"You are wrong."
But the General shook her head.
"I have a way out.
This doesn’t have to be this way."
"You are correct."
Kael nodded as well, agreeing with her words.
"It did not have to be this way."
He repeated, but then, his icy blue eyes turned even colder and—
"But your actions left no choice."
He spoke as if he had already made up his mind, but the General did not back down—
"Kael, listen to ."
She called him, this ti, with an intensity that did not allow Kael to speak further.
"If actions are not taken, you will be branded as a felon by the Sky Kingdom. Once that happens, it won’t just be the Sky Kingdom you have to worry about—you will be facing the entire Nerathis."
"I do no—"
Kael tried to answer but—
"I know."
Aurelia interrupted.
"I know you do not care, I know that you are strong enough to face all of Nerathis if you have to, but...
Nerathis is not prepared for this.
You already know Nerathis is at a critical balance, a balance that might break any ti now, not to ntion there is also the Twilight and the Corrupted Beasts—there are too many threats around for us to start an infighting.
In a situation like this, if the world turned against the Hero, it will... lead to destruction.
Billions will perish, all beasts would fall to corruption, and I may not know how strong you have gotten in this short while, but I do know that you would not want innocents paying for the mistakes my n and I made."
"..."
Kael turned silent and clenched the sword in his hand.
Aurelia’s words affected him—the woman was not wrong. He did not want Nerathis to fall. And for Nerathis’s survival, whether he wanted to admit it or not—the Sky Kingdom was necessary.
He had already cut out Drakthar, the strongest kingdom, from his list of potential allies. The Magic Empire Xenthalor didn’t seem like a strong candidate, especially after their recent experints and dealings with the Power of Corruption. The Grand Council of Gold couldn’t be trusted either—especially if Xenthalor, the richest kingdom, sided with the enemies, the Council would move where the gold was.
The only ones actually left were Eryndor, the Church of Feraos, and... Zephyria, the Sky Kingdom.
If possible, Kael did not wish to turn any of these into possible enemies.
But...
Things didn’t seem like they were going the way he wanted them to.
"I will make sure you are not branded as a criminal."
While Kael was thinking about all this, Aurelia spoke, making him look at her.
"I will beco your spokesperson in the Sky Kingdom. I will take full responsibility. I will make them realize what I have realized.
I will tell them how strong you have beco, I will tell them how important you are for Nerathis’s survival, and...
I will also tell them that you do not need the Kingdom’s training to grow—you can do that on your own. So I will make sure the Sky Kingdom will give up on pursuing you and will put in efforts to ally with you instead—as equals."
Aurelia spoke in a confident, convincing tone, showing her conviction while her mind ca up with ways of how she would complete what she just said—the people she would talk to, the people she would bring to her side, the evidence and witnesses she would use. She began thinking about everything.
But then—
"And why—"
Kael spoke, his voice still as calm as before—no, this ti, it was... colder.
"—should I believe you?"
He asked.
And Aurelia...
She opened her mouth, but no words ca out.
And Kael did not stop.
"You already failed once.
Your n broke the word you gave.
You couldn’t even control your subordinates. What makes you think you would be able to convince people who are your equals or even your superiors?
Do not joke with , Sky Serpent General."
Kael raised his gaze as he looked down on Aurelia and—
"Even if you believe yourself,
I have no reason to believe you.
As for the Sky Kingdom branding as their enemy... I’ll deal with it when it happens."
He spoke directly.
There was no anger in his tone.
No hatred.
Just an unwavering certainty that sent chills down Aurelia’s spine.
For a mont, neither spoke.
The air was heavy with tension—the soldiers and their beasts watching everything play out fidgeted constantly—one wrong word, and it would end in blood again.
Kael too, was prepared.
He had his eyes on Vaya, the beast was Aurelia’s strongest, a creature with physical stats stronger than him or even Igni’s.
Without Ascendant of the Ancients, dealing with it would be difficult, but... it wouldn’t be impossible either.
If he used all his skills and tid them right...
He would have a decent advantage—an advantage that could be turned into victory.
As he thought about all this, the air around him turned heavier.
Cirri began acting too, spreading her senses to prepare for the final battle—the battle against the General who would not hold back.
Aurelia too sensed the air around Kael changing; she saw how he held his sword and how his body language changed.
It was clear—
Kael was prepared.
He would move any mont now and—
"Then I have a third option!"
Finally, Aurelia exhaled—she was still unwilling to use this option, but from the looks of it, she didn’t seem to have any other choice—not when she wanted to avoid a fight against Kael at any cost.
No, she wasn’t scared.
When she woke up and saw the death and destruction around her, she did wonder whether she could have done that if it were her in his stead, and the answer that ca to her mind was no—but this did not an Aurelia was scared.
She was the Sky Serpent General, one of the most ferocious Ninth Stage Warriors in the entirety of Nerathis.
She did not feel fear.
She would rather accept death than bow down and back away from a challenge because of fear.
But...
This wasn’t about her.
This was... much bigger.
This... wasn’t about challenge—it was about survival—and not just hers or her subordinates’ survival, it was about the entire world’s survival.
Even for her, she didn’t dare take this chance.
Therefore—
She gave in.
"Use us."
She answered when she noticed the curious look in Kael’s eyes. While he was still on guard and prepared for battle, the little flicker in his eyes was all she needed to keep her hopes alive.
"Use... you?"
Kael furrowed his brows.
And Aurelia nodded.
"Yes."
She looked into his eyes again and—
"As bargaining chips."
Kael’s expression didn’t change, but Igni and Vitaria exchanged glances behind him, watching carefully.
The General, on the other hand, continued her explanation.
"My life still has value to the Kingdom.
I am young, and I do not have a successor who would take my position if I suddenly disappeared. The Sky Council would not want to lose —that would leave too big of a void in the ranks.
A void that will cause further chaos before it is filled—chaos the Kingdom isn’t ready for, especially in a situation as tense as the current one."
Aurelia continued looking into Kael’s eyes and—
"If you kill , they’ll be forced to avenge us to save their pride, but if you keep us alive and offer us..."
"They’ll negotiate."
Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Exactly."
Aurelia nodded.
But once again, Kael wasn’t convinced—
"I do not believe you are as valuable to them as you say you are.
You were pretty weak when I fought you."
He responded coldly. Aurelia, however, did not take those words to heart—
"It is not a matter of value, Hero Kael."
She shook her head.
"It is about pride."
Kael narrowed his eyes at those words.
"The Sky Kingdom isn’t foolish; they too, do not wish for you to beco their enemy.
But—
You’ve already done enough to be seen as their enemy. You have ’disrespected’ them by killing their n. If they do not act, the world will see it as them giving into fear.
Fear of a child who barely ca to this world a few months ago.
It will be humiliating, and the Kingdom will never accept such humiliation.
But if you offer sothing—or soone—they value in return for peace, the Council will not give away that chance because then, you’ll have given them a reason to back off without losing face."
Aurelia spoke, and for an instant, Kael’s expression changed.
Those words...
They sounded... logical.
Kael lowered his sword slightly, the tense air around him lightened, showing that he too was considering what Aurelia just said—
But just then, Kael ca up with another question—
"Even if I believed that, how do I know you and your n won’t turn against later? What if I accept your offer and take you with , and then you betray , escape, or worse—spread chaos where I live?"
And at that question, the General stared at him with a deadpan look on her face—
"Just... what do you take for...?"
How paranoid was this guy?
Kael, however, did not care about her thoughts—
"Soone I cannot trust."
He answered directly.
User Comments
0 comments from readers