"You mean to tell me that all of you have been captured by Zion Leventis, and are freed after being imprisoned for a day?" Claude asked icily.

"Yes, Master," Gideon and his men, who were all kneeling in front of their employer, replied.

"You lost to a bunch of kids, yet you have the audacity to return here?" Claude said in disdain. "Tell me, why should I let all of you go on living?"

Gideon suddenly felt a strong pressure descend upon his body like a mountain, rendering him unable to raise his head.

"Z-Zion Leventis asked us to pass a message to you, Master," Gideon answered. "He said that he will turn a blind eye this time as long as you compensate him properly. He has no intention of escalating this issue nor bringing it out in the public."

Claude snorted. "So after being tortured, all of you spilled the beans that you are working for the Ashford Clan? All of you deserve to die!"

"No, Master!" Gideon shouted in alarm. "We weren't tortured nor were we interrogated. Zion Leventis already knew our identities right from the very start!"

"How could that be possible?" Claude replied in disdain. "No one knew about this operation aside from me and my father. Did you fools tell anyone about your mission?!"

"We didn't!" Gideon answered. "All of us knew the importance of this mission, so we made sure to keep the details of this mission under wraps!"

Claude frowned. "Then how did Zion know about your identities?"

"We don't know," Gideon replied. "Perhaps one of the members of the Hero Party has a skill that allows them to read people's minds."

The frown on Claude's face deepened, but he didn't rule out this possibility. There were many abilities among the Wanderers, and mind reading was one of them.

In fact, one of Aaron Ashford's direct subordinates was a Mind Reader. If it were true that one of the members of the Hero Party had this ability, then it explained why Zion was able to know who Gideon's employer was.

"Fine," Claude clicked his tongue. "Still, it seems that I underestimated Zion Leventis. He knows when to attack and when to take a step back. Clearly, he doesn't want to have a direct confrontation with a Monarch Clan, so he decided to turn a blind eye to this incident."

Claude had only recently become the Patriarch of the Ashford Clan, so he didn't want his reputation to be tarnished by this incident.

"Very well. I will give that Zion a gift to let bygones be bygones," Claude stated. "You will personally deliver it to him, Gideon. Also, try to butter him up a bit, so there will be no hard feelings."

"Yes, Sir," Gideon wanted to wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead, but he didn't dare to act out of place in front of his employer.

Because of this, he waited until he and his men were properly dismissed before he wiped the sweat on his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

'It went exactly like Zion had planned,' Gideon thought.

The teenage boy had given Gideon and his subordinates a path of survival, making him feel impressed.

Truth be told, he had already resigned himself to being killed by his employer for failing his mission.

However, thanks to Thirteen's suggestion, all of them managed to escape death by a hair's breadth and continue working for the Ashford Clan.

While the Agents were celebrating their new lease on life, Claude went to look for his father and reported to him the result of the mission.

"Interesting," Aaron commented. "So, Gerald and Alessia didn't join the battle?"

"According to their report, no," Claude replied. "Only the members of the Hero Party, Mikhail Leventis, Shasha Leventis, and Rianna Summers, the daughter of the Field Marshal of the Central Government, fought against our agents."

"A team of Grandmasters lost to some teenagers?" Aaron shook his head helplessly. "Either these kids are formidable or your subordinates are trash. Which one is it?"

Claude was of the same opinion as his father, but he still couldn't rule out the possibility that certain tricks were involved. However, after eliminating the variables of the confrontation, he spoke what was on his mind.

"I didn't give them the order to kill or seriously injure anyone," Claude replied. "Perhaps they lost because they were unable to use their full power. After all, if any of those kids are seriously injured, things would get complicated."

Aaron pondered before nodding his head in agreement. "That's also a possibility. However, since the Supreme Commander of the Alliance has decided to sweep this matter under the rug, let's just go with the flow.

"Prepare a decent gift for them as compensation, and don't bother them for the time being. Just focus on training the members of the younger generation so that they will perform well in the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament."

"Understood, Father." Claude nodded.

The father and son talked for a bit longer before Claude excused himself.

Aaron, who was left behind, glanced at the prosperous city that belonged to his Clan.

He had worked hard for the past two centuries, and thanks to this, he had expanded his family's domain in Pangea, as well as in Solterra.

Although things looked stable on the surface, he couldn't help but feel a bad premonition.

As a Monarch, he trusted his instincts very well.

He had already ordered his subordinates to reinforce the defenses of his territory in Solterra in preparation for the worst-case scenario.

Aaron wasn't stupid.

He knew that there might come a time when a threat similar to what was happening in the Cygni Continent would also appear in the Sirius Continent.

Even now, they were fighting against the Jinns in the Northern Regions of the Sirius

Continent.

At the moment, everything was still under control.

However, if a Tier-8 or Tier-9 Gate were to spawn in a place where he, the Stallard Clan, and

the Central Government couldn't detect in the Sirius Continent, he might just face a genocide- level threat, right in his own backyard.