Chapter 380: Family heirlooms.

Everyone agreed with Hunter’s strategy, but Zyra’s eyebrows remained slightly knitted. She stared at the map with a serious face. "Hunter’s plan is solid, but Candy Duggar escaped. The enemy won’t just be sitting around drinking tea. They’ll be prepared and expecting us."

"Let them expect us," Hunter smirked, gently bumping his shoulder against hers. "They can be as prepared as they want, but they don’t have my lovely wife’s brain and her ridiculous cheat codes."

Zyra rolled her eyes, but a tiny smile cracked through her tense expression. She raised her link band and dialed Achilles’ number.

"Sister-in-law," his lazy voice came, from the other end of the call. He switched the call from audio to video.

"What’s your status?" Zyra asked.

"Phase one is completely done," Achilles reported with a chuckling tone. "All that’s left now is for the Trinity to actually show up and enjoy her party. Every single bottle of wine, water and cup of juice designated for the VIP booth at the tournament has been thoroughly spiked with Oath Sap by my team. We will have that crazy bitch singing her crimes like a canary on live television."

Zyra hummed in satisfaction. "You sound so sure of yourself, I just do not want to hear that someone made a mistake somewhere?"

"Zyra, please, who do you think you are talking to?" Achilles scoffed dramatically. "My boys can slip poison into an emperor’s soup while looking him straight in the eyes. You can trust us to do the job right."

"There are no emperors in this era, so we will never know how true this is." Zyra said, her voice turning icy cold. "All you have to do is make sure that murderous Divine Maiden drinks the Oath Sap. The next part of our plan collapses if the first phase fails."

Zyra looked up, her eyes drifting toward Achilles’ back to where Arrow was standing silently against a pillar, wiping sweat from his forehead. Hearing her words, Arrow met her gaze and gave a single, firm nod. Consider it done, he silently assured her.

Zyra sighed, a small hint of regret in her voice. "I truly would have loved to see Trinity’s ugly face the exact moment her world falls apart. But we’re still stuck cleansing these wild lands of her goons. We are heading to Waterhurst next."

Achilles laughed lightly. "Don’t worry about missing the show! If Trinity drinks the juice and makes a complete fool of herself, I’ll personally record the whole thing so you can watch it on repeat. But I am sure the media will do that for us."

"Deal," Zyra said with a faint laugh. "Be careful out there."

"You too. Don’t get swallowed by saw worms. I would hate to lose the soft life you I have become accustomed to, thanks to you." Achilles said lightly and cut the call.

Another hour of waiting passed, after the call. Just when Zyra was starting to think that Tessi would never return, a glowing portal burst open right in the middle of the plaza. Out stepped the second team they’d been waiting for, looking very excited.

"Finally," Zyra muttered, crossing her arms.

Everyone was gathered, Hunter stepped up to brief them on the plan. She paced back and forth, gesturing wildly. "Okay, listen up! Waterhurst is huge, which means it’s going to be packed with Sanctum soldiers. We hit them fast, we hit them hard, and we don’t leave room for mistakes!"

Zyra nodded as Hunter finished her speech. "Hunter’s right. Waterhurst is a big territory, so expect more than a crowd of Trinity’s men waiting for us. Expect hundreds of battle-hardened half-life beasts. But listen to me very carefully: none of them should escape. Not one." She tilted her head, her voice dropping to a icy tone. "The last thing I need is Trinity finding out that her little attempt to take over the Wildlands failed so miserably before we bring her down. Got it?"

"Yes, Ma’am!" everyone chorused in unison.

Satisfied, Zyra turned to Tessi. "Alright, Tessi. Open the portal to Water_"

The sharp sound of a gunshot echoed through the space.

In less than a second, half the room had their weapons raised, pointing toward the sound. Standing upright was Zyra’s uncle, Job. He was a complete mess. His jaw was swollen, his eyes were burning with pure, unadulterated hatred. With a trembling arm, he adjusted his grip on a gun and pointed it straight at Zyra’s head.

Taylor shook his head, leaning over to whisper to Gilby. "Bro... how can someone be this dumb? He’s literally pointing a popgun at the Boss, who is currently surrounded by a hundred-armed people ready to die for her and Hunter, her personal psycho."

Gilby snorted. "Brain cells clearly don’t run in that side of the family."

Job, completely ignoring the fifty different guns pointed at his forehead, began to laugh. It was a manic, cracked sound made even worse by his broken jaw. "You... you little ungrateful monster!" he sprayed blood and curses as he spoke. "Zena always thought she was so high and mighty! And look at you_ that exact same arrogant attitude rubbed off on you!"

He took a shaky step forward, his gun wobbling. "Forget whatever lies your mother told you about the map and the alien weapon! Those are heirlooms of the Scorpion family! They don’t just belong to you alone! My daughter is entitled to them too!"

He used his free hand to make a frantic grabbing motion toward Zyra. "Don’t be so greedy, Zyra! Hand them over! You failed to awaken the bloodline anyway! But my Myra... Myra will awaken one day, and she will revive the true glory of the Scorpion bloodline!"

Bianca let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, then glanced over at Zyra. "Sis, I know he’s technically your family and all... but can I please just shoot him now? My finger is itching."

The look Bullet gave Bianca, could have left a dozen holes in her body. "Back off, he is mine."

Job moved shockingly fast for a half-broken man. He whipped the gun toward Bianca, then snapped it back to Zyra. "Stay out of this, you thugs! This is family business between me and my niece! Nobody should interfere." He glared at Zyra, his jaw clicking unnaturally. "Give me the family heirlooms right now, and I’ll walk away. I’ll leave you alone forever."

Zyra stared at him for a quiet second. Then, she laughed.

It started as a soft chuckle, grew into a full laugh, and ended on a cold, sarcastic snicker that made the hair on the back of Job’s neck stand up.

"Uncle Job," Zyra said softly, shaking her head. "You are completely out of your mind. Honestly, I was going to be nice and just leave you alone to rot in peace. But after hearing all this nonsense? Yeah... you’re definitely going to be a problem for me down the road." She took a step closer, her eyes narrowing. "And for what it’s worth? I don’t think my dear cousin Myra will ever amount to anything useful. A capable soul maiden? Her? Please. She’s even scared of her own shadow. You better shoot me now and make sure you don’t miss."