After seeing Jacob talk to the first few people, Kate understood his plan and decided to leave the rest to him and move on to complete her main objective. Unlike at the mayor's tower, it wouldn't be as simple to evacuate the hostages here even if there was no one guarding them. Thankfully, Mayor Henry's plan had a good chance of regaining control of the martial academy without needless casualties.
Elsewhere, in a hidden dungeon located under the headmaster's office, Rizer looked down at a bruised and battered old man trapped behind metal bars.
"Look at you, just a weak old man now that your cultivation is gone. How does it feel to be so powerless, dear Headmaster?"
"How does it feel to be someone's dog, poor Rizer?"
Rizer furrowed his brows in vexation, but he quickly suppressed his annoyance by remembering the old man's current state.
"Hmph, I guess your tongue still works well, Ol' Hensley. You're doing better than Taito at least."
"What did you do to vice head Taito?"
"The same thing that I'll be doing to you too; I killed him. You should have seen his last moments as I pushed my hand through his chest. He said to me, 'Why? How could you—?' It was so funny I couldn't help but laugh."
Hensley clenched his fists; however, he quickly regulated his emotions by slowing down his breathing.
"May his soul find rest. At least he won't have to put up with a self-centred buffoon as his associate."
"He wouldn't have had to die either if you had just chosen wisely."
"Unlike you, I'm not fond of wagging my tail to every man with a collar."
"Hensley! Since you still have so much talk left in you, I guess it's time to resume your torture. I might not be able to tear those secrets out of your memory, but I'll make you scream them out as you beg for death."
Even as Rizer moved to open the cage, Hensley stared at him without a hint of fear. Suddenly, a voice came out from Rizer's coat.
"Headmaster Rizer. Headmaster Rizer."
With irritation apparent on his face, Rizer took out a simple communication terminal in the form of a crystal orb. These artifacts were cheap in comparison to standard communication terminals but could only work in fixed pairs. This meant that each simple communication terminal could only converse through one other terminal. As the one in charge of the traitors from the martial academy, Rizer had two simple communication terminals, and this one was used to communicate with members of his faction.
"What is it?"
"An urgent meeting has been called by the other factions. According to the student that reported it, the message was sent by Jacob, the current head of the Wright family."
"Him, huh?"
Rizer wasn't unfamiliar with bending the knee to reach higher honours, but he was still a man with much pride, so he didn't like being treated like an errand boy by the Wright family.
"Heh, sounds like your owner's calling for you."
"Silence!"
Rizer shot a fire spell at Hensley, but with the bars in the way, only a fraction of the attack made it through. Even so, Hensley wasn't able to cast a barrier and had to endure the heat with his body so he didn't get off easy. Nevertheless, Hensley didn't let out a whimper of pain. His tolerance irked Rizer, but after another message from one of the turncoat professors, Rizer left the room with a snort and went upstairs. Hensley was glad he could still rattle Rizer despite his current condition, but he held little hope for the future. He had an idea of what cards Mayor Henry had in reserve, but based on his knowledge of the situation, it would be an arduous task to set the board so that he could use them. There would be more options if Hensley died, but the traitors were wary of suicide attempts and bound him with special shackles that paralysed him whenever he tried to harm himself.
Hensley wondered what he could do when he heard footsteps approaching. At first he thought that Rizer had come back, but he was soon proven wrong. A cloaked figure reached the end of the stairs and unlocked Hensley's prison cell with a key. Despite the opening of the cell, Hensley remained wary of the cloaked figure.
"Who are you? Why are you freeing me?"
She didn't feel like answering any unnecessary questions, so Kate continued to disguise her voice.
"I bring this message from the mayor. Activate Plan C; the ticking of the clock is up to you."
Kate didn't know the meaning of the message, but Hensley clearly did. Upon hearing it, doubt faded from his eyes and he struggled to get to his feet.
"I believe you. Please take me to the headmaster's office. Rizer should be heading somewhere else so we can take advantage of his absence."
"Sure."
Meanwhile, most of the other faction representatives had gathered in one of the academy's meeting rooms. The Wright family elders, Cruz and Blaze Union elders were all present but they only superficially greeted each other since entering the room. Jacob was familiar with gatherings like this, so he knew that no one would be quick to uncover the truth behind his invitation until all of the main actors were present.
"My apologies for being late. I was interrogating the former headmaster."
With Rizer's appearance, the meeting could begin even if some small families weren't present, but Jacob counted fewer than five as absent. Jacob had accomplished the task he promised Kate to do, but now he had to keep them together for as long as possible.
"It's no problem, Headmaster Rizer. Most of us have only just arrived."
Everyone was surprised to see Jacob take the lead, and his initiative attracted the displeasure of his elders, but compared to the itching compulsion that had almost driven him insane, their gazes barely ruffled his feathers. Jacob was ready to hold the reins of this meeting for as long as possible; however, Kate didn't trust him that much. As long as they were gathered together, she would handle the rest.
"Huh?"
Without a sign or warning, everyone above the Soul Realm inside the meeting room felt their cultivation quickly slipping away. By the time even those with the sharpest wits realised what was happening, there was an inaudible chant.
"Storm Impact."
An explosion of wind tore through the room, instantly killing all in its path. Kate had been prepared to ambush them even if they kept their original strength, but once Hansley activated the suppression array pushing all of them down to the Soul Realm, none of them could pose a threat to her. The suppression array was a trump card of the martial academy that could only be activated from the headmaster's office, but Hansley had been attacked by Rizer and the traitorous professors before he had the chance to use it. Once activated, the suppression array would limit the cultivations of all enemies not above the Sky Realm to the Soul Realm. Even the union leaders wouldn't be able to resist it, while as an ally, Kate was unaffected.
Once Kate's opening attack was finished, 80% of the people gathered in the meeting room had died. The percentage would have reached 100% if Kate wanted it to, but she made sure to avoid Jacob, which ended up leaving the main threats untouched. With the roof and most of the walls destroyed, there was nothing to stop Kate as she advanced into the room.
"It's a bit of a shame since I looked forward to a good fight, but your luck was simply bad. Now then, do you want to finish the job yourselves, or shall I do it for you?"
Since this was her last mission, Kate didn't bother to disguise her voice or presence, but she kept her cloak on because there would be no need to get serious in this fight. Although her voice was more tender and high-pitched than he imagined, Jacob could instinctively tell that Kate was the mayor's agent. Her aura was clearly above the Soul Realm, while his elders and their collaborators had their cultivations suppressed, so Jacob no longer felt the need to hide his affiliation.