Chapter 91: Exhibition Match
The rest of the night passed without incident.
Akron managed to finalize a deal with Magnus for the end of the month, securing both funding and a potential mission chain. Morale, after teetering on the edge, finally began to stabilize. Althea even laughed a few times real ones, not the hollow kind she used to keep people at bay.
The Witch’s victory shifted the atmosphere entirely. Where tension had reigned, now there was drunken joy, collective catharsis. Shouts echoed, tables clattered with celebratory slams, and the Harvester Hall pulsed like the beating heart of the citadel.
But Nioh sat still.
A quiet observer in a storm of noise.
While others drank and relived every explosive moment of the ranking match, he was somewhere else—replaying the day, dissecting every detail. The mission had been a success on the surface. But buried beneath the victory were choices. Messy ones. Ones he couldn’t walk back.
The immediate threat was gone, yes. But retribution? That was always patient. It wore committee robes and fake smiles.
He hadn’t yet reached the level where murder could be justified as "tactical repositioning" on a report.
And as an anomaly, he was already a liability. His leash was thinner than most.
Just as he exhaled, ready to shelve the thoughts, his comms buzzed with a short message:
"Warden Hall vs Harvester Hall match. Tomorrow. 9 PM."