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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
"I need some time to think about this," said Hector.

The ambassador nodded. "Of course. I understand. But please decide soon. The Beast could attack again at any time. I fear the longer we wait, the more innocent people will die."

Hector returned a nod of his own.

However, Hector had just told a lie. What he actually needed was not more time to think. He only needed time to talk to the Queen and the Rainlords.

The truth was, he had already made up his mind.


Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Three: 'In the land of disorder...'
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Evangelina Stroud would have much preferred to simply sneak into the country in the dead night. If stealth was their goal here, then it was better to forego all of these pretenses with disguises and fake identities. To her mind, proper stealth didn't mean hiding in plain sight like this. It meant never being seen in the if first place.

But sadly, that wasn't an option. The Vantalayan Border Guard was everywhere--and for good reason, of course. They were watching for enemy forces. And they appeared to be well-equipped as well. Fences, cameras, drones, dogs, watchtowers--and probably more. Vantalay had obviously been prepared for this war of theirs.

Much of that observational intel arrived via Raul Blackburn, who'd had a much easier time getting into the country since he'd arrived before the lockdown.

So they were blending in--or were trying to, at least.

Evangelina wondered how long this would last. Ridgemark was one of the only open ports in the country, and just like the Triplets had reported, it was absolutely inundated with reapers.

On the bright side, that made it a bit easier for their own reapers to blend in. Unfortunately, it also dramatically increased the likelihood of running into someone they recognized, and concealing themselves from a reaper who had memorized one or more of their souls would be quite the difficult feat indeed.

But not necessarily impossible.