Chapter 30: All Plans Failed
Stephen ran with all his might, even using whatever mana he had left to boost his speed. Once that strange man caught up to him, he would be dead.
The shield wouldn't save him, as the man just needed to wait. Stephen could only hope he could get far enough before the sphere disappeared.
"Just how... how did I fail? Where did I go wrong?"
He had planned so much, taken so much caution that he prepared even for minor dangers that likely wouldn't even happen. Yet, all of it meant nothing.
He had failed.
He had first used both the Diremane Pride and the Sunmane Pride to initiate a war that destroyed their powerful presence, and then used the traitors to hunt down Kiona.
Stephen knew he couldn't have done it alone, and there was always a chance she would escape, so he planned the civil war and even this hunt far from the other prides.
He wanted no obstruction and had nearly succeeded, but Steve had gone berserk due to his evolution. Because of that, he failed to catch Kiona but he didn't give up.
He brainwashed the other lions and used them to lure Kiona out using her hatred. Everything had been going so well...until one of his controlled beasts died.
It wasn't supposed to be anything serious, but he had still considered the possibility, since this was likely his last chance to capture Kiona. He used one of his hidden skills to hide inside Steve.
Before doing that, he had also killed two of the Fanged Lions, so that if anything happened to his ambush, he would know it firsthand. He wanted to kill all of them, but he was too weak to control that many.