"I refuse".

Immediately after the words left his mouth, all the powerhouses in this room turned to look at Ren Nora.

They were surprised.

It was no news that since becoming C Rank, Ren Nora was the only one among them who had blatantly opposed Epsilon multiple times, but even then he always had a limit to his opposition.

But today, it seemed like that limit was no longer there.

’What changed?’ They were curious.

Murphy’s eyes gleamed with excitement. If Epsilon was not here, he would have been rubbing his palms together excitedly already.

’Fight, fight!’ He cheered in his mind.

Epsilon looked at Ren Nora for a long time, this time far longer than ever before, then his lips curled up in a cold emotionless smile.

"Ok," he nodded. "This operation shall be a joint operation".

Murphy froze, clearly disappointed.

"Great". Ren Nora smiled again.

And finally, with that the virtual meeting came to an end. From Murphy’s POV, it was an anticlimactic end.

...

Iron Reef...

Click!

Ren Nora returned to his room.

The moment his consciousness returned, still seated in his luxurious office chair, his emerald eyes gleamed.

The events and the conversations that just took place in the virtual meeting replayed in his head. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

One advantage that he had over all the other C Rank Ascended in the world was just how elusive and unfathomable he was, and how much knowledge he had. Everyone knew he was the ’Glitch’, but no one truly knew what being the ’Glitch’ meant except his closest confidents.

Even Epsilon didn’t know the true depths of his powers and the true nature of his abilities.

They only had guesses.

If Ren Nora knew the true nature of his Primordial Hacking ability, the Director-Prime would have known already that there were very few things in the world that were hidden from him. Ren Nora had just decided to keep quiet about a lot of things.

About the Extremist Movement, he knew that though the Omnicore government was not directly supporting them, there were multiple high-ranking figures in the Federation that were secretly funding the terrorist movement.

And he knew that Epsilon knew about them but he didn’t intervene.

This was the only reason why the Extremist Movement have survived for centuries since its inception with the Federation in power, and this was the only reason why he was yet to eradicate the terrorists from the West since becoming the ’Glitch’.

These high-ranking figures of the Federation weaponize the terrorists.

What happened in Leviathan Quay was a perfect example.

With the disruption of the terrorists affecting the Geneforge City’s internal stability, the Gene Army didn’t react on time until a Category 3 Neon Beast tide was right in front of their doors with the Federation Army right on top them.

If Lord Zolkan didn’t intervene on time, the Geneforge Clans would have lost Leviathan Quay on that day.

This was not the first time that the Federation Army have used the terrorists as a war tool, and they were not their only war tools.

Over the centuries, the Federation Army have also secretly funded and weaponized the pirates of the Endless Ocean in their bid to restrict the naval growth of their rivals.

Of the 5 Pirate Kings of the Endless Ocean who were all D Rank Ascended, 4 had a secret connection to the Omnicore Federation.

For years, Ren Nora knew about all of this, but the only reason he never took any drastic step or action was because he knew that in the grand scheme of things, no singular faction in the world could square up to the Omnicore Federation.

They were still the most singular force of terror and dominance in the world despite his heroics 131 years ago.

Despite this, Ren Nora was not exactly scared of them, he was just cautious as a result of his respect for them.

This was because even he couldn’t predict what would happen if he started a full-blown war against the Omnicore Federation.

And due to the cost of using his Primordial Hacking ability to look into the future, he had not been too keen on using it for this purpose.

But since meeting Leon again for the first time in over a century, his ambitions changed.

For the first time in over a century, Ren Nora felt his blood burn hot again.

Leon made him feel young, wild, and ambitious again.

And since he agreed to support Leon in his quest to become the 9th C Rank Ascended in the world, he’d been thinking of the overreaching consequences of his decision and how it would impact the world.

’Is that why I was so insolent in front of Epsilon today?’ He chuckled.

’I guess even after 131 years, I’m still changing too’.

He leaned back on his luxurious office chair and sighed, thinking of Leon. ’To think in your first true D Rank battle, you’re already causing nuclear disasters’.

He chuckled. ’You truly are a herald of change, or ruin?’

...

Spire Prime, underneath the capital city of the Omnicore Federation...

An office lay beneath the surface of the city, buried under layers of reinforced concrete and silence.

There were no windows, no sense of time, only the low hum of hidden ventilation and the faint, deliberate drip of water somewhere deep in the walls.

The air smelled faintly of polished wood, leather, and steel.

Lighting in here was intentionally sparse, with only a series of recessed amber lights glowing from the edges of the ceiling, never fully illuminating the room, only sculpting it in shadow.

The corners dissolved into darkness.

The center of the office, however was curated with obsessive care.

A massive obsidian desk dominated the space, its surface immaculate with no papers, no clutter, just a single crystal glass half-filled with dark liquor and a slender folder that was placed precisely at its center.

Behind it stood a high-backed leather chair, and it was occupied.

The man sitting there was a Synth.

With a stoic expression on his mechanical face, he did not fidget, he did not check the time either. Time in this place seemed like it belonged to him.

This Synth was one of the 8 strongest beings in the world.

Immediately after the virtual meeting, General Sylvari Charr came here to his secret underground office that was hidden from even Epsilon’s eyes.

He sat still on the high-backed leather chair with his fingers crossed and his eyes half-lidded in deep thought and calculation.

’To think it’s actually him...’ his gray eyes were deep and unfathomable as he thought hatefully.

After the events of Leviathan Quay more than a month ago, he first got the news of his possible appearance and since then, desperate, he’d been on alert, deploying all his intelligence sources to be on the lookout.

Afterall, this was someone that he’d been looking for in over a century!

He was desperate to confirm the appearance.

And finally, he confirmed it a few days ago when Iron Reef welcomed an honorary guest.

’131 years later, to think you’re actually still alive...’ He smiled darkly. ’Where have you been? It doesn’t matter, this is fate!’ He thought coldly.

’My debt of humiliation must be paid in blood!’

’It doesn’t matter if 131 years or if a millennium has passed!’

’And is that what’s giving that bastard, Ren Nora so much confidence to talk back to the Director-Prime in such a blatant manner? Naïve,’ he sneered. ’If only he knows what the boss is planning for him’.

He thought of his archenemy again. ’A mere D Rank Ascended?’ He smirked as he thought back on the events that happened during the virtual meeting.

His smirk didn’t go deep though, it was only a mask that hid the deep-rooted hatred simmering in his heart.

Seated on the chair, the dim light caught the sharp and slightly twisted edges of his mechanical face, showing malevolent hatred and desire. A gold watch glinted faintly at his wrist, the only thing in the room that dared reflect light so boldly.

To one side of the office stood a glass display case showing artifacts of quiet violence- antique pistols, a ceremonial dagger. Each piece was meticulously arranged, not as trophies but as reminders.

Opposite the desk, a single chair waited, deliberately placed lower than his own and positioned not for comfort but for imbalance.

The entrance to the office was almost invisible- a seamless section of the wall that when opened did so without a sound.

No guards stood outside, none were needed here. Anyone who reached this room had already been permitted.

After 2 more minutes of waiting, the entrance finally opened silently and a man garbed in all-black attire and a robe walked inside like a ghost.

He wore a half-face black mask, hiding his features.

He bowed slightly. "General".

General Sylvarri Charr raised his head and finally looked at him.

This Geneform garbed in black was one of the pinnacle success stories of the Federation Army’s gene experiments, this was one of the strongest Quantum Shapers that was groomed by the Federation Army.

And unlike others, he was not known in the army because he was trained to work in the dark. Unlike others, he was an assassin, a ghost.

Only those who knew him from his training days knew how terrifying he was.

In the past few decades since he started operating, no one knew where he came from. Major factions and intelligence agencies only knew him by his code name- Ghostface.

He always left a Ghostface mask on the face of his victims.

This man was a D Rank Quantum Shaper of the Fluxmancer Specialization, he was one of the few S-tier Assassins in the world!

General Sylvari Charr finally looked at him.

"Sit".