Kalen's pov

I stepped into his office without knocking, the room was as neat and tidy as you'd expect of the work place of this bastard, I caught him sitting at a desk with stacks of documents in front of him. He seemed to have been signing off on something when he looked up to face me, despite my rude entrance there wasn't a sign of rage or indignation on his face, instead he seemed quite happy to see me,

"Kalen, welcome back"

he said spreading his arms out as if to recive a hug, I steeped briskly towards him and placed my hand on his desk, with the sound of wood breaking my fingers submerged into the table and I picked it up and flung it too the side at a speed most wouldn't be able to follow, the desk shattered with a sound like thunder on the adjacent wall spraying tinder all over the place, but my gaze didn't leave his still smiling face. Loud steps resounded as several of his guild members burst through the door with weapons drawn I turned to look at them using a high level intimidation technique coupled with a blast of mana which rendered them all unconscious dropping them listlessly to the floor, I turned back to him with careful eyes on his face, he was still smiling. I sighed deeply before saying

'nothing huh'

with a wave of my hand I instantly used transfiguration to create an ornate chair no lesser than the one he was on, I didn't really feel the embellishments nessecary but I had a feeling he'd think less of me if I didn't do so

'even with the sanctity of your office demolished and you're own men on the ground your true emotions stay hidden'

"a good poker face is quite valuable"

'we aren't playing poker'

he tilted his head to side his smile was a bit more somber as he said

"that we are not"

the entire demonstration I had just shown was only half in rage, the other half a test in order to see if I could use the situation to inspire confusion, all in order to see if i could gleem any semblance of this mad man's true intentions but obviously, it failed 

'what are you after Langris, what is really'

"I don't know what you mean, I believe I've already told you about my intentions"

"bullshit"

my tone was quiet but the rage in my words echoed loud and clear 

'the glory of Trident, thats not going to fly as a reason, you've dragged all of us into shit, not just me not just the other Dons and not just the people in our city, you used Rowian to manipulate me, you incriminated Illionis as well two global super powers will now be facing heavy penalties from the Don's association due to the consequences of your actions, millions of people, the entire world will be flipped on its head have you any clue what you've done, it's a hot mess you've created'

not one word was an exaggeration, what Langris had done was approach the king of Rowain secretly after he had given his daughter away to be married and have him claim she had been kidnapped, he sent the irresponsible letter that goaded Aegis into war with us a letter that had probably been destroyed before it could serve as evidence against him, the destruction of Aegis the deaths of all of their Don's he had probably planned all of this, I had held doubts but once I returned to Rowian and got to questioning its king he spilled it all after heavy resistance, the look in his eyes was of a level of fear I didn't see from any of the purple storm crows I slaughtered and it was all directed at one man

"you don't know what a monster is"

he had said 

"you think its just about being strong, ever since I was a child I'd always wanted to swing a sword to be blademaster a Knight but my talent wasn't worth the dust on my feet so I never got far in that dream, even with my meager abilities every single one of my knight's could end me in a breath but do I shirk away when they look at me, do you think I truly have that much fate in my own guards, no, none at all, I look them in the eye because even though they are strong they aren't something I as a king should fear, but that man, that thing is, it is fear in its truest form, death and malice incarnate as if it lacks anything resembling humanity yet even with all that, it posseses reason, he gave me a choice, comply or feel its presence in my kingdom and I acted with wisdom"

with a crazed smile spewed those words, every semblance of kingship disappearing from his visage and if not for the unsettling feeling that man had always given me I would have claimed he was simply mad. 

"and Trident will be in the middle of it"

'...what'

lost in my own thoughts I barely noticed his words until their meaning rang soundly in my ears

'you can't be serious'

he leaned forwards his smile still there and a mad gleam in his eyes

"I meant every word"

'you crazy.....'

"wait"

he said putting his finger out in front of me,

"tell me, what do you think the full details of my plan entail"

'and if I don't'

"i might just have a new table brought in and pretend as if you don't exist"

'that won't be easy'

"it'll be a cake walk compared to orchestrating the events that lead to this but I guess I should make this simpler, why do you think you were brought in"

I took a deep breath before I continued 

'I was brought I as replacement for Micheal'

langris's smile grew even wider turning in a pure beam as he said

"go on"

'your plan was to use Micheal to draw Jurad out of Aegis whether he would have taken Leon was unlikely as Jurad could definitely handle Micheal himself but Leon's presence in Aegis wouldn't have posed much of a problem since you sent both the 4th and 5th Don's, your instructions would have most likely been to evade confrontation for as long as possible before retreating to the city or another friendly location all long enough to destroy Aegis kill all the other Dons except Jurad and regroup at Trident in case Jurad stopped pursuit in order to help his allies'

"and the flaw I that plan is"

vexing as it was having to follow his lead I continued 

'I fought Jurad and I know, Micheal wouldn't have been able to but a single minute against that man if he was in a hurry, even I barely won, he was better outfitted that me and he had a boatload of experience which he used well, I only won by playing with his mind and luck, you expected Micheal to die'

"a tremendous sacrifice but still, that would have given the ability to get rid of the ruffians he had as subordinates and when the Don's association came calling we could claim we had lost a lot in the encounter and request that they go easy on us"

'that's your ally you're talking about like that'

"oho, I didn't take you for the extremely sentimental type afterall you barely knew the guy"

'I was a mercenary remember, once you fight beside someone share a tent and drink with them, they never leave your heart, you should have done a lot more with him as you both ran this city together, you should have done a lot more for him too, he was a man confused and incapable even if it wasn't your business you were willing to see an entire sector of this city go to shit just because you wanted maintain your neutrality,...or, you planned this from the start, you probably got the other Dons involved as well by telling them not to help, you put him up as a pig for slaughter'

"I don't want to hear any of that from the man who killed him"

'I KILLED HIM BECAUSE OF YOU'

my fury boiled over covering the entire city in my rage I could hear the unconscious members passed out behind me shiverring in fear but this bastard didn't even flinch.

'my friend died because of you Langris, why shouldn't I kill you'

he waved his hands nonchalantly while saying

"oh come on, it's not like I directly pushed him, you're really blaming me for the domino effect"

'.....'

 "but if so"

he said 

"shouldn't it be just as much your fault as mine, afterall I'm not the idiot who couldn't tell when a girl loves him"

i stumbled back in shock

'how did you know that'

"I know a guy named Marco, Marco knows a guy named Tom, tom knows a girl named Vinny, Vinny knows Laquisha...."

'ENOUGH, tell me the truth Langris, HOW. DO. YOU. KNOW'

he smiled again, a more sinister one this time 

"maybe that mage you're always with told me"

it was then that the realisation hit me, the deadly aura around me dissipated as I spoke 

'you're going to keep doing this to me'

I brought my hand to my head as if nursing a headache, this bastard was just lieing, he was skipping around using facts when he could, things that would enrage me all In order to read me like a book

'the same thing I tried to do to you when I came in'

he shined that annoying smile once more while saying

"it was a good effort, even of we are comparable in strenght any other Don would have immediately lost their cool with what you had done, but I'm not like most Don's, you shouldn't be like them either"

Felix would never betray me, I knew it In my bones, if I hadn't remembered that simple fact I would have been lead into a quagmire of doubt and despair that would have made it easier to play with me

'you truly want Trident to be the centre of the world, but that's not an easy thing in these peaceful times, and if it can't be accomplished in peace you'll create turmoil on order to do it'

I uttered the words that were a shock even to me, this man had offered his goals to me the moment we met, what I didn't see was how far he'd go to accomplish them, I found myself reaching for my weapon as I muttered 

'I'm sorry Raine but I'll have to break that promise, this isn't someone I can let live'

his next move stopped me, he made an expression, a truly somber one, one devoid of any falsehood as he spoke 

"this world was destined for turmoil, whether I did anything or not"

'what do you mean'

"tell me Kalen if you could choose, the city of Aegis as a landfill but all of its inhabitants safe and sound or that same city a smouldering wreck and all of its people butchered unsightly by an evil man can not compare too"

'I think you should make realistic conjections'

"I'm being serious"

his eyes his voice all spoke the truth or at least they seemed too, but still I pressed forward

'even if such an evil exists don't you think the Don's of Aegis would have been help in facing such a threat'

"the Don's of Aegis knew of it, at least the only Don that mattered and he chose to avoid it, he chose to hide from it"

'and you killed him for it I get can get that part but what did the others, the countries the people what do they mean in all this'

"their presence is needed to bring everyone else to the table"

'....who?'

his smile came back as he continued 

"the Kings and Emperors of the land, the Don's of all the 11 remaining cities and most importantly, the old ghosts hiding in the Don's association"

I was taken aback, to even try to bring all of these people together was a gargantuan task but now that an entire city was destroyed the presence of all of these people would be required to bear witness to the hearing

'you're risking it all'

I slumped back into my chair as I said 

'you're not lieing, this is too much for a lie, does something like that truly exist'

"yep, and it's coming, that's why I need support, all in order to face it, and I will do it with Trident at my back, I will triumph with Trident at my back and catapult its status throughout history and the leaders in the war for humanities existence"

i furrowed my brows at the last words he said 

'what what you mean 'humanities existence'

up until now a strange fire had been blazing in Langris's eyes as he spoke but with my last question it smouldered,...no... hid, shrinking back behind the mask of a harmless man that he wore, his smile was still there though only slightly less captivating a fact I only realised as it no longer pulled me, proving that I had been caught up in this man's pace.

"It seems I've taken up a bit of your time Don Kalen and i hear the announcement ceremony of your new guild is happening soon, obviously since your presence is required I'll stop here"

I looked at him hard and long before replying 

'you're right Don Langris although this discussion is important it'll have to wait as more pressing issues are at hand, good day'

with that I stood up and walked to the door, as my hand reached the nob he spoke

"my sincerest apologies on the trouble I put you through, I truly didn't want our relationship to start out on such terms but please take this as a lesson, for a Don sitting atop a city is either a past time or a game, it is seen as a past time for those who want to simply do nothing but enjoy themselves with the wealth and power they've earned but those people often end up as pawns, pawns for those who see this job as a game, and if you don't want to be a pawn, I suggest you play"

I turned back to look at him still smiling but with a serious glint in his eyes as I said 

'must you always have the last word'

at that his smile became a little bit more honest before I left the room.