The Council of Representative's Chaotic Meeting

"How did this happen?" Reyan scratches his head, seemingly facing a great dilemma in life, "This is so unprecedented! If the public were to learn of this, they will lose their trust in the council and will lose its purpose."

The people inside the room wore gloomy faces as they all turned their attention to him, the first one to speak the moment the meeting started. The council have gathered for an emergency meeting after receiving a rather shocking piece of information.

"Before overreacting, is there a chance that it was a misinterpretation?" Alrun asked, turning to the others, "Humans have tendencies…." he looked at the others who were gazing at him sharply before continuing, "... you know. To exaggerate some things,"

As the only dwarf in the room, Alrun was immediately bombarded with words belittling him by the humans inside the room.

Reyan, who is the leader of the beastfolk and Theradlium, the representative of the elves, watched the chaos unfold before them. They both know that only one person could bring tranquility and silence into the room.

As that person immediately showed signs of interrupting, some of the people causing chaos backed down and fell silent in his suffocating aura.

"This is not the time to be quarreling amongst ourselves." Rio said coldly.

Silence and tranquility returned to the room almost instantly as if nothing happened. None of them are unable to meet Rio's gaze.

As someone who represents the Dragonoid race, Rio who is also the leader is not someone they can ignore. Not only that he is the leader, he is also known as the strongest among the Dragonoid race. With abilities akin to what dragons have, Rio could easily wipe any enemy on the floor without even trying.

Not wanting to make an enemy of someone like him, the chaotic scene was put to an abrupt stop.

Still not used to the treatment, Rio looked around to each and every member of the council in utter surprise. Everything was the same as the other instances before. However, this time was different. Damian, one of the four representatives of the human race raised his hand.

"'This is not the time to be quarreling amongst ourselves,' yes. That statement holds true. However, is this really a shocking piece of information to you?" Damian asked. 

This question sparked a surprised look on the other races' representatives. And they could no help but look at Rio, despite not wanting to meet his gaze.

As usual, Rio glanced at them calmly. And as the other representatives are about to repeat the question, Rio shook his head.

"This is news to me and my people, too." he said, "As you all know, we Dragonoid race do not require contracts as we are already strong ourselves. I, myself, did not expect that the Lords who joined the Demon Lord would plan something like this. This is really unprecedented even to me."

Rio felt the doubtful gazes of the other representatives but thought nothing of it. He spoke the truth he knew. And because of that, he felt no sense of guilt in his heart.

Theradlium saw how doubtful the others were and immediately supported Rio's claim without hesitation. As someone who came from the same world, the elves have witnessed and have known about the Dragonoids for a long time and even established peace with each other, his people knew that Dragonians do not lie as both races take pride and dignity strictly. And as such, it is unlikely for Rio to be lying about the information.

"It is highly unlikely for Master Rio to lie." Theradlium said, turning to the Dragonoid, "I have known Master Rio for a long time and he is not someone who would spat lies on our faces. As someone who belongs to a race with almost eternal life, I am sure that he is quite shocked to learn about something like this to have gone under his radar." 

Reyan, who also had a few dealings with the Dragonoids, vouched for Rio. Further backing the suspicion of Rio lying on their faces.

"Dragonoids are a race who are prideful and wouldn't resort to such tricks. They tend to head straight into things, and think about it later." Reyan said, "Some of the Dragonoids, I happen to get acquainted with, at least." turning his gaze away from the curious Dragonoid about his last remark.

With the backing from two representatives from the same world voiced their support to the Dragonoids representative's claim, the doubtful gazes ceased, their suspicions dispelled.

With that out of the way and with a more pressing matter at hand, Theradlium proposed to think of a way to somehow stop the plans of the Demon Lord and his minions to come to fruition. However, as unprecedented the situation is, the humans as well as the beastfolk representatives could not offer a proper solution.

"...Eliminate?" Jack, another human representative said.

And almost instantly, most of the people inside the room turned their heads in his direction.

"Are you out of your mind?! Eliminate who?! The people?!" George, another human representative exclaimed, "That's not something we can achieve without any losses!" he barked,

Jack's eyes widened out of anger and retorted, "What?! Everyone's just keeping silent so I'm just trying to share my idea to start the wheel turning!" he stood from his seat, heated with anger and pointed at George. "If you're so bright then why don't you share your thoughts, then?!"

George who immediately took the challenge stood from his seat as well.

"We put everything to a stop," George said,

"Huh?! You want to stop everything?! Isn't that just as stupid as my idea is?"

"If we do that, the masses will suspect that something's up," Reyan jumped in.

Jack, who wasn't expecting Reyan to join in agreed with a shaky voice, "E-Exactly! T-The people will definitely know!"

Damian watched the exchange like it turned into a circus, slowly shaking his head. Not only that they are not offering any good ideas, they are also hindering the others from coming up with something good. Hence, Damian stood and asked the two to keep quiet.

"If you acknowledge your ideas to be hubris, then please keep your voices down," He suggested, turning to the other representatives who are trying to come up with something, "You are distracting them,"

Jack and George wanted to argue saying that he doesn't have any right to tell them what to do. But knowing the identities of the other representatives who are trying to come up with a solution, they don't have a choice but to heed his words.

The room was silent. None of them utter even a single word. Even their sighs and yawns are strictly controlled in order not to disturb the others. And after almost half an hour of silence, Theradlium offered his solution.

"I think we need to fight," he said.

Jack and George instantly reacted negatively and were the first ones to voiced their opinion at Theradlium's solution.

"What the heck?! That's just as bad as our solutions!"

"I hate to say this but I have to agree with him," George said, turning to Jack in agreement, "that's just nuts. We can't do something as reckless as that."

Theradlium looked at George for a moment, and that was more than enough to make the human representative turn away in fear that the elven representative would bear ill will against him. However, that wasn't the purpose of Theradlium's gaze. He just wanted to hear more of George's opinion. Sadly, because of a simple gaze, the human representative failed to deliver.

With that, Theradlium turned to Rio, with a stern yet hopeful gaze. 

Rio, who is still thinking of a better way to approach the problem, noticed Theradlium, and let out a sigh.

"This may sound strange, but I have to agree with Master Theradlium on this."

The sudden agreement from the Dragonoid surprised everyone inside the room, even Theradlium himself was equally surprised.

George and Jack, who agreed to have the same opinion against Theradlium's reckless solution could not help but drop their jaws at Rio's opinion. 

This made the two come to a hasty conclusion that the representatives of the elves and Dragonoids do not care about mortal lives since they are fairly strong and can fend for themselves when danger arises.

"Nonsense! You can only say that because your race is built differently! How about us, the humans? What about the beastfolk and dwarves? Do you plan to sacrifice a needless number of lives?!" George screamed at Rio. 

Despite fearing the Dragonoid, he stood from his seat and even dared to point his finger at Rio, who was taking his words seriously. With their concern about the threat weighing heavier than their concern for themselves disappeared, the rest of the representatives voice their united opinion.

"It is just as they say, Master Theradlium, Master Rio. This is too reckless." Alrun agreed with the others. "The might of the two races cannot even be compared to the less fortunate. How can we fend off such danger the moment it comes?"

Theradlium looked at Alrun, who's disheartened that the two representatives of the most powerful races decided for war. The elven representative could understand Alrun's reaction.

Back in their old world, neither the elves nor the Dragonoids were the first ones to issue or suggest war. Both are usually docile and are willing to compromise despite their irrefutable strength.

So the suggestion of fighting came as a complete surprise to everyone who knew the elves and the Dragonoids before.

With the room thrown into chaos the meeting is rendered useless. Without coming to an agreement and without hearing what each side has to say, the goal of the meeting has slowly started to drift away. However, before that happened, Rio silenced everyone as he released a portion of his intent to kill that sent shivers down their spines. 

That alone was enough to stop everyone from talking. He purposely showed them how dangerous it is for them to continue any longer. Rio's purpose was to silence them at the moment, and it worked. None of them uttered a single word. But they, however, are not acting the same as they were back then.

They looked at Rio not with fear but with anticipation, with each and one of them reaching for their weapons.

Theradlium saw this and immediately dispersed whatever thoughts they had.

"Please stop this." he extended his arms around, "The purpose of this meeting is to think of a solution, not kill each other." he said.

"Is that so? Then why intimidate us, then?"

"Please understand that it is the only way for Master Rio to give me a chance to explain."

Damian, who asked, turned to Rio for confirmation and the latter nodded his head.

"Sorry, I'm not used to this kind of atmosphere so I thought it was the only way." Rio bowed his head, "Please forgive me.

Dragonoids are a prideful race as much as the elves. And the sight of a Dragonoid bowing and asking for forgiveness is not something that anyone could see everyday. And yet they are seeing it. Not to mention the one doing it is none other than the representative of their entire race. Even the human representatives could understand how sincere the Dragonoid is which quelled their anger. And the heat inside the room died down.

They all calmed down and right after sensing that it was time for him to explain himself, Theradlium elaborated his solution to the others.

"I know what I said is reckless but please hear me out on this." Theradlium cleared his throat and proceeded to tell the others, "The recent incidents were created in order to distract us from their real goal. If we and the people are unaware of such danger lurking behind the shadows, we'd only be caught by surprise. That's why I suggested that we fight. If we let the people remain unaware of the danger, they will not be on the alert when something they don't understand happens. I think it is better to make the public know about the danger rather than hiding it from them. That way, our network and the relay of information will be much faster and smoother. That's what I think."

Rio nodded his head after hearing what Theradlium had to say while the others were pondering over his suggestion. And after a few minutes of thinking, Reyan was the first one to raise a question.

"If you plan to inform the public about this, do you think they will not side with the enemy?"

This time, rather than letting Theradlium do the talking, Rio stepped in.

"That's highly unlikely. If the enemy has already prepared, then the chances of them having their army is highly likely. After all, you would not reveal your cards unless you have a back up plan. And not to mention that the enemy we're talking about are the Lords of our previous world. They are not stupid enough to declare their arrival without a plan." Rio explained.

Having fought with the Lords of other races in their previous world, Rio has some degree of knowledge about how the enemy tends to move. Unless the enemy had thought of something different, they would be alright.

"You say that, but neither of you expected that they would plan on doing this." Damian said, fiddling with the coin in his hands.

"Indeed. Although I hadn't anticipated this to happen. I give you my word that my people will lend our power to save this world." Rio said, sternly and with pride.

Hearing the Dragonoid representative promise to lend a hand left them out of breath. Rio alone is worth more than a hundred human Misfits, and with a hundred of them, they have the might of thousands of human Misfits. Victory is even more assurred the moment Theradlium also promised for his people to lend a hand in order to save their second world.

With their spirits lifted, they all agreed to take a break from the world-ending matter and decided to talk about other less pressing matters.

"This is so stressful." Alrun wiped the sweat dripping on his face like a raindrop on a leaf, "the one who gave us the information. I heard he was strong enough to take down the leader of the monsters that's causing the incidents as of late."

The sudden mention of that was enough to catch the attention of the other representatives. Especially Rio, who doesn't usually react unless it is worthy of his concern.

"I heard he is a human but knowing how destructive the incidents have been, I think we should take a look into him." Alrun added.

"What are you talking about? The enemy might not have been that strong. A brain will always be a brain with no strength. All they need is a strategist and strong pawns and they are good to do," Reyan chimed in,

The other representatives then gave their opinion about Jakob while Theradlium turned to Rio, who seemed to be worried.

"Aransol is not just some brilliant strategist. He is one of the few people who-"

"-can put up a fight with me." Rio cut in, "Even with limited power, he is still a force to be reckoned with and yet a human defeated him. My instinct tells me that there is more to this human that meets the eye."