82 Allies 5

A long silence spread in the room before Lia sighed and nodded at Elder D, "Like Mika, the good boy he is, said the A family wants me to become the new Immortal King."

Mika was fed up. He was very fed up being teased in front of his father, especially by Lia, especially with such an embarrassing nickname.

"I'm not a dog!" he barked.

Yet both Lia and Elder D ignored him.

"You are the new Immortal King?" the disbelief was apparent on Elder D's face. If Lia was him, she also wouldn't believe it.

"Indeed, I have obtained the power of the Immortal King," Lia casually waved with her hand. Both Mika and Elder D expected to see something but nothing happened.

Lia was amused, "You do know the power of the Immortal King, no? I only have a fraction of it for now."

"Show me," Mika instantly said, his sceptical eyes bored into Lia. Lia only smiled and turned to Elder D, "Will you join me and accept me as your king?"

It felt weird for Lia to refer to herself as a king but sooner or later she had to accept the role. Either way, she wanted to attain what Min couldn't get. She would strip the title of him, so he could only bow before her glancing at the might she had.

"This is hard. I understand your intention but Mika is right to reject. The matters of the hidden families and the Ghost King should not be ours to deal with."

"So, you're just going to look away? Even if you live in bliss here, once Min is able to execute his plan, what will be there of you? You pretend not to be interested then for what has Maria shipped all the information to you?"

The thing Lia hated most were bystanders. People who had the power to do something but chose not to. They rather stood by and watched instead of getting involved. Afraid to do so, too lazy to do so, couldn't care to do so, whatever the reason these kind of people were worse than those that harboured evil aspirations.

Not doing anything was a crime in itself. Because of people like this, Lia's life turned upside down.

Elder D bit his tongue and didn't say anything. The atmosphere turned rigid and awkward.

"Are you really going to turn away?" Lia didn't let him off the hook. She needed an answer.

"We have people here to protect and it's not that we don't want to support you, it's just that there's an uncertainty that sways our decision."

"Elder D, please just be straightforward and say that you do not trust me or at least don't believe that I'm capable enough for you to put your blind trust in."

"If you already know it, then why do you still ask?" Mika threw in but one look from Lia silenced him.

"I'm not asking you to give up your place here and leave all the people in Rag to die. I'm asking you to become my allies, to aid me in times of need, to lend me your power once we will go to war with Min."

"War?" Elder D was surprised again. Just what did this girl think about?

"It's inevitable. Min has raised a private army to protect himself with capable exorcists, sooner or later he will also have several more facilities to create artificially ghosts to help him, then he'll be closer to his goal. Do you think we can peacefully settle things with someone as heartless and ambitious as him? There's no way. The only way is to fight each other," Lia looked at her plate and then stabbed the meat with her fork.

"How can you-"

"Elder D, in all of the history in the mortal world or even the immortal world I reckon, if one was in power and people disagreed with said person ruling over them, has there ever been a time when it didn't turn violent? You can call it war, coup d'état, rebellion, revolution whatever makes your heart more at ease, in the end, it's our nature to fight for our beliefs. And when beliefs clash with each other, there will never be peace until one side disappears."

Lia put the meat in her mouth, "It's just the means slightly differ."

"Once Min will set his plan into motion do you think any of us can survive? Both worlds with only ghosts? Two ghost worlds, is there any place for humans there? Of course not, except you have the luck to turn into a ghost."

No one muttered a word after this. Lia twirled the fork in her hand and waited for her words to settle in Elder D and Mika. It has always been from the beginning clear that it was inevitable that going against Min wouldn't become a bloody process that required many sacrifices.

Lia needed people who would march with her into a war full of slaughter, despair and brutality without hesitation. Who wouldn't shrink back from killing and witnessing hundreds of people die. Who would, without blinking their eyes, bring down their weapons upon another and ruthlessly slaughter them.

Weak-minded people like the D family, like Mika, would break easily. That was why this inevitable future needed to be clarified from the beginning. To become a king, to overthrow, to take down a king, was always a task accompanied by daring acts, blasphemy and required body counts that no longer could be counted.

In a sense, this was still about Lia's revenge, but in the bigger picture, this wasn't the only thing that mattered. Becoming the Immortal King was the journey beginning from her revenge, and the downfall of Min was the start of her rising as the Immortal King.

This was no longer a journey of revenge. This was a declaration against fate, a battle to tear down the heavens, to topple destiny. This was a new life for Lia. A new chance for her to live, away from the shackles of confinement bound to bear through what was predestined for her.

"There's something bothering me," Mika spoke up and his face showed hesitation, "You talk as if you know the Ghost King personally."

Lia's lips rose and she laughed lightly, ridiculing herself.

"Ah, I spent so many hundreds of years with him, it's almost etched into my bones to talk about him so familiar. It's really," Lia dropped her smile, "A revolting feeling."

Elder D and Mika were taken aback. This girl she was… something else.

"You know him?" Mika couldn't help but inquire more.

"There's no one who knows him better than me, or so I would've answered in the past."

"That means?"

"You're not very bright, no? If I tell you, this will only cloud your judgement of me even further."

Lia stood up and towered over Mika, "How about this, Elder D? I will have a match with Mika here, and if I win, you acknowledge me and ally yourself with me. If I lose, I will stop bothering you. Before you get the wrong idea, this is also a test for Mika."

Lia's hair fell onto Mika's face but he didn't move to brush them away, he only stared at Lia's narrowed eyes.

"This is a two-way cooperation. I need strong allies, strong enough to hold their own against exorcists. I need ruthless people, cruel enough to wipe an entire army of soldiers without batting an eye. I need capable people, clever enough to know what's wrong and what's right."

Lia closed in even more on Mika, "I need people who won't falter at the smallest obstacles, who can persevere despite the whole world being against them. Mika, you're weak but I can make you strong. Powerful enough to protect those you want and slaughter those that dare to harm your people. If you join me, I can give you power. In return, you'll pledge your loyalty to me."

Lia pulled away, "You and the entire D family shall be under my command."