NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97: The Nine Lords Alliance
"Wait, not right… where are the guys that came ahead of us?" Larry suddenly asked about Vera's party.
"Could that be why your Lord can't see us — because he's busy with them?" Larry's expression turned chillingly cold.
Lionel shook his head nonchalantly.
"Who's to say… What I can tell you though is that those guys seem to have an invitation. And also, they came here to bargain an alliance, not to conquer, so naturally they get better treatment."
Trespassing wasn't as small an offense as one might assume.
Barging into another Lord's territory could only be admissible for Hunters, but as a Lord you weren't given such leniency.
If not taken care of, it could spark a war. Now, Roy had long invited Vera, so her entry into his territory provoked no blaring alarming warnings from the system like Lux's group had been getting all day.
So they allowed her and her crew through the Aegis. But for others… they weren't getting such treatment.
Larry remained silent for a bit, then spoke.
"Are you seriously ready to engage us? Just you?"
Lionel raised a brow.
"Did I stutter?"
"I see…" The archer Lord's lips parted into a chilling smile.
It finally hit Lux.
"Fuck, that's true. With Larry here, guns aren't going to be a problem…"
The Lord regained his confidence. The intimidation caused by the gunshot had almost made him forget about who he was here with.
Larry — the greatest archer he knew. Not only that, he was dubbed the King of Motion.
This name wasn't for fancy. As the bearer of the First-Class Order of Motion, Larry could manipulate projectiles, even going as far as banning and restricting movements and flight of objects or life forms.
With this guy in battle, all forms of projectile weapons were rendered useless — and guns just so happened to fall under this category.
The only reason Lana was shot was because the Lord didn't see it coming and wasn't prepared.
Lux's aura soared back to its peak as he reached for his trusted sword, Gram. His eyes simmered as he declared:
"Okay guys, we kill our way in!"
Larry, bow in hand, reached for an arrow, his hair hustling in the wind as he took aim.
From behind, the now furious Lana raged forward, taking rapid heavy steps. Her bleeding had long stopped.
Her bronze skin glistened like that of a celestial, her irises simmering with a flooding torrent of power. Her hammer enlarged accordingly to her rage, becoming at least two times greater.
But her fluid, graceful movements betrayed the emotion — the weapon seemed weightless. Yet the slight warp in space at its passage begged to differ.
Surprisingly, Lionel's aura flared not in the slightest bit short of his opponents. His crimson hair billowed, and dual stun sticks appeared in his hands.
Furious currents sparked in the air as the humming of live current filled the atmosphere. He remarked as he got into a stance:
"From the head it is…"
---
Within the Aegis…
Vera and the other Lords stood stunned at the sight before them.
This wasn't just a city…
This was a metropolitan heaven. Towering buildings, paved roads, filled with… holy shit, cars?
People moved about their business. Police officers could be seen patrolling the streets with their K-9s.
Everything about the whole place felt so surreal and melancholic… They were reminded of Earth.
A home they would never have the grace of seeing again.
"Vera… How did you say you met this Lord again?" Noelle, a comrade Lord from her side, whispered.
As a van parked before them, its doors automatically opened — a gesture for them to enter.
Vera opened her mouth, but speechless, she shut it back… too engrossed with feeding her eyes and restraining the urge to start buying everything on sight to reply.
The Lords she had brought with her were the members of the alliance she had told Roy about.
Aside from herself, the Merchant Empress, there was…
- Noelle, the Goddess Fortune, bearer of the Order of Luck.
- Fin, the Gourmet King, bearer of the Order of Feast.
- Roderick, the King of Oaths, bearer of the Order of Contracts.
- Jane, Lady Green, bearer of the Order of Green.
- Henry, mostly reclusive, no known nickname, bearer of the Order of Craft.
- Brandon, the Crazed Gambler, order unknown, but wielder of the heaven-flipping gambling system.
- Jared, also reclusive for good reasons, bearer of the Order of Wealth.
- Sonia, known Lord without a nickname, bearer of the Order of Transportation.
All these Lords were mostly non-combatant early-comer Lords, who banded together to protect themselves from mad dominators like Lux.
Naturally, their first priority was to recruit a combatant Lord. But it was tough to find any outside an alliance. To their greatest joy, Vera relayed that she had found one willing to ally with them.
"So… why couldn't your Lord come get us himself?" Roderick questioned the captain driving them.
The one who introduced herself as Layla.
Layla sighed. They could never foresee that there was someone Roy had invited before the tragedy.
And now they were here. What were they to say? "Sorry, our Lord has been in comatose for two months now, so he can't meet you?"
They obviously couldn't. And worse, none of them had any idea what was discussed between these guys and their Lord.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Please, if you could just hold till we reach the conference table, our Head Captain would explain." Layla decided to dump all responsibility on Richard.
Noelle frowned.
"I thought you were taking us to your Lord?"
Layla remained silent, not knowing what more to say.
The other Lords were getting agitated, frowning and glancing at themselves, finding the whole scenario suspicious.
Vera spoke, hoping to calm the others.
"Before bringing you guys here, I told you I trust Roy — meaning his subordinates also… Let's just calm down and see."
The Lords were still frowning, but in respect of Vera, they silently let themselves be driven.