'This is an interesting turn of events…'
Zhang Dong found himself sitting with a person from another empire. After a quick introduction, the man named Argus started talking, the main point was the release of his apprentice. Now the big question was if this man would promise him something in return and then actually keep that promise.
'Will he attack me the moment I take out this apprentice of his?'
The magician was quite strong considering he was not a cultivator. His code of conduct was unknown to Zhang Dong but for now he seemed to be reasonable enough. After the golden knight was forced to go down to the ground the two were left chatting. Soon the mage produced a tea set with black tea which he decided to drink as a show of good faith. It was not poisoned or tempered in any way that he could tell.
"Sir Zhang Dong, first I would like to apologize for Sir Gregory's behavior, his words were too harsh and I hope that you can forgive his ignorance."
"Ah it's fine, being called a barbarian is an interesting choice of words but you don't seem to agree with that way of thinking."
This wasn't anything new, during a war it was normal to dehumanize the enemy in some manner. In this situation, they gave the native cultivators of these lands the label of barbarians. Through this, they could put themselves on the moral high ground.
There was no problem in killing savages, they were nothing more than uneducated brutes that had not been enlightened. Thus they could easily justify the massive number of deaths that were caused by the wars.
"I'm sure we can reach an agreement but that is if you can keep your men in check"
Zhang Dong didn't exactly trust this man yet. While he was acting nice the soldiers below could be getting ready for another attack. His system teleportation window was already floating to the side. If he found himself in danger that he could not get away then teleportation would be the only option out.
"The knights will follow my orders, you don't have to worry. Now Sir Zhang Dong, state your terms, what will it take for you to free my apprentice and also the other knights."
At first, he thought that the man was more similar to a cultivator but to his surprise, the wizard seemed to care for the other soldiers as well. When he was glancing through the magical orb to see the cell his apprentice was in he certainly saw a few other knights there with him. While a martial master from this empire would probably only care for their disciple this man also wanted to help the other captives out.
"So you want me to release all of the prisoners? That might increase the cost of the deal though…"
"That does not matter, my apprentice is dear to me but the soldiers that kept him safe are also important."
"Interesting, well I won't circumlocute and palter, what I want is information. Why did you come to these lands, what do you really want and is there any possibility of you halting your advances before more people die?"
"That is…"
The old man started rubbing his beard while thinking, it took a moment before he finally decided to speak up.
"Very well, I can talk about my homeland but for the second part I'm afraid that I'm able to make that decision…"
"Oh?"
Zhang Dong was surprised that the man was actually willing to talk. The reason for capturing the men that invaded that ship was to get them to reveal their origins and military structure. If this man gave him this information then he would have no use for these men. Though returning them so that they could just kill more people was also a problem.
"But before I speak, can I have your word that you will release my apprentice and the men that you have captured?"
"That depends on the information you give me, to be frank, I was planning on getting it out of your men anyway so it depends on you Mr. Argus, also please don't lie to me, I will be able to tell if you do."
With various techniques at his disposal, he could tell if someone was telling the truth or not. That is when other cultivators were concerned, this man was covering himself with a thick layer of mana that would be difficult to prod at. The man was still human though, there were many ways he could read his mannerisms that would help him.
"I might be many things but I am no liar, do I have your word?"
"Fine, I can at least promise to release your apprentice but only if the information you give me has validity."
"I guess this will have to do, I will keep you to your word."
The man nodded while also pointing out with his finger towards the middle of the round table. Zhang Dong didn't flinch but he was vigilant, the spell the man was performing didn't have any malice behind it. After the mana gathered in the middle he was presented with a large holographic depiction of the land.
"This is my homeland, we call it Avalon."
To confirm the man's claims Zhang Dong quickly used his system to copy the map being presented there. In a matter of seconds, it was added to his world map and compared to the other landmasses.
For the time being, he had a detailed map of the Azure Dragon Empire and also a semi-detailed one of the Emerald Phoenix Empire that he had visited. When he aligned the borders those two fit together perfectly. The man didn't lie to him, this version of the map was vague but it loosely aligned with the Azure Dragon Empire's borders from the southeast regions and the Emerald Phoenix Empire from the north side.
'It stretches mostly towards the southern region but doesn't come close to my sect."
The world map was slowly taking shape. To the West were those maniacs that were seeing everything as some kind of game. In the East was the Emerald Phoenix Empire and below it was this land of Avalon which seemed to be divided into two large continents.
"This continent here is the land of Avalon, it is my homeland and where all of the soldiers come from."
"If that's your homeland, what is this other continent there?"
Zhang Dong pointed towards the other piece of land that was color-coded black. From how Argus presented this land it looked quite desolate and hard to live in.
"That is the continent of Ragnos and the reason for us coming to these lands. It is the birthplace of the demonic races that have been plaguing our lands for millennia…"
'Oh… this does sound like an average hero setting, don't tell me that they are here to find some McGuffin to defeat a demon lord or something?'
"We have come to these lands to find the legendary holy sword Lightbringer…"
The more the man talked the more he didn't like it. It seemed that these people were justifying their actions by the impending demonic invasion. This holy sword might not even exist or it could have been destroyed many hundreds of years ago. But this changed things, perhaps if he could help them find this fabled sword then they would just pack up and leave?
"Lightbringer you say? Do you have any specifics of how it looks or its origins?"
"I'm afraid not, it's an old legend passed down by our forefathers. The sword had returned to its resting place after the previous Lord of Ragnos had been slain over a hundred thousand years ago. For the prophecy to come true we must bring the sword back to Avalon where the chosen hero will appear to claim it."
"I see, so if I helped you to find this holy blade would your people leave these lands?"
"Would you help us find the secret blade of legend?"
"That depends on your honesty, if what you say is true then this relic would have unfathomable power, a power that could be easily turned towards us."
"Sir Zhang Dong, you don't have to worry about that ever happening, the holy blade can only be used by a true hero with a pure soul."
It seemed that this weapon followed the usual tropes. It could have been an intelligent item with a spirit living in it that put its master through trials to test their worth. Perhaps it was another setting that would play out after these people left these lands with the weapon in hand. Another person like him could be summoned then to fulfill the prophecy that was aided by another system.
'But if it's a weapon created by the system, then perhaps I could use it instead?'
Argus did not have a description of the weapon or its location or he was not telling him everything. These people probably didn't come here without any clues on where the sword was hidden. Perhaps they even had some special item that could detect where the weapon was. He was quite sure the old man would not reveal this information to him but this was enough, with this knowledge he could actually start bartering.
But now there was an actual clue to getting rid of one invading force. Perhaps if he helped these holy knights out they would be grateful enough to help him with battling the other forces. He was not sure how powerful these people were but they should be at least on the levels of the others.
Sooner or later they would clash with the other invaders with which they probably didn't have anything in common. During this scenario, the Azure Dragon Empire would lose most of its lands and be forced into the middle. But this would also cause the other empire's to make contact with each other. While they went into combat with equally strong foes his side would have some time to gather their forces for a counter-attack.
"I see, Sir Argus, I think that if what you are telling me is the truth then we can reach an agreement. If you agree to hold your advances towards our lands I should be able to convince the other sects to aid you in your search without all of the bloodshed."
The weapon in question would probably be useless in the hands of the cultivators. These lands were too vast to explore but if everyone knew what they were searching for then perhaps this item could be retrieved before they suffered more deaths.
"You could do that?"
"Why yes, you might not know this but you are talking with the Azure Emperor's brother!"
It seemed that they would be coming to an agreement but before he could continue there was a shift in the environment. Zhang Dong looked down to where the teleportation formation was placed and saw a group of ten golden knights appearing. All of them were radiating power that was at the level of a nascent soul master at the great circle with some even being slightly above…