Sara stared down Nike, a bona fide superhuman, as she gave her speech.
“That means we have to go back to square one. It turns out, the king doesn’t like fireworks. Fireworks just happened to go off the day the new king took the throne, that’s all. And fireworks went off the day of the strike, too. Was that a coincidence? No, because there was one last clue in the mines linking the two things together.”
Her oratory skills were leagues weaker than Nike’s, yet she did everything in her power to lay her logic out anyway.
“There was that slogan at the scene of the strike—‘kings can be replaced.’”
As soon as Sara connected those dots, the whole picture came into view.
That message had been written knowing that the Genesis Army could very well overlook it and fail to erase it in the dark of the mine, but whoever eventually came to investigate the tragedy might find it instead. Those words were imbued with a prayer.
Nike’s shoulders quivered a little.
It was like she wanted to shut Sara’s mouth as soon as possible, but she knew that doing so would be tantamount to admitting that Sara was right. Those conflicting desires were causing her agony.
“And one last thing—this nation has a secret society called the LWS Troupe that’s become the stuff of legends.” A bead of sweat rolled down Sara’s forehead as she continued. “But the weird thing is, nobody knows what exactly they did. That information is tightly controlled. And the only group in the country that has the power to pull that off is the Genesis Army. You’ve done everything in your power to erase their history, and you’ve disappeared anyone you think could be linked to them. Just like you’re doing right now.”
That was probably just a lie Sara had cooked up.
But oh, what an enchanting lie it was.
“It’s a secret society that likes making flashy moves so much, they called themselves a troupe—and fireworks are their symbol.”
With that, Sara delivered the clincher.
“The LWS Troupe forced the king out of power two years ago, and they’re still operating to this day.”
Nike stopped in her tracks.
Now that had an effect. The Knights of Valor members’ eyes went wide. Even the Genesis Army operatives let out little gasps. The news had come as a shock to them, too.
“Looks like you didn’t even tell your own agents,” Sara said with a triumphant smile. “Makes sense, with how big of a state secret it is. A secret society got the better of the old king and forced him to abdicate the throne. ‘Kings can be replaced’ isn’t just a slogan, it’s the truth. And what’s more, it actually happened.”
“You’re delusional,” Nike snapped, but there was a hint of discomfort in her voice.
“It makes sense that you’d want to deny it. The fact that a secret society was able to shake the country to its core like that means that you and the administration lost, plain and simple! In order to cover it up, you had to kill anyone with any ties to the LWS Troupe. That’s why you set those traps at the Bertram Mines. You needed to capture anyone who noticed the link between fireworks and secret societies and got too close to the truth!”
“Those are the deranged ramblings of a—”
“Then go ahead and explain why you’re here! Offer a more logical explanation!”
“…………”
For the first time, Nike was at a loss for words.
It was becoming apparent that was her weakness.
Nike stood at the nation’s apex. She was more talented than any active-duty agent, she was beloved by the masses, and her combat and leadership skills were beyond compare. She was, in every sense, the perfect spy. Nobody could match her.
And because of that, everything she did looked like it had a deeper meaning.
“Don’t let her break you! Don’t let the administration trick you with their carefully constructed misinformation!!” Sara pleaded to the people in the hall. “We have the power to drag the king off his throne! We can do it with our own two hands!! There are people still fighting with everything they have to change this country! Don’t let your despair win!! We have to remember who the real enemy is!!”
It was true that compared to Nike’s, her speech was clumsy and inept.
However, the narrative she’d created and the way she poured her soul into her words was enough to bring some life back to the Knights of Valor.
“We have to keep resisting—and we can’t back down until the day our revolution is complete!!”
Sara held her fist aloft and spoke with confidence.
“I’m ‘Meadow’ Sara, the LWS Troupe’s current representative, and I’m here to set you free.”
That was the sentence that settled the battle once and for all.
In a sense, Sara’s identity had been the biggest question mark for the audience. Who even was that girl who’d rushed in out of nowhere to pick a fight with Nike? Sara had waited for their curiosity to swell to its peak to drop that particular bombshell.
The legendary secret society was still operating, and its representative had rushed to their aid to fight Nike on their behalf. It was so dramatic, it was like destiny was at work. It was the kind of reveal right out of a box office blockbuster, and it grabbed the Knights of Valor members’ hearts in a vise grip. Motivation like that was more than enough to rescue a group of activists from the depths of hopelessness.
Between Nike and Sara, there was no debate anymore about whose claims were more convincing. The students’ convictions may have wavered, but those were still people who’d been resisting the government for ages.
The fastest person to make her decision was Nike.
As Sara’s words were met with joy before her eyes, she waved her arm to signal to her agents. She was a big enough person to admit when she was beat. She accepted her mistake, lamented it, and swiftly shifted course.
For Nike, winning the Knights of Valor over had never been anything more than plan A. Now that she’d failed, she wasted no time in switching to plan B.
Plan B was the one that was guaranteed to work—the one that involved taking control by force.
As soon as Nike shot the order to her subordinates, Sara reacted as well.