Free Web NovelChapter 181: Give Him What He Wants (1)
"Hm... maybe I should take Selena with me. After all, she’s experienced when dealing with Acid-spitters," Shinon said to himself, a plan forming in his mind.
He jumped from his chair and briskly walked outside. "If nothing else, I can still use her as a distraction to take down more acid spitters or perhaps even devise a way to trap them."
As he stepped out into the settlement, he was met with a sight that both surprised and impressed him. The destruction caused by Alex’s attack had been swiftly repaired.
The gates that had been broken now stood tall and strong, thanks to the collective effort of the settlers. The peripheral walls were restored, and the settlers were rebuilding what they had lost.
Even though the sun had already set, the settlers showed no sign of slowing down. Their resilience and determination fueled Shinon’s own desire to help them.
"Helping them would boost their favourability towards me, so... it is a double win."
Just like that, he decided that while searching for Selena, he would lend a hand to the settlers wherever he could. After all, it was the least he could do when their leader was too busy plotting against him.
While assisting the settlers, Shinon came across a couple of guards. Since she was now the head of the settlement’s security, Shinon figured the guards might know her whereabouts.
He decided to approach them and inquire about Selena, but before he could do so, he noticed the worried expression on their faces and decided to follow them quietly.
Within minutes they found Selena supervising the construction of a watch tower. The guards approached her with a scroll in their hands. As Selena went through the scroll’s content, her expression turned sour.
Remaining discreet, Shinon observed from a distance, trying to read Selena’s expression. From the look on her face, it was evident that whatever the guards had told her wasn’t good news.
His curiosity piqued, Shinon wondered what the scroll contained and what could be troubling Selena. As the guards walked away, Shinon approached Selena out of concern. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"Selena," he called out gently, not wanting to startle her. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah... I don’t know," Selena mumbled, handing Shinon the scroll. "Feel free to read it before I hand it over to the Phoenixes."
Taking the scroll, Shinon began reading Aric’s ominous message. The letter was addressed to the Phoenixes and the ’Shadowbearer,’ but it was apparent that Aric intended for the entire settlement to be aware of his intentions.
In the letter, he said that the Phoenixes had crossed an unforgivable line by eliminating Alex and that Aric wanted nothing more than to kill them all by feeding them to his pet zombies.
However, being the kind and benevolent ruler he was, he was giving the Phoenixes a second chance to undo their mistakes.
In the letter, Aric demanded that the girls be handed over to him, no questions asked, and that the ’shadowbearer’ should accompany them. No one else.
If these conditions were not met within a week, he would launch another attack on the settlement, and this time, no one would be spared. Shinon’s jaw tightened as he finished reading.
Shinon couldn’t help but shake his head in disbelief. Out of all the delusional bastards he had encountered in his life, Aric took the cake.
One would think that losing his entire army to them would have taught him a lesson, but instead, he seemed to be blinded by his own misguided arrogance. freewёbnoνel.com
"He’s beyond reason," Shinon muttered to himself. "Now I know why the girls were so scared of him. Anyone would be scared of a madman! You can reason with anyone but not someone who has lost his fucking mind!"
The nerve of that man to threaten them again, as if they were merely pawns in his twisted game. Even so, Shinon was glad. After all, with this warning, Aric had allowed him to deal with him once and for all.
"Let’s get this letter to the rest," Shinon sighed, handing the letter back to Selena. "We can decide what to do then."
Selena nodded, and the two of them headed towards the command centre.
~~~
"See? I warned you! Nothing good ever comes from going against that bastard!" Marcus yelled as he slammed the table.
Sitting around the table were the Phoenixes, along with Selena, while Shinon took his customary spot by the central pillar.
As Marcus threw a fit, Shinon gazed at him and placed a finger on his lips as if warning Marcus to quiet down.
Lova also observed the interaction between Marcus and Shinon, and given Marcus’ behaviour, she expected him to lose his temper, as he disliked anyone else telling him what to do.
To her surprise, however, Marcus reluctantly obeyed, taking his seat and muttering under his breath.
Lova stared at Shinon with her mouth agape, clearly puzzled by Marcus’s sudden obedience. She turned to him, her eyes questioning, as if wanting to ask what he had done to make Marcus act so differently. In response, Shinon mirrored the same gesture back to her and gave her a sly wink.
There was no way he was going to reveal Marcus’s betrayal and alliance with Aric just like that. Shinon relished the idea of holding power over Marcus and wanted to keep the rest of them in the dark a little longer to humiliate him further.
Lova narrowed her eyes, sensing that Shinon was hiding something, but she decided not to press the matter. More pressing issues were at hand, and they needed to focus on finding a solution to Aric’s threats.
"This is getting out of hand. That bastard just doesn’t know when to stop!" Sable’s frustration was evident as she buried her head in her hands.
"But what do we do now?" Nova asked, looking around at the weary faces of her companions. "We can’t afford to launch an attack right now. Our settlement needs time to rebuild."
"Isn’t the answer simple, though?" Shinon asked with a broad smile. "If Aric wants the girls and me, then that’s exactly what we’ll give him."
"What!?" The others exclaimed in unison, their eyes widening in disbelief.
The idea seemed preposterous and dangerous, and yet Shinon was smiling?
