Chapter 44: Crimson Tyranny

Chapter 44: Crimson Tyranny

"Are you sure all I need to do is get the three big guilds on my side?" Hans inquired, trying to grasp Garrison's plan.

Garrison answered, "You see, the association wants to adopt something similiar to a political approach, which is why all the changes in power within it must follow the republican procedure. This means, one person is not allowed to decide something by themselves, even if they are the branch leader, except for some extreme situations."

"The votes aren't only cast by the officials of the association but also by the guild leaders involved in the decision. For instance, since the security department holds the authority to make decisions in all of Chicago and its outskirts, all the major guilds in the city will be called to vote, it might be in favor or contrary to your proposal of changing his position. And just like in politics, having a simple majority of 50% isn't enough to attain a direct result without a major vote; you need 70% for a definitive result."

"Bringing the three big guilds on your side should sway the votes of all the other guilds to probably align with them."

"Plus, most of the association officials are corrupt, so you can simply pay them more than Logan does and they'll easily take your side. As for those that are rightful in the association, you won't even need to pay them, they for themself will vote for you, knowing the atrocious acts he has committed. With their support, you could secure 100% of the votes, thereby discreetly closing the matter."

"But if you fail to convince even one of the three guilds, it might complicate the matter as the small guilds that wouldn't dare to speak up to a branch leader could take the sides of the major guilds to express their opinions, thereby giving that guild even more powerful standing."

"Do you think I'll be able to win them all over to my side?" Hans questioned.

Garrison took a moment to think it through before answering, "Honestly speaking, you have about a 50% chance of getting Vortex on your side, as for Blaze, I think the probability won't be more than 25%, but talking about Asura, the chance is around 1% that is if luck is on your side."

"Is it that bad??" Hans couldn't help but stare at Garrison with a blank face.

"It is. Of the three, the Asura guild was the one to be founded the latest. It was created by the current guild master four years ago."

"How?"

"You ask how they were able to climb up the ladder and become one of the three major guilds in just four years. It's simple, they relied on two main factors."

"First of all, their vice guild master is a rare-class mage, he is currently a fifth-circle mage, but with his class being rare, his skills are probably on par with an A-Rank mage, granting the guild the power of two A-Ranks after adding the guild master himself."

"And because of their higher power, they could impose their ideas among the smaller guilds, destroying them and absorbing them until becoming big enough to rival the other two major ones."

_____

When the catastrophe first broke out, the world was plunged into chaos. With the deaths of countless people, poverty proliferated everywhere, to levels that far exceeded before, it was to the extent that out of five only one could afford to live in a shelter.

It took almost five years for humanity to rebuild its cities and take control of the situation. Yet, even now, certain countries succumb to waves of monsters, rendering hell on earth for the people who would even dream of returning.

During those five years, especially in impoverished regions such as most of Africa, parts of South America, some regions of Russia, and Southern Asia, crime rates skyrocketed.

Even those once known as totally clean and regulated cities became lawless territories where the right to live solely belonged to the strongest.

With the absence of any authorities or any controls and intervention from such people, who were preoccupied with their own survival, awakened became the rulers of the underworld.

Even after most of the world was fixed and the situation had almost returned to stability, many of these figures sought to hold their authority, declaring themselves public enemies of the Awakened Association.

However, their ends didn't turn out happy, one after the other, these small associations fell and most of them were put in jails, restricted for life, or even met their demise.

When all they had created started to crumble, quickly becoming nothing more than dust and ruin, they coalesced under a single clan.

Leading them was a tyrant and all they aspired to was achieved through the spilling of other's blood, earning them the title of the "Crimson Tyranny", a title they welcomed with open arms and embraced as their name.

The man known as the tyrant was the epitome of evil known to mankind and was a being who surpassed S-Rank, standing at the same level as Elijah and other world leaders.

He was the reason which prevented the association from barging into the Crimson clan and razing it to the ground.

Little was known about him– his visage, age, physical appearance, or even his class.

The only certainty about him was his incredible strength and the fact that he was merciless, to the point of making even the most evil and formidable awakened tremble in his presence.

With someone of such caliber backing the Asura guild, provoking them under the name of the Awakened Association could do nothing but provoke something more than a bloody skirmish among guilds; it could even possibly turn into a disaster for the entire world.