Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

He took a slow step forward, gaze locked onto Adam's. "I seem to remember a certain rat following me in the forest before the event started. They thought they were being sneaky, but I led them around in circles before logging off." His voice carried a teasing lilt, but there was something colder beneath it. "That's what's making you doubt me, right?"

Adam didn't flinch. He simply listened, letting Arthur continue.

Arthur chuckled, shaking his head. "Lieutenant Adam, I didn't expect that it was actually you who's been keeping tabs on me." His eyes gleamed with something unreadable. "I wonder why?"

He paused, letting the question linger in the air between them like a hanging blade. "That was before the event even happened. So tell me—what reason did you have to monitor me?" He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

For the first time since the conversation began, Adam smiled back. It wasn't forced. It wasn't a polite gesture. It was knowing.

"Yes, you're right," Adam admitted, his voice steady. "I did send someone to follow you. And yes, they failed their mission." He shrugged. "That only confirmed what I already suspected."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

Adam continued. "You see, Fateless… I make it my business to know every significant player in this village. I've mapped out the strongest, the most ambitious, the ones with influence." His voice dropped slightly, almost conspiratorial. "And you? You stand out like a thorn between them."

Arthur's smirk returned. "Flattered."

"I don't say this lightly," Adam pressed his voice firm. "When I say only you could have done it, I mean it. You're the only anomaly. Everyone else? They've been accounted for. But you…" He gestured toward Arthur. "You don't fit the pattern. And that makes you dangerous."

Arthur let the words settle for a moment before chuckling softly. "Dangerous? That's a strong word, Lieutenant. And here I thought we were having a friendly conversation."

Adam's expression didn't change. "You're not denying it."

Arthur met his gaze, eyes gleaming with amusement. "I don't have to. It's not like you are going to believe me anyways."

Silence stretched between them. A tense, weighted silence, filled with unspoken calculations and veiled threats.

Then, Adam sighed. "This is exactly why I want you to join us."

Arthur's smirk faltered, ever so slightly.

Adam took a step forward, voice lowering just a fraction. "You think you can do everything alone. Maybe you can. But I know what's coming. You do not."

"This world—it's not just some game. It's something more." Adam's jaw tightened, his gaze sharp and unrelenting. "And when things start unraveling, when the real threats come, lone wolves will get torn apart."

Arthur's eyes flickered with something unreadable, but his stance remained loose, deceptively relaxed. The weight of Adam's words lingered in the space between them, like a slow-burning fire neither of them wanted to acknowledge.

"And you think the military is the answer?" Arthur asked, his voice carrying a hint of skepticism.

Adam nodded without hesitation. "It's not perfect, but it's better than standing alone when the tide rises."

Arthur exhaled slowly, his gaze shifting toward the darkened trees beyond. The wind rustled through the branches, whispering secrets only the forest could understand. His fingers unconsciously grazed Chaos's hilt, tracing the worn yet deadly edge of the blade as if it held the answer he sought.

For a moment, he looked thoughtful. Contemplative.

He knew Adam wasn't wrong—not entirely. Strength in numbers had its advantages. A structured force with resources, intelligence, and coordination could mean the difference between survival and annihilation.

But there was a problem.

Trust.

Arthur had learned the hard way—trust was a currency spent too easily and rarely repaid. He had no interest in becoming a pawn, no matter how noble the cause was made to sound.

He'd seen how authority worked. It wasn't about protection. It was about control.

And Arthur had no intention of letting anyone—especially not the military—dictate his path.

The smirk returned, slow and deliberate, as he turned back to Adam.

"That's a compelling pitch, Adam. Really." His tone was light, but there was steel beneath it. He sheathed Chaos with a deliberate motion, the blade sliding home with a soft click. "But I'm not interested."

Adam didn't react immediately. He simply studied Arthur, his expression unreadable. Then, after a long pause, he nodded. "I expected as much."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "No last-minute persuasion?"

Adam's lips twitched in something that wasn't quite a smile. "Would it change anything?" Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

Arthur chuckled. "Not in the slightest."

Silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken words. The night air carried a sharp chill, but neither of them moved.

The trees swayed in the distance, their shadows stretching and twisting under the pale moonlight. It was the kind of quiet that came before a storm.

Adam finally exhaled, shaking his head. His posture was composed, but there was something in his gaze—something weighty. "Fateless, you seem like a young man. I understand that you want to play the hero." His tone wasn't mocking, but there was a sharpness to it, a thread of something deeper.

Arthur tilted his head slightly, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips. "Hero? That's a bit dramatic."

Adam continued as if he hadn't heard. "You think this world is something you can control, that strength alone will be enough to carve your path. But you don't see the bigger picture yet. You don't understand what's at stake."

Arthur chuckled. "You military types really love your ominous warnings."

Adam's expression didn't change. "You think this is a game?"

Arthur's smirk widened just slightly. "Isn't it?"

Adam took a slow, measured step closer. The shift was subtle, but the weight in his stance, the quiet authority in his presence, made the space between them feel smaller. His gaze, sharp and deliberate, bore into Arthur like a silent challenge.

"No," Adam said, his voice calm, but final. "It isn't."

Arthur held his ground, watching, waiting. He wasn't intimidated in the least. Not by words.

Then Adam tilted his head slightly, as if assessing something deeper. His next words were spoken softly, almost casually.

"Fateless, I'm sure you have a family waiting for you every day," Adam mused. "You don't seem like the type to have grown up as a loner. I'm sure you've got a sister waiting for you somewhere. Maybe a mother, too."

Arthur's smirk didn't falter, but the air around them shifted.

The weight of the words settled between them like a knife pressed against his skin—not cutting yet, but promising to.

Arthur's fingers twitched slightly near Chaos's hilt. His voice, when he spoke, was quiet. Cold.

"Are you threatening me?"

Adam's eyes remained locked onto his, unwavering. Then he shook his head slowly. "How could I?"

The silence was suffocating.

Arthur didn't move, but his entire body was wired, his mind spinning like a thousand gears turning at once.

Adam was playing a dangerous game.

One that Arthur had played before.

The veiled threat wasn't in the words—it was in the fact that Adam had said them at all.

Arthur exhaled, slow and measured, his smirk still intact but his amusement gone. "You should choose your words carefully, Lieutenant. Someone might take them the wrong way."

Adam chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Just speaking hypothetically."

"Right." Arthur's voice was as smooth as glass, but the edge was razor-sharp.

Adam studied him for a long moment, then sighed. "You really are stubborn."

"Thanks," Arthur said. "I try."

Adam shook his head, disappointment flickering across his face. "You're making a mistake, Fateless. A dangerous one."

Arthur's smirk returned, lazy and unconcerned. "I make those all the time. Comes with the job."

The air between them turned colder.

Adam exhaled, tilting his head slightly. Then, without another word, his eyes darkened. The moment stretched—long enough for Arthur to sense the shift before the words even left Adam's lips.

"I suggest you rethink this, Fateless…"

Then his voice dropped, quiet but lethal.

"Or should I say… Arthur Fate."