================================

Chapter 118: The Conclave

================================

Rex was on the veranda, gripping the rails as hard as he could, his chest heaving up and down as his heart fumed in rage. Amanda caressed his back in a smooth gesture, pacifying him. Her cheeks also flushed pink in anger along with her teary eyes.

The man with her was angry but more than that, he was also trembling in fear. He was very scared.

It was because he failed to rescue Baron.

Back in Dakar, who would have thought that that sealed space that Gabriel's "detection" couldn't pierce thru would be protected so heavily by not only technological inventions, but also by a Barrier Spell so powerful that it invoked on him memories of facing the impregnable defenses of the ancient forgotten [Gods].

That "familiar feeling" he got provoked the wrath in his heart and as much as he destroys and hack the facility's protections, even with Killing Zone, that Barrier Spell, assumed to be at Tier-9 or 10, still held on despite his attacks.

It should be noted that with Siva's current strength level, the City-Wide Defenses recognizes him as a threat so each time he bears his fangs inside any city, unless it was a city the size of Jeremiah, the [Safe Zone Status] of the city is immediately lifted and not just on that specific district or quadrant.

He was unable to peer open the space beyond the Barrier Spell, but he could feel that Baron was in there... and so he raged on for not being able to get in, and threw in all attacks he could, even to the point of using artillery cannons. Even when he used Scion's spells, the Barrier persisted and the space beyond remained inaccessible to him. The Barrier Spell still remained intact. Additionally, the commotion he created alerted the entire facility so people began swarming in at him. It was trouble he couldn't possibly allow.

Although Siva did not fear anyone, they became a hindrance to him. And then, amongst the crowd, he spotted the Seventh Elder and just when their gazes met, the Seventh Elder immediately sensed the danger and logged out.

It sent Siva mad that he almost smashed the whole facility, only to stop after being advised by Cortana that it might become dangerous for Baron later.

The City Lord immediately raised the City Barrier and isolated him. Yet before he got kicked out and overwhelmed by the City Barrier's isolation ability, he still managed to destroy a random hangar with a parked warship using a hundred Lightning Flash Bombs that he "threw" at it from 10km away.

After that, he jumped out of Dakar but still left the Sword Master lingering there somewhere.

It was easy to think how he sent the [message] in.

* * * * *

Amanda saw Rex broke apart like glass in front of his brother's room back then when he himself has just gotten out of a major operation to restore his neck injury.

Though he knew that it was harmful for his health to cry at the time, he still couldn't help breaking as he saw Baron's condition. Even she couldn't help tearing up when remembering Rex crying in front of the glass window and seeing Baron, bandaged, unconscious, with his life supported only by tubes.

Amanda understood rex's pain and of course the sources of his anger.

Though they secured the True Dragon who's now stunned to unconsciousness in a multiple isolated spatial coordinates in Mundus (for they can't bring it with him back in Asgard because of the natural anti-spatial control it emits as a True Dragon), the next objective in Rex's plan was to sneak Baron out of Dakar because they were pressed in time as now that he had made his move against the Blue Card Legion, Kira would definitely use her claws to deal a revenge strike at him.

But who would have thought that everything would fall apart at the very last and crucial part of it all?

What went wrong?

Where did he mess up?

—No.

In the first place, even if he snuck in to Dakar right after Julian planted the Mini Realm with the Liberty Drone, disregarding the cleanup operation that included attacking Blue Card Legion, he still would not have been able to barge in there because that Barrier Spell was beyond something the current Magic Technology of the Enchantment Temple is capable of creating. In other words, it's a [Barrier] created by a divine item, just like Julian's Memory Orb.

And speaking of which, although this plan failed, it may have been not too much a failure.

After all, it was part of Julian's [Mission] to use the Memory Orb against the Seventh Elder.

The Memory Orb saves the last 24hrs memory of a target it was used to I a little gem. That item was already in Siva's possession and he already saw its contents, thus the center of the different reasons he was angry right now.

In the memory, disregarding all unnecessary parts of the last 24hrs memory, Kira divulged that she has long since been working as a triple agent for The Heavenly Father, The Union, and Blue Card Legion —these were information that he already knew but still serves as concrete evidence of the corruption of The Union who conspired with the Blue Card Legion to disrupt the peace of Terroa in the name of the Bloody Church and the Demon Armada who was clearly the [Heavenly Father]'s Demon Army.

Siva now had in his hands the evilness of Seventh Elder and The Union as a whole and although this was merely game-elements to others, this was the matter of life and death for Baron's mind.

—thus Siva's anger and anxiety.

This was one reason enough for the entire Terran Alliance to move against The Union but if he don't play his cards right, the Terran Alliance might end up only aggravating Baron's situation.

Failing to save him in Dakar was the biggest failure of this entire plan of his.

* * * * *

"Rex..." Amanda whispered and she pulled his face towards her direction, forcefully aligning his gaze into hers, "...being agitated won't help us in anyway. You will only tire yourself. You need to at least relax your mind. We've already sent the gem to Gaia and she already promised to help you with the other Alliance Seat. Trust in her."

The frown on his face gently and gradually untied and Rex heave a long sigh. Amanda bumped her forehead into his and with their nose touching, the gentle hands holding his face hooked into a hug until she kissed him.

It was long, passionate, deep, and silent.

But the two of them shared it intensely until they, or to be exact, he, Rex, lost his mind into it as his hands locked her waist and pulled her closer to his bosom. The kiss lasted for a few minutes until the two of them began chasing their breaths.

Rex, summoning up all his strength, pulled himself off of Amanda who blushed red in embarrassment, hiding her face sideways to avoid his gaze. But.... she did not dare to lock away from his embrace.

In the end, when she felt Rex smiling at her, she buried her face on his chest and bit his skin.

"Ow!"

"Why are you smiling like an evil meanie?"

Rex paused and laughed, "It's because you're so cute that I almost got lost of myself."

Amanda didn't refute him and instead put her arms around his body, "Didn't we agree to do it after the gathering?"

Rex blinked and tried to pull her off but she didn't want to and instead fought off his strength with so much resistance it made Rex laugh hard when he caught sight of the red tips of her ears.

Only—

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Alright... alright!! Stop! Ah! It hurts! Stop biting me, it hurts!"

"Hmp!"

Amanda suddenly extricates and turned around to go to the bedroom but before the door totally shut him out, she yelled, "Now that you're in a lighter mood, take a bath and prepare. We might get late at the gathering."

Rex thought for a moment and felt warmth in his heart thinking of the weapon Amanda used to lift his mood up and totally change it. It was more of a reason for him to appreciate Amanda's dedication for his sake. He couldn't help walking towards the door that Amanda immediately shut tight.

"W-W-What are you doing?!! D-Didn't we have an agreement! Oi!"

Instead of replying to that, Rex bumped his head on the door and whispered, "I love you."

On the other side, Amanda jerked in surprise as her embarrassment crawled from her neck and up, dying her face in a vivid flush. Whether she knew it or not, she put her head on the door and gently answered his words with her own, "I love you too."

She didn't know it but Rex was full of gratitude and warmth in his heart as he put his palm on the door, feeling her presence on the other side.

Yet before he could even say or even do anything else, the door opened and Amanda planted a two second kiss on him before closing the door again.

"Now get a bath or we're gonna be late!" her shaky voice full of embarrassment shouted.

Rex soundlessly chuckled to himself and stepped off of the door and entered his room, then took a bath, and prepared. All the while, maintaining his logged-in status in Terroa in order to monitor the movements of The Union as well as give additional instructions for Gaia on keeping secret the plan to suppress The Union with the Memory Gem.

* * * * *

Thorn —no, officially, Anthony Thornberry... the bachelor son of the current Head of the ever so prestigious Thornberry Family, the premiere of the Five Great Clans, powerful beyond compare, was in an isolated corner of the overly large auditorium hall devoid of the chairs in the center. Holding the glass of wine in his hand like a real prince, he was as uninterested as a corner vase when watching the spectacle of the world's most renowned event in gathering the most promising geniuses of their current generation.

Clad in semi-medieval masquerade clothing, every man looked dashing on their own rights while the ladies wore dresses accentuating their curves and assets; those with lesser fats, finer curves, bigger busts, thinner thighs, and gorgeous gowns of the most intricate designs possible, made by the world renowned dress-makers —with some even more so vintage, reconditioned and remade; designs of the past immortalized by their concepts... designs that embodied the vision and artistry of the maker, carrying their soul to exist for all eternity.

....were all gathered here, smiling ever so brightly, shimmering with their vanity maxed out to the limits only to prove who is the brightest star of the night.

There were those wo looked like a galaxy, with the stars of different colors attached to their thin silk dress, looking like a flowing illusion, making your senses feel as though you are in outer space.

And then there were those who wore their dress to promote their country; the blue silk with shining diamonds as though it was the sea, with the back having the design of their country —islands upon islands connected into an archipelago. Although it was a design concept in itself, there were at least three or four of them with the same idea and their wearers, then, launched an unseen war where the sparks of conflict would explode whenever they'd get as close to each other within a certain radius.

Then there were the "nature lovers" where, even if they were wearing silk and cloth, still looked as if they were the embodiment of green, lilac, or blue.

Of course, there would be those concept dresses with a punch —the punkish grey reimagined into a piece of dress. Formal in all respect but still had its revolutionary feeling where the gears and pads did not lose to the concept of [medievalism] where the shoulders were hid but the body loudly cries.

Few but still existent, the modern depiction of the concept of "color" was also present in the venue.

Rainbow dresses worn by their charming ladies gave that youthful vibe, gathering smiles and warm welcomes, giving way to expanded networks, the friendly aim of the gathering embodied by such a lively bunch.

And then there were the flats.

Flat Colored, would be the right phrase; it's either they were red, blue, purple, pink, yellow, brown, or the favorite.... black. They were present. In all actual fact, perhaps they were the ones who gave the atmosphere of balance in this entire venue as they who wore the concept of one color are more prone to be the center of the largest of gathering.

After all, their favorite color highlighted their very personalities and the graceful movements and the hypnotic ambiance given by their wearers was the very nature of and goal of the event; socializing.

As to how the attendees would accomplish this one goal is up to their discretion.

The [World Government Council] provided them the reason and place; it's up to them to connect to accomplish this task.

And so they did.

Youths of 16 to 25 years gathered; contemporary geniuses, talented individuals, achievers, all of the future leaders and game-changing prospects were in one place... all varying in reasons for attending; some plainly looking for making friends, some with more eccentric personalities looking for challenge, some wanting to boast, with some having personal goals like love and whatnot, and a few having evil schemes and plots of revenge or whatever. They were all here.

Anthony, in the corner, sipped his wine while his mind thought of his hidden purpose in this call for gathering.

"It's surprising." a girl wearing butterfly mask and a gorgeous smile above her flowery dress bid him a toast as she sat on the empty seat beside him. "I never thought that the World Prince would be the type to be a loner in this gran gathering."

Anthony didn't glance over the girl. He knew who she was. The people he was waiting for were late and this made his mood sour. This girl being here only made his temper worse than it already was.

"I'm not like you. I don't like plastic relationships."

The girl, obviously being insulted, only chuckled in a flirtatious manner and this, if any man heard it, will make them cringe and go to the comfort room to comfort whatever fire she unintentionally ignited on them.

She stretched out her glass and gave him a toast with a clear and vivid sound of their glasses hitting each other slightly. It was an expert move done for the sole sake of making a sound.

Anthony didn't budge nor did he drink but she did and she laughed sweetly as she finished her wine.

"Oh poor Anthony, even now, you're still a sour loser over the fact that I am chosen as the next in line as the Head of the Family."

Anthony, who tried to remain calm, couldn't help to feel that the reason who she came to him was only to provoke his inner feelings. And the way she did so, with or perhaps, hopefully, without knowing of the gravity of being the one in the seat of Head of the Family, is one reason for him to look at her in anger. Seeing this reaction, the girl laughed as she slowly stood up, making all eyes that secretly followed her every move ogle at her sexiness.

"You have no idea what you're doing, Amy. There are secrets in our family that you are too ignorant to act high and mighty with me for."

The girl, Amy —Emma Leon-Campbell Thornberry of the Main Family Branch— laughed at him as she took two steps back and rejoined an incoming new group of ladies who laughed at her disappearance.

"Oh, how cute of you, Anthony... I wonder who between the two of us who isn't aware of the true gravity of the secrets of this family..."

She said so in a hush and winked at him under her mask before joining her group of missies who then asked a few questions about him while also throwing a few sideways glance.

Anthony wasn't amused but he felt that she said a few alarming things about their 'family secrets' that made him look at her direction.

It was also at this time that he didn't notice one girl who wore a military uniform approaching him from the other side.

And when he finally did notice her presence, the always calm and composed Anthony Thornberry who didn't like mingling with other people began to stiffen as his body trembled.

His first act upon noticing "her" was to get away but in his fluster, fear, happiness, and confusion, he was stuck on his seat trying to decide which way to go. Even the win in his hand threatened to spill as he turned from side to side.

And then, finally, a hand descended on his right shoulder from behind, stopping his ugly fluster.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time." The words should have sounded happy but the voice was as stiff as a soldier and as hard as wood. "Just seeing you brings back memories already."

Although the voice sounded as if she was happy to see Anthony, the delivered message was not.

Of course, deep in his heart, Anthony was happy to see her but in the end, the "fear" was still there and the "love" was buried under the memories of those days.

"O-Ohohoho... if it wasn't Elder Si—"

"Hm?"

It was just one sound of inquiry and Anthony knew immediately where his mistake lies.

He stiffened his body and stood straight. Like a real soldier, snappily addressed her.

"I am happy to see you too, Captain Armstrong!"

Only a few—close to being none— actually saw the entire event and those who saw "her" would've wished more to have never seen her because she was a known terror.

Her reputation precedes her and every man who had a thought of ever wanting to date this girl was either thrown upside down on the streets or have one or two bones broken by her personally.

She was a real beauty but she has strict standards.

Many would even cry and eagerly dispute that her strict military discipline had ruined her beauty. But many more would still fight on that one of Captain Emilia Armstrong's greatest charms was the fact that she was a militaristic onee-chan —one that will babysit you if you're a useful and disciplined part of her unit but will ignore you like dirt if you're just going to approach her for the sake of her flesh.

And yes, just like her name implied, this was the very person Anthony Thornberry had asked the "Mustached Captain" back then during their first meeting. This is 2nd Lieutenant Tash Armstrong's elder sister herself, Anthony's (one-sided) love, and Captain of the UNICORN's Anti-Terrorist Task Force, Captain Emilia Armstrong.

The stiff face of the girl soon softened and she did what many men would have wished to have been blessed enough to experience.

She patted Anthony in the head.

"Eee... hehe... hehehehe...."

If Anthony had a tail, it would have been wagging like a helicopter propeller right now. His face flush deep in red did betray his snappy posture.

After the pat, she fixed his collar and straightened his clothes like a real wife fixing her husband.

"Relax, boy, we're not in the camp." She said in a very soft and caring voice. And then, when all was fixed and done, she took his glass of wine and put its remaining contents into her mouth like a brusk and said very masculinely: "I just came to see if my former platoon element is doing okay."

Disregarding his (joy) confusion, "I am doing fine, Captain. I am still... er, single."

Emilia chuckled sweetly, "Ho? Is that supposed to mean something?" everyone knew she was just challenging his limits. If he fails, he's doomed.

Anthony immediately defended, "No sir. It's not my intention. I mean... umm......"