The Masters gathered here were rendered speechless by Darius' claim. They shared uncertain looks as they understood the politics behind his words.

Andrato was assumed to have no Masters. However, that was the basic requirement to have a seat/vote on the Fallon Continental Council and was also why the surrounding powers had made sure Andrato would be unable to groom another one.

Other kingdoms and empires didn't have that problem with their founders usually being Masters or above.

For example, Fraterina's founder was a Master stage Valkyrie who had been honorably discharged from Odin's service.

She had been able to quickly gather people into her founding city because she could promise safety for all newcomers.

The reason Fraterina hadn't been able to become an empire was because they lacked any real specialties.

For example, the Westerlier Empire that Darius had once impersonated being a noble from, was founded by a Grandmaster with exemplary magical knowledge.

It was only natural that it formed a powerful magical kingdom that grew to an empire since they had been the ones with the best mage academies on the continent.

On the other hand, Andrato had been founded by a mere Adept, though she had a Master backing her. Spotting the possible weakness, Master Kubrick backing Julietta had been injured through underhanded means, stifling Andrato's growth before it could even begin.

The main reason Andrato had been left alone so far was because Fraterina had the strongest claim and interest in them. On its own, the kingdom had been too poor to make an effort to conquer them, but most importantly others were too far away, making the journey here for a siege costly.

The reason they were attacking Andrato now was - on the surface - because it had been weakened and due to Jeanne's continued refusal to marry the various princes, thus insulting their honor and reputation.

However, that was obviously not worth the cost of these sieges. The true reason, Darius suspected, was due to someone revealing that his goods had appeared in Andrato.

Even on Elysium, his stuff had managed the set the whole city abuzz, much less on Fallon.

Deducing the reason from Jeanne's explanation made him all the more confident and amused. Solving this problem was easy enough for him and should not require him to fight unless the commanders turned out to be absolute retards.

Back to Darius's earlier statement, the 12 Masters had no reply. As things were, they all had assumed Darius was merely some hired help from outside, which was why they had been sent forth to intimidate these three.

However, if it was true that Darius was a noble of Andrato, things would become extremely problematic. After all, inter-kingdom politics was a troublesome quagmire to wade, especially when considering the scale of the entire continent.

The issue here was that by attacking a kingdom without undergoing the proper procedures and acquiring a Cassus Belli, they would be setting a precedent for themselves.

In the past, when multiple factions had gone against the Necromancer Empire the Cassus Belli had been that the vile empire had been desecrating their graves and intruding on their sovereignty.

However, they had no such thing against Andrato as they had not felt the need to.

Who would bring a sniper rifle, Kevlar armor, and a premium machete when going out to kill a mouse hiding in their kitchen?

At this time, the commanders of the four armies noticed that for some reason there was a stalemate in the intimidation, and so they shared a look before riding out themselves.

Arriving on the scene they demanded to know what was going on.

Upon hearing their people repeat Darius' words, they realized the trouble Darius' existence would cause deeply.

The commander of the Kirlian Empire snorted coldly and pulled the reins of her horse. "Cheap talk! What proof do you have of your affiliation to this kingdom? Where is your noble house? Your estate?"

The commander of the Dongato Empire followed up, brushing her hair off her shoulder with a thin smile. "Didn't you say you were a Lord of a territory far to the north? How did you suddenly turn into a mere Baron here?"

The commander of the Hakrian Empire pushed up his glasses with a playful smile. "Your story doesn't add up, Esteemed Sir. We have no choice but to suspect you are a mercenary hired by the Queen of Andrato. While you are free to interfere in this conflict if you so wish, I would advise you not to."

The commander of the Bafira Empire grinned widely, showing his teeth. "Haha! Not a bad idea to be honest. Care to tell us what this little Queenie can offer you to come forth against FOUR EMPIRES? Man, either it's really good, or your ability to calculate risks is abysmal!"

Darius Inspected the four commanders as they spoke, gauging their power.

[Elizabeth Stalewater - Level 49 Tactician

HP: 483/483 MP: 3,381/3,381 STA: 1,029/1,029]

[Helma Lyre - Level 43 Tactician

HP: 420/420 MP: 2,901/2,901 STA: 988/988]

[Kenneth Sabody - Level 51 Tactician

HP: 511/511 MP: 3,740/3,740 STA: 1,122/1,122]

[Luga Barow - Level 53 Tactician

HP: 550/550 MP: 3,951/3,951 STA: 1,290/1,290]

Seeing this, his lips curled slightly. It was within reason that even Empires could not field out Masters as typical Army Commanders because they were supposed to be hidden weapons.

Even for Grandmasters, it was rare to leave their kingdoms in order to guard against other threats of the same stage.

Masters were only sparingly dispatched, with empires forced to pay a steep cost to make them move out.

After all, it wasn't like they were obligated to be drafted by the army. Who could squeeze their hands and force them if they refused?

Darius slammed the butt of this staff on the ground, denting the earth visibly and upsetting the horses that the commanders rode on, almost toppling them.

"Since when did mere Adepts speak to a Master like equals? Do you want me to punch your fucking head off before you'll remember how to talk?" Gunner stood forth and spoke angrily, his aura crushing the other Masters.

With the boost of his Earth's Guardian now, Gunner's Strength and Endurance had long shot past the 200 mark, which was something none of those here could mimic in the slightest.