Chapter 76: That’s Enough

The reason Sebastian and Manager Vanessa were locked in a standoff quickly became clear to Adam.

Vanessa had proposed that the clan heirs assist in holding back the monsters that would pour out of the mutant rift in Siren Swamp, buying the Mission Hall time while they searched for and neutralized the generator sustaining the barrier.

The pulse container should have been enough to suppress the monsters. So the suggestion confused Adam at first.

But the answer came almost immediately.

A pulse container only functions properly in an environment stabilized by an incursion.

Adam had just learned that in detail. The pulse relied on a warped but stable incursion field to amplify and spread its frequency.

A mutant rift, however, was the opposite of stability. Its environment was in constant violent, volatile, and unpredictable fluctuations.

And the pulse container was never 100% effective to begin with. Environmental instability was one of its greatest weaknesses.

And there was no greater instability than a rift actively mutating.

If the mutant rift destabilized the environment enough, the pulse container’s influence would weaken, allowing monsters to slip through.

Vanessa’s proposal wasn’t reckless.

It was pragmatic.

But that didn’t make it acceptable to the heirs.

To them, her words sounded like a death sentence wrapped in official language. Asking them to “hold back monsters” while the Mission Hall searched for the generator felt less like a tactical request and more like being volunteered as disposable shields.

Meat shields to be exact.

The already furious heirs exploded.

Their dislike for Vanessa only deepened, and the idea that someone from a so-called backwater sector would even dare suggest such a thing was enough to ignite their pride.

In their minds, this wasn’t strategy, it was humiliation.

Adam could see it clearly.

And… in a way, he understood them.

They were arrogant. Entitled. Insufferable.

But they were also being asked to risk their lives for a problem they hadn’t created, in a sector that wasn’t theirs, under leadership they didn’t respect.

Adam exhaled slowly.

Yeah… Anyone would lose their mind over that.

Vanessa and Sebastian were still locked in their death stare.

At this point, it was obvious to everyone in the hall that Sebastian had become the de facto spokesperson of the heirs and he was the first to break the suffocating silence.

“Why should we be the ones doing the hard part,” he said coldly, his voice carrying across the hall, “while you people get it easy? It’s not our fault your security measures failed so badly.”

His lips curled into a sneer.

“If anything, it’s you Alliance dogs who should be throwing yourselves at the monsters while we go find the generator ourselves.”

The words ignited the room.

Cheers erupted from the heirs behind him, loud and vindictive. The frustration they had been bottling up finally spilled over. Being sealed inside the sector, cut off from their clans, unable to call for reinforcements, and then being told they might have to fight monsters for an indefinite amount of time, had pushed them past reason.

This wasn’t fear speaking anymore.

It was wounded pride.

At this point, it was clear that any meaningful cooperation between the two sides was hanging by a thread.

Vanessa remained silent throughout the outburst, her veil hiding her expression. When the noise finally died down, she spoke evenly.

“You wouldn’t be fighting alone,” she said. “Most of our personnel will be on the front lines. All I’m asking is that you support them.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed.

Something was wrong.

The manager was being too accommodating and eager. That alone set off alarm bells in his mind.

Sebastian let out a low laugh.

“Support?” he scoffed. “Maybe if you got on your knees and begged, we’d consider it.”

The heirs burst into laughter again, the sound sharp and mocking. Frustration had fully drowned out their judgment, withering their already dwindling brain cells.

To them, a mutant level-three rift was an inconvenience, not a catastrophe.

In their minds, it was only a matter of time before their clans arrived to save them.

But Adam’s thoughts went elsewhere.

What about the civilians?

The Acolytes could protect them, for a while. But they weren’t as strong as the heirs. Not even close. Time would bleed them dry.

For a fleeting moment, it looked like Vanessa was actually considering Sebastian’s demand.

Throwing away her pride to satisfy theirs.

Adam saw it clearly.

And something inside him snapped.

“That’s enough.”

The words cut through the hall like a blade.

In the next instant, Adam was standing behind Vanessa, having appeared there as if he’d stepped out of thin air.

All eyes snapped toward him.

The laughter died. The smugness vanished. The air itself seemed to tighten, the atmosphere of the hall shifting in an instant.

Adam was the most underdressed person in the hall, and yet his presence carried the most weight.

Anyone who judged by dressing alone would have dismissed him as irrelevant. But the moment he appeared, the entire atmosphere shifted, as if the hall itself had acknowledged him.

Vanessa turned to look at him, and for the briefest moment, a crack appeared in her otherwise cold composure. It wasn’t gratitude or pride.

It was relief.

Across the hall, Abigail watched him in silence. She wasn’t standing with the heirs who were shouting and posturing, nor was she openly siding with the manager.

She stood among the few heirs who still possessed something rare, reason.

They understood humility, understood consequences, and understood that pride meant nothing when lives were at stake. Such heirs were rare, but they existed.

The rest, however, changed the instant Adam appeared. The previously rowdy heirs grew quieter, their voices dying one after another. Some shifted uncomfortably.

Others avoided eye contact entirely. The confidence they had been riding on moments ago deflated as if punctured.

Adam’s gaze swept across the hall.

One by one, heirs who had been shouting earlier found the floor suddenly fascinating. His eyes lingered on faces that had laughed, sneered, and mocked. None of them could hold his stare.

Then his gaze stopped in one particular person.

Sebastian.

The arrogance Sebastian had worn like armor cracked instantly. His posture stiffened, jaw tightening as reality caught up to him.

Whatever bravado he had summoned earlier evaporated under Adam’s calm, unreadable stare.

Seeing that he had everyone’s attention, Adam spoke, his voice steady, unraised, and utterly final.

“You will all help.”

He paused as he let the silence marinate before breaking it.

“And that’s final.”

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