Infinite Wealth System: Crazy Tasks, Insane Rewards! - Chapter 196

Chapter 196: A New Royce?
The air cracked with force as the transporter beam dissolved into the still night of Earth.

Commander Glenn’s boots landed heavy against the dirt, his body tall and broad as his red insignia glowed faintly on his chest plate. He looked around once, eyes narrowing in vigilance.

Then his hand froze.

A second shimmer had appeared in the transporter’s residue,something that wasn’t supposed to happen.

And from it, Royce staggered forward, his shoes brushing against the ground, his smirk unbothered despite the dangerous glow in Glenn’s eyes.

“Royce…” Glenn growled, his voice carrying the weight of command. “You dare piggyback on a Commander’s transmission?”

Royce tilted his head, unshaken. “Well, someone had to make sure you weren’t going to mess this up. Besides, you’re not the only one who can handle Earth.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Glenn snapped, his hand already drawing the long tech spear strapped across his back. “This mission is mine alone. You’ve overstepped.”

Royce smiled faintly. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m just smarter than you. The Grandmaster asked for Earth to be watched, didn’t he? Then consider me the sharper pair of eyes.”

Glenn’s nostrils flared. He didn’t bother with more words. With a surge of energy, he spun his spear forward, lightning crawling down its shaft as he lunged.

Royce had been expecting it.

The first strike cut clean through the air where Royce’s neck had been a heartbeat before. Royce slid sideways, his dagger flashing from his belt, catching the spear and redirecting the strike downward.

There was a crazy spark.

“Still as aggressive as ever, Glenn.” Royce taunted. “But aggression alone won’t win this.”

Glenn snarled and pressed harder, his spear moving with the deadly precision of a man who’d fought wars longer than most could live. Each swing whistled like a blade tearing through wind, each thrust close enough to carve Royce’s skin.

But Royce was slippery. He weaved, dodged, his dagger clashing against the spear in short, sharp bursts. His cloth flared as he spun low, slashing upward. The dagger caught Glenn’s side, slicing across his armor.

The Commander hissed but didn’t falter. Instead, he kicked Royce square in the chest, sending him crashing back against a huge stone.

The stone trembled at the impact.

Royce coughed, forcing himself to his feet. “Not bad… I’ll give you that.”

“You’re not leaving Earth alive,” Glenn said coldly, spinning his spear once more. “This place isn’t for traitors.”

Royce’s smirk returned, thin and dangerous. “Funny. I was about to say the same.”

They clashed again.

This time it was brutal. Glenn’s spear lashed with lightning arcs, tearing the air apart in violent flashes.

Royce countered with sheer cunning, never meeting power with power but with misdirection…

Sidesteps, feints, dagger flicks that forced Glenn to over-extend.

Then it happened.

Royce ducked a sweeping strike, rolled beneath it, and came up behind Glenn. His dagger found the gap in the Commander’s armor at his waist. With a brutal thrust, he drove it in deep.

Glenn gasped, the lightning on his spear flickering. His knees buckled, but he swung anyway, catching Royce across the arm. Blood sprayed, but Royce didn’t let go.

He twisted the blade, forcing Glenn to stumble. With one last push, Glenn collapsed to the dirt, his tech spear clattering uselessly beside him.

Royce stood over him, breathing hard, blood running down his arm. He wiped his dagger clean on Glenn’s clothes, then bent down, unfastening the glowing signal key from the Commander’s wrist.

“Sorry, old friend,” he muttered, staring at Glenn’s lifeless face. “But survival doesn’t leave room for loyalty.”

The key pulsed in his hand. It would surely get him back to Nexus when he needed it.

For now, though, Earth was his battlefield.

He straightened, sliding the dagger back into his belt. The forest around him was silent, save for the faint rustle of wind. He thought he was alone.

Until he wasn’t.

“Impressive,” a voice said softly.

Royce spun, dagger drawn once more. His eyes narrowed as he saw a frail old woman standing calmly among the shadows, her wrinkled face lit by the moonlight.

She had no weapon, only a plain shawl draped over her shoulders.

And ye, she smiled as if she knew him better than he knew himself.

“Who are you?” Royce demanded, his voice sharp, his dagger steady.

The woman chuckled, not at all afraid.

“Names are only as heavy as the truths they carry, Royce. But since you ask, you may call me Lydia.”

Royce frowned, tension in every muscle. “How do you know my name?”

“I know more than your name,” Lydia said gently, stepping closer. Her eyes were clouded with age but piercing enough to strip him bare. “I know why you’re here. I know what you seek. And I know the weight you carry.”

Royce stiffened at once, his grip on the dagger tightened. “If you know so much, then tell me… why am I here?”

She tilted her head, the faintest smile on her lips.

“You are here because fate has wrapped you into a thread you cannot yet see. You are here because Earth is not just Earth… It is the stage of something far greater. You were sent to destroy… but in truth, you already choose.”

“Choose what?” Royce spat, though something inside him stirred uneasily.

“To decide whether the hatred you’ve clung to will blind you, or guide you,” she said softly. Then her smile faded, her tone dropping into something heavier, sharper. “And to find the one you seek.”

Royce’s eyes narrowed again, stunned and confused. “The one I seek? Don’t play games with me. Who is he?”

He couldn’t help but ask.

For the first time, Lydia’s smile widened, almost mischievous.

“The man you are looking for. You already know him. It is the one you have spent the sweetest moments of your life hating.”

The dagger slipped slightly in Royce’s grip. His breath caught, his heart slamming against his ribs.

No. It couldn’t be.

And yet, he knew. Deep down, he knew.

“Jayden…” he whispered, the name tasting bitter and electric all at once.

Lydia gave an unnoticed nodded, her eyes glimmering with both sharpness and amusement.

“Yes. The one you swore to despise, is the very one who will shape what is to come. Perhaps for salvation. Perhaps for ruin.”

Royce felt his chest tighten, his thoughts a bustling right in his brain. He remembered every clash, every argument, every look of defiance Jayden had given him.

The irritation, the rivalry, the hatred.

Everything that had happened, and how it all ended.

And now… this?

“Impossible,” Royce muttered, shaking his head. “There’s no way.”

“Believe or don’t,” Lydia said, her voice calm. “But the truth remains. He is your thread. And sooner than you think, you will have to decide what to do with it.”

Royce stared at her, his eyes glinting as his mind refused to settle.

Jayden. The man he loathed most.

The man who, according to this mysterious woman, was the center of everything.

He knew he had no choice…

He knew the only thing he could do was to make things right and save Earth, as well as saving himself.

He knew that this was the end of the former Royce Kingsley.