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The atmosphere on the coast was strange.
What happened tonight had left the two middle-aged men thoroughly confused.
Even if a cardmaker from another country had accidentally wandered into these waters and fought those monsters—that would've made more sense than the Spirit Begging Society fighting demons.
They simply couldn't understand why the Society would take action.
But since this bizarre thing had already happened, there was no time to dwell on it.
"Speaking of which," Luther suppressed his doubts and spoke gravely, "Vice President, Director Zayne."
"Do you think what that person said is credible?"
Russell said nothing, just passed the question to Zayne.
Zayne certainly knew what Lux had said was true. But he couldn't directly confirm it—that would mean admitting he was a Society member.
Fortunately, he found an excuse. "It's probably true."
"After all, the demons' behavior has been strange. They could have ignored Chancellor Tortoise's blockade and launched an attack."
"And even if the Spirit Begging Society wanted to throw us a smoke screen, there'd be no need to actually fight them."
Hearing this, Luther nodded repeatedly. He'd thought the same.
Seeing this, Russell immediately spoke. "Then I'll trouble you two here. I'll head back to headquarters and explain the situation to President Simon."
In truth, logically speaking—if Simon had actually requested support from their superiors, people should have arrived by now.
The two middle-aged men nodded and watched Russell disappear from the coast.
"Hope everything goes well."
Listening to Luther's murmur beside him, Zayne's eyes flickered.
He still hadn't figured out why his lord had done this—and why he hadn't been informed in advance.
At headquarters, Russell emerged from the shadows into the President's office.
Simon startled at first, then raised an eyebrow. "Why is the Vice President back?"
"Could it be the demons on the coast have been dealt with?"
Russell shook his head and got straight to the point. "Someone from the Spirit Begging Society fought with those demons. They also revealed there's an Emerald-rank demon among them."
"Spirit Begging Society?" Simon was shocked. He seemed unable to connect the organization Russell mentioned with the actions described.
But he immediately caught the key words. "Emerald-rank?!"
The President of the Cardmaker Association—who'd been nowhere to be found since Russell arrived in East-Haven—couldn't help but stand up. "Has it made a move?"
Simon was panicking. If an Emerald-rank truly appeared, East-Haven would suffer devastating damage.
Even if all the Gold-rank cardmakers in the city joined forces, they might not be able to defeat it.
And even if they somehow won, how many would still be alive afterward?
Thinking that his peaceful life was about to be disrupted, his face darkened.
"Have emergency evacuation arrangements been made?"
Russell shook his head. For now, they'd only confirmed the Emerald-rank's existence. They hadn't sensed its presence when investigating earlier, let alone detected it attacking East-Haven. "The Spirit Begging Society just said there's an Emerald-rank being. Director Luther and I didn't sense the corresponding aura."
Hearing this, Simon paused, then asked with a puzzled look. "Haven't you considered that the Society might be lying?"
Russell immediately recounted what had happened on the coast and repeated Zayne's reasoning.
Simon sat back down. "I understand. I'll report to the higher-ups later."
"Vice President, if there's nothing else, you can go."
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Russell couldn't help but frown. His expression turned cold. "President Simon should report it now."
To be honest, Russell had been unhappy with Simon for a long time. Since arriving in East-Haven, he'd been the one handling most of the messes.
Anyone who didn't know better would think he was the President and Simon the Vice President.
It wasn't that Simon had to do everything himself—but shouldn't the President at least share half the work with the Vice President?
And now?
He'd handled the previous secret realm. He'd handled the Unification Sect.
Simon always used "needing to stay at headquarters" as an excuse to dodge.
This time was even worse. Russell hadn't even asked Simon to help garrison the coast—after all, the city did need to guard against the Unification Sect.
But when it came to reporting such matters to the regional association, Simon seemed determined to delay as long as possible.
Did he really think Russell was a pushover?
At worst, Russell could just get Kai and Zayne to kill Simon together.
Dragging Simon into the Society wasn't realistic. A cardmaker at his level wouldn't give up a bright future to get involved with the Spirit Begging Society.
Besides, the noise from Gold-rank cardmakers fighting couldn't be hidden. Russell didn't even consider that option.
In truth, this was Russell thinking while angry.
If Simon was attacked by the Society, how could Russell—as Vice President—not show up?
But he did have a solution. Let Mikoto Misaka and Aizen stage a fake battle while Kumoko and Frieren worked with Kai and the others to strike.
That way, the probability of taking down Simon should be quite high.
However, if Russell just sat on the sidelines doing nothing, Simon would be even less likely to join the Society. After all, if the President was being attacked, shouldn't the Vice President also join?
This contradicted his original intention of hiding his Society identity.
The more Russell thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.
I'll need to plan this carefully. Knowing he couldn't rush such things, he calmed down temporarily.
But...
Once the thought of killing arose, the world suddenly felt wide open.
Perhaps because of this, Russell felt his thoughts were much clearer now.
Besides, it wasn't just Simon's inaction that made Russell want to kill him.
Russell still remembered the incident with that old woman Ms. Xie.
Not knowing what Russell was thinking, Simon saw he had no intention of leaving. His eyes turned dark. "Vice President, are you teaching me how to do my job?"
Russell simply replied coldly. "I just think the situation is urgent. President Simon should report immediately."
"Or..."
"Does President Simon want me to contact my teacher?"
Russell was just leveraging his connections—he couldn't actually reach Blake right now.
But he was certain the middle-aged man wouldn't dare to gamble.
Simon did seem to shrink at Blake's name, but he still managed to say, "Going over your superior's head is a major taboo. Vice President, please don't make that mistake."
Russell seemed amused by Simon's words. Then he said seriously, "I'm simply reporting the recent situation to my teacher as his disciple. President Simon needn't worry about me."
As Russell finished, the President's office fell silent.
Finally, Simon lowered his head. He said with a forced smile, "I'll report immediately. No need to trouble the Vice President to alert Master Blake."
He began typing on his computer.
The details of what happened on East-Haven's coast had already been compiled when Luther came to report earlier—Simon just hadn't submitted it yet.
Now all he needed was to add some words like "suspected Emerald-rank" to the document.
"Suspected Emerald-rank." Simon didn't dare defy Russell's threat to inform Blake by not reporting at all. But he could do something.
Though it was just a small trick, the result was completely different.
And he wasn't technically lying. After all, hadn't the Emerald-rank demon not appeared yet?
Besides, since it was information from the Spirit Begging Society, even if Blake came, he couldn't fault Simon for writing "suspected."
It had to be said—documents submitted by a City Association President did receive fast responses.
The Eastland Cardmaker Association, which governed East-Haven's branch, responded almost immediately.
"Vice President, would you like to see the reply?" Simon said to Russell with a smile after checking the response.
Seeing Simon's expression, Russell sensed something was wrong. He turned the computer screen toward himself, face sullen.
The message was simple. The Eastland Cardmaker Association was currently short-staffed and couldn't provide much help with East-Haven's situation.
This wasn't them shirking responsibility. The reasons in the document were so sound that Russell couldn't find fault. In other cities in the region—especially those closer to the north—Unification Sect activity was becoming increasingly rampant. Personnel had already been dispatched to assist local associations in suppressing the Sect.
Additionally, secret realms were appearing more frequently. They genuinely had no one to spare.
However, to help relieve some pressure on East-Haven, the Eastland Association stated at the document's end that they would send several Gold-rank cardmakers to assist.
But that was it.
After all...
The so-called Emerald-rank demon was only "suspected" to exist, wasn't it?
Russell had naturally also seen Simon's report. How could he miss the word games being played?
"Good. Very good." Russell turned the screen back expressionlessly. "President Simon is truly a pillar of the nation. I'm deeply impressed."
The killing intent rose.
At that moment, he inexplicably remembered a line from a game in his previous life.
"..."
Looking at Simon—who appeared confused and had no idea what Russell was thinking—Russell cast him a cold glance, then turned and left the President's office.
There was nothing more to say. Once things on the coast were over, he would act to kill this man.
Simon's face darkened as he watched the young Vice President vanish from the room.
What was happening now was somewhat beyond his control.
No—it would be more accurate to say that since Ms. Xie's death, the situation had been like a runaway horse that couldn't be reined in.
After all, he hadn't expected that Russell—who looked so young—could be so ruthless. He'd killed the old woman without hesitation.
Taking out his phone, Simon stared at the screen with a frown.
It showed his chat history with someone.
"They said they would continue sending people to provide support."
"Where are they?"
Back at the coast, Russell told Luther and the others what had happened at headquarters, his face cold.
After hearing his account, a trace of disgust flashed across Luther's eyes.
At this critical moment, President Simon was still dragging his feet and playing power games.
He'd really been blind to cooperate with that man before.
Glancing at the young man beside him, Luther thought: It would be great if Russell were the President.
At least the young man's performance since coming to East-Haven had been far more responsible than Simon's.
Zayne's face remained blank. Impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"We can't delay any longer. Once the Gold-rank cardmakers from headquarters arrive, we'll launch a preemptive strike and try to clear out the demons first."
Russell made the decision without much deliberation.
Since they couldn't wait for strong reinforcements, they might as well clip the demons' wings first.
Even if there really was an Emerald-rank demon, facing a lone Emerald-rank would be better than facing one surrounded by a swarm of subordinates.
At worst, I can have Kai wear my face and let Kumoko and Frieren attack together.
Russell prepared for the worst.
He felt that after playing all his cards—combined with the Association's Gold-rank cardmakers—even an Emerald-rank monster could be fought.
Though so far, he'd never seen what an Emerald-rank being looked like in action.
He'd seen Diamond-rank. He'd seen Master-rank.
Zayne and Luther naturally understood the stakes.
The three simply stared at the distant steel fleet in silence.
Two days passed in a flash.
Russell and the others were now welcoming two Gold-rank cardmakers sent by the Eastland Cardmaker Association headquarters.
That's right. Two.
According to them, this was the maximum support that could be provided.
The situation in some northern cities was far worse than East-Haven's.
The two cardmakers were named Warren and Bianca—a man and a woman.
"Speaking of which," Warren asked hesitantly after hearing Russell describe East-Haven's situation, "where's your President?"
"Isn't the President right here?" Luther instinctively pointed at Russell, then realized who Warren meant. "President Simon needs to stay at headquarters to guard against the Unification Sect."
After saying this, he pursed his lips and added nothing more.
Warren and Bianca paused, then exchanged glances with unspoken meaning.
Something felt off, but... President Simon's reason did technically make sense?
Russell shook his head slightly and moved past the topic. "The situation is urgent. I'll leave the coast to you two."
"The three of us will go probe their defenses now."
"If things go wrong, I hope you can provide support."
Warren and Bianca had been sent specifically to support East-Haven. They naturally knew Russell's identity—and that he hadn't been Gold-rank for long. They tentatively asked, "How about..."
"The Vice President stays here as backup, and we go with the two Directors to conduct the probe?"
Though they spoke carefully, Russell understood what they were thinking.
Zayne and Luther had been with Russell long enough to know his strength.
But Warren and Bianca didn't.
Less than two months had passed since the national competition. In their eyes, Russell being able to produce two Gold-rank cards was already impressive talent—and that was without considering quality.
After all, not everyone could be a "plagiarist" like Russell.
Card conception took a long time—from world background to character settings.
"No. Thank you for your concern." Russell simply declined their kindness.
Hearing this, Warren and the others didn't insist.
You couldn't twist someone's arm. At worst, they'd just take the initiative to provide support if things went wrong.
"Alright. Be careful, all three of you."