Emisarry Of Time And Space-Chapter 202 - 203: Two pronged.

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

Power stones people, Gimme it.

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"We're going to use our competitors to further our goal."

No one interrupted him.

"We can't just head to the capital blind. Direct confrontation could turn very bad, very fast, and we're not trained assassins."

He looked around the group once, making sure everyone was following.

"So instead of choosing one approach or the other," he continued, "we'll use both."

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Orion was alone.

He moved through the Jade Forest at a steady pace of fifteen hundred distals per hour, feet striking earth and root with controlled precision. It was fast enough to cover serious ground, slow enough to be sustainable. He could maintain it for days if needed.

The forest blurred past him, trees and undergrowth parting naturally as he threaded through gaps without breaking stride. There was no backlash, no tearing wind pressure, no instability. Mana wrapped around his body like a second skin, smoothing resistance, reinforcing joints, dispersing force.

It still amused him sometimes.

On Earth, moving at this speed would have been absurd. Impossible. He would have shattered bones, ruptured organs, ignited the air. He was already well past the speed of sound by terrestrial standards.

Here, it was manageable.

Mana made the difference.

Fourteen years in Velastra hadn't erased his old instincts entirely. He still framed things through the lens of Earth physics when he wasn't careful, even though he knew better. This world didn't follow the same rules. Mana interacted with matter, space, and force at a fundamental level. It wasn't just an energy source; it was a variable that rewrote equations entirely.

He understood enough to work with it.

Not enough to explain it.

And that was fine.

He wasn't a physicist in his past life, and he hadn't become one here. His focus was elsewhere. The only calculations he cared about were spatial—distances, folds, vectors, distortions. Even those followed principles that would have made an Earth theorist tear their hair out.

Fantastical systems didn't map cleanly onto rational ones.

That aside, he had a job to do.

Like he'd told the others, they couldn't afford a single-track plan. The situation demanded flexibility, pressure, and speed—all at once.

They needed information. The capital was the obvious source.

They needed access. Ideally quiet, ideally unnoticed.

And they needed chaos.

They had ten days at most.

So they split.

They were already divided into operational units; all Orion had done was refine the purpose. One part would infiltrate. One part would destabilize. One part—him—would orchestrate both without drawing attention back to the core objective.

The capital team was set.

Thaddeus. Arlen. Selene. Erevan. Seris. Jalen.

Six people. Small enough to move quietly. Strong enough to survive mistakes.

Sending Erevan and Seris was non-negotiable. They were the second and third strongest in the group, and more importantly, they were composed. Erevan could anchor a situation through presence alone. Seris could talk her way through walls if given the chance.

Thaddeus and Arlen made the decision easy. Their scouting capabilities were exactly what an unfamiliar city demanded, especially one preparing for a major event. Thaddeus, in particular, was suited for this kind of work. His innate ability wasn't flashy, but this was the environment where it mattered most.

Selene balanced them.

She always did.

Jalen was there because he could adapt. No ego. No panic. Reliable under pressure.

That group would observe, map, listen. If they saw an opening, they'd exploit it. If not, they'd wait. The goal wasn't heroics. It was leverage.

They were the infiltration arm.

Orion exhaled slowly as he vaulted over a fallen trunk without breaking pace.

That left the distraction.

And that was his responsibility.

The remaining students were already arranged into two groups, mirroring their earlier operational split.

Caelum, Kaelen, and Reina formed one unit.

Galen, Daenys, and Rhyden formed the other.

They weren't headed straight for the capital—not openly, at least. Their task was simpler and more dangerous at the same time.

They would gather people.

Other participants.

The aimless ones.

Orion knew they weren't the only group to find a Sylgrid settlement. Others would stumble onto information eventually. Some would head for the capital with purpose. Others would drift, uncertain, chasing rumors without direction.

Those were the ones he wanted.

If one hundred and fifty armed competitors with unclear goals converged on the capital within a short window, tension was inevitable. Even if none of them intended harm, friction alone would be enough to strain order.

Chaos didn't need malice.

It just needed density.

Galen and Caelum were the brains of their respective units. Galen lacked confidence sometimes, but he compensated with preparation and caution. Daenys and Rhyden would force momentum when things stalled. That balance mattered.

Caelum avoided emotional entanglement, which made him reliable but distant. Reina could manage that. She always knew how to ground people without pressing too hard.

Orion trusted them.

They didn't need to incite violence.

They just needed to talk.

Form alliances. Share partial truths. Emphasize opportunity. Point everyone toward the same destination and let human nature handle the rest.

The capital would become crowded. Loud. Unpredictable.

Exactly what he needed.

As for him—

He was the knife moving behind the curtain.

Alone, he could cover more ground than any group. Alone, he could interfere where needed without exposing patterns. Alone, he could respond if something went wrong.

It wasn't honorable.

He knew that.

But the mission itself wasn't clean. It never had been. He was here to take something that mattered deeply to another race. Dressing it up wouldn't change that fact.

His guilt had faded already.

There were only priorities now.

Orion increased his pace slightly, mana adjusting automatically as the forest opened ahead of him. He had ground to cover and time to burn.

He would complete this mission.

And he would do it properly.