The Sovereign Overlord: I Can See The Hidden Stats

The True Cost of Betrayal

The heat from the commander's iron gauntlets turned the gravel beneath Chidi’s boots into tiny bits of red glass. Ifunanya did not flinch, even though her own driver had just stepped out from behind the enemy lines, holding a heavy leather bag filled with golden coins.

In the high-tier sectors, loyalty was just a commodity with a clear price tag. The rich families taught their children that everyone could be bought; the only variable was the amount of money required to make them turn. Ifunanya looked at her driver, her face remaining completely still. She did not display any sadness or shock, only a cold calculation that showed she had already written the man off as dead.

"You gave them the carriage schedule," Ifunanya said. Her voice carried no anger, only a chilling indifference. "The Cross family paid for your daughter's high-tier school tuition. I suppose the Iron Fangs offered you enough to buy a small estate in the outer ring instead.

The driver looked down at the ground, refusing to meet her eyes, but he held the bag of coins tighter against his chest. "A man has to protect his own blood, Lady Ifunanya. Your father would sacrifice me for a low-level dungeon key without thinking twice.

The Iron Fang commander took a heavy step forward, the ground shaking slightly under his golden boots. His name was Commander Boros, a level-35 Fire Brawler known for burning whole slums down during guild territory disputes. "Stop the small talk, girl. The Cross family cannot protect this scavenger today. Give us the black spear, and maybe I will let your driver live long enough to enjoy his new money."

Chidi did not listen to their negotiation. He shoved his mother behind the heavy metal frame of the drainage exit, using his body to shield her completely from the heat. He activated his Sovereign Gaze, his vision instantly filling with sharp blue analysis boxes that cut through the steam.

[Target: Commander Boros. Level 35 Fire Brawler.]

[Status: Active mana shield over the chest armor. Thermal output is concentrated in the gauntlets.]

[Weak Point: The cooling vents behind his left knee are unarmored to allow rapid movement. Strike force required: 150 pounds of piercing damage.]

"Chidi, run," his mother said, her fingers digging into his worn jacket. "You cannot fight these people. They are the ones who make the laws."

"They make the laws because nobody has ever broken their armor, Mother," Chidi said. He gripped the center of the Dragon Spear, the cold black metal countering the intense heat in the air.

Before the commander could lift his gauntlets, Ifunanya moved. She did not use a defensive spell to protect them. Instead, she pointed her right hand toward her old driver. A sharp spike of solid ice shot out from her sleeve, moving faster than an arrow.

The ice spike drove straight through the driver’s throat before he could even drop his bag of coins. He collapsed instantly into the wet mud, his body turning stiff as the frost spread over his skin. The bag of golden coins spilled across the dirty street.

Boros barked out a short laugh, his massive white-hot gauntlets coming together with a loud metallic clang. "Ruthless until the very end. You killed your own servant just to show you could. But that does not change the levels between us!"

Boros lunged forward, his feet leaving deep, charred prints in the dirt. He swung a massive right hook toward Chidi’s head, the heat radiating off his iron fist enough to singe the black cloth mask covering Chidi's face.

Chidi did not try to block the blow. His scavenger training had taught him how to survive against monsters three times his size by using their own weight against them. He dropped low, his knees sliding through the warm mud as the fiery fist passed inches above his hair.

As Boros leaned forward from the force of his missed punch, Chidi spun the Dragon Spear. He drove the sharp silver tip straight into the small cooling vent behind the commander’s left knee, exactly where the blue system box was flashing.

The mythic spear pierced the metal grid easily, cutting deep into the muscles of the joint.

Boros let out a loud groan, his massive flame shield flickering wildly as his left leg buckled beneath him. The intense heat in his right gauntlet faded instantly as the mana flow broke apart inside his armor.

"You little rat!" Boros growled, trying to turn his heavy body around to crush Chidi with his elbow.

Chidi pulled the spear out, preparing for a second strike, but his system screen suddenly turned a dark, bloody purple, flashing with three massive exclamation marks.

[Warning! High-level detection spell has linked with your current location.

[Source: S-Rank Guild Leader, Marcus Vance. Distance: 500 meters and closing fast.

[Threat Level: Absolute Death. Time until arrival: 20 seconds.]

Chidi’s breath caught in his throat. Marcus Vance, the head of the Golden Sun Guild and Tunde’s father, was coming himself. A level-35 commander was something Chidi could fight by using weak points, but an S-rank hunter could destroy the entire alley with a single spell.

Ifunanya grabbed Chidi’s shoulder from behind, her grip surprisingly strong for someone who looked so delicate. She pointed toward the far end of the street, where a small, unmarked gray vehicle was idling near the district gate.

"The backup ride is already there," Ifunanya said, her eyes turning toward the sky where a bright golden streak of light was rapidly cutting through the clouds toward them. "If Marcus catches us here, he will execute everyone to cover up what his son did to you in the dungeon. Move now!"

Chidi grabbed his mother around the waist, lifting her off the ground as he ran toward the gray vehicle. Boros tried to stand up to pursue them, but Ifunanya slammed both hands onto the ground, causing a thick wall of solid ice to erupt across the entire width of the alley, blocking the commander completely.

They scrambled into the back seat of the gray vehicle just as the driver slammed the gas pedal down. The car shot through the lower block gate, the tires screaming against the asphalt.

Chidi looked out the rear window. The sky behind them had turned completely golden as a massive shockwave hit the alley they had just left, shattering the ice wall into millions of tiny pieces.

Inside the fast-moving vehicle, Chidi finally lowered his mask, his chest rising and falling as he looked at Ifunanya. "Where are we going?"

Ifunanya wiped a small drop of mud from her coat, her expression returning to that same cold, unreadable mask. "To the hidden testing facility in the Second Sector. My father is waiting. But before we arrive, you should look at the back of your silver token."

Chidi frowned, reaching into his pocket. He realized he had picked up the token from the kitchen table before escaping. He turned the silver coin over in his hand. Stamped on the back, in deep, dark red ink that had not been there before, was a new system notification.

[Notice: The Sovereign Spear has unlocked the first seal.]

[Current Owner: Chidi Vance is now recognized as the global target for the World Tree Dungeon Core.]

[Status: Every high-rank guild leader in the country has just received your coordinates.]