Chapter 37: Bait For The Beast
Grandmaster Li sat at the head of the table, his ancient eyes closed in contemplation. Across from him, Tao was a stark contrast, all sharp angles and polished black and gold armor, his gaze sweeping over the assembled leaders with an unnerving confidence.
Anya, the Guild’s strategist, broke the quiet. The rustle of her papers was like a crack of thunder.
"The reports from the outer territories are... escalating," she began, her voice tight. "Monster activity has spiked seventeen percent in the last forty-eight hours alone. We’re not just seeing more of them. They’re bigger. They’re faster. And they’re hitting settlements we’ve considered safe for decades."
Goran, the head of the Monster Slayer division, slammed a gnarled fist on the table. The wood groaned under the impact.
"Seventeen percent?" he scoffed, his face a mask of grim fury. "That’s a number on a page, Anya. Let me give you the reality. We lost the entire Seventh and Ninth elite squads. Wiped out. Not in a glorious battle, but ambushed on the road to Silver Creek. They were targeting our supply lines, our patrols. They knew where to hit us. It’s like they’re thinking. Strategizing." He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper. "Something is fundamentally wrong."
Grandmaster Li’s eyes finally opened, clouded with a profound sorrow.
"The energy signatures confirm it," he said, his voice a low rumble. "Nothing we have on record matches what our mages are reading. This is a new breed of darkness."
Anya turned her sharp gaze towards the silent figure in gleaming armor.
"Tao. You’ve faced more of these new abominations than anyone. You’ve been quiet this entire time. What are your thoughts?"
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Tao’s lips. It didn’t reach his eyes.
"My thoughts?" he said, his voice smooth and cold as polished steel. "I think we are behaving like scared children hiding from the dark. We are reacting. We are defending. We are losing."
He let the words hang.