Commander Fidroha's wrist paused. The trembling Edwin collapsed to the ground, his raspy breaths the only legitimate sign that he was still alive. Though an expert on his level should be able to take this kind of punishment, it shouldn't be forgotten that his punisher was an entire Realm above him. If the silent beauty hadn't chosen to hold back, Edwin would have long since been dead.
"And what should that next step be." Fidroha said casually.
The cloaked figures sighed an inward breath of relief. At least their leader was willing to listen. The man who had spoken had chosen a good time. If he had dared to say some yesterday, he likely would have taken Edwin's place.
"It is still unknown whether this Throne Ryu was in fact chosen by the Faerie. But, what we do know is that he took the Common Grade exam, not the Black Grade. In addition, considering his age, it would be impossible for him to reach the Black Grade. Even our Shrine Plane geniuses aren't worthy of such prestige at such a young age."
"Are you suggesting that I let him go?"
Though her voice was calm, the cloaked man couldn't help but flinch.
"N-no, A – Commander. I only mean that he was an unlikely target to begin with. You know that Valor City lowers its standards based on the age of its Honor Card candidates. Normally, it's lowered to Black Grade. But, because of the unique difficulty of the Herbology exam, it's further lowered to the Common Grade."
This was such an obscure rule that even Molly didn't mention it to Ryu. She also assumed that he would have to reach the Black Grade, which was why she informed Ryu as such. As for the Association Head, the only information Molly gave him was that Ryu wanted to attempt the exam, not the purpose for why he wanted to. As such, he never informed Ryu about it either.
This beautiful coincidence resulted in a layer of protection even Ryu didn't know he had.
"Get to the point."
"T-This… is all to say that the Honor Card isn't enough to suspect him. The fact he has high enough battle prowess to become a Throne, even if it is of a middling Fifth Order Sect, makes it even more unlikely. Also… The history of the Awoken Moon Sect is quite complex… There's a reason it hasn't been destroyed despite being affiliated with –…
"I don't say this so that Commander will give up on him, but rather so that Commander knows that it isn't 100% necessary to make him an enemy…"
Fidroha narrowed her eyes.
"C-Commander… Throne Ryu was definitely chosen by the Mercenary Guild. You know as well as I what this means. If he is so lucky as to be accepted into a Sky God's faction… We can't touch him…"
It finally became clear why the cloaked man said so many seemingly unnecessary words, it was to essentially talk Fidroha down from a ledge.
The likelihood of Ryu entering the Faction of a Sky God was incredibly small. However, even if he was just a Factionless Star Mercenary, that alone would make matters far more complicated.
For someone as powerful as Fidroha to be working with her face hidden, and even having her subordinates address her by Commander instead of her true title, it was obvious that they weren't in a position to reveal their actions so openly.
As for why that was? Maybe only a select few knew. But, it didn't matter. The point was that provoking a large organization like the Mercenary Guild wasn't exactly in their best interest. Both organizations had similar goals yet had yet to take action to eradicate the other. It was clear that this was because they had apprehensions about each other.
No matter how powerful Fidroha was on the Pedestal Plane, it was nowhere near her turn yet to rush the actions of Sky Gods.
"Still, Commander, even if we cannot kill him directly, and even if he isn't a Faerie's Life Partner, he has slighted Commander and that is more than enough reason for him to die.
"Because we've hidden our identities, we are well within our rights to deny any involvement even if they are certain that we are involved. Even if he was chosen by a Sky God, as long as we're careful to not leave any obvious strings attached, no Sky God will go out of their way for the sake of a mere Qi Refinement expert."
Fidroha lowered her whip. "What are you suggesting?"
"You know that our original mission was to prepare for the Ice Devil Legacy World selection. We were only diverted to this place after the matters surrounding the Faerie's Small World. But, with this, we can kill two birds with one stone.
"Commander's Clan has the right to appoint three seeded geniuses, correct? However, there are only two direct line geniuses of appropriate age. Commander's little brother and Commander's little nephew. Originally, Commander's Clan planned on using a filler for this third position, by why not use it for revenge instead?... This could also be the perfect way to lure the Faerie's owner out of hiding as well…"
Fidroha stayed silent for a long time before responding. "… I'm listening."
**
The old grey robed man of the fourth floor felt his eyes tremble for the dozenth time as Ryu's incorporeal projection reformed, slowly becoming more lifelike.
It should have been impossible…
First Ryu defeated the first two of his forms. The thought of a Qi Refinement expert defeating him as a Spiritual Severing Realm expert was enough to make him lose all face, but that wasn't what shocked him.
After defeating him twice with his odd dual polearm wielding style, it became clear to the old man that Ryu was simply testing out these techniques. If that was all, maybe it would be fine. But, he went so far in his testing that he allowed to happen exactly what the man had warned him against!
To now, on this third of nine forms, Ryu had 'died' over ten times! Any other Qi Refinement expert would have collapsed after experiencing death, yet Ryu seemed completely unfazed, continuing to recollect his consciousness time and time again.