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Chapter 069: Pegasus Is Not Dead

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A car drove with speed and parked in the hotel's main parking lot and from there, Rex got out as he ran towards a group surrounded by armed guards.

The entire avenue was blocked by many layers of blockages from the House of Bryn and the only reason why Rex was able to get past them was because he faked the registry of this car into that of the House of Bryn's within their scanners.

"Mandy!" he called.

As soon as she heard her name, Amanda rose to her feet and ignored everything else to jump into his embrace and began crying.

"I was so scared... I was so scared..."

"It's okay... It's okay... I got you."

Rex hugged the trembling girl tightly and while still wearing that black mask, patted her shoulder and just let her pour the tears he didn't see from her in all the seconds he drove into this direction. Then, he looked over at Alice who was looking at him in deep suspicion. He gave her a nod and realization dawned on her as she nodded back.

"Where's my brother and the rest?" Ana came and asked hurriedly. Unlike Agatha who collapsed and also lost her wits for some time, as Matt explained, Ana looked as fired as Rio was when he saw her.

"They're safe." he said and gave her a pat.

Ana's shoulder's relaxed and although they were not treated poorly, it was still an experience being kidnapped even once in your life.

None of these news were ever made public for the media perks to feast on and so, the people of House of Bryn were all frowning at the sight of the Princess hugging an unknown masked man.

But amongst their ranks, there was someone who narrowed his eyes with suspicion. As far as their Intel goes, there was only one man she will ever openly hug and that man was "Siva".

Only those high enough in the ranks knows of the person behind Siva —or at least, only those who knew of the incident four years ago knew who he, Siva, really was.

Rex Kingsley.

Siva is no other than Rex Kingsley.

During the "Mefisto Extraction Experiment" that Professor Alfred Pegasus, creator of RPG: Terroa which is now enjoyed by the world as the game, conducted four years ago, almost all of the high-ranking people of the World Government and its [Guests], was there when two teenagers barged in and ruined the experiment.

One of the teenagers was Pegasus's daughter while the other was the son of two of the four people responsible for the said experiment.

Enraged, Pegasus shot his own daughter while the boy had a major accident and hit his head so hard that if his parents weren't genius doctors, he would have already died —no— in fact, with the sight of his 'corpse' back then, it was a miracle he was still alive until now.

He, Margrave John ryn, was there back then as an escort to the Queen.

When the House of Bryn first saw Siva, they were almost looking at him with indifference but when they saw that he was together with the Princess, it was then that they started to develop their plan to move faster into recovering a lost Royal Bloodline sooner than initially projected.

In fact, if Amanda hasn't gone to this year's batch of The Conclave, they would have made another 'legal' reason for the entire House of Bryn to go to Philip Country and fetch her up.

—even disguising the visit as something along the lines of 'opening up' business in Philip Country...

But they didn't expect that the Duke of Levingston would beat them to the punch.

What more, they actually worked together with a mysterious backer called "Heavenly Father" who definitely has a deep contact with the inner circle of the World Government to kidnap the Princess and use her legitimacy to the throne to their own benefits.

And when they were contacted by "Mitra" all of a sudden and was given the 'tip' that led to them barging in to this property House of Levingston, it wasn't hard for him to connect the dots —seeing that this Mitra seemed to have an undisguised hate to this so called "Heavenly Father".

So who was Mitra?

And why suddenly "Siva" was here now and was in a tight embrace with the Princess?

John Bryn wasn't stupid.

These were all obvious dots. He just had to draw the lines and he could immediately see the picture they were showing.

And knowing who "Siva" and "Mitra" is now does not mean it was good news and something to be smiling about.

If something, if Siva, or Mitra, is indeed that Rex Kingsley of four years ago... then this entire thing is not a good sign.

*****

In the middle of their hug, a man approached and coughed once but just as he was about to speak, Rex cut him in with a sharp stare through his mask so in the end the man didn't say anything.

"Rex..." Amanda broke off and wiped her tears, speaking his name in a whisper. "...what's these hard things on your body? Why're you wearing a cloak when it's not raining?"

Rex seemed to be caught off guard and scratched his cheek shyly.

"Ah! These? These are... well... I'll explain later."

She made a sigh and hugged him again.

"Ehem... Ehem..." the man obviously coughed louder for the attention.

Rex met the man's eyes and the man spoke, "My name is John Bryn, Margrave in the service of the Cristiana Queendom. May I speak a few words?"

"Order your people to forget I came here." Rex only said. That dismissive tone almost made this Margrave draw his gun and fire at him. But he was a noble and so he stopped himself and exhaled to control his temper.

He replied, "They knew what's best for them and the House of Bryn always pays their debts."

Amanda only went quiet, silently listening to their conversation while still wearing a worried look.

"I don't care about it and I don't plan to meddle in your business, but I will move, I can assure you, if it involved my people or if it endangers Amanda."

Amanda held is hand tighter and blushed as she hid her face on her shoulder. Although she wasn't acquainted with the Margrave or the entire House of Bryn as a whole, but they were still the reason why they were kidnapped —according to their kidnappers— and that it was also the House of Bryn who had rescued them just now. As such, she tried to tug on Rex's arm to at least give the man some revenue.

But Rex didn't budge only stared at the man eye to eye, straight through his mask without averting is entire head even a little.

The Margrave saw this and his frown deepened.

"Let's talk on my car." He invited.

"I don't trust your car's security. Mine's safer."

Rex didn't give him courtesy despite him being a Margrave. To Rex, even the UNICORN was just a title people on people to distinguish a division that which there shouldn't be any... and so in his eyes who had once been an Immortal, there is nothing in this world that is permanent so why put so much emphasis in titles and such?

The Margrave clenched his fists and walked over and followed Rex who didn't take no for a reply.

After entering the car, the chairs rotated and the three of them faced each other. Ana and Alice were already in the care of the medical staff of the House of Bryn.

Margrave John Bryn dropped his noble act, "Why did you bring weapons here?" his question was layered with hostility it was scary especially when it's coming from a noble and an adult at that.

"It's because it's not safe." Rex said flatly. He was still looking straight at the Margrave, not averting in the slightest.

This was a clear challenge and if he didn't have his noble upbringing, he would have exploded at him since earlier.

"How did you get them?" the Margrave could only hiss through his teeth.

"Through my contacts." Rex said. "If I can take down a Noble House within seconds, how can I not buy any weapons I need when I need them?"

—taking down a Noble House?

Both Amanda and the Margrave were shocked.

Isn't this blatantly admitting that he was Mitra?

Amanda was briefed a little after being rescued and she and Alice learned that the one who saved them was actually called Mitra.

So does that mean Rex had just become one of the richest people in the planet?

The entire asset of an entire Noble House alone was already enough to buy 90% of the economy of the Philip Country.

Goodness!

This news was even more shocking to John Bryn.

Earlier he already had a suspicion, but now that Rex actually admitted it, it was scary how much power this guy has in his hands. It only made him want to separate Amanda away from him more and more each moment.

Rex continued through the silence, "You all must understand that in this world, the UNICORN is not as impenetrable as you think they might be. Mitra exists and we are all over the place."

—we?

John Bryn took note of the word. He said, "So you really are indeed Mitra?"

"I don't deny that I am part of Mitra."

The man's eyes narrowed, "So there's more than just one Mitra?"

Rex replied calmly, "A power of that magnitude can never be held in one man's hands alone."

The man stayed quiet.

Rex said, "There is a possibility that Pegasus is the Heavenly Father. In and out of Terroa, I am hearing his name over and over. And of them all, they are targeting me. Of this world, I imagine only Alfred Pegasus has the only motive to plan against my life without caring for any other consequences of his actions. So I have reasons to doubt it is him and what more, I'm also willing to bet that the World Government is aware of his operations and that this entire thing was planned by them."

"Alfred Pegasus is dead." The man hissed. "And the Christiana Monarchs will never let the Princess get into harms' way!"

Rex laughed at him mockingly, "Are you really the Margrave of the Christiana Monarch? How come I know more than you know when I am not a part of the UNICORN? Pegasus is not dead and he killed my parents and so I will kill him in return."

Is words were spoken into a hiss that the tangible sense of murder radiated out of him, shocking the Margrave greatly.

How can such thick murderous intent come from a mere teenager?

"Rex..." Amanda's call dissipated the dangerous amounts of murderous intent radiating off of Rex's shoulders and he sighed, lowering his head as he massaged his nose bridge with his and.

"I'm sorry." He said to Amanda. "I... as soon as I realized that you were kidnapped, I rushed here from Phil in under ten hours and haven't actually rested so I..."

Amanda held his hand tighter.

"Do not lose sight of what's important. Revenge will only erode your soul away and it is precisely what's dangerous about your situation. I'm okay now, see? Try to relax your mind a little. I won't leave your side from here."

Rex nodded at her gentle words. "I know. Sorry."

John watched this happen and he sighed, "As a Margrave of my country, I cannot say I approve of this relationship."

"If you know something, say it." Rex retorted.

"Then I'll be blunt. You don't deserve the Princess as you are now. Even if Mitra has the power to be a threat to the UNICORN, but that is because you haven't seen the true power they are capable of wielding. I may only be a Margrave but I am aware of a few things at least. I know... that [Siva] is wanted by many parties. I know that in Terroa lies the secrets of Immortality in the real world. I also know that as long you are near the Princess, she will never be safe. This incident is proof enough that all those people around you will always be in danger because... if what you say is true, that the UNICORN approves of Pegasus' actions, then it's precisely because of that that everybody else that is around you will always face situations like these where their lives will be in danger."

Rex, hearing it was surprised while Amanda was also astonished.

"Immortality? HAH! Who gave you that idea? It's just a game world and it just so happen that it was special because my parents made it so. What's that got to do with the secret to Immortality? And as for her safety... now that you are here, would that NOT be a problem at all?"

Amanda looked at Rex as she squeezed his hand.

Was it shock? Pain?

Is he giving her away?

Why does it hurt hearing it as if he's not even fighting to keep her near him?

But then again... this incident proved something.

As strong and special Rex is, he was only a single man and no matter how many layers of lies he sow with each other about this "Mitra" name that every core Asgardian is aware of the origins of just to build an imaginary wall of intimidation to all of his possible enemies, Rex, in the end, is just one man against a real army of people who didn't fear the nobility of Christiana Monarchy and actually kidnapped her, Amanda, the 'supposed' legit Crown Princess.

Even now, hearing it all, Amanda was still shocked deep in her heart.

What little girl did not dream of being a Princess one day? But to become one through this incident of kidnapping was just too... surreal.

So this was the reason why her family received all those blessings all those years ago. Mom's family background was actually a World Noble? Wow.

Amanda's pain-filled eyes made Rex feel guilty with the words he said but he trusted that she also understood his point in this incident.

—especially after John Bryn stressed the meaning of his words...

He was alone, and she and Alice knew the true and real origins of the name "Mitra" —a civilization of Immortals that held a special place in his heart.

When he came here, he trusted that the House of Bryn will question them about who Mitra is since it was this guy who was desperate for the House of Bryn to save the hostages as fast as they can.

During the debriefing, the three girls didn't say a word as per Alice's urging and it was also at that time that Rex arrived, leading to this moment.

"Immortality?" Rex chuckled, "It's just a pipe dream if you ask me." he told the Margrave as he too was squeezing Amanda's hand tightly.

"Is it?" The Margrave looked at Rex. "Where did you think those NPCs came from, huh? Haven't you noticed that all of those NPCs have emotions and real intelligence on them? Unlike the earliest of AI experiments, those NPCs are all Mortals who live and die by their universe."

Rex narrowed his eyes, "Of course I know. I've long noticed it but what of it? They're still, in the end, mere ones and zeroes arranged in a more complex and flexible way."

He didn't say he had lived in it.

"Then have you heard of DNI Deep Scanning?"

Rex's breathing shortened. Of course he knew of it since it was the very procedure that saved his life four years ago in this country, in this city.

His silence was taken as a yes and the Margrave went on, "Eight years ago, UNICORN's 85th Year Anniversary, there was a Mandatory Registry for all countries of the world."

"I remember." Rex said. "Everyone was taken to the nearest Medical Facility and they conducted tests to everyone to update to their records."

"But what you didn't know is that there are a select few whose tests didn't only last a few minutes but rather days. And during that time, all of them were copied through the DNI Deep Scan Technology a scientist of the early era had designed. Only with your parents was this device called DNI Scanning Device and its scanning techniques perfected. But back then... this device was called an [STL] —the abbreviation for the [Soul Translator]."

The Margrave took a few moments to let this Intel sink in to the two. As for Amanda, as a Princess and future ruler of their country, she'd eventually get exposed to these things so why not set it early than normal?

After all, she was in a relationship with "Siva" and it would seem that she knew more about him than in their initial estimates.

He continued, "All of these people's personalities, thought patterns, and data about themselves were duplicated with all their memories filtered, erased, and then given a new set of memories according to preset designs. Over three hundred thousand kinds of individuals ranging from criminals to innocents, to even babies and last moments-dying individuals; a set of standards, one for each factor of the human behavior, anatomy, constitution, and psychological conditions, were all gathered and consolidated to a single database called [Project T3-12120A] otherwise known as Project Salvation by the higher ups."

Rex's frown deepened further.

Project Salvation... why does this name sounded familiar to him?

Under his mask, Rex hid his glare, "Your point is?"

"RPG: Terroa is not just a game. It has a purpose in the overall plans of the World Government. And you, Rex, Siva, Mitra, or whoever you are to them, will always be a target by the UNICORN—and that means that every people you make contact with or cared about will also be their target. And that is also the reason why you will always be a source of danger for the safety of the Princess."

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(AN: "Planet Salvation" NOT "Project Salvation" is first mentioned in Vol.1 when Rex first entered the game. Project Salvation was first mentioned by Thorn in Volume 6 and followed up in Volume 7)

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is a World Noble...?

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