“Oh my~
That won’t do, now would it?”
Selene spoke up, and this time, the one who backed her up was Commander Cedric.
“Indeed.”
Yes, the two rival nations had now come into a momentary alliance.
Cedric then stared at Aurelia and,
“You aren’t telling me your warriors are incapable of fighting without their Bonds, are you? What are they going to do if their Bond perishes in battle, hold back their allies?”
“I am stating that my warriors are at their strongest when they are together with their Bonds, and I only want my warriors to fight with the Hero at their strongest.
This is the least amount of respect both my warriors and the Hero deserve, don’t you think?”
Aurelia answered, and against those words, Cedric couldn’t retort.
He, out of all people, understood warriors’ pride the most. He couldn’t go against it, that would go against everything he represented.
In the end, Cedric closed his eyes, accepting his defeat.
However…
Selene was different.
“Come on now.”
She spoke, attracting everyone’s attention.
“Both the Eryndor Kingdom and Xenthalor Empire have embarrassed ourselves in front of the Hero, so I was expecting Zephyria’s Sky Warriors to take a stand and show him that Nerathis isn’t just a house to weaklings.
He may not show it, but I can sense the Hero’s disappointment in the so-called major forces of Nerathis, and I know you can sense it too.”
“It is a pity indeed, but I guess we will need to disappoint the Hero. As I said, my Sky Warriors can only show their might when they are in the Sky.”
Aurelia replied, still not changing her stance.
“Mhm, I understand.”
The Tower Head nodded, agreeing with the General, which surprised others.
Was it over?
Of course not.
Tower Head Selene’s smile then widened and,
“Since the Hero himself cannot participate in a battle, how about the four Major Forces come together for a demonstration of Power,
See it as a way to show off Nerathis’s might to the Hero.
Wouldn’t that be an interesting end to the event?”
“What…?”
Aurelia’s expression changed, and it wasn’t just her—Cedric and even Alden reacted to those words.
Selene’s grin widened even further and,
“Yes, a Four-Way Battle where the participants will fight until they cannot anymore. The losers will be eliminated, and the last one standing will be crowned as the Winner.”
The Tower Head laid out the rules.
“…”
Kael raised his eyebrow when he heard those words.
This…
Well, this just became much more interesting, didn’t it?
A small smile appeared on his face, something that Selene didn’t miss.
She quickly turned towards the King and,
“What do you say, Your Majesty? It would be a little show to make things interesting for the Hero.”
Alden narrowed his eyes at those words.
Everything that happened till now was still within his expectations, so he didn’t react, but this…
This wasn’t right.
It was too unexpected, and knowing someone like Selene, Alden was sure she didn’t just say it on a whim—the woman planned it all.
It wouldn’t be surprising if she had planned it all from the very beginning. This would also explain her bolder-than-usual attitude.
Just what did… Xenthalor Empire have in their minds?
Alden couldn’t understand, and Selene didn’t give him time to understand either.
“We are the people of Nerathis, followers of Lord Feraos, beings who fight together with our Bonds.
Is it really just the Zephyrian Warriors?
Aren’t the rest of us the same? Incomplete without our Bonds?
How can our duels conclude without the Bonds we treasure so much making an appearance?”
The King frowned.
“It is time we show the Hero that we aren’t some dead weights waiting for him to protect us. We are important allies who can help him in his journey,
Allies he can rely on.”
Selene spoke excitedly, her words awakening emotions in the crowd present. Then, as the Mage noticed the impact of her words, her eyes momentarily fell on Elira and,
“And since we are doing this to show off our strength,
Let’s not hold back and send out Grandmaster-Level Tamers, making the show even grander.”
‘Grandmaster-Level Tamers…?’
Kael frowned at those words.
For the Battle to be between Grandmaster Tamers…
While usually, he would be glad since this would expand his worldview and give him an idea as to what to expect in the future, right now, he was worried.
After all, he noticed how Selene glanced at Elira, who was a Grandmaster Tamer herself.
This was no coincidence.
That woman was targeting Elira, and this worried Kael.
It wasn’t just him. Nobles from Drakthar and others reacted to those words as well and started whispering amongst themselves. Unlike Kael, they weren’t worried. They looked…
Excited.
After all, it wasn’t every day that you see a battle between Grandmaster Tamers—that too, Grandmaster Tamers representing their respective Nations in a Four-Way Battle.
It would be a show that, let alone the Hero, even they would never forget.
“…”
Alden, who sensed their excitement, knew he couldn’t back down, and knowing his situation, Selene stared at the King and,
“What do you say, Your Majesty?”
She questioned again.
“The Drakthar Kingdom will participate.”
Alden nodded. He still didn’t like how everything was going exactly as that woman had planned, but there was nothing he could do now.
With the Drakthar Kingdom agreeing, the pressure was now on the other two Kingdoms—a pressure they couldn’t resist.
“The Zephyria Kingdom will participate as well.”
“So will Eryndor.”
The other two nodded, and Selene’s grin widened.
“Then let’s choose our Tamers who will represent our Kingdoms. Also, since we do not want things to be too chaotic, let’s make it so the Tamers use only two of their Bonds.
I am sure General Sky Serpent won’t have a problem with this restriction, correct?”
Selene spoke.
Aurelia nodded at Selene’s words.
Two Bonds were more than enough.
Honestly, the General still couldn’t understand what Selene was planning, but since it had come to this,
She would make sure Zephyria came out on top.
Arlan had also left the stage and had rushed towards his sister and the King. Kael followed him.
All nations were busy choosing the Tamers who would represent them. Xenthalor, however, was different. Their Mage was already prepared.
Clearly, they had come prepared for this.