The Author's POV-Novel

669 scary [3]

"Pfttt…"

I spat the water that was in my mouth, and I felt multiple eyes pause in my general direction.

I looked at Octavious without paying any attention to the attention that was being directed toward me and set the glass back on the table. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't hearing wrongly.

"What did you just say?"

"You've heard me already. I won't repeat myself."

"No, no, it's because I heard what you said that I'm asking this."

What in the world was going on?

I was completely taken aback by the unexpected disclosure, despite the fact that I had already had a hunch that this might happen.

The clues were there, I just didn't want to believe them.

How on earth did Kevin manage to sway the opinion of such a stubborn individual to side with him?

"Kevin Voss…Kevin Voss… isn't he that little handsome fellow that I see in the billboards all the time?"

Ivana turned her attention to Octavious; the interest in her eyes was clear to see.

Octavious merely spared her a glance before answering.

"I can vouch for his capabilities. He will make a great leader if you choose to elect him as one."

"Where is he at the moment?"

Ivana looked around the room, pausing briefly to take in each of the individuals who were present in the room.

"He's not here."

Maximus, Gilbert's father and the current second-ranked hero, spoke up.

His head was bowed and his arms were crossed as he sat to the right of Octavious. Raising his head slowly, he looked at Octavious and mumbled.

"His rank is not within the top fifty and so he is unqualified to be here."

"Not even in the top fifty?"

The expression on Ivana's face and the manner in which she carried herself completely shifted, and her eyes started to lose focus.

"If he isn't even in the top fifty, what qualifies him to be the alliance leader? If someone wants to be my leader, they have to be at least stronger than me. Since he's not here, it means that there is no need for us to discuss this any further. I'm not interested."

Ivana relaxed her shoulders and closed her eyes as she reclined further back in her chair.

Her expression utterly displaying the absence of any interest in the topic that had been discussed earlier.

"One doesn't have to be the strongest to be the leader."

Octavious rebuked her in a collected and level-headed manner. Unfortunately, it appeared as though his words had the opposite effect on the people who were present, as they all appeared to be staring at him in an odd manner.

'Is be okay?'

Although no one said it out loud, this was the thought that was clearly plastered all over their faces.

I couldn't blame them. The way Octavious was acting was extremely out of character. It was as if, all of a sudden, your tough, no-bullshit teacher became friendly out of nowhere.

It sent shivers down my spine.

"You… are you actually Octavious?"

My attention was brought back to the room by Monica, who asked the one question that had been preoccupying the thoughts of each and every person in the room.

Octavious frowned as his eyes travelled around the room and took in the expressions of everyone present.

"There is nothing wrong with me."

He answered flatly.

Extending his hand, he pressed the table in front of him.

Since you guys don't believe me, I'll demonstrate exactly what Kevin is capable of doing.

In the space directly in front of him, a holographic screen appeared to float. On it, images of buildings collapsing of their own accord while smoke spread through the air were shown.

Everyone was immediately startled by what they were seeing.

"What's going on?"

"Is this what is happening right now?"

As everyone in the room stared at the holographic display, they did so with a mixture of shock and bewilderment. Was this what the sound from before was?

Octavius brought his hand up and pinched the holographic screen, which resulted in the image becoming magnified.

"Have a closer look."

The image magnified, and everyone was able to get a distinct view of what was taking place beneath the debris of the collapsed buildings.

People could be seen writhing on the ground with wounds all over their bodies, wailing for assistance, and desperately looking through the rubble.

Confusion continued to spread throughout the room as the moment progressed.

Staring at each other, everyone wondered; what exactly is going on, and why was Octavious so fascinated by the pictures of the suffering people?

Once more, everyone began to question whether or not this truly was the Octavious that they were familiar with.

"What is currently happening is something that Kevin planned."

The following words he spoke caused the entire room to fall into complete silence. The pupils of some of the people in the room suddenly dilated.

Before they could say anything else, Octavious continued to speak.

Because this piece of information has not been disclosed to anyone but a select few, some of you might not be aware of this, but Kevin possesses the ability to completely be unaffected by mana contracts.

This means that his actions will not compromise us in any way.

When some of the people in attendance heard these words, they immediately displayed a startlingly different expression than before.

"Are you serious?"

"How is this possible? How can someone be immune to mana contracts?"

"...What does that have anything to do with the situation."

As soon as people started talking over one another, the room immediately descended into chaos.

I sat quietly in my seat while this was going on, and crossed my arms together. Throughout the entire time, I didn't say anything and just remained quiet.

Because I was, to some extent, already familiar with Kevin's circumstances, I was not the least bit taken aback by the information that was revealed.

The same could not be said for the other individuals, who began to speak over one another.

'It doesn't seem like much, but if I gave it some more thought, I'm realizing just how significant of an advantage this is...'

Especially considering that the ceasefire would still be in effect for a week.

There was still an abundance of time available to inflict significant damage on the Monolith without suffering any repercussions in return.

"Don't tell me this ability of his is what prompted you to recommend him as the leader of the alliance?"

Maximus, spoke up, his face dark. Clearly, he wasn't all too pleased with the sudden development.

"No."

Octavious shook his head, and he pointed at the holographic screen.

"It's because he has caused the most damage to the Monolith and has the best chance of defeating them. Take a look at all of the injured; do you see any dead?"

Everyone's attention was drawn back to the holographic image, and it was there that they noticed a thin layer of blood-red film covering the bodies of those who had been injured.

This was the first time that anyone had noticed the film covering the bodies of those who had been injured, and they were rightfully taken aback.

Octavious quickly cleared their doubts.

"Some of you may have wondered why Kevin is currently absent, and the explanation is simple. It's not because he isn't strong enough, but because there is something else that needs his immediate attention."

"During our meeting, he went out of his way to have the Monolith detonate some of the strategically-placed bombs they had placed throughout the city."

"Due to his knowledge of the bombs' precise locations, he was able to keep everyone safe while inflicting substantial contract-related damage on the Monolith by detonating the bombs and keeping the citizens safe. If that's not the end..."

Octavius's head turned and paused on me.

"Kevin Voss is the real mastermind behind the elimination of all Union-infiltrated spies. Ren was merely covering for him so that Kevin could continue his operation with as much time as possible. Isn't that the case?"

"Yeah."

I nodded my head, all sorts of complicated thoughts crossing my mind.

'It appears that Kevin has convinced Octavious to join his side. I have no idea how, but things are beginning to make sense.'

It was clear that someone was trying to hide the fact that the spies, who had previously held high-ranking positions in the Union, had been killed.

When I found out about the deaths for the first time, the first thing that came to my mind was that the Union was responsible for covering them up because they did not want to create any panic among the general population.

Nevertheless, it was now abundantly clear to me that Octavious was the one who was behind it all, and it was all in an effort to help Kevin.

'What divine treasure did Kevin offer Octavious in order for him to be so submissive to him? ...Couldn't he have shared it with me?'

I really wanted to know.

"Are you claiming that you intentionally injured innocent civilians in order to cause a breach of contract and severely harm a small force of the Monolith?"

The sound of Douglas's voice jolted me out of my reverie, and when I turned my head to look at him, I was taken aback by how dark his voice was. Something that I cannot recall ever seeing from him in the past.

Not only was he not the only one with such an expression, but a number of other members who were considered to be more righteous also wore identical expressions.

"I did what needed to be done. No one died, and everyone who is injured will be properly compensated by the Union."

"And risked the lives of innocent people?"

Douglas smacked his hand against the table and raised his voice.

"You know very well that you can't pull this shit! If this gets out, the backlash alone will not be something we can bear!"

"They aren't dead, are they? Isn't that what matters?"

"What?"

Douglas looked at Octavious with an incredulous look. Just as he was about to say something, he was stopped by Octavious's raised hand.

"Stop."

Octavious shifted his attention toward the other members present and started speaking.

"I would like to end this meeting on this note. I have already said what I wanted to say, and in the upcoming vote that will decide the leader of the alliance, if you choose to join, you should take into consideration voting for Kevin Voss."

Pressing his hands against the side of the desk and standing up, Octavious murmured.

"I have done everything that I needed to do. It will be up to you whether you vote for him or not. When the time comes, you will know why this is the right decision."

His figure disappeared right after that, and the room turned quiet.

Just like that, the assembly ended.