Surprised by the words that came out of Pridicus' mouth, the Lord's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. And it wasn't just him either, everyone else were stunned as well; they didn't even realize how insane the implication was. They just knew it sounded particularly… violent.
Seeing that the Lord hadn't spoken in response to what he said, Pridicus continued speaking:
"lordsley, you should've already heard about what happened to the home of the young man in front of you, right?"
lordsley, hearing Pridicus' words, looked at Ran; indeed he had already heard about the destruction of the Holy City State. And it was straight from Torian no less.
"Your point being…"
"Then you know who's responsible."
Immediately, lordsley's face stiffened as it paled a bit. He simply could not believe what he was hearing. Did Pridicus really want to involve himself with those people? Does he really not know who he's messing with?
And he wants to bring me into all this shit!?
"Pridicus—"
"Look, I know what you're going to say, but you don't have to worry. I've already talked to multiple other rulers, and they already agreed."
At this moment, lordsley finally lost his temper and lashed out, "Are you out of your mind!?"
Everyone was shocked, especially his own daughter, Queenie. They did not know what could have made him blow up in the first place.
"Now hold on a second, let me explain—"
"No! Pridicus, do you know what you're getting yourself into? What you're trying to get my family into!?"
"They'll kill us all!"
By now, lordsley had already snatched the communication stone from Ran's hand and was screaming into it, looking extremely disturbed.
After a few more seconds, when lordsley could no longer find any more words to speak, Pridicus interjected with a sigh.
"Unfortunately, I do know what I'm doing. It's the only reason I'm still breathing and haven't quit yet.
"You already know what happened to the Holy City State, yet are still questioning my thoughts and actions?"
lordsley did not respond.
"As for the people responsible, you've noticed them too, haven't you?"
"The three families… you've been seeing them more and more often, haven't you? Maybe you've been seeing them hold themselves up in their pointed towers?"
Unfortunately for lordsley, he did indeed notice all of those things. But he still couldn't quite get the big picture.
"Pridicus, what are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is… they are consolidating their strength. Say, do you know what their goal is?"
lordsley didn't know, so he remained silent.
"Their goal is to unify the human race, and they want to stand at the helm of it."
"Now, with you leading a certain portion of humanity, where does that leave you?"
Usually, this would be the point where lordsley's face paled, but instead, why don't we spice it up a bit? This time, it turned a nice shade of red.
"You should be able to see where I'm going with this, but it's worse than that. As you know, they have claws in every human city in the world, but there's more to it than that. Did you know that their tower holds a powerhouse equal in strength to you? Did you also know that that also goes for every human city they've planted themselves in?"
At this point, Pridicus stopped speaking, as if to let all the information he dropped simmer in everyone's heads. After all, did this not mean that it was all over? That it was too late? That these people were too powerful and it would be stupid to against them?
After a while, there was still no response as everyone was really too entrenched in their own thoughts, constantly making up worst-case scenarios in their heads.
"It really isn't too late. At least, wouldn't you want to take the initiative instead of waiting for them to knock on your doors?"
"Then, what's the next step?"
Contrary to everyone's expectations, there was no unusually long period of silence, or lordsley losing his temper. Rather, he immediately agreed to Pridicus' proposal.
"Good to see a man with some reasonable bones left in his body, some of the others weren't so easy to convince. Of course, the next step is to gather all the leaders of the human race to come up with a plan."
"So… you're saying you have no plan currently?"
Pridicus scoffed, saying in a mocking tone, "what use would a plan be with no one to execute it?"
Immediately, lordsley's face turned black. Wasn't he basically forfeiting his life for a cause that had no way of achieving its goals? At least it was good to know he wasn't being lied to as no one would willingly self-sabotage their own lie so badly.
"At least tell me you know where we are supposed to meet?"
"Do you even have to ask; of course I know, I was the one to arrange it. You should Obsidian island, yes? We'll meet there in around five month's time, give or take a few weeks."
"Hey, can't you pick a more… appropriate setting? You know, like in a place that's not in the middle of nowhere ocean?"
"One; that's exactly why it's appropriate and two; would you prefer a place with people potentially around? It's already suspicious enough for multiple leaders to go missing from the public eye, but you also want them all to go to an inn together and enjoy some drinks?"
"No, of course not."
"Then Obsidian island it is."
Then a short period of silence ensued before Pridicus continued speaking.
"Now, there are more important matters to discuss with you."
"Even more than all this?"
"Of course!"
lordsley, took a deep breath through his nostrils and almost snorted. I mean, this would be the simplest thing I'd do if I had all these revelations dumped on me and then causally waved away.
"What is it?"
"This matter pertains to a prophecy; a prophecy that can determine the fate of the whole world."
"Oh?"
Indeed, lordsley was a little intrigued. I mean really, who had the time of day to take prophecies seriously? He couldn't remember the last time someone had even used that word let alone mean it. But now someone was saying it was even more important than the forceful unification of a race through the systematic destruction of each individual governing body?
"Even more important than that is the location of the young man's father."
"Then, you mean…"
"That's right. Above all else; find Torian Sharebringer!"