Sensing that the public opinion was against hers, the Serpentine Empress almost exploded in anger but she still decided to remain calm

“I may be an outsider but that is also the reason why I know how dangerous you were to us. A realm’s chosen is someone a realm would give birth to if the realm is in danger. The chosen only have one reason why they are born and that is to save the realm! Everyone here knows what and who the dangers on the realm were, to save the realm, Claude would have to kill all of us”

It was as if invisible electrical currents formed between Claude and the Serpentine Empress as they stared at each other

Both of them has a similar goal which was to get the help of their fellow mages to kill the other

For that to happen, they have to manipulate public opinion and make the other side look as dangerous and threatening as possible

Unfortunately, on this matter, Claude that has the blood of four 7th rank mages on his hands was at a disadvantage. Aside from that, the Serpentine Empress’ words sound more logical

She is an outsider with a wide array of knowledge and her words coincided with what Claude did. What if Claude was really killing mages because he is the so-called realm’s chosen?

Claude knew that this wouldn’t be easy but he definitely wouldn’t let the Serpentine Empress left unscathed

“We have never heard about your realm’s chosen before. How do we know that you are telling the truth? You could have been doing this to incite us to fight each other while you reap the benefits with your unpredictable means. You are an outsider with both ‘knowledge’ and ‘treasures’, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you have plans against us”

Claude specifically emphasizes the words “knowledge” and “treasures” to arouse the greed of his fellow mages

With his words, he and the Serpentine Empress was put in a bit of an equal position

Claude’s side possesses the risk as he could kill his fellow mages causing the others to have the desire to kill him. As for the Serpentine Empress, the things she could offer after her identity was disclosed would arouse the greed of these mages

They must be harboring the intent to plunder whatever she could offer whether it be knowledge or treasures. She might even have a way to let these mages continue on the path of magic

The situation was put in a stalemate and it is not only Claude that the mages are paying attention to. Their attention was divided between him and the Serpentine Empress

This was not the most ideal scenario but would still mitigate a lot of attention and danger on Claude’s side

——-

“Dark Saint, wait up”

In the sky, Howling Lightning called out. The meeting between the four countries has ended but they don’t have much progress

This was the result of the current status quo. Even if three countries ganged up against one single country, that single country could still force the battle to end with mutual destruction

Once a ‘nuclear bomb’ of a country was mobilized, the other countries would also do the same. Not only would countries be destroyed, even the earth realm itself might be damaged to the point that it would only have a few years left before it was destroyed

Once the realm is destroyed, the deaths of these 7th rank mages would follow suit. As such, they could only schedule another meeting in hopes that they would finally have a plan on how they should proceed

“Sir Howling Lightning” Claude said with casual respect, at the very least on the surface that is

In the past, although it was not to the point of worship, Claude still admired 7th rank mages because of their overwhelming power

But now, after learning what these mages have to do before they reach their current rank, he lost all admiration for them. In his eyes, they are just leeches sucking the blood of their home country and they don’t care whether their actions would kill countless lives or not

However, as of right now, Claude still has to maintain cordiality with them. 7th rank mages are almost impossible to kill but it’s not like it was something that cannot be done!

If all the 7th rank mages were mobilized this early to fight Claude then he would definitely lose the cause he was fighting for

“Umm” Howling Lightning hummed in response while nodding his head, feeling satisfied

It wouldn’t be strange if a mage that could kill several 7th rank mages grew arrogant. However, not only did Claude not become arrogant, he still showed enough respect for equals

“I want to ask you one thing and I hope that you could answer truthfully. After all, this also dictates the safety of our Eastern Country” he said in a serious tone and Claude nodded his head, indicating that he was listening intently

“Why did you kill all those 7th rank mages?” Howling Lightning went straight to the point. This was the question that he wants to know along with the Eastern and all other countries

He doesn’t believe the Serpentine Empress’ words but the seed of doubt was already planted. Even if he doesn’t know it, he might be unconsciously thinking that Claude would kill every 7th rank mage in the future

Claude knew Howling Lightning’s concern but he knows better than to tell the full truth and he decided to only speak in a way that would benefit him

He was kind but he was not dumb. He is perfectly aware of how things work

“Because those mages are innately corrupted! Those 7th rank mages are evil people and I don’t want them to continue living!”

“I’ll apologize for this early but I plan to continue killing the evil mages. This might make our Eastern Country a target of the other three countries but I assure you that even if I have to sacrifice myself, I’ll save what I should save!”

Claude spoke righteously and his words are hiding a double meaning that Howling Lightning didn’t notice

Claude said that the 7th rank mages are evil but he was not merely pertaining to the ones that he had killed. He meant that all 7th rank mages that knew the consequences of their actions are evil!

He plans to continue killing evil mages and by that, he meant all 7th rank mages! And by saying that he would protect what he should protect, he meant the earth realm and the lives depending on it, not just the Eastern Country!

His words could definitely be interpreted in a different way but Claude was not lying. As such, even if a person has exemplary senses that tell them when a person is lying, they definitely wouldn’t be able to find out that Claude was lying

“I see! I see! If that’s the case then do what you think is right. But always remember, the Eastern Country is and would always be your home” Howling Lightning said, looking forward to the deaths of the mages from other countries

“Thanks for your words and I must warn you about the Serpentine Empress. I tried to spy on her to learn what she is up to but although I have not found anything concrete, I have a feeling that she was planning something bad”

“Considering that she operates in our Eastern Country, whatever she was planning, I believe that it would affect Eastern Country the most”

If Claude cannot convince all countries to attack and kill the Serpentine Empress then he at the very least wants to use the Eastern Country. Even if they wouldn’t plan to kill her, they would still tightly monitor her that would make it hard for her to move around

“I understand, I’ll discuss this with the mages of our country”

——-

“Here are ten billion mana stones and a hundred thousand pieces of various treasures rich in mana” Kacy said while handing the resources to Rezen that received them

To ensure that Rezen would be able to keep his life while traveling to another plane, he has to gather as many resources as possible

Unfortunately, even though the resources he obtained would almost every organization green in envy, they are still far from enough

Whether it be the mana or resources of this realm, all of them are too trashy in terms of quality

The only redeeming quality that they have is that Rezen could obtain a lot of them with the help of his recovery pills they would soon become obsolete and useless after he escaped from this broken realm

“Can you speed up? I need more of these things. I’m willing to pay more recovery pills as long as you could speed things up” Rezen said and to that, Kacy merely smiled bitterly

“It is not only my Daydream that is gathering resources that you wanted. Even other forces from small to big do the same. I don’t think we could still be faster than this”