The woman waited outside of the cell. Clearly visible. Leaning against the cold stone. Though she wasn’t visible to the person within the cell. He’d heard her footsteps disappear but hadn’t heard them come back. She was quiet enough to be confident he wasn’t aware of her presence.

She touched the newly acquired ring on her finger. Torturing that child had been the most fun she’d had in a long while.

She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it. She had always taken great pride in her work, something she deserved, for she was exceedingly skilled. The class choice she’d gotten showed her that her efforts had never gone to waste.

Gods, she had been absolutely thrilled when she had found out she had access to the Punisher line of classes.

As a member of the council—and the unofficial leader of it—she had thought she had put those days behind her. She could not torture the other council members, after all. Sometimes she got a bit melancholy, thinking about the experiences she missed out on these days.

It was rather nostalgic, revisiting her past.

Not to mention rewarding. The boy had given her more than she had bargained for. She had known the chances of him knowing the True Progenitor from Earth would have been slim, but not as slim as the other council members had seemed to believe.

He would have had to be one of the strongest Denizens on the entire planet to have taken out Commander Valian and much of her camp. That had been the first sign that this child was something special.

And special tended to run in packs.

Xavier Collins is a Champion of the tower.

That little revelation had come as quite a shock to her. She hadn’t thought that it was possible for someone from a non-integrated world to finish ten floors of the Tower of Champions in such a short period of time.

The next thing that had come as a shock was how naive this Xavier Collins had appeared to be. He seemed to be some sort of idealist stuck in the morality of the past. Of his home world. Stuck in a morality that had never even worked for that planet, not truly.

He had actually gone out of his way to try and save Denizens on the floors of the tower while he farmed it. The absurdity of that had galled her at first. How could someone with so much potential—perhaps more potential than anyone in the Silver River sector had ever possessed—be so foolish?

I’ll be able to use that foolishness against him.

Though there was one detail that worried her about what Justin had told her—and she was sure there was more she hadn’t gotten out of him yet, simply because she had not taken the time to ask the right questions. The detail was about Empress Larona.

The most powerful Denizen in this entire sector.

Apparently that woman had an interest in Xavier.

This was a detail she had decided not to relay to the other members of the council. They lacked the stomach for what she knew was necessary. At the first whiff of the empress being involved, they would want to wash their hands of the good fortune that was about to fall in her lap.

Because if someone was truly as idealistic as this Xavier Collins appeared to be, then there was no way he would neglect saving one of his own.

It was also intriguing to learn one of her own soldiers—a First Lieutenant Delacorte—had defected to Earth after abandoning her post. Delacorte was not a part of her plan, not knowingly, but she would bet that woman would go straight to Xavier after what had happened at the invasion camp.

A very interesting development indeed. She will lead Xavier right here. And I will be patiently waiting for his arrival.

She touched the ring on her finger once more and could not help herself. She smiled as she did when she was a little girl.

Of course, there was a chance that she might be wrong about all of this. A chance that Xavier Collins wouldn’t come on his own. That’s where things got complicated.

But if that possibility were to come to pass, she knew what she would need to do. She had a particular set of skills, after all. One that Justin had only seen the barest hints of.

Rushed footsteps echoed off the stone walls. Her heart thudded in her chest. It had been some time since she had actively worked in the field. Much of her time was spent managing other people’s lives, rather than taking an active role in her own.

That was about to change.

She touched the ring on her finger again. The one she’d taken from that boy. A split-second before whoever those footsteps belonged to—there were at least three people—rounded the corner, she activated the invisibility.

It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could take this Xavier Collins. He may be a True Progenitor, but he was still only E Grade. Though there was an itch at the back of her mind that kept reminding her that this man had already killed D Grades before. And the ones from the information packet she received hadn’t even been the first.

The first had been the Lord of the Endless Horde.

That thought made her shudder. She, like all of the other council members, had spent her time in the tower. She couldn’t help but remember the waves of enemies coming at her while she stood on that wall with Queen Alastea, flinging spells down at the soldiers and beasts who came forth.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

To think of spending so long in a place like that…

I can take him. Maybe not directly, but I’ll have the element of surprise on my side.

The first person to round the corner was a young woman carrying a bow. She found she was unable to scan this rogue, which was odd considering the likely level discrepancy. But it wasn’t her she was after.

Two others stepped out around the corner. Another woman, this one wearing the robes of a healer. And a man in full plate armour, carrying a tower shield and a double-bearded axe. Though each of them had the emblem of Nasrien emblazoned on their equipment, she knew they weren’t her people just by looking at them. One of the responsibilities of the council was to memorise the faces and names of every single soldier under their command.

It was a tedious thing to do, but an easy one. It also meant that she instantly knew these people were from off world.

And neither one of them matched the description she had of Xavier Collins.

The moment these new arrivals were visible within the confines of the cell, Justin had shot up and was gripping the bars. “Howard? Siobhan? Where’s Xavier?”

The other members of the party. Not Xavier. But even more bait.

It wasn’t exactly as she’d planned, but it wasn’t a complete loss either.

The last of the three people weren’t mentioned. Justin simply stared at the woman slight confusion.

“My name is Melissa,” the rogue said. “I’m here to help.”

The invisible woman grinned. She inched forward. The rogue, Melissa, cocked her head. An arrow was swiftly nocked on her bowstring.

Good hearing for an F Grade, but it won’t do you any good.

The invisible woman cast Freeze, and the off-world invaders froze. They still lived. The spell might be painful, but it wasn’t intended to kill. It was one of the spells she’d picked up in her class. It left those it was used upon fully conscious of what was happening around them, and despite it being a freezing spell, it did nothing to numb the pain of whatever they might be going through.

She’d used it countless times in her old line of work, but what she’d never done until that moment was use it to abduct others.

Quite a handy tool, this one.

She became visible, that delighted, girlish smile adorning her lips as she gazed at those she’d just captured. They gazed back. All they could manage to do was move their eyes, but eyes can tell you a lot about a person. They were windows into the soul.

These people’s eyes were wide, shock bleeding from them.

Justin rattled the bars. He shouted. Screamed. If it weren’t for the soundproofing, they would have been able to hear him all the way outside of the prison.

~

Xavier had given Howard a Communication Stone before this mission began. He’d taken the one he’d given John Hammond back at the base. As much as he needed to know what was happening back home, he also needed to be able to communicate with his team, and he was worried the 100-mile radius Communication Stones he possessed might not be enough, hence why he’d given one of those to Allegra, who he planned to keep by his side for this mission.

[I hope you survive this, Xavier Collins,] Adranial had said a moment after he’d stepped through the portal. [I’d hate to see such a potentially valuable asset lost.]

Until she’d said the second part, Xavier had almost thought she might be sincere. Then again, the tone of the way she said it… maybe she was sincere. And not just about him being a valuable asset.

[Dying isn’t on my agenda,] he’d replied.

[Ah. That fills me wish such confidence.]

He’d sighed after that.

Allegra had been quiet on the comms, only really sending him directions. He could tell that she felt uncomfortable being back here, despite the fact that this planet had once been her home.

A home that she defected from.

Something told him there were more reasons than her simply wanting to be free.

Xavier did wonder if he was making the right decision. Revenge seemed like a petty thing to do with his time, but he had to make the sector understand that even now, when he was still in the very early stages of his rise to power, actions against him had consequences. That pain done to him, or those he cared about, or Earth, would be returned a hundred-fold.

It was important. Otherwise, how would they ever take him seriously? At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

But he knew it wasn’t just that. He knew it wasn’t just him ensuring his statement was heard and felt throughout the entire sector.

It was the blind rage that he felt in his heart. He might not have known the members of his party for long in the grand scheme of things, but considering all they’d been through in the Tower of Champions, they’d formed a bond. A bond that only served to strengthen their friendships.

Howard, Justin, Siobhan, they weren’t just friends. They were his brothers- and sister-in-arms.

They were his family.

And someone had taken a member of his family. That meant they needed to pay.

[This is the place,] Allegra said, stopping in front of a tall building that looked different to all the others around it. Unlike the other buildings they’d passed, it wasn’t made from stone, but rather metal. It looked to be about fifteen storeys tall, but it was difficult to tell considering there weren’t any windows.

And there was only a single door.

[Well, this looks cosy,] Xavier replied.

Allegra scoffed beside him.

[So, how do we get in?]

Allegra raised an eyebrow. [This is your plan. I figured you would have a way. The building is mostly filled with low-level administrative officers. The only people inside above E Grade should be the councilmembers.]

[Should be?]

[I can’t know everything.] She shrugged.

It wasn’t reassuring.

Xavier frowned at her. [You know a lot about this building.]

She swallowed. [I used to work in there.]

The way she said the words, it didn’t sound as though she wanted to elaborate on that. Though they had signed a truth contract, which was currently still in effect, he didn’t feel the need to pry.

The area was teeming with Denizens. Except the council tower wasn’t in the middle of an army base. It was in the middle of a city. And these people, as far as he could tell, weren’t soldiers.

He didn’t fancy killing civilians. None of these people had anything to do with what was going on right now. Currently, their only crime was having been born on this planet. And that shouldn’t be a crime at all.

And yet, when push comes to shove, every single person here has to be the enemy.

Xavier heard the laughter of children playing in a field nearby. Felt a stab in his heart, and the words he’d just thought in his head no longer held the same weight.

It made him realise that in another scenario, from another perspective, in another time, what he was about to do would easily class him as a terrorist.

He rolled his head around his shoulders, cracking his neck. Pushed those dark thoughts away. He had two possible plans to get into this place. One of them would create significantly more chaos than the other. Chaos was good. But it was also a recipe for disaster.

Howard contacted him, letting him know that they were about to head inside the walls of the prison. According to Allegra, the prison walls had a chance of blocking communications. Which meant the moment he stepped through, they might be cut off.

Xavier still didn’t regret giving the man a sector-wide communication stone, however. They would need it the moment they were out of the prison.

Howard didn’t say another word after his last communication. Allegra’s theory had been correct—he couldn’t communicate from inside the walls of the prison. Which meant Xavier would have no idea how things went until they left.

If I can’t communicate with my people… then I’m not going to let these people communicate with theirs.

He touched a finger to his Storage Ring. A part of him wished he could only cut the communication inside of this building, and not the entire 5-mile radius around the city.

But he didn’t have any other option.

[All right, Allegra. Let’s get started.]