Chapter 2490: Billions

Vivak's desk flew across the room, shattering against the wall in thousands of flying splinters of wood.

These days, his temper was not good, not in the slightest. He wasn't known as a leader who was in his position for his smarts, but he was a man who was known for one, his strength, and two, his temperament.

He was very good at managing people, delegating tasks, and knowing when to take his hands off the controls and let the people he put in place do their jobs.

Unsurprisingly, then, he was likewise known as a person with a mellow and calm personality.

All of that had gone out of the window now. Every single last bit of his patience was being tried again and again, and this most recent incident with the Slayer Legion was just another example.

It wasn't even all that big a deal, objectively speaking. They had only sent a fraction of a fraction of their strength, but it was supposed to be an easy victory, a nice win to tuck into their belts and help bolster morale.

Who would have thought that it would just end up being another slap to the face?

At that moment, the door to Vivak's office opened. Vivak almost snapped again, but when he saw that it was his wife, he took a breath and turned around, looking out the window so as not to show her such an embarrassing side of him.

Amynta stepped to her husband's side. She just stood there silently as he slowly regained his calm, not saying anything. Sometimes a man just needed his wife by his side and things would feel just a little bit better. Amynta understood that, at least for right now, Vivak didn't need her advice.

The time ticked by, and Vivak eventually exhaled a final time, looking toward his wife with a hint of gratefulness in his eyes.

"Amynta, you look beautiful today. Did you do something with your hair?"

Amynta smiled. Her usual demeanor was quite cold and detached, so it almost looked out of place. Vivak, though, was quite used to his wife's personality and he was content to feel that only he and her brother could see this side of her.

"You say that every day."

"And I'll keep saying it until our last days."

Amynta leaned into her husband's arm, resting her cheek on his shoulders.

"You don't need to be worried about Simona," she said softly. "At least for now, she will be fine."

Vivak's gaze flickered. "You're sure?"

"Leonel is capable of viciousness, so I will not lie to you. He also doesn't seem to treat any woman except for his Aina like they're a woman at all. However, he's also a schemer and he's rarely needlessly cruel. He will only use Simona when it benefits him the most, and other than that moment, she likely won't experience too many hardships."

Vivak nodded, and the husband and wife pair fell into silence once again.

"Amynta, do you think that I've made a mistake?"

"In what way?"

"Trying to deviate from the path of the others, trying to make our own way when at this point in time, the Human Race should be coming together."

"Do you want to hear how I really feel about it?"

"Yes."

Amynta looked up and into her husband's eyes.

"I believe the Human Race, as it is right now, has no hope of survival."

Vivak didn't seem to be very surprised by this analysis.

No matter how you looked at it, they were truly finished.

The status of the Human Race to wider Existence was akin to scum at the bottom of their feet, a patch of mud or dirt they should scrape off.

The matters of the God Beasts had left a bad taste in the mouths of the other Races, and the fall of the Fawkes family ruined their chances at ever defending themselves without them.

They justified backstabbing the Fawkes family back then so well. They said that if the Fawkes family didn't fall, the other Races would act to wipe out the humans. They said the other Races wouldn't want to see the humans rise again, so it was best if they stuck to their lane and took out the ambitious Fawkes family.

And what was the result of that?

Generation after generation, they got weaker, a barrier, ironically created by the Fawkes family in the first place, acting as the only thing protecting their lives.

And now that protection was gone, and in its place, there were a great number of humans who couldn't even wield decent strength.

They went from the ants of Existence to the Envoys of the God Beasts, to falling from grace and then rising again to be as strong as any Race beneath the God Race...

Only to backstab their only backer and end up right back at square one.

So much infighting, so much death and destruction. They only had a single Life State level warrior, and he died ironically at the hands of a human they were trying to suppress and control.

What a fucking joke.

"You know that I've never agreed with the Farm Project. The problem isn't that it's too cruel, the problem is that it's too cruel and yet there's little return on the investment.

"You also know what I think we should do. Even if it means tainting the Godlen family bloodline, we should resurrect the Constellation Families using our own.

"The only way to fight back against near extinction is to have the power of the Stars at our back. Without them, we don't stand a chance."

It was clear that they had already had this conversation before, and Vivak had said no.

The reason was obvious. The pushback would be enormous.

The Godlen family had their own pride, but doing this would be akin to wiping out their own bloodline to take in another's. It was two parts humiliating and one part a slap to the face of their Ancestors.

"Okay." Vivak finally said.

He was a leader who knew how to adapt and he knew that his wife was correct.

The only hope they had was the resurrection of the Constellation Families.

"Good." Amynta smiled again, but this time it seemed to light up the room.

"And how do we-"

Amynta handed Vivak a ring. "This ring has enough blood to convert billions if need be."

Vivak suddenly felt a cold shudder ride up his spine.