“So I’d like to hear your opinions on how we are to proceed through this agenda.”

“My opinion regarding that… ”

The Great Council progressed smoothly. Many items had already been discussed and dealt with according to the interests of each country.

The King of Divide, who was acting as the facilitator of the meeting, led the council competently. When discussion slowed down and got stuck on certain topics, he would suggest a reasonable compromise for each party. When the different opinions were deeply conflicting, he would skillfully summarize the lengthy conversation to allow participants to regain clarity. He would also calm down any uproar with his distinct charisma, as the need arose for such.

“I can’t possibly believe that he is working with the Outsiders.”

This was Priscilla’s comment, after watching him for the duration of the meeting thus far. “I’ve only met him a few times at the past councils, but I can’t see any differences between how he acted then and now. He seems like his usual self.”

The King of Divide looked no different than normal.

Zod Exarion mumbled with a puzzled look.

“Even if he’s with the Outsiders, he didn’t need to act in such an overt way.” Desir agreed wholeheartedly, and nodded in response.

“Definitely. I don’t understand how Priscilla can still be uncertain.”

From the perspective of the Outsiders, there was no need for Clora Baldershu to reveal his connection to the Outsiders.

It was a totally unnecessary risk.

“Nevertheless, he did it anyway… Perhaps they are confident in their victory?” Checkmate.

The Outsiders could afford to make grand gestures if they were certain of victory. Desir remembered the King’s tone and overt threat.

His arrogance was as if Desir and company were already dancing in the palm of his hand. His tone had a sense of superiority that said he could destroy them at any time.

‘But what kind of plan do they have to be so sure of victory… ?’ He could not guess how they would act.

There was one obvious fact.

“If the Outsiders are truly confident in their victory, that means they have some plan to get rid of us. Most likely, it’ll happen while we’re here in Divide.”

“… but we don’t yet know how they will move.”

“We can still eliminate possibilities. They wouldn’t take us head-on in a stupid manner; they’re almost certainly plotting something cunning from the shadows.”

It wasn’t just Desir sitting on pins and needles. The entire group showed signs of growing anxiety.

In the meantime, the council continued.

“We’d like to raise an issue that Divide faced recently.”

When it was the chairman’s turn, the King of Divide took the floor.

“I’m sure you are all aware that the Hebrion Empire recently demanded enormous compensation from us under false pretenses.”

He continued.

“Although their evidence wasn’t clear, they concluded that we supported a revolt in the Empire. This act is no different than any other act of violence. Just because the Empire is more powerful than us, they committed awful violence upon our little Kingdom. Our Kingdom begrudgingly accepted the Empire’s offer to prevent the worst outcome, war; but something like this should not happen again. In order to restrain the Empire from ruthlessly enforcing whatever demands they see fit upon the other Kingdoms of the Western Kingdom Union, I’d like to propose the Western Kingdom Union to band together to retaliate militarily when the cause is considered just.”

The Great Council was shaken into a stir for a few minutes.

While many had heard rumors of the anti-Empire ideology festering in secret within Divide, this was finally concrete proof of it. They had only heard about it through indirect means before.

The attendees began to whisper. Desir could not quite make out what they were saying though. “… Well, no wonder Divide is gritting their teeth. More than five of their merchant associations were disbanded.”

“They have been at odds throughout all of history. They seem extremely determined this time though.”

The relationship between Divide and the Empire was very famous, after all. As a matter of fact, the anti-Empire ideology that had been around since the Western Kingdom Union was first established, was strongly influenced by Divide’s efforts. The Kingdom of Divide was practically the chair country of the Western Kingdom Union.

King Clora finished his case with an emphatic tone.

“I am very saddened by this incident that Divide just went through, but my opinion is a bit different to King Clora’s.”

It was the King of the Prillecha Empire, Gried, who spoke up.

“King Clora, I heard that what Divide traded with the rebel forces in the Hebrion Empire was munitions.”

“… Correct. Nobody can prohibit which merchant association trades with which dominion.” Gried cowered back a little under Clora’s fierce glare.

But he did not back down and continued to share his beliefs.

“S-Sure. But from the Empire’s perspective, it could be seen as though Divide supported the revolt through the trading of munitions. Without knowing the details, I would not know if it’s true or not. I do think Divide is responsible for not recognizing the possible misapprehension.” No one could imagine the Kingdom of Prillecha being this vocal as the weaker country of the two.

“Unless the Empire is explicitly suppressing a smaller country, the Western Kingdom Union has no reason to step in.”

The attendees at the Great Council seemed surprised with Prillecha pushing forward its opinion, despite it being the smallest country. It wasn’t as if Gried was alone, however; after he finished speaking, strong opinions sympathetic to his own began to fill the council room…

“That’s true. This is an issue between Divide and the Hebrion Empire.”

“We cannot say this is the general sentiment of the Western Kingdom Union.”

Even the countries who agreed with Divide showed lukewarm responses in committing to such a treaty.

“… Well, I understand why Divide is pushing this so hard, but it would be very risky to turn our Western Kingdom Union’s back on the Empire.”

There was hardly any country willing to help Divide, although they were willing to tolerate Divide’s efforts at resisting the Empire. If it was just one year ago, they likely all would have sided with Divide on this issue.

Back then the anti-Empire ideology had considerable weight. Due to Desir’s effort, the relationship between the Empire and the Western Kingdom Union had changed drastically. Desir had since joined the Royal Guard, bringing him close to the Emperor of Hebrion, and continued to show dedication towards improving this relationship. With a position of such power, the growing relationship between Hebrion and the Western Kingdom Union had never been this strong.

For once, the Western Kingdom Union could see the distinct possibility of becoming intimate with the Empire.

“… Therefore, we can sum it up as that the Western Kingdom Union will not support Divide in retaliation, but we will allow Divide to act independently… ”

“I see. I understand.”

He seemed to have read the atmosphere of the room, the sentiment of the Western Kingdom Union.

“Well, I see. I understand what’s happening here.”

The King of Divide nodded before looking around the room and smiling. ‘What does he understand… ?’

As if a clock began counting down, Desir realized something unusual. Just as he was about to stand up.

*Thump*

A low rumble could be heard. The building shook a little as if there was an earthquake. Everyone could feel the tremor.

* * *

The end of the spear broke.

Siegfried was flung to the ground.

He looked extremely awful.

His white silver armor was completely destroyed. There was barely a patch of it that was whole. Several of the largest holes, almost as big as a fist, were concentrated on his chest and waist area.

The floor was slick with his blood. He blankly stared at Swan. “Did you really come at me with such petty skill?”

Swan sneered at him, dumbfounded, but Siegfried could not say a word. He just glared at her. He had the look in his eyes that seemed to intimate that he was unconvinced in his loss, rather than the resentful expression one would expect from someone so thoroughly thrashed. The lofty knight full of pride was long gone.

Swan gently stood on Siegfried’s neck.

“I did warn you. I told you that you’d better pretend to have not seen me and just go.” *Thud*

She ended the pitiful Siegfried by applying enough pressure to snap his neck.

She looked around. There were numerous people collapsed on the floor, other than Siegfried. There was a great battle between the Flying Dragon Division and the Side Guard that had sneaked in.

The result was a complete victory.

Swan Katarina’s power was overwhelming. Once she joined their battle after getting Siegfried under control, nobody could offer much resistance against her.

Every one of the Flying Dragon Division who came into the tower was killed, and only two of the Side Guard had died in exchange.

But they didn’t think they won at all.

“Soon enough the full military force of Divide will flood in here. We have less than five minutes left.”

Their existence was totally exposed. They had to run away without the luxury of being able to savor their victory. It was only a complete victory if they managed to get all of the information they had acquired to Desir.

“Yes. We better retreat right now.”

She murmured before glaring at the tower’s surroundings. The traces of a fierce battle clearly remained. In order to get the situation under control as quickly as possible, she had used all of her power. Nothing but debris remained inside this tower, after her mighty aura swept through it. Staircases had crumbled, and there was nowhere whole left to stand on.

“But this is weird.” Swan muttered.

After getting hit by her ridiculous aura, the pillars and the outer wall were still intact, while nothing else was.

‘Isn’t this tower just some facility… for chimeras?’ She gulped.

She looked at the tower once more, noting the external were in pristine condition. “What if the chimera manufacturing was just a front?”

“What?”

The Side Guard were stunned by such an abrupt question.

Her eyes traced the intact walls.

Though everything including the labs had been wrecked, the first floor was entirely fine. The basement.

“… ”

She pulled the string of her bow taught, convinced she was right. She gathered a massive amount of aura.

Even a building as tough as this one couldn’t possibly resist Swan’s aura when it was focused this densely.

She let loose.

A powerful blast swept over everything, but the floor surface remained intact. It wasn’t only because the surface was strong.

The force that had stopped her aura was standing opposite of Swan.

As Swan swung her head towards the source, a man wearing a crow mask came into view. “… you.”

Swan widened her eyes.

In front of her stood one of the executives of the Outsiders. She had no idea how long he had been standing there. “Long time no see.”

“… Yes, it’s been a long time. Is this the first time since the revolution?” The tension released from her face.

“You’ve been watching from the start?”

“… ”

“The only reason why you would expose yourself now is because there’s something below me that you can’t afford to expose.” Crow Mask started invoking magic.

“You’re always so bothersome. You should’ve left after finding out about the chimera.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

It was just as she had deduced. The chimera were just a decoy.

Swan stepped back. She wanted to operate her communication pad at the same time, but it wouldn’t connect. She looked up at Crow Mask, bewildered.

“Unfortunately, you can’t operate communication magic here.”

“Mmm… Must be quite an interesting secret then.”

What was the true purpose of this tower?

Although the production of chimera was a secret worthy of concealing at all cost, this was beyond the value of even that.

“Once I get out of here, I’ll be able to use my communication device.”

Swan drew the string of her bow taught once again. As she gathered her aura, bluish arrows began to form around her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll kill you, find out what’s below, and let everyone know without fail.”