Chapter 748: Kill
Sylas calmly slipped into the city, his movements unhurried.
Mesmeryx Mimic was the staple Gene Talent of the Mesmeryx Golden Lineage, and its potential here was actually the lowest it would ever be.
Right now, the fact that Nosphaleen only registered as a Bronze creature meant that much of her abilities were still heavily suppressed. If not for this, she wouldn't be dealing with so many clear Gene-Stat Limits-the real reason all of her stats looked like mirror images of one another.
However, even without having reached nearly its full potential, the illusion capabilities of Mesmeryx Mimic were powerful. Something like disguising herself as Sylas was
extraordinarily easy.
As one plan was set into motion, Sylas calmly swapped out his clothing for something more ubiquitous to the city and placed a simple half-mask over the lower portion of his face.
The city was in a peculiar state, as compared to what Sylas expected to find, that is. Rather than the tension that was in Casstle Main, the city was going about business as usual. No one seemed to realize that there was anything wrong with the current state of things.
Ignorance was bliss.
The saying came to mind as Sylas strolled through, but he had a feeling that things weren't so simple as they seemed.
It took a great deal of power to suppress information and control the morale of such a large number of people so expertly. It was either something beyond his understanding was forming the undercurrents in the place, or the competency of his enemies was beyond his expectations.
'I may have to adjust some of my plans because of this...'
Sylas' steps paused as he stood in the middle of a bustling street. Something in his gaze flickered as he looked up and around.
For a moment, he felt like a lone weed swaying in a field, his mind grasping something that had just been out of his reach.
'... So that's what's going on...'
He began to move again. This time faster.
Despite his speed being beyond that of the normal traffic, he weaved in and out of people seamlessly, and they almost seemed to ignore his presence.
Sylas had learned something quite interesting from observing Alex for so long. While it was the case that Will could bolster and make one's presence bolder, the opposite was possible as well.
When one's Will was refined to a deep enough extent, vanishing from the perceptions of normal day-to-day people was possible as well.
'There.'
Sylas swept a gaze over a new outpost casually. Printed newspapers with various headlines took up the bulk of its front facade, painting an illusion of competition.
However, if Sylas had to guess.... every one of those headlines was controlled by the very same group of people.
Most in that had to rely on a System City wouldn't have easy access to a Nexus. But further than that, if this System City made information that could normally only be found in a Nexus more accessible to the masses, then many would likewise feel less inclined to pay the hefty fees to use Temporary Nexuses.
As they were lulled into this false sense of security, they would be more likely to take information they saw in passing as the truth.
By the time anyone realized anything was wrong, it would already be too late because they were now even controlling the flow of information in real Nexuses as well.
Sylas hadn't taken notice of these news stands before, but if he had to bet, they had probably been around for a long while.
If you wanted to control the people...
Control the flow of information.
'Interesting. Unfortunately, it won't matter in this case.'
**
"Sylas" walked with his hands chained, silently waiting.
The disguise was nothing more than a false skin over Nosphaleen's body, but part of tricking the world was tricking oneself. She was having a hard time not focusing a little too much on the things swinging down there.
CLINK.
The cell door's gears began to turn and soon a pair of familiar faces appeared. Duke Kraga and Duchess Ravene.
The votes of these pair of Dukes were the reason why Sylas had successfully gotten the right to challenge General Aleen as a mere Baron. It was precisely because he was a Noble, though, that they had given him special treatment.
Nosphaleen had followed Sylas' plan to a T, strong-arming the System City officials to grant him an audience with these two Dukes.
After a moment, Nosphaleen parted her lips, or rather "Sylas'," and began to speak.
**
"Is that so?" Plinli took in the news that Sylas had called for the Dukes quite calmly. In fact, he had already expected this.
The System City had three Dukes. Other than those two, Duke Guiz was the last. Just by the last name alone, one could imagine whose side he was on.
However, they only controlled one Duke amongst the three. As such, the majority rule wasn't in their perfect control...
Or so Sylas thought.
After suffering at the hands of these Dukes once before, how could plinli make the same mistake twice? If Sylas thought that relying on his Noble Title would be enough this time
around, he was sorely mistaken.
Lucirius grinned after the attendant left with the report.
"This isn't something to grin about." Plinli said, still calm.
"That arrogant bastard is finished. What is there to not be happy about?"
"We have to keep news of the General's death away from prying ears. If he finds out, it can cause problems. We shouldn't underestimate this Sylas. The last time we did so, we suffered
for it."
"What problems can it cause? That man is just as pragmatic as we are. Otherwise, he wouldn't be working with us in the first place."
"Pragmatic is one way to put it. Selfish is another."
Plinli stood to his feet. "We need to handle this delicately. Kill everyone who witnessed the event. Put out a report that General Broussard went on a mission."