I came hoping it's worth breaking your schedule, for your sake it better be"

The unconcealed threat caused the maid to break a sweat, or so the parasite had them believe

"I assure you it's of major importance"

"Out with it then"

The feline general, Gremm, bared his teeth, this was taking too much of his patience, if it weren't for their need of this new hidden tool then he would have taught her not to dally long ago

The parasite realized that the creature before it had a short fuse, trying to hurry up and finish the fabricated story in its head

"Yes, when he exited he seemed normal at a glance yet as I stood near a creeping sensation started to take over my body, like I was walking on eggshells the entire time, somehow something was watching me, I couldn't pinpoint where it was but I am sure the others felt it as well with how tense they were"

"? You got to give me more than that, no clues to what happened can be perceived through mere sensations"

"I...I am unsure if I should share this but, well, I may know where the gaze came from unlike what I said though it's not certain so it might throw you off instead of giving you clues"

"Whether it is false or true is for us to decide, you just need to report everything you see"

"In that case, I could have sworn I saw his shadow move, like it turned its head toward me when I glanced at it, staring back blankly"

"His shadow?"

Gremm was taken back, sure he expected something strange coming from that guy but what was this about his shadow? Clearly he was skilled at controlling space and blood...

"Could it be?"

He murmured, an idea flashing through his mind, it felt ridiculous when one thought of it but it could very well be the key to solving this mystery

"He even had special undead shackles made, we all thought he was trying to chain something up but if he was using it to hide his shadow's aura then...no, I have to report this to them, you"

He gazed at the maid

"Keep a close eye on him, check where he took the shackles too, I want to know if he used them after they got delivered"

Gremm turned to leave after conveying his commands but the maid stopped him with her response

"He took them out today"

"....How did he use them"

"I don't know, he took them to his room after asking one of the maids to deliver it"

Gremm thought for a second before renewing her mission

"Then find out if they are in his room still or not"

Upon hearing this the maid started to shake uncontrollably, fear showing in her eye

"General, I can't, if he finds me in his room without reason I'll, I'll meet a fate worse than what he had me go through"

Gremm's eyes turned sharp seeing her hesitant, he didn't blow his top or threaten her again however, instead switched to a less overbearing tone

"There might be risk, but there is plenty reward to compensate"

He reached for his satchel, taking out a round glass ball housing some sort of liquid with floating seeds, each squirming as if it were alive

Opening the top if the bottle to let the smell waft about he continued

"Your hand, lost when you couldn't go against orders, your eye, lost due to false promises and a petty mind, and maybe your life, to be lost for a little bit of fun, and what do you get to compensate this misery? A 'guarantee' to live without having to fend for yourself with your race's useless combat abilities?"

The smell riled up the maid, this time not in pretending for the parasite deemed whatever inside to be just a notch below that miracle fruit it's master prepared, perhaps of better quality even

"What we offer you however is a step up from your weak body, an evolution to a higher being, one that depended not on the whims of others but on your very own strength!"

Gremm himself seemed convinced with his own words, bearing fangs with wild enthusiasm

"Now, will you continue to live under a false ruler or will you join us in our pursue of evolution"

The maid was about to agree with shared enthusiasm but some thoughts started to surface, blurted out instead of its own words

"May madness unshackle our binds"

"And unshackled we will be"

They exchanged some sort of slogan before he pocketed the glass ball and went on his way, assured that she would now see her job through to the end

The parasite remained still for a second, uncertain what took over it for a second there, it didn't feel like it came from the blood but from within its soul, this made it guess that its master had influenced it somehow, much like its parent parasite used to

It would ask about the matter later, now it needed to get out before anything happened to expose its identity, the less time spent here the better

Watching it leave through their screens the four fell into a debating silence, with YuJu being the first to break it with mummers

"Must have roped him in sooner than I predicted, my presence caused this I'm assured"

His mummers were intended to give the others a hint to why it was Gremm and not Basu he exposed, this only added to their trouble however as it could very well mean that two generals flipped sides already

"I seem to have miscalculated, I will arrange another way to expose Basu, give me some time"

He then added, the responses he received being less harsher than before, seeing one of them turncoat was enough proof to at least stop being hostile with him due to making them doubt their own

"I believe we are in need of time ourselves my friend, it's will take a while to chew over this treachery"

"I do hope that you wouldn't show it in your attitude however, be as friendly as you can, even keep your open hostility with myself"

"Of course, we wouldn't want them to doubt anything either, though it would be great if you let us on the grand scheme you seem to be building"

"The less you know the easier it is for me"

Seeing as YuJu didn't want to give any hints as to what he was up to Verbrand could only give up, for now

The drones as well as YuJu turned to Aminta after the little chat, seeing a normal expression on her face, as if unfazed by this revelation

"You may go back once we retrieve the seed"

That was usually a complicated and dangerous thing to do, which is why surveillance seeds weren't put to use most of the time, in this instance however everyone knew an undead wouldn't be damaged by such a procedure

In fact YuJu made it even easier for them when he had Anput recall the maid upon her arrival, dispersing the war shadow which dropped the seed onto the ground, now quickly withering without a host

"We will be taking our leave"

He and the husk of skin then walked through the emergency exit again, leaving the hall silent until they made sure he was back at his mansion

"Check for the validity of what we saw"

"No need commander, I tracked the seed when it was moving and it's true that the tunnels led straight to Gremm's residence"

"Even so I need a thorough check on the seed, see if there was chance of the scene being fabricated"

"Yes commander"

"I think he is not deceiving us, for once"

Verbrand chipped in

"The fellow has some ulterior motives for sure, whether he is on our side or not isn't certain yet, one thing is however and that's Gremm's betrayal"

The two were silent, they also knew that it was almost impossible for it to be fake, not with all the evidence, just the tunnels were enough proof since nobody from YuJu's side was present during their construction

"I understand but it is my duty to seek any lies, Gremm has served me long enough to deserve at least this much"

Aminta responded, as hardened as she was she never was dismissive to those who earned her trust and served under her rule

"But what if he did turncoat commander? Do we continue like nothing happened as we had told YuJu?"

"We must honor our word, give him time to build his schemes and see this through to the end, as for the price of treason"

Her eyes narrowed, dangerous energy brewing within

"Only a grim end awaits"