826 Clearing Doubts
A full seven minutes of nothing but silence passed in the Coliseum.
The field at its middle was empty now, and only the rows of dark, stone seats remained occupied, some of them illuminated directed by the sharp streaks of light oozing from the cracks.
The Emissary had left, and that gave room for the Faction leaders to finally express themselves in full, only, nothing much needed to be said for this.
The general feeling everyone had was pretty much the same, and experts at high levels, whether they were enemies or otherwise could convey sentiments like dissatisfaction, doubt and solid enmity without words.
That being said, the Head Faction leader had much to say, rather, she wanted to answer several questions that she knew were igniting bonfires within certain individuals.
She sighed, her modest velvet cloth whipping around her as she stood.
“Best not to waste anymore time. If our enemy is using the same means of travel as us, they might be close to reaching the Central Boundary by now,” she said, before her eyes set off a menacing gleam. “And since we’re all leaving for this voyage…”
The attention of all sharpened.
“…you’re free to express your personal grudges as you see fit on the way. I only hope you kill in moderation.”
The mood turned darker than it had already been.
Replicus scoffed inwardly.
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At that moment, one of the Faction leaders spoke, directing a far from enthusiastic sentiment towards the proud Head Faction leader.
“Are we so powerless that we need to be ordered around by that… thing? All of us here have heard what’s going on in Pelian, and it is concerning. What if this Emissary or whatever seeks to divert our attention with a wild goose chase? Can we even verify his identity? Why take his word for it? You do realise, Eaniss, that we’re leaving the Severed Union wide open, right?”
A moment of silence followed, and then another spoke.
“This is true. I’m surprised you didn’t give it that much thought. Were you truly that frightened by words? If so, then the Head Faction is falling from grace. Even if the world is ending, I’d rather die with the Union than submit to the command of another.”
No one followed with the same remarks, but the two Faction leaders stood their ground, which was quite bold.
Replicus would have applauded.
“Foofz!” the Mad Bishop suddenly barked, a crooked twist of an expression on her face.
Everyone turned to her, but were instantly forced to groan in exasperation – inwardly – as they saw her swipe an excessive amount of jam with a fine knife, on half a loaf of bread, before opening her mouth wide and devouring it with barely any resistance showing when it fell down her throat.
“Fools!” the Mad Bishop reiterated after sliding her tongue around her mouth. “You dishonour the very idea of dishonour itself! What use is dying for the Union? We may not be heroes, but I’d rather die, slowly getting ripped apart by the fangs of a Tier 300 rabid beast for the prospect of a gorgeous reward, than to sit here and do nothing!”
“Sure we’ll kill each other on the way, but WHO CARES?! Isn’t danger our entire purpose?! Risks! Fatality! Blood! You want to seek peace and begin bringing logic into everything now of all times?!”
Replicus stifled a laugh.
‘Damn. Is that supposed to be a motivational speech?’
As to be expected, there was no outward welcome or adverse reaction to the Bishop’s words. It did seem as though her stance was intriguing to most though.
The two Faction leaders who were opposed to the idea of this voyage weren’t motivated to back down in the least. They glared at the Mad Bishop, and then back at the Head Faction leader, Eaniss – as she was called.
She stared at them in return and smiled.
“The Head Faction has existed long before all your Factions did. Leadership is passed down by blood, and it has been my turn for several decades now,” she said. “I’ve often wondered how exactly it was created. Such records don’t exist in any information stores that we have, after all. That spells to me, that even if it isn’t the Immortals, someone equally as mysterious – borderline mythical – raised this organisation. I believe the time came for us to finally get hints as to who.”
“It’s not coincidence that this… creature, whatever it was, has some form of knowledge about the inner, most powerful security means employed a very long time ago to safeguard the Union and even this Coliseum. I’m inclined to believe to some degree.”
‘I knew it…’Replicus thought.
There was no way Eaniss would ignore simple facts for pride. That faceless existence had a shroud of mystery, but certain aspects of him were abundantly clear.
Or maybe they were just more clear to Replicus who saw a pattern with all extraordinarily powerful individuals he had faced before.
“So you also believe that ridiculous version of the Ashing of Time?” one of the two opposing leaders asked.
“Not so much. It would be a lie for me to admit so. That is too great of a stretch for me to digest immediately,” Eaniss said with her finger on her chin. “However, that doesn’t discount the danger Aigas currently is in right now.”
“Hmph!” a scoff from the other Faction leader who had been standing up. “Working off of faith and uncertainties. Pitiful.”
“It’s probably true. I’ve met this masked man,” Replicus suddenly chimed in.
…
The attention turned to him, along with the burden of piercing eyes. Even Pherdanta turned to look at her master with surprise.
“What?” the Faction leader with a blue tone to her skin from her neck to her feet asked with a condescending tone.
“I faced this man before in Pelian. He had the strongest presence of Undeath I’d ever felt up to that point. He’s pretty dangerous,” Replicus said relaxedly.
“Hah! Dangerous? And yet you’re still alive? Does that attest to his strength?” another of the Faction leaders said, unfriendly ridicule in his voice.
“Oh yes it does,” Replicus said with a chuckle, his sockets under the helmet flashing like suns.
When it became clear that most of the Faction leaders were not taking him seriously, the Penetrator added on.
“He was extremely difficult to handle on his own, but the fact that he’s in contact with an Arch Lich made him even more deadly.”
…!