"Vanessa," Aria said with a dark voice.
"I don't feel comfortable using first names any-"
"I'm not up for your games, Vanessa," Aria said with a seething voice as she narrowed her eyes.
Vanessa could feel the rage coming from Aria, and that was definitely not a common thing.
Aria was always very approachable and had herself under control.
Vanessa wasn't sure if she had ever seen Aria this angry.
Vanessa also narrowed her eyes. "This is not a game. Our relationship is different-"
BANG!
Aria waved her hand, and the furniture of the entire office was thrown towards the wall.
"I'm done with you!" Aria said in a dark and threatening voice as she approached.
Naturally, Vanessa jumped to her feet and became ready to fight.
However, she was still very nervous deep inside.
She had always looked up to Aria as a person and as a boss.
Seeing her this angry intimidated her quite a bit.
"We want to make this city better! Do you not understand that?!" Aria shouted as she stepped closer.
"Nick wants to improve this city! Nick wants to make this city better for Aegis!"
"Kugelblitz is not the leader of the city!"
"Nick is!"
"He might not have the physical power, but he has the intelligence and dedication! As a mere Initial Expert, he is willing to put his life on the line against several Heroes!"
At that moment, Vanessa summoned her sniper rifle and pointed it at Aria.
Aria stopped advancing, but her rage only increased.
"If you dare to take a shot, I will kill you right this instant," she spoke in the darkest and most threatening tone imaginable.
Even though Vanessa was intimidated, her arms were steady as she looked at Aria through her scope.
"Don't come any closer!" Vanessa ordered.
Aria looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't slowly walk up to you like this," Aria said in a dark tone.
"I am here to issue a warning."
"Jornis has taken 30 liters of blood that didn't belong to Kugelblitz and used it to work with the Crimson Fungus."
"This is a break in our agreement, and I have all the authority to issue a hefty fine on Kugelblitz for that."
"Instead, I am here to tell you about the facts."
Aria took another step closer.
Now, Vanessa's arms started to shake.
She wanted to pull the trigger.
Aria wouldn't be able to evade a shot from this distance.
They could get rid of Aria right now.
However, Vanessa knew that this would have dire consequences.
Aegis would investigate, and they wouldn't be able to keep this a secret.
Aegis would most likely take them into custody and force them into servitude for decades.
Killing Aria was akin to killing herself.
"If you take another step, I will shoot! I am only defending myself!" Vanessa shouted.
Aria deeply looked into Vanessa's eyes.
Then, she took another step forward.
Vanessa's arms shook more.
"Why are you doing this?!" Vanessa shouted in a mix of panic, rage, helplessness, frustration, and betrayal.
"You don't have to do this!"
Aria was reminded of when she had said these words to Nick.
"Because I have no other choice," Aria said darkly. "You left me no other choice."
"Nothing will stop Crimson City's rise."
"Not you."
"Not the Specters."
"Not Kugelblitz."
"I finally have a worthy goal in my life, and I will not let it slip out of my grasp because of fear."
Aria took another step forward.
Vanessa's arms shook more as she looked at Aria, who was only two meters away from her.
She was already well within Aria's attack range.
Vanessa's mind was going wild with images of how a battle would play out.
She was under immense stress and felt like she was in a life-and-death battle.
"If you pull the trigger, I will destroy Kugelblitz," Aria said with a dark tone.
"I will kill you. I will kill Jornis. I will force all of your Specialists to work for the city. We will take your Specters, and the city will be more powerful than ever before."
"Destroying Kugelblitz is the best thing that can happen to the city. Your blood taxes and your shady deals damage Crimson City more than anything else."
Aria took another step forward.
"Do you want this to happen?" she asked, taking another step forward.
Aria stood directly in front of the barrel of the sniper rifle.
Vanessa's body was covered in sweat, and her fingers were shaking.
"I will repeat," Aria spoke slowly. "Kugelblitz is not the ruler of the city."
"Nick is."
"You will comply with the law."
"If you break it, I will come for you."
"I worked for Kugelblitz for over a century, and I don't want it to be destroyed."
"But if I have to, I will do so without hesitation."
"The blood donation system is the last change we need to fulfill the goal."
"The goal is to increase our tribute to Aegis by 20%, and with the blood donation system, we managed to do just that."
"We achieved our goal."
"The only thing that stands in our way is your unwillingness to cooperate."
Aria looked deeply into Vanessa's eyes.
She was unafraid.
A powerful sniper rifle pointed right at her chest, but she was unafraid.
Why?
Because she was fighting for something that was more important than her life.
This was what Nick taught her.
Conviction.
Dedication.
Doing one's best to achieve one's dream.
How could one expect to achieve one's dream if one didn't go all in?
Meanwhile, Vanessa was a nervous and panicked wreck.
Her mind was going wild.
As she stood in front of Aria, she felt like a normal citizen standing in front of a Specter.
She felt helpless.
She felt like, even if she pulled the trigger, she would die.
Her instincts were telling her that she couldn't possibly win against Aria.
The sheer confidence that Aria exuded intimidated her more than anything.
It sounded cheesy, but the following statement was still true.
People and animals only showed their true power when they were protecting something that was more important than their lives.
While defending its cubs, a bear would become much more threatening than if it were fighting just for itself.
The reason for that was conviction.
Confidence.
And right now, Aria was putting her life on the line for Crimson City and Nick.
At this moment, protecting these things was more important to her than surviving.
"Stop with your stupid games," Aria said after several seconds of silence.
"This is no longer the old Crimson City."
"With the new blood donation system, we do not need to go after Kugelblitz any longer."
The next moment, Aria's body relaxed, and her expression was more cold and distant than threatening.
"Your profits will no longer be negatively affected," Aria said evenly. "The way things are now is how they will stay."
"Accept your new reality."
Aria slowly turned around and walked towards the door.
Vanessa still aimed at Aria with her sniper rifle.
Aria turned around one last time and looked at Vanessa with a deep gaze.
"I don't want any more incidents where blood mysteriously goes missing."
"And if anything happens to Nick, I swear upon my life and everything important to me…"
"I. Will. Kill. You."
"Don't test me!"
Then, Aria calmly opened the door and walked out.
The door closed, but Vanessa still aimed at it with her rifle.
The next moment, her arms started to shake even more.
Finally, she took a deep breath, let go of her gun, and weakly fell to her knees.
Her entire body was shivering in stress and anxiety.
She felt like she had just battled for her life.
Vanessa didn't recover for several minutes, and the scene from just now replayed in her mind over and over again.
Meanwhile, Aria told the guard to lead her away.
The sound in the office was isolated, and the guard didn't hear any of the clamor.
Aria was led out of the building, and she quickly returned to the city's headquarters.
As she walked back, she had a spring in her step.
She felt great!
She finally did something!
She stood up for what she truly believed in!
This was a great feeling!
Nick was bound to be proud of her, right?
At that moment, she stopped walking.
'Why did I think that?' she thought.
'Is it important to me that Nick's proud of me?'
She imagined talking to Nick and telling him what happened.
She didn't want to admit it, but she realized that it would feel nice if Nick approved of her actions.
Aria scratched the side of her head.
'Are we friends? Pretty sure.'
She remained silent for a while as she looked at the ground.
'Is that all that I want to be?'
In the end, she walked into the headquarters and went into Nick's office.
As she walked into Nick's office, she felt more nervous than when she approached Vanessa's sniper rifle.
Nick casually looked at her. "How did it go?" he asked.
Aria broke out in a wide smile.
"I dealt with it! Kugelblitz will no longer be an issue!" she said with pride.
When Nick heard that, he released a sigh of relief.
"Good job. I'm glad that I trusted you," Nick said with a slight smile.
Aria's smile brightened.
"No problem!" she shouted.