25 One Emperor, One Demon and One King

"Are you sure?" Indra asked while he sipped his coffee and looked towards Ema who sat across him at a coffee place.

"Definitely. That man named Winston is a very skilled mercenary. He used to hunt people mercilessly and never left any traces. People liked to call him, the silent killer." She said as she mixed her coffee gently before taking a sip of her own.

"What is the level of his strength?"

"Did boss ever tell you about his disciple?" She asked.

"Yes he did." Indra responded.

"When him and boss both fought against Aaron, Winston fought against the rest of us all by himself. The result, well... only a few of us remained, while the other twenty from our group were brutally killed." Ema replied, as her hands trembled a little, but managed to not spill any of her coffee.

Indra was now able to determine the power levels, since his arrival. Apart from Richard, there was only two more people who had the strength of a person at Emperor's realm; Alice and Ricardo.

Ema, however was at King's realm. If he guessed right, then the man named Winston, was most likely at the peak of Emperor's realm. Ema went back to sipping her coffee, before briefly glancing at Indra who was spacing out.

For the first time, she had misjudged a person and his characteristics. Back when they were at Donovan's house, she decided to not interfere and judge his capabilities of handling the situation. Though she still had her qualms about accepting him as the new CEO, subconsciously, her respect began to grow.

"Not that I expected Aaron and his henchmen to practice demonification. Though demonification makes the person go crazy, why did they have to use it on civilians, who had no prior cultivating experience?" Indra asked.

The events which Ema and Richard had described up to this date had only surprised Indra. The mysterious spaceship which landed ten years ago, the Drug Abuse case, and now the new Dem-Potion. Despite all these complicated issues, all of them had one common point; Aaron.

"I'm still not sure why, but all I can say is that defeating DW-Industries alone is not enough. We must destroy everything related to that company as well." Ema stated as she leaned back and continued sipping her coffee, while Indra sighed, foreseeing lots of casualties in the future.

Though he was unsure if Daemon was alive, regardless, the battle was bound to involve unknown forces lurking in the dark.

"Sorry." Coming out of his stupor, Indra stared at her for a full second.

"For which one?"

"All of it. When boss told me to observe you and then come to a decision about your character, I was pretty skeptic about it. But you made me realize that no matter which era you were from, your true characteristics never faltered."

"It's alright, apology accepted. Does this mean you accept me as your new CEO" He smirked, while Ema glared at Indra.

"Don't get me wrong, you still need to prove yourself at the board meeting next week." Ema retorted, as she rolled her eyes in frustration.

Indra simply smiled and nodded his head. He knew that though Ema was forty, for a cultivator, she was very talented for someone of her age. She had potential to become a person of great caliber, in the near future.

Moreover, if she devoted her time training, she would soon step into Emperor's realm. Right now, Indra needed allies and forces who had the ability to take on his enemies on equal footing. He alone had the ability to wipe out Aaron's forces. However, was it just Aaron's forces? Most likely not.

Within New York city, throughout the world, and even other worlds, there were unknown forces, with greater strength and Indra was not one to underestimate theirs's and overestimate his.

"Guys, did you see this? My favorite blue berry muffins, wohoo!" Indra and Ema noticed Freddy hold three muffins on one hand, and a cup of coffee on the other.

"Can you really eat those three huge muffins?" Indra asked, while Freddy narrowed his eyes competitively, demanding a challenge from him. Wholeheartedly ignoring Freddy's challenge, Indra's demeanor suddenly turned serious, as he noticed a black car across the street from the coffee place.

He noticed two individuals within the car looking at him, Ema and Freddy. Noticing his serious gaze, Ema turned to where Indra was looking at, and glared at the car with immense hatred. As she was about to activate her powers, Indra held her hand and said,

"Ignore them, and erect your invisible barrier around us. I have something important to talk to you about. Freddy, you as well..." Without being too noticeable, Ema gathered her hands together and erected an invisible sound barrier around them, and Freddy listened on, while he took a bite off his muffin.

"Alright here's the plan."

--

The two men in the car continued to observe the trio in the coffee shop discussing something inaudible to them.

"Man don't you think he is worrying a bit too much? Why don't we just lure them somewhere secluded and kill them?" The driver asked impatiently as he tapped on the steering wheel incessantly.

The man next to him laid still as his chair was reclined back with his hand on his head, preventing the sunlight from bothering him.

"That woman in particular, pisses me off. I remember the way she spoke to him. A woman full of sh*t." While the driver continued to ramble, his partner's phone vibrated in his coat pocket. Removing his hand, he reached for his pocket, pulled his chair back and lifted the call. His gaze was even more ferocious than it already was.

"Any updates?" The man on the other side of the line asked.

"None yet sir, after leaving the victims house, they are now at Star Beans coffee shop. What shall we do with the victim sir?" The line turned silent momentarily before the man spoke again,

"Sir?"

"Adam, don't kill him yet, right now focus on these three and make sure to report if anything important happens. Also, find out any details on the golden haired man. If he is someone unimportant, then kill him, including the scrawny man with him."

"What about the woman named Ema? She might be a danger to us." Aaron asked, when he noticed his partner take his gun out and pointed it at Ema from the inside of the car in fury. From the beginning, this man had no intentions of leaving Ema alive, however his superior's orders came first.

"Leave her for now, she is protected by Richard after all. We don't want anymore rumors to spread until the summit is over. Continue to observe them, and report to Winston directly."

"As you wish Sir Aaron." With that, Adam disconnected the call.

"Don't start shooting in the car, I'm going to nap a bit more." He reclined his chair back and slowly drifted back to sleep, while his partner continued to watch the trio with immense hatred in his eyes.

--

The annual business summit was soon to arrive in one more month. With much work to do, Richard and his company were very busy with clients, reporters and preparing cautiously for the upcoming event.

Unlike the previous years, this year was bound to be full of surprises during the upcoming summit. To him, his biggest revelation, would be introducing Indra as the new CEO, to the whole world.

Soon, him and Indra would attend the board meeting, where he would witness his best friend demonstrate his abilities and the various things he had learned during this one month.

At present, Alice and Ricardo were at his office, discussing the possible dangers bound to happen during the summit. There was neither a hint of excitement nor happiness on their faces. It was nervousness and cautiousness, that was evident. With DW-Industries signing a deal with Falcon Steels and introducing many details about the new drug to the world, to the three of them, this felt like the calm before the storm.

"We have fifty men who work directly under us, and we managed to pay a hefty sum to twenty mercenaries that were not even remotely affiliated with DW-Industries nor had any past contacts with their affiliated companies. Also, most of them are at King's realm, while the remaining few are at Emperor's realms. We were lucky to find someone from that realm. This should be enough isn't it?" Ricardo replied as he glossed over the mercenaries information and their abilities.

Richard glanced at his own copy on the computer and rechecked the mercenaries to make sure there was no traitor among them.

"Looks good, finalize this and make sure there are no slip ups. Did the feds make any decision?"

"Yes boss, they plan to sign the patent after the business summit. It seems that Aaron had managed to push the date back. This only makes things worse for us." This time Alice, replied as she crossed her leg over the other and folded her shoulders anxiously.

To Ricardo's and Alice's surprise, Richard remained calm despite the various tensions they all were facing. He knew that panicking wasn't going go get him anywhere. As the head of Golden Enterprises, it was his job to protect his people.

"Don't fret over it too much Alice. The Dem-Potion is not our top priority. Right now, we need to make sure that Falcon Steels does not sign the contract with them."

"But boss, even Falcon Steels themselves agreed, so how can we possibly stop them from making the deal? Unless, we attack them during the summit? I'm ready whenever. " Ricardo became ecstatic.

"Are you serious Ric? That would only make things worse. Boss, I thinks it's best we get an appointment and try to convince Falcon Steels to sign the deal with us instead of them." She responded, when she noticed Ricardo face-palming himself.

"Are you stupid?! What makes you think, they of all people would agree to sign a contract with us?" Ricardo noticed the dumb look on Alice's face while she did her best to ignore Ricardo.

"Well that's the only way, unless..." Richard trailed off in his words, as he looked at both of them solemnly.

"Unless, we attack Falcon Steels the night before the summit starts." Ricardo and Alice looked at each other in astonishment, before landing their gazes doubtfully on him.

"Look, I know it sounds dumb, but we have no other choice. If they sign the deal, it won't be long before they make weapons of mass destruction. There will be so much chaos, even our strength wouldn't be enough." Richard grinded his teeth in fury.

He wasn't going to let his efforts go down the drain. He was not willing to put Indra in a precarious situation ever again. He wasn't willing to be a wimp. Not this time.

"We put our faith in you boss." Ricardo and Alice spoke in unison without any hesitation whatsoever.

"Thank you, both of you. Next week after the board meeting I will discuss the remaining details of the plan, till then keep it between the three of us." Richard replied.

"Not even to Mr. Indra?" Alice asked immediately.

"Not even to Indra."