Chapter 411 A Heated Dispute
by 七重地狱九重殿This decision was made jointly by all alliances, and it's not going to change. The female spellcaster murmured, and finally, after once again announcing which empires would have their item gains reduced, she intended to leave the place, but her action was once again blocked by the necromancer. This time, Shaoke also appeared to intervene. However, he Blinked right in front of the female mage.
"Tell me, why are you cutting our alliance's income?" Shaoke slowly twirled his staff, clearly displeased with the decisions she had announced. "I'm just telling you, this decision was never discussed with our alliance in any form. In that case, you've got no right to stop me."
"I don't think we need to negotiate with your alliance." The female spellcaster looked calmly at Shaoke, now in a bad mood. "I hope you will abide by the decisions made by all alliances." With that, the female mage attempted to leave again but was once more blocked by Shaoke.
"Your meaning is that this decision was made without any form of discussion with the alliances being punished? If so, I'll just repeat myself: I only want the same amount of items our alliance previously had. If you can't meet this demand, you're never leaving here." The mage said calmly as he produced a black crown and carefully placed it on his head.
Shaoke's behavior immediately tensed the atmosphere. Everyone in the alliance knew about Mage Xueye's past actions here, so when he took out the black crown, they understood he was ready to fight. Some were pleased, while others grew uneasy, never expecting the mage to act this way on such an occasion.
"I only want what belongs to our alliance. No one can take our items." As he spoke, the mage quickly twirled his staff, appearing agitated. Though Mage Roman strongly disapproved of Shaoke's actions, she had no reason or ability to stop him now.
"You are not only threatening me but also the thousands of members of the Wanderers Alliance." The Hebrew ruler looked completely unconcerned, merely stating the fact calmly. "I think the members of the major alliances wouldn't want their already slightly larger share of items to be reduced because of you." The female ruler went on, "We are only reducing the supplies of the lowest-ranked alliances that have contributed nothing to the Empire, starting from now and continuing until the Empire falls. No one will refuse this." She lifted her chin slightly, glancing at the other rulers.
A warrior stepped forward and shouted loudly, "I refuse to go along with this. This rule makes no sense here. I want to do for this Empire whatever I wish; no one has the right to force a Ninth-order being to serve an Empire." With that, the warrior glanced at Shaoke and loudly opposed the allocation method, as the rules established centuries ago could not be changed so easily. This was an insult to all alliances and Ninth-order beings.
In this situation, the atmosphere became awkward. Thousands of Ninth-order beings floated silently in the air, their gazes fixed on Shaoke and the Hebrew ruler. As time passed, everyone sensed the impending battle.
"Back then, we gathered together simply to find a place of freedom. Now things have turned out like this. I believe none of you are happy to see it." After a long silence, Mage Roman suddenly flew to Shaoke's side, her silver-white hair flowing in the wind, making her look very beautiful.
"If possible, I just hope we can discuss this matter properly. After all, magic materials are crucial to every alliance." The female mage paused briefly, then added, "Moreover, this change hasn't been approved by all Nine-rank Professionals. It will make everyone uncomfortable. Here, no one dominates another; we are all equal. No one can order others to do anything." As she finished speaking, hundreds more Nine-rank Professionals stood behind Shaoke, absolutely unwilling to see the old rules broken so easily.
An Elder Mage suddenly appeared beside the Hebrew female ruler. He smiled at Shaoke and said softly, "This time, your supplies are a bit less. Over the next ten years, work hard to build your territory and make greater contributions to the Barbarian Empire. Next time, your allocation will increase."
"Don't talk to us about contributing to an Empire? If I wanted that, I would have joined my own Empire long ago! I don't want to be restrained by anyone." The necromancer let out a strange laugh, then wildly waved his staff, making him look even more sinister.
Thus, they kept arguing, everyone struggling to hold back, because once battle began, death would not just hit them but also their families—something no ruler could tolerate. The losing side would be completely erased from the Barbarian Empire.
"Everyone, I think now is not the time for these disputes. The Mage Guild has come here again, frantically searching for children with magical talent." The speaker was a young female divine archer. Though this news startled everyone, it temporarily resolved the conflicts among their alliances, so they all breathed a sigh of relief. Even Shaoke was relieved. He truly didn't want to fight here, but things had reached a point where he couldn't back down. Fortunately, the Mage Guild's appearance changed the situation. Everyone believed that after dealing with the Mage Guild, this matter would also come to an end.
"Summon all Ninth-order beings. We need to give these outsiders a proper welcome." A warrior shouted loudly, then suddenly flew upward. After locating the Mage Guild members, he couldn't wait to engage in bloody combat.
Massive spatial tears ripped open as the professionals stepped through, heading toward the Mage Guild's location. Meanwhile, Shaoke had already pulled Mage Roman back to their base. Although he wanted to vent his anger through slaughter, he knew their base was fragile. If the enemy concentrated their attack on them, the family they had worked so hard to build would be completely destroyed in the shortest time.
After returning to their territory, the mage led Mage Roman and his three daughters back to the Blue Feather Empire Wanderers Alliance territory. Here, Hegel hadn't heard about the Mage Guild yet.
"Father, what should I do now?" Hegel, who'd once been young, now looked a bit old, likely due to the burdens of family matters. Streaks of white had crept into his temples. Beside him were some young children—some from the Snow Night Family, others talented individuals found outside who could help with family construction.
Shaoke frowned. "You've been leading the family for so many years. Do I still need to tell you this? I'll go notify the other families. You take charge here." With that, he instructed Mage Roman and the others on some matters before heading to the Blue-Robed Mage's family, then notified the other families. Of course, he mainly informed those families that had lost Ninth-rank Professionals in the war.
After this, the entire Wanderers Alliance territory grew tense. Large numbers of soldiers patrolled the streets, and any unfamiliar professional was strictly inspected. Anyone bearing the Mage Guild's insignia could be killed, and their heads taken to various families for rewards.
Having experienced the bloody slaughter years ago, the ordinary residents here fully obeyed the families. They monitored each other, reporting any clues they found. As for hosting strangers, they wouldn't dare even if threatened with death. Being killed by outsiders only affected one family or individual, but if the families discovered they had helped dangerous outsiders, they would be wiped out for generations, along with relatives and friends. Seeing this, Shaoke finally felt at ease.
In under three magic hours, hundreds of suspicious outsiders were already dead by the families' hands. How many of them were actually from the Mage Guild, Shaoke and the others didn't know. But they knew that after such stringent inspections, any dangerous outsiders who might have infiltrated their territory would lie low for a while. With enough time, they could completely cleanse the territory of all threats. Some innocent casualties were inevitable, but under these special circumstances, no one cared. Death was just a number.
—Friend's new book: War Device Maniac. Available for reading if time permits.
0 Comments