Langdon dragged one last deep breath. "They were all all dead when we went to search for them."

Akhil's face froze, first in shock, then confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It seems the Titan was onto us. He probably knew that was what we'd try to do... And he killed them before we managed to get any information," Langdon explained, his voice hollow.

Akhil stood for a moment, his thoughts racing. 'And not only did we not get any information from the blacksmiths, but now we don't have any means to create weapons that we'll use for the next scenario... That bastard.'

Akhil hissed in annoyance, rubbing his creased forehead before letting out a deep, calming breath.

"I hate to admit it, but the Titan of Discord this time is much more difficult to deal with than the one from the game..."

"I have to agree with that too. Seems he's playing a step ahead of us... But I'm sure you'll be able to deal with him," Seth said calmly.

Akhil could only offer a wry smile at his words. 'I don't even have an idea what he's trying to do....' Akhil thought, looking back at the medics who were tending to the injured civilians.

'Creating a problem between the orcs and the humans, abducting an orc, stealing a crystal, appearing in the middle of an official address to cause a disaster... What is he getting at?' Akhil pondered silently, and just then, something clicked in his mind.

'But wait.... He was able to turn Ronald into a zombie with a Beast Core, doesn't that mean...!'

"He's trying to prepare the Fourth Scenario so it starts right after the Third.... Or perhaps starts while the Third is ongoing," Akhil said, gritting his teeth as he finally seemed to have caught on to the Titan's devastating plan.

"How is that possible?" Seth asked, raising a brow at Akhil's rapid analysis.

Langdon paused for a moment, as though trying to grasp the meaning behind his words, and slowly his eyes lit up from the realization.

"In the game, the Fourth Scenario was the Lone Orc... the Titan of Wrath!"

"Exactly," Akhil confirmed, his expression grim. "That's why the bastard has been targeting the orcs all this time.... He was trying to set the trigger for the Fourth Scenario."

"Shit! So now we have to deal with not one but two Titans at a time?! That piece of shit," the frustration in Seth's voice was sharp and apparent.

They all understood the crushing weight of the situation at hand. Now, not only did they have to deal with intense insider struggles and the lack of vital equipment, but they would be attacked from both sides by two converging Titan scenarios!

It was never like that in the game, and they couldn't even fathom what the end result would be this time. The trajectory of everything had changed wildly.

"And the Titan of Wrath is going to be incredibly difficult to deal with. That was why I tried my best to keep the orcs safe..." Akhil ran his hand through his hair, a sigh of frustration escaping his mouth.

"Are you talking about the description of the Fourth Scenario in the game?" Seth asked, sensing the depth of Akhil's worry.

"Yeah, the description did say that the Titan of Wrath was the last surviving orc, and wanted revenge on the humans for what they had done to his people. I honestly thought we'd escaped this scenario," Akhil admitted.

He remembered the description vividly, mainly because the Titan of Wrath was one of the titans he had the most trouble dealing with. The titan was birthed from rage after losing his entire clan to the hand of the beast horde, thanks to Akhil's plans of using them as a shield against the horde.

Which he couldn't afford to do this time, due to the changed circumstances. That was also why he had been slightly happy when he saw Ryan's form. Ryan was a carbon copy of the Titan of Wrath. And Akhil had felt that they had successfully curbed the problem... But it seemed the Titan of Discord had other, far worse plans.

'That also explains why he went ahead to steal the Beast Titan's core... If he can turn people into beasts with cores... then it's also obvious what he plans to do with the orc he abducted!' The more he thought into the Titan of Discord's plans, Akhil couldn't help but be consumed by fury.

His hands curled into tight fists by his side. 'If only I caught on earlier to his schemes!'

"This is really bad," Langdon said with a slightly shaken voice. "That means we have to start preparing for the worst possible scenario. And possibly the most difficult we've yet to face." Langdon let out a defeated sigh.

"Well, at least the good thing is that he doesn't seem to have created a district-wide discord... Or the scenario would have blown out fully by now," Akhil said, letting out a soft sigh of conditional relief.

Just then, a light, clinking metallic sound echoed, like a bell jingling around, drawing their attention instantly.

Akhil and the others immediately tensed, their heads swiveling in search of the source of the strange noise. It was not a sound of battle, but something intentionally announced.

"Look up," Langdon said, his face grim, his gaze fixed on the figure in the sky.

They all shifted their gaze upward. High in the sky, they saw what appeared to be a metallic bird, its call causing the repetitive jingling sound. Beneath the bird's belly, a brightly glowing Beast Core Crystal pulsed with energy, acting as the power source.

The bird came to a sudden, silent stop in midair, its large, segmented wings making a quiet clinking sound as they held position.

"That device... Is it? A Bronzebeak Envoy?" Akhil asked, staring at the strange, intricate metallic bird.

"I think it is," Seth said, his tone playful but now noticeably serious, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"A Bronzebeak Envoy is only used by the dwarves... We don't have any dwarves in this district, do we?" Akhil asked, his expression a mix of confusion and curiosity. He hadn't heard anything about the dwarven faction since he'd woken up.

"Well, that's because the dwarves aren't in our district... they're in the one right after this one," Langdon said, smiling wryly. "We didn't tell you... but..."

"But what?" Akhil raised an eyebrow, sensing something deeply significant in Langdon's reluctant tone.

"The three top-tier blacksmiths we found, the ones we told you about... they were all Dwarves."

Akhil turned his gaze back to the Bronzebeak Envoy, his expression darkening instantly. "Then I believe this isn't going to be good news." The Titan of Discord's schemes were immediately unraveling into greater, more organized threats.

Just then, the Bronzebeak reared its belly, exposing the pulsating core. A bright light shot out from it, projecting a holographic image of a short, stubbled figure with sharp, unrelenting brown eyes.

Despite his short muscular build, the man's projected presence was intimidating, almost oppressive.

"Ahem..." The projected figure of the Dwarf cleared his throat calmly, before his expression turned to stone. "Some months back, the human settlement requested for our aid with weapons, and we provided them that, even allowing a few members of ours to leave and join you. However, thanks to our friend here..."

The projected image shifted, briefly showing the figure wearing the mask, who waved his hand mockingly at the transmission point. A vein pulsed by the side of Akhil's head as he saw the masked man, but he forced himself to continue listening. He could already tell that nothing good was coming from this message.

"...we have just received news and confirmed that you've killed one of our own, and are making plans to enslave us! Even after all our help!" The anger in the Dwarf's voice as he made the statement was palpable, the projection radiating cold fury. "Regardless, I'm sending this message as an official warning... We're all recovering from the hit of the mutation, but it doesn't mean that you can look down on us!"

As the Dwarf made the statement, a muffled chuckle came from Akhil's side, and before Akhil could react, it turned into a full-blown, booming laugh.

"I'm sorry, he said we can't look down on them.... He's a dwarf for crying out loud, he's already below eye level!" Seth roared out loud, barely catching his breath between his guffaws. His voice echoed clearly through the entire devastated administrative area.

Akhil could only facepalm, a profound sense of despair washing over him. "Seth, have you forgotten the Bronzebeak Envoy sends messages in real time?!"

"Oops," Seth muttered, the realization draining the color from his face as he slowly stared back at the projectile.

The short Dwarf stared back at him with a piercing gaze, his face turning an angry, furious red. His teeth were visibly clenched. The oppressive silence lasted only a moment, but it felt like an eternity.

The projectile turned off in an instant. The metallic bird zipped away with a final, furious clinking sound, leaving the silence ringing in the air.

Akhil let out a tired, defeated sigh. "Thank you so much, Seth. We're officially screwed."

And almost on cue, the long-awaited, dreaded notification appeared, flashing across the vision of everyone present who was connected to the system.

{Ding!}

{The Third Scenario Has Begun!}

{Title: The Wrath of the Dwarves}

Seth had officially set off the trigger for the Third Scenario, an accidental act that would leave even Mask himself surprised by its timing.

It was a subtle, and now catastrophic, reminder never to call a dwarf short.

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