Beast Evolution Forge - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Dungeon Games 1
“How is your little town doing?” He asked, walking around the room like he owns it. Vell wanted to put him in his place but he held back.

“It’s doing fine… what are you doing here?” He got to the point, his mana barely contained.

He looked at Vell, sensing his bloodlust and chuckled, “Hmph, still think you are strong huh? Well, I am not here to fight, I came here on business.” He walked over and pulled out a gold letter, putting it on the table, “This is an invitation from his highness. He has acknowledge your town and wishes for it to participate in the yearly dungeon competition, you should feel-”

“I don’t feel like it. ” He cut him off with a smug look, knowing that it will trigger the man.

“You little-” His aura released, waking up the girls who instantly tried to attack but Vell signaled them not to do anything. “It seems you didn’t learn your lesson the first time we fought, shall I remind you how that went?”

“Tough talk coming from you. Do you consider jumping someone a fair fight? well, whatever, come at me if you wish,” His smile turned predatory forcing the man to jump back in shock, “what’s wrong? Did you really think you were stronger back then?” He instantly appeared in front of him, “boo!”

The man fall back, face sweating. “Hahaha, not so tough now huh?” Sia couldn’t help herself.

The man scrambled to his feet, trying to regain his composure. His earlier confidence had evaporated like morning dew, replaced by barely concealed fear. “You… you’ve changed.”

“Not really, I just didn’t show you what I could really do,” he replied casually, though his eyes remained dangerous. “But… time, training and having something worth protecting – it’s amazing what those can do for someone as well.”

Mia and Sia positioned themselves strategically around the room, their slime forms rippling with anticipation. The man’s eyes darted between them nervously.

“The invitation still stands,” he said, gesturing to the gold letter on the table. “His Highness doesn’t make such offers lightly. To refuse would be…”

“Would be what exactly?” His mana swirled lazily around him. “A sign of disrespect? An insult to his generous nature?” He picked up the letter, examining its ornate seal. “Tell me something – does he even know what happened here today? How the mighty Dragon Section just got their asses handed to them?”

The man’s silence was answer enough.

“Thought so.” He tossed the letter back onto the table. “Well, you can tell ‘His Highness’ that The Broken Empire will consider his generous offer.” His smile turned sharp. “After all, it would be rude to refuse without proper… consideration.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” the man warned, though his voice lacked its earlier authority. “The Imperial Section isn’t like these lesser territories you’ve been dealing with.”

“Lesser territories?” His expression darkened. “There it is again – that arrogance. You really can’t help yourselves, can you?” He took a step forward, and the man took an involuntary step back. “You’re so convinced of your superiority that you can’t even see how the world is changing around you.”

“Dad,” Mia interjected softly, “he’s not worth it.”

He relaxed slightly, his mana settling. “You’re right, of course. Almost got carried away there” He turned back to the man. “Tell your master we’ll send our response within the week. Now get out of my office before I decide to send you back in a box.” He stopped and tilted his head back, his eyes glowing, “don’t forget to tell your jumping buddies that pay back is coming.”

The man didn’t need to be told twice. He vanished as quickly as he’d appeared, leaving only the golden letter as evidence of his visit.

“Well,” Sia chirped, bouncing over to examine the letter, “that was fun! Are we really going to consider it, Dad?”

“Consider it?” he picked up the letter again, his eyes gleaming with calculation. “Oh, we’re going to do more than consider it. We’re going to accept.”

“What?” Both girls exclaimed in unison.

“Think about it,” he said, beginning to pace. “They just watched their ally, the Dragon Section, get thoroughly defeated. But instead of responding with force, they send an invitation? They’re trying to save face, to make it look like they’re still in control.”

“By bringing us into their competition,” Mia realized, her form rippling with understanding.

“Exactly. They think they can control us by making us play their game.” His smile was predatory. “But they don’t realize – they’ve just given us exactly what we needed.”

“A way in,” Sia giggled, catching on to her father’s plan.

“More than that,” hel said, looking out over his town. “They’ve given us a stage. A chance to show everyone exactly what The Broken Empire can do.” His mana pulsed with anticipation. “And this time, there won’t be any holding back.”

“Send for Yenna and the others, we have preparations to make. The Imperial Section wants to invite us to their party? Fine. Let’s show them how we dance.”

—

The following down in the imperial city

High Commander Uda stood at the window in the Imperial Section’s main building. His white and gold uniform shone in the sunlight. Behind him, a messenger knelt on the floor.

“So he said he’ll think about it?” He asked calmly.

“Yes, sir. But…” the messenger’s voice shook. “He wasn’t very… polite about it.”

“How strong is he now?”

“He’s… different, sir. The reports were right. The way he uses corrupted mana – I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Uda turned around, his face blank. “Did he remember you from before?”

“Yes, sir. He even said…” The messenger paused, nervous. “He told me to tell my ‘jumping buddies’ that payback is coming.”

Uda frowned slightly.

A woman in white and gold stepped out from the shadows. She wore special marks showing she was in charge.

“You ignored how strong he was before,” she said, sounding both annoyed and amused. “That didn’t work out so well, did it?”

“Lady Regina,” Uda bowed a little. “We… made a mistake.”

“A mistake?” She laughed. “Is that what we’re calling it? The man you said was ‘just another broken failure’ built a town strong enough to beat the Dragon Section. And now I hear he’s mastered corruption in ways our experts said couldn’t be done.”

She walked to the window. Below, players practiced their moves in perfect order.

“Uda, what do you see down there?”

“Perfect form, perfect control – everything we stand for, my lady.”

“Hmm.” She turned back. “And what did you see in The Broken Empire today?”

The messenger spoke up quietly. “Chaos, my lady. Their moves are rough, unpredictable. They mix corrupted and pure mana in ways that shouldn’t be possible…”

“But they still beat one of our strongest friends using these ‘impossible’ moves,” she finished.

Uda stiffened. “The Dragon Section got careless. They didn’t take him seriously—”

“Like you didn’t?” She cut him off. “Things are changing, Uda. Ever since that man came do our gates a year ago, everything changed.” She took out a lolipop and began eating it to calm herself. “While we’ve been practicing the same old moves, others have been trying new things.” She picked up a report about the Dragon Section’s defeat. “Maybe it’s time we did too.”

“My lady, you can’t mean—”

“I mean,” she stopped him, “we should watch very carefully what happens in this year’s dungeon competition. If he accepts our invitation.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

She smiled coldly. “He’ll accept. Men like him can’t resist a chance to show off.” She looked back out the window. “Get the training grounds ready. If The Broken Empire joins in, we need to be ready for anything.”

After he and the messenger left, another man appeared from the shadows, wearing black and silver.

“This is risky, Regina,” he said quietly. “Bringing him here…”

“It was already risky, Artemis. It became risky when he survived our first attack.” She touched the report. “Better to have him where we can watch him than let him grow stronger in secret.”

“And his corruption techniques?”

“Study them. Learn from them. If a ‘broken one’ can master this power…” Her eyes lit up. “Think what we could do with it.”

Below, the players kept practicing their perfect moves, not knowing that their neat, orderly world was about to face something very different. Something that had been broken but had grown back stronger.

Regina smiled to herself. This year’s competition would be like nothing they’d seen before and she would be watching every bit of it, very carefully.

—

Elsewhere, a woman in a lab coat was staring at her screen with a tired smile, eyes red and body looking malnourished. “Hehe, its finally done. My best experiment has succeeded. Hehehe, wait for me, end of all things, I will make you mine, no matter the cost. ”

The state was set but the question was who would take the spotlight, the broken empire, the imperial city or the organization that works in the shadows.