Chapter 176: Memories of The Past
’Is this the right place?’
Jason turned to glance at the wall in front of him, and Yulvy nodded respectfully while responding mentally.
’Yes, my king. This is where we opened a Dimensional Tear to reach Earth. If you release enough mana, then the tear will reopen and lead you back to the hideout of the other Phantoms.’
Jason turned to the wall and stretched out his hand to touch it. Then he unleashed a significant amount of mana towards it, almost like he was trying to send mana out to resurrect one of his subordinates! The wall in front of Jason rippled and pulsed like a living membrane before Jason felt his hand sinking into the wall as the Dimensional Tear reopened!
Jason pulled back his hand and then ordered Yulvy and all the other Phantoms that he had killed to go forward first. Jason had a plan that he was going to carry out to perfection and in order to do that he needed to make sure that the Phantoms didn’t feel threatened by his appearance. Jason was going to make sure every single one of them died tonight!
The Phantom Subordinates all obeyed Jason’s order and all five of them appeared from his Alternate Dimension and began walking through the Dimensional Tear! Jason turned and told Riyala to stay close to him once again, and Riyla wrapped Jason’s hoodie tighter against her body as she nodded up at him. They stood outside there for a few seconds as Jason waited for a signal, and then once the Phantoms sent him the confirmation that he needed from them, Jason told Riyla to follow him and both of them walked through the Dimensional Tear.
....
[The Phantom Hideout]
[A Few Minutes Ago]
Alpha was in the large tent in the middle of the Phantom camping spot. There was only a dim candlelight illuminating the interior of the tent and it cast the tent in a low, sober atmosphere. Alpha was sitting behind the small table in the middle of the room. She had taken off her clothes and she was only in her underwear, so her toned figure and multiple scars from battle were visible all across her body.
It would be obvious to anyone watching that Alpha was a beautiful woman, and if not for her long history as a soldier and her inability to commit to a relationship, then she would have been a desirable partner for any man. Alpha was currently staring down at a map detailing the layout of the world where they were going to be carrying out their next mission immediately after this assassination. Due to their positive track record, the Phantoms always had one job or another lined up, and this time they had been hired to go and destroy a revolutionary group that was trying to overthrow the corrupt government of a world a few dozen Dimensional Leaps away. The revolutionary group was not a serious threat to the government yet, but they had a loud voice and a charismatic leader, so the government was trying to make sure that they didn’t grow large enough to become an issue.
’Destroy problems before they become problems. That is the best way to make sure you can always keep your power.’
Alpha didn’t care that the government was corrupt or that the revolutionary group was trying to save their people. All she knew was that they were getting paid an enormous sum for this job, so they would complete it no matter what!
Alpha read through the profile of the leader of the revolution and she paused in her tracks when she reached the part that detailed the family situation of the group leader. The group leader had two wives and three children who were barely older than five years old, and Alpha couldn’t stop her traitorous mind from traveling to the life she had before she became the leader of the Phantoms. The faces of her children and husband flashed through her mind against her will and she grit her teeth in irritation while running a hand through her hair.
Alpha knew that what she did to her family was evil. Abandoning them in that way without even giving them a reason was the worst thing she could have done to them. In fact, it would have been better if she had died! But Alpha just couldn’t do it. She was an assassin. A killer by nature. Settling down and taking care of children and a husband just wasn’t something she could ever get used to. It was against her very nature!
’They’ll be finishing school around this time. Maybe finding jobs or partners.’
Alpha’s children had been very little when she left, but she was sure that they would be just old enough to be getting married or finding jobs now. She released another sigh as she shook her head and focused back on the map! She wasn’t going to get distracted by something so pointless! That life was behind her now so there was nothing she could do!
She traced a line across the road leading towards the revolutionary base and she began to plan out the optimal Dimensional Route to take towards the world when she suddenly perked up in surprise! Her eyes narrowed for a second before her expression turned to one of shock as she felt five of her subordinates vanish from her senses!
Alpha had given all the Phantoms the ability to travel through the shadows, and this ability also allowed her to track their movement and location! So the moment they were no longer connected to her senses, Alpha knew that there could only be one reason for it! They were dead!
’Someone found them? Those fools. I thought I told them to make sure they completed the job before reinforcements arrived!?’
Alpha frowned in irritation at the sheer incompetence of her men. She had expected a lot more from them, especially since Yulvy was put in charge of the team! Yulvy was young and passionate, so she thought that he would do everything in his power to make sure he didn’t disappoint her! But it turns out that she was wrong about him.
Alpha stood up and walked to the tent exit. She stepped out and watched as everyone in the campsite turned to her while immediately falling silent. Even though Alpha was only dressed in her underwear, she didn’t show any sort of embarrassment or shame since she was already used to being naked around others from her time in the army. She glanced towards two of the strongest members of the team and she told them to come into her tent.
The two members were the same feline-based couple that had been watching over the hounds previously. The man was sitting shirtless by the fire and the woman had been talking to some of the other Phantoms about their next mission when they were summoned, and they both left what they were doing and immediately followed Alpha into her tent!
Alpha took a seat behind the table once again and the two felines stood opposite her curiously and waited for her to say something. Alpha first closed up the map that she had been reading and put it to the side before she spoke.
"The group sent to Earth is dead. All five of them were killed within a few minutes of each other, so we can only assume that they were killed by a single person. We didn’t receive any information about their mission, so we cannot be sure if they completed the assassination or not. You two have been known to work well together, so I’m sending you back to Earth to confirm the princess’ death. Take a single Mana Hound with you and try to trace her mana. If you cannot find it within two days, then come back and report."
The felines didn’t show any reaction at all to the news that the other five were dead and Alpha didn’t expect them to either. Death was something that they were all used to in their line of work.