Chapter 395: Murdered [1]

"Matthew Pierre wasn’t just a name, but someone who had always worked for the welfare of the people. His contributions had helped authorities in many ways, and had always been a guarding pillar for the people of the Veltran Empire and the world as a whole. But now... the same man had been brutally murdered in his own residence by none other than Arnold Levaith, for reasons unknown..."

"There have been reports that a witness from the past attack on the auction house in the Levaith Duchy had given a statement about Arnold’s presence during the time of the attack, and his lack of interest in protecting the people in the territory owned by the Levaiths. That had led to the authorities starting fresh investigations on the Levaith Duchy and in particular on Arnold Levaith for being connected to the cults and helping them in their recent attacks..."

"Sir Matthew had been leading the investigations, which could very well have been the reason for his assassination..."

"The empire hadn’t yet recovered from the recent attacks, and now... the Veltran Empire has lost one of its best strategists, while the world has lost a guardian who had stood as a strong wall, protecting the nobility and the masses alike..."

One after the other, the same news was being played on every news outlet out there.

Matthew Pierre... I knew him, and not only from the game, but D.X. had since its foundation always kept track of all the important figures in the authorities.

And Matthew... he was a man of a status far above that of some leading strategist and all.

The Authorities had been founded in the past to reduce the friction and wars amongst the major powers, while also being a neutral organization of sorts that worked towards world peace.

After all, criminal organizations like the cults had their bases spread throughout the world, so it was a necessity for there to be an official organization that could work across borders without the burden of politics.

Every major power as well as all the noble houses across the world were the ones who funded the Authorities, and as for their recruitments... every major branch of the authorities had the personnel recruited from that given territory in question.

This was done to keep the major powers at ease and not make them suspicious by having people of other empires working in their territories.

Though the authorities from all across the world kept exchanging their men to foster coordination amongst their bases... the bulk of their forces was made of the regional recruits.

The masses too funded the authorities through the taxes that they paid.

This ensured that no single power or race would hold major influence over the Authorities and their decisions.

The highest decision-making body in the authorities was the Council... which consisted of Immortals and Sovereigns from all the races who had decided to work for the betterment of the world while leaving their families and thrones behind.

Still, every race tried their best to ensure that more of their leaders would be present in the Council, so that they could have a greater say in the decisions of the authorities as a whole.

And Matthew was someone who had a very strong influence in the Council.

His death at the hands of Arnold Levaith... was surprising for me.

Today was meant to be the day when we were going to visit the forge of the duchy, but the morning had greeted us with something unexpected, turning the entire atmosphere into quite the serious one.

"The explosion had resulted in the entire mansion being destroyed in its entirety, and the investigations so far had revealed that Arnold Levaith might have very well been dead in the attack..."

"All the proofs and evidence collected by the authorities so far are indicating towards a sort of mutual destruction, with both the victim as well as the culprit having fallen into the death’s embrace..."

A man of Matthew’s status should have been well protected, yet he was killed even before more backup could have arrived at the scene.

It was clear that there was more to the situation than what met the eye.

The most interesting thing for me wasn’t their deaths, but the reason which could have motivated Arnold to take such steps.

Being the one behind the attacks, I knew that Arnold was innocent, so why had he gone out of his way to kill Matthew?

Was it to protect his family and shift the entire blame on himself?

But... his decision could very well become counterproductive, as the duchy might face even harsher criticism than the last time.

Sigh.

Having decided to use Damian on my board, I had no interest in abandoning him at this point in time.

On the contrary, I could very well use this situation as an unexpected reward to further corner and control the Levaiths.

Still, if the cost of using the Levaiths had any possibility of it resulting in a direct confrontation with the authorities... then maybe, I would have to re-evaluate my choices.

Facing against the full might of the authorities at this point in time wasn’t the most strategic decision, but well... it wasn’t like I was afraid of them either.

The forces of D.X. below the Immortal core were growing at a rapid pace, yet they were outnumbered compared to the forces available at the disposal of a major power, let alone an organization like the authorities which had its influence all across the world and operated on a far larger scale.

But being outnumbered didn’t necessarily mean that we were the weaker ones, as the quality of my soldiers was far better than what was available at the disposal of any major power in the world.

Each of the soldiers who now fought under my banner had been a villain in the original game, and was either on the path to evil or had already turned towards it in the current reality.

And villains, despite being hunted by everyone, always had the strength to trouble the authorities as well as every official organization out there and survived to flex their tales.

So it was a given for my soldiers to be far stronger and more lethal than the fighters at a similar cultivation level.