Gargoyle Supremacy-Chapter 66: I Hate Politicians

Meanwhile, outside the facility...

Ferdinand staggered into the open air. Behind him, the distant wail of sirens pierced the sky. At the same time, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fumbled to answer it, and the panicked voice of a Class-A agent greeted him with a cracked voice.

"G-General! ECD-0173 and ECD-333… they’ve destroyed all the Terminators! A-A-And ECD-8888 has turned against us! It’s locked all passwords and disabled our systems! We can’t access anything!"

Ferdinand gritted his teeth. With a sharp click, he ended the call without a word. For a moment, he stood in silence, letting the cold air calm his nerves.

After recuperating for a minute, he pressed another button on his phone and made a different call. This time, the recipient was a being that Ferdinand had registered as "King."

The call connected, and a voice like the depths of an ancient abyss responded.

"Need something, child?"

Ferdinand gulped, forcing his voice to steady. "Your Majesty, we have a problem. A self-proclaimed Demon Lord doppelganger and a sentient living armor have disrupted our plans. Worse, they’ve located one of our targets."

The other end of the call went silent for a moment. Then came a sharp exhale, producing a sound so deep that it felt like a cold wind had passed directly through Ferdinand’s body.

"What is the Demon Lord’s name?"

"Carn Yunho, Your Majesty."

"No. Not his human name. The other name. He must have introduced himself with another alias if he is really a demon lord from my world."

Ferdinand froze and glanced over his shoulder at Anna, who had managed to escape alongside him. His voice dropped to a whisper. "What did Carn Yunho call himself when you met him?"

Anna’s eyes widened with fear, but she managed to respond. "I… I think he said… Pebble. Demon Lord Pebble."

Ferdinand nodded and repeated the name, "He called himself Demon Lord Pebble, Your Majesty."

There was a brief silence on the other end. Then came a low, rumbling sound of surprise, amusement, and restrained fury.

"Hoh?"

The tone shifted between delight and disdain. Another pause followed, longer this time, before the King’s voice returned.

"My child, what else does he know? Does he figure out our agreements or our preparations?"

A smirk crept across Ferdinand’s face. "He doesn’t know a thing, Your Majesty."

The mysterious King chuckled, "Good. Then let us ensure it stays that way. I’ll transport more MANA ESSENCE to your side, but in return, I will need you to provide me THOSE."

Ferdinand’s smirk deepened. He straightened his back, "Don’t worry, Your Majesty. Recently, a certain detective caused quite a mess. I’ll send him to you as tribute, along with a few others."

"Good. I trust he is favored by your world’s Lord?"

"He should be. That blasted Akashic Grimoire, ’Merlin,’ claimed he’s an incarnation of some divine spirit or something."

The King seemed genuinely pleased by this. "You have done well, my child. But heed my words. Avoid sending any human or soldier with a dubious past to face the demon lord. Only send your puppets to wear him down. When his MANA runs dry, he will be reduced to nothing but a harmless rock."

"…Understood, Your Majesty."

"Remember," the King continued, "On the promised day, pour the diluted ESSENCE on every tree, and your world shall be blessed with MANA! Be wary of gold trees in your country since they will consume every strategic resource in your world, especially mineral ores and fossil blood!"

"…I’ll do my best," Ferdinand replied, though his voice lacked conviction.

The line went dead with a chilling click. Ferdinand lowered the phone. For a moment, he stood still, staring at the device as he calculated his next move. Then he turned toward Anna.

"Where did the MPs send Arthur? We still have him in custody, right?"

Anna immediately retrieved her tablet, swiping through the facility’s personnel tracking app. She hesitated for a moment before her face grew pale.

"The MPs already registered former detective Arthur A. Ashford as Class-E personnel. He… has been transferred to the facility via the subway."

Ferdinand’s eyes widened. "He’s already in there?"

A mix of frustration and disbelief flickered across his face. On one hand, he wanted to commend the ECD for their efficiency. On the other, it was maddening that they had acted so quickly, especially when Arthur was crucial to his pact with the King. It had only been an hour since Arthur’s arrest, and yet the detective was already discharged, labeled, and processed into the facility.

Ferdinand’s hand hovered over his phone, debating whether to dispatch additional forces to retrieve Arthur. But the thought of Carn lurking within the facility froze his resolve. One wrong move and Carn might not only find Arthur but also destroy any remaining leverage he had.

He sighed and turned his calculating gaze toward Anna. "Come to think of it, Anna… You’ve gone to church a lot, haven’t you?"

"Y-Yes, every Sunday."

A slow, sinister grin spread across Ferdinand’s face. "By chance, do you know anything about holy spirits? Or perhaps the World Tree Yggdrasil?"

"I’ve never been inside a Rift, sir. I don’t know anything about them."

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

"Tsk. Forget it. You’re useless for this. Let’s leave this place. The cyborgs can handle the rest. If everything falls apart, we’ll pin the blame on Arthur. Say he provoked a friendly demon lord and caused all of this chaos."

"…Yes, sir," Anna replied, though her voice was subdued.

As Ferdinand turned away, Anna bit her lower lip. She knew that Carn had been willing to negotiate, even cooperate. It was Ferdinand who had antagonized the demon lord, escalating the situation into a catastrophe.

The facility was on the verge of ruin, and its dangerous entities were on the brink of breaking free. Anna’s hands trembled as she clutched her tablet, realizing this place was no longer a safe haven for their people.

In silence, she whispered a prayer.

’Oh Lord, what should I do? How do I atone for my mistakes? Guide me… Please.’

As if someone answered her prayer, she heard a female voice in her mind.

"Do you want power?"

"What?!"

Anna looked around her, but she saw nobody but Ferdinand and his men. But as she looked up, she found a female divine spirit, who spread her wings and floated in the sky like an angel.