"..." At that moment, everyone had a single idea that kept coming back into their heads but that they did not dare to think about.
They realized that they had underestimated Serena's madness.
"Of course, the more you can entertain me and exceed my expectations, the greater the rewards I will give you. By this, I mean I may reveal the method to you and help you reach the primary rank." She added to stimulate their avarice egos.
After these last words and this unfounded promise, she disappeared into the meeting room before the others woke up in their dizziness.
"Sigh, She is actually crueler than I had imagined." Elaydja, who was the first to wake up, retorted these words with a nonsense mindset.
"Do we really have a choice? Whether it is her or not, we were supposed to exterminate these mortals for their insults. From another point of view, nothing changed in the end."
"Tsk, Tsk, you can speak, Brave King! If it weren't your fault, we wouldn't be here wasting our time!" Artaros slammed his tongue and retorted these words to respond to Barve, who was trying to direct them to a more favorable common ground.
"Stop accusing me of something I have nothing to do with, Artaros! Who had predicted that this crazy demoness would intervene in something that did not look at her?! Don't forget your place!" Brave, known for his arrogance, will naturally never retire by being scolded by someone else who is not Serena.
"Sigh, calm down, you two; we can not change the past. Now, our goal is to end this war as much as possible to end this situation. That is not the first time we have cooperated to defeat a common enemy, so please act as sovereigns who know that their decisions also affect the lives of millions of subjects." Elaydja intervened to appease their anger.
'Sigh, I understand them; in fact, I'm actually not different from them. But except that they forget that the reason for all this frustration is because of one person.' He said to Himself while looking at Brave and Artaros with a sad air.
"Tsk." Artaros finally gave up and followed Elaydja's suggestion.
"Well, now that everyone is calm, it's time to put in place a strategy to take care of our enemies." He then went straight to the goal before another argument ignited again.
Hearing Elaydja's proposal, Brave and Artaros sat on their seats and derogated silently.
"But is it really necessary? We moved only because of King Brave's request, who said he needed reinforcements. But in the end, our opposers are just the mortals with some divine mages in their ranks." Artaros listed this fact while looking at Brave to give them some explanations.
"I am also curious about this detail. We all know you have a deep and personal hatred for the enemy leader. But knowing you, I am not convinced that you have convened us just for a few low-ranking divine mages." Elaydja also asked while watching Brave.
The reason they did not make early judgments on Brave's decision was because of the information Serena had just delivered. Like what, she was not sure of the final results of their battles. Even if it was absurd for them, given the enemy forces, they still could not afford to ignore this information.
"Sigh, I asked your help because as soon as I landed on this planet at the time, I felt an indomitable energy hiding among my enemies. But now you all know who it was. And the reason why this crazy woman withdrew is because of this individual who had abandoned any idea of joining the battle. But all the same, I don't think it means that we have to release ourselves just because we are fighting against ordinary mortals." Brave calmly gave these explanations while giving his own impressions simultaneously.
"You are right. If everything were as easy, mistress Serena would not use our current situation as entertainment. That's why I would like to propose a strategy to know the strength of our enemies." Elaydja proposed calmly by crossing his hands casually.
"..."
"So I can assume that, according to your silence, you agree to hear my plan." He said with contracted eyebrows that attested to his serious look.
It was not only his strength that made him the ruler of a kingdom with a stronger military power than Brave and Artaros, but it was also because of his prudence and strategic genius that made him a king with zero defeat in his asset.
"For now, instead of sending our elite troops to exterminate these vermin, it is wiser to send a messenger home to give them a chance to shine; I mean by collecting information, at the same time, during this first confrontation. With this strategy, we will know what to expect if we face them."
"Elaydja, do you imply that we must send our subordinates to the butchery?!" Brave asked with sharp eyes while lazily supporting his head with the back of his fingers crossed.
"Please, King Brave, don't look at me like that, and if possible, try to give me back the respect I offer you. You are not talking with one of your subordinates! Your arrogance is commendable, but don't forget who you have in front of you."
Brave: "..."
Seeing his silence, Elaydja exhaled a breath of hot air to contain his emotions.
"Sigh, let's go back to our main subject. You must know that war is an art that cannot be painted white only; whether you like it or not, there will be red (blood) color in your painting. No matter your efforts, there will always be victims; but this does not mean we do not cherish our subordinates. That's why, when I say that it is imperative to test the power of our enemies, it is to avoid more losses. If we rush to head down just because they are mortals, what would happen if our information were false?!" Elaydja then continued his military strategy speech.
"This is indeed the right strategy in our current situation. But, if we send the weakest of our troops to face the enemy, I am convinced they will not be enough to force our enemies to show their hidden assets. Worse still, they may be massacred." Artaros added to correct Elaydja's strategy.
"It's obvious. That is why I propose that each of us add an elite squad to accompany our weakest troops. If everything goes well and it turns out that we had overestimated the military power of our opponents, then so much the better. But otherwise, our three elite squads will not only serve as bait to test their military powers but also to sound retirement to minimize losses."
"But you forget an important detail; what would happen if, despite each of us sending an elite squad, the enemy still manages to annihilate them all?!" Brave's unwavering tone resounded in the meeting room, silencing everyone.
"Do you think they can annihilate three elite squads that are only made up of intermediate and high-level divine mages?" Elaydja frowned at Brave.
Brave: "Nothing is certain with this incubus that has a more vicious mind than anyone in this meeting room."
After this direct statement on his part, Elaydja began to think seriously.
"An additional reason to adopt the bait strategy. If it turns out that the enemy has the same power that is equivalent to or even exceeds ours, then we will have a second chance to reorganize. But if we send our elite troops, what else will we have left apart from a strategic withdrawal? What do you think of this strategy for a start, King Brave?" Elaydja closes his strategic speech with this question.
"As usual, you are always as smart, in the cruel sense," Brave replied briefly.
"Haha~, I guess I have to take your words for compliments, joke apart. But tell us one thing, now that we can communicate quietly in the mistress's absence. What do you think of this person's strength during your little fight against him?"
Hearing Elaydja's question, Brave's smile faded. He had guessed that Elaydja was talking about his fight against Alvine.
"I don't really know. But he had still managed to shame me by surviving not one but two deadly attacks on my part. And even if our confrontation did not last more than a minute, I understood that his strength was extraordinary for an emperor mage. But despite everything, it is not a big threat... for now." He said, remembering his fight against Alvine's clone.
"Not a threat? In this case, if it is not him, the asset of our enemies, who else could it be?" Artaros asked thoughtfully.
"No, you didn't understand my question, King Artaros. I think the most dangerous of our enemies is this incubus!"
"Hm? Do you still have many concerns about a simple emperor mage? I understand that he is a little special by managing to kill more than a dozen divine mages in an instant, but wasn't it only because your guards had underestimated their opponents?" -Artaros.
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"Sigh, I wish it had been the case. But this bastard had killed them with alarming ease that an intermediate divine mage could not even realize!" Brave retorted these words between his tight teeth.
"So he's someone with assassin skills, then? But even if this is the case, he remains an emperor mage. Regardless of his skills, he will not be able to cause major changes in this war. Unless he can break through the divine rank, stabilize his divine realm, creates a divine domain, master his new powers and divine laws...and all this before the beginning of hostilities. Haha~, but to achieve such prowess would be to defy the will of the heavens. It's simply impossible." Naturally, Elaydja did not take Brave's warning seriously.
"What if I told you that the first time I met him...he wasn't even a master rank mage?" But his smile faded as soon as Brave spoke.
"... Ah~, So you mean that you've been watching this man for more than a hundred years?" Artaros asked without realizing Brave's expression, unlike Elaydja, who frowned.
"Sigh, that's the most ridiculous. It's not even been two years. But if I take the standards of this planet, I would say that it took three to four years to reach the emperor rank!" Brave replied in a sarcastic tone.
"...Ex-Excuse me?! Brave, what kind of joke are you telling us?!" Elaydja asked with a slightly disturbed tone. He even forgot to call Brave by adding his title.
"You heard me well. This bastard has climbed more than five ranks in less than six, no, three years only. And during our fight, I noticed that this aberration was already at the top of the emperor rank!" He continued while his two colleagues held their breaths under the effects of their shocks.
"...In other words, we must expect him to be a divine rank at our next battlefield; that's what you mean, don't you, Brave King?" Elaydja concludes after hearing Brave's words.
-Nod
"Yes, but that's not what worries me. If it were another person, we wouldn't have to worry about such an insignificant low-ranking divine magus. But we talk about this bastard who could defeat our low-ranking divine mages by being a simple emperor mage with disconcerting ease that even an intermediate divine mage will find difficult to accomplish; do you now understand why I wanted to remove this error from the universe? The more time we give him, the more powerful he will become, to the point of becoming our worst enemy!" Brave added.
"W-Wait, are you serious here? King Elaydja, you still don't believe in this nonsense, do you?!" Artaros is going the most straightforward way, deciding not to believe Brave's words simply.
"Sigh, even if the King Brave has serious hate for the lustful races because of his personal story, he has no reason to lie to us about this man. That proves how much this man would be an asset if he was, unfortunately, not our enemy. Therefore, our priority is to kill him, whatever the price!" Elaydja instantly made this decision after understanding the real menace for them.
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