Thom walked quickly down the palace corridor toward Red Dragon and Pear's residence. The tension from the earlier strategy meeting still lingered on his face, but it had now been replaced by a smile that had been rare lately. Jasmine walked beside him, their hands tightly intertwined.They found Red Dragon sitting in the living room, his face still damp from tears he had not completely managed to hide. Pear sat on the sofa beside him, gently caressing her still-flat stomach, an endless smile lighting up her face."King." Red Dragon quickly stood when he saw Thom enter, looking awkward as if he could not decide whether to give him a formal bow or embrace his older brother as usual.Thom did not give him time to choose. He immediately pulled him into a tight hug. "Congratulations, Red. I'm so happy for both of you.""Thank you, King," Red Dragon whispered, his voice trembling as he struggled to contain his overflowing emotions. "After all these years... I can hardly believe it."Jasmine

Back in Valemoor, Thom stood in his office, staring at the official reports on Rachel's arrest and Yosie's condition that Iris had just received."Are we still going to use the information Rachel provided?" Iris asked cautiously."Yes," Thom replied firmly. "Her crimes will be handled according to the law, but that doesn't change the fact that the information about Kasimir and the meeting in the northern mountains is still valid. We won't let her mistakes get in the way of our chance to destroy the Obsidian Circle once and for all.""And Shenina?" Iris asked quietly. "Does she need to know about this?"Thom fell silent for a long moment, thinking about his daughter, who had only just begun to find peace after months of turmoil."Tell her," he finally said. "There will be no more lies in this family, no matter how painful the truth may be. But let me be the one to tell her myself."He let out a long breath and looked out the window at peaceful Valemoor beneath the evening light. One da

The battle continued to intensify, with the two fighters exchanging blows at a speed that made most of the soldiers around the hall stop for a moment, frozen as they watched the two greatest forces they had ever seen clash against each other.Kasimir launched a more complex combination, his right hand striking high while his left leg swept low, attempting to throw Thom off balance in a single move. Thom jumped, avoiding the sweep, but landed directly within range of the follow-up strike, which slammed hard into his ribs.Pain spread through him instantly, but Thom gritted his teeth, refusing to stagger. He countered by quickly grabbing Kasimir's attacking arm and twisting his body, using the momentum to slam the old man onto the floor, which was already covered with debris from shattered chairs and tables.Kasimir hit the ground hard, but with flexibility that was surprising for his age, he quickly rolled and got back to his feet before Thom could fully take advantage of the opening.

Thom stepped out of the interrogation room, leaving Kasimir alone with his thoughts. Outside, Iris was already waiting with the latest report in her hands."King," she said as soon as Thom came out, "we just received an update from the financial investigation team. The trail of funds flowing into Meridian Global Energy and several related entities points to a single parent foundation registered in a country that has long been known as a tax haven, making it extremely difficult to trace.""The name of the foundation?" Thom asked."Ashfall Foundation," Iris replied. "The same one we discovered last month. But this time, we managed to trace one of the directors listed in its founding documents, even though his name had been carefully concealed for decades."Thom looked at Iris, waiting intently for the rest of the information."His identity hasn't been fully confirmed yet," Iris continued, "but the initials we found in the hidden documents are E.R. And based on the ownership patterns, it

The other women began circling Thom, their movements almost like a dance. Their fingers traced the air around him in strange patterns, as if trying to penetrate his mental defenses through their charm and something resembling a subtle hypnotic technique."Students of the Poison Flower Sect," Red Dragon muttered warily, raising his ax. "They weaken their opponents through the mind before attacking the body."Thom closed his eyes for a moment, remembering Jasmine's face and the images of Shenina, Yitzhak, and Sadie, the anchors that always pulled him back to reality whenever the world around him tried to drag him somewhere else."I already have a woman I love," he said calmly, opening his eyes, which now burned with a sharp intensity that pierced through the illusion they were trying to create. "No temptation could ever replace the one I have with my wife Jasmine."Thom moved swiftly, breaking their formation with precise strikes that incapacitated them without killing them. One by one,