Right as the clan heads caught a glimpse of Musashi"s gesture, they grouped up and approached him with confused expressions on their faces. They couldn"t help but glance at Caesar curiously as they got closer, it appeared as though he and Musashi were in the middle of a deep conversation.Once they were only about a few meters away from the two, they perked up their ears and listened in on their conversation, and almost immediately, they heard Caesar"s proposition. He had wanted to fight all of them at the same time.
This caused Faust, Leo, and the others to furrow their brows. If they accepted such a proposal, it would directly threaten their prestige, many citizens would scream out injustice or unfairness. Although none of the clan heads desired this, the fact remained that Caesar was stronger than them, and this could potentially give them a chance to win.
Thinking to here, the clan heads exchanged looks and nodded. Even if the pedestrians mocked them, it wouldn"t matter as long as they won. None of them wanted to end up like Azir, and even if they did lose, they still retained their position on the council.
With these thoughts in mind, they quickened their pace and soon arrived in front of Musashi. They stood shoulder to shoulder with Caesar and bowed whilst flashing a smile… "do you require something of us?" Faust asked and spoke as a representative for the others.
"Yes… Caesar just suggested something very interesting to me, I was wondering what your thoughts were on the matter" Musashi replied calmly, he knew that Faust and the others had already heard Caesar"s earlier words, he didn"t feel the need to repeat himself.
Faust nodded in understanding and turned toward the other 9 clan heads, "shall we decide by vote?" he asked. Even though most of them had a tacit understanding, he still asked out loud for formalities sake.
After his words pa.s.sed, even Caesar couldn"t help but perk up his ears and hear their reply, to which, he was not disappointed. All of them agreed besides Leo, who presumably didn"t want either of the awards proposed by Musashi. This confused the others, however, no one blamed him, he was the youngest clan head, after all.
Once the vote was over, Musashi"s stone cold face didn"t contort. It was clear that he expected such a result. He looked over in Ebisu"s direction and a sly smile suddenly appeared on his lips… "Since Ebisu is among the top 13, he is naturally apart of the council, and since Leo has respectfully declined, he shall partic.i.p.ate in this battle instead," He said with a smug smile whilst glancing at Caesar.
Even if Musashi wanted Caesar to win, he knew that Caesar had many secrets and cards hidden up his sleeve. He was truly interested in what Caesar would do when his back was put up against a wall, not to mention the fact that we wanted to confirm his hypothesis.
This turn of events did, indeed, surprise Caesar. He furrowed his brows while inspecting Musashi, he simply could not understand Musashi"s reasoning for doing such a thing, however, the damage had already been done.
"Sigh, very well…" Caesar said with an exasperated sigh while looking in Ebisu"s direction. The man had a twisted smile plastered on his face as if he knew exactly what had transpired in the conversation.
"Haha, then I shall inform the others… all of you may take a 30-minute break" Musashi replied with a hearty laugh while sitting up from his chair and walking towards a few nearby referees.
Right as he left, the clan heads also removed themselves and went to go discuss things with Ebisu, their new teammate. Once everyone was gone, Ahri who had been quite up until now, abruptly stood up from her chair and stomped towards Caesar.
"Don"t you remember what happened at the skirmish? Just like now, you brazenly challenged them by yourself and lost!" She said angrily with puffed up cheeks and crossed arms.
"I may have lost the fight, however, I still won the war" Caesar replied while inching closer to her, he drooped his head down and stared at her right in the eyes. "Don"t worry… I will win" Caesar said soothingly, but his words didn"t calm Ahri in the slightest.
"Why are you always like this? Doing things without telling me? Hiding so many things from me and never doing things together? You want me to trust you, but you don"t tell me anything, you don"t even trust me…" She snapped back, small droplets of tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
Her words paused for a moment, "You"re helping this clan because of me, and I"m extremely grateful, but please let me help, please let me stand with you as an equal… we kiss, we sleep together, we do everything a normal couple does, however, it still doesn"t feel like we"re together. You do so much for me, but you won"t let me do anything for you…" She said weakly, it was clear that this had been bothering her for a while.
Caesar raised an eyebrow and wiped her tears with his hands, "you don"t need to do anything for me… just sit back and watch comfortably, I will do everythin-"
Before his words even finished, a loud ringing sound resounded throughout the nearby area and a red imprint was left on his face from Ahri"s hand. She was breathing heavily and threw the necklace hanging from her neck on the ground.
"I"m not you"re pet and you are also not my father, I don"t need your constant protection. I opened up to you about so many things, I poured my feelings out in front of you, but do you know? You"ve only told me a short fragment of your past, you haven"t even shed a tear in front of me. I"m the only one who gets soothed and it makes me feel like a burden…" she spoke in a hurt tone, and the stream of tears finally fell from her eyes.
Caesar who was still in shock tried to wipe her tears once again, however, before he was capable, she ran away. He followed her back with his eyes, and she was soon stopped by a familiar figure, presumably being comforted.
"Charlie…" Caesar whispered quietly after seeing the person who comforted the sobbing Ahri.
He truly could not comprehend why Ahri was so angry. In his past life, when he gave to others, they would gladly accept it. He didn"t understand what he did to make her feel so irritated, he was trying his best, he even left his home to help her family.
Caesar risked his life, time and time again for her, he didn"t do it for her thanks, nor for her love. He simply did it because he wanted to. Thinking to here, Caesar couldn"t help but grip his fists tightly, was all of his effort for naught, just because he didn"t rely on her?
He hated relying on others, he had long ago promised himself that he would never do such a thing.
Whilst deep in thoughts, Musashi finally returned and sat back down on his chair, "alright, I spoke with the referees, you, along with the clan heads will fight in a few moments, head to the arena" Musashi said without noticing the weird expression on Caesar"s face.
"Mmm," Caesar hummed in response and headed towards the arena absentmindedly. His brows were creased and a few veins appeared on his forehead. He had felt annoyed, however, when he saw Charlie comfort the weeping Ahri, he felt unprecedented rage.
How could he, who betrayed the clan and put Ahri"s entire family in danger, flash a soothing smile in her direction. How thick was his skin? And how foolish was Ahri to seek such a swine?
While in the middle of such thoughts, he soon arrived in the middle of the arena where the clan heads and Ebisu faced off against him. He could vaguely hear Musashi"s shouts in the distance but he didn"t pay them much heed.
And soon, the referee at the side raised his hand and glanced between Caesar and the others…
"BEGIN!" The referee shouted and signaled the start of the match.
Caesar raised his eyes, they were flashing a deep crimson, however, an abnormal black was mixed in within his eyes. He took out his scythe from his storage ring and slammed the hilt against the ground with a strange smile on face.
"I"m extremely annoyed at the moment, won"t all of you be so kind as to help me cool off?" he asked with a cold tone, sending shivers down the clan heads" spines.