The Lords' summit: Showdown of the Leaders

Buck, who no longer needed to wear the white armor representing independent players, wore red armor representing BRe. "Good, I guess all factions have arrived here… Then I begin the opening speech by thinking that it is time for us to put all our feelings aside, even if temporarily, and come together again…" He started the meeting by standing in front of the benches at the end of the hall with 3 people from the BRe alliance. Jan, the previous and last temporary King which will never exist again… And Hand… The current strongest player in 1157 World. The last one was Haites, the former Lord of the GBR Alliance…

Many of the other participants generally nodded and sat down.

Gemma and Adira of the SbG Alliance… Mermaid was also with them, the former Lord of the TTD Alliance which merged with them…

Elizabeth, The Lord of the oni Alliance, and her companions, Tenq and Baby. And Plymouth, formerly Res Alliance member…

West, The Lord of the AnD Alliance was with her friends, El Cid and Amrow…

Juutchi of the WaR Alliance… He came with Shane only…

Darkheat, The Lord of the xJx Alliance. 

Apart from the alliance participants, two other prominent groups also took their places, sitting on the benches a little away from them.

The first one was only 1 player. Pump… Since he was no longer a BRe member, he accepted the meaningless glances thrown at him as reasonable. "I formed a party with very unique players and came here as a representative for them."

"Unique?"

"Yeah. Mini, Cloak, and Scaar!"

There was an instant dead silence in the hall because the names were truly unique.

"Can you clarify their current states, Pump? You know, Mini turned..."

"Yes, Buck, they all are pure, you can trust me! Although Mini's external appearance is still a half-monster, he is mentally good and becomes more human in conscience with each passing day. Which he doesn't need anyway, he's still Mini at heart!"

"Ok, I understand, Pump. I trust you on this issue. Even if he rampages, I am sure you can handle it without bloodshed… And what is this Scaar development? We all know that he was killed…" Buck stopped realizing later where the issue was going.

"By me, yeah…" Pump smiled painfully. "But something happened even I do not know how. He returned back in a shadow-form…"

"Shadow? Like KB's guards?"

"Yes. Shadows are still mysteries for all of us. But he is different. He contacted me somehow. It is probably related to his previous life on Earth. He was a kinda software expert in the army. Of course, I can not say anything for sure. But my guess is like this; his body has died because of me. But his existence is stuck here somehow, maybe he did something thanks to his knowledge. But one thing is sure… He is trustable!"

"Well, from what I understand from what you said, I don't think so Pump. But ok for now. We will not challenge the System, we are against another Server World now. Cloak's situation?"

"He couldn't heal fully but he is kinda good also. He will continue to fight on our side."

"Ok, Pump. Thanks for your transparency. You and your branch are welcome here. And…you?" Buck looked at the people sitting on the bench in the shadows of the wall a short distance away.

"I am Ayo…"

"I know you Ayo…" Buck smiled and continued to talk calmly "Just to clarify, I assume you're here representing the rebels? Are you the leader of them?"

"No, I am not. Our previous leader was Treader and he and his wife have died as you know. Our current leader doesn't want to expose the identity yet. I am just a common member of our faction. We do not name ourselves by the way, so you can call us by the name whatever you want…"

"Traitors?" West's hatred was reflected on her face as she spoke.

"Tsch!..." Ayo did not take this provocation seriously. "We are not traitors, West. Oppositely, our aim was killing the traitors!"

"Ah, yes, you made a perfect strike and killed countless innocent people…no, our friends!"

"West, please… If you paid attention to the words in my announcement, I deliberately did not say alliances clearly in order to ensure the participation of all factions. Allow me to handle this meeting peacefully…"

"..." Heeding Buck's warning, West did not continue.

"I understand Ayo's existence… But…" He turned his head slightly and looked at the person sitting next to Ayo. "What are you doing here, Gofu?"

Gofu, sitting right next to Ayo with his legs crossed and his hands placed on the back of his neck, responded arrogantly. "You are asking this to me, High Being, Gofu! I am here as the leader of the Rebels!"

"What!?" Everyone in the hall was stunned.

"Damn…" Russian participant Ayo, who started to get angry, responded by rubbing his own forehead with his fingers and looking at the floor to stay calm. "F.ck, no! This guy is not with us. I did my best to stop but couldn't prevent him from coming… You can kill him, really. Fine for us!"

"Sh.t the hell up, ungrateful b.stard or I can chop your head by just only pulling your blonde hair!"

Buck smiled again warmly. "Ok, Gofu… I accept you into this conference as the representative of solo players then."

"Do whatever you want. I would never leave here anyway…"

"Sorry for intervening but I wanna ask something, Buck."

"Go on please, Heat…"

"You know, Gofu is a Kos player and also a very aggressive one…"

"Yes, I know. His Kos title was raised by Aramis as you know. Aramis revoked all his authorizations and also told me to cancel all Kos titles from now on. Of course sadly, I can not do anything for Cloak since his title was given by the System. And Heat, you know this, my alliance caused a huge damage to GBR Alliance sadly. But as you see, Haites is with us here too…"

"It is just for you, Buck. I wouldn't do that if…"

"Yes, I know, Haites. And I am grateful for this. Also, Heat; Mona and KB turned out to be traitors but Juutchi and Elizabeth are here with their friends to help us."

"Yeah and don't think we're happy about it, Buck!"

"Look, West. You know me, I would never intervene in any other alliance's internal business. But you imprisoned Lamour!"

"Yes, Buck, just stay away from our business!!!"

"Listen to me, West. Lamour is one of the top 10 PvP players in this World and all of us are sure of this: She is not a spy nor a traitor! After suffering so much loss, we need someone like her in the coming war, yet we don't question it. So I kindly ask you to respect everyone here. Everyone including you is very important to me. I need all of you!"

"Did you finish, Buck?"

"?" Buck was surprised by Ayo's attitude, as he suddenly stood up.

"I was sent here for one purpose, and you've launched into that very topic. Listen to me well, West and Elizabeth! Lamour and Kira are our valuable friends. So our leader told me to convey this message to you; give them back to us. Otherwise, our attitude will not be limited to not helping you in this war. At the same time, we will recognize AnD and oni alliances as our enemies!"

"Huh, bring it on, f.ckers! Lamour is my member and no one would dare to oppose us!"

"Well, we do not know where is Kira, Ayo. She disappeared and we saw the system messages about her like you. But I agree with West. You clearly threaten us here. So believe what you want. If I saw any of your members close to my hive, I will tear him or her into the pieces!"

"Hey, hey, hey, easy all!" To defuse the rising tension, Buck stood up again and calmly walked towards Ayo. "Sadly, I agree with them about your attitude, Ayo. As I just mentioned, Lamour is a valuable player in this world for me. So is Kira… However, it is not nice for you to threaten to leave us alone by using the upcoming war, which will be really difficult to win under these conditions!"

"I apologize for my harsh tone, but I was just conveying what I was told. And got my answer also… I don't need to stay here anymore. I do not say we will just stay and watch. We will battle also! But under our rules, we will not follow any order will come from you, guys!" Having finished his speech, Ayo left the giant Hall through the huge entrance door…

".." Buck stared at Gofu, who didn't move, for a few seconds.

"What? You heard the guy, I am not with them… Also, I'm sure you have bloody plans to share with us. Hell if I miss it!" The usual sinister grin remained on his face.