And so just like that, Ezenia had joined the T.O.E.P... The Order of Extraordinary Power!

In future, she would know just how rare it was for a woman to become a member.

Some strong female Pirate Captains were also within this organization as well.

And, there were a few noblewomen from Veinitta and Morgany who made the cut too.

Yup!

Even though people in this era didn't trust women to do any serious jobs better than men, throughout history, there were always women who outshone the men.

Unfortunately, in these murderous times, it meant that the lady's cruelty had far surpassed most men in these dark times.

Like the Order had said, they had been observing her for the past 7 years.

Her deeds impressed them.

Many wouldn't know, but behind the great Ulrich Tudor was an even blood thirstier woman who did unspeakable things to clear the path for him too.

The girl had the face of an angel but the heart and mind of a demon.

Of course, she wasn't all that dark inside since someone like her could fall in love and treasure something. 

She didn't know it yet, but Ulrich would become her weakness.

And, just like any dangerous association, the Order would use this weakness to make her bend.

For an organization as mighty as theirs, everyone within it had already sacrificed something valuable, whether they knew it or not.

In their world, there was no free lunch.

Kindness was something impossible for them to believe in.

Maybe they believed in it when they first entered the Order.

But later, their mindsets changed.

There was a hidden rule that all members would be told upon initiation.

Every 3 years, a certain window opens, and the top 3 classes in the Order allow an all-killing period for everyone to let loose.

Meaning everyone below the 3rd class could kill each other, and there would be no consequences.

One should member that there were 10 classes on the pyramid power hierarchy.

One could also look at it as the classes here in medieval times.

There were the slaves, the peasants and so on.

Likewise, there were 10 entire classes within the Order, with each class having several positions.

If a class was a Noble class for example, one could find lesser nobles, ordinary nobles, etc.

In short, each Class had different positions that one would have to climb up to before ascending to the next class.

And in this window of opportunity provided by the Order, those from Class 4~10 could kill each other for 2 months.

And anyone who kills after the killing window would be killed by the Order too.

.

Anyway, during the killing window, many used it as an opportunity to rank up.

Why?

Because if a lesser class killed a class higher, then to the victor goes the spoils.

So they would automatically take over the class position that the dead member occupied.

And they will also take 50% of the person's wealth too, sending the other percentage to the Order.

Again, if someone with a higher position kept fending off a person with a lower position for the entire 2 months without killing them, then the 2 will have their positions swapped.

Meaning the higher one would become the lower one and vice versa.

Generally, the Order hated good-for-nothings.

So just because one was a member, didn't imply they could slack off.

Everyone was always expected to be power-hungry, or else they would die without even knowing it.

That's why before the killing window, members in classes 4~10 try getting as much information as they can about each other.

Be it their weaknesses, what they loved or anything else.

To be a member meant that they had to be smart, sneaky and use their heads at all times.

Only after ranking up to the 3rd power Class will they be able to relax a bit.

People like the late Alec Barn and the late Nopline had been fighting off attacks and doing their best to rank up for decades.

One should know that one's weakness wasn't always the people they loved.

For Nopline, his strength was also his weakness as well.

He was too power-hungry and always got impatient when he heard of any good opportunities.

Knowing this, the members that came after him usually staged this 'good opportunity' for him, only to reveal their claws, trying to hack him to death.

These were just some of the things that the Order did to make its members sit up.

Look. They were even kind enough to offer the chance for each member to train their men.

So if one didn't take advantage of this, then they only had themselves to blame.

.

Lastly, to show their loyalty, all new members must complete a certain personal task given to them.

They would be asked to pick out a single piece of rolled-up paper from a box filled with other rolled-up papers.

And what they picked would be what they needed to do.

Everything would be left to faith.

Some people had cut off the hands of the person they loved the most, while in other people's cases, they were asked to make themselves baren... Hence, indirectly offering their generation to the Order.

Of course, some requests were nothing, like the task of killing a hangol with one's bare hands and bringing it over.

Yes. It was tough, but it was better than killing the person they loved the most.

Their fate all depended on what they picked.

Ezenia was smiling now, but she had no clue of the true essence of the Order's brutality.

For them to come in her most desperate time meant that they knew exactly what they were doing.

The moment she accepted to join the Order, there was no going back.

She was in it till she died.

And if she dared to refuse to comply or do anything they requested, then she would be hunted forever!

They covered the entire seas and had members just like her, who also had their subordinates too.

So, where would she run to?

Ezenia, who didn't know how deep the waters were, quickly wrote her reply, only thinking of how she would put Ulrich on the throne.

She didn't even know that next year Fall, the killing window would begin!

Indeed. Love was a beautiful thing.