Chapter 8: Alliance
"T-third world you say? What…" (Bram)
Right after I announced the existence of the third world, everyone"s faces displayed shock, disbelief, amazement, fear, unease, surprise, doubt, delight, excitement, and many more. All these complicated emotions appearing in one face…you have no idea how amazing it looks like.
At the corner of my eye, I see Trask, the Drachedge Prince, the Archbishop, and everyone from [Sennerth] displaying a somewhat mischievous grin.
"Haha, I"m sure you"re all confused right now. Since everyone has gathered, we would like to introduce ourselves first and how Lucas here came to our world." (Sennerth Human King)
The rest showed dissatisfied faces but since they are all very much curious about how it was possible for another world to have come about, they all nodded and went back to their seats as did I.
While I get back to my seat with a satisfied face, I saw Mare beside Eu winking at me. As Eu"s secretary and friend, she also came to this conference.
Afterwards, I felt an intense glare piercing at me…naturally it came from Aeran, Aleris, and Eu.
Sighing, I directed my attention to Aleris father as he tells my story.
"Our world is called [Sennerth]. At the moment, we here only represent one continent. I"m afraid that aside from our continent, we have never seen another due to the dangerous seas surrounding our continent. Our continent is divided into four kingdoms. The Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and the Demons. For a very long time, the Humans, Elves, and Dwarves coexist as we wage wars to the Demons…that is, until a few weeks ago." (Sennerth Human King)
Everyone listened attentively to the sole standing person, the [Sennerth] Human King, and could not help but wonder why the Demons have come with them if they were in conflict.
"That time, the Elves and Dwarves were pushed into hiding and we Humans can only defend bitterly. So we were left with no choice. We tried to summon a [Hero]." (Sennerth Human King)
At the side, both the Elf King and the Dwarf King sighed as they can"t help but recall the past. Where they can"t do anything but hide.
Meanwhile, murmurs came about in every direction, seemingly trying to figure out what has happened.
"That"s right, the [Hero] that was summoned was none other than Lucas." (Sennerth Human King)
"This I can a.s.sure you. The reason was most probably because Lucas gained a [Hero] t.i.tle, the [Light Hero shrouded by Darkness] was granted upon him by an oracle of our [Church]." (Archbishop)
"I can also testify this as I myself had seen Lucas" status. Perhaps having a [Hero] t.i.tle is one of the requirements to be summoned." (Trask)
Conversations began everywhere as they tried to process the new information.
"So you"re saying, that if I gain a [Hero] t.i.tle, then there is a possibility that I will be summoned?" (Bram)
"Probably. I think it also depends on what kind of a hero the summoner needs you to be. Or it may be possible for there to be a completely different requirement like maybe, a job, cla.s.s, race, maybe even your name." (Lucas)
As the main subject of the talk, naturally, I was the one who replied.
Hearing what I said, most of the people here began to think that there may be a possibility for another world to exist and that another hero may have been summoned.
Since at this point, the [Sennerth] Human King did not know the specifics, I continued the story.
"Before being summoned, I felt my body freeze. Not cold type of freeze but the immovable one. Anyway, seeing that I was unable to move, all I can do was submit to it and wait for what might happen next. After the summon, A [Notice] popped up saying that time of the other worlds will freeze for a week"s time in [Sennerth] for the first summoned bonus as well as the double EXP and Item drop. I was also told that I cannot leave without completing my [Mission]" (Lucas)
Everyone tried to imagine the sight of me being unable to move and next thing, being brought to a completely different world and could not help but wonder if they should pity me or congratulate me.
Frankly, I pity myself…
"[Mission]? Not a [Quest]?" (Bram)
Bram, being a high level player, naturally reacted to the word I used.
"That"s right, unlike a [Quest], I think that a [Mission] is something bound to me and cannot be failed or refused. Ultimately, the only way to fail it was to die. The [Mission] was to end the conflict between the Demon race and the Human race." (Lucas)
Bram and Lin nodded as they seemed to have understood what I said.
"If you had noticed, I said only the conflict between the Demons and Humans. Yes, there was not a mention of the Elves and Dwarves since it was most likely because only the Human race were present in my summoning and they were the ones who summoned me. Afterwards, I was told to kill the Demon Lord like any other mainstream novel of hero summoning." (Lucas)
I gave a glance at Eu who was the said Demon Lord.
The Demon King that I defended earlier let out a disgusted expression hearing my statement and seemed to want to do some sermon but seeing as the Demons are still present in the [Sennerth] side, he waited.
At the same time, I feel as if his glare is directed to Eu only…
"To complete my [Mission], there are numerous ways to do so. One, like they said, I should kill the Demon Lord. Another is to kill the Human King since it will also still end the conflict. I could also mediate between the two and somehow make peace, and so on. At first, I was considering killing the Human King but right after giving me equipment, he threw me immediately to the battlefield…" (Lucas)
"W-wait, I thought that was just a joke…" (Sennerth Human King)
"…You do know that I was only a Lvl 17 at that time…and the monsters were what, at least Lvl 40! And they were hordes! Hordes!!!" (Lucas)
Thinking back to it, I can"t help but frown again.
"…Well, in the end, you still killed them all." (Sennerth Human King)
"…Anyway, afterwards, I got lost and ended up in the prison where the Demon Lord, or Queen, was held." (Lucas)
I only told details about the times when I was under the influence of [Dragon"s Wrath] vaguely since I don"t want them to know about it.
I continued the story from start to end, which concluded the introduction of [Sennerth].
"Based from this, we can conclude that there is still a possibility of another world out there and that having a [Hero] t.i.tle seems to be the only known way to be summoned for now."
Someone from the conference concluded the talk. I don"t know who he was though, probably some president of some country.
The others nodded and seemed to be making a mental note to find players with a [Hero] t.i.tle later on.
Even if they didn"t have any [World Key], after the country will gain one, they can simply give it to them in exchange for future partnership and such.
"Ahem, now then. Since the matter of the third world is over, we should begin this conference." (US President)
I thought the conference has already begun though…oh well, this wasn"t the main talk anyway.
After he said that, an employee of IDEA walked in front of everybody and stood on the podium at the center.
Even with this many people with high political power, the speaker doesn"t seem to faze at all!
"Then, to start with, my name is Colin Hall and I will be the speaker for today." (Colin)
Colin is a man in his early 30s with short black hair and a refined look. He gives of the impression of a n.o.ble and that even if he were to bow down from royalty, he will still not lose any dignity.
"I"m sure everyone is all aware of the point of this conference. Firstly, we would like to make an alliance with everybody here today." (Colin)
"And? Give us a good reason why we can"t just make you all submit?"
Someone from the Harus side scoffed, however, Colin was still the same as if he already expected it.
"How so?" (Colin)
"Hmph, from what we know, your [Earth] has no magic whatsoever. How can you possibly withstand the might of an S rank or higher magic? All I need is to hire a high leveled magician from our world to bring calamity here."
"True, however, from what I know, people from [Harus] has no way of entering our world without someone from our side summoning you. And even if you manage to bribe a person from our world, we can also do the same. Frankly, smuggling a nuclear bomb in your world will eradicate a whole city and even your magic barriers will not be able to defend against it." (Colin)
As he spoke, the three monitors above showed footage of nuclear bombs exploding in order to let them know just what kind of threat it is.
Seeing the video, everyone from [Harus] and [Sennerth] cannot help but let out a cold sweat.
"Are you threatening us!?"
Immediately, hostile gazes erupted.
"How can that be? I am merely stating the facts here. Also, wasn"t your early statement a threat?" (Colin)
The one who started the dispute quieted down but still didn"t revoke his hostile gaze.
"Everyone, I"m sure you all have very powerful weapons and magic or such that can also do the same as what was shown. However, if you were to unleash it in one world, remember that it can also be done by that world. At the end, everyone loses so why bother?" (Colin)
Hearing this, I chuckled at the thought.
After all, isn"t this the same situation here in [Earth]? Even if a lot of countries have nuclear weapons, in the end, they don"t use it because of the same situation, forcing everyone into a stalemate.
"Then how about us? We can easily go to both worlds and as you said, launch a nuke easily and just [Log Out] in order to avoid the damage. Why do we have to do this?"
This time, someone from [Earth] spoke up which made the people from [Harus] frown.
"That"s true, however, as said before, they can also do the same through bribing someone from [Earth] or other methods in order to launch an attack here. Also, do you know that the cities in [Harus] have a core which shields the whole city to prevent anyone from using B and above rank magic inside? They also have different kinds of magical technologies that can help all of us if studied. Are you willing to take the risk?" (Colin)
Now, it"s his turn to quiet down.
"Ladies and gentlemen. [Harus] is a world with advanced magical advancements, [Earth] is a world with a higher technological advancement, what do you think will happen if both worlds get together? Should we need to fight? Can"t we all simply get along in order to make more advancements and innovations? Do you think the future where one dominates the other is better than both collaborating?" (Colin)
Everyone sighed in amazement.
Magic and Technology!
If these two were to be properly combined, just what kind of future will that hold!?
Past theoretical experiments can be made possible!
The natural laws can be bent!
As expected, everyone wanted to see such a world.
"Then, what of [Sennerth]? They have no contributions whatsoever to this. How can we simply let them in the alliance?"
The people from [Harus] and [Earth] nodded and some even had a glint of greed in their eyes.
If [Harus] isn"t possible to conquer, then we can conquer [Sennerth]!
"I say, could it be that none of you were listening earlier?" (Lucas)
As someone who just saved [Sennerth], how can I possibly remain calm if someone trashes it afterwards!
More importantly, if others were to conquer [Sennerth], then my privileges in that world will be gone! I would have to pay for the [Skill Shrine]!
Everyone"s attention now focused on me.
"I"m telling you this for your own safety, just this Demon Queen alone can destroy an entire city and still has room for more destruction! The green haired spirit there can also make every tree in any world alive and control them! Not to mention what other secret weapon they have, are you confident on taking them head on?" (Lucas)
To this, everyone tried to imagine a single Demon obliterating an entire city alone, trees coming alive and attacking everyone, they all let out a cold sweat and began to doubt themselves.
"Muu, Lucas, you make it sound like all I do is destruction." (Eu)
"How did you know I can turn all trees alive?" (Aeran)
…Eh? Seriously? You can actually do that Aeran!?
"A-anyway, did you all forget? The areas surrounding their continent are still unknown. With the collaboration of all three worlds, perhaps we have a shot in making an exploration unit. Who knows, maybe there are treasures, minerals, or something beyond them?" (Lucas)
Everyone nodded.
If we can explore beyond the only known continent, one can only imagine what kind of wonders will we see.
"Now then, since everyone is in agreement to the alliance, we would like everyone to please drop a blood in this stone tablet. This is called the [Tablet of Equals] which [Haurs] uses to make their alliances. Everyone whose blood is in this tablet will be deemed equals and will not be able to harm one another, no matter what schemes are used. One also needs to make an oath before the blood is dropped." (Colin)
After seeing that the matter was settled, Colin held a mysterious stone tablet and presented it to everybody.
I was told that even if only the leaders were the only ones to have their blood dropped in it, everyone below them will still be affected so they also cannot harm anyone from the other group.
What a mysterious tool indeed.
One after the other, oaths was heard from each world leaders present.
However, it stopped after one certain person.
"I swear, to never harm anyone who is bound by this [Tablet of Equals]."
Just as he was about to drop a blood, he noticed that he cannot move!
"W-what is this all about!?"
"Ah, I installed a [Truth Circle] below everyone for precaution…didn"t think that it will be activated now." (Lucas)
Correct, this was indeed the same [Truth Circle] I used when I was in the Rimmer house before in interrogation.
This time, I placed it below everyone in case someone has ulterior motives, which was why I snuck in here the day before.
The one trapped right now is someone from [Harus] so he knows what just happened.
"So? The [Truth Circle] freezes anyone who lies while on top of it. Now, if you don"t start telling the truth, I fear that you may not leave this place anymore." (Lucas)
To my words, everyone flinched.
Before, there are still few who are only agreeing to the alliance for now and in the future, find a way to steal some profits.
But now, hearing what I said, they all pushed that thought away from their minds in fear of letting others know of their motives.
After the man told the truth and apologized, he was finally able to free himself. But he still lost a lot of face from this.
The oaths continued and some were also caught lying.
If one even has a tiny bit of ulterior motive, they will freeze all the same so the rest can only sigh and forget their previous thoughts.
Like this, a stable alliance was formed!
"Heh, that was quite the move you did there. However, did you also install one below you?" (Bram)
"Of course I did, no one was an exception, even the center podium has one. You can test it out by intentionally lying later. Look, I have four arms." (Lucas)
By lying, I also felt unable to move. This proved that there is also one below me.
Quickly stating the truth, I was free once more.
At the corner of my eye, I saw Colin release a cold sweat thinking that he would"ve been frozen if he were to lie earlier.
Though there are a few who frowned and seemed to have some complain, they didn"t voice it out as they too, think this might be for the best as they don"t want anyone lying on them.
…Come to think of it, when I said earlier that Aeran can make all the trees alive, I wasn"t frozen…so she can really do that!?
After some time, the oaths were finished and we began on the next agenda.
"Now, we will begin our presentation of the [Gatekeeper Project]." (Colin)
Author"s Notes
Short chapter...
Anyway, there is about 65% chance that I will release another chapter tomorrow since two of my cla.s.ses tomorrow won"t appear because of various reasons I do not want to know since I don"t care haha.
So! The Alliance has been made! Next talk will be about the Gatekeeper thingies!
Will the Alliance go smoothly? Will there be betrayals in the future? Can Lucas maintain this alliance? What kinds of threats will they be facing? What will the future hold for them? And what are the specifics of the Gatekeeper Project?
Till the next chap!
P.S.: To those who missed it, check out the Volume 4 ill.u.s.tration
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Also, sneak peak
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