Niang was in his office in the west wing of the grand building. It was his safe hold in a way, as he had managed to gather many of his supporters within the clan from the east wing.
There were multiple ways he had brought them over to his side, through favors, bribery, and he had even resorted to blackmail. Niang was confident that there wasn't an area of the clan where he didn't have his ears and eyes.
It was why he knew about the plan that Harbour, Feebie's brother had suggested with the wanderers and why he had the hard numbers. Now all he had to do was wait.
"The tricky part in all of this is we don't know who is going to be summoned. I'm certain that the plan will go well, but who will be drawn to the tool, the whole thing is a different story. Either way, I have multiple ways to convince them if it comes to it." Niang was smirking to himself.
A knock was heard from the outside, and after Niang allowed the other to enter, the door was slid. A member of the Lethal Bite Clan gave a polite bow while also checking over his shoulder before delivering the news.
"I'm sorry, sir, but it appears those at the stone estate have failed!"
Niang's mouth was left wide open. If he had something in it, it would have dropped onto the table in front of him. Soon the shock had been replaced by anger.
"But how, how is this possible, was there something wrong with the item?" Niang asked. "Speak properly and clearly, and don't spare a single detail unless you want your whole family to be punished."
The man quickly got on his knees and bowed until his head touched the floor.
"I have confirmed the matter multiple times before coming here, sir. I'm not sure about the item itself, as it's no longer there, but when one of our men went to check up on the situation, he found all of the warriors involved dead!"
This time, Niang's eyes widened.
"Dead, so they were killed! Was it the guards? I know that Harbour had sent the new recruits to deal with the situation, but it couldn't have been them. They were the strongest middle-stage warriors the clan had to offer."
"They couldn't have been killed just by some random people that had been chosen through an assessment. Maybe"
A dreaded fear had taken over Niang. Perhaps if the item was missing, then maybe it was a success, and as for the deaths of the others, it was due to the Divine warrior summoned.
If it was a cruel Divine warrior that didn't care for the world, perhaps it just killed those in front of them and went on its own way.
However, what Niang didn't realize was that there was more left for him to say.
"It certainly seems that may be the case," the warrior continued to explain. "Bargo, and the head of one of the barracks, Ivor, both have come back from the expedition. Although they were unable to save the one that had been kidnapped, they are alive and well."
This had just thrown Niang's most likely theory out of the window. "That still makes no sense, I know that Bargo is the Vice-head, but even he wouldn't have been able to go up against them all. Could it be, could Harbour have possibly predicted what I had planned, and had sent stronger men?"
It was troubling for Niang; the whole thing was because now he was in an unlikely position to become the head of the Clan. Not only did he have no proof of being able to call a Divine one down, Harbour had gathered evidence of his plan working since the mission was somewhat a success.
"I guess that means it leaves me no choice." Niang placed both of his hands together in front of him, hiding his facial expression and then raised his eyes just above. "It seems we have to go to our backup plan. Drastic measures call for this."
"We should also look into Bargo and Ivor, maybe Bargo won't tell us much but Ivor certainly will."
The man stood up from his position and gave a slight nod.
"Should I inform everyone to move onto the next plan?"
"This is an important matter, so I will do it myself." Niang said as he got out of his seat and headed for the exit.
The main base of the Lethal Bite Clan was large, with multiple doors and areas where different departments would work. What he needed to do before making his move was make sure that everyone was aware.
Then when they arrived at the meeting table, the Elders that even supported Harbour would have a hard time doing so.
'I don't know what trick you used to defeat my warriors, but I will use what you think is a win completely against you and turn your whole world upside down. I will get the position that I deserved.'
While the two of them were walking down one of the hallways, another warrior was also walking down the hallway, in the same clothing as the other Lethal Bite Clan members.
As the man drew closer, Niang stopped in his steps along with his fellow clan member.
"Your face is not one I have seen before." Niang said. "I know all the servants and members that visit the east wing. No clan member would just freely wander around these areas, state your reason for being here."
The clan member on the other end didn't reply. Instead, his shoulders started to shake.
"Is everything okay?" Niang's assistant asked.
"Is everything okay? No, it's not okay, it's not okay until you're dead!" The man shouted and charged forward with a dagger in his hand.
A mass amount of Qi was launched as the man had pounced from his foot.
Niang's assistant had never thought such a thing would occur. One they were in the base, and second this was a member of the Lethal Bite Clan.
No one would willingly betray the clan or target a higher member unless they had already forfeited their life.
Judging by the person's skill, they were quite talented as well. The assistant was unable to react as his shoulder was grabbed and he was pushed to the side.
Right then, the dagger had pierced right through Niang's heart. It was sharp. The man had felt it go through his skin with relative ease as if there was no Qi resistance at all.
"I did it." The man said with a face full of tears. He pulled out the dagger from Niang's chest. As he did, he stepped back and could see the blade full of blood.
He continued to move back and saw it dripping from Niang.
"Has that made you happy?" Niang asked. "Did you do this for some stupid reason such as revenge? Trying to take out a clan member that has so much more important things to do in this world!"
As Niang shouted, the wound on his chest, the skin started to heal up, and it was the same with his heart. The dagger had reached his heart, but the insides of Niang were starting to form back to what they once were as well.
"You mere mortal!" Niang said as he drew a small sword from his side and pointed it toward the attacker. "You are dealing with a god. Did you ever think you could harm me?"
The sword lit up, bright white light of energy and shot out, hitting the man right through the chest. A large hole appeared, and the man instantly fell to the floor dead.