’To draw elite mages to my side, I need a strong image.’ Orpal grunted. ’I need the charisma and the authority to inspire confidence in my future subjects. All things I can only achieve through victory.

’I sent my clone to the Distar Household to ensure that even if Leech somehow saved the rest of her friends, the Distar bloodline would have died tonight.

’I planned to deal the Kingdom and Leech such a blow that my victory would have overshadowed the other “failed” missions. The death of a pillar of the Kingdom, beloved by the Royals, and armed with the best protections they can offer, would have shaken everyone to their bones.

’The Royals would have proven themselves incapable of defending their most loyal subjects, and grief would have numbed Leech’s mind in the days to come. That was the fight I was supposed to win in order to keep the public attention away from my apparent defeats.

’I didn’t expect the Queen to step in, nor to be that powerful. She took the spotlight away from me and ruined my recruiting strategy.’ He sighed. ’I may have won three games out of four tonight, but if the rest of Mogar thinks I’ve lost them all, that’s what happened.’

’Cheer up. No one could have predicted the Queen’s coming.’ Night still had no idea of the secret Warp Gate in the Distar Mansion. ’You did everything you could and more. You even relocated our headquarters to Talgor to prevent our troops from revealing our position in case of capture.’

Orpal knew how resourceful his hated brother was and couldn’t afford the risk of underestimating Lith. Each strike team had received the coordinates of a different rally point, where they would go after the mission and be scanned for trackers before being transported to the new headquarters.