Chapter 779: I Changed My Mind.
Chapter 779: I Changed My Mind.
"I see... So it went as I expected," said Persephone.
"Yes. Nyx was with The Demon King's group, but from what I could see, they're not necessarily allies, but rather as if they're pursuing a common goal," replied Thanatos.
Persephone remained silent for a few seconds as she thought, 'What is Nyx planning this time?' She knew very well how manipulative The Primordial Gods could be.
She had been a victim of that manipulation once herself. Fortunately, Nyx's attempt to manipulate her was completely futile due to Nyx's lack of foresight, thinking that she wouldn't gain much Power.
Upon receiving this report from Thanatos, she could only see that Nyx was manipulating this group in some way. But at the same time, she believed that this group wouldn't be foolish enough to fall for Nyx's tricks. After all, Aphrodite was there, and despite her dislike for the woman for various reasons, she knew very well that Aphrodite wasn't stupid.
The Goddess of Beauty, desired by all, could be just as manipulative or even worse than The Primordial Gods. After all, she had her Charm to influence the minds of everyone. Thinking about it now, maybe it was Aphrodite who was manipulating the group?
Perhaps it would be an easy feat for Aphrodite. Few Beings had the ability to resist her Charm, and according to what she had heard from Thanatos, the current group didn't possess that kind of ability.
'Maybe only Nyx has that capability, but it's still debatable,' Persephone thought.
Even The Second Progenitor was probably being controlled by her...
Persephone shook her head from side to side. 'Why am I caring again? He made it clear that he hated me. Whether he's being controlled or not is his problem, not mine,' she scoffed.
Whether it was Aphrodite or Nyx who was controlling this group, in the end, it didn't matter. It was a fact that this group was quite dangerous, especially the Mortal, Scathach Scarlett. Just by hearing Thanatos' description of her attack and the new biome that had formed on the horizon, she could grasp the magnitude of that woman's strength.
And during that explanation, Persephone never imagined she would see a hint of fear in The Personification of Death itself. It was a small feeling, but it definitely existed there.
'If that attack had been infused with The Concept of END or The Concept of Soul that I wield... I would have lost a very competent subordinate.' Persephone decided that she wouldn't risk sending any other Beings to this group; it would be counterproductive. She chose to use a more subtle approach that had been discussed earlier with Hecate.
"MOTHER, YOU PIECE OF SHIT, I WILL KILL YOU!" Nemesis's scream shattered the silent atmosphere along with a deafening explosion.
Thanatos and Persephone looked at each other for a long minute before sighing simultaneously.
"Can you take care of her this time?" Persephone asked.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. Nemesis was banished from my mother's sight as if she were a small child, and that only made her even more furious," Thanatos kept to himself the fact that he felt a slight anger toward his mother as well.
BOOOOOOOOM!
"At least make her stop destroying my castle, or I'll have to punish her," Persephone ordered.
"That's easy to do," agreed Thanatos, promptly leaving the Throne Room.
Watching the departure of her most trusted subordinate, Persephone sighed and leaned back on her Throne.
"I hope Hecate succeeds in her mission..." she murmured.
...
While Persephone dealt with her own problems in The Greek Underworld, Victor was having a conversation with a World Tree.
Engaging in a deeper discussion with Aurora about the alliance, Victor saw no drawbacks in aligning himself with her. The only thing he was required to do was to protect her planet in the event of an invasion.
In return, she would keep him informed of everything her sisters said to her and even teach Roxanne how to be a better World Tree because, currently, 'she was a failure as a World Tree.' Those were Aurora's exact words.
This tactless comment made Roxanne narrow her eyes slightly, feeling a bit annoyed. Having her abilities questioned was quite irritating, but since they were having an important conversation, Roxanne decided not to let her feelings interfere.
Fortunately, she didn't need to say anything because she had her Husband to do it for her. And he could be more protective and dangerous than Roxanne herself.
"Oh? Why do you think she is a failure?" Victor asked with a gleam in his eyes that sent chills down everyone's spines.
Aurora swallowed hard and chose her words carefully: "... She's not utilizing her Powers properly. It's understandable. After all, she never had contact with her sister from her planet, so she was never taught how to use those Powers correctly."
"But don't World Trees acquire that knowledge like Dragons do?"
"Yes, they do acquire it. But it's the responsibility of The World Tree of Positivity to teach her sister, who will be born right after her so that Balance on the planet is maintained. It's one of our duties. Why do you think Aria is always with me?"
Victor and Roxanne momentarily looked at Aria, who had been gazing at the clouds as if gazing upon something very interesting, then turned their attention back to Aurora. Victor could understand Aurora's argument.
Simply put, when Roxanne met Victor, she deviated from her natural course and grew without the common sense that a World Tree should have. That common sense was supposed to be taught by The World Tree of Positivity, who was revered by The Elder Gods of Nightingale.
Just the thought of Roxanne falling into the hands of The Elder Gods made Victor's blood boil. Even though nothing was shown outwardly, his possessive feelings ran rampant within him.
Roxanne, who was nearby, felt those emotions and smiled sweetly. It was always a pleasure for her to feel Victor's feelings towards her.
It showed how much he valued her.
[Roxanne, what do you think?] Victor asked for Roxanne's opinion; after all, she was one of the parties involved in the conversation.
And this simple question made Roxanne's already sweet heart experience a surge of intense joy. These small considerations and attention from Victor made her insides twist, further fueling her desire to take him to the bedroom and engage in nighttime activities.
Holding back from letting her smile grow, she internally responded.
[I think it's a good idea... Although it's annoying to see her doubting my abilities, I don't deny that I'm not very proficient in using my Powers. After all, I had to learn everything on my own.]
Victor inwardly nodded upon hearing Roxanne's words, knowing exactly what she was talking about. During his 700 years of training, he often helped Roxanne with tips on controlling her Energy.
Although they were quite basic tips as he didn't exactly understand how she felt.
To put into perspective how different they were in terms of Energy, it was something like this: Victor's Energy was the size of an earth-sized planet, while Roxanne's Energy was like a star the size of the Sun.
Of course, this was just a rudimentary example to demonstrate how different Roxanne and Victor's Energy "output" capacity was. After all, neither of them had enough Energy to equal a star in the universe.
With Roxanne's agreement, Victor was perfectly fine with accepting the agreement.
"Very well..." Just as Victor was about to accept the agreement, Volk interrupted him.
"Wait. Throughout the entire conversation, I haven't heard where the Werewolves fit into this agreement." Volk didn't care if he was interrupting Victor or not. As a King, he needed to prioritize his people. Upon realizing that this agreement didn't necessarily apply to Samar, he decided to intervene.
Tasha and Maya facepalmed and sighed in unison, witnessing Volk's behavior.
They wondered why he couldn't be a little more patient. They understood perfectly well how he felt, but at the same time, they knew they would have several opportunities to enter the agreement through private conversations or even a direct agreement with Victor, who would do all the work.
The fact that Volk was rushing and interrupting a negotiation between two important Beings was not just rude but offensive.
People have died for less than such actions, and they knew that Victor wasn't as indulgent as he appeared during the negotiation.
Victor narrowed his eyes dangerously at Volk. He didn't appreciate being interrupted.
And Volk's attitude only further cemented his fate.
'He will be replaced.' Victor wouldn't kill him. He wasn't a petty villain. He would simply strip him of his position and give it to someone more competent. Volk could just be a warrior of the Kingdom, fighting and dying for his country.
Either way, Victor was already planning to do that anyway, as the King of a country. If you think about it, it was a promotion in a way, right? After all, Volk showed no qualities of a Monarch but rather those of a thoughtless soldier. At least now, he would be in a position appropriate to his abilities.
Roxanne looked at Volk with a bit of sympathy. 'It's never a good idea to anger my Husband. With his chaotic humor, he can perform actions that will harm the victim of his anger and make everyone around that victim happy. Or perform actions that will harm the victim and everyone around them. In any case, it's a fact that the victim of his anger will have a bad fate... At least in this case, my Husband's actions will result in a favorable outcome. For the Werewolves, of course, not for Volk.'
"Volk Fenrir, tell me, are you stupid?"
"Huh?"
"Forget it. It was a rhetorical question." Victor shook his head in disappointment.
"Answering your question, yes, the Werewolves are not a part of this agreement."
"That's..." Before Volk could say anything, Victor continued.
"At least not initially."
"As the one responsible for this entire negotiation and the party responsible for basically doing all the work, after the conclusion of the conversation with Lady Aurora, the Werewolf Monarchs would then come to me at some point in the future to make an agreement. If you had more patience and better foresight, you would have realized that."
"But there's a reason why it's always Tasha who is responsible for these types of agreements, right?"
In a more sophisticated and polite manner, Victor called Volk an incompetent idiot, something that everyone, including Volk himself, realized.
Victor leaned back in his Throne and spoke in a bored tone, "... Initially, the Werewolves were supposed to join the agreement after the conclusion of my negotiations, but I've changed my mind."
These words made Maya and Tasha widen their eyes.
"The Werewolves will not be a participant in this agreement... Not until an appropriate Leader is chosen as The Alpha of all Werewolves."