The Specter Core of the Meat Cube exploded, and the Meat Cube started to turn into black dust.
Almost immediately, the Governor pulled out two huge shields and looked around.
The emissary didn't even perceive that the Meat Cube had died, as the Governor was already springing into action.
BANG!
One of the shields appeared beside the emissary just in time to block another powerful spear.
When Nick saw that, his brows furrowed.
After throwing a spear at the Meat Cube, he immediately threw another one at the emissary.
With Nick's ability, he was incredibly fast.
The emissary wouldn't be able to react in time to his attack, and the Governor would be too shocked to react.
At least, that had been the plan.
However, the Governor had reacted extremely well.
This meant that the Governor had been in a couple of battles before, and his instincts were not rusty.
While the dominance of Geometry meant that it barely had any conflicts anymore, that wasn't necessary true for its past.
Everyone started out small, and Geometry also needed to fight to the top.
The Governor had been the one who pushed Geometry to the dominant position it inhabited today.
As soon as the two shields appeared, Nick knew that the Governor was a Bruiser.
Nick hadn't been able to see how the Governor fought since he never saw him with any weapons.
The reason was that the Governor had a Space Bag.
Quite a luxury.
Nick had expected that he would be able to kill the emissary rather quickly, but the Governor intercepted the attack.
After the Governor blocked the attack, the emissary finally realized what was going on and looked to her left.
A metallic blade extended out of the black smoke that was the Meat Cube's body.
BANG!
However, the blade was blocked by another powerful shield.
Then, the Governor narrowed his eyes and punched forward with his shield.
WHOOOOOM!
The Meat Cube was turned into black mist, which scattered across the entire Containment Unit.
The next moment, the Governor stretched out his arms, and thousands of threads of silk shot out of his shields.
The threads of silk stuck to the walls, ceiling, and floor.
An instant later, the Governor threw his arms to the side again, and all the threads began to clump and stick together, creating a terrifyingly dense net of silk.
Nick could tell that the Governor was also a Manipulator who could control the battlefield.
There was barely any room left for a human to move around.
"You are not my target."
The Governor heard a distorted voice in his ear.
He only narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, the emissary managed to properly react, and a red glow appeared around her.
One had to remember that the Governor was an entire level above her, which meant that his speed and reaction speed were ten times faster.
That was why the Governor managed to do this much before the emissary could do anything.
That also showed why the emissary had constantly used the Meat Cube as a threat.
If nothing else, this showed the humongous gap in power between the two.
"The Meat Cube is dead," the Specter said with a neutral expression. "I must ask for a new Demon from Mistress Lust. Protect me, and there may be a future for you in this city."
The Governor furrowed his brows while keeping watch over his surroundings.
"This city belongs to Lord Wrath now," they heard inside their heads.
The Governor's eyes further narrowed when he heard that, and he grew nervous.
Right now, he didn't have the time to think about the implications of the Meat Cube's death since his entire body was focused on fighting the enemy.
He had just thought about surviving and dealing with the immediate threat.
However, when the Governor heard about Wrath, he grew nervous.
He hadn't even thought about the assassin's identity since that wasn't important during a battle.
Only surviving was important during a battle.
The Governor had simply been acting like this since he knew that he couldn't resist someone as powerful as Mistress Lust.
That was a Peak Fallen!
But when he heard about Lord Wrath, he realized that things had become troublesome.
Lord Wrath was also one of the seven Corruptors, and therefore, he was also a Peak Fallen.
This was a war between two Peak Fallen.
Someone like him didn't have enough power to impact such a conflict.
"Wrath has no power over this city," the emissary spoke coldly. "The sin of lust has been deeply interwoven. Trying to convert this city is a wasted effort."
The black mist inside the Containment Unit began to spin rapidly, and a blade came out of the mist.
BANG!
However, the blade was blocked by one of the Governor's shields.
The Governor looked around and noticed that his net hadn't been triggered yet.
Whatever was attacking them was extremely good at avoiding his net.
"You are alone," the voice spoke in their heads. "Why do you think I am here instead of in the west?"
"You can't reach Lust."
"You are on your own."
While Nick and the emissary were talking, the Governor kept trying to find the attacker.
The more he tried to find Nick, the more shocked he grew.
How could anything hide in this room?
This room was tiny for people of their level, and he had filled it with silk!
And then, he had a terrifying thought.
The black mist!
What if the Specter was the black mist?!
But how?!
The Governor hadn't even heard of a sapient Force Specter!
Force Specters rarely even had the intelligence of a dumb mammal.
Most of the time, they acted like single-celled organisms or forces of nature.
They just had the most basic of instincts.
So, how could it even be possible for a Force Specter to communicate like a human?!
As that possibility reared its ugly head, the Governor realized that he was in trouble.
He was a Bruiser and a Manipulator.
But he was no Suppressor.
In order to deal with a Force Specter, an Extractor needed specific abilities that dealt with Force Specters.
Without those, it would be like fighting air.
Even if the assassin couldn't hurt him, he also couldn't hurt the assassin.
Naturally, the Governor quickly tried to think of a plan.
One of the other Heroes was a powerful Suppressor. He would be able to deal with this Specter.
But how could he get that Hero to help him?
The crux of the issue was the emissary.
Why was the Governor protecting this random Fanatic?
Why was the Governor being attacked by a random, intelligent Force Specter in the middle of Geometry's headquarters?
Why did the Specter kill the Meat Cube? There was no reason for Specters to fight each other.
Answering any of these questions would mean exposing the random Specter as an emissary of Lust, after which the other person would ask about why the Governor was protecting an emissary of Lust in the first place and how he knew about that.
If he could somehow get the emissary back into her dedicated Containment Unit, he could act like he had never been in contact with her.
But the issue was that the emissary of Wrath would keep attacking the emissary of Lust.
Additionally, as soon as they left the Containment Unit, the first attack the Governor would block would shake the entire building, alarming half the city.
The only reason why nobody had noticed anything was because they were in an extremely powerful Containment Unit that could even contain a Peak Demon.
"You are dependent on Lord Wrath," the Governor suddenly heard inside his mind. "Choosing to side with Lust is choosing death."
The Governor had been distracted with thinking about how to deal with the situation, and the words the two sides had been exchanging only now properly registered in his mind.
"Lust can't help you," Nick added. "Lust is occupied."
The Governor grew unsure.
"Explain."
That was the first thing the Governor had said after Nick had started his assault.
"He is lying," the emissary answered calmly.
"It doesn't matter whether or not I'm lying. The truth will come out anyway," the black mist answered.
"Lust is occupied," the mist repeated. "Aegis' Shields are assaulting Pestilence in the north of the Grand Continent. Lust and Sloth are there to help Pestilence. Communicating with their servants means exposing their location to Aegis."
"Their survival is more important than all of the cities they control."
"Lust's emissary can try contacting Lust, but she won't answer."
"Meanwhile, Lord Wrath is not in danger."
The Governor grew more nervous.
Usually, choosing Lust would still be a better bet since he had been working together with her for a long time.
But if Lust was truly unreachable right now…
When the Governor thought about the Meat Cube's demise, he grew even more nervous.
"Mistress Lust is with us," the emissary spoke. "He is lying."
"You are free to verify my words," Nick spoke to the Governor. "I have killed the Meat Cube. If you want the city to survive, you need a new Demon. Lust has to give you a new Demon anyway."
"Go outside and contact her. I won't attack you or unveil your secret."
"When you realize that you are alone, you will beg Lord Wrath to save you."
Then, the black mist fell silent and stopped storming around the room.
Now, the room was filled with calm, regular mist.
The Governor furrowed his brows.
Some seconds later, he looked at the emissary.
The emissary calmly looked back.
"Call Mistress Lust," the Governor said.