"No, I'm just saying, that if even you can do that, then for me, it might be like a child's play. I'm not calling you weak," Tristan answered before turning to Arthur.
"Arthur, only you can take us out. Take me to that place. I'll take care of everything else."
"No one is going anywhere!" Kellian stated as his voice became slightly louder.
Tristan also didn't take that loud tone kindly. He was feeling insulted by Jian already and he wasn't even allowed to go and kill Jian?
"I don't remember you being this cowardly, Kellian. What happened to you? How is it that one person is enough to scare you now? Where is the old Kellian who would've wished to go out and kill that bastard more than me?"
Kellian didn't answer. He just kept his focus on the broadcast as he kept looking at his watch in between. A timer was running on his watch which was counting down.
"Is it because you're weak now?" Tristan asked.
Kellian still didn't reply, even though his eyes were suddenly filled with an estranged emotion.
"In the past, you were strong. But you split yourself in two. As your other half was destroyed, this half was left which isn't even a fraction of the old Kellian in strength. Is that why you suddenly became a coward?" Tristan asked. The more he was ignored, the sharper his words became.
Hearing the words of Tristan, Arthur looked at Tristan in surprise. Was it a conflict? Two important members of the Uprising were in a conflict? This didn't look good, especially at a time like this when unity was needed more.
Moreover, it wasn't just a fight between two ordinary members. It was someone calling out the second in command for weakness which was a much more serious thing. It was like the members didn't have trust in the person who was supposed to lead them in the absence of Lucifer.
Arthur was sure that if Lucifer had given the same order, Tristan wouldn't have said anything like this. He wouldn't have called Lucifer weak or even a coward.
For him to use these words for Kellian, it was evident that there was more to the story than what he had seen so far. It certainly wasn't about the current decision.
Kellian still didn't reply. However, it was someone else who stepped forward.
A beautiful silver-haired man stepped between the two.
"Tristan, I think you should control your words."
"Caen, you think I'm saying something wrong? I'm just speaking what I feel. There's not a single lie in my statement! Tell me honestly, is Kellian not weak now? Is he not the weakest out of all of us now?"
"It's because he sacrificed his other half for the Uprising!" Caen exclaimed.
"He didn't sacrifice anything. It was a mission and he died. If I would have died, I wouldn't have called it a sacrifice. In any case, all I'm saying is that Kellian is weak now, and that's why he has started fearing death. That's why his decision reeks of cowardliness."
"Just because he's in command now, why should I listen to him? He's just an image of his glorious past. In the past, he was strong and he was brave."
" That's when he deserved the position and the right to make decisions, because his decisions weren't influenced by fear."
"But now, not only is he weak, but he's also letting fear of a few Warlocks influence his decisions so much that he's asking us to be scared of four Warlocks and hide like rats? This isn't the making of a leader we should listen to."
The more Tristan talked, the more arrogant he seemed which surprised quite a lot of people in the room, especially the Uprising members.
They knew Tristan was sometimes a person who didn't listen to anyone and did as he felt was right, but even they didn't expect such sharp words.
They didn't feel that it was right. They couldn't understand why this guy was blaming Kellian for being weak? Even if he was weak, it didn't matter. He was still a good leader?"
Kellian didn't speak a single word throughout this entire episode, keeping his entire focus on the speech of Jian and on the timer. It was as if he didn't even care what was being said about him.
Caen cared a lot though. Caen had known Kellian for a long time. He understood Kellian and he knew his personality. Just because Kellian was weak, he wasn't going to be scared.
Moreover, Caen also felt like he was being targeted in a way. By calling out Kellian for being weak, it was as if Jian was saying that weak people weren't allowed to be leaders?
Amongst all the Uprising members, Caen was the weakest. He could only use Transformations and he wasn't a Warlock who could win battles when it came to fighting, so he didn't take such words kindly.
If Kellian wasn't allowed to lead just because he was weak, by that logic, didn't it mean that Caen wasn't even allowed to be in the organization just because he was even weaker?
"So what are you trying to say? You want to decide what we should do? You want to take all the decisions now? Just because you're stronger?" Caen asked. "Weak Warlocks can't even take decisions? Why does strength matter in decisions?"
He didn't stop there either as he further continued. "Do you think Lucifer didn't know who was strong and who wasn't when he made Kellian our leader in his absence, even after knowing that Kellian was currently weak? Do you know more than him?"
This time it was Tristan's turn to be surprised as he watched Caen talk to him in such a manner.
"Yo-"
"And you talk about fear of death being the reason behind his decisions?"
Tristan tried responding but before he could even let out a single word, Caen resumed talking, cutting his sentence short.
"What do you know about fear of death? As the current leader in the absence of Lucifer, why would Kellian worry about death? If he was scared of death, couldn't he just ask every member of the Uprising to leave this place and attack them while he stayed inside alone?"
"He wants everyone to stay back, not himself only! It's not about fear, but he's thinking cleverly. He doesn't want Uprising to lose even more people, falling into something that's clearly a trap!"
"Soon we might need to face against the entire world.. The more people we have, the better! That's why he doesn't want any of us to die now! That's why he's more careful. Even I can't see that, but you can't! How stupid can you be?!"