Chapter 1396: l Can Live With That
After Alexis finished his speech, no one in the room said anything.
They were fully aware that if what happened a few days ago had not been a farce, they, and their Kingdoms, might not be standing here today.
All of them felt bitter about it as they glanced at the red-headed teenager, who was staring at the table in front of him, and seemed to be pondering the meaning of life.
When they finally understood that those horrifying Giants were under his beck and call, they had no choice but to re-evaluate the Half-Elf who was probably the youngest Emperor in Hestia.
A few more minutes passed before someone broke the silence.
It was not any of the Human Kings, but the Dwarf King, Eldon, who wasn't part of the Gunnar Federation, who took the initiative to address the issue at hand.
"I'm sure that all of you are now aware of the dangers that we are facing," Eldon stated. "All of you may still hold grudges in your hearts, but that is fine. That is your right as Sovereigns of your own Kingdoms.
"Even so, we must make a decision now. What Emperor William wants is to unite the entire world so we can face this danger together. This proves that even he, with all the forces under his command, is not confident to win against these invaders.
"Believe me when I say that I do understand what all of you are thinking right now. If we can't even beat a hundred Giants, how could we hope to fight against millions of them?"
Eldon paused to allow everyone to focus their attention on him.
"The answer is simple. We can't fight," Eldon stated. "We can't win. There's no way that we can ever hope to overcome this hurdle. I mean, we are about to fight not one, not two, but three Gods of Destructions. If I look at this rationally, why should I even bother? Let's just enjoy these two years to the fullest, and face death in resignation."
The Dwarven King smiled. Truth be told, he really did want to enjoy those two years to the fullest, but after seeing Maple and Cinnamon, he began to hope.
Hope that there was a future when he would be able to hold those two adorable little Dwarves again.
For that future, he was willing to go all out, and stand on the front lines, commanding his troops to fight against Demigods, Pseudo-Gods, and Gods.
"That's actually a good proposal." Alexis chuckled. "Let's just enjoy our lives to the fullest and die without any regrets, shall we?"
Unlike Eldon, Alexis was quite serious with his words.
Even with the Grand Alliance, he believed that there was no way to win against such enemies. If he could enjoy those last remaining years in comfort, he might really have no regrets when he crossed to the afterlife.
The other King's kept their silence as they too, thought of just enjoying their remaining days in the pleasures of life. However, just as everyone was being pulled towards this way of thinking, a loud laughter broke the silence.
Everyone shifted their gaze at the King of Quince, Kieron, who nearly got into a fist fight with Alexis, due to their great grudge against each other.
Alexis smiled after seeing his rival laugh. It had been many years since he had heard Kieron laugh, and it made him remember when they were still young princes, who toured the Western Continent together.
"Okay, you cowards can go to the countryside and live in peace," Kieron said after he finished laughing. "Make sure to abdicate your thrones, and hand them over to me. Don't worry, I will promise all of you that you will be able to live a life of comfort for the rest of your days."
Kieron had a very casual smile as he said these words. It was as if his earlier outburst was just an illusion, that didn't happen in the first place.
The King of Quince then shifted his attention to the Half-Elf who was looking at him.
"Your name is William, right?" Kieron inquired.
William nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty?" Kieron chuckled. "An Emperor calling me Your Majesty feels weird. Just call me Kieron, and I'll just call you William."
The two exchanged smiles as if coming to an understanding.
"Okay, let me hear your plan," Kieron stated. "Since these morons plan to surrender their Kingdoms to me, I will take it upon myself to clean up their mess. So, William, what must we do to even have a chance at winning this war?"
The Kings gave Kieron the "Since when did we say that we are going to hand over our Kingdoms to you?" glare, which the latter ignored because he didn't mind, and they didn't matter.
"I plan to have all the nations share their technologies with each other in order to create weapons that can turn the tide of battle in our favor," William stated. "The armies will operate these weapons and annihilate all the Myriad Ranked giants and below. As for the Demigod Rank and above, I will deal with them."
Kieron nodded his head in understanding. However, his next question was what everyone really wanted the answers for.
A question that would ultimately decide if they could win the war or not.
"How do you plan on dealing with the Gods of Destruction?" Kieron asked. "Do you have a way to fight them?"
William shook his head. "Right now, I don't have a method for dealing with them."
A collective sigh was heard inside the room, as the Kings, as well as their guards, couldn't help but feel disappointed at the Half-Elf's firm reply.
"Okay, so we just bring down as many of these bastards as we can, decimating their ranks and prevent them from attacking other worlds after ours?" Kieron asked. "I can live with that."
Kieron's words may have been said in a casual manner, but the Half-Elf could tell that he was being serious. It was the mentality of a warrior to take out as many enemies as he could before he died on the battlefield, which could be considered as a victory in its own way.
"Very well, from this day onwards, I declare that my Kingdom of Quince will join your Grand Alliance," Kieron said as he stood up and rested his fist over his chest.
He was a Warrior king, and didn't shy away from battle. This was why he hated Alexis, who hid behind his schemes, instead of confronting him face to face.
"Now that we are in agreement, how about we talk more about the issue with this Grand Alliance of yours," Kieron stated. "You said that the Kingdoms in the Central Continent will be joining us as well, right?"
The King of Quince completely ignored everyone else, as if they didn't exist, making the other Kings want to slap him, and this included Alexis.
'This bastard,' Alexis thought. 'I was the one that cooked up this whole discussion and he's acting as if he is the one calling the shots? The nerve!'
William smiled before standing up from his seat.
"Let's go, Kieron," William said. "My Steward has informed me that the conference between the North, South, East, and Central Continent is about to start. Since you are the one representing the Western Continent, I will take you to the venue, so you can meet your new comrades, who will be fighting alongside you in the war two years from now."
Kieron grinned before nodding his head.
William then scanned the faces of everyone in the room before arching his eyebrow.
"Who else wants to go with us?" William asked. "Last call for a trip to the Central Continent."