Chapter 132 132: Glade Politics I

Cole gritted his teeth, Raven was, no rather he has truly become a thorn in his sides. And the smile the man was giving was more than obvious to Cole. He hungered for power with a passion that Cole could probably never match, and Raven will not stop in his hunger for power until he has gained what belongs to him, and the truth of the matter was that no matter what Cole said now or did, Raven Nightmoon would find a way to spin it around and make sure that Cole is on the back foot.

Cole got up, then he walked towards Raven, however Raven jumped down from the podium where he was quickly surrounded by almost two dozen individuals. The smile on his face got wider as he turned around and raised his voice loud enough that everyone around or within the glade could hear.

"Can you all see what is happening here, see how unworthy he is of his post. He wants to silence me he-" the words coming out of his mouth died out when he realized that Cole had actually not stopped moving. Farida shook her head trying her hardest to hide the smile on her face, but Cole did not stop as he reached the group protecting Raven. It was a contest of wills, to see just who exactly was more powerful in mind between the two of them.

Non of the people who were trying to protect him so that he could run his mouth could match up to Cole's will. And it was saying something as not more than a few hours ago, Cole had put his cousins to the sword. Killed members of his own family and almost contemplated doing the same to his own grandparents if he had not thought leaving them alive to witness the aftermath of his choices to be punishment enough. Killing people left a scar on your soul that never went away, no matter what you do or say, that stigma would stain you for all eternity and it was much more stronger when the people you killed share a connection with you.

There was a baleful aura hanging around Cole's body, he was a demon. A race that was new yet unique and reflected both in this universe and back in his own reality. Death now hung over him like a shroud, and in times like this, that shroud could be felt so heavily around his environment. None of the people standing between Cole and his target had the will to stand up to Cole, and the onlookers were even more unwilling to get in between the both of them.

As he got closer to Raven, they all moved to the side, nobody had the will to stand in his path. And that was how it was until he was standing in front of Raven. Idly Cole noticed that Raven towered over him, he also remembered he had a few things he had to take care of in his own stat page. He idly wondered if he had used his racial upgrade or not, but then he shifted his attention back to the situation in front of him. He placed his hand on Raven's shoulder and idly noticed as a shiver seemed to rush through his body, Cole smiled and said to him.

"why must you antagonize me so? Is power so important to you that you would be willing to cross the devil to gain it? I do not understand your reasoning, everyone here is just trying to win this event so it would be in our best interest to work together, but you just want to be the person giving the orders. And your need is so strong and so blind that you are unwilling to see the toes you are stepping on in the process, which makes 8t all the more worse because YOU ARE STEPPING ON MY TOES!"

"This is more than just a game! You know this! And I'll be damned if I leave my fate in your hands!" Cole raised an eyebrow at Raven's outburst. He chuckled at it too, this was a person who knew exactly what was at stake. And in a way Cole could respect Raven's motivation, but he could not respect his process and actions. He was acting based on his emotions and feelings, there was no wisdom, and as for how his maneuvering was, it was absolutely shit.

"You went about this the wrong way, you are hiding behind people because you know you do t have enough power to stand against me, even though I might have dropped down from the first on the rankings. If I were in your shoes I would have joined you instead of antagonizing you. Because I would understand a guy like me is not the kind that could be kept down for long, because unlike almost everyone here who has been playing it safe in order not to lose the amount of lives they had, I've pushed the boundaries of what is possible in every floor we have been in up till now. Ultimately I am an army and a world all to my self, I can't be beaten, stopped, or politically outmaneuvered by people who's will are not up to par.

And it is because of that I have decided that I am going to break you, I will take everything that is important to you and I will rip it to shreds until there is absolutely nothing left. And I will start with this precious guild that you have absolutely no idea how to utilize. You throw them in front of me like they're supposed to be able to stop me and my rage while you run your mouth from the back. A guild that you lead are supposed to be your charges, did you not learn anything from fairy tail? It is the guild master that protects his guild and not the other way around."

There were murmured going around the Glade after Cole had finished speaking,. It he was far from done. The truth is, short of dragging Raven out of the Glade and killing him till all of his lives were finished, there was no viable way for him to stop him from doing this again. And while dragging the fool outside and killing him over and over would be viable and was a very enticing way to end this, Cole knew that would radicalize him, and apart from that he had an entire guild behind him which would make things extremely hard for him, heck Cole might lose a few lives of his own in the process.

But in the end he still had to do something, and it has to be something that would cement his authority and at the same time undermine whatever control Raven has built so far. The truth of the matter was that Cole couldn't win or at least get past this floor on his own. It was grating and annoying to him that he had to make such concessions, but ultimately this was the way it has to be. There would be no heading to the fourth floor if there was no sense of unity, but Raven was trying his hardest to put an end to it.

Cole could not make concessions, however he had to make one in order to survive this floor. But he would still deal with this guy, one way or the other. Ultimately perhaps going solo was the only thing he could best, but it didn't mean he had to do it alone without having any sense of community with the people in his glade. Cole had to use his head, and he had to do something he really detested right now but was perhaps the only thing that would spare him headache.

"On my authority as Mayor Raven Nightmoon I strip you of whatever authority you have as a council man of Glade Solitude, you and any member of your guild is forbidden from holding any position of power within this Glade. And in light of that I would expect Council woman Cassandra to leave your guild immediately in order to keep her position on the council. And to make it lucrative enough for her I would say this to her, in full transparency of everyone present." Cole paused as his gaze met Cassandra and noticed that she was paying attention to him raptly, and Raven looked panicked.

"Anything that he is offering you, I will double it. I have the means and way to make your wildest dreams come true, you just need ask and I will see to it that it's done." Cole said to her as an even louder wave of whispering traveled across the Glade.

"And all of this because you want to spite him? You're using me as a pawn because you want to spite him?" Cole raised an eyebrow at what she said, shrugged and replied.

"Your unworthy of being my pawn, to me the only use you have right now is a demonstration a means to put a fool that would jeopardize my advancement through the floors in check. You haven't shown me anything worthwhile that would see me use you as a pawn, what you are is a statement. Money, life, whatever problems you have that has seen you entwined with him, I'll take care of it just so that you can jump and give him the middle finger whenever I tell you to do so. After this floor you worth means nothing to me, I will keep my word and provide anything you ask of as long as it is within my power, you just leave his guild and answer directly to me from now on, no strings attached, just a business deal."

"She would never do anything like t-"

"Done!" Cole raised an eyebrow at Cassandra's words and could not help the happy smirk on his face as Raven squawked in shock whilst looking at what was probably a notification that he had just lost a guild member. Perhaps truly, not everything can be dealt with by just violence…. Politics existed for a reason.

Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.