[Council Meeting]
Tension hung in the air of the meeting room where the heads of the founding families gathered. Everyone’s expression was grim, except Atlas, who wore the same straight face... even with a few guns pointed in his direction.
Guards present in the room — who usually weren’t allowed inside this very chamber — had their rifles aimed at him.
Sybil, on the other hand, was seated in the corner. Unfazed by the weapons pointed around her, she held her own small pistol at the chairman of the council. Her lips curled up, the wrinkles on her face deepening with her smile.
"Apologies," Sybil broke the prolonged silence, eyeing the chairman. "However, you do not raise your toys at my master and expect me to stay down."
She chuckled. "I may be old, but I do not mind taking another life with my last breath."
Her eyelids drooped as she quietly turned her head in Atlas’s direction. She didn’t feel the need to fire yet for one reason.
Atlas might have all these weapons pointed directly at him, but everyone else in the room was riddled with red laser lights from snipers of the Phantom Circle. One wrong move, and not only Atlas would die — everyone else would, too.
"Haha." A bulky man seated in the spot of the head of the Tribe of Talmaru, Drakon, laughed. "Interesting — this is getting interesting!"
His laughter echoed louder, unbothered by the snipers tracking his every movement. All the red dots were aimed at his vital points, knowing the man had a body like steel.
"This has never happened before in this council room!" he continued, as if this were something to celebrate. "Pull the trigger!"
He hissed, his grin in full display. "Let’s see who is the luckiest to leave this room alive!"
"Don’t listen to him," Marceline, the head of the Monreal family, spoke calmly. "If anything, blow his head off first. I did not come here today to have this place be my burial site, nor did I plan to share my death anniversary with all of you."
She calmly averted her gaze from Atlas’s seat. "However, Atlas, I do hope you understand we do not want this to happen."
"I understand very clearly," Atlas returned coldly. "It is why you’ve managed to express your reluctance to die alongside everyone else in this room... because the feeling is mutual."
"Hah." She scoffed, shifting her attention to Sybil. "I still preferred when you had that seat, Sybil. These men just make my fine lines worse."
Sybil, still seated on the sideline, simply smiled. She didn’t need to speak. Instead, she looked around the table. Atlas sat in his spot just like Marceline and Drakon. Henrik’s seat was vacant, right next to the quiet man from the Church.
Seated at the end were the chairman and chairwoman — both elderly — of the council. Sybil had her pistol aimed at the two, then slowly slid her eyes to the quiet person in the room.
Finally, the elderly chairman raised a hand.
"Please, put your weapons down," he said, his voice gentle and helpless. "Marceline, tell your men to lower their weapons."
"Not unless Atlas tells his men to remove those snipers from me," she replied without hesitation. "Otherwise, we’ll be staying here until someone snaps and pulls the trigger."
Drakon laughed even louder, only to get scolded by the elderly woman — the chairwoman.
"Drakon, this is not a laughing matter," she said. "Why don’t we calm down and talk about this civilly? This council exists so we can discuss matters and conflicts through diplomacy."
She sighed. "Violence does not answer our questions, nor would it hasten the search for the missing member of this council."
"I ask you, Marceline," she continued, as Marceline was the one who started this. "Let us maintain the civility of this council that hasn’t spilled blood for generations."
Marceline frowned, darting her eyes between the two chairpersons. Of course, she didn’t like the attention and how they seemed to be siding with Atlas. But then, the quiet young man from the Church finally broke his silence — a rare occurrence.
"If this escalates further, the Church will side with the Order and handle the aftermath of this massacre."
Since he rarely spoke during such discussions, everyone turned to him.
Even Atlas took a moment to look at the man, whom he was familiar with, though they hadn’t exchanged greetings in years.
Marceline’s expression hardened. She eyed the younger man from the Church.
Unlike everyone here, who were heads of their respective families, only the Church sent a representative for meetings like this. It had been that way since the founding of this council, as the Supreme Head had to avoid their symbol of doctrine being influenced by such matters.
Still, this young man was the youngest cardinal to ever join this council.
This displeased Marceline even more, but at the same time, she knew she didn’t want a fight against the Church.
"Put down your guns," she ordered coldly, keeping her sharp eyes on the young cardinal. "And leave this room."
The men holding Atlas at gunpoint exchanged looks, then backed down. As they began to leave, Marceline kept her eyes on the young cardinal.
"Does that make you happy, Cardinal?"
The young cardinal didn’t answer. He lowered his head, choosing silence rather than provoking her further.
Once the last of Marceline’s men left, the chairpersons shifted their attention to Atlas.
"Atlas, please," asked the male chairman, glancing at Sybil.
Sybil shrugged lightly. "I only listen to my master."
"Sybil," Atlas called. At once, she lowered her handgun. Then he raised a hand and lowered it slightly, causing the sniper lights to disappear one by one.
Once everything was clear, Atlas raised his chin and eyed everyone.
"Whether you think I am behind Henrik’s disappearance or not is your choice. However, I will make one thing clear," he paused, meeting their eyes sharply. "The Order never backs down if any of you wage war against us."
He placed a hand on the table and rose to his feet. Sybil also stood, knowing it was time to leave.
"That being said, I see Henrik as someone important to this council who keeps the balance in the secret society. He went missing in my territory, and I will find out how and why he ended up in the Order in the first place," Atlas added. "I hope his disappearance has nothing to do with anyone in this room."
With that, Atlas turned and walked off. Sybil followed, only to stop before stepping out.
Looking back, she offered them a smile. "I hope... this council upholds its purpose of staying neutral. If not, then what is the purpose of this council?"