Supreme Summoner Overlord: Rise of the Endless Legion-Chapter 446: Five Minutes to Authority(3)

"I am telling you what the situation needs," Reidar said. "Whether you treat it as a recommendation or information is your business, as much as it is getting offended by it or not."

Lyra'xis clicked her mandibles in frustration. It was a longer sound this time, and Reidar had spent enough time around Kytinn people to understand that click as something close to a dry acknowledgment. But it was not an agreement.

It was clear Reidar's arguments were valid, even if the delivery was not as submissive as Lyra'xis wanted.

"The Aegis Phalanx will conduct a full inspection of all food supplies in Kingsgate and in this settlement," she said.

"The other survivor settlements in the area will be alerted through our communication network within the hour." She paused. "We will fortify our positions here. If the church is going to do something since they have been exposed, our best shot here will be by doing this."

"That is a possibility." Reidar paused. "I don't really know the progenitor, as I've never met him, but if the person I'm thinking about is now in charge, he won't let this opportunity slip away."

It was clear Lyra'xis didn't like what Reidar did, even if he did it for the sake of everyone.

The Kytinn woman had commanded fleets and coordinated interventions across sectors, but standing here, across from Reidar Miller, she felt something she hadn't experienced in quite a lot of time: uncertainty.

It wasn't fear, not exactly, because fear was a response to a threat you couldn't control. This was different. This feeling was the awareness that the man in front of her, this human, this native, had already moved past the threshold where the Aegis Phalanx could control him.

Level 557.

That number sat in her mind like a stone. It was higher than any of the other Legates except Grul'ka Hek. It was higher than most of the high command back on Thal'morek Prime. And it belonged to someone who had been part of the system for around a year.

She had read the reports. She knew he was able to build armies in the span of minutes. She knew he walked into Kingsgate with 50,000 summons to destroy the Church of Unbinding, and that just confirmed the reports.

But he did it without asking for permission, without coordinating, and without even notifying the Aegis Phalanx that he was taking action.

That was the part that made her mandibles tighten.

It wasn't that he had acted. It was that he had acted as though the Aegis Phalanx didn't exist, as though their authority was irrelevant to whatever he decided needed to be done.

The worst part, which made her clench her fists, was that he was right to do so.

The Aegis Phalanx did not know where the church was operating, and, although they suspected members were in Kingsgate, they had no proof and therefore did not act.

Reidar Miller had moved without asking, and now, standing here in front of her, he wasn't seeking approval or forgiveness; he was just telling her what he had done and what the Aegis Phalanx needed to do next, as though it were just a matter of tactical coordination between equals.

Except they were not equals.

Lyra'xis knew that. She assumed Reidar knew it too.

If he decided tomorrow that the Aegis Phalanx was an obstacle, she could do very little to stop him, even if she bought hundreds of summoning skills or all her soldiers did the same, because Reidar's summons far surpassed theirs.

She could call in reinforcements, escalate the situation to the Council, or invoke containment protocols, but all of that would take time, and Reidar Miller moved faster than bureaucracy.

<This was not how things were supposed to go…>

Her eyes tracked him as he spoke, taking in his calm posture and steady voice. He was not threatening her; he was simply stating the situation, as though the power dynamic between them was already understood and did not need to be discussed.

That was what annoyed her most.

It wasn't just that he was strong. Strength was expected and necessary, particularly because the Doctrine itself was built on the principle of empowering strong individuals to defend their worlds.

But strength without organization was dangerous. Strength without accountability was a threat.

And Reidar Miller had just shown that he did not consider himself accountable to the Aegis Phalanx, which raised concerns about his intentions and the potential consequences of his actions.

She sighed.

"Though, I must say I dislike the fact that you moved your army into Kingsgate without telling us," she said. "Nearly 50,000 summons operating in a city full of noncombatants and our forces."

"I'm sorry, but the situation called for it. It forced my hands," Reidar said. "Plus, you did not know the church was operating here. I did."

She slumped her shoulders. "That is right, but it does not mean you did the right thing or put no one at risk. The population has been alarmed. Reports from the city are already coming in of survivors trying to leave the city because of your summons." She paused. "We are managing it. But the next time you want to move an army of this scale into a populated center, you will need to tell us about it first."

Reidar looked at her. "Will you be able to act on the information in time if I do?"

She did not answer that directly. Her eyes held on him for a moment instead.

"Even if I told you I was coming here, would you have been able to tell everyone in time for me to act and not lose the chance I had?" He paused.

"Plus, if I told you, you would have needed to warn the survivors, and that would have meant also informing the Church. I would have lost my chance. Instead, now I'm decimating those monsters."

The woman did not really know what to say, but she knew Reidar was right. The best thing she could do was simply change the topic. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"The church's leadership," she said. "You said both the Progenitor and Jorik are confirmed inside Kingsgate."

<Not answering, uh?>

"That's based on what the priests told me," Reidar said. "I have no reason to think they were lying, because they told me that to threaten me."

"Do you have any idea about the Progenitor's level?" she asked.

"I don't know," Reidar said. "The church members I questioned did not have direct access to either of them. The church operates on a need-to-know basis that keeps the lower ranks in the dark about leadership." He paused.

"But based on the change in the church's tactics, I think the Progenitor is close to or past level 450. If he has been using the church's mana-siphoning circles to accelerate his growth, it could be higher."

Lyra'xis was quiet for a moment. That was a level they could manage; however, there was something that was worrying her. The priests, based on what Reidar said, threatened Reidar with the progenitor, so what if he were actually strong enough to threaten him?

Lyra'xis was inclined to think that was the case because that would explain the World Carver Behemoth's behavior.