Chapter 297 - 297 Khan's Future

"Good. Then, like we said before. The orders from the Khan Family are out, this is for you too, Noah." Michael looked at him. "Do not hesitate. Fight, because your lives are on the line. The family will have our back even if we wipe their entire team from this planet," Michael said with a smile on his face. "Now, we should go greet the other families," he said, with a smirk while looking at Noah, who just nodded.

The fact they had such a thing right before the finals surprised Noah quite a bit, but, in the end, it was to be expected. After walking back through the corridor they had used to come, accompanied by the same man from earlier, they found themselves in a large ball room. How much this place resembled the party of those annoying rich people he'd attended with Carlos was less of a surprise, than the fact there were many less people here when compared to there. And many of the people were also those involved in the previous fights.

The atmosphere of the place was not good at all, and Noah's gaze wandered around as he saw the hushed conversations taking place. "Michael, where are they?" he took a couple steps forward, asking his team's leader.

"I can't find anyone from the Hyu family here, at all," he said with a frown. "I guess they knew what they have done, at least to an extent." He turned around, facing the group. "Avoid talking too much this time. This place seems a bit heavy after what just happened. I'll see if I find any of the elders."

It was something that Noah had expected to understand, but now seeing, the relationship between the Nine Families was worse than his expectation. Some of the teams that were eliminated were present, talking to people of their own families, but most hadn't even come here. There were just over a hundred people in the room, not counting the employeed of the restaurant.

And most of them would not even talk to those around. Only stay in their own circle, talking with hushed voices. Their cowardice annoyed Noah, but not less than when they try to prove how superior they are. Though, at least when doing that, he would get to see some funny things. As he saw a very fat man eating pompously, he recalled the party where he met Amber, back in Carlos' mansion. If something were to happen here to make time go faster, he would definitely accept it happily.

"You must be Noah, correct?" He'd noticed her approaching for a while now, without any corteousness or superiority, but Noah had chosen to ignore her until she reached him, because of the many people walking behind her. She was probably an important person of one of the families, but her expression was not that of someone who was full of herself, rather, one of someone confident.

"Yes, it is me. Is there anything I can help you with?" Noah turned to face her, looking at the surprised expression of the bearded warrior and Michael. They seemed to know her, but Noah wasn't sure how powerful she was. One thing stood up to him, though, the fact that there was nobody from a group who fought in the arena with her. For someone this important, based off of her clothes and behavior, and the blessed accompanying her, those who were in the fight would certainly accompany her for the chance of coming close to someone important in the family, but since there was nobody, this only gave Noah two options of who she could be.

"I am Yangshu, the Head of the XXXX Family. I am sorry you had to see such an outrageous fight," she said while looking at him, trying to read this man. "I see you are every bit as much as I heard about you,"

"I am just a normal blessed," he said, making most of the Khan Family blessed hold their laughter. "What do I owe you the honor of coming to me? Is there anything you need from this person?" he asked. Even to himself, trying to seem humble and respectful was a very weird experience. He didn't know what this woman wanted of him, but reading her facial expression he could see she was actually pleased with his answer, allowing him to drop his guard a bit.

"I do, those people cannot be let go without paying for what they have done. I've been contacted by a friend of yours, who spoke very highly of you. I expect you to exceed our expectations and show them what true despair is, not that stupid poking a powerless mage with a sword." Her words carried a lot of weight and power, which made Noah wonder who was his friend who could have contacted her about this. In the end, there were only two, Carlos and Marcel, so he decided it would be good to know for sure which of them was it.

"You can rest assured, we of the Khan Family will make sure to fulfill your expectation," he said, before clearing his throat. "However, for such a direct request, I expect you guys are willing to give us your favor in the future," he said, probing her for an answer.

He'd expected her to say something about a reward, but her next words made Michael and the bearded warrior pale, and gave him a very clear answer to whom the friend of his was, "Do not worry. The XXXX Family is willing to assist the Khan Family's new Head's process of eliminating the internal threats of the family and tie up all loose ends. After all, I myself consider Marcel part of my own family. I hope with this our families will finally be able to overcome the influence of the Hyu Family and their allies. I hate those people as much as he does." She let out so much information in this single sentence it took Noah a second to process everything he'd heard. But this was clear, he had to change at least a word with Marcel to make sure everything was right before the next fight.

"I understand, I hope you will enjoy the spectacle," Noah said while looking around the room with the corner of his eyes. People of the other families were staring at them, and not all of their intentions were any good. 'I see, those must be the Hyu Family's allies then...' he thought as he saw a couple of the families brooding over their ill intents. One such was that of the people they fought in the next match, and he could see a few of their blessed sat around a table with a grave expression. None of the more powerful ones were around, though, proving they had been hired.

"Maam, could I have a quick word with you?" Noah was surprised as he heard Michael's voice talk from his side. He didn't expect him to rist talking to her like this.

"Is there anything you want with me, Michael Khan?" But the woman's expression changed entirely when adressing Michael, almost as if she knew something bad about him.

"Yes, I... No, I just want to get something straight with you." Michael's expresion and posture changed, from that of the usual archer to that of someone high up in the Family.

She took a step forward, standing right between Noah and him, and spoke softly so that only they could listen, "Do you not realize how much your father is responsible for the current hardships of the Khan family?" Her words made Michael freeze, but also came with great surprise to Noah, as he though about the family affairs he'd heard about.

"I am not on his side. I fully support Marcel Khan as the next head of the Khan Family." But Michael's answer did not take long to come, and drew a smile on the woman's face.

"I see... In that case, it was a good thing you told me that, I'll keep it in mind," she answered him while turning away, but before going, she turned her face back to Noah and said one more thing, "I'm looking forward to see how you deal with those people. Please do not risk yourself, that boy trusts you quite a lot." With that said, she turned away once more, and walked away with those of her Family.

Noah took a step closer, as he saw Michael clench his fists. "Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked, to which Michael looked up at him with an angered expression.

"So you were related to the next head of the Khan Family? Why did you come with me? Don't you know who my father is?" Noah could see his anger seemed to go through him, so he didn't mind the way he was speaking. Michael was a good companion, and to Noah, that was enough.

"I am friends with Marcel, yes. I do not know who your father is, nor do I care, to be honest." Michael's eyes widened as he heard that an felt Noah's hand on his shoulder. "We should just calm down so we can do as he expects in the next match. For a head of another family to come talk about it, this next fight bears great importance to the future of the Khan Family."

"Yes..." Michael's shoulders dropped, relaxing. "Sorry about that, we should focus on what we have to do now. I can see why he holds you highly," Michael said, making Noah confused, but he knew it was something to do with Marcel, so it should be fine. At that time, Noah's phone rang, and the caller was the very person they were talking about.

"I see you won't die anytime soon, Marcel," Noah muttered, as he walked a bit away from Michael, aswering the call.