Chapter 322: Nothing

Aria’s fire dimmed. Her legs wobbled before she let herself fall onto the bed beside Nyx. The silver-haired supermodel’s usual cheery glow was nowhere to be seen, leaving her face ashen, almost sickly pale. She pressed her palms into her thighs while staring at the floor as if it might swallow her whole.

Her lips parted, but the words that came out were frail, fragmented.

“Maximilian’s fifth point… ‘the greatest cyber terrorism attack of all time’ accusation…” She swallowed hard as her throat tightened. “That’s the one that hurts us the most, and it isn’t even true.”

Her nails dug into her skin from sheer anxiety. “He twisted those words. He made it sound as if we manipulated the minds of millions to forget about that event, that we brainwashed governments into looking away with some… some sort of magic spell. But the reality was so much more mundane. People didn’t forget because of some illusion Kaiden cast. The Untainted Holes film was extremely obscure. Barely anyone downloaded it. And when it was deleted by some sort of magic we still don’t understand…”

She added that just in case the government was listening in on this very conversation of theirs, which likely was the case, considering the severity of the situation. This was a prime information harvesting opportunity for them, so they knew they had to practice utmost caution.

Aria continued, “Only a handful of people cried foul, and as a result, it was buried in more interesting content. There were more fun things to spend one’s time with than listening to a conspiracy theory spun by a bunch of weirdos who supposedly had their porn videos deleted.”

Aria lifted her head, staring at Kaiden as if searching for answers she knew weren’t there. “But now… now he’s stitched that lie together with the rest of his story. He built this… this grotesque mosaic of you.”

“Right…” Luna agreed as her fury of the storm subsided after seeing her friend’s worried features. “This broadcast was not aimed at swaying the governments and high-tier guilds. They were already more than interested in us and are fully aware of these things he mentioned.”

The Storm Valkyrie parted her arms wide, gesturing at the room they were in. “We’re living in a government-funded bunker and have two ultra-expensive government-given bodyguards for Christ’s sake! He just wants to turn the general public against us, ensuring people watch the horrendous, mass-produced slop content ChronosX shits out every other hour instead of our quality videos.”

But Aria’s lips trembled as she whispered, “What can we do? If we take the stand, if we call him out, try to dismantle each of his points one by one, the lingering stain won’t wash out because we can’t explain everything. Some important questions will remain unanswered because even we don’t know the answers to them…”

She finished her statement with a second lie.

The room grew unbearably quiet. The Valkyries felt suffocated under the weight of Maximilian’s narrative, the sheer scale of his reach. Even Luna’s fury couldn’t cut through the dread.

But just before the Valkyries could spiral into despair, Kaiden’s voice cut through the silence.

It wasn’t frantic, nor weak, nor resigned. His tone was steady and measured, radiating an unshakable resolve.

“We do nothing.”

The words hit them like a literal slap in the face.

Nyx’s head snapped up, disbelief flashing in her violet eyes. “What do you mean, nothing?”

Luna’s stormy gaze narrowed, suspicion flickering in her purple eyes. She studied him carefully, looking as if she was afraid he’d cracked under the weight of this grave threat they were facing. But the man before her wasn’t broken. No, he looked sharper than ever before. His gaze was hard with conviction.

Kaiden stood from the bed and looked each of them in the eye one after the other. His presence felt so overwhelming to the girls in this moment that it anchored the entire room. “We could enter a shouting match with ChronosX, attempt to tear apart his lies point by point, scream to the world that he’s wrong and that we’re right. But as things stand, what would that achieve? It would only drag us into his mud-slinging match against a much more influential, powerful, and wealthier enemy. The situation would grow uglier by the day as our words get twisted and our intent poisoned.”

“So we do nothing. We continue exactly as we have been.”

For a long heartbeat, no one spoke.

Then, it was Aria who broke the silence. Her hands still trembled on her thighs, but a spark of recognition shone in her eyes. Slowly, timidly, her lips curved upward, replacing terror with a fragile smile. “But… we won’t just be doing that, isn’t that right, Kai?”

Kaiden turned toward her, and instantly, the impossible weight pressing down on her seemed to ease. His lips tugged into a smirk, warm and dangerous all at once, a look that made Aria’s heart skip a beat. ‘He’s in control…’ she whispered inwardly.

“Of course not,” Kaiden replied with a steady nod, as though promising her the future itself. “We’ll collect ammunition in the shadows. We’ll gather proof, allies, leverage, and everything we need. And when the moment comes…”

“… instead of entering a grueling dogfight, we’ll chop their heads off in one fell swoop.”

The air shifted. The suffocating dread that had hung over the Valkyries lifted.

Nyx bit her lip, her pulse racing as warmth spread through her chest.

Luna’s narrowed eyes relaxed, replaced by love and admiration as the corners of her mouth tugged upward into a cruel smirk—one that told them all she was already plotting ChronosX’s demise.

And Aria… she looked at him as though seeing the man she’d fallen so hard for, the pillar she could lean on even if the whole world turned against her.

For the first time since Maximilian’s speech, hope returned to the bunker. Excitement swelled in the girls as they each began crafting their plots, as the same thought etched itself into their heads:

Kaiden wasn’t just their leader. He wasn’t just their lover.

He was their rock.

And with him standing firm, they realized that nothing ChronosX hurled at them could shatter what they’d built, and what they will build in the future.

This was a mere bump in the road, one of many they’ll overcome together.

“Let’s do this!” Aria shouted cheerily.

“I can’t wait to see that fat pig squeal!” Luna grinned devilishly.

“You’re telling me…?” Nyx asked with a dark smile.

It was time to begin the counterattack.

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