"If your son does not fight with us today then he's not a man! A person who go back on his own words are lowly!" Kel bite back and Calter showed an angry look on his face before breaking away from the people supporting him
He stood there on his own with wobbly legs and pale face. It was like he was angered at the Shan Clan's taunting. "I will fight these trashes and show them how trashy they are!"
The Shan Clan people has gloating look on their faces although they were insulted. They just thought it was all empty words of a dog about to be defeated
"Calter, don't be stubborn! What if they used this as a chance to kill you and say it's an accident?!" Narry said before staring daggers at the Shan Clan
Kel laughed coldly, enjoying the scene in front of him. "Come on cousin, accidents can really happen when two mages fight. If your son accidentally kills his opponent then we won't be able to do anything with it!" Kel said before he and his clansmen broke out into a loud laughter again
Calter defeating their representative was a joke for them. Even if Calter is not injured today, they still have a huge surprise for him. They have someone they can use to fight a sure win to an uninjured Calter but they will only let that someone fight if they don't have a choice. Even when they heard that the youth is severely injured, they still didn't let their guard down. They made sure to give a lot of resources to that someone and he experienced a huge rise in power
"Then don't blame me if I kill someone from your Clan! Cough" Calter continue his act and cough loudly to show that his injuries are really severe. This just made the Shan Clan's happiness to grow and they are going to use this chance for sure
"That's alright, and if our representative kill you then don't blame it on us!" Kel said causing the anger on Emily and Narry to rose. If looks could kill, maybe Kel is already on the floor without life now. Their acting skills are superb and the Shan Clan didn't notice anything wrong
"Son, don't agr--" Emily said in panic but Calter's loud words interrupted her. "I accept!" Calter said in anger before a shock look appeared on his face as if he realized he was trick
"Y-you..." Calter said with wide eyes and he flashed a hint of panic on his face
Shan was all smiles now. "What? Are you going to back out on your words now? Heh, you're all talk but you are actually a coward. Are you scared to see the might of our Shan Clan now?"
Calter balled his fist in anger and almost 'lose balance' fortunately, Narry was there to support his body
"Why would I be scared of your trashy Clan? Your Clan should be the one to be afraid of me!"
Kel almost rolled his eyes at the scene. Who would believe at Calter when they saw his current state? He was even supported by his own father to continue standing
"Then let's fight now and see who is trashy!"
Calter's body started fidgeting as if he was really afraid before his face lit up a bit like there's an idea that appeared on his head. He deliberately let Kel and the Shan Clan to see it. The Shan Patriarch look at Calter as if waiting for the plan on his mind
"T-Then to make this fight even more exciting why don't we make a bet?!"
Kel narrowed his eyes while looking at Calter. He was curious about the brilliant bet that Calter thought. "What will the bet be about?" Kel asked and Calter gave him a grin
"If I lost the Sternix Clan will be swallowed by the Shan Clan and will gain the protection and backing of the City Lord" Kel and the Shan Clan's eyes lit up. If they really won which they are sure they will, their Clan will rose even above the other Marquees Clans
Almost no one wants to offend the Sternix Clan although they only have one Magic Knights. What's more for the Shan Clan who have a lot of Knights with them and the City Lord's backing? Their Clan will surely reach its peak but Calter's next words stunned them
"But if the Shan Clan lose all of you will be my slaves!" Calter said while showing a smug look on his face
Although the Shan Clan is sure of their victory but to be Calter's slave.... isn't that too much? Just the thought of being Calter's slaves are enough to make them really uncomfortable
Seeing the looks on their faces, Calter laugh loudly but because of his injuries he 'cough' again. "A-are you all sacred? Do you dare or not?!"
Now, it was Calter's turn to taunt them and he's really close to achieving his goal
Few moments pass yet no one in the Shan Clan dare to speak and Calter decided to add fuel to the fire. "It seems like all of you are scared. If you don't want to then there's no purpose in this fight" The disdain on Calter made these arrogant Nobles angry
One even steps out to speak. "Patriarch, this Calter is just bluffing. He doesn't want to fight us today because he is sure he will lose. He just wants to scare us and save his face!"
The Shan Clan had a realization hearing his words and Calter even showed a panicked look
"I-I'm not! W-we can continue this if you agreed to the bet!"
Seeing how panicky he become just made the Shan Clan to confirm the 'fact' that he's just bluffing
"Sure, sure. We agree to the bet!" Kel said with smiles on their faces which made Calter's own to be ugly
"Calter!" At this time an angry voice erupted and the City Lord appeared
"City Lord!" All the people around greeted respectfully but it was now Kel's turn to have an ugly expression on his face. In this period of a week, they learned how unreasonable Otto is to the Khan Clan that was in equal footing to them
They are afraid that with the City Lord's power even when they won, the agreement would be nulled and Kel decided to try to fix things
"Respected City Lord, we and Calter had an agreement in a bet. If he wins, the Sternix Clan will be part of the Shan Clan. If he lost, then we will be his slaves. I hope the City Lord will be partial on this, if not how will people think of Calter? They will surely gossip about him just hiding behind your back to go back on his words"
Kel didn't hope that the City Lord will be partial from how he acts previously, but there's a chance that the hot-blooded youth will be angered by his words to the point that he will persuade the City lord to agree
As expected, his words were very effective. "City Lord, this is mine and Shan Clan's bet. I won't go back on my words!"
The City Lord acted as if he was taken aback and stopped on his tracks before looking at the Shan Clan angrily. This caused them to be fearful but they are still a Marquees Clan. They don't believe that the City Lord will get rid of them just like that
"Good Shan Clan. How devious of all of you!" Otto clapped his hands angrily and the sounds it made struck on the Shan Clan's heart. The aura from a Grand Knight was just too much for them to take
"City Lord, this is a fair agreement. Please don't be angry on us. Neither of us wants to back out" Kel said with both fear and respect. He was also shock at how powerful the City Lord's aura is. He is at the peak of Knight Rank but even he felt fearful of such a powerful aura
"Then if Calter wins I hope you'll also not back out on your words!" Otto said angrily and Kel nodded his head while sneering inside. How can they lose?
"Of course, of course!" Kel answered
"But how can I make sure you won't go back on your words? As a Marquees Clan I cannot just exterminate your Clan to force you into submission"
Kel started having a bad feeling about this as if he steps on a trap but his confidence won't be shaken just like that. "Then, what does the City Lord recommends?"
"Swear to the God of Order!" Otto's words made the people who heard of it to take a sharp breath. If they swear to the God of Order and then lose, they won't have a choice but to become slaves!
Calter will become their master. It will be up to him if they die or live. They won't have any control on their fates again. This made them to have second thoughts. If even the slightest chance that they lost then.... they can't continue thinking about it
The others on the other hand has question marks on their faces especially the younger generations. Mages doesn't like the Church and Gods and didn't let it spread too much. Mages wants to learn the truth of this world and thinks that Gods are just powerful mages. They are atheist and won't easily spread information on things such as what a God can do
"This...." Kel was unsure of what to do now. Being slaves were just too much
Otto sneered while looking at them. "If you don't agree then scram! This fight will be meaningless!"
"Patriarch..." the eyes of the Shan Clan look at Kel. Using the God of Order, they can also force the City Lord to be their backing. It was a heavenly outcome for them. But they also can't afford to lose. The benefit is too big while the risk is low but the consequences of losing is also too big!
Kel cannot decide this on his own and let his clansmen do the decision for him. "We will do this via voting. Put your answer in a paper and we will tally the results"
The Shan almost rolled their eyes. Their Patriarch is too pressured on choosing and pass it on them. But it was also a bit to their advantage
Writing it on a paper means no one will know who voted this or that
The City Lord and the others were patient enough to wait for them but they made sure to show a bit of anxiety which was really effective
Greed and confidence made the result to be in favored to agreeing on the bet. Although the consequences of losing are big but the benefits of winning were just too huge for them to ignore
That's the City Lord! No other backing is more powerful than him in the City. And he also can't harm the Shan Clan if he was under the agreement to the God of Order
"City Lord, we agreed. We will continue the bet" Otto and the others almost can't stop themselves from smiling. Calter's cruel and clever mind also won their respects. To think that he'll come up on a plan like this when his mind was still disoriented
They didn't know that when Calter learned that Kence is still alive, it made him vow to himself that he'll make the mastermind's life a living hell
He doesn't want to just win; he also wants to know who really almost caused Kence's death. The assassin confessed everything he knows but even him didn't know who ordered it. His nameless organization was the one who gave him the task but he didn't know the other people behind it
Calter's party still didn't tear off their mask and was 'forced' by the Shan Clan to swear immediately on the spot with them. Tens of golden light filled with mysterious power covered all of their bodies. It was a power that even the City Lord can't decipher or even just touch. That light's level was too much for him to understand even just a hint of it
When the light subsided Calter and the others also tear off their mask and has smiles on their faces which made the Shan Clan to realize that they were tricked