453 Infiltrating Headquarters and Kai's Ambitious Plan - Preparations Complete!

The moment Kai had gotten to know the true nature of his enemy, torturing it out of Ryan, he had decided to infiltrate the enemy ranks.

There were several reasons for it.

First, and perhaps the most potent, was the fact that he wasn't strong enough to survive the onslaught of over 1000 soldiers. Not without some excellent weapons. Sure he could track the enemy within 50 km around him, but that wasn't all he wanted to do. He wanted to kill. He needed to kill.

The second was the absurdness of Pokemon and other magical creatures' intelligence on this island.

Pokemon were already a high-intelligence species. But what illogical concept was a talking Drogon, Viserys, and Rhaegal? If that was all, then it wouldn't have shaken Kai so.

It was the name of the Army from the Game of Thrones. Eternal Snow!!!

If he were to face a force from that army, a special force, then even he wouldn't escape unscathed, Kai knew.

Then there were Xenomorphs.

Kai didn't fear them. No. What he did feel apprehensive about was them cooperating with their archenemies, Yautja. Kai wasn't conceited enough to think that he could fight Xenomorphs barehanded. Without suitable weapons, and given his Trooper Rank, if even 50 Xenomorphs were to come for him, then he was as good as a goner.

And there was only one way to tackle all these problems.

The Contrasts of Facelessness!

First, he would show how traumatic this experience had been for Ryan so that he could justify his actions at headquarters. Second, even if he could not use a wand, he could bridge the gap with his own way of using magic.

And third, he could know the internal working of the force that was bound to be sent to deal with him.

However, things didn't exactly go according to Kai's plan. Not entirely.

Instead of returning to the Alliance HQ, which would have taken them days, enough time for Kai to kill all Cavalrymen and the Yautja, surviving alone, the Platoon received the order to report to Death Eaters HQ.

Now, Ryan wasn't as familiar with other headquarters as the Alliance HQ. Even at Cloudbreak Spire, he was a mere Trooper; an inconsequential nobody.

Each Army had 600,000 Troopers. Out of those, 50000 Troopers remained stationed at Alliance HQ and were rotated around the different headquarters from time to time. 250,000 Troopers remained at the main headquarters of an Army, while each of the 3 other headquarters held 100,000 Troopers.

With Ryan's recent graduation, the only headquarters he had been to was the Alliance and main HQ.

So Kai… needed to change his plans slightly.

Destriers neighed, their hooves pounding the earth. Sun had reached overhead, and the Join Task Force had left the dry scrublands behind, entering lush green patches of land, and mountainous terrain.

Ryan was seated behind the oldest Trooper in the cavalry, feeling the vibrations of the thick armor plating. In front of him, a mountain range stretching from south to northeast, with the tallest peak towering above 300 meters from the ground.

On the slope of that peak, Ryan saw a grand castle, hundreds of wizards flying in and out and around it on broomsticks. If it wasn't for this mission being his first, where he needed to learn patrolling as a foot soldier, then he too would have been issued a broomstick.

"We are here!" the Cavalry Trooper shouted over the neighing horses. "Damn! I could use a broomstick for myself. My ass needs a good warm bath, that it does. Heh!"

In front of the Cavalry, with a horse of his own, was the acting-Captain Un-Blooded Yautja, Ming. Even now his head was moving from left to right as if he was expecting an ambush anytime now.

He was bound to be disappointed, though.

100000 Troopers weren't a small number, it seemed. Even though the Castle, representing Death Eater HQ, was high on the mountain, the Trooper barracks had surrounded the entire mountain like a ring.

And, at the foot of the mountain, there was an enormous arching gateway, with a sculpture of a Basilisk on it, baring its fangs at the incomers.

A team of wizards welcomed them.

As Ming shared quick words with the wizards, Ryan slid down the horse and noticed that the entire camp was in an orderly hurry. It was evident that the higher-ups had already ordered them to march. If Ryan was right, then they were just waiting for the 1000 men Company from the Eternal Snow to arrive.

It was then the Un-Blooded Yautja approached Ryan. "They want you up," he told Ryan, his voice mechanical. "Don't act a coward in front of them, and show some spine, will you? I don't want them to judge my platoon with you as the basis."

Ryan ground his teeth.

With large strides, he neared the team of wizards. "Can you fly?" one wizard asked, a man in his forties, pointing at the broomstick. "I heard you… suffered some injuries."

A vein pulsed on Ryan's forehead. He involuntarily clenched his right hand wrist, his entire body trembling in fear. "I… I can."

The team of wizards shared glanced among themselves and nodded.

Kai couldn't fly a broomstick. Not for long before running out of magic. But some things were incredibly hard to distinguish from magic. So hard, in fact, that one could mistake them for magic itself.

Telekinesis, for instance, was one such thing.

Kai even believed that this was the preliminary test for Ryan. They wanted to see if he could use a broomstick or not.

Ryan threw his legs around the broomstick and almost instantly threw himself into the air, maneuvering the broom masterfully. He was supposed to be well-trained with a broom, what with him being a Trooper from the Flying Battalion, anyway.

When the team of wizards saw Ryan shooting toward the Castle, they showed no expression but sighed inwardly in relief.

The Castle was even bigger than it had looked from the mountain's foot, Ryan observed. The wizards took him to a tower, where they left him alone in front of a closed oaken door.

A beautiful witch was stationed there, who smiled at him, noticing his gaze.

Ryan's heartbeat quickened.

Creak!

The oaken doors creaked as they opened, and Ryan walked in.

Behind a large table on the dais in the hall, three wizards were seated, eying him with penetrating gazes.

Ryan almost paused as he looked at the one in the middle. "Commander Diggory!" he saluted, instantly falling into an attention position. But, in the very next moment, Ryan winced as his scars stung him.

"Easy," Commander Cedric Diggory smiled at Ryan. "Take a seat."

Commander Diggory was in his late twenties, handsome, and an incredibly powerful wizard. Some even said that he was a mere breath away from getting promoted to General.

There was a seat a few feet away from the dais. When Ryan approached the seat, he found a vial of potion placed on the chair.

"That's Veritaserum," the captain on Commander's left declared. "Drink it."

Ryan looked at the officers, puzzled.

Commander Diggory smiled. "It's just a process," he told Ryan and pointed to his left. "You must have heard of Captain Colin Creevey, and his brother (-he pointed to his right-), Dennis, right?"

The Creevey brothers were famous among the Troopers. Though Ryan had never met them, he had indeed heard of them.

Ryan picked up the Veritaserum and drank it in one gulp.

The Commander and the Captains nodded at the sight. Veritaserum was a potion potent enough for someone like Ryan, who was just a recently graduated wizard in the Flying Battalion. He had no means of resisting the effects of such a potion.

Kai, however, had other thoughts. He had researched this potion thoroughly during his days as Darcie. And that's why he didn't fear it all.

One, Veritaserum was highly unreliable. It could never be used as definite proof of guilt or innocence.

Second, there was a colossal flaw in Veritaserum. Under the effect of this potion, the victim only stated what he believed to be true. If a wizard believed that the sun rose from the west, not east. Then, even after drinking Veritaserum, he would state the same.

This perhaps wasn't some grand flaw for others.

But for Kai, the budding Faceless Man, who had already mastered the true essence of Facelessness over half, it made Veritaserum as good as water.

The Commander and the Captains put Ryan through rigorous questioning, then. Ryan kept answering, half in a daze and half in fear. He told them all.

Ryan told them how Kai could transfigure himself into something like a Dementor, which could fly. He told them how Kai possessed an item that could become a dagger at will. He told them why it was absolutely necessary to carry daggers of their own in such cases. Ryan also told them that Kai held the means to track someone, as he had seen that demon using a watch of some sort.

After half an hour, Commander Diggory's smile widened. "Well done, Ryan," he praised, his eyes beaming. "You have contributed tremendously to our ensuing battle with the enemy. I am sure all this knowledge will come in handy once we are out in the open. You can collect your reward from the Death Hall in the dungeons. How about this? Greta is outside. Let her show you around, OK? Dismiss."

Ryan shot himself up, saluted, and marched off.

When he was out, Ryan found the witch waiting for him. "Hello," the wizard smiled. "I am Greta. You are Ryan, right?"

Greta was a beautiful girl of eighteen, Ryan noticed, his ears going red. "Hello," he greeted, his gaze lingering on Greta's lips, and down… he gulped. "Eh, Commander told me to visit the Death Hall."

Greta giggled. "Come," she said, hopping ahead. "I will show you around."

From corridors filled with hard-faced wizards and witches to classes of children, Ryan and Greta went down to the dungeons. There, on an enormous door, the words "Great Hall" were etched in green and silver.

"Here you can obtain your Death Points, which will reflect your Contribution to the Army," Greta told him, stepping in. "You can also use those points to buy ingredients, potions, or even items from different Armies."

Death Hall was a vast, circular hall, with several rooms. Great took Ryan first to the Death Points room. There, an elderly witch handed a card to Ryan.

When Ryan turned the card over, the number "30000" was flashing over it.

"Whoa!" Greta exclaimed, covering her mouth. "So many! What did you do?!"

Ryan blushed as he saw the gleam in Greta's eyes. "Haha! Nothing…" he scratched the back of his head. "You know… I want to buy some weapons…"

"Weapons?" Greta frowned. "What do you need weapons for?"

A shiver ran down Ryan's spine. "All wizards should have daggers," he told her, his pupils dilating. "All wizards…"

Greta didn't question further and took Ryan to the Foreign Weapons room.

As they left the Death Hall's room, behind the elderly witch, space rippled and a wizard walked out. He looked at Ryan and nodded to himself before disapparating.

The weapons room was bigger than Ryan had imagined it to be.

"Oh, Greta!" a fat wizard cheerfully greeted the young witch. "Who's this?"

"Ryan, he is Beckman," Great introduced, curling her hair. "Beckman, meet Ryan. He recently got 30000 Death Points in one go."

Beckman gaped. Only when Greta poked did he close his mouth. "You did well by bringing him here, then," he told Great, rubbing his hands. "So, what do you want, Ryan? With 30000 Death Points, you can afford a lot of things, eh?"

"I want 6 Ceremonial Daggers from the Yautja race," Ryan said, not feeling ashamed at all. "And I want a vial of Demon's Dance."

Greta's lips twitched. What was called being paranoid, if not this? Even Beckman gawked at Ryan with a stunned look. "What do you need that many for?" he blurted, pointing at his wand. "Lost your magic, have you?"

Ryan's eyes narrowed. "I haven't," he spat, taking out his wand, which let out sparks. "But daggers are a must for me. Can you give them or not?"

Beckman scowled. "Whatever, your money, your loss," he said, going inside the room, where rows of shelves were lined from one end to another.

"The Ceremonial daggers are made of bones and resin of Xenomorph," Greta wondered out loud. "They are incredibly sharp and strong. Not to mention, they are resistant to most acidic substances. Good choice, Ryan. But… why Demon's Dance?"

Demon's Dance was one of the most potent poisons from the Game of Thrones world. Kai didn't want to tell that he had plans to coat the daggers in poison, as per his habit.

"To kill myself," Ryan answered.

Inside the Weapons room, Beckman heard Ryan and dropped several boxes, declaring this Ryan a crackhead. Greta, who had been giving Ryan chance after chance, now looked at him with pity.

Beckman brought six long daggers and placed them in front of Ryan. All looked menacing, as proclaimed by Beckman, sharp and strong. A vial of blood-colored potion was also beside them.

"That would be 25000 Death Points," Beckman told Ryan. "4000 for each dagger and 1000 for the Demon's Dance. Anything else?"

Ryan looked thoughtful. "An Enchanted Heater Shield."

Beckman thought of advising against it but then shook his head. "Shield?" he muttered, going back. "Whatever happened to the young wizards? Can't do a basic Protego spell, can they?"

Thud!

Beckman dropped the shield (-a dragon crest over black-).

"Do you have Dragonglass Daggers?" Ryan asked, noticing only 1000 Death Points on his card.

"You will need a Commander-level clearance to buy Dragonglass Daggers," Greta chimed in, seeing that things were going just too out of hand. "Just save them for later, the Death Points. We Troopers don't get 1000 of them even in a year, you know."

Ryan looked at Beckman and Greta, who was eying him as if he had gone nuts. "OK."

Then, saying nothing more, Ryan carried his shield, daggers, and potion, and marched off.

That went well, Kai thought, walking out of the Death Hall, smiling inwardly. Almost 3000 Troopers will go on hunt tomorrow… Haha! 3000… That's… 300000 Points! Hahaha!!!

What awaited the Troopers was Carnage.

A Carnage like the one these Island dwellers had never seen before.