All of my perception around the city focuses solely on the scouts that seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Some of them touch down in random areas of the city while others fly far away to the other side of the massive mountaintop to other districts.
There are even some nearby that fly to the top of tall towers, but the only three guards I focus on are the ones coming straight my way.
A faint noise emanates from the orange core, and I channel all of my perception toward him as he flies.
The image of him holding a silver transmission device in his right hand is clear, and his voice rings out in a steady, monotone manner.
"Yes, Redgrave, I'm checking in on the unidentified subject now. Based on the recordings, he appears to be an intruder from outside of central. But there is no ID coming back on our facial recognition. I'll be arriving in a few seconds."
There's a click, and a familiar angry voice responds.
"It doesn't matter. Your focus should be elsewhere. Kill the intruder and anyone he is with. Don't spend a moment more on it. If they're from outside, then good riddance; if they're a rogue that got rid of their tracker to make a statement, then kill him and make an example of it. Destroy the bodies and leave no witnesses. No loose ends."
There's another click, and the orange core puts the tablet away.
There's a pause, and no response for a moment, but finally, the same man responds.
"Thank you. There actually is one more thing I'd like to ask of you: report back to the supply base. I need you and a team to help Angelica investigate a trade deal gone wrong down in Ashmore. There was quite the incident that took place less than an hour ago, and Beckman wants a second opinion from an outside source."
"Certainly, I'm on my way," the orange core replies and begins to fly away back in the direction he came from, with the two red cores following.
I lean up against the side wall of a building for a few seconds, staring at the black ash left behind, with a small amount of red and orange divine threads disintegrating into the atmosphere as they leave.
All of the red and orange cores throughout the city and neighboring central regions finish up their missions around the same time, and simultaneously, I feel all of the wells of gravity throughout the city migrate back to the center of the mountain, in the densest part of the central headquarters, about 40 kilometers north of where I am.
Dozens of citizens disappear just as the old man did, being deleted from this world above the flames for various infractions without any warning or chance to refute them.
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Moments later, they all fade away from my senses, disappearing into various black buildings with shielding made from the same material as the floating rectangles above the city.
My mind wanders as I walk the streets alone, with my stealth skill completely activated this time, watching the flashing lights and people all around me go by.
Many streets pass as I recount the words spoken over the transmission tablet and compare them to what I know of the big three, and the new information graciously given by the old man that was killed and burned to ash before my eyes.
The reality of the true strength of the leaders of this city finally dawns on me... or, to put it more honestly, the leaders of this entire world. The power they possess is far beyond my wildest expectations.
The fact that the flames below the city have been burning for decades, long enough for the old man and most of the population to believe the world outside was no longer livable, means the man who put them there has far more power than merely this small fiery barrier.
That being said, there are two others... Elara and Beckman. I can imagine what the fire user is like from his tone of voice, and get a vague understanding of the massive scale of Redgrave's power, but the other two are supposedly just as strong, and their abilities are even more mysterious.
On the finger island where I assassinated the king and queen, I sense my double, Marcus, Bri, and Rodrigo all talking to each other as I instructed.
However, as I look down at this island, I decide this will be a great start for my expansion.
I open a link between the four of them and myself.
"I have new urgent information. There's been a change of plans."