Chapter 274: World War III Part 4

Early morning in Markovia as the day 2 attacks began, Tara was safely in the confines of her office in a war bunker under her castle, which could withstand nuclear blasts.

As she sat at her desk, she was constantly flooded with reports from generals and other pivotal officials of her nation, urging that Markovia either surrender or give up the metahumans they were housing. 

Because only she was being communicated to by Arias, people saw the decisions she was making as immature and terrible, with many of her own citizens even calling for the military to overthrow her.

And it was now looking like that would indeed be the case as even those who were traditional and loyal to the throne saw her current actions to be unwise.

This was only made worse as news of her placement in a nuclear proof bunker was leaked, obviously by officials who sought to ruin her reputation as that would make overthrowing her much easier.

Tara however, didn't care for the negative attention being cast toward her and simply followed Arias's instructions to the letter. As anxious as she was, this was all she could do. 

And around 9am that morning, Arias called her once again on a private secure line on the leviathan network. She didn't hesitate to pick up and answer, "hello?" though her voice carried some nervousness.

"Hello Tara, you sound a bit troubled, are there any problems?" Arias's voice questioned on the other side of the line.

"No. Nothing that you didn't say would happen… dad." She hesitantly answered, inwardly curious as to what Arias would have her do next. 

"Good. It's times like these were people show their true colors. Rose has already taken note of every official plotting against the crown, so its time we end this little war." Arias casually stated, revealing yet another one of his motives. 

By having Tara show passiveness in the situation, he knew those who truly didn't believe in her would show their true colors and likely begin to plot against her. 

Unbeknown to them, Rose recorded and noted out every single official plotting against her. Arias did this so he would know whom to get rid off once the war was over.

After all, if people couldn't be loyal after just one day of suffering, then it showed they'd never stick around in times of hardships if any. Those who at-least remained neutral showed that they were at least willing to observe the situation longer before jumping to conclusions and supporting the matter to betray Tara.

With that information collected, Arias could proceed to the next phase of this was.

"Like before, deliver a statement from your office saying the following words; 'The world has accused us of a wrong we have not done and have banded together to slaughter our good people. I Tara Markov, appealed to your sense of justice for a peaceful solution, but you answered only with violence. So now, we shall do the same'. After you deliver that statement, do not respond to any calls, messages or requests from foreign powers or your officials until I call again." Arias clearly instructed.

His words brought both a sense of relief and a sense of worry within Tara. She couldn't help but wonder just how Arias was planning to respond to the attacks, though she chose to keep her curiosity to her herself and simply accepted the orders. 

"I'll do as you say." She promptly replied in somewhat forced respectful tone, but Arias ignored it. He knew that deep down she starting to fear him and what he was capable of.

After all, she had a front roll seat witnessing just how Arias toyed with the world superpowers.

"I know you will. I'll call you again in roughly a days time." After saying this, Arias cut the call and left Tara sighing in relief as her heart beat faster from anxiousness while speaking with Arias.

…

Meanwhile, Arias, who had just gotten off the car, was in his office at the hacienda safehouse in Mexico with Cheshire lounging on a guest chair listening in.

The moment the call ended, she couldn't help but show a smirk and say, "sounds like you're planning something very big boss."

Arias stood up from his seat and walked from behind his desk with a small smile. "I always am. You're free to go to your room now, and let everyone know not to bother me until I leave this office, clear?"

Cheshire exaggeratedly got off the seat she was lounging on, making the action look as sexy as it could before walking toward the door. "Can I expect a visit from you when you're done with your… 'business' boss? A girl can get pretty lonely here you know?" Never one to miss an opportunity to tease, Cheshire boldly asked this of Arias while slightly raising her kimono to show off her incredibly toned legs.

"Only if you behave." Arias teased back, causing Cheshire to bite her lip sensually before opening the door to leave. "I guess I'll just have to be good girl until you're back."

After saying that, Cheshire left the room entirely and upon doing so, Arias's figure vanished on the spot, before reappearing in dark but sparse forest that overlooked a large and easily recognizable building in the distance… Fort Knox.