Chapter 1491: Vying for Power

The guild meeting lasted five hours, despite Arthur focusing on learning the situation in different parts of the world instead of solving them. Nonetheless, he was pleased to see a sense of unity among his guild masters.

Rae was helped by Seraphine at the moment to take down the Shon Theocracy. However, the Father of Shon was creating armies that resembled Rae in appearance but not in character. They all had white hair and red eyes, a side effect of their bloodline being altered by the Father.

Each member of these armies could rival a hundred awakeners from their guild. Arthur had already witnessed Rae’s unnatural strength and battle sense and could understand why they were still struggling to seize control.

A few guilds who had just finished their own battles volunteered to help them. Others, already preoccupied, offered their insights and suggestions to help the two.

East and West Sourna were now called Sourna after the princess took the throne. Rain was together with Valeria, helping her recover from the recent events with Deluge and the Amplifier.

The Dragonir guild had grown more powerful, enough to threaten Ascent, after the merge brought a wave of new monsters for the tamers to utilize.

Their armies almost doubled in size. The monsters themselves were now more powerful, which proved to be a headache for the guilds stationed nearby. Jonah and a few other guilds formed an alliance to take Dragonir down, but that failed with heavy losses. It was also how he got the scar.

Orlan had shut down its borders, and no one could go in or out. The Prime Minister announced that it would be an independent state and any attempts to enter its borders would be seen as an act of war — not that anyone could actually infiltrate.

Arthur himself had no personal grudge against Orlan and no mission to take it down. As far as he was aware, the people of the republic led good lives, and it was by far the least damaged nation by the merge.

Casualties and natural disasters were now few. Halin had survived a few earthquakes after the merge turned them into an island, but not without a few of the giants perishing in the process. The country of giants had kept to themselves even in these troubled times.

Janea was now a public ally of Ascent, and the trade with Runera had been a boon to its economy. A new wave of potions flooded the market after Arthur saved the elves, and it was working well enough to sustain the needs of the public.

The Yalveran Union could only be said to flourish after Nera and Lucian (a name that Arthur still paused upon hearing because Sier would always be Sier for him) had taken the throne together. Markus had been awarded the title of duke, which Arthur felt happy for his ex-classmate.

Amelia was leading a different guild that operated within the Yalveran Union. She was helping the union fight against the demi-humans. Her guild had the most demi-humans, unexpectedly, all of whom found the current state of Alva to require reform.

As the woman gave her report, she looked nothing like what Arthur remembered her as—a weak and annoying teenager who kept running after him. She was mature now, with her blue-tinged black hair tied back in a ponytail similar to Jonah’s.

Her entire demeanor had changed, and she talked with brutal efficiency. She commanded an air of respect and no-nonsense that Arthur could barely associate with the person he once knew.

Diana would be joining Amelia to return to the Yalveran Union, where she’d meet Sier and the rest of their forces from Alka. They would then work together to take down Alva and rebuild it anew.

As he listened to the countless battles against the governments around the world, Arthur had an uneasy notion that his guild was not only interfering but conquering these places. He understood there was a fine line between tyrant and conqueror, and he wanted to create a system where this power wouldn’t be exploited while he was gone.

Li was also present. His guild remained as the sword of Ascent. They were tasked with exploring and investigating the current affairs of different kingdoms. Arthur called for him, even though the man refused to talk to anyone other than Julia, because he wanted to know more about Berilo.

After their aid during the assault against Kera, Berilo became semi-allies of Ascent. However, ever since the merge, their kingdom had been slowly disappearing until it was gone. Multiple people sought out the kingdom and the clan of assassins, but all they could find was empty land.

The mystery unnerved Arthur, who understood that the teleporters had a different opinion regarding the merge. If they targeted Diana because she had the Isotox within her, Arthur would have no choice but to annihilate them, including Miko, a person he regretted losing.

As he thought about Miko, Arthur remembered Hazel and Jin from the trial. He pulled out their kingdom and realized that it had doubled in size ever since the merge. This time, it was the guild led by the bear that rose to report the ongoing events with Tanera, the Kingdom of Summoners.

After the merge, Tanera had kept to itself except for its attempts to make an ally of Sier, or rather, Lucian Yalen. They seemed to be scheming something, which Ascent had uncovered as the summoning of an ancient astral being that would give the kingdom immense power.

Tanera denied the allegations, but the bear—called Tito—explained that they learned about their plans from some of their members. Julia interjected that she had ordered Tito and his guild to investigate the issue and their progress in succeeding.

Arthur realized that while he was gone fighting against calamities and the Nameless, the other nations were working to strengthen themselves as well. The alliance of the fifty-one nations was nothing but a front while everyone worked to climb the ladder of power.

Chaos meant opportunity.

Despite the Yalveran Union being their ally, Arthur didn’t like that they were expanding into nearby lands and conquering them. He understood that it was necessary for their survival, in case these lands fell to the demi-humans, but it was still wrong.

Arthur didn’t want to be a conqueror. He disliked the idea of war for power. War might be necessary to save someone, but if it became a tool to grow more powerful, it was something he loathed.

The Ilios Empire might be one of the few that were least affected by the merge, despite how much land it covered. Empress Ai had unified the people and worked hard to rise as the Empress of Warriors.

One-Armed Asura had also been saved by Ai from a fight he had against Amelio. The old man’s guild relocated to Ilios to help with organizing the rescue and relief of anyone affected by the merge, a way to pay back Ai for saving him.

The reason that Ilios was mostly unharmed was because no one knew what kind of land had suddenly landed next to it. The entire expanse had divided the continent and separated Ilios from Janea, Halin, and the Yalveran Union.

Arthur was worried that this was a part of the calamity-infested lands. It unnerved him that the former guardians were not acting and that the Sin of Sloth had yet to reveal itself. In fact, that had been the case even in Alka, which might explain why no one could pass through the land that divided the continent in two.

In the end, Arthur could only focus on the task at hand. He brainstormed with the rest of the guild masters on how to improve the survivability of the nomads who traveled the unexplored lands and felt that none of their suggestions were going to cut it.

The discussion landed on the main topic that was worrying the guild: the Divine Trial. After Devaheim seized the trial, it had renamed it and created multiple towers—great structures that appeared out of nothing—to invite people inside.

Many of the guilds believed they should enter the trial lest it prove a method for them to grow stronger. Arthur made his first command in the meeting that not a single member of Ascent was allowed to do that.

He tried to explain that this was a trap orchestrated by the gods, but the members were still a little uncomfortable regarding his order. Arthur had to trust that they would listen but otherwise wouldn’t hesitate to exile anyone who disobeyed.

Arthur dismissed them, telling them that they would be informed of their next orders soon. Julia and he would work all night to come up with a plan that both aligned with his vision and worked for the public good.

After the long meeting ended, Arthur collapsed into his chair. He had remained standing throughout the meeting, too focused on the current state of the world. Although his guild had grown powerful, they were still nowhere near enough to resolve all conflicts.

After it ended, Julia went to meet Li. Arthur remained alone inside the guild hall. Well, not alone. The one to remain was Rae. She stood in front of his desk, looking down at the man she now served.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.