Chapter 27  : The Fragile Balance

Time flew by like a beautiful fleeting melody… Alright, it wasn’t that long, I just wanted to use that saying. Truthfully, it had only been two days and Sulfur Mountain City has regained its peace.

That day, when all the escapees and villains who made use of the chaos to run amok were judged, they were either hung in the air by an intangible rope or their heads simply fell off their necks. Those who had yet to bypass the boundary or had intended to test the bottom limit, upon realizing that they were already on an invisible execution platform, immediately stopped in their tracks.

The chaos didn’t last for too long. Once the outsiders were cleared, the One Court Four Halls sent out Law Enforcers to help maintain order. Very quickly, order was reestablished in the Sulfur Mountain City.

A gigantic Red Dragon, whose body was still full of wounds after a gruesome battle, bled profusely as she glided past half of the city before crashing into the Holy Light District. When news that Sulfur Mountain City’s Guardian Deity, Ancient Red Dragon Ein Mezus, was injured to the point that she required over hundreds of Holy Knights and Priests to treat her wounds, the rumor of the Three Heads standing by a corner and watching everything happen crumbled.

Rather, under the intentional manipulation of information by some, the news that the Three Heads fought a great battle against two of the Underground Autarchs, a battle which resulted in Ein Mezus’s heavy wounds, had already spread through every street and alley.

Of course, the fact that the cause of the battle was due to the seal of the Fire Elemental God was kept secret. On the surface, the reason for the outbreak of the battle was territorial ambitions, a common reason for wars in the Underground World.

Despite the strength of the guardians being greater than that of the invaders, they had sustained tremendous wounds in order to protect the citizens. The citizens who survived the calamity due to the guardians who sacrificed themselves for them felt gratitude, pain, and relief. With the presence of all these factors and complex emotions, this diverse city was more Ever since the judgement ended, I started to get hooked on wood carving. This was a skill-based chore, requiring me to focus all my attention on it.

“The truth?”

“It’s too troublesome, I don’t feel like explaining.”

Margaret shook her head and sat back down. As usual, the Lich was scheming something. However, it is impossible to get anything out of him when he is unwilling to reveal anything.

Try to guess his thoughts? The mind of this fellow is weird and unorthodox. There were many times when he seemed to just be playing around, but when the time comes, it turned out that everything was actually a complex design of his plans. If he really intended to do something secretly, even if the Saint had been watching the scenes all along, she would still be unable to figure what he was up to.

Margaret had once questioned him about it but, in return, she received a baffling reply.

“Your thoughts are too direct. It is just like the Magic War Chess that you all love to play. You all scramble over every single gain and loss to accrue tiny wins to achieve the final victory. It may seem like a wise strategy, but in reality, the weapons that you are pointing toward your enemies become very apparent. This made it easy for others to see through your thoughts. Instead of being on the upper hand, you are actually in a disadvantageous position. As an expert on Go, I scatter my pieces around the board and wait patiently most of the time. I don’t try to aim for the small wins. Instead, I go for the big one from the start.”

“Go? Is there such a chess in this world? Could it be a game that had disappeared in history?” Margaret pushed further on this topic several times afterward but Lich Roland seemed to be focused on other stuff and ignored her questions.

“Right, I intend to create a branch in the next few days, Supreme Court Chrome Branch.”

Chrome City’s City Lord Hng Hng had already died under Margaret’s Forbidden Spell during the invasion a few days ago, leaving Chrome City without a leader. My intentions were rather clear.

“No wonder you are increasing the number of personnel. You are intending on taking over Chrome City?”

“Of course, after killing the boss, I can accept not leveling and not receiving any treasures. But if I don’t conquer their land and lay my hands on some of their beauties, my efforts would have been in vain and I would die on the street from the indignance.”

Alright, just as usual, they ignored my crazy speech straight, even though the words that I spoke were the mainstream view of the world. Personally, I think that it was sufficient to just live happily. When you’re bored, you can tell a joke and feel happy over it, or perhaps cause some trouble so that everyone can have a laugh over it. In comparison, it was more tiring to go around with a gloomy face and be obsessed with fighting and slaughter all day long just to feel powerful.

Back to the main topic, I did intend to take over Chrome City but my goal was not to claim supremacy.

“On one hand, the Power of Law requires more believers and faith. Also, we need more chips on our hand. Otherwise, how else can we deal with the Underground Alliance?”

Hearing my words, everyone went silent.

The Underground Alliance’s plan of invading the Surface was supported by a large portion of the residents of the Underground World, and as such, there’s a high probability it would be realized. The reason why we could defeat the collaboration of two Underground Autarchs was because they rushed here after hearing that the seal was going to be strengthened. They might have even used Teleportation Magic to do so. Given the limited amount of time they had, they only brought a small portion of their guards with them. In fact, the invading army probably wasn’t even a tenth of their real influence. At the very least, we hadn’t seen the powerful experts under their command.

Furthermore, even if we were able to defeat the Underground Autarchs, can we defeat the thousands to ten thousands of the Underground City Lord’s Alliance Army? I had already learned my lesson that the tide of ‘history’ cannot be stopped. If I were to try stopping it with my weak arms, I would only be crushed.

When the two Underground Autarchs invade once more with their full army, or perhaps, bring 300 to 400 Underground City Lords along to deal with us, Sulfur Mountain City would become the fool who tried to block the entire world with the strength of an individual. Eventually, it would just become a corporeal scar of history — ruins.

“Let me propose a solution. Actually, your thoughts are too inflexible. Do we really have to stand on opposite sides with them to oppose their invasion to the Surface? If we were to always sing a different tune with them, it is just a matter of time before we get isolated. You all are sufficiently strong, so it doesn’t really matter much to you all. But when Annie finally takes over, and the resentment from the enemies whom you all have offended bursts, will she be able to take them on?”

“Then what should we do?” Margaret had also thought of it but she didn’t have any solutions to deal with it.

“You know, we could just join them! Yes, join them! The status quo is four dominant figures within split into two factions, thus maintaining a fragile balance among them. However, can you imagine what will happen if another Underground Autarch were to appear?”

Adam’s face spelled of confusion but Margaret went deep into thoughts.

“Indeed, no matter what, we managed to defeat two Underground Autarchs and thus, we should have the qualifications to become an Autarch ourselves. Since only two Autarchs came, it proves that they aren’t as unified as we thought they were. Thus, if we were to show our support to the other side…”

“Yes, the leadership of the Alliance army is something worth fighting over.”

Somehow, I thought of my faraway home. Amidst five old established factions, there was a new growing power. During its growth, it kept changing factions and obtain many benefits through such. Furthermore, when it comes to decision-making, it used its rights to veto the decisions made or give up on their vote altogether, annoying the other countries. Eventually, it became the leading power of the new generation.

“Furthermore, I have an important present, a present that could drive that subtle balance into an unresolvable chaos.”

“What?”

“What important present?”magic

I laughed gleefully as I placed the black wooden scepter on the table.

“God Equipment Eternal Night Scepter. This is the highest God Equipment equivalent to the royal authority of the Empire of Undead Xiluo. Created by the Emperor of Eternal Night himself, it is definitely authentic. We are willing to allow experts to verify it and if proven to be fake, we will refund you tenfold.”