"How disgraceful, colluding with a vimodial."

"To think the rumors were true."

"Turns out the righteous front you always present has always been a mask for your true nature, Cecil."

"Yeah. None of us are saints. But colluding with a vimodial is going too far. Even to the point of wanting him to take over the LEA position of your district."

"You... you... you... drag them away. Cecil’s execution will be shown to the whole city. Also, the vimodial detecting artifacts will be used to detect the vimodials in front of the whole city to prove Cecil’s crimes before the vimodials are also killed."

Powerless, confused, and flabbergasted at the turn of events, Cecil, Briggs, and his fellow vimodials were dragged away by the LEA powerhouses from the other districts. Even though Cecil, Briggs, and his vimodials were Rank 4 novice-stage transcendents, there was nothing they could do in the face of about 30 individuals at the same rank. They were utterly powerless in the face of such numbers.

Cecil and Briggs were very confused. How had their plan been revealed to others? None of them had informed anyone about it. How was this possible?

This was when they heard the discussions of the LEA higher-ups of the other districts.

"That Kailen Darkhaven is really an enigma. He has really done the city a good merit this time."

"Right, we need to reward him appropriately. We should let him have access to the artificial secret realm of the Mayor’s office."

"I agree. We need to inform the Counts of the five districts so that they inform the mayor and the process can begin as soon as possible."

"That’s right."

"I wonder how he managed to even dish out this information."

"Heh. It seems the Skynet Intelligence Organization wants to be on his good side. This is definitely why they attributed all the credit to him. They could have just tried to pay him for the information and take the credit for themselves. But they not only paid him for the information, but instead fostered a relationship with him by giving him the credit he deserves—anticipating that the city will reward him well for his feat."

"Even if Kailen Darkhaven is cold, he will be amiable towards them."

"I agree."

Briggs and Cecil widened their eyes. So it was Kailen Darkhaven? He had trapped them? How? How did he even find out about the whole plan?

Sigh...

As for the guild higher-ups at the gate of the mansion, they laughed dryly. It seemed their assassination attempt on Darkhaven ordered a few days prior had failed. Not only that, Kailen Darkhaven had used a single move to hasten the demise of the guild. He could have stopped the death of the guild leader. But he didn’t. Rather, he took advantage of the situation to scheme to his advantage. Not only did he manage to complete a mission from his guild related to the vimodials, he also managed to have revenge on them at the same time.

What a terrifying person. This fellow was a schemer through and through. A terrifying one at that. Such people handled situations like playing chess. If strength could not win, they would resort to scheming if it could help them win. It seemed that it would take a while before the guild recovered from this heavy blow. At this point, they had to even restrain themselves from participating in the upcoming competition. This blow the guild had sustained would take a while to recover. Also, they made mental notes to never offend Kailen Darkhaven from now on.

However, there was this trace of fear in their hearts. They could only pray that Kailen Darkhaven would let the matter of them attempting to assassinate him slide, deeming the blow he had dealt them would be enough compensation for him. Also, he had entered the good graces of LEA in the other districts. They would all attempt to foster good relationships with him. The universe was a place where exceptional people thrived, and weaklings were discarded, after all.

They had even heard the discussions of the LEA higher-ups. They wanted to arrange for him to cultivate in the secret realm of the City Mayor’s office, which was located in the Wildermere District. It was obvious that from here on, Kailen Darkhaven’s eventual rise in the city was set in stone. If they had gauged his personality earlier and refused to offend him, perhaps certain things could have been avoided. However, there was no cure for regret.

****

Kailen observed everything happening from his hotel room. He nodded. His work here was done.

"Cultivation in a secret realm in the Mayor’s office, huh. Things turned out better than expected. Not only was I paid for the information I gave to those Skynet people, I also got rewarded in this manner by the LEA higher-ups."

Kailen muttered, "Plus, my contribution points for the mission will most likely undergo a reevaluation. I feel like the points allocated to it are too small."

Kailen was not being proud. The mission was just too difficult.

"Time to leave."

Kailen left the hotel. The moment he arrived outside, several flashes ran across his face. Several levitating micro-cameras blocked his path as several individuals had crowded at the entrance.

"Mr. Darkhaven... how did you manage to discover and reveal one of the biggest conspiracies in the city?"

"Mr. Darkhaven, can you tell us a bit about yourself?"

"Mr. Darkhaven, what lead did you have that led you to uncover this conspiracy?"

"Mr. Darkhaven, what are your thoughts on corruption with regards to those in positions of power?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Mr. Darkhaven, are you excited about your rewards for this massive contribution made for the city?"

Kailen was calm. He didn’t reply to any of them. He simply melded with the void and disappeared. What sort of unnecessary attention was this?

As for the group clustered outside the hotel, they were shocked at the unexpected reaction of Kailen Darkhaven to their attempts to interview him.

*****

The guilds in the city districts that had sent assassins after Kailen Darkhaven,including the CrimsonFang guild cancelled their requests immediately. After what Kailen Darkhaven had just pulled off, he was now in the good graces of the LEA higher-ups of all the districts in the city. If it was a safe attempt to eliminate him secretly in the past, it was a different situation now. The LEA was not to be messed with.

If at first they could secretly attempt to eliminate him because of simple, pragmatic approaches with how guilds attempted to handle geniuses of other guilds that could pose a threat to them with regards to competitions, they could not do that anymore. Kailen was not a member of the LEA in the city. However, he was now in their good graces because he had rooted out a deranged leader among their ranks who dared to collude with a vimodial. Such an achievement was naturally meant to be respected.

They could only sigh in their hearts. At this point, the only choice they had was to pin their hopes on their geniuses to outshine him during the upcoming competitions. Even with cultivation in the secret realm of the Mayor’s office, and the principle fragment tower of his guild, there was no way he could become as strong as their Rank 3 geniuses soon,right?