Bloodstar System: Infinite Evolution Through Beast Slaughter

Chapter 54: Did Those Two Just Fight?

The conference hall was probably the most prestigious venue in all of Norcrest’s Alkaid Authority headquarters.

Today, every seat was filled.

The tiered chamber could hold five thousand people, and nearly all of Antares Command had shown up. Only those still stationed on outer patrols, along with the badly wounded who could not yet leave their medical pods, were absent.

Representatives had even come from Spica Bureau, Altair Directorate, and Vega Forge.

The message could not have been clearer.

This mattered.

The hall hummed with conversation as people traded stories about yesterday’s battle.

Then the doors opened.

Light spilled in from the corridor.

The noise vanished almost at once.

Joren had barely stepped across the threshold when a familiar voice rang out.

"Joren! Over here!"

No one else could produce that broken gong of a voice quite like Alar.

He was standing in the third row, waving both arms from one of the most visible seats in the hall.

Beside him, Kaia had put on a little makeup for once. She gave Joren a small smile and nodded.

He made his way over and took the seat they had left open in the center.

Alar pointed at the empty leather chairs arranged across the stage, then swept a hand toward the packed hall.

"Manester went all out this time."

"The entire division is here. Last time we had a gathering this big was five years ago, when Norcrest faced a special grade Beast Tide alert."

Jazz added in his usual deep voice.

"I saw several people I did not recognize."

"Could be from Polaris Tribunal."

"This is probably more than a commendation."

Joren raised an eyebrow.

Was he not just here to collect a certificate and maybe some reward money?

Alar gave him a look that said he was still too young.

"A promotion."

"Think about what you did yesterday. That was not ordinary merit. You helped save the entire city."

His expression suddenly turned serious.

He glanced around, made sure no one was listening, then leaned in and whispered with absurd intensity.

"We talked it over earlier."

"There is a good chance Manester plans to make you Antares Command Frontier Marshal."

Joren paused.

Frontier Marshal?

Jazz explained from the side.

"Manester is still technically the highest ranking officer in Antares Command. Before he became commander of Norcrest, he held the position of Frontier Marshal himself."

Alar grew more animated with every word, as though he were the one about to receive the appointment.

"The position has stayed empty because no one could command everyone’s respect. Antares Command is full of difficult people, and none of them likes taking orders from the others."

"But after what you did yesterday, who could possibly object?"

"I think it is settled."

Joren rubbed his chin.

Antares Command Frontier Marshal.

With that position, moving resources would become far easier.

So would finding more Bloodstars.

The scheduled start time had already passed by fifteen minutes.

Manester was famous for keeping everything exact. People joked that even a trip to the bathroom took him precisely three minutes.

He had never arrived late to an Antares Command meeting.

Not once.

Even showing up at the final second would have embarrassed him.

Yet today, he was late.

Kyo was missing too.

The leather chairs on the stage, symbols of the highest authority in the branch, remained empty.

"What is going on? Why is Manester not here yet?"

"Emergency military report?"

"No way. If something serious had happened, the alarms would already be sounding. They would not leave five thousand of us sitting here."

Alar kept shifting in his seat as though someone had covered it in nails.

Then the building shook.

Boom!

The sound came from deep below, heavy enough to seem as though the earth itself had cracked.

The Alkaid Authority headquarters, built to withstand an eighth magnitude earthquake, began to lurch violently.

It felt as though an invisible hand had seized the foundations and started shaking them.

"Enemy attack!"

No one knew who shouted first.

Five thousand Awakened Warriors rose at the same time.

Vital Force erupted across the hall.

Protective force in every color filled the chamber, and killing intent rolled through the room so fast that the air itself seemed to tighten.

That was Antares Command.

One second, they were chatting.

The next, every person was ready to kill.

Then the shaking stopped.

It had lasted no more than five or six seconds.

Silence returned.

Creak.

The doors finally opened again.

Two figures entered, one behind the other.

Manester came first.

His sharply pressed officer’s uniform was no longer sharp at all. The collar hung open, two buttons were missing, and the hair he usually kept combed back had become a complete mess. One stubborn lock stood straight up from the rest.

Kyo followed.

He looked no better.

The cigar that never seemed to leave his hand was gone. The greatsword on his back hung at an angle, and one sleeve of his treasured limited edition coat had been torn wide open, exposing the bronze muscle beneath.

Neither man spoke.

They did not need to.

The pressure still rolling off them struck the hall like a wave.

No one had to ask where the earthquake had come from.

Did those two just fight?

What kind of situation was this?

What had happened before they walked in?

Manester crossed the hall with a dark face, climbed onto the stage, and dropped into the central seat.

Kyo gave a cold snort.

Instead of taking his usual place, he dragged his chair farther away from Manester before sitting down.

Then he brushed imaginary dust from the armrest with open disgust.

The look on his face could not have been clearer.

I want nothing to do with you.

Manester was not about to let that pass.

He grabbed the teacup on the table, drained half of it in one swallow, then slammed it down.

Bang!

A crack spread through the solid wood table.

Joren narrowed his eyes.

Manester was looking at him like a father staring at his most precious son, all warmth and possessiveness.

Kyo was looking at him like a swordsman who had just found the finest blade in the world, admiration mixed with absolute certainty that it would be his.

The moment their gazes met, the air between them seemed to crackle.

Joren felt his scalp tighten.

A very bad suspicion took shape.

These two old men...

Had they really fought because of him?