Chapter 2286: Arrogance

There was a slight silence as the roar brewed, until a man with a particularly chilly disposition chuckled.

This man was the Overlord of the Sith family. This wasn't a well-known face in the Human Domain, but this wasn't because he was unknown like the others. Rather, it was because he was the greatest assassin in the Human Domain. What assassin worth his salt would allow the world to know his face?

The Sith family led the assassination units of Shield Cross Stars. Leonel had met one of them before in Ronan, a man of the Void Palace that Leonel had once bought information from. He had also tried to stop Leonel and Aina from leaving the Void Palace when DiVincenzo had appeared, but Ronan was far more the man here.

Overlord Sith was like a touch of darkness and a slice of ice. His clothing was a dense black, his skin a pale white, his hair was even darker than his robes, and his eyes were a piercing ice blue.

Those that knew him realized that although his eyes could be said to be the only "beautiful" part of him, he absolutely hated them. They made his ability to be stealthy even more difficult than the whites of his eyes. But this was also why he was known as the Blind Sith... the Visionless Assassin. The number of deaths he had on his tally was enormous, and they included even experts of the other Domains.

"Laugh again, Sith, and I'll slice out that tongue."

"Please do," Overlord Sith said with another laugh. "It would be my pleasure to become a sightless and soundless assassin. I wonder if I would reach the true pinnacle of my path once I have done so."

Many felt a shudder down their spines when he said this, but Avan only grew more infuriated and truly seemed as though he was about to attack. He had two others here who were the only ones that didn't fear this man. But whether it was by ability, or by ignorance, it was hard to tell.

The other two were Overlord Veiga and Overlord Lela, both women, both middle-aged, and both beautiful, the latter with radiant blue hair much like a certain Vega, sharing more than just a similar name, and the other had shimmering black.

There were four factions of Shield Cross Stars. The Commanding Faction, led by Cross Elder Avan, the Dark Faction, led by Cross Elder Sith, the Logistical Faction led by Cross Elder Lela, and the Shield Faction, led by Overlord Veiga.

The Commanding Faction dealt with everything in the daylight. They were the ones that handled much of the politics. This sounded ridiculous, especially considering their leader was also the one with the worst temper. But leaders of these various factions weren't based on merit... they were hereditary, and if one wanted to take it from Cross Elder Avan, well... you'd have to step over his dead body.

The Dark Faction spoke for itself. They worked in the shadows, and to the public, they dealt with the enemies that normal armies couldn't deal with. If the Commanding Faction was the broadsword, they were the change weapon, the small dagger pulled out in a pinch. In reality, though, their work was likely far more... sinister than this, and they were responsible for the largest and most in-depth information network in the whole of the Human Domain. No, it was more accurate to say that they had spread even beyond the Human Domain. As for how deep they had gone, it was likely that Overlord Sith was the only one who had the knowledge to explain this.

The Logistical Faction did as its name suggested, much like the other two. They were the cleanup crew that acted after the Commanding and Dark Faction had finished up their work, and they also had the largest collection of healers, and the strongest of this kind, in the whole of the Human Domain. Healers weren't exactly a profession like Crafters or Force Pill Crafters, but they could be. Some were true professionals, and studied much like doctors did. But others simply had powerful Ability Indexes that didn't require such effort. The best of them had a combination of both. A point of interest was that the Viror family, led by their young genius who had once had a great deal of conflict with both Leonel and especially Aina for taking her spot on the rankings, had recently joined their ranks.

The Shield Faction was more... complicated than the others. Even many of the upper echelon of Shield Cross Stars didn't understand exactly what they did, but those here most definitely did. What could be said was that they both had the weakest authority of those present, and at times... had authority surpassing even that of the Commanding Faction. As for their leader, Overlord Veiga, she was the quietest of them all.

Of the more than three dozen Cross Elders here, they were quite evenly distributed amongst the Factions... except for the Shield Faction, which both had the largest variety, and the largest number of them.

"That's enough," Overlord Lela said lightly. "I still stand by our earlier decisions. The child also hasn't done anything significance, and definitely nothing that relies on himself solely. The main power behind everything is the Morales family, and so long as they are dealt with, the child is still not a problem. Your demeanor is unbecoming of the head of the Commanding Faction."

"Speak to me like that again, woman, and see if I don't rip your head off." Avan snarled. "I am not worried about a child, but it's been three generations now, three generations of you all saying the same things. The second was already far better than the first and cost us countless losses, and now the third feels even more powerful than the second was, on top of the fact all monitoring attempts on the once unproblematic uncle has now failed as well.

"Do you still think that we have control? Your arrogance will be your death!" Avan spoke in a low roar.