CHAPTER 267: AN ENEMY OF AN ENTIRE KINGDOM

"It’s the Edgeburne military," Scarlet replied in a confident tone. "The middle casing looks Edgeburne."

The Edgeburne... As soon as Gabriel heard this, he immediately thought back to Ken, whom he had killed during the Inter-Guild Display Event, and the memory fragment he experienced.

Now it made sense.

When Gabriel absorbed Ken’s memory fragments, he had briefly lived as him and discovered many things, including some secrets.

Most he had already forgotten since they weren’t that important.

However, one thing had stuck with him—the true identity of Ken.

He wasn’t just anyone. He was the son of a high-ranking general—one not only loved by the people of the Edgeburne militaristic kingdom but also a close friend of their monarch, General Everret Tempest.

Scarlet nodded and continued, "I can’t say it on record yet, but I’ve seen that alloy. And that guidance pattern."

Lilly walked up to them at that moment, a frown on her face. "What I don’t get is the stupidity. Launching something inside the capital? With the King’s Guard on every corner? Isn’t that basically declaring war on the Valerian Kingdom?"

"Anger," Gabriel replied calmly. "Or a message. But more importantly, how did they know my current location?"

That was the pressing issue for him, and the only explanation that came to mind was that someone had somehow leaked his information—or they’d been keeping a close eye on him for a while.

Scarlet blew air from her nose. "The Edgeburne Kingdom has the best military on the continent. Not only that, they also own the most efficient spy network."

"When you killed Ken, you didn’t just offend the Tempest family—you became an enemy of the entire Edgeburne Kingdom."

Her eyes flashed with something akin to admiration. "I don’t know what to call this, but it’s not every day a single person can trigger an entire kingdom. At this pace, I won’t be surprised if you make an enemy out of the whole continent in a few years."

Lilly sighed. "And people really thought Guild Leader Thomas Voss had a knack for making enemies."

Gabriel didn’t speak. He didn’t know if that was a compliment or an insult. But one thing he was certain of—the human kingdom with the most powerful military was now after him.

For them to fire a missile at him, disregarding the lives of countless civilians... he couldn’t even begin to fathom what they might do next.

Again, did Gabriel regret his actions? Of course not. If the situation were reversed, he would’ve been the one dead.

Scarlet glanced at him and said, "You need a medic."

"Later."

She studied him for a moment, then gave the smallest nod. Snapping her fingers at two officers, she ordered, "Perimeter. Lock it down. I want every fragment bagged. No leaks."

The officers ran off.

Gabriel crouched at the edge of the blast line, picking up a shard between two fingers. Thin. Honeycomb interior. Print lines like veins.

He examined it for a moment, then tucked it away in his inventory.

---

Far outside the Stellar City walls, in the wilderness, a concrete fort squatted under a dark sky. A junior officer jogged down a corridor in a hurry and nearly stumbled into the command room.

"It failed," he blurted.

The senior officer lifted his head slowly. "Excuse me?"

"The strike," the junior said, swallowing hard. "Target not annihilated. We have footage of a partial miss and a near detonation. Casualties—civilian and player. Multiple."

The senior’s face went dark. He gripped the desk. "Do you know how much this cost? Do you know whose eyes were watching?"

The junior stared at the floor. "We... we tested the new core as requested."

"And you fired it in the capital," the senior snapped. "Brave or stupid?"

Silence.

The senior closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. When he opened them, his voice was cold. "Issue a statement. Call it a test failure. Mechanical fault. Blame the contractor. Push compensation to the guild fund to keep them quiet."

The junior nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."

"And send a cleanup team," the senior added. "If anyone has fragments we care about, I want them bought or buried."

"And the target?" the junior asked.

The senior’s mouth tightened. "Alive. Which means General Everret will be furious. Knowing the target’s personality, he’ll try to hit back where it hurts. Either way, we prepare."

He looked toward the city through the narrow window slit, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "More will come from where that came from... The general won’t stop until he avenges his son."

---

In a private clinic within the city, the antiseptic smell was sharp. Machines beeped. Curtains swayed.

Damian lay under a sheet with wires on his chest and an oxygen line hooked to his nose. His color was poor but steady. A surgeon scribbled notes and spoke without looking up.

"Family?"

"No," Gabriel answered.

"Friend?"

"Yes."

"Then listen. He’s stable. We cleaned and sealed everything. No poison, no hidden shrapnel left. He needs rest, time—and a new arm, if you can find a miracle."

The surgeon finally raised his eyes. "You have two options," he said. "True regeneration with rare items... or a prosthetic. We have basic models. They work, but they’re slow and don’t conduct mana well."

Gabriel nodded once. "I understand."

The surgeon glanced at the chart. "We’ll monitor him here tonight. Check with billing before you leave the floor."

He left quietly.

Gabriel stood by the bed for a long moment, watching the steady rise and fall of Damian’s chest. The stump was clean, wrapped tight, no seepage through the dressing. Pain drip steady. Heart line calm.

A prosthetic.

He pictured a crude metal hook—and dismissed it. Then he imagined something else: an arm of rune steel and fiber tendons, driven by a mana core, with nerve-thread bindings at the shoulder. Clean. Fast. Stronger than bone.

It was just a thought, nothing more. Regrowth would be cleaner if they could manage it. But a good mechanical arm wasn’t a shame—it was a weapon.

If he wants it.

Gabriel looked at Damian’s sleeping face. He wasn’t going to force an answer. Damian would decide when he woke with a clear head.

While he stood there, a thought suddenly struck him.

’If they’re able to find my location, that means...’ His eyes widened slightly. ’They probably know my base location as well.’