"I'm not naive enough to not know what's happening here," Lucifer said, smiling. "I know why you need me. And you know why I need you."

"Why do I need you?" Raia asked, amused.

​​

"You need me to kill Varant and help you take over the nation. And I need you to help me kill Varant and finish my revenge," Lucifer said straight away.

"Both our goals coincide. So why waste time? You're ready; I'm ready, the stars are aligned, let's get to it," he added.

"And how do you think that would happen?" Raia asked, seemingly interested.

Even though he preferred to attack when he was fully prepared, he still found the proposal interesting.

"It's simple. You'll kill their men, but I'm sure they already got the message of our presence out to the APF. Varant will be coming here in a few days. At the same time, you bring your team."

"Let's make it the final battleground. I doubt he would have expected us to take the last stand here instead of running away."

"It's pretty easy if you think about it. Give them what they didn't expect. In any case, he wouldn't bring his whole team since they need to keep other places secure. You, on the other hand, can bring everyone from Uprising here."

" Instead of avoiding the battle until you're sure of it, do it now! Unless you're scared of Varant. In that case, it's a different matter."

As Lucifer spoke about what he wanted, Raia was amused. He wanted them to go all out?

Hearing Lucifer's plan, Raia lost himself in deep thought.

'I guess I can understand why. He believes Varant killed his parents. He's truly a kid of his emotions. But it's not a bad idea either.'

'Even though a lot of our men might die if we decide to have this war without any prior preparation, it's the best option too. Taking out the APF in one stroke will be worth it.'

"So, what do you say? You can either join me in taking Varant out or keep waiting for the opportunity that might never come," Lucifer told Raia as he sat back relaxed.

Raia didn't say anything and simply smirked.

He glanced at Vega as he asked, "What do you think?"

"Our men aren't prepared. A lot of them don't have Cardigan Particles battle gear. I don't think we can afford a war at this time without getting considerable losses. Waiting would be better. At least until everyone is prepared," Vega replied.

"That's true. The loss of life in the organization will be high. Moreover, we would need to end the battle fast. If it stretches for long, Zeiss and the Hunter Union will come to help Varant," Raia said, rubbing his chin.

"So it comes down to faith. Can we do it in time or not?" he added.

"Why worry about Hunter Union? With the two of us, Varant won't have any chance of surviving for long. Before Zeiss even gets here, we'll be done with the APF," Lucifer replied, coaxing Raia.

"And if Zeiss still decides to come after that, we can take them out as well. Then only the government will stand in your path, which we can take out whenever we want," he further said.

"Within a few weeks, you will become the ruler of this nation. The rule of Variants will become a reality. Now I leave the rest of the decision to you," he continued, even bringing Raia's deep desires to the table.

" Do you really want to bring the Rules of Variants no matter what it takes? If you do, then you won't consider the losses." Lucifer ultimately said. "And if you don't want the Variant Rule that badly, then you aren't worthy to be leading our cause."

As Lucifer fired so many sharp points at once, even Raia found it hard to ignore.

Lucifer was right. If this plan worked, they could win over this nation within weeks. The human government will fall.

And so what if the humans hated them after that? They can use fear to rule them. His desire would become a reality. It all depended on him now.

Lucifer didn't say anything else as he had already brought his points across, and he could already see that he had Raia in his fingers.

He didn't believe that Raia could say no at this point. Everything was going according to his plan.

"You're wrong! Uncle Raia doesn't care about the Variant Rule more than the lives and safety of our Variants! What you're asking for will only send thousands of our loyal Variants to their deaths," Alicia jumped in between.

"Great causes require sacrifice, aren't I right?' Lucifer asked Raia, ignoring Alicia. "It's not that he wants to rule the nation. Certainly not. It's just because this will protect so many Variants in the future from human cruelty. Isn't that so?"

"That's right Alicia. Lucifer isn't lying. I think this is the best chance," Raia ultimately said, agreeing with the plan.

He wanted to rule, as Lucifer said previously, but he was going to use the excuse that Lucifer gave him.

"The more we delay, the more there are Variants that will suffer. We might lose a lot of our men, but that's for the future safety of all of them. We might lose thousands of Variants, but we'll save hundreds of thousands in the future," he added.

"Even my heart is heavy as I take this tough decision, but this is the need of the hour. Will you support us?" he asked Alicia.

Alicia was stunned as she heard Raia agree to the plan, but she also felt bad for him. He needed to make such a hard decision.

She believed he must be heartbroken at the thought of sacrificing so many Variants that he considered as family, not realizing that she couldn't be any more wrong.

"O-of course Uncle Raia! I'll always support you! I can't even think what you must be going through to make such a hard decision. I'll help you to the best of my abilities in finishing the war fast," Alicia said, supporting Raia's decision.

"Vega, you know what to do, right?" Raia asked, shifting his attention to Vega.

"I know. I'll tell everyone to come here, prepared for war," Vega nodded as he stood up.

He brought out his phone and contacted someone as he walked farther away.

Silence ensued in the Cafe as no one said anything. Raia lost himself in deep thought as he planned about how he could best utilize his men in the upcoming war.

As for Alicia, she also made a determination to help Raia, no matter what it took. She was going to go all out.