Path of the Extra Chapter 396: The Nobles’ Game

"So you’re saying you overheard Prince Lioren discussing with Prince Caleus their so-called ’real plan’?"

Lumine gave a nod.

"Yet you have no idea what this plan entails, right?"

Ranni appeared skeptical while Lumine nodded once more, his face serious.

"I caught it purely by chance. Staying longer would have let them spot me listening in... I wasn’t about to gamble my life on it."

Lumine averted his gaze, his features clenching in apparent shame.

Ranni’s look instantly turned gentle with understanding. After Caleus’s actions during dinner, it made sense for all to tread carefully—like on fragile ice—particularly near him.

Ranni saw nothing wrong with Lumine’s account. Unlike Azriel, absent from academy classes for almost a month, Lumine was the dedicated pupil who never missed a session. Based on his nature, lying wasn’t his way.

Unbeknownst to her, Lumine was truly a brazen deceiver.

At least when necessity demanded it.

"I realize it’s bold for me to suggest, but..." Lumine paused, then pressed on in a hushed tone. "I fear whatever that plan holds. The event’s on the verge of starting, and if they’re hiding details for hidden aims... lives could—"

He left the thought hanging.

Yet everyone grasped his implication.

Lives would be lost.

Ranni got it fully. As realization hit, unhappiness wasn’t her only emotion.

Fury blazed in her eyes.

Boiling rage.

This act twisted Lumine’s gut, yet he had no alternative.

Gathered here were throngs of people—a wonder they hadn’t turned on each other yet. From the Ten Heavenly Churches, officials, clan envoys, guilds... bearing clashing beliefs, allegiances, strengths.

Lioren had maintained the fragile peace.

But suppose Lioren schemed something graver than pointless carnage?

What if it served a purpose?

The purpose itself was irrelevant for now.

Innocents were at stake—students included—and Ranni would shield them from harm at all costs.

Indeed... it repulsed him. Such deceit made Lumine yearn to hide beneath his long-neglected bed once more. Fear gripped him.

He might be mistaken. Perhaps they overthought it.

Still, so near the end, Ranni dared not chance it—above all, as one of the rare few who knew the Great Clans more deeply than others.

...For the Great Clans, death was a price they’d eagerly embrace to fulfill ambitions.

"You’ve done right by informing me, Cadet Lumine." Ranni gripped his shoulder, flashing a comforting smile.

Outdoors in the garden they stood. Tents sprawled over the area—some bustling, some vacant, some shadowed by resting forms.

Yelena lingered beside Lumine, face stern yet betraying her bewilderment.

Naturally, she knew Lumine fabricated the tale.

She’d stuck by him throughout.

His claim of it occurring mere hours prior rang false.

Why invent such a story?

Patience was her choice.

Even so, Yelena sensed the truth.

Lumine’s motive for this deception likely stemmed from...

the system.

Post-plague, no fresh quests had come to Lumine—but Yelena spotted his distraction all day, despite efforts to focus on her. Morning through evening, his mind wandered.

A new quest had arrived.

And...

Yelena felt certain it involved Caleus and Lioren—Lumine’s daring was unprecedented.

"Damn. That kid’s probably already been sold off as a slave. I give up."

A jeering, chuckling voice echoed from behind. Ranni’s countenance grew stormier at the sound.

They spun around, tracing her stare—Lumine and Yelena’s eyes bulged wide.

Vergil and Anastasia drew near.

Obsidian robes cloaked Vergil, lending him a mysterious, almost kingly air. Anastasia donned blue—vivid and cutting, mirroring her fierce spirit.

Upon arriving, Vergil’s face showed subtle regret.

"I’m sorry, Instructor. We couldn’t locate the child. No trace anywhere we searched."

"...So not even you," Ranni whispered.

Her expression crumpled—teetering on the edge of panic and hopelessness. A faint hope lingered, since Sir Henrik remained absent, still hunting for Lia.

But...

What if even he failed?

Could Ranni abandon a helpless child in this crumbling, doomed realm?

What if Azriel reached her first?

What if death had already claimed her?

No... perhaps Celestina spoke true, and Azriel meant no hurt.

Yet Ranni knew better than to trust nobility. Their promises hid lies too frequently.

A sly smirk lit Anastasia’s face as she eyed Lumine playfully.

"And what brings you here instead of enjoying your date?"

Typically, a statement like that would have embarrassed them both. Not this evening.

Lumine paused, pondering if he should deceive his faction companions too. Then, he finally spoke, tone grave.

"There’s a chance Prince Lioren and Prince Caleus could turn against us. I realize I’m not the most trustworthy source, but—"

"Oh, that?" Anastasia interrupted him offhandedly, gesturing dismissively. "Yeah. I already know."

"W-what?"

Lumine appeared truly shocked. Ranni and Yelena mirrored his surprise.

Vergil—who always denied being a seer, even though he knew impossibly obscure details—remained utterly nonchalant. In fact, he seemed rather amused.

Anastasia shrugged amid their wide-eyed stares.

"Yeah. So what? Don’t tell me you fools really thought Lioren’s scheme was his true plan?"

Their expressions prompted Anastasia to mutter quietly, "Dumbasses," before she deigned to clarify.

"Around this moment, that naive Saintess will draw every spotlight in this kingdom. Lioren doesn’t truly care about the Saintess, or claiming the leftover teeth himself. Nor does he give a damn about any of you." Her gaze sharpened a bit. "What he will do—if my hunch holds—is strike a bargain with the factions already holding the other teeth."

"...!"

"I mean, what else could you fools have anticipated? The most avaricious humans in our realm learn of a wish-granting power for anything they desire, and they’d allow random nobodies to approach it? Hardly! First, they win over everyone’s confidence. Then, they systematically wipe out rivals—one at a time."

She explained it like a basic tutorial.

"In Lioren’s shoes, I’d target the Church first. They pose the sole genuine danger to the Great Clans present. The authorities and others lack the sway here to count. Once news hits those two summit kings that the Moon’s Saintess has entered the Sun Kingdom, every ruler will dispatch over half their forces to seize her—and snag one final tooth. Their troops divide. Defenses crumble. He’ll feed the Church to them. As turmoil erupts here, he’ll send all of you—roughly seven hours from now?—straight to the Moon Kingdom via teleport. You’ll stir up mayhem there as well. That’ll pull more of their strength, hurrying to ’rescue’ the Moon realm."

She cocked her head.

"Essentially, Lioren will hold both kingdoms ransom. And at their frailest point—devoid of troops, grip, and teeth—he seals the deal."

Anastasia ran her tongue over her lips, her smirk broadening.

"Now, supposing those folks cling to their foolish arrogance, they’ll accept a truce. In return, they retain their domains. And if that wish proves legit, no one wants to squander it piecing together a wrecked nation."

Her tone dipped, laced with satisfaction.

"The Great Clans’ royals—and this world’s monarchs—will all insist on an ’equal shot’ at the wish."

Her grin turned viciously keen.

"Which opens the gates to whatever infernal chaos ensues... and ignites a frantic race."

Should that unfold, the rivals would dwindle even quicker.

Lioren would betray anyone beside him to knife the rest. Caleus would follow suit. Naturally, this remained Anastasia’s speculation—her personal read.

Still, its chilling logic left them all aghast, unnerved not just by the prospect, but by the brain that pieced it together so effortlessly.

Even Vergil seemed admiring.

Of course, countering this world’s grandmasters—Anastasia had no clue there.

Yet with time so scarce, did choices even exist?

They didn’t.

If Anastasia’s words rang true, Liliane faced imminent doom.

And countless others would trail her.

For what purpose?

Merely to render the contest among those born superior to Lumine a "fair game."

...Revolting.

And horrifying.

Yet Lumine’s dominant emotion surpassed dread: fury.

"As grim as this sounds," Yelena interjected abruptly, expression stern, "what you’ve described is merely a hypothesis, Anastasia, right?"

"Plenty could devise the identical theory," she continued.

She had a point.

For all they knew, Anastasia might just be spooking them—and given her nature, that felt all too plausible.

To Yelena, Lumine represented a dependable informant. At minimum, he based grave claims on actual intel he’d gathered.

Because should this prove real—and survivors emerge to recount it post-scenario—it might spark war between the Ten Heavenly Churches and Four Great Clans.

"You’re right, Yeli."

Yelena’s mouth quirked at the unexpected nickname.

As though Anastasia sought to provoke them further, her smile grew icier. More savage.

Her following words surpassed everything prior in outrage—and bizarrely, they hit as the night's greatest shock.

"Why would my words carry more weight than anyone else’s, you ask?" Anastasia’s grin stretched wider.

"Well... I might’ve forgotten to mention that Lioren and I go back."

She raised a hand to her lips, veiling her smile as if the fun was too delightful to display.

"And it’s not just him," she appended with honeyed sweetness. "I go way back with all the other heirs too."

The others made zero attempt to mask their reactions.

"Some might even say we’re childhood friends."