The object sitting in the crater was shaped like a small boulder, rounded and cracked on one side. If one were to glance at it, they would think it was just another rock that had been tossed around by the violent impact. But a closer look revealed something entirely different.
The outer layer really was rock. Actual stone.
But beneath the shattered chunks, faint seams glinted. Smooth. Metallic. Too precise to be natural. Like someone had wrapped a capsule-sized shuttle in geological camouflage and prayed no one would look too closely.
Xavier stood at the edge of the wreck. He inspected it for two seconds, then stepped back as if something had crystallized in his mind.
"Call the Marshal. And Princess Kira. And Cece," he instructed calmly.
Ollie blinked. "Even Princess Kira and Auntie Cece?"
"Yes. Because by the looks of it, this is not some ordinary metal."
And sure enough, he was right. It was not.
__
The moment Marshal Julian arrived—followed shortly by Cece, Princess Kira, and Ada—the air changed.
Shock. Disbelief. Fury.
The crater had them initially confused.
But seeing the rubble stunned them all.
They had already heard from Ada’s mother about the plot to sabotage relations between humans and orcs—but the exact method had remained unclear until they actually saw the problem.
And yet, even while battling the monsters, the threat hadn’t felt real. The creatures were massive, unnerving, but their sheer scale made it easier to dismiss the incident as a freak anomaly. A coincidence, maybe. Because surely, no one would be bold—or deranged—enough to create something like that on purpose. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
But standing there, staring at the wreckage, there was no longer any room for doubt.
This wasn’t a coincidence.
This was proof.
Undeniable. Intentional. Physical.
Someone had really done it.
And now, no one could ignore what this provocation meant.
Kira in particular reacted like someone had handed her a detonator.
Her aura flared. The ground beneath her feet cracked. Pebbles trembled. And she began creating a second crater in real time.
Her fists clenched so tight that even her bones seemed offended.
Because how could she not be furious?
Those rebels had planned something so vicious and foul that she genuinely considered asking Luca for revive pills just so she could raise them from the dead, then kill them again herself.
What kind of scum shared her genetic code somewhere in the galaxy?
Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to engineer monsters to push their political agenda? Monsters so strong that even all the orcs together wouldn’t stand a chance?
If Luca and the people of House Kyros had not shown up, this entire zone would have been swallowed.
Her mind flashed back to the humans she carried out of danger. The injured ones. The ones who cried. The non-combatant personnel who clung to her arm as she lifted rubble with one hand.
She wanted to scream.
Instead, her chest clenched painfully.
Because even though she and Ada had helped, it did not feel like enough.
It was not a good feeling. Not a good feeling when Theo, who barely exercised, somehow saved five times as many people as they did because of his unique skills.
Not a good feeling when Tortie—champion of relaxation, fashion, and lettuce—contributed more than enough to earn himself a statue.
And yet she, Princess Kira Zulgara, possibly the next Orc leader, could not match either of them because how could she even fight with just her body against something like that?!
She was seething.
Absolutely steaming.
Steam that was one sharp breath away from bursting out of her pores.
Then something small touched her arm.
She stared.
Luca stood beside her, smiling gently, eyes warm and pure. "Princess Kira, we really have to thank your father and Ada’s parents for informing us about this as soon as they could. If they hadn’t, then we would have lost more than we already did."
"Huh?" Kira froze.
She had braced for blame. For anger. For anything but this.
"But Luca, I don’t think you should thank us. None of this would have happened if not for the problems back in our galaxy." Her throat tightened. She had to clench and unclench her fists to stop the frustration from spilling out. "So... I really don’t think we should be thanked."
Surprisingly, Luca did not hesitate.
He frowned thoughtfully, almost offended on her behalf. "Hmm... I don’t think that’s true. The rebels clearly planned this for a long time. And it would have happened one way or another. If not for King Garrick going back to deal with them—which probably caught them off-guard—then we wouldn’t have gotten the important tip."
"But..."
"But more importantly, Auntie Cece is saying it doesn’t seem like it’s just the orcs this time."

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