Extra's Path: The Eternal Frost Monarch

Damien’s expression turned cold and serious. "Are you sure they are coming in direction of our base?"

He asked, to which he got reply from other side. "Yes commander. they coming from the side where that super mall is located."

"Got it! how much time it will take them to reach this place."

"Maybe half hour. And they will reach mall in fifteen minutes. What’s should we do?"

"They are just three. So they won’t attack or anything. I think they were just here to spy. For now observed them. Also send others to survey surrounding area if there are other students have came or not."

"Okay. I will inform you immediately if they did something suspicious"

The call was cut.

Noah remained silent. Same for Mary. She didn’t said anything.

"I need to gather all leaders for meeting."

He got up from his sit. "Noah and Mary, be ready for fight. We might soon have to fight them."

"Okay."

"Yes"

He then clapped his hands.

"Everyone here listen!"

The students who were sitting at other tables looked at Damien.

"We got information about enemies. Three of them were seen near our area. Near the mall. So be ready for battle."

""Yes""

"Noah I will see you later."

Damien left.

"Fuu! It seems we need to get ready for battle. I feel like today is going to be longer." Noah glanced at Mary. Telling her what he felt.

"I feel same. Well, let’s give our best!" Hs said with determined expression.

---

On the upper floor of the hotel, the leaders gathered around a large table that had been dragged into the centre of the room.

Leonard sat with his arms folded across his chest, leaning back in his chair. Marina sat straight, her expression calm and attentive. Sam, the Strike unit leader, had his elbows on the table, fingers laced together. Lyria sat quietly with a small notepad in front of her, ready to take note of anything important.

Damien stood at the head of the table.

Arisha and Kaelan stood slightly to the side, behind Damien, serving as strategists.

"Alright," Damien began, his voice steady and direct. "Three students from Class B-1 have been spotted moving toward our area from the north side. They’re coming from the direction of the mall."

Leonard unfolded his arms immediately. "Three? Just three?" He looked almost disappointed. "That’s nothing. We can take them out right now and it’s done."

"That’s not the point," Arisha said, her tone firm but even. "Three students moving toward an enemy base alone aren’t there to fight. They’re scouts. If we move on them too quickly, we tip off their entire class that we know their movements."

"She’s right," Kaelan added, his expression unreadable as always. "If we eliminate them quietly, it might buy us time. But if we’re sloppy about it, B-1 will know we spotted them and they’ll change their approach entirely."

Marina nodded. "My unit is already observing them. They haven’t made any aggressive movements so far. They’re just moving."

"What’s their pace like?" Sam asked, glancing at Marina. "They are cautious or confident?"

"Cautious," Marina replied. "They’re moving carefully. Checking their surroundings. Definitely scouts."

Damien listened to all of it before speaking again.

"For now we observe. We don’t engage unless they do something that forces our hand." He looked around the table. "Sam, I want your unit ready to move on short notice. Leonard, keep your unit at the base perimeter. Don’t pull anyone away from guarding."

"Got it," Sam said.

Leonard gave a nod, though his expression made it clear he was hoping something would actually happen.

"Lyria," Damien continued, "make sure the support unit is positioned to back up whoever moves first if things escalate."

"Already thinking about it," Lyria said, making a note.

Arisha stepped forward slightly. "We should also consider that these three aren’t necessarily the whole picture. Sending only three scouts is standard. But B-1 might have others already moving in different directions to get a wider read on our position. Marina, can your unit expand their sweep of the surrounding area?"

Marina gave a short nod. "I’ll send word now."

She tapped something quickly into her smartwatch.

The room settled into a brief quiet as everyone processed the information.

Then Damien’s smartwatch beeped.

He raised it to his ear immediately. "Report."

The same voice from before came through.

The voice didn’t contact Marina but Damien as per instruction if the situation was important.

"Commander. Those three students... they’ve entered the mall. They went inside and they’re not moving. They’ve stopped somewhere on the upper floors from what I can tell. They’ve been in there for a few minutes now and haven’t come back out."

Damien’s eyes narrowed. "They’re staying inside?"

"Yes. No movement since they entered."

"Keep watching. Don’t lose sight of the entrance. Tell me the moment anything changes."

"Understood."

The call ended.

Damien lowered his wrist and looked at the others.

The room had shifted. Everyone’s expression had changed slightly from the moment he had said they weren’t moving.

"That’s strange," Lyria said quietly, setting her pen down.

"Very," Arisha agreed, her brows drawing together. "Scouts move. That’s the entire point of being a scout. If they’ve stopped inside the mall and aren’t coming out, they’re either waiting for something or they found something worth staying for."

"Or someone," Kaelan said.

The word landed quietly.

Sam straightened up in his chair. "You think they’re meeting someone? Like a contact already inside the area?"

"It’s possible," Kaelan said. "Or they could be using the mall as an observation point. The upper floors have a clear view of a wide stretch of the surrounding roads. If they found the right floor and the right angle, they could be watching our base from in there without ever stepping outside."

Everyone nodded at his words.

Leonard’s eyes sharpened. "So they could be watching us right now."

"Potentially," Arisha said. She turned to Damien. "Even if that place is two yo three kilometers away from us. The hote us still visible from there. If that’s the case then we have a problem. Everything we do outside this building could already be visible to them." She said in her serious tone.