Refute?

Xavnik felt as though his mind was collapsing. Looking at Leonel's charming smile, his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest.

It was, indeed, the simplest answer, it was just one that he wasn't willing to accept. He had the largest number of people, and he had even been the closest to claiming a sea aside from Leonel before Orinik and the others had been booted out by Leonel's success.

What made more sense? That everyone but the one with the largest number of followers had managed to succeed in such a difficult endeavor, or that just one person with a perfect system had managed to do the impossible and claim the entire ocean for him?

When it was laid out like this, the answer was all too obvious, and it wasn't even one that Xavnik could refute.