Chapter 352: Chapter 352. The Alliance Converges.
In a large room, several individuals could be seen seated around a circular table.
It was a day before the Society Wars, and they had met to make preparations.
These were familiar faces at Astral Empire Academy.
They were the society leaders who had decided to ally together to get rid of Kailen Darkhaven during the Society Wars.
They included Tyrax Tantamount - president of the student council, Xyra Ashton - president of the Ashton Society, Bryce Darkhaven - president of the Darkhaven Society, and Dahlia Covern - president of the Arcane Society.
"Honorable presidents, thank you for honoring the agreement. The plan proceeds as we’ve discussed."
Bryce Darkhaven, despite being the weaker one amongst them, was the one who had suggested the alliance and the plan to make it work.
The others nodded in agreement.
Dahlia, the president of the Arcane Society - a feminine beauty with pale ceramic skin, snake-like scales running through her body, eyes gleaming with slits courtesy of being from the Naga and Witch race at the same time - was the first to speak after his words.
"I would have it no other way, but let’s note that after the temporal alliance to surround and crush the Sword Tribunal Society and Kailen Darkhaven, we revert back to enemies, fighting each other in the Society Wars."
Tyrax Tantamount replied, "Do you have to even mention this? The only reason why I agreed to this is because of our combined hatred for the bastard."
"Ouch," Xyra Ashton commented. "That hurt. Are you saying the student council and Ashton Society won’t be collaborating in the Society Wars?"
Everyone else looked at them curiously.
The friendly relationship between Xyra and the Centaur was not a secret. Before this revelation, they all assumed and planned against any form of collaboration between the Ashton Society and the student council after the collaboration between them.
Tyrax merely shrugged his towering shoulders helplessly. "I’m sorry, Xyra. It was the decision of the student council. Not even you and I can collaborate on this one. It was not my personal decision. After dealing with Darkhaven, it’s an all-out war between the other societies, even between yours and mine."
Xyra sighed and nodded. She knew such decisions could not be made by him alone, so she didn’t hold any grudges.
"The rules of the upcoming Society Wars have not yet been announced, but one rule remains constant during all the Society Wars that have taken place over the course of the academy’s founding. Killing an opponent earns you an extremely large number of points. If we are not gonna be allies, then it means when we clash, death is inevitable."
"I wish it didn’t have to come to this, Xyra. But the student council is already in a tough spot. We lean towards losing more points by allying with a society we can kill to make more points. This is the unanimous decision of the student council."
Tyrax was blunt, straightforward.
Everyone nodded. His words made sense.
They wouldn’t have allied in the first place if not for a common enemy.
The alliance breaks the moment the chief threat, Kailen Darkhaven, is eliminated.
"Any support from the other councillors?" Dahlia asked.
"Not really. The others are sitting this one out for some reason. They have taken neutral positions. They won’t participate in the Society Wars," Tyrax Tantamount said.
Everyone sighed in relief.
Had the councillors of the student council decided to participate in the Society Wars, it would have been an extremely daunting one.
Inasmuch as Vesper Locke was dead, the others were extremely strong.
Xyra sighed and said, "Fortunately, the councillors from the royal family want to send a message that they are not interested in squabbles between societies, and in actual sense, powerhouses in the empire. This is why they’ve decided to not participate in the Society Wars."
Bryce added with a nod, "As for the councillor from the Buro Family, his family probably wants him to sit out of the Society Wars, and their Buro Society decided to not participate this time. That means we only have ourselves to deal with when we are done with Kailen Darkhaven."
The others nodded, staring his way briefly, undertones of murderous intent subtly flickering through their eyes.
Bryce mused inwardly. He knew what they were thinking.
"These fuckers think I’m the weakest they can get rid of after we kill Kailen, before they think of getting rid of each other.
Heh. When the mysterious higher-up supporting the Vimodial Society causes the academy streaming to go off, the other Vimodial contractors from the Darkhaven Society will deal with them, while I get rid of Kailen Darkhaven."
A ruthless gleam flashed through his eyes. "I’ll kill multiple birds with one stone."
He turned to look at the others with a feigned smile. "We can also use the Society Wars to get rid of the Atrexia Society. I heard they are planning to stupidly ally themselves with the Sword Tribunal Society despite having knowledge of our alliance against Kailen Darkhaven."
Everyone noticed the malice in his voice when he mentioned Zarek.
It was only natural since the news of the Atrexia Conglomerate cutting ties with them was no news.
Tyrax Tantamount shook his head in agreement.
"Getting rid of Darkhaven is akin to getting rid of Zarek, since they will be acting together."
"Sorry I’m late."
Suddenly, a lazy voice resounded in the room, then an extremely slim male appeared.
Everyone stared at him with astonishment before they realized the familiar face devoid of extreme fat.
"Yeah, it’s me, Riba Harker. Went on a diet."
Riba rolled his eyes, then plopped into the chair.
Everyone stared at him with a sigh. It seemed the meatball memes had really gotten to him so much that he decided to slim down.
"What?" He acted as if he didn’t know the reason for their stares, then added, "What did I miss?"
****
Kailen sighed and shook his head with a half-maniacal smile tugging at the edge of his lips.
"As I thought."
Kailen had just gone through the memories of Hound 3 concerning the just-ended meeting between the society presidents.
"What a bunch of clowns. Also, Bryce, it seems I should pay more attention to what Zarek told me yesterday."
"There’s no way that guy, with his strength, could act so confident from the confidence radiating from him during their meeting. He plans to include some sort of Vimodial contractors in the Society Wars."
"My conclusion is whatever instructor backs him is planning on messing with the footage of the wars long enough for him to attempt to get rid of me, while at the same time he uses the Vimodial contractors of his society to try to get rid of the other society presidents, killing multiple birds with one stone.
Heh, this will be very interesting. I heard Ross Kadmen is very influential, right? I have a brilliant idea in mind."
***
In a very large solar system of the Astral Galaxy, spanning an extremely ridiculous enormous size, sprawled with magnificent estates that beat anything the Astral Empire could represent, a man could be seen seated across a variety of charred dried corpses in a magnificent room.
The man licked his lips voraciously, gaze directed towards a little girl sprawled somewhere in the corner of the room with mouth bound by some sort of rune that prevented her from screaming, the girl’s eyes full of terror and fear.
The man had extremely silver hair, silver eyes, and some gentlemanly demeanor that betrayed the voracious expression on his face.
Just as he was about to head towards the little girl, the notification of someone calling appeared on his iris.
The man sighed, then picked the call.
The person at the other end of the voice replied, "Your subject greets The Royal Highness."
"Principal Moreau, this better be important," the crown said impatiently.
He didn’t like to be interrupted when he was feeding.
Knowing this, the current principal of the Astral Empire Academy, and a Vimodial contractor, quickly apologized. "I’m sorry, my Lord."
She quickly added, not wanting to waste the time of the Crown Prince of the Astral Empire, "The petition from Bryce Darkhaven has been carried out. Everything is going as planned."
The crown prince nodded slightly, quite pleased.
"Let’s see if the boy can prove himself useful, unlike his stupid father. Proceed."
"Very well. As you wish."
With that, the hologram closed.
The crown prince returned to his devices, the little girl, his last snack for the evening.
The whole Astral Empire was in a heated mood.
The Society Wars for the Astral Empire Academy were approaching.
And it was left with just a day for the event to commence.
In the calm before the storm, hidden daggers were already drawn.
As time flew quickly over the empire, and the day drew near ,everyone in the empire anticipated the academy’s society wars , little did they know that it would be a day that no one in the empire will ever forget.