Zephyria - Chapter 22

“Alright, see you guys at 10:00AM for Training.” Hikari said, as he retired to his suite.

Gale turned to the four friends who she absolutely destroyed in CoJ and smiled.

“Yup, it was fun. Night night you guys c:” she said cheekily, before following Hikari to his suite. She often slept over. They were close.

“Okay, now that she’s gone, we can actually pl-”

“Nope.” Amber inturrupted, as she dragged Xero off to their own suite. She was initially appalled at the fact that she had to share a suite with him (since her confirmation was not only late notice, but unexpected), but she warmed up to the idea to the point of owning it.

Xero’s audible struggles (playful, not abused) woke Yami and Aloe up from the softerino couch. They looked at eachother briefly, before retreating to their own suites, still half asleep.

Only Elektra and Ryan were left.

“Okayyyy welll. This was fun c: Night night.”

“It really was c:”

Elektra embraced Ryan before dashing up to her chambers.

“Wow :3” Ryan sighed, observing her after-image before switching the system off and getting up from the couch.

He, however, did not go to his suite (penthouse btw). He instead walked intently towards his facility, to a secret lab that no one knew of. Not even I, the author know where it is 😮 .

He entered the secret room and locked the door. The room was sound proof and signal encrypted, any communications going in or out could not be interrupted or monitored. This room was completely isolated and secure.

The joy previously evident on his face was now completely gone.

As soon as he sat down in his desk seat, the large screen on the wall flashed on, revealing a caller with an unknown ID. Ryan clicked to answer.

“I didn’t hear anything from you since you momentarily deactivated the Air Force’s scanners and your Cialo u0026 Roj gave my guys the go ahead. How was it?”

On the screen appeared an incredibly attractive woman, sat on a large chair and in front of two people who seemed sport bodyguard attire. She herself was clothed in a stunning (and rather revealing (but who’s complaining)) dark green halter dress and matching heels. She had distinctly long luscious orange hair, which was elegantly tied up and flowed behind her. Her eyes stared directly into the camera and into Ryan’s soul.

“Disappointing.” he said, unphased.

The woman raised her eyebrow.

“I gave you rank 1 and 2 lieutenants along with a fifth of my forces, and you have the audacity to say you were disappointed?”

“Yes. They were way weaker than expected. Are you sure they were your top ranked?”

“I’m not a fool. Meh, they were only high up in our organization because they were unquestionably loyal, had nothing to do with their strength.”

The woman on the screen smiled, then leant back in her chair, resting her cheek on her hand.

“Did you really think I’d send my legitimately strongest fighters against your squad?”

“Actually, yes. That’s what I paid for.”

“No, you paid for two top ranked guys, which is what you got. They were the most willing anyway, since they had deep history with your girls. Shouldn’t that have unlocked whatever you were looking to get out of them?”

“I guess. As I said though, it was too easy.”

“And as I said, you get what you paid for. Or haven’t paid for. I’m still waiting for your transfer.”

Ryan shrugged.

“What if I say no?”

The woman sat up straight and reached for a handle and a hilt. She slowly activated it, spawning a large, sharp crystal orange blade. She then admired the blade, stroking it softly but menacingly.

“Then I’ll come there myself and slit your throat so you wouldn’t be able to say anything else.”

Ryan remained in his confident manner.

“Sure, you’d put up a much better fight against my Vanguard.”

The woman rested her sword on her shoulder and sighed.

“I would. I would also go as far as to tell the entire Vanguard unit that the prince himself is the primary tech dealer for th-”

“Okay okay. Fine Fine. You got me.”

Ryan booted up another screen, brought up one of his secret accounts and immediately transferred 60 million Zollars. She checked her phone to validate the transaction, then deactivated her sword and relaxed back into her chair.

“Good choice. Revealing your ties would bring turmoil to your team, especially with that Elektra. She’s been hunting us for years.”

“Meh. She, along with the rest of us, are onto bigger things. while you and the other syndicates sit here and fight for supremecy, we’ll be out there advancing the kingdom and setting the foundations for its’ fut- ”

“Yea yea yea, have fun with that. Message me when you get back from your first excusion or whatever.”

As she hung up, he sat back in his chair.

The woman on the call was Krystal, the Oyabun of the Diamond Yakuza group. The “Oyabun” is the highest rank of the Yakuza, having full control over the entire organization.

Krystal was known for her mastery of the Ultra-Rare sOr [Diamond]. She utilised this so skilfully with her swOrd, earning the reputation of the deadliest swordsman in the entire Kingdom. This swOrd was custom made made by Ryan himself.

Yes, she was a long time affiliate with Ryan. Not only was she one of the few that knew of his heritage, but she was the ONLY person in the entire kingdom to know of Ryan’s deep, deep ties to the criminal underworld.