Chapter 382: Silent army.

It was the early morning hours, but the stadium was already buzzing like an overturned beehive. Banners were flying, fans were screaming, and the VIP grandstands were packed with world leaders.

Among them sat the newly widowed Mayor, waving stiffly at the crowd with a stiff sad smile that looked like it had been slapped onto his face.

If it were up to him, he would have preferred to stay wrapped in his blanket back at his villa, pretending to mourn and writing a eulogy that could make a baby cry. But his father-in-law, the terrifying Old Man Craw, had personally ordered him to show up.

"Mourning my daughter can wait!" Craw had roared at him earlier that morning. "The Craw clan winning this tournament is ten times more important than your tears! Put on a suit, wave at the people, and sit your butt in that chair until I say otherwise!"

So, there he was. The Mayor clapped like a polite robot and waved down at the audience below.

Down in the noisy crowd, Ava and her crew were standing near the arena gates. Ava caught sight of the Mayor’s fake smile on one of the big screens and nudged her friend. "Look at him. His wife hasn’t even been in the ground for twenty-four hours and he’s out here doing fan service."

"It must suck to be the mayor," Kirsten sniggered.

Down in the mechanical maintenance tunnel, Leif checked his watch. He gave one last look at the dead security guards and workers in the tunnel that he had killed. "Time to get to work."

With a mischievous grin, he touched the central air purification device and activated all the control for all the hidden canisters.

There was no hiss, the vents were silent as the Veyrot gas which was completely odorless and invisible began to seep gently into the stadium’s ventilation system, spreading quietly over the oblivious thousands.

Meanwhile, over in the luxurious VIP section right next to the world leaders’ booth, Achilles was lounging like a lazy cat. He took a sip of his iced juice and glanced at Trinity, who was sitting a few seats away.

Trinity was chugging alcohol like the world was ending tomorrow. She slammed another empty glass onto the table, her face bright red, shouting at a poor servant for a refill.

Achilles smirked, as he reached for his link band. He tapped out a quick message to the Grand Elder:

Phase One is complete. Oath Sap is deployed. You’re up next, old man.

A second later, his link band buzzed with a reply from the Grand Elder: Hold your horses’ you rascal. Zyra said we need to wait exactly one hour before we unleash Phase Two. Sit tight and don’t ruin the surprise.

Achilles read the message, chuckled, and tossed the jade onto the table. "One hour, huh? Guess I get to watch the pre-show drama first."

He nodded to himself, let out a satisfied, heavy sigh, and sank deep into the ridiculously soft, heavily cushioned armchair. He propped his feet up on the gold-trimmed railing, thoroughly ready to watch the chaos unfold.

******

Meanwhile, the Beast Valley task force had already quietly slipped into Waterhurst, crouching behind a dusty ridge. They ran a full environmental scan of the area. The results made everyone gasp.

There were way more people inside the town than they had originally calculated!

At first, Zyra’s team assumed the Sanctum army had done what they usually did_ massacre every local in sight. Entire territories like Grimmark and Regal Hill had been mercilessly bombed to ash, leaving no survivors behind. But here in Waterhurst, thousands of local hostages were still alive, locked in rooms and guarded heavily by Sanctum troops.

Zyra turned to Hunter, her expression turning dead serious. "We can’t just go in hot like you planned, Hunter. If we launch heavy fire, they will use the captives as human shields."

Bullet gritted his teeth, looking at the layout. "So no blowing things up first? That ruins half my fun."

"We need to rescue the hostages while taking down the hostiles silently," Zyra explained, pointing toward the wide front entrance into the town where dozens of Sanctum soldiers were lounging around, drinking spirit liquor and playing cards. "I’ll go to the front gate and act as a big, noisy distraction. While all eyes are on me, you and the main team sneak in through the back, clear out the guards inside, and teleport the hostages safely to Beast Valley."

Taylor scratched his head, chiming in with a bright idea. "Wait! Why don’t we just have Spice use her paralyzing venom like we did at Twig’s Blue Crossing?"

Zyra shook her head. "It won’t work here. The Sanctum army is too spread out and look at those giant sunshade awnings covering the courtyards. The paralyzing venom won’t reach under those shades fast enough. If even one guard realizes what’s happening, then we will have a big problem on our hands."

Realizing she needed a trick up her sleeve, Zyra closed her eyes and pinged her internal interface. "System, which beast in my inventory is best suited for a silent, mass-paralysis ambush under covered shade?"

A cheerful mechanical bell chimed inside her head.

[Scanning inventory... Best match found: Assassin Ants! These miniature beasts produce a paralyzing neurotoxin. They are tiny, hyper-stealthy, and possess natural camouflage. The enemy will never see them coming!]

Zyra’s eyes snapped open with a wicked smile. "Perfect."

She tapped her beast pocket, and thousands of tiny ants flooded out like a shimmering wave. But before Zyra could even give an order, the back skin of each ant suddenly split open, unfurling a pair of completely transparent, high-speed wings!

The entire ant colony lifted off into the air, vanishing into invisible blurs as they zoomed straight toward the unsuspecting Sanctum guards sitting under the sunshades.

Zyra stood there, her mouth hanging open in sheer amazement. "Wait... they can fly?! Since when do they have wings?"

The team remained crouched behind the ridge, watching with bated breath. On the screens of their helmets, they could see the hundreds of red dots which represented the Sanctum guards.

A minute passed. Then another.

Suddenly, the red dots on the screen began to flicker and drop like dead flies! Down at the gate, guards who were in the middle of laughing or taking a sip of wine suddenly felt a tiny prick on their ankles or necks. Before they could even scratch themselves, their eyes rolled back, and they fell flat on their faces into their food bowls, utterly paralyzed.

"It’s working!" Taylor whispered excitedly. "They’re falling like sacks of rice! Today is the day we take down Julia the cold witch, I can feel it in my bones."