Chapter 332: Harper Valeriana Whitmore [Bonus - ]
"Hail Blessed Lan—"
BZZZT!
The massive holographic display flickered violently into darkness, cutting the live feed right in the middle of the Vanguard’s triumphant victory cheer.
Harper sank back into the plush imported leather of her executive chair, releasing a heavy drawn-out sigh that echoed in the deafening silence of the massive corner office.
Her manicured fingers combed idly through her vibrant purple hair, untangling the knots of stress that had been building at her temples for the past hour.
This office was absolutely massive, occupying the entire top floor of the Valoria City Lord Association Building.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic breathtaking view of the sprawling metropolis below.
She wasn’t wearing her usual casual dungeon-diving gear today...
An obsidian-black, sharply tailored corporate suit hugged her slender frame.
Reaching up to adjust her dark silk tie, she smoothed down the crisp starched collar of her white undershirt while her mind raced a mile a minute.
’The elf was calling down a literal shower of explosive star-like attacks...’ Harper thought, her purple eyes staring blankly at the dark projector screen. ’Blessed Land also has a woman transforming into a seventy-foot primordial dragon and breathing a river of lava... then there’s that Tasmin woman moving so fast she practically teleported through the shadows.’
The overwhelming strength of the Blessed Land was actively breaking her brain.
Harper was a Lord.
She was a highly respected Unique Lord with a powerful lightning core.
She had survived lethal dungeons and built a growing, stable territory in the Known Zones but sitting here and reviewing the combat data, the harsh truth was undeniable.
’Even just one of those women in the Vanguard could solo my entire territory without breaking a sweat.’
They weren’t just summoned units... They were walking natural disasters.
And then there was the commander who had actually led them into the field.
Lord Vespera.
The internet forums, guild chat rooms, and World Council analysts were currently going completely insane with wild conspiracy theories.
Millions of viewers were actively claiming that Vespera was actually a man under some disguise artifact but the issue with that statement was that, what kind of disguise could do that in front of billions of viewers?
’And my father’s original thought of Silas being the one to own Blessed Land...’
Harper scoffed out loud, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of the dead man.
"Well, Vespera can’t be Silas," Harper dismissed the idea, her voice cutting through the quiet office.
It was just basic logic to her. They were two fundamentally different people. She really couldn’t place the exact specific reason why, and the definitive proof was resting right on the tip of her tongue, but she refused to believe that the woman and the man she knew were the exact same person.
Which meant Silas was definitely not the active Lord of the Blessed Land. He couldn’t be...
First of all, Silas was a man.
Vespera was very clearly a woman with an incredibly shapely figure hidden under that sleek silver armor. Second, their personalities were entirely mismatched.
’I really can’t imagine Silas smiling warmly and acting elegant around a battlefield like Vespera did,’ Harper reasoned internally.
Silas was a rugged and brutally efficient survivor. He didn’t pose for cameras or act like an aristocratic noble dueling for honor.
He swung his sword, optimized his gains, and protected his people.
’But then again...’
Harper paused, staring down at the polished mahogany wood of her desk.
’Does any of that actually matter?’
Whether Silas was a frontline grunt, a hidden Lord, or a simple civilian manager, it didn’t change her current feelings in the slightest.
A warm rising heat spread slowly across her pale cheeks.
’I like Silas...’
It was a simple and terrifyingly honest thought.
She didn’t like him because of his rank, and she didn’t like him because she thought he secretly owned the highly famous Blessed Land.
She liked him because she genuinely wanted to be close to him.
During the Secret Realm raid, he had stepped in front of her. He treated the people he trusted with a fierce protective loyalty that made her chest ache with longing.
’I just want to feel more of how he treats the people he cares for,’ Harper thought with a soft smile touching her lips. ’Being around him would make me genuinely happy.’
Reaching across the heavy desk, she picked up her brand new smartphone.
It was a top-of-the-line World Council model she had bought just yesterday with her newly acquired unfathomable wealth.
As she unlocked the glass screen, her mind drifted back to the chaotic blood-soaked events of the past week.
She had murdered her own father.
That much was absolutely sure.
She could still perfectly remember the exact sensation of the mana leaving her core.
She was the one who had hit him with that highly concentrated blast of White Lightning.
CRACKLE!
She could still smell the sharp tang of ozone and burning flesh from the ruined carpet of his office.
But to her surprise, she didn’t end up locked in an Association prison cell.
Apparently, absolutely everybody in the city had hated the man.
His own corporate lawyer had immediately turned on him the second the body hit the floor.
The estate workers, the mansion staff, and the abused guild members had all actively testified against his character.
Because of their combined intervention and the volume of evidence against him, Harper had easily won the resulting legal case.
It was a total landslide victory in the World Council courts.
And then came the biggest surprise of all.
Her late Mother had secretly installed a highly specific iron-clad clause in her will years ago.
The clause stated that if her Dad died under any circumstances, Harper would immediately inherit absolutely everything.
There was no probate period and no asset freezing. It was just immediate and total transfer of ownership.
So as of three days ago, Harper was a billionaire.
She now legally owned all four of the massive Lord Association Buildings that her Father had been controlling.
She controlled the lucrative leasing rights... She controlled the guild taxation fees and she controlled the internal teleporter networks that connected the sectors.
Leaning back in her chair, she reminisced about the scale of the financial corruption the auditors had uncovered in his private vault.
’No wonder the people are so mad at him,’ Harper thought with a cynical smirk. ’The man was actively stealing tens of millions of Spirit Credits from the regional treasury.’
The Lord Council was practically glad that Harper had roasted him into ash.
’I have a lot of things to do,’ she reminded herself.
She had to restructure the corrupt boards... She had to fire his old cronies and she had to establish her own supply lines and clean up the syndicate mess he left behind.
But right now, none of that corporate empire-building mattered to her.
Looking down at her glowing phone screen, she opened her private Messages tab. She scrolled down to a specific, newly added contact name.
She had already sent nine text messages to Silas.
[Hey, it’s Harper.]
[Just checking in to see if you got back safely from the Secret Realm.]
[The Association courts cleared me. I’m officially a free woman.]
[I also inherited all of my dad’s stuff. It’s kind of crazy.]
[Are you busy right now?]
[I saw the news about the Unmovable Wall approaching your sector.]
[Please be careful out there.]
[The stream just started. Blessed Land’s Vanguard looks amazing.]
[You didn’t tell me if you were from a Known Zone In The Secret Realm Or An Unknown Zone, are you watching the stream? It’s incredible.]
There were no replies and not a single read receipt.
She had pulled his private network number directly from the restricted Association directory.
’Those are the perks of being at the top of the game,’ Harper thought, smiling softly as she tapped the glass screen.
Tapping the text box at the bottom of the screen, she decided to send him one more message.
Her thumbs flew quickly across the digital keyboard.
[When you get back, can we go on a date 🥺?]
She stared at the little yellow tear-eyed emoji for a few seconds.
’Is that too desperate?’
She didn’t care.
Hitting the send button, she watched the message bubble pop up on the screen, joining the long line of unanswered green texts.
SWOOSH!
She really truly wanted to go on a date with him.
She wanted to sit across from him at a nice restaurant in the upper districts and just talk without feral monsters trying to kill them.
Harper sighed heavily, dropping her phone onto the mahogany desk.
’He’s been gone for a while.’
She assumed he was currently busy dealing with being a Lord and dealing with being a Lord and trying to survive, but wasn’t this too much time? Was something wrong?
Crossing her arms tightly over her suit jacket, her mind wandered to an irritating rumor she had heard from the Valoria City broker networks earlier that morning.
She had heard that Elora had bought Silas a gift.
She had apparently gotten him a hyper-advanced Supercar...
Harper frowned deeply, her purple eyes narrowing with intense competitive jealousy.
’It was worth eight million credits, right?’
Harper scoffed at the price tag.
Eight million credits used to seem like an impossible mythical fortune to her when her father was restricting her allowance to keep her obedient.
Now, it was literal pocket change.
’I will just get him two or three of them now.’
She could buy him an entire fleet of customized luxury vehicles.
She could even forcefully buy out his residential lease and move his place from where he currently lived.
She could move him directly into the ultra-secure hyper-luxurious penthouse suite of her primary Association tower.
She would spoil him completely rotten.
’Because I—’
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The sharp sound of knuckles rapping against heavy mahogany broke her internal plotting.
"Come in," Harper called out, straightening her posture.
The heavy office doors slowly pushed open, and her newly appointed secretary nervously entered the room.
The young woman was holding a dark fabric draped carefully over her arm.
It was the dark trench coat that Harper had worn during the Secret Realm raid and when she had killed her Father... The coat had been burned, shredded, and ruined by the lightning attack.
Now, it was completely knit up.
The magical tailors in the lower sectors had flawlessly repaired the fabric, reinforcing the seams with defensive runic stitching that gleamed faintly in the office light.
Walking briskly across the carpet, the secretary respectfully handed the coat over the desk.
"Thank you," Harper said, taking the heavy garment.
The secretary bowed her head slightly, clutching her datapad to her chest.
"The people are gathered for the meeting, Ma’am," the woman informed her quietly.
Harper nodded and stood up from her leather executive chair.
She smoothly slid her arms into the sleeves of the heavy dark trench coat, wearing it directly over her tailored business suit.
It gave her an intimidating militaristic corporate aesthetic that perfectly matched her lightning core.
Leaving the office, she walked briskly down the plush carpeted hallway with her secretary trailing slightly behind her.
They reached the grand, imposing double doors of the primary boardroom however Harper didn’t knock nor did she announce her presence.
CREEEEEAK!
She pushed the doors open and walked confidently into the massive meeting room.
Twenty wealthy, arrogant, and deeply corrupt board members were sitting around a massive glass table.
They all stopped talking and stared at her.
Some looked at her with blatant corporate disdain and some looked at her with genuine, sweating fear, knowing exactly what she had done to the previous Chairman.
She ignored all of their expressions, walking directly to the Head of the table.
Pulling out the massive high-backed executive chair, she sat down heavily. She crossed her legs under the glass table, resting her hands flat on the smooth surface.
Letting her glowing purple eyes sweep across the terrified executives, she soaked in the heavy tension of the room.
"I am Harper Valeriana Whitmore," Harper introduced herself.
Her voice was cold, crisp, and lacking of the nervous hesitation she used to carry.
"I am the new Boss."
Offering them a terrifying sharp smile, she leaned forward.
"And I am also very glad to meet you."
Far away from the clean, air-conditioned skyscrapers of Valoria City.
Out in the devastated crushed ruins of the Umbral Basin, the cratered outside of the battlefield was currently a grim depressing scene of defeat.
The scent of ozone, dried blood, and burning flesh hung thickly in the freezing morning air.
The dead bodies of the Unmovable Wall soldiers that had died in the initial apocalyptic clashes were currently being gathered into large piles by the surviving infantry.
FWOOSH!
Heavy torches and fire magic were tossed onto the piles of the dead.
The bodies were being burned in massive roaring funeral pyres to prevent the rising scent of blood from attracting feral monsters from the Unknown Zone.