Chapter 45: The Tables are Turning

"You said that the girl was the reason for your misery. Yet, when the girl was gone, you continued experiencing it. So is that the girl's fault… or yours?"

"It was because of her that I-"

"Placing blame on others like a little kid. You really expect to fill your father's shoes with that attitude?" the magnate cut him off again.

Goren bared his teeth and looked down in shame. He hadn't felt this much humiliation in the past few years. "You won't understand. You weren't there."

"Oh, I know a lot about betrayal, humiliation, discrimination and losing loved ones. We all go through that. But the wiser of us don't keep blaming our old enemies, but we move on to become stronger and better than them. You… are stuck in an impasse with your younger self."

"I'm not!" He tried to protest one last time.

"Then if you do find Mitchell, will you be able to kill him? Will that make you stop your hate for Tiara?"

"No," Goren admitted. "What she did isn't that simple to forget."

Suzue sighed. 'This dude…' She had made a decision regarding the new leader before he stepped inside the room, but now she found herself making new plans on the spot. Goren showing his vulnerable side to the last Magnate proved to be a foolish move on the chessboard.

"I have a mission for you, Cheng."

"Yes," Goren said with reverence.

"Find the killer, and bring him to me."

"And then?" Goren dared to ask.

"I'll make him the leader."

Gorne stood up in fury. "What? Are you serious?"

The Magnate let out a small laugh. "The first thing you should have known before you entered this room…"

Goren quietened down and stood like a doll. "Fine," he mumbled before looking straight with some more determination. "I'll do as you say."

"Alright, then. Leave."

And Goren left, feeling deeply wounded by the one person he taught was amazing. It looked like history was repeating all over again. But then again, Goren had hope.

'Maybe giving Mitchell to the last magnate is a better idea than simply ending his life. Tiara will be in a mess, worried if he is okay or not.' Goren's heart felt at ease again and he returned back down where the maids showed him to a room in the huge house. Anyone would think he should not be worried since Mitchell would never play into the hands of the Magnate and accept the position of the leader, but Goren knew better. The Last Magnate was capable of things the normal human mind can't imagine.

While Goren lied down on bed expecting to magically fall asleep, Ani was hastily removing Suzue's robes, laughter from the two girls filling the attic at the satisfying effect Suzue had on a cold heart like Goren's.

"Ani," Suzue hummed. The two girls decided to spend the night watching old romance movies with strawberry ice cream and butter popcorn.

"Yeah?"

"How many members do we have now?"

"802," Ani said instantly. Both their eyes were glued on the screen as the hero ran across the street to get to the girl's house. Loud passionate music played in the background.

"So 198 members more," Suzue sighed, licking the back of her spoon. "The veil between dimensions is getting weaker too. It took 7 minutes to patch up this time. By the time I get all 4 dragons, I can tear through it just with a blink of an eye," she smiled into the ice cream bucket and scooped another ball of diabetes.

"Oh about that," Ani leaned to the side and took out her tablet.

"What?" Suzue tried not to sound annoyed. Ani always had something disappointing to say, but if she didn't say those things, Suzue wouldn't have reached where she was now.

"After the patch up, I received reports that cultivators experienced a sort of… euphoria. So I looked into it through our headquarters and found out that the strength of the veil has actually… increased."

Suzue sat up straight, her eyes were off the TV and on Ani's tablet now. Sure enough, there was a map of Country X shining on the screen with different colors showing the strength of the veil over different areas like a thermal image.

Over the western area of Country X, an hour away from Suzue's residence, the colors were bright green instead of the desired light red.

"Are you kidding me?" Suzue snapped. She slammed her finger against the green portion. "What's causing this?"

"You tell me," Ani shrugged. "Converting humans into blood cultivators and trying to invite the Shadow Dragon into you is doing a good job at weakening Qi in the atmosphere, and the veils between the dimensions. But after yesterday's tear in the veil and patch up, a new variable seems to have come into the equation."

Ani pointed at one building, "Damaged Qi is starting to rejuvenate, starting from this point and spreading outwards. Thankfully, it's happening very slowly."

Suzue's brows knotted in thought. "I know that a cultivator died to cause that tear, but I didn't think it mattered who it was. It happens all the time. But this cultivator must have someone special to him. And that special someone might be the one who is fixing the damaged Qi."

Ani raised an eyebrow at Suzue. "Are you making up a random story on the spot? With no evidence of what's going on at all?"

Suzue pouted. "Theatre runs through my blood, unfortunately." She then nodded, "Who is a cultivator in that area?"

"No idea. Have to deploy spies to that area."

Suzue shook her head. "No, don't. I want to go by myself for once. And if it's a huge threat, then eliminate it by myself. Hopefully it will impress the Shadow Dragon too, if it's lurking around somewhere."

Ani couldn't help but agree. "I'm coming with you."

"What? No it's too dangerous," Suzue protested and received a bonk on her head.

"You know you're just a dumb kid with way too many powers without me."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Ani!"

"Su."

"I'm going alone."

"Then we aren't watching Before The Sun Kissed Your Lips after this movie," Ani decided.

Suzue gasped and slapped her arm. She stuffed a popcorn into her mouth and mumbled, "Okay fine you can come."

Ani smiled in the dark as they both watched the couple kiss passionately and the end credits roll with even more passionate music playing in the background.