2026-01-01 15:36:28
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 119: Strike Four
Jacob faced Verons Heis across the improvised roadblock, every instinct screaming danger. The Argo military commander stood relaxed and confident, as if cornering the Dark Blade was just another routine operation. Behind Jacob, his wounded team waited in the vehicles, trapped between pursuit from the burning barracks and this ambush ahead."I could kill you right now," Verons continued, gesturing to the armed soldiers positioned in darkness beyond the headlights. "End the legendary Dark Blade with a single order. But that would be too quick. Too merciful for the man who murdered my brother.""Your brother was butchering civilians," Jacob replied, his hand inching toward his concealed weapon. "I stopped a massacre. If you want revenge for that, it says more about you than me."Verons's expression hardened. "My brother was a soldier following orders. You executed him when he tried to surrender. Do not pretend you were some noble hero—you are a killer who got lucky enough to be on the wi
Chapter 118: Strike Three
Jacob's financial accounts remained frozen, leaving the resistance scrambling for operational funding with invasion hours away. But they still had weapons, fighters, and the will to make Argo pay dearly for attempting conquest. Money mattered less when you were preparing for total war."We hit their staging areas," Jacob decided during the emergency strategy session. "Bishop cut off our money, so we cut off Argo's ability to invade effectively. Destroy their equipment before it crosses the border."Intelligence from Bishop's captured servers revealed locations of three hidden barracks where Argo had positioned invasion forces just outside Seron's territory. Officially, these were training facilities for Argo's border patrol. In reality, they housed the battalions that would spearhead the conquest."Each barracks holds approximately five hundred soldiers plus vehicles and heavy weapons," Leo reported, displaying satellite imagery. "Hitting even one would significantly reduce Argo's ini
Chapter 117: Strike Two
The discovery of Bishop's fail-safe complicated everything. They could not kill him without immediately handing Verons the exact locations of all five artifacts. But they also could not leave him alive to coordinate the invasion. Jacob stared at the automated protocols, searching for some weakness they could exploit."Can we disable the fail-safe?" Jacob asked Leo, knowing the answer would probably disappoint him."Not without access to Bishop's personal devices," Leo replied, studying the encryption protecting the system. "The fail-safe is tied to biometric monitors that only Bishop wears. If those monitors detect cardiac arrest or sudden removal, they automatically transmit the data. We would need to physically capture him and carefully disable the monitors before attempting anything.""So we cannot kill Bishop, and we probably cannot capture him alive," Anna summarized. "That means we focus on destroying everything around him instead."Jacob nodded agreement. If they could not remo
Chapter 116: Strike One
Jacob's declaration to stop holding back meant abandoning the careful, surgical approach they had been using. No more small raids on peripheral targets. No more avoiding civilian casualties at all costs. They were going straight for Bishop's throat, and anyone who got in the way would be destroyed."The underground facility," Jacob said, pulling up the detailed maps they had compiled during weeks of surveillance. "That is Bishop's nerve center. Everything runs through there. We hit it hard enough, we cripple his entire operation.""We tried infiltrating that facility before," Carl reminded him. "Nearly got trapped and killed. Bishop has it defended like a fortress.""Which is why we are not infiltrating," Jacob replied. "We are assaulting. Full force, maximum violence, overwhelming firepower. We go in through the front door and kill everything that moves."Leo looked shocked. "Sir, there could be hundreds of people in that facility. Guards, yes, but also civilian staff, technicians, a
Chapter 115: Assassination Campaign
The Noble Council meeting descended into shouting matches and accusations that threatened to become physical violence. Jacob's security team moved to extract Anna before the situation deteriorated further, but the political damage was already done. Half the council believed her evidence, half thought she was lying, and that division meant neither side could take unified action against Bishop."That went poorly," Anna said with bitter understatement as they escaped through a side entrance while council members continued arguing."You got half of them," Jacob replied, trying to find the positive angle. "That is more support than we had before. Some of those families control significant resources that can help us."But Anna knew the real result of her public revelation. She had forced Bishop's hand without achieving the overwhelming support needed to stop him. Now the conspiracy would accelerate its timeline while she had fewer allies than hoped.Back at their operations center, Roseline
Chapter 114: Political Warfare
The sealed doors trapped Jacob's team in the maintenance corridor for seventeen minutes before Carl managed to breach one using a shaped charge from their demo supplies. They escaped through smoke and chaos, but the close call made one thing brutally clear—Bishop was anticipating their tactics and setting counters."We cannot keep fighting this way," Anna said during the emergency debrief after they returned to base. "Every raid we attempt, he is one step ahead. We are losing people and accomplishing nothing."Jacob knew she was right. Two more operatives had been killed during the escape from Bishop's trap, bringing their casualties to ten in just three days. At this rate, they would run out of fighters before the invasion even began."We need a different approach," Jacob admitted, studying the intelligence reports that showed Bishop's network remained largely intact despite their best efforts. "Military action alone will not stop this conspiracy. We need to attack it politically."A
You may also like
Ascenders: Rising From Zero
Sir_Impeccable26.8K viewsThe Master of Fate
Young Master Jay23.0K viewsReturn of the S-class Young Master
IceFontana1818.5K viewsunparalleled sword sovereign
GCsage26.4K viewsHEIM OF GODS
I am Rohi 1.1K viewsReborn to be a Hermit
BlackDaisy1.3K viewsLEVI
CK Hawks1.6K viewsL For Luciel
AyeshaM1.6K views