"Three?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, did you think we let your little doll here leave without leaving an insurance inside her?" the giant laughed and his words held only one meaning.
And Arthur turned to glance at Amanda whose face didn't show any of her true feelings at the moment.
"We will need a month," Arthur turned to him, "or else kill them all now and I'll make sure your beloved girl will die instantly."
"You can't kill her," the giant's face changed slightly, "she is too important to you."
"So do the three girls," Arthur said before leaning over his seat, "and also all the things I possess here and anywhere else."
"This…" the giant paused as he sensed the seriousness in Arthur's words, "you can't kill her, she won't fall without a fight."
"You are terribly mistaken," Arthur calmly said before snapping his fingers and the next moment a head of a giant prisoner he once held inside his garden appeared rolling over the ground of the hall. "I can kill her with just a snap of a finger."
The two kept glaring at each other. "What do you think will keep me from killing you right here right now?"
"Empty threat without any backing," Doaf sneered while Amera took out her spear as she said while moving her hand over its shaft:
"Give me the word and I'll let his dirty head roll over the ground here like that useless trash."
"I dare you come at me," the giant said in a very calm tone, "and I promise you won't live the next moment to see the head of your leader rolled over the ground here."
"Enough!" Arthur's shout stopped the two sides from harassing each other. He was pretty much sure this man wasn't alone, and with one way or another he would have a means to summon a large army to his aid.
And Arthur wouldn't risk an open war just now.
"One month and return," Arthur gave the order, "or else let's see who has the biggest sword here."
The giant glanced at him. "I didn't agree."
"My word is final," Arthur stood up before adding, "anymore and I won't hesitate to turn this place into a bloodbath."
He didn't wait for the giant to give his answer as he moved down the throne and walked towards the door he just came from. The giant kept glaring at his back and finally turned around and left.
"One month then," he only spoke when he was at the door and Arthur didn't even react to his words before vanishing behind the door.
"Why ask for one month when we could kill him right now?" Amera was already fired up and she only wanted Arthur to give her the permission to act.
"Things are more complicated than you think," Arthur sat over his throne before turning towards Amanda, "are you ok?"
"I'm… fine," her face finally relaxed and showed a white ashen expression over there.
"We need to scan you first," Arthur turned to his men, "anyone able to do it?"
"I can build a machine to do so," Agnus said, "but I can't promise to build a thing to dispose of anything planted inside her."
"I bet whatever they planted it's at the soul level," the crow said in disgust, "their ways with the soul are really diverse and unlimited."
"I too feel the same," Doaf nodded, "if the black dragonairs were behind this, then we can't exclude this possibility."
"I…" Agnus stagnated there and couldn't say anything.
"No problem," Arthur calmly said as if he was accepting such a theory, "we will deal with this problem once and for all."
"Are we going to war?" Tina asked in excitement.
"Indeed," Arthur nodded, "we need to be ready for a full out war during that month."
"What's the plan?" Doaf asked as he didn't think Arthur would go for such a war without proper ideas.
"We'll lure them out," Arthur said before adding, "then kill them all."
"What if they tried something?" Madly was worried over Amanda and the other two.
"That's why when we strike, we need to crush them without giving them any chance of retaliation," he said before turning to Amelia, "your mechas… can you hasten their making during this month?"
"One month?!" Amelia was hesitant, "I… dunno but I'll try my best."
"You ought to," Arthur nodded, "any amount is good, but the more the better."
"I might need to expand the number of workers then," she muttered softly as if she was talking to herself.
"See what you need and I'll comply with all."
"What about our biggest problem?" Amera suddenly said and Arthur understood her meaning alongside very few here.
"What do you mean?" Tina couldn't help but ask.
"She is talking about the traitor inside our ranks," Sara calmly said.
"A traitor?" Tina glanced all around before adding, "do we have a traitor? Who is he? Show yourself, bastard!"
"You…" her reaction made Arthur sigh, "are really hopeless."
She glanced at him while not getting the meaning of his words. "Extracting that traitor is much harder than the mission itself," Doaf said, totally ignoring Tina and her silly words.
"It will be hard," Arthur admitted, "but we need to act against him or her."
"It could be anyone here," the crow turned around before adding, "how can we be sure whom we will trust and whom we can't?"
"It's not only limited to them," Arthur hurriedly said as these words were so dangerous if left untouched, "I believe anyone inside my garden world can be a suspect."
Everyone understood his meaning, yet the words of the crow were still lingering in the back mind of everyone. Arthur glanced at this scene and wondered if the aim of that envoy and Mera from the start was this situation.
"Anyway I'm now putting her under strict observation," Arthur suddenly said, "so anyone getting near her without my permission will be dealt with without showing mercy."
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