Chapter 319 Chapter 319 Potent Resort
It wasn't easy holding down the fanatical religious ones but he somehow managed to pull it off with the help of his officers. It took some convincing before those people went back to their homes quivering in fear of the deity's wrath that had descended onto them.
Upon reaching the Windsor family mansion, Andy realized how late he was. There seemed to be a plethora of guests already waiting inside the compound as if to confirm their respective conjectures regarding the Smith family just like him.
Marico was busily moving between the groups gracefully giving one of them his undivided attention for a minute or two before moving on to the next one, seemingly unaware of the true intentions behind the sudden visit of so many guests.
Marico was busily moving between the groups gracefully giving one of them his undivided attention for a minute or two before moving on to the next one, seemingly unaware of the true intentions behind the sudden visit of so many guests.
The guests tried to bring up the topic discreetly, but Marico always managed to brush it aside as if he couldn't understand the question.
The guests were frustrated by his evasive responses but none of them had it in them to go against him.
Spotting Marico in the middle of the hoard, Andy made a beeline for him disregarding the number of cold and murderous gazes trying to bore holes through his body with their hatred.
Obviously, they were trying to keep him from acting shamelessly when it was still not his turn to gain Marico's attention. They disdained Andy for not adhering to the first come first serve principle.
"Mr. Windsor."
Andy called out to Marico who had his back to Andy and was busily chatting with a group of people.
Marico turned around in response to the familiar voice calling out his name and was shocked to see Andy in front of him.
"What brings you here like this?" asked Marico, surprised at the sudden visit from Andy who had been trying to keep a low profile ever since he changed sides.
"Don't you know already? Why do you think all these people are here?"
Andy was dumbfounded at how clueless Marico was. He wondered if the latter was only pretending to be clueless considering his close relationship with the dark mage. There was no way he could have been so leisurely after the disaster that befell Greenland.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Marico noticed the solemnity and anxiousness in Andy's manner which prompted him to ask the questions.
Out of all the people, only Marico knew the gamble Andy had made on the potential of the Smith family. Therefore, Andy had no trouble revealing the bit of information he had gathered until then. But he wasn't willing to make it a public announcement. So, he signaled Marico to take their conversation to a more deserted area in the manor.
Marico nodded in understanding. He turned towards his guests and bowed slightly as if to apologize for not entertaining them any longer.
"Something urgent has come up. I hope that you can excuse me since I can no longer entertain you all. I implore you all to partake in the meal especially prepared for you all before taking your leave."
Marico had only said so much to keep up appearances. He had long since lost interest in the impromptu gathering. He had already been feeling that something was wrong when he was suddenly called on by so many people who tried to prod him with leading questions.
Thankfully, he was experienced enough to avoid such pitfalls. Andy's arrival only cemented his belief, and he was dying to know what had transpired during this time to cause such an upheaval in the upper society of Byzantium city.
"So, tell me what is it that made you come out into the open like this? I was under the impression that you still intended to maintain your anonymity until you could be sure of Zach's potential."
"I would never know how you managed to evade Hogan Hunter's advances for so many years with such a pathetic intelligence network."
"Are you here to insult me? Spit it out already, what do you want?" Marico was getting impatient and had no time to entertain Andy's quips.
"You should have at least heard the explosions earlier, right?" questioned Andy.
Marico nodded to indicate a positive answer to Andy's query.
"Then do you know what caused those massive explosions and the tremors that followed?"
"I am not blind. I too saw those meteors descending from the sky. They must have fallen somewhere close to the city, or the shockwave wouldn't have been so intense." Marico revealed his own conjectures with a snort.
"So have you guessed the location of the impact yet from the sudden influx of the elites of the city or do you need me to spell it out for you?"
Marico had been delving into the upper society of the city since he was young. He was aware of all the undercurrents that dictated the actions of those in power.
Therefore, he already had a few guesses based on the information that Andy brought him, but it was better to hear out his guest.
"Go on, tell me everything you have."
Andy narrated the information he had gathered on his way. The more he talked, the more Marico got lost in his thoughts as if on the cusp of a massive discovery.
Marico couldn't bring himself to believe that the impact location was a coincidence because the entire Smith family had evacuated Greenland just a day prior as if...as if they knew about the disaster beforehand. All the preparations Zach had made presumed that the Hunter family would attack Greenland using Diana to lure him away.
Marico hadn't agreed with Zach back then because he believed that the Hunter family intended to ambush him during the hostage exchange. Despite Marico's constant warnings, Zach had insisted on moving the entirety of his forces to the Windsor family as if he was a hundred percent sure of what was going to happen next.
Even after listening to what had transpired from Andy, Marico might still have written it off as a coincidence had he not recalled the last conversation that took place between him and Zach a day prior to the hostage exchange.
He clearly remembered Zach asking him for the matrix magic capable of bringing large spaces under a spatial lock to prevent all sorts of teleportation and manipulation of spatial element.
Marico had found it to be a little odd that Zach was so interested in spatial matrix when he claimed to be extremely worried about the hidden intentions of the Hunter family. In the grand scheme of things, there was absolutely no use of matrix magic because it could at most keep people from using the spatial element and teleportation mechanisms.
Still, he had generously helped out Zach due to how much of it he had received from the latter in his troubled times.
But now he could see the underlying reasons behind such a request.
Slowly but gradually, Marico began to figure out the details of Zach's strategy. He marveled at Zach's forbearance and his ability to judge his enemy's actions. It had to be known that Marico, being a long time rival of Hogan, had been unable to do the same.
Moreover, the fact that Zacha had unleashed such terrible magic that at least was SSS rank, spoke plethora of the wrath he had contained within himself.
Only the heavens knew how much Zach hated the Hunter family to have planned such an elaborate death for Hogan. He had not only wiped the entire family in one go but had also killed them all in the most gruesome manner possible while they still had illusions of grandeur. He had gone so far as to use matrix magic to freeze spatial nodes to keep the targets he had set his eyes on from escaping his cage.
While Marico began to mutter to himself, occasionally revealing a terrifying tidbit regarding what Zach had done to the Hunter family, Andy's heart began to race like an excited horse running through an empty field.
He couldn't help but feel that he had survived a disaster narrowly. Had he chosen to side with the Hunter family, he would probably be lying on his funeral pyre along with the rest of the Hunter family. Only the heavens knew what Zach would have done to him if he was still opposing the Windsor family to please the Hunter family. Thankfully, he had come to his senses a lot earlier and had seen the little bit of potential in the dark mage that the latter had shown.
Feeling jubilant in his heart at switching sides at the right time, Andy looked towards the sky where the red sky was still telling the tale of blood and cruelty and praised himself for not being an idiot.
Despite all that Zach had achieved in such a short time, he had done so through exceedingly brutal means which could not go unpunished by the government or there would be no law and order in the world.
Andy knew that better than anyone else as he was a part of the judicial system responsible for meting out justice to the common folk. He knew that the crimes that Zach had committed were too big to be covered up.
Moreover, Andy believed that it was too late for him to try and contain the news from spreading out, especially when the remnants of the Hunter family were still living.
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