CHAPTER 178: CHAPTER 178: THE CEMENT OF ALLIANCES

He quickly reached the discreet sewer entrance that led to their underground base, hidden beneath the collapsed remains of a neighborhood café. The access was camouflaged with consummate artistry: even a trained eye would have had difficulty distinguishing the secret entrance among the surrounding debris. Mordred activated the magical unlocking sequence with a precise gesture, and the metal plate slid silently aside.

Once inside the underground network, he let out a long sigh of relief. The confined but familiar atmosphere of the abandoned tunnels contrasted radically with the stale air of the surface. Here, in the bowels of Paris, the war seemed distant, almost unreal. The walls oozed with humidity, but they were solid, protective. This was their sanctuary, their last refuge in a world gone mad.

The pain in his side had now completely disappeared, the wound entirely healed by his newly amplified regeneration. Despite this, his body still bore the stigmata of exhaustion: muscles aching from superhuman efforts, mind fatigued by the extreme concentration maintained for hours. He had pushed his limits far beyond reasonable bounds, and even his exceptional constitution now demanded rest.

Traversing the familiar tunnels with the ease of someone who knows every stone, every nook and cranny, he headed toward the main hall of their installation. The magical lighting activated automatically as he passed, creating a halo of soft light that followed his progression. These small technical details testified to the care with which they had fitted out their base - every amenity had been designed to optimize their operational efficiency.

He finally entered the main hall, and immediately, his gaze fell upon Livia. She was sitting against the back wall, leaning against a console of electronic equipment, arms crossed in a posture that fooled no one about her state of mind. Her long auburn hair framed a face where contained anger and poorly concealed worry mingled. Her green eyes, usually sparkling with mischief, fixed on him with a glacial intensity that would have made most men retreat.

The atmosphere in the room was electric, charged with that particular tension that precedes storms. Livia had obviously spent hours brooding, and Mordred could practically feel the reproaches jostling behind her tight lips. She still wore her training outfit, suggesting she had tried to channel her stress through physical activity - without much success, judging by her expression.

- "There you are at last," she launched in a deliberately neutral voice that didn’t entirely hide the underlying tension. "I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten the way back. Or perhaps you had found something more interesting than your partner?"

The sarcasm in her voice was cutting, but Mordred also detected something else - a carefully masked vulnerability, a fear she refused to admit. He knew her well enough now to read between the lines of her apparent anger.

Mordred approached slowly, hands raised in a universal gesture of appeasement, a contrite smile forming despite himself on his lips. He knew he had made a mistake by leaving without warning, but the opportunity had been too good to miss.

- "I know I should have warned you, Livia," he admitted straightforwardly, his voice carrying rare sincerity. "But I had a unique opportunity presenting itself... a chance that might never come again. I couldn’t let it pass, even if it meant leaving urgently."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, but the intensity of her green gaze betrayed her curiosity despite herself. Her posture remained closed, defensive, but Mordred already saw the first cracks in her emotional armor.

- "An opportunity?" she repeated in a tone that oscillated between irony and interest. "Are you going to tell me you went sightseeing in China while I stayed here eating my heart out? I hope for your sake that this ’opportunity’ was really worth leaving me alone here without news for hours!"

- "She was really worried," Mordred realized, observing the micro-expressions that passed over her face. "Behind this anger, there’s authentic fear. Fear that something happened to me, fear of being abandoned, fear of losing the only ally she can count on in this war-torn world..."

Mordred sat down slowly across from her, taking time to choose his words. What he was about to reveal would fundamentally change the game.

- "I assassinated Varnor Ignivara, the patriarch of a noble house. If I had to estimate his power level compared to human hunters, it would be SS."

The words fell into the silence like stones into a well. For a long moment, Livia didn’t react, as if her brain refused to process the information. Then her eyes gradually widened, disbelief giving way to profound shock.

- "The... the patriarch?!" she stammered, her voice rising to higher notes. "You mean... Varnor Ignivara? Patriarch Ignivara?"

She stood up abruptly, pacing the room like a caged beast, her hands gesticulating uncontrollably. The information was too enormous to be assimilated at once.

- "How... how is it possible? SS?? Are you that powerful?" she continued, turning toward him with a mixture of admiration and dread. "He was supposed to be invincible! Legends say he lived more than two millennia, that he survived wars that destroyed entire civilizations! And you... you killed him?"

Mordred nodded calmly, observing with fascination the emotions that succeeded each other on his partner’s face. He understood her shock; he himself still had trouble fully realizing the magnitude of what he had accomplished.

- "He was there, before me," he explained in a measured voice, mentally reliving the scene. "Focused on his military strategies, surrounded by his generals, believing himself safe in the heart of his own territory. He had lowered his guard, not expecting an attack so deep within his lines. I saw my chance - an opening lasting a fraction of a second - and I seized it."

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.

- "His death plunged their army into total chaos," he continued with dark satisfaction. "Without centralized leadership, their formations are disintegrating, their strategies collapsing. The different factions within the House of Fire will probably tear each other apart over succession, unless his daughter takes command with an iron fist. Maybe I should have stayed there, but it was becoming dangerous."

Livia slowly came to a standstill, the strategic scope of the event beginning to impose itself on her tactical mind. Her initial anger was gradually evaporating, replaced by growing admiration and understanding of the historical importance of this moment.

- "I must admit..." she said finally, her voice gradually regaining its usual timbre, "you really impress me, Mordred. This is... this is news that even in my wildest dreams, I would never have dared imagine."

She approached him, her eyes now shining with a new gleam - a mixture of respect, admiration, and something deeper that she didn’t yet want to name.

-"I knew you would understand," Mordred replied with a light smile, relieved to see her positive reaction. "That’s why I had to leave immediately. The opportunity was too precious, too rare. And now... now we have a considerable advantage."

Livia slowly crossed her arms, but this time her gesture was thoughtful rather than hostile. A sly smile was beginning to form on her lips, and Mordred recognized this expression - she was calculating, planning.

-"Very well," she declared finally, her voice taking on a more business-like tone. "I forgive you for disappearing without warning... but on one condition."

Mordred raised his eyebrows, both amused and slightly wary. He knew Livia well enough to know she never joked about negotiations.

- "And what is this famous condition?" he asked, a note of caution in his voice.

She approached even closer, her green eyes now sparkling with that familiar mischief that characterized her. When she talked business, Livia became formidable.

- "A favor," she said slowly, savoring each syllable. "A favor that I can claim whenever I want, no matter what it is, no matter when. No questions, no hesitation, no negotiations. You owe me that after leaving me here to eat my heart out."

- "Clever," Mordred thought with reluctant admiration. "She’s taking advantage of my guilt and good mood to extract an important concession. A favor without limits or conditions... that’s a dangerous blank check. But after what I accomplished, after the strategic advantage I just gave us..."

Mordred observed her determined face for a long time, her playful but firm smile. There was something endearing about this negotiation attempt, but also a tactical intelligence he could only admire.

- "A favor without restrictions?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you realize what you’re asking?"

"Perfectly," she replied without hesitation. "And I also know you’ll accept, because you know I’m right. You scared me, Mordred. You left me imagining the worst. That deserves compensation."

He sighed lightly, but his expression was amused rather than exasperated. There was something refreshing about this normalcy, about this little power game that contrasted violently with the horror and violence he had just experienced.

- "Very well," he finally capitulated. "You have my word. One favor, no matter when, no matter what. But I hope you’ll make good use of it."

Livia’s smile widened considerably, illuminating her face with victorious satisfaction. She had obtained exactly what she wanted, and they both knew it. It was a moment of personal triumph that contrasted pleasantly with the gravity of recent events.

- "I love it when a plan unfolds perfectly," she declared with a knowing wink. "Don’t worry, I won’t force you to carry my shopping or do my housework. I have much more interesting ideas."

Mordred gently shook his head, a light laugh escaping his lips despite himself. After the horrors of war, after the deadly tension of the patriarch’s assassination, this moment of complicity seemed almost surreal.

- "You’re becoming dangerous, Livia," he observed with a mixture of admiration and false concern.

- "Only for those who forget where their priorities lie," she replied with a mysterious smile. "And fortunately for you, you just proved that yours are in the right place."