The reconnaissance took most of a morning and confirmed what Marco had already suspected from the troop movements they'd observed during their days in the wilderness.The empire was losing.He and Old Hank crouched at the edge of a treeline overlooking the main supply road, watching the third Gold Family logistics column they'd tracked in two hours move southward with the unhurried confidence of people who weren't expecting interference."Their supply lines are running openly," Marco said. "No escort worth mentioning.""Because they don't expect anyone behind their front line to be a problem," Old Hank said. "They've been pushing the empire back steadily. Why would they expect trouble in their own rear territory?" He pointed to a junction where the road bent around a hill. "That's the Silver Family's primary supply route. Attack it there, where the hill blocks retreat options, and we make a real dent.""The Silver Family is under Gold Family command," Marco said. "If we hit their supp

The tea pot between them had been refilled three times. Andre treated it like something considerably stronger, each cup loosening his conversation further.Marco had gotten what he needed from the front-line intelligence. But one number was sitting unpleasantly in his chest."How many enforcers does the Gold Family have total?" he asked, keeping his tone casual as he poured another cup."Seventy-two," Andre said.Marco set the pot down carefully."Seventy-two," he repeated."The Gold Family's primary strength has always been their enforcer corps," Andre said, with the pride of someone discussing an institution they'd had strong feelings about before it destroyed their life. "Each one represents the family's peak combat capability.""Are they all at the level you described? Sterling's level?""Half of them have mastered Secret Skills," Andre said. "Each one is a top-tier existence in their respective discipline."Marco looked at his tea and did the arithmetic quietly. Half of seventy-t

Marco made it three steps out of the mansion's main entrance before the fireball arrived.It came fast and wide, the kind of attack that didn't need to be accurate because its size covered the margin of error entirely. He twisted sideways in a motion that shouldn't have been physically possible for someone his size, the heat of it passing close enough to singe the hair on his left arm.The ball continued past him and hit the building behind, the explosion sending a mushroom cloud of debris upward that leveled the structure completely. Several guards who'd been rushing through that doorway seconds earlier were simply gone.Marco turned toward where the attack had come from.Craig stood in the mansion's courtyard.The same Craig he'd just watched die with a sword through his chest.Same face. Same build. Same expression, which was currently wearing the particular contempt of someone who'd been waiting for exactly this moment.Marco looked at him. Looked back at the collapsed building wh

Chapter 151Marco woke to the specific pain of iron piercing muscle.His eyes opened slowly, the room swimming into focus in stages. Stone walls. No windows. Chains driven directly through his shoulder blades, anchoring him against a wall he had no memory of being brought to. His wrists were bound with something dark and pulsing that seemed to actively pull at his strength every time he tried to move."Demon-devouring stone," a guard nearby said, noticing his attention on the shackles. "Absorbs vital energy directly from the wearer. Struggle all you want."Marco reached instinctively for his Space Ring.Nothing responded."Already handled," the same guard said, with obvious satisfaction. "Tampered with the moment you were brought in. You won't be pulling any tricks out of storage."A young woman stood a few paces away, the same one from earlier, her expression carrying open contempt as she addressed the room."He's seen the hideout. He knows about the schism, the history, everything U

Andre found Sangxi in the hideout's training yard the following morning, her expression carrying no particular remorse over what she'd done."What were you thinking?" His voice carried genuine frustration, the kind that came from a plan being disrupted by internal chaos rather than external opposition. "We need him functional. You nearly killed our most valuable asset.""He insulted me," Sangxi said, unbothered."He was chained to a wall and thinking about something in his own head. That's not an insult worth whipping a man half to death over.""If he becomes a problem afterward," Sangxi said, examining her own nails with theatrical calm, "you can simply make sure he doesn't survive the operation. Cannon fodder doesn't complain."Andre's jaw tightened. "If he survives what you did to him, and finds out you're the reason, he becomes our enemy. Someone who tore through Third Transition guards and killed an earth mage's incarnation and real body in the same afternoon. Do you understand w