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Chapter 515: Faction Gathering

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He stood in front of Siva six paces away and then crossed his arms, staring straight at him.

Silence….

The audience from the outskirts of the battle stage flew beside them and Ares’ queen put her left arm at his waist and silently awaited her man’s verdict with Siva’s performance.

After half a minute, the headache subsided and Siva stood up, looking straight back at Ares.

Closing his eyes, he declared after a sigh. “I admit my defeat. I am indeed weak. I showed you a part of me that’s disgraceful to your standards. If you are going to avenge your son, however, then I will have to say sorry here. I will still fight to death just to escape. I can’t die here.”

As Siva spoke, he clenched his fists and readied for a final bout and decided to escape at the very first sign of malicious aggression.

After all, this is his territory.

The thing about Neutral Zones is that it was the ‘status’ that’s fully decided by the land lord.

In this case, it was Ares.

“Heh.” A snort was heard as a reply and Siva was surprised to see the smile on Ares’ face not even fading the slightest bit. “You do speak a lot for a mere Mortal, that’s for sure.”

“…”

At Siva’s silence, Ares laughed and looked over at the direction of his sons and daughters.

He then looked back at Siva and spoke, “I have at least twenty ‘qualified’ children in my throne and of them all, Kyle was not even in the weakest of the weakest criteria. In fact, he is only in the mid-level at best of all my children. And that’s because he is a lot older than his peers on the same level of strength! He was both an arrogant prick and a stupid son that of the Martial Arts of our Mighty Saipan Dragon Clan, he’d only mastered the first layer and already called himself as the greatest, even suffixing his name with a ‘Great’ in it! How freaking ridiculous!”

Ares spat as he shook his head and then went on to explain the circumstances to the confused Siva.

“He challenged me for the throne and lost, then the bitch from the Lao Shan Clan came and after a night, he became her dog, wagging his tail on her every word. I’ve given him every chance to repent but not only did he not listen he even actually killed two of his little brothers who wasn’t even an adult yet! That motherfucker stopped being my son when he committed that crime! Tell me, with my seething anger at his crime; is he worthy for a King like me, with tens of sons and daughters, to take revenge for? A fool who do not only see me, the Dragon King and his father, as his own God, but actually betrayed the home he grew up in just for a bitch’s pussy… is he worthy of me getting a revenge to? If something, I’d even have to reward you for getting rid of this planet a vermin that could have become a scourge for other people if left alone!”

Siva held his breath and exhaled.

Dragons really are different. To them, the law of the jungle is their bible. Adult Dragons should be responsible for themselves. Respect your elder as you respect the law. Kyle not only disrespected the law set by their culture, he even committed a crime of killing two innocent children.

In the middle of Ares’ words, his tone began to change and until the end, it became friendly enough that Siva unintentionally let go of an unwittingly held breath.

He didn’t know about Kyle’s exact circumstances but he did saw that on his memories, there was a scene where he barged into a home and killed two 9 year old something children who was only playing around with toys, before leaving quietly and following Ajora to join the Bloody Church.

The smile on Ares’ face came back and he then stretched a hand at Siva, “For a mortal though, the fact that you could make me exert 2% of my full strength is proof enough that you are indeed a bit qualified for me to listen to.”

Siva, with his mind a mess, grabbed the hand and shook it firmly.

He was unable to say a thing in reply to the words that Ares had just said.

His body was still radiating the golden orange aura of the «Light of Artemis» MOD but his tight grip was still only just a child’s strength compared to a full-pledged Dragon King —a peak existence of the already peak existences as the Dragon Clans.

“If you still used that blue armor that you all call as [Rune], then perhaps I might’ve exerted 3% or 4% of my strength. Actually, I haven’t had enough exercise lately so I have to thank you for this one, so, yeah… thanks for the fun! Hihi…”

When he spoke he laughed out loud like a jolly guy on your neighborhood who’s always happy at just about the littlest of things.

Siva, at this time, only then realized why he can’t say a word in reply, or totally process the entire event… as of yet.

—it’s because he was still hung up with what Ares had said on the first part of his speech.

2%, yes, he did say Siva’s maximum strength was only equivalent to his 2%.

Siva’s pride was not only crushed, his spirit was also extinguished. His heart creaked and cracked, his soul threatening to leave his body from his own mouth.

—I was only 2%...

While Siva was lamenting his defeat, Ares, then, officially began his welcoming of their party. But of course, given his personality, he did not miss the chance to hit on Mohindra… even wanting to hit on Linda who hid behind her mother.

Before five minutes could even pass, Cortana was already on to his next agenda.

[Ah, boss, Gaia had just sent you a message: the Werewolf King had just arrived at the Elf Forest and that The Dwarves have also arrived with their army, along with the other Terran Alliance Seats with their cabinet leaders and political leaders. All preparations are now complete. We are ready for the cleansing of termites.]

Just in time…

Siva smiled and nodded then bid his farewell to Mohindra. With a little sleight of hand, since Ares and the rest of the detection-capable people are unable to detect whether Siva is the BMA or not, he switched places with Tai Long after going to his room to ‘prepare’ for the banquet that Ares prepared. After all, Tai Long’s mission with Julian to escort her in retrieving her items was already done and from there on out was her mission as a spy already. Metheus and Thud could do the rest of the “support mission” for her sake so Siva had to retrieve the standby Tai Long.

After arranging his proxy, he gave last orders for Mohindra and completely left Laurasia, appearing next to the Elven Forest, where Gaia and the Terran Alliance’s contingent awaited.

*****

As soon as Siva appeared… DING!!

—a notification he wanted to see had just alerted him of his enemies’ presence.

[You’ve sensed the presence of a Blood Dragon God Elder!]

D-D-DING!

[Malevolent Aura is activated.]

[Endurance has been doubled]

[Blood Verse mode in effect.]

DING!

[Blood Verse: for each Blood Dragon God follower you kill, all sustained injuries will heal. Lasts until the last of the Blood Dragon God follower is dead in the Hunter’s immediate vicinity.]

DING!

[Blood Verse in effect! All attacks against Dragon God Followers had damages increased by 100%]

DING!

[Blood Verse in effect! All attacks received from a Dragon God Follower have the damage decreased by 33%]

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In his vision, people were immediately labeled as enemies when the notifications rung.

What more, since there was no warning telling him that there is no “Undefeatable Elder” on their files in front, now that he’s also a quasi-immortal, all his attacks will surely deal double damage on them.

Good thing he had a few minutes to relax on the banquet that Ares prepared earlier so he didn’t act on instincts and activate Killing Zone reflexively.

Instead, he looked around, seeming to not take notice of the enemies. Cortana did mark them all, however, with little effort as they were within the 10km area controlled by the Absolute Domain.

Siva tapped the empty space in front of him and with it came the ripples that emerged each time.

Seeing it was like a marvelous sight and even the High Seat, King Hugo, who was beside Gaia was actually marveling at the sight of Siva’s Magic.

When Siva was done deploying all arrangements for the ‘enemies’ and establishing the rules for a little show he prepared, he finally heaved a sigh and drank a Blue Potion.

Then after that…

“Are you all prepared?” he asked the commanders and Gaia who was at the very front. He turned his gaze to Hugo, “We finally officially meet.”

Siva stretched a hand and shook hands with him.

At the moment their hands shook, another familiar system announcement rung in his ears.

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[System Announcement]

[A new dawn is coming! The Lycans, legendary existences with outstanding athletic abilities and special racial disposition, had finally made contact with an adventurer! New and old players can now select the Lycanthrope Race as a starting Race to pave your own path. Enjoy the great sights here in Terroa and be your own legend as you create your own history!]

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The Lycans: Descendants of Lycosa, one of the Moon Goddesses on the same Order as Artemis, Moon Goddess of the Hunt. They inherited her keen senses and absolute lust for battle. Having great affinity with Wind Mana, they can make their bodies as light as feathers while maintaining their battle capabilities. Their most redeeming trait as a race is their superb athletic constitution.

Racial Traits:

**Can add a minimum of 40 extra stat points to the STR and STA stats

**Can only use light weight weapons as primary equipment, except Heavy Swords and Heavy Axe

**Can only start at designated starting cities in the Southern Continent of Heartilia

**Can only wear Light Equipment

**Gets additional buff of 30% MNA when a full moon is present in the night sky

**Gets the Racial Ability: [Howl] during a full moon, allowing [Players] to boost theirs and their allies’ stats by 100% for five minutes, also granting them the [Refreshed Effect] allowing all Skills, Magic, and Abilities that’s still in cooldown to immediately be restored and ready for use. Can only be used during a full moon; Drains 100% of a Player’s Mana and Endurance with each use

**Grants extra 20% stat bonus to STR and STA

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Siva was surprised when he saw the racial traits of the Lycans… the Werewolves.

He recalled that in the past, the Mortal Lycans are the disciples of one of his friends during Mitra’s glory days.

Siva had met Lycosa that one time, during the last [Gods Gathering] —just before Lucifer attacked Planet Terra, just before the age of Ragnarok that he had personally began.

Recalling these brought unwanted memories on him and he subconsciously gripped the hand he’s grabbing a little tighter.

This made Hugo frown.

But then, he noticed the chaotic air around Siva and smelled the lingering scent of a fight on him.

“Who did you fight before coming here?” Hugo did not mean anything when he asked but Siva, seeming to still be lost in his thought, answered in a casual manner, “Ah, I just lost a fight with Ares. I don’t even want to remember it.”

—only to realize that he had said something that might be interpreted the wrong way.

So Siva added, “it was a miserable loss. He said I was only 2% of his full strength.”

Hugo’s hand froze and this was also evident with Gaia’s and everybody else’s expressions.

—shit.

——I only made it worse.

Hugo asked warily, “Does it mean that you’ve just defended Terrafirma from an invasion of one of the Dragon Kings of the Seven Clans?!!”

Siva was stumped for words and he coughed as he corrected, thinking that this might be a good chance to actually set the primer for cleansing.

“I was just about to get to that point myself.” Siva said and asked, “Anyways, during this operation, where do you want to be: at the very frontlines of battle or at the rear, guarding our backs from any ambush or enemy reinforcements?”

King Hugo, wearing a golden-lined cloth armor with unique embroidery that emitted one constant Mana wave after another without seeming to stop, answered in a straight manner.

“I’d rather want to be at the front lines.”

“Then that’s good.” Siva nodded. “But before we proceed with the mission, we must first cleanse our ranks with filth.”

After Siva spoke, he then faced the Alliance Army in front of him; or to be more exact, to the leaders of these forces that came with their officials.

“Are they your trusted people? Please, if you are still holding back people in reserve, I want you all to call them over to come here immediately. I don’t want to repeat the same words all over again for I will also stress this out today: what I am about to tell you guys MUST not be told to anyone else who are not present today. I will make you all vow to this later so please, call them over here now in the next five minutes…. go!”

Many hesitated at Siva’s command but there are a few who followed the instructions nonetheless.

Gaia saw this and declared icily, “What are you all still pulling your reservations for?!! We’ve all made an Unbreakable Vow already! Call them here right this instant. I don’t want anyone of you holding a single person back. Do it now!”

The Lady Oracle rarely, no, she had never been angry in front of anybody before and yet now, in just seeing the hesitations on their faces, she actually flipped out on them and yelled out in full rebuke of their reservations.

As such, the surprised crowd followed her and in less than five minutes, the entire crowd balloon in a number reaching a little more than 30,000.

“Is this all?” Siva asked coldly.

Hugo stepped forward in behalf of the Terrans.

“What are you planning to do exactly?”

“Cleansing.” Siva answered.

Siva’s vague reply made many grimace but before anyone could even react to it, Siva flipped over his palm and a violent fluctuation in space erupted in the midst of the combined contingent force; the air cried as it split, an audible ripping sound rung in their ears as cries of horror caused them to put up their guards and yell out in defense.

Within the instance of this event, Hugo wanted to stop Siva but Gaia’s hand held him in and the look in her eyes told him that this was “the” cleansing that he’s been telling over and over now.

Hugo wanted him to stop but remembered what Gaia told him and so he just bit his lips.

The entire event only happened in an instant and when it was finished, out of the 30,000 people in the Elf Forest that didn’t belong to the Elves, only three quarters of their original numbers were left, with a few of the missing ones being the Seats of the Terran Alliance along with their legislators.

When Hugo sensed this, he couldn’t help but to glare at Siva who then explained, “Don’t worry, I only put them into a separate space for the next part of this cleansing… the interrogation. From here on out, you all will see the true source of the corruption eating away at the Terran Society.”

When Siva spoke, there was no more casualness or lightheartedness on his tone. There was just a cold biting ruthlessness palpable with the hissing tone he used on every word.

Hugo knew that he wasn’t joking.

—does that mean that something is really wrong with the Terran Alliance?

Gaia had never explained this before.

The purpose of this meeting is to actually fully put Siva’s ‘promised information’ into use but Hugo is unaware of this information’s nature entirely.

Siva didn’t waste time and told the remaining men and women who are confused, worried, and even angry at him.

“You all might be wondering… why did I take them away from here and only left you guys, yes? I am aware that some of you might be friends, lovers, or even family members of the ones I took away… but I can assure you all that once you see what’s going to happen next, you all will change your minds on how you look at them.”

After Siva spoke, he raised a hand and pulled out his Dindymene Warship, equipped with all of its Bloody Mary Cannons, Vulcans, and even the six Longhorn Cannons —of which two were picked up in the remains of the warship that got wrecked back in Maria.

Seeing this midget-sized warship that’s ready for war loading its cannons for an assault, a dark idea loomed over the Terran Contingents. Hugo wasn’t an exception as he faced Siva.

“What are you trying to do here, Siva?!”

Siva faced him and said, “Didn’t I tell you already that it’s the next part of the cleansing?”

“Interrogation?!! It’s more like a threat than one!”

“Relax. You will know immediately why I have to do this much preparation later.” At his reply, Siva then faced the crowd, “Let me ask you all: do you still remember the details of your oath and your vow to the Terran Alliance Council?”

Just like what Higginson Bollard, the President of the Human Society, had told him back then, with every successive inheritor of the mantel of being a member of the Terran-Human Alliance, there’re a few clauses in their [Vow] that is passed down from one generation of the Alliance Seat to the next one in line.

When Higginson Bollard accepted the mantel of this responsibility, he also vowed that as long as he is part of the Alliance, he will become eternal enemies with the Dragons and the Bloody Church.

One such clause is that promise.

Although now that they are no longer part of the alliance, it doesn’t mean that they can forget about the clauses of the Unbreakable Vow.

Siva knew of this information from Bollard and he made this detail on their vows to be pointed out in this gathering.

Hugo realized this and thought —perhaps…

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Time for a cleaning…

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