Author note : Hi guys, GSD REDDY here and I am back with another chapter.

Edit - Self edited.

Ya hoo! This is a critical point in my strategy. Now, can you expect Riddick's next move?

Enjoy and thank you.

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Controlling Pawns :

Nina sat across Aegean listening intently as he explained the entire talk with Emperor Morgan. Nina's face was serious as she heard the entire talk. Her eyes occasionally revealed a sharp light and an evil glint but she stayed calm for the most part.

Nina heaved a sigh of relief as she heard the words that Emperor Morgan accepted their offer. Nina's eyes radiated an unprecedented amount of enmity as she thought about Riddick. She was never humiliated to this degree by someone and certainly not by someone of the junior generation.

Originally Nina never intended to ally herself with Jehu empire. Her original plan was to use the war stirred up by Riddick as a catapult to increase her own influence and grab the Jehu empire for herself. However due to Riddick's actions, she was now forced to abandon her original plan and instead decided to ally herself with Morgan.

Being an empress, she knew very well that she was playing with fire in this treaty. If Morgan could realise the flaw in her plan, she naturally could as well. She knew that unless she is extremely careful, she would lose more than just her life, she may become the last empress of the Silician Alliance which had millions of years of history.

Aegean looked at Nina and her enmity filled eyes and sighed in his heart. Nina was his most outstanding disciple and one of the most wisest rulers in the history of Silician Alliance. Trapping her was an almost impossible task but when he heard about how Riddick trapped her, his heart shook with fear and terror, he felt as if Riddick was a pure nightmare.

Nina rose to her feet and went to the army camp to meet with Atlee and Liam. Now that she was done with the preparations, it was time to gain back the pieces she had in her grip.

Atlee and Liam greeted her cordially when Nina visited them, however just as Riddick predicted they were no more desperate to gain her favour. Nina snorted coldly as she understood this as well.

However, she didn't let her anger reach her words as she quietly explained to them that she had formed an alliance with the Jehu empire. Atlee and Liam's face immediately changed as they heard this. Their heart were filled with rage but before they could explode with anger, Nina's words calmed them down.

"Don't worry, even though I formed an alliance with the Jehu empire, I have no intention of continuing it after this war ends.

I do not wish to rule over another empire. The Jehu empire will belong to you brothers but don't forget the deal you made with me. Your Ancient Totem belongs to me. As long as I can have that, I don't mind losing an empire." Nina calmly said in a low voice.

Atlee and Liam sighed lightly as they heard Nina. To them, who had betrayed their brother out of greed and for revenge, this alliance was like a rock in their gut. Had Nina decided to side with their brother, they wouldn't be left with no choice but to immediately betray Nina.

Nina laughed inside her heart as she promised that the empire will go to the brothers. Now that the situation had changed, it was most profitable for her to side with the eldest brother, the current emperor, Morgan.

However, even if by chance she managed to overthrow the current emperor, she would never give an empire for a single promise. An empire was more valuable than a thousand promises.

While Nina sneered inside her heart, Atlee and Liam were sneering inside their own hearts. They made a deal with Nina that they would give up their bloodline's Totem as a compensation for her help. However, why would they keep their promise?

That Totem was equivalent to a throne. Even if Nina doesn't take the empire for herself now, with the Totem, their empire will be at her mercy, they will be at her mercy. The three Totems maintained the balance between the three great empires. Once an empire loses their Totem, the empire will eventually collapse with certainty.

Both Nina and Atlee were betraying each other and they both knew that, yet they maintained their alliance because it was currently necessary for them to accomplish their goals. Who will have the final laugh, none knew.

Nina smiled lightly at Atlee and asked in a calm voice, "Atlee, you explained a bit about Riddick's third servant before right? Tell me more about him. We can never be more careful when dealing with cunning enemies."

Atlee nodded his head and said in a light voice, "I only saw him once. His name is Dragon, he is a God beast, Soul Reaver. He has a body of a child and has numerous puppets in his arsenal.

He is a third tribulation Yaksha and an extremely powerful one at that. Probably the second most powerful of the three and definitely the most mysterious one of all." Atlee frankly revealed everything he knew about Dragon.

Nina's expression changed as she heard the word, Soul Reaver. Being an empress, she naturally knew that Soul Reaver's were an extremely rare type of God beasts. However, she knew that they were most troublesome because of their ability to take over an host and no one would be able to find out the difference by any normal means.

Nina looked over Atlee and Liam and asked in a serious voice, "Atlee, you said before that you most probably know where this Dragon is, right? Where is he right now?"

Atlee's face was startled slightly as he heard Nina. However he smiled lightly and said, "That's simple. Since this Dragon can take anyone's place. Riddick would want him to be someone who knows the inside information.

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So he has to be someone who is essentially very important to Riddick. Since our plans weren't revealed to Riddick yet, I think he isn't one of us. So that makes it easy to conclude his position, he is within the Jehu empire."

Nina nodded her head as she heard Atlee. What Atlee said sounded reasonable. However, even if they knew that Dragon was hiding with the Jehu empire, they can't pinpoint him since he is using an almost perfect camouflage.

Soul Reavers not only take over the hosts body, they take over his memoires, his personality, his cultivation and even the aura of his soul. Thus, it is naturally impossible to determine a possessed body by normal means. Since they couldn't pinpoint a person and since they can never find out who it is, Nina decided that it was meaningless to think about it.

Soon all of them returned back to their positions. Atlee and Liam received a call from Riddick the next day. They sneered as they went to Riddick. Soon they not would have to answer Riddick's call, they would instead overthrow him.

As they neared Riddick's tent, they heard the voices of Riddick, Roger and June talking loudly about something regarding the Jehu empire. Frowning slightly, they entered the tent.

Riddick looked at Atlee and Liam and smiled lightly. He raised his hand and gave a report to Liam. He looked at Atlee and said in a cheerful voice, "Atlee, I have seen the intelligence report for today. You truly performed your duties well, I guess making you the emperor will really be a good choice. Haha........"

Liam's hand involuntarily trembled lightly as he heard Riddick while a smile blossomed on Atlee's face at the same time. Roger snorted coldly as he heard Riddick and walked out of the tent. Riddick eyed Roger with cold eyes and said in a calm voice, "Liam, I wish to speak with Atlee privately."

Liam looked at Atlee who looked back at him in confusion. Atlee's eyes were filled with confusion not because he didn't understand Riddick's actions but because Liam was acting weirdly

Liam's face fell as he narrowed his eyes and slowly walked out of the tent deep in thought. It didn't take a genius to tell him that Atlee naturally considered himself to be the next emperor. As Liam walked out, he found Roger standing a little distance away with a frown on his face.

As soon as he saw Liam, Roger put on a pitying face and said, "Sorry about that Liam. I told my master that you would be a better emperor because you know the empire better than anyone and would be able to control the chaos the empire would soon be engulfed in. However, for some reason both he and lady Nina agree that Atlee should be the next emperor."

Liam looked at Roger and lowered his head. Roger face was cold as he glanced at Liam and muttered to himself in a low voice, just loud enough for Liam to hear it. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. He is after all the leader. The leader obtains everything, all the credit and all the spoils.

I only hope he won't show his wrath on your family because he hates you after all. I guess it can't be helped since he was treated so harshly in his early years."

Liam's eyes shook as he heard Roger. He remembered the original Atlee, the half brother they drove away without hesitation. The hatred Atlee harboured on his family, Liam didn't knew much about but he knew for certain that given a chance he would kill Morgan for certain. Liam began to doubt Atlee's intentions.

Would Atlee really forgive him for all his sins? Would he leave Morgan's children or the bloodline alive if he really became an emperor? Liam began to doubt Atlee in his mind due to the seed of doubt silently planted by Roger.

Liam looked back at the tent and his eyes were filled with determination as he immediately set out towards Silician Alliance's headquarters.

Roger smiled coldly as he looked back at Liam's disappearing figure. He shook his head and thought to himself, "Its so easy to manipulate these humans and all of them actually think that they can trap his majesty. Laughable."

Soon Atlee came out of the tent. Roger smiled lightly and said in a serious voice, "Atlee, Liam said that he had something important to discuss with her majesty, Nina and left just a minute ago. He said that it was really important but for some reason he didn't consult with you, the commanding general first. I wonder what it is?"

Atlee frowned slightly as he heard Roger. Without wasting a second thought, he too immediately set off towards Nina's camp. Roger smiled coldly while inside the tent, Riddick smiled lightly as he leaned back against his chair.

Riddick didn't move from his seat because he knew for certain, Atlee would come back to him and he would finally serve his purpose as his pawn.

As Atlee reached the camp, he was frozen still by the words he heard from within the tent. Liam snorted coldly and said in a serious voice, "Nina, I think I found out who Dragon is. He is Atlee."

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GSD REDDY.