Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 278: Not running

There was silence, as nothing was there, but Vale had felt something earlier, something that pulsed and made the air tremble.

Finally, the room darkened slightly, and darkness condensed like mud.

In response, Pomora’s aura swelled to cover them as she hissed, "I can’t tell his rank!"

Vale wasn’t worried. With Pomora beside him there, he could count the amount of things that could hurt him. He leaned back on his seat and waited for whoever it was to show themselves.

A figure slowly took form in the midst of the darkness, a man with a flowing black robe. Their face was covered by a mask, but even with the mask on, Vale could feel eyes on him like two burning coals. He couldn’t tell if they were man or woman with the robe on.

"Who are you?" Vale asked casually.

Finally, the figure bowed. "It is I. The Clan’s Spymaster!"

The Spymaster’s voice was metallic, leaving no clear choice as to whether they were male or female.

Vale raised his brows. "We have a Spymaster? Now that’s something I didn’t know. I know we have an intensive, intricate web of spies, but I didn’t know we have a Spymaster. What exactly is that?"

"I am the one that sits at the center of the web."

"Ah," Vale said. Then he smiled. "Do I have to thank you too for this easier victory?"

The Spymaster went to their knees. "My Lord, congratulations on becoming the Clan leader. Your father, the previous Clan leader, already paid the price of me helping."

Now Vale was interested. He sat up, and his eyes narrowed. "You talk as if you did not work for us."

He heard the smile in their voice. "I do work for the Clan. But my job is only to provide any information that comes to my side. I do not interfere or do extra."

Vale smiled. "But you do extra when you are paid."

The Spymaster did not reply to the obvious answer, so Vale continued. "You are here for something."

"Yes. I am here to tell you that the other Clans have grown too interested in the Athrimir Clan."

Vale was expecting something like that. "Give me a full report later. After I return to the capital. I believe you show yourself to me so I can become aware of you."

The Spymaster bowed. "I welcome back the Clan leader! Hail the Clan leader."

Then they were gone, as if a light had shone on shadow, chasing it away.

"Not bad. You even get to have a Spymaster," Pomora said in an amused way. "So who are we dealing with now?"

☆☆☆☆

Vale absorbed Slya and Takoda into the tower again. Then he and Pomora made their way to the barrack given to the Black Sun Company.

Specifically, to their captain’s wing of the building.

Thrain had actually constructed a building right there at his war front. But it wasn’t made of stones and earth; it was made from glossy metals and cut into different sections for his people.

Vale couldn’t tell if the whole thing was enchanted too or if his enchanters were just fast. He couldn’t believe the amount of money that went into it.

But he was even thinking about another thing. ’...that Spymaster... he’s the one behind why Thrain made such harsh decisions of coming at me... what sort of manipulation... mind magic... I must avoid clashing with the man... or woman...’

He was thinking all this when he and Pomora arrived. But they didn’t enter the building directly. Instead, they walked around it, to the open window of Vorath’s room.

Pomora’s hand snapped out, and she gripped Vale by the neck. Then her body tensed before she shot forward like an arrow. Before they clashed with the glass, a thin film of water covered them like a steel shield.

Crack!

Glass shattered as they shot into the room, and Vale went into a crouch immediately, folding his body into a ball to roll to the side.

But nothing jumped up at them. Unlike Terrix, Vorath was someone that would kill him on sight.

"He’s not here!" Pomora growled.

The reason why they hadn’t been attacked was because the man wasn’t there. Vale unfolded himself. "You think he went out early?"

Pomora’s eyes glanced at the bed and gave it a casual look before shaking her head. "The bed hasn’t been slept on. He’s not here at all."

Before Vale could say anything or add to the conversation, a green ripple quickly spread and enveloped the room like a bubble.

From the wall, a green door was outlined, and Vorath stepped out with a sneer. "Do you think this is the first time I will be dealing with assassins? Think again! The untamed wilderness is even more brutal than all of this. Monsters? You haven’t seen monsters!

"What I want from you backward bastards is your open land that you are blessed with. I don’t want to submit under any of the High Clans."

He spread his hands. "But thank you! Thank you for coming here, Vale Athrimir! I have engraved your name into my mind. You should be grateful."

Vale frowned at him. Something was bothering him with Vorath’s behavior, but he couldn’t put his hand on it. The man was doing something that made Vale uncomfortable, and he wasn’t even doing anything.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. Why is Vorath just staying there without attacking? It’s like the man is hesitating. What’s wrong? He’s a hot-blooded man. So what’s happening?

He soon learned what’s happening.

A blob of water came from the ground and covered him and Pomora. The woman frowned faintly as she sniffed the air. "I didn’t know you were capable of using poison, Vorath."

Vale was surprised. "So that was why he was hesitating!"

Vorath shrugged. "It’s a counter-assassination tool. You jump in, and you get covered by the shield while the poison slowly spreads. Nasty poison too."

He shrugged his shoulders, the bones cracking and shifting. "But now that you have detected it, I guess I will tear you apart with my hands. This shield will make sure that you don’t run away. Even you, Master Knight!"

Vale smiled. "But Vorath, we aren’t trying to run."