Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 204 - 205: Desire to be simple.

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

Power stones people, Gimme it.

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That made him recalibrate.

Were they just that naïve or was he the one falling into a trap.

But Orion quickly brushed that thought away, he couldn't spiral into that, not now.

The Lady noticed his hesitation.

"Don't worry, we don't bite." She said with a chuckle.

Orion just shrugged.

"Count me in."

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It had been two days since Orion joined the group of twenty-four—twenty-five now, including him.

The first few hours had been awkward.

Not hostile. Not uncomfortable in the conventional sense. Just… curious. Too many glances. Too many pauses when he passed. No one tried to hide their interest. A silver-haired Chronos teenager walking alone in the Jade Forest was novelty enough to draw attention.

Orion ignored it.

He spent most of his time slightly apart from the group, moving at the edges during travel and sitting alone during breaks. It fit the image he wanted to project—a reserved, mildly antisocial teenager—and it spared him from unnecessary conversation.

More importantly, it kept emotional distance.

Building relationships with people he planned to use was inefficient. He still did the bare minimum—responded when spoken to, helped when needed—but nothing more.

He wasn't idle, though.

He observed.

This was a rare chance to study other participants up close without pressure. A mixed group like this didn't form often, especially this deep into the forest.

His Eye of Truth and Façade had been active since the first day.

Affinities and abilities varied widely. Members of the Willow family displayed controlled fire manipulation. The Verdants specialized in flora-based control—vines, spores, accelerated plant growth. Others relied on reinforced physiques, raw strength, or simple enhancement buffs.

There were more unusual abilities too. Body alteration. Heightened perception. Minor illusion. None of them were overwhelmingly powerful on their own, but together they formed a functional unit.

It was exactly what Orion had expected from a group that survived this long.

Their personalities surprised him more.

They were easygoing. Cooperative. Not stupid, but not overly suspicious either. Arguments were rare and usually short-lived. Decisions were discussed, not imposed.

Most of them were strays.

People whose original teams had fallen apart—members killed, separated, or lost. Joining together had been necessity, not convenience.

That kind of group didn't stay intact without someone holding it together.

Orion's gaze drifted briefly to the woman walking a few paces ahead.

Emily Rigen.

The group's leader.

When she'd first introduced herself, Orion had been skeptical. The Rigen family wasn't one he recognized from the Chronos Dukedom. When he'd activated ETF later, he'd found no deception. Her name was real.

Emily had noticed his doubt and explained casually that her family was newly established. She'd secured a place in the competition through sponsorship from a larger house.

That alone wasn't remarkable.

Her ability was.

Empathic perception.

Not true empathy—not the invasive kind—but a refined sensitivity to emotional intent. She couldn't read thoughts or manipulate feelings, but she could sense hostility, deception, agitation.

A diluted form of a powerful concept.

It explained how she'd kept this group stable.

It also raised a problem. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

She should have sensed him.

Orion was careful, but deception was still deception. Yet she hadn't questioned his presence. Hadn't pressed him. Hadn't shown even mild suspicion.

That bothered him.

He'd considered several explanations.

Either her ability had limits he wasn't accounting for, or she sensed something and chose not to act on it. The latter was more concerning.

He exhaled quietly.

Sometimes, he wished he could be ignorant and simply strong. Reading too deeply into everything was exhausting. It didn't help that he had the tools to do so—ignoring them felt wasteful.

Even now, he considered leaving.

This group could still be leading him into a trap. Nothing overt suggested it, but possibility remained. Still, his instincts hadn't flagged danger, and he trusted those.

Emily didn't feel malicious.

Annoying, yes. Teasing, definitely. But not hostile.

That almost made him feel bad about what he planned to do to them.

Almost.

As the only spatial mage in the group, Orion had naturally taken on navigational responsibility. He didn't announce it; it simply happened. Whenever they hesitated at forks or debated direction, he adjusted subtly—nudging them along the vector that aligned with the capital.

No one questioned it.

They assumed he knew where he was going.

He was leading twenty-four people now.

If Caelum and Reina's group succeeded in gathering a similar number, and Galen and Daenys had already done so, then the numbers would be sufficient. Fifty to seventy outsiders converging on the capital during a major event would create exactly the kind of instability Orion needed.

From what he'd learned in the Ruk, the journey from their settlement to the capital took roughly five days.

Three days had already passed.

The infiltration team—Thaddeus, Arlen, Selene, Erevan, Seris, and Jalen—should be about two days out.

Orion's group was slower, burdened by numbers and terrain. By his estimate, they were four days away.

That put them three days ahead of the prince's elevation.

Acceptable.

Earlier that day, he'd checked in with the other two diversion teams through the bracelet.

Galen's group had succeeded.

Daenys, predictably, had resolved leadership disputes by beating the previous leader senseless and taking over. Efficient, if crude.

Orion hadn't been surprised.

Caelum and Reina hadn't encountered anyone yet, but Orion wasn't worried. Between Caelum's composure and Reina's adaptability, they'd manage.

As long as all three diversion groups arrived within a day of each other, the timing would hold.

There were still unknowns.

Security levels. Sylgrid response time. Capital infrastructure. Internal politics surrounding the elevation.

But overall—

Things were aligning.

For now, Orion continued walking with the group, listening more than he spoke, guiding without appearing to lead.

Three days.

Then the capital.

Then the real test would begin.