Chapter 342 - 342: New Elisium
The Sun had started rising on the distant horizon, and the City finally received the sunlight, signaling the start of the day.
Most of the people in the city woke up as their alarms rang, unaware that the day wasn't going to go in the least as they had expected.
All because a single helicopter was allowed to pass through without checking.
The rains had actually intensified, but the helicopter kept flying without stopping. As for the Pilot, it was another APF member that had previously carried Varant for such a meeting. He knew where he needed to go.
The black APF helicopter landed on the roof of a certain building.
Opening the doors, Caen and the others stepped out to notice tens of soldiers, dressed in bulletproof vests, looking at them. All the soldiers were carrying heavy weapons.
Caen wondered if it was because they were discovered. Not getting to a conclusion, he acted calm as he stepped towards a dark-haired man who seemed like a leader.
"Captain Varant, welcome to the city again. You're a little early, but we have informed the President. Let me escort you to the Chamber, where he'll meet you as soon as he gets ready." the dark-haired man told Caen, misunderstanding him to be Varant.
As for the other people that were behind Caen, he didn't even bother looking at them.
He wasn't concerned about their identity as he believed they had passed through the checking. Lioner had marked them all as having passed the verification.
Caen nodded and followed the armed guards that escorted him inside the building.
Lucifer glanced at the soldiers through the reading glasses that he was wearing, noticing their weapons and defenses.
It seemed evident that these people were more experienced and knowledgeable, unlike the guards that were given to other cities.
That was why it was said that the defense of the Capital City was much more powerful than the other cities.
"You didn't bring Sir Riali and Sir Rowen with you this time? I see only new faces this time," the dark-haired man asked Varant, walking down through the stairs.
"They're busy trailing the Uprising. That's also why I'm here to talk to the president. It's time we did something about those people. They're getting more brazen by the day," Caen replied, talking like Varant actually would.
He had seen Varant quite a few times, and he understood that guy and his behavior a lot by now.
"That's true. I knew that they attacked cities many times, but it was never this extreme. I was actually surprised when I heard that they destroyed Kensington. They're getting really dangerous," the dark-haired man agreed, sighing.
"I really think APF and Hunter Union should work together to take them out once and for all. Crush the head of that snake. Take out the Uprising Leader and end it all," he further said, slightly emotional.
The man didn't know that the Uprising Leader was actually walking behind him at the moment, hearing everything he was saying.
Just that the leader was now a different person than the last one, but this one also had bigger ambitions than the previous.
"Don't worry. That day isn't far," Caen affirmed, playing along. "In fact, if what I'm here for comes to fruition, you'll see a different Elisium, free of any conflict in the future."
"I hope so," the dark-haired man said, sighing.
He soon stopped before a specific room and opened the door. "We're here. Would you mind waiting inside? The president should soon be here to meet you."
Caen and the others stepped inside to find a huge rectangular table that was big enough to accommodate twenty people on each side. Similarly, there were twenty chairs placed on both sides of the table.
The Uprising team took the side on the left and sat down. Kellian was still hiding in Lucifer's shadow.
As for Lucifer himself, he was sitting right beside Caen. Cassius sat beside Lucifer, and the others followed suit.
Almost everyone was observing the surroundings, including Lucifer.
He was able to see four cameras in the room that were recording everything that was happening here.
He wasn't sure about it, but he was sure that there were probably mics here as well, listening in on their conversation secretly.
None of them said anything just as they had planned. They simply waited for the President of Elisium to get here.
Time kept trickling away, and soon, ten minutes were over. It was only then that Lucifer saw the door open.
A dark-haired man who seemed to be in his sixties entered the room, accompanied by twenty men in black suits. The dark-haired man was the President of Elisium, known as President Quan.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn't know you were going to come so early in the morning," Quan apologized to Caen as he took a chair and sat in front of Varant.
" This is something that couldn't wait," Caen replied, subtly glancing at the men who were standing in the back.
"That's right. You said you wanted to talk about something important regarding the Uprising that you couldn't say over a call? What was it about?" Quan inquired, wondering what it was.
As he was talking, he didn't notice that a shadow sneakily moved towards the guards that were standing in the back to protect the President.
The shadow soon split into twenty shadows as it reached near the wall.
Lucifer could see a shadow appear on the wall behind each of the guards. All these shadows were carrying a shadow sword.
"Yeah. It was something which I couldn't say over the phone. It is better to speak it personally," Caen grimly said, looking in the eyes of the President.
" Please speak," Quan insisted.
Caen nodded as he took a deep breath as if he was going to talk about a heavy topic.
"I wanted to tell you... Wait, I think it would be better if he told you." he gestured towards Lucifer, stopping mid-sentence.
" President Quan, I'll take over from here," Lucifer let out, "We're here to tell you..."
"... It's a checkmate. It's time for you to step aside and surrender to us," he said, finishing the sentence.
As soon as he finished, the shadows moved, slashing the sword. The shadow swords came out of the walls and actually sliced the guards before they could even know what was happening.
Thud!
All the guards dropped to the ground. Quan turned back at the sound, noticing his guards lying on the ground.
"W-what's happening here? Sir Varant, what are you doing?!" he asked, stunned.