Vinamour was furious at what Shen was doing to him.

Any of his subordinates could tell the Brigade Commander what had happened, and it would be bad for Vinamour, but Shen hadn't gone for them. Instead, the human gave the fanmv time to think of a lie. Then, Shen would investigate and use it against Vinamour. It was a trap.

Vinamour had learned to accept the Commander was stronger than him, but this? This was too much. He was being played. After wasting hours of the opportunity to hunt for Bounties, Shen returned like nothing had happened and humiliated him so?

No. Vinamour could swallow many things. Not this.

"Send a message to my forefather: I'm done with this. Take me away."

‎ ‎

| Message sent

‎ ‎

Most people looked surprised at him, but Shen had the gall to ignore him while still checking some irrelevant fugitive's records. Another time sink, that trial business. He should just kill them all. The fanmv were a righteous race, but even Vinamour could tell those people were guilty at a glance.

Anyway, Vinamour would make the guy pay for the continued disrespect later—or so he believed until he received a reply not from his forefather but his brother.

‎ ‎

| Anamour (B): Are you stupid? We're dealing with a Void Tide! It's bigger than the damn Calamity! Forefather is too busy to deal with anything not crucial for our race's survival. Grandfather is still upset at your last waste of our political leverage to take you out of the Grand Avaron Tournament because a servant refused you. Not to mention how many favors he called and the resources he used to put you there in the first place. He declined to talk to me even after I said this situation would likely lead to your death. Yes, little brother. I lied for you. You owe me one, even if it didn't work. You're on your own for now. Behave, and you'll be fine as long as you don't commit treason or anger the Node Commander.

‎ ‎

Vinamour's mind failed to comprehend what he had just read. It made no sense. What waste of political clout? They were a quasi-mythical race! Whatever the forefather said, everyone else should just shut up and obey! And if grandfather merely mentioned it to the forefather, the forefather would help.

How dare his grandfather do that to Vinamour?!

After everything his father had done to his grandfather! Vinamour was an orphan because his father had died to protect his grandfather! The ungrateful traitor! Where was the righteousness the old fossil had insisted was part of fanmv identity?! To leave your own grandson to die was vile!

His Path made his body tremble in resentment and fury, but he kept it contained in himself.

It took him a long time to calm down. He was alone. Cut from his race.

Unacceptable.

He would change that his own way.

He said, "I want to report Brigade Commander Shen for plotting with the Void."

If it was true, Shen would die. Otherwise, Vinamour would be jailed for a false accusation while deployed. A fatal mistake to most, but not to him.

The military preached equality—an absurdity in itself, as not all races were created equal—but as a direct descendant of an S-rank, Vinamour would only be judged by an A-rank after his forefather was notified. His grandfather would act then. Losing a grandson as a traitor on the front lines? Even if the man was willing to spit on his son's sacrifice, he would never allow the fanmv to be connected to such a thing if he could avoid it.

‎ ‎

| Report sent

‎ ‎

The white-texted notification was followed by four red ones.

‎ ‎

| Your accusation was found to be false

| False accusations of treason during a deployment are considered treason

| YOU HAVE BEEN BRANDED A TRAITOR

| SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR DIE

‎ ‎

Vinamour was slightly surprised at how quick he got an answer. Evidently, Samir's Acting General was paying attention. It made sense, of course. The report had come from Vinamour. The dragon would be stupid not to keep an eye on him after humiliating him by placing him below Shen. There was only so much offense anyone was willing to give a fanmv, even a dragon.

That proved they were already enough to be considered a mythical race; even A-rank dragons gave a C-rank like him face.

Shock spread through everyone's faces and souls. Vinamour smirked. It was always interesting when the inferior races recognized they stood in the presence of someone above them.

Shen was asking something to a high-elven D-rank and stopped midsentence. He slowly turned his head to Vinamour and didn't hide his surprise.

"I invoke the Right to Imprisonment," Vinamour said. He should've said it earlier to be safer, but he wanted to look at the Brigade Commander's eyes as he realized how small he was. "Take me to the Detention Department," he commanded.

He got yellow notifications next.

‎ ‎

| S-Tier Right to Imprisonment Invoked

| An S-Tier Extinction Event is currently underway in the Multiverse Alliance

| Right to Imprisonment is currently limited to B-ranks and higher

| Right to Imprisonment has been replaced with Right to First-Offense Severity Decrease for C-ranks

| You are no longer branded a traitor

| You have committed a grave offense

‎ ‎

Vinamour's smirk froze on his face. No. That wasn't right. That wasn't possible.

"Send a message to my forefather: I messed up. I beg forgiveness. Save me. I'll change."

‎ ‎

| Message sent

‎ ‎

Whether he would change or not was irrelevant. He needed a way out now. He could appease his family later.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The seconds tickled. Shen and everyone just looked at him. They had become surprised when he stopped being a traitor, which was impossible for their pathetic existence, but he wasn't in the mood to bathe in the glory.

No one answered.

No one.

"Send a message to Anamour: Find me a way out, and I'll become your slave. I swear on my name."

‎ ‎

| Message sent

‎ ‎

Time passed slowly again. When he thought no one would answer, he got a reply.

‎ ‎

| Anamour (B): I'm sorry, brother. I really am. I talked to you about it multiple times, but you were so lost in your resentment... I even warned you in my last message about the Void Tide being significant. Why couldn't you listen? Was it my fault? Should I have become the father we lost? I suppose so. Die with honor, brother. I'll avenge you after the Void Tide is over.

‎ ‎

Vinamour had to read the text thousands of times to understand what it said. He... What... How...

Die?

"This is a shame," Shen said and had the gall to sound sad. "I had high hopes for you, Vinamour. I hoped you were a scheming man—that your arrogance was a persona. I hoped you were someone who bullied the weak but feared the strong. I hoped you were a coward. But you're just a spoiled guy."

Vinamour was too astonished to feel angry at being looked down upon.

"Tell me what happened, Second Lieutenant," Shen continued. "Why did the four Guardians under you die? Tell me it wasn't the consequence of your direct actions. If true, I'll pay the price to have you expelled instead of executed. In my recent absence, I understood this Void Tide may have more hidden dangers than I expected. I would rather you stay alive to protect someone than get a better prize for being a genuinely exemplary Commander."

Shen was still looking down on—

Oh. Oh! Vinamour smiled as his body relaxed. He could read the subtext. Shen was afraid of the fanmv, as he should be. He just needed Vinamour to give him an excuse to let him survive.

"It wasn't the consequence of my direct actions," he lied.

Shen raised an eyebrow at that. "Everything I know about the fanmv, body language, soul analysis, and Path instinctual movement tells me you're lying, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." He turned to one of Vinamour's Lieutenants. "Second Lieutenant Marakoo, why did the four people in your Battalion die?"

Vinamour snorted. Of course, she would lie. The Brigade Commander had just shown he was on Vinamour's side.

"I want to remind you that lying about what led to deaths during deployment is treason," Shen suddenly added. "Unlike Second Lieutenant Vinamour, who we just discovered can cease being a traitor for reasons unknown, I don't think you should bet your life on also being capable of invoking the Right to Imprisonment."

Vinamour never stopped smiling. Shen wanted to keep appearances. No problem.

"Battalion Commander Vinamour told us we could act alone if we wanted," Marakoo said.

Well, it looked like Marakoo would be executed for "lying" during the investigation to try to get promoted. He was next in line, after all.

"System, show me Vinamour saying that if you have it on record," Shen said.

Vinamour started doubting. Shen was pretending too well. Was—

He never saw Shen move. He never saw the spear cut him in four parts. He did feel it cut him into cubes, though.

Then, nothing.

‎ ‎

‎ ‎

"That was unpleasant," Shen said after killing the fanmv.

As Shen had told the guy, he had hoped for the best. Vinamour's military record was terrific, explaining why he had been chosen to join the Exemplary Brigade despite his personality.

However, before coming to Samir, he had been in a Node where everyone worshiped the ground he walked on. Of course, it wasn't stated in his file, but he got Commendations for minor things and didn't have a single Demerit. Considering the guy's character, that was impossible unless people made things easier for him. He also had no special clearances, showing people pushed the boundaries for him but never crossed any lines—and that he wasn't as impressive as his Commendations suggested.

His superiors let him do whatever he wanted. His Path had cemented around the belief that people should bow to his whims. He could accept nothing else, especially not being placed under a C-rank who opposed him.

Shen's existence was anathema to Vinamour's Path, which sealed his fate.

"Rayna, please collect and deliver his things to the Investigation Department."

The Investigation Department would have to check the man's items before returning them to his family. Anyone who was executed was investigated. Shen could withhold the items until he was no longer deployed like he had done to the drow items, but he would rather not.

The guy had ceased being a traitor, after all. Shen had received a notification saying one of his subordinates was a traitor, then another saying it was no longer the case. He hadn't known that was possible. Considering Vinamour had thought his forefather could save him, having an S-rank in your race evidently gave you a lot of pull. Shen had no reason to upset the fanmv race further by delaying the delivery of Vinamour's possessions to them.

"Second Lieutenant Marakoo will be the Battalion Commander now," he said, then sighed and added, "I don't care who you are or where you came from. As the Commander of an Exemplary Brigade, turning a blind eye to any offense that should be punishable by death would cause my demise instead, except in very few situations, like the report about my association with the Void. As it was related to me, I could forgive him to a point. I was willing to because he only acted stupidly instead of genuinely attacking me. Anything else won't be tolerated. Don't mistake my desire to fight the Void with weakness.

"What killed Vinamour was that he opposed my orders and lied in the investigation. In an Exemplary Brigade, those offenses are punishable by death. That's why he was executed. Learn from his mistakes. I would rather not have to deal with such things again."

Vinamour's death showed how absolute power was the answer to every problem—but only after it was achieved. You had to follow the rules until there was no one stronger than you.

Shen's Truth of Limits was crucial for his survival in multiple ways. He was glad he had picked that Truth.

The realization was sad, though. Once more, someone with the right connections had ignored the rules—Vinamour had even stopped being a traitor! Once again, Shen felt how little he mattered.

He finished judging the fugitives and was waiting for Rayna to return from the Investigation Department when he got two yellow notifications.

‎ ‎

| The Memory-Locking Team has arrived in Samir

| The 7th Exemplary Brigade is to stay in place until the team locks every Brigade member's memories

‎ ‎

Shen frowned. The lockdown message long ago had said the Memory-Locking Team would arrive in three days, but many more had passed. It had also expressed their business would take three to six months. It made sense because the message even said the team had S-tier authority regardless of the individual's ranks. They should be weak and take a while to do what they needed to—

His line of thought was interrupted when a presence manifested.

Shen's True Self shook. He was seeing something but couldn't tell what. His mind refused to register the S-rank who was not keeping low in—

It was gone. Shen took a long breath and checked his True Self. Sure enough, some of his memories were blocked. He hadn't even felt it happen. As far as he could tell, the bubbles were made of no Energy. They were just there, preventing his mind from accessing that knowledge.

Shen felt he could destroy the bubble with his domain, as it felt a bit fragile. However, the system or the S-rank who placed it there—or both—would not be pleased. He wasn't suicidal enough to piss off an S-rank. There was no surviving that.

That was genuine absolute power.

It was also very well done. Shen resented being forced not to remember something, but it didn't affect him in any way. He couldn't notice any hiccup in his stream of memories. It was as if he had never learned whatever it was, whenever it had happened. He couldn't even tell when it had occurred, or when he had gotten the message about the Memory-Locking Team, or anything about it.

More importantly, he had no side effects from exposure to an S-rank's Realization. He knew that might happen. He was glad he was alright.

Then again, when he checked his Brigade, everyone had fared much worse. Everyone was unconscious. It showed how special his True Self was. Rayna wasn't there, but he doubted the S-rank had forgotten about her.

The entire thing had taken less than a split instant. The means of S-ranks were unimaginable to him.

Shen wondered what an S-rank coming to Samir meant. Was this about the Void Tide? Was Samir compromised? Would Acting General Long Hei be replaced with an actual S-rank General?

He waited, and no one woke up even after half an hour. Their souls had been severely pressured by the S-rank's presence. Not to the point they were harmed, but they needed the rest. The E-ranks had paradoxically fared better, undoubtedly because the S-rank had been gentler with them.

Nothing happened as he waited. There was no announcement about Samir having a new leader. No sudden power surges or emergency call to arms to fight against the Void.

What Shen did get after that long was an unexpected system message.

‎ ‎

「 Deployment Update

The 7th Exemplary Brigade's mission has been changed.

New mission: Filter and Merge Imperia's Troops

Every Guardian from the Republic of Imperia (A), ranging from B-rank to F-rank, will arrive in one Standard hour.

They have been teleporting ever since the Void Tide started.

Draw a plan to filter Bounty targets out with a minimal death rate and merge their troops with Samir's current ones.

They are still being teleported. You can send them messages before they arrive. They can reply.

Total Troops: 993,413,790

Troops by Rank:

B: 654

C: 755,844

D: 611,684,952

E: 357,988,211

F: 22,984,129

Bounties by Rank:

B: 22

C: 31,223

D: 44,118

E: 2,472,355

F: 5,212」

‎ ‎

Shen stared at the window, asking himself if Long Hei had really just asked him to accommodate almost one billion fighting troops—E-ranks and higher—in the front line. Every Node was meant for less than a tenth of that, and Samir already had Guardians stationed in it.

And he had to convince B-ranks to turn themselves in? Diplomatically? Him?

"Shit."