Chapter 455: Conner’s Choices

Conner stared at the map of the Southern Continent that was plastered on the wall of his office. It had been two hours since his talk with William and he was thinking long and hard on what his next course of action would be.

To the West lay the outskirts of the Hellan Kingdom.

To the North the Anaesha Dynasty.

To the South was the Zelan Dynasty.

Lastly, the Kingdom of Freesia in the Far East.

The four powers that shared the Southern Continent and had each other in a deadlock. After the Continental Spell was activated, these four powers had lost their leaders and fell into chaos. 

Right now, the Kingdom of Freesia and the Anaesha Dynasty belonged to Empress Sidonie. She was backed by the Kraetor Empire, and held considerable forces of her own thanks to the Myriad Ant Queen.

Right now, she occupied half of the playing field. One can even say that, when it came to military might and resources, she stood at the apex of power at this point in time.

Then there were the Elves who occupied the Zelan Dynasty to the South. Although William's Alliance had failed to destroy the Teleportation Gates, they still gave the Elves a crushing blow. 

It was quite unfortunate that two powerful Guardian Beasts were able to pass through the Teleportation Gate before it was destroyed by Empress Sidonie's Ant Army.

Eneru, the Qilin, and Drauum, the Ancient Golem. Both of them held considerable power, especially the Ancient Golem who was the biggest threat among the two. It alone had the power to destroy fortifications and topple cities.

Even though there would be no reinforcements coming to aid the Elves anytime soon, Drauum was more than enough to deter any further moves against the Elven forces stationed in the Zelan Dynasty.

Then there was the Hellan Kingdom. Among these three powers, it was currently the weakest of them all. 

Conner sighed as his eyes landed on the kingdom where he currently was and shook his head helplessly.

'If only the Hidden Domain hadn't disappeared,' Conner thought with regret. 'The resources inside would have been more than enough to create tens of thousands of Super Soldiers that could be used as the main bulk of our vanguard.'

Conner already understood that the greatest threat they were facing was Drauum. If he could somehow convince Empress Sidonie to keep the Pseudo-Demigod at bay, he was confident that he and William would be able to overwhelm the Elves if they worked together.

'The problem is that I don't know the strength of the forces that Celine's disciple has,' Conner mused. 'Since they launched a preemptive strike to destroy the Teleportation Gate, that means that they have an army or something similar that is strong enough to defeat the Elven Defenders that are stationed to protect their means of calling for more reinforcements from the Silvermoon Continent.'

Conner had a feeling that even if he asked William to tell him how many forces he had under his banner, the latter would not tell him anything. If he was in the same position, Conner would have done the same. 

'I only have two choices,' Conner mused as he looked at the Anaesha Dynasty. 'Swear my allegiance to the Empress Sidonie, and have the backing of the Kraetor Empire, or stay in this Kingdom that has no hope of defeating the Elven Army.'

His subordinates, who were responsible for escorting the two Princes to the Anaesha Dynasty, had reported that the beautiful princess was now an Empress. Conner knew what that meant and it made him frown. 

'I only talked to her using a communication crystal, but it was more than enough to tell me how dangerous she is,' Conner's fists unconsciously clenched when he remembered the talk he had with Empress Sidonie. 

Conner had a nagging feeling that if he ever allied himself to the Kraetor Empire, the Young Empress would not take any chances and use her Charm Ability on him. The Leader of Deus wasn't too confident that he would be able to resist her, even if he used artifacts that would increase his resistance against Charm.

Conner laughed wryly as he rubbed his forehead with his hand. 

'If you think about it, what other choice do I have?' Conner gritted his teeth as his gaze landed on the lands of the Hellan Kingdom. After organizing his thoughts, the Leader of Deus activated the ring on his finger and relayed his order to his right-hand man Calum.

Now that he had made a decision, he would see it through no matter what the result would be. 

-----

William focused on controlling the Flames of Purification as the ingredients inside his Yin Yang Cauldron merged together. 

Although he looked calm on the surface, he was also feeling anxious about what Conner's decision was going to be. He never thought that there would come a time when he would be forced to put aside his differences with The Organization and work towards a common goal together.

In order to not dwell on this anxiety, he decided to just increase the level of his Alchemist Job Class by concocting acid bombs for his Rainbow Bird Aerial Brigade. For now, he had only been able to create an acid that was strong enough to melt reinforced steel.

It was a far cry from what he had envisioned, but William knew that it couldn't be helped. He was only an amateur that was throwing things at the wall to see what stuck in place. 

Two minutes later, the Yin Yang Cauldron glowed indicating that the concocting process had succeeded.

< Experience Points Gained: 5,000 >

William wiped the sweat on his forehead using the back of his hand, before siphoning the newly concocted acid to small bottles that he would later distribute to the Angray Birds. The rainbow-colored birds were currently helping his forces clear the Dungeon of Atlantis.

His lovers were in the Dungeon as well because they didn't want to disturb William when he was crafting things on his own.

William had just sealed the last bottle of acid when the door of his room suddenly opened. 

Celine looked at her disheveled disciple and the bottles of acids that were neatly arranged on the floor beside him. She sniffed and her nose immediately wrinkled when she detected the foul stench of acid in the air.

"I didn't know that you also knew Alchemy," Celine said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this one of those Job Classes you told me about in the past?"

William nodded as he placed all of the acid bottles inside his ring of conquest. He then used his Water Magic to clean his Yin Yang Cauldron before storing it in the ring as well.

"Is there something you need, Master?" William asked. 

He knew that Celine wouldn't come find him unless it was something important, so William focused his attention to her and waited for her answer.

"Conner contacted me a few minutes ago to tell me that he wanted to talk to you. I'm guessing that he has made his decision."

"I see. By the way, Master, what time is it?"

William had been too busy with his experiments to check the time, but he was sure a day hadn't passed since he had his meeting with the Leader of Deus.

"The clock just struck midnight," Celine replied. "Conner is someone that doesn't want to waste any time after he makes a decision. Go take a bath first before meeting him. We don't want our possible ally to change his mind because of your disheveled state."

Celine smirked before leaving the room. Although she wasn't a hundred percent certain, she had a feeling that Conner would agree to the temporary truce and join their alliance. 

William watched his Master go before he breathed a deep sigh of relief. He was hoping that Conner wouldn't wait until morning before making a decision, and it seemed that he had read the man right. 

The red-headed boy headed to the bathroom to take a bath as per his Master's wishes.

'Well then, I wonder what choice he made?' William thought as he turned the knob of the shower, allowing the cold water to sprinkle over his body. 

It was not only Conner who was at the crossroads, William was there as well. If Conner decided to ally with him then he would have no choice, but to set aside the Condition of the Titanic Trollhound, who was hellbent to have its vengeance against the man named Floyd--who was responsible for its mutation.

If Conner decided no to ally with him, but to flee then he would be forced to take full command of the Hellan Kingdom. 

In the absence of the King, The Princes, The Prime Minister, and the Commander of the First Knight Order, William automatically became the new regent of the Hellan Kingdom. Prince Ernest could have that role as well, but the Young Prince was currently at the Kyrintor Mountains, away from the conflict of the different warring factions that ravaged the land.

If possible, William wanted to let the Prince stay under the protection of Takam. That way, there would still be a chance to reclaim his right, if ever the Kingdom fell into enemy hands.