Extra's Revenge: Reincarnated As A Slave-Chapter 133: Blackmail (Part 1)

Rey stood in the privacy-warded chamber, Lady Z’s question hanging in the air between them like a blade waiting to fall.

’So it has come to this,’ he thought, his analytical mind racing through options with cold precision. ’Just as I expected.’

He’d anticipated this moment from the beginning—the point where his involvement would become too obvious to ignore, where Lady Z’s intelligence would piece together enough fragments to demand answers. The timing was suboptimal, coming when he’d decided to be cautious and patient rather than aggressive, but the confrontation itself was inevitable.

Rey had two choices.

First: Maintain the deception. Deflect her suspicions with carefully crafted lies, redirect her attention to alternative explanations, preserve the Modred Helt identity intact. This would maintain his current cover but strain Lady Z’s trust to the breaking point.

If she didn’t believe him, their working relationship would deteriorate rapidly.

Second: Reveal the truth. Not all of it—never all of it—but enough to satisfy her curiosity while positioning himself advantageously for what came next. This risked exposure if she reacted poorly, but it also created an opportunity for a different kind of alliance.

Rey weighed the options for several seconds that felt much longer.

Then he made his decision.

But first, a precaution.

Rey withdrew a small Artifact from his spatial storage—a crystalline device designed to detect and block mystical surveillance. He activated it with a pulse of Ether, and immediately felt a secondary layer of privacy settle over the chamber, reinforcing Lady Z’s wards with his own countermeasures.

Lady Z’s eyes narrowed. "What are you—"

"Ensuring absolute privacy," Rey interrupted calmly. "Because what I’m about to tell you is information that could destroy us both if it reaches the wrong ears."

He met her gaze directly, letting some of the cold calculation beneath his disguise show through.

"You asked who I really am. Very well. I’ll tell you."

Rey’s elderly features shifted subtly as he allowed a fraction of his true presence to manifest—not enough to reveal his actual appearance, but enough to demonstrate that Modred Helt was indeed a fabrication.

"I am a runaway slave," he stated simply. "I was owned by the Desgarron Noble Family. And I am the one who orchestrated their destruction."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Lady Z’s face went through a remarkable series of transformations—shock, disbelief, fear, and finally something approaching horrified understanding.

"You..." she whispered. "The Desgarron incident. That was... you?"

"Yes."

"And the Coliseum explosion?"

"Also me. Duke Kahn had ordered my execution. I took exception to that decision."

Lady Z stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor.

Her hand moved toward a defensive Artifact she wore concealed beneath her clothing, mystical energy beginning to gather as fight-or-flight instincts warred within her.

"You’re..." She struggled to find words adequate to the revelation. "You destroyed an entire Noble House. Killed thousands in the Coliseum. And you’ve been working in my organization, advising me, positioning yourself—"

"To mutual benefit," Rey finished calmly. "I mean you no harm, Lady Z. I never have. Everything I’ve done has strengthened the Red House, eliminated your enemies, and secured your position. My interests and yours have been aligned from the beginning."

"Aligned?" Lady Z’s voice cracked slightly. "You’re a fugitive wanted for destroying a Noble House! The Category S Guards are actively hunting you! If they discover I’ve been harboring you—"

"They won’t," Rey interrupted. "Unless you give them reason to investigate the Red House specifically. Which brings me to an important point."

He took a step closer, and Lady Z instinctively backed away.

"I understand your fear," Rey continued, his tone almost sympathetic. "You’re a criminal, yes, but a careful one. You operate within established boundaries, maintain relationships with your Noble sponsor, and avoid crossing lines that would bring serious retaliation. Working with someone who destroyed a Noble House violates every principle of cautious operation."

"Exactly!" Lady Z seized on this.

"I won’t—I can’t cooperate with this. You need to leave. Disappear from the Red House before your presence implicates all of us in—"

"I’m afraid you don’t have that option," Rey said quietly.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

"We’re already working together, Lady Z. Have been for some time now. You’ve promoted me to oversee your most valuable assets. You’ve relied on my counsel for strategic decisions. You’ve benefited directly from actions I orchestrated against your enemies."

Rey’s expression hardened beneath his disguise.

"If the Category S Guards investigate me and discover my connection to the Red House, your cooperation isn’t something you can deny. The evidence is already there—documented, witnessed by multiple Advisors, recorded in your organization’s official records."

"I didn’t know—" Lady Z started.

"That’s not a defense," Rey cut her off. "Ignorance of your advisor’s true identity doesn’t absolve you of association with him. Especially when that association has been so profitable for your organization."

He let that sink in for a moment before continuing.

"And if you were thinking of turning me in to the authorities to save yourself—consider what I could reveal under interrogation. The Red House’s operations, your sponsor’s involvement in criminal enterprise, and your own role in activities that would interest law enforcement. I could implicate you so thoroughly that the Category S Guards would destroy the Red House just as completely as they destroyed the Golden Sunflower."

Lady Z’s face had gone pale. "You’re threatening me."

"I’m explaining your situation," Rey corrected. "You have two options. First: Cooperate with me, continue benefiting from our arrangement, and maintain the Red House’s prosperity while keeping my identity secret. Second: Attempt to betray me, and ensure we both fall together when I make certain the authorities understand the full extent of our collaboration."

"That’s not a choice," Lady Z said bitterly. "That’s blackmail." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"It’s pragmatism," Rey replied. "I’m offering you the same thing I’ve offered from the beginning—mutual benefit through cooperation. The only difference is that now you understand the full stakes."

Lady Z tried a different approach, her voice taking on a harder edge. "You think you can threaten me in my own headquarters? I could kill you right now, eliminate the threat before—"

"No, you couldn’t," Rey interrupted flatly. "I’m stronger than you, Lady Z. Stronger than anyone else in this city except the Category S Guards themselves. If you attacked me, I’d defend myself successfully, and then I’d be forced to eliminate you to protect my secrets."

He gestured at the privacy wards surrounding them.

"And if you somehow managed to alert the authorities before I could stop you—if you brought the Special Investigators down on both of us—I’d make absolutely certain that the Red House fell alongside me. Detailed testimony about your organization’s operations, evidence of your complicity in multiple criminal enterprises, documentation of your knowledge regarding my activities."

Rey’s tone softened slightly, though his words remained implacable.

"We’d both be destroyed. You’d lose everything you’ve worked for, everything your father built. The Red House would cease to exist, its legacy erased. All to eliminate a threat that has actually been helping you."

The logic was inescapable, and Rey could see Lady Z reaching the same conclusion he’d already arrived at.

She was trapped.