"Enough!"
The city lord, the "Soul-Severing Blade," who had been silent until now, slammed his hand on the table and cut off the argument. He looked around, his expression grim. "What good is arguing? The whole area outside is crawling with the Netherworld Ghost Army's spies. We need to unite under one command and hold our ground. No one leaves!"
But just as he finished speaking,
"Report!"
A blood-soaked scout stumbled into the hall and fell to his knees with a thud.
"City Lord! It's bad! The west gate... The west gate is gone!"
"What did you say?!" Soul-Severing Blade jumped to his feet. "The west gate is a strategic stronghold. How could it be gone?"
"It wasn't breached... The people from the Golden Blade Sect opened the gate themselves and let the ghost army in!"
The whole hall was stunned.
The Golden Blade Sect was one of the strongest factions in Chaos City, and its leader, Jin Wanliang, was notorious for greed and switching sides whenever it suited him.
"That beast Jin Wanliang!" the Redfire Cult Master trembled with rage. "He dared to betray the alliance!"
"It wasn't betrayal..." The scout's voice shook as he took a pitch-black token from his robes. "Jin Wanliang sent this. He said he'd already submitted his pledge of allegiance to the Netherworld Demon Court, offering up the west gate in exchange for a century of peace for the Golden Blade Sect under the Demon Court's rule."
"Boom!"
Theme: Humans, ghosts, gods, and demons
