Chapter 264: Trust

Bad news always loves to kick you when you're down; when the suffering complain that things couldn't possibly get worse, reality invariably delivers one more blow.

"Boom!"

On Huicheng's most bustling Golden Street, a chain of explosions erupted.

Dozens of pre-planted dust explosive barrels detonated in succession along this priceless stretch of land.

The gilded bank sign of the Gray Gnomes—allegedly forged from pure gold—along with coins, gems, and all manner of bizarre artworks, exploded skyward.

"My money!" The Gray Gnomes' wails echoed through the street, though some witnesses could barely suppress laughter.

But they laughed too soon—this was only the beginning.

"Boom!"

The headquarters of the city guard went up in flames.

"Boom!"

The headquarters of the Arcane Knights on Mage Street, along with their mana pool and armory, exploded into the sky.

"Boom!"

The royal spies' secret headquarters, infiltrated from within by traitors, also vanished in a single blast.

Everyone had underestimated the cultists' madness—and how deeply the Beast Sect had corroded this city, this kingdom.

The "Beast-Power" path offers no return; they didn't even need mass propaganda. Too many of the city's—and kingdom's—elite and nobility had already unknowingly crossed the point of no return.

They promised wealth and power to the lower classes, authority and immortality to the upper echelons. The Deer Sect had festered too long, too deep—now it was merely activating its hidden agents.

"So many attackers. Conspirators everywhere."

The Beast Sect—an ancient, backward religion, the yearning returnees of the beast herds—declared their return to history's stage with brazen, almost arrogant violence.

"The daughter of Baron Soro, leader of the Royal Spies, has been kidnapped."

"Count Huike's two grandsons—one dead, one missing—his ancestral home was slaughtered; over thirty dead at minimum."

"The city lord's adopted son, Tazan, was attacked; the prodigy mage died on the spot. His child was also taken."

"So far, at least thirty attacks have erupted in Huicheng within half an hour. Over sixty people have been kidnapped or gone missing—mostly descendants of loyalists. This isn't coincidence. It's targeted."

Bad news came one after another, but the most painful truth went beyond that.

"Most of the attackers in Huicheng District aren't those beast-human monsters—they're people we know."

The milkman, the kind old baker woman, the elderly gatekeeper and gardener who served the great mansion for decades—the Beast Sect was a plague within the Beast-Touched, and these ordinary people, already "cancerous," were beyond saving. Now, they had been fully unleashed.

Perhaps, in this already sealed fate, Huicheng—even the kingdom—had already stepped onto the inevitable path of ruin, for it was terminally ill.

Yet the "virus" had no intention of exposing itself so soon, inviting outside interference.

"Is this the kingdom? Is this Athelin's nobility?"

Amid the snowstorm of bad news, Dainya in the temporary command zone trembled with rage, yet forced herself to remain calm.

She looked up—before her stood anxious, furious elder ministers—but Dainya saw betrayal in every face.

The spies had just reported: moments ago, their own families had been overrun with "traitors"—nearly everyone was compromised!

Perhaps the only ones still trustworthy were the city lord's direct loyalists, and the newcomers from the New Capital who had followed her, along with the Royal Knights.

After all, this city was, in essence, the city lord's personal property—they would never betray it. And her attendants from the New Capital? Even if corrupted, they'd be loyal to the "Eagle Sect" there, not the "Deer Sect" of this city.

"Have the hostages been found?"

She rubbed her temples, no longer able to bear watching the carnage in the mirror.

She had thought this was merely the Beast Sect's desperate last stand—but now it seemed only a diversion, a mere appetizer before the main course.

"They understand us better than we understand ourselves."

Baron Soro sighed. His family's kidnapping filled him with fury and dread—but worse was the humiliation: not only had the spy headquarters been breached, it had been obliterated in one strike.

That meant the spy network here had been thoroughly infiltrated.

"You mean our intelligence officers—"

"I hate to admit it, but until we complete a full purge, we can't trust anyone."

Even the spies who haven't been caught yet must now be questioned for loyalty.

The Beast Sect's infiltration rate far exceeded expectations. Before we identify the exact point of breach, our original intelligence personnel can no longer be trusted.