Of course, while the docuntary indeed reached the eyes of people with ulterior motives, it accomplished its real job well enough.
Near one of the fronts, close to the asteroid belt, the most influential warriors of humanity had gathered.
In the heart of the colossal room, a throne of gleaming gold dominated the space. Upon it sat a man of unparalleled power, his cold, crimson gaze sweeping across his subordinates with undeniable authority.
Before him, the leaders of the most powerful factions waited quietly, so accompanied by their most loyal and trusted personnel.
Among them stood King Arthur, leader of the Golden Vanguard. Behind him, the sisters Eliza and Elina stood, their backs as straight as arrows, their auras radiating the power of Lords. Yet here, they seed more like mice in a lion’s den than the vicious predators they truly were.
"Everybody is present, it seems." The Emperor scoffed, lowering the temperature by several degrees.
After a brief silence, Arthur spoke up.
"It seems the honor of starting the eting shall befall upon ." He said calmly.
Since Arthur was believed to be the second strongest man, only to the Emperor, nobody objected.
"The reason for our gathering today is as follows..." A frown spread across his peerless face. "With each passing day things are starting to seem more dire. The asteroid belt has been breached in nurous locations, causing our forces to be split dangerously thin..."
At that mont King Zaiden, Immortal Legion’s leader, gave his proposal.
"It’s good that you’re all finally acknowledging the truth." He said mockingly. "Now, let’s not waste any ti. If we draft more cannon fodder into our ranks, the situation should improve."
Essentially, Zaiden wanted to solve the problem by throwing soldiers to their deaths.
"I am against it." King Mateo declared. With his empty eye sockets, no one could mistake him for anything other than the leader of the Heavenly Pact.
"We have more than enough soldiers stationed." He exclaid. "What we truly lack is a sufficient number of experienced warriors! Every individual here is capable, but we can’t be in multiple places at once. Not cannon fodder, but powerful soldiers are the answer to our predicant!"
Arthur scratched his chin.
"Would focusing even more of our strength here really be a wise choice?" He wondered. "Aside from this front, most of the planets are in a state of constant war. Taking more of their best fighters would inevitably lead to unforeseen consequences."
Zaiden shrugged.
"Beggars can’t be choosers. Let’s vote for Mateo’s suggestion and see where we go from there."
A vote followed, with the majority supporting the drafting of strong personnel. Like always, the Emperor had abstained from voting, as his singular vote held more weight than anybody in the room combined.
With a sigh, King Arthur clapped his hands.
"Okay... so be it. Do any of you have proposals on who we should draft?"
As expected, chaos erupted. The real reason behind the drafting of these so-called esteed soldiers beca clear: every faction sought to place their own mbers at the frontline. Lured by the promise of fa and power, none could resist the temptation.
Truly a sad sight to behold. If the people gathered here were legitimately united with the goal to help mankind, they wouldn’t be trying to one-up each other, all with the goal to rise to the very top.
And even worse, whatever King Arthur could say would fall upon deaf ears. He, after all, was the leader of the strongest faction to exist. The other leaders would just claim he wouldn’t be able to understand their feelings even if he tried.
’Are you... really fine with this by lineage?’ Arthur thought dejectedly, gazing at the stone-cold Emperor.
Naturally the Emperor couldn’t read Arthur’s thoughts, but even if he could, he wouldn’t lift a finger during the heated debate.
So leaders were outraged by the small number of personnel they’d been allowed to send, while others wore wide smiles, eagerly anticipating the rise in power that awaited them.
"Does anyone have any other suggestions?" Arthur asked, his eyes dimd with sheer disappointnt.
The room fell into silence, most of the suggestions already either shot down or accepted. Just as it seed like everything was winding down, a feminine voice suddenly pierced the air.
"I have."
"..."
All eyes settled on the speaker.
From the start to the end of the discussion, only the Emperor and the faction leaders had spoken. There was no rule preventing their followers from voicing their opinions, but with the Kings and Queens present, no one seed bold enough to speak up.
No one... Except Nicole.
King Owen raised an eyebrow at his sister’s sudden interruption but didn’t stop her. There was mutual trust between them.
"Woman... you are getting greedy. Haven’t we already accepted enough mbers of the Sacred Order?" Zaiden bellowed, his black eyes locking onto the woman as he unleashed his aura in a threatening manner.
However, neither Nicole nor her aura as a Supre Lord showed any sign of yielding to the King’s intense gaze.
"They are not mbers of our faction."
"Oh?" Abruptly Zaiden’s rage softened, curiosity taking hold instead. "Who are you talking about then?"
Wordlessly Nicole tapped a few tis on her device, causing a hologram image to appear in the middle of the room.
As for the content shown, it was none other than the docuntary with Michael and the soldiers facing the robot threat!
’Michael?!’ Arthur’s eyes narrowed to the size of needles. He knew things on Venus had been deteriorating, but with the dangers here, he hadn’t had ti to learn about the rogue AIs causing havoc. What shocked him even more, though, was seeing the man who had been lingering in his thoughts appear before everyone here!
In a heartbeat, all his efforts to keep Michael’s existence a secret went down the drain!
Nicole didn’t show the whole docuntary, of course, just the highlights.
"Who... is this person?" Zaiden tilted his head to the side, his curiosity intensifying.
"Michael, leader of the Indomitable Alliance faction." Nicole replied, her words capturing the full attention of every leader present. "Aside from showcasing a monstrous ability to adapt to any situation, he is followed by several individuals you might recognize..."
She paused briefly.
"Naly, Victoria, a mber of the Golden Vanguard, and Claire, a mber of the Heavenly Pact."
Gasps and whispers rippled through the room.
"One of King Arthur’s granddaughters?"
"The infamous White Angel?"
"Why have I never heard of this?!"
All eyes turned to Mateo and Arthur.
"My mbers are free to do as they wish," Mateo said, a puzzled expression evident on his face. "Though her actions surprise greatly, she may do as she sees fit."
"I have many potential heirs." Arthur said, his words coming out a bit clumsily. "I have no intention of spoon-feeding anyone. Whatever they choose to do is of no concern to mine."
Because the two Kings were surprised, though for different reasons, their statents were regarded as the truth.
No one had the chance to utter another word as chilling laughter rang out across the room.
"HAHAHAHA!"
It was the Emperor.
"Indomitable Alliance faction, you say?!"
Every breath hitched in unison. This was the first ti the gathered soldiers of humanity bore witness to the Emperor displaying such intense emotion... It being an amusent, of all things.
"I have heard and seen enough! Good find, my daughter!" The Emperor rejoiced.
"From henceforth the Indomitable Alliance, accompanied by their leader Michael, shall aid our efforts in dealing with the asteroid belt!"
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