Chapter 57: Chapter 55: The lords make their move – I

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In the deep, dim core of New Castellucio’s central fortress, from whence was extended his iron-willed dominion of the capital of the Eastern Region, the dark ruler known as Tony Pizza, the ruthless Godfather of the Cyberway, reclined himself as usual in the monumental throne he had taken over by right, slowly twirling his long, calloused right index finger over his keenly groomed mustache.

Before him, his trustworthy, most loyal informant, Dante, presented himself in a bow, solemnly bringing to him the latest news regarding the pursuit of the known traitor, Hellfire.

“Lord Pizza, the operation has been successful. Professor Nullus has been able to piece together a general outline of the girl’s movements throughout the Cyberway in the few days that passed after her defection, using mostly our private network as the vehicle for his investigation. He said he knew you wouldn’t be exactly thrilled by the idea of simply using our server systems so impulsively, but he assured us there was no other choice. Not for this kind of investigation. He has agreed to take full responsibility for maintenance of whatever lines or stacks he accesses.”

“Oh?” muttered the dark lord, raising a single eyebrow. “How awfully considerate of that wretch. I suppose I can at least trust him to make actual, fruitful use of the Pizzanet, for a change. That is certainly new.”

Giving his master a single look of confusion, the servant quickly bounced back, continuing with the report.

“He has based himself greatly on eyewitnesses and declarations from other assorted followers of the eastern empire, substantiated by and large through an assortment of clairvoyance-focused abilities. Many of the details are still uncertain, nevertheless, and the exact location of the stolen items is still unknown. We have, however, tracked down the general area Hellfire seems to have hidden the evidence around.”

“Molto bene! Molto bene, senza dubbio!!” the sovereign suddenly shouted with joy, releasing along a hearty laugh as well. “Oh, Nullus, that little weasel… I hadn’t expected such far-going success so soon. Now, with this little piece of information in our grasp, I will finally be able to retrieve what is mine by right. I might even have been confident enough to say we didn’t need Hellfire anymore, were it not for the possibility that she might have sealed up the loot with some manner of encryption. Keep up the search for her and her helpers, just to be sure. And do not underestimate that awfully dangerous man.”

“Your wishes are orders, my lord.” the servant acquiesced, with yet another bow.

“As for the location of my money, and the matrix itself… Well, well, well, it would never hurt to put some boys preemptively on the lookout for it, would it? I shall send out a sizable ground number to whatever region Nullus has triangulated, taking him along as well, naturally. Either they’ll figure it out from there, or that crazy scholarly mind of his will.”

“Understood. I will make it so, as soon as you see fit to dismiss.”

“Buono. Molto buono. And now finally, for the most important question…” Pizza went on, taking a deep breath for a pause. “Tell me, Dante. Where has this supposed loot stash been stored?”

“Somewhere along our border with the West. The upper frontier, to be precise. Nullus suspects Hellfire did not actually stash the items on our side. But on theirs. Our sources seem to corroborate that information as well.”

“I see… This could be quite a complicated situation, in that case. Poor Zunga would surely be sooo mad, if I were to just suddenly start sending an incongruous number of troops over to her territory unprompted. But, then again, what fun would it be if I did not?”

“Indeed, your wishes are orders. It is speculated the loot must be stored in one of the western cities nearby our territory’s lower border, the recommended course of action being an intensive sweep of the area for the time being.”

The once middle-aged man nodded some more, still twirling his otherworldly glistening mustache with one hand as he fixed his elaborate tinfoil hat with the other.

“Good. This is very good! At last, with this invaluable information in our possession, we shall come far closer to localizing and properly immobilizing the Purging Matrix. And that fool Haruto will be the final key to all this…”

No longer able to contain himself, the regional lord’s voice had quickly devolved into a hysterical cackle, echoing throughout the whole of the throne room, utterly unhinged.

“And once I finally get my hands on the magnificent power it holds, no one in this accursed Cyberway shall be able to stop me from reaching the highest of heights! I shall be nigh-unstoppable, free to roam and do as I please without these… damned shackles the gods have buried me in. I will, once again, be above every single soul in this world. Carry out my orders, Dante. Do not fail.”

“I shall not.” he bowed once again.

“And as if things were not yet splendid enough,” Pizza went on, half-drowned in yet another guffaw. “that is not even the best part of this whole ordeal, my humble servant. For you see, with the other three regional lords left completely in the dark as they are now to our sagacious machinations, I shall have little to no opposition in finally acquiring the matrix. It will be mine before they know it. Then, none of this regional struggling nonsense will matter any longer.”

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The informant furrowed an eyebrow, failing to grasp whatever concept his master might be hinting at.

“Oh, do not worry too much about it, my dear servant. The reality of the Purging Matrix is one far too abstract for just any man to come to terms with. When the time comes, I shall make it all clear to you. But meanwhile…"

With the kind of radiant energy he had not shown in eons before then, the dark lord sprung up from his throne, raising his fist into the air. His previous frailty, the appalling lethargy which had once assaulted his body only but a few days prior, was now entirely gone. Tony Pizza had a newfound reason to battle.

“Let us capture Hellfire once and for all, and then–”

The gates behind Dante suddenly sprung open with a deafening boom, and from the depths of the fortress’s metallized, dreary corridors, whence arose yet another figure, panting and heaving as it crumbled to its knees just a few steps behind Dante himself.

His lord turned to face him, startled by the arrival.

“Goodness gracious, Guido!! How did you even break in this time, you damned brute!?” he shouted.

The bumbling servant, on the other hand, could just barely spit as he gasped for air, looking frantically behind towards the now badly broken gates to the throne room and then back to his ruler, who stood in wait.

“Lo… Lord Pizza… it’s an emergency! I– They– The servers–”

“Get a hold of yourself, uomini!! What is the meaning of this interruption!?”

After a few deep breaths, the burly man began to speak again.

“Someone broke into our region-wide network and took control of it for a brief moment just now! Professor Nullus is at a complete loss, he cannot trace back the intruder in any way. All we know is that a large portion of what he had stored in the Pizzanet has been completely leaked to the whole Cyberway!”

“Say what!?”

Stepping forward, the Godfather had nearly stepped on his red mantle from the sheer shock. The musclebound henchman, on the other hand, simply continued on.

“And most importantly, according to Nullus, the majority of the leaked information was directly related to Hellfire, and related people!”

“SAY WHAT!?!?”

Hands clawing at the sides of his head, the dark lord let out a raw, high-pitched squeal. The eastern faction was supposed to be the only one in the know about her and the artifacts she had stolen. And yet…

“Ready all available units at once!!!” shrieked the Godfather, prompting both servants to rise back up. “All strata, all cities, all outposts, without exception!! I want everyone out, awaiting my commands!!”

“At once, my liege!”

“Prepare for battle!!”

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