William did not answer immediately, instead he looked at the vast forest inside his dantian where the trees were pillars.
And these trees numbered in the tens of thousands.
Then William looked at Klavis and then gave him his answer in all sincerity:
"A lot."
"Is this a joke? I fulfilled the condition you wanted," Klavis replied, a few veins showing on his forehead.
"Do you really think that the information you gave me is equivalent to knowing how many pillars the greatest genius in the world has?" said William calmly.
"So pretentious."
"Have you ever seen other humans of rank (C-) take down a force greater than or equal to your guard with a single glance?"
Klavis didn't know what to say to this answer, because although in ancient times there were such people, but in the present era there is no record in history corresponding to the talent that William had demonstrated.
So Klavis could only admit that William was not arrogant, he was simply stating a fact.
At the same time, in the image that was just above Arthur:
"Why do you want to marry me?" asked Eva seriously.
"Because it's the only way I can think of to have a reason to protect you," Arthur replied in a solemn manner, his eyes showing all his determination.
"Can you elaborate further?" asked Eva with a smile.
"When you first appeared here I analyzed you with the help of the system, and I could see your talent. At the moment you have extremely special conditions regarding the resurrected person but they will change in the future."
"What makes you say that?" replied Eva curiously.
"The system translated it as a talent, but it is not exactly a talent, because normally, without using special means, it is impossible to improve a talent." explained Arthur in a simple way.
"But you are a disciple of a goddess, and the very definition of a disciple is to receive teachings and to improve, so your talent will become stronger over time.
"So if I understand correctly, you want to protect me until I develop my talent to the fullest, and I'm guessing it's to resurrect someone close to you, right?" questioned Eva kindly.
"Indeed, so do you agree?" asked Arthur through clenched teeth while lowering his eyes. He didn't have the courage to face her answer.
However, he did not have long to wait:
"I refuse."
Eva had answered without the slightest hesitation and extremely firmly, which made appear an unbearable pain in Arthur's heart.
However, despite this pain, Arthur was still determined, he looked up at Eva again and said:
"It's okay if you refuse today, we can get to know each other as we go along. In this world where strength determines status, I'm sure that one day I'll stand with the best experts in the universe."
"I think you're wrong about one thing. I don't need your protection," Eva replied, looking firmly at Arthur.
Arthur would later understand Eva's confidence when she announced such a thing, indeed, in the future her healing power would only be matched by her ability to take lives.
"Don't be arrogant, the number of people who will want to kill you will be extremely large in the future, you will need the help of others," Arthur replied seriously.
"It will not be long before I have a strength comparable to yours. And as you say, my talent can evolve. And when that day comes, you will only be able to watch me from afar. It really makes you wonder who is arrogant," Eva replied calmly.
"And even if I need protection, her majesty will be there for me. Because even for such a person, my power is still extremely valuable since I could save his life in case the worst happens." she explained.
Arthur sank into his thoughts for a moment, not knowing what to say, but as he was thinking, he could see, far behind Eva, in the same place as the point of light, an indistinct shape.
This figure raised his hand and shook it, as if to say:
"Have a good trip and don't worry about me, I'll wait for you here."
Arthur was stunned, but he could only see this scene for a blink of an eye, as it returned to its previous state.
He took one last look at the end of the tunnel, then looked at Eva:
"You're right, I won't keep chasing you. I'm not even sure you can do what I want you to do, and even if you do, it will take too long," Arthur said solemnly.
And without giving him time to answer, Arthur continued:
"Your power comes directly from a goddess, right? So I just have to go find her.
Eva was speechless before this kind of statement.
"This guy is crazy," she thought, even though she was a bit bewildered.
"But at the same time, it's interesting..." she continued to think as she let out a slight smile.
"You're such an idiot, I find it hard to believe that His Majesty would entrust the command of his entire army to someone like you," she laughed as she looked at Arthur kneeling before her.
Arthur didn't really understand this sudden change in mood.
"You know, to me, the most horrible consequence of war is the destruction of families, because soldiers also have families, and when they die, it often means the annihilation of the only source of income for an entire family."
"The luckiest families were lucky enough to have their children grow up enough to work. But this is a rather rare case, many children are abandoned because of the lack of food."
"Of course a mother's love is unlimited and most will at least choose to give their children to an orphanage or church. But it is not uncommon for these orphanages and churches to be supervised by illegal organizations."
"What happens to these children?" asked Arthur.
"Brainwashing, slavery, cannon fodder on the battlefield, gladiator in underground battles et cetera... The jobs are rather diverse don't you think?" replied Eva ironically as a bitter smile could be seen on her charming face.
"Obviously these jobs are more suitable for men, but women don't have a much better fate. They are regularly trained to fulfill the darkest fantasies of men. Sometimes they are trained for years and then become a disposable object.
"But why aren't these illegal organizations destroyed?"
"Because the only people who have the power are the people who use them." she said sadly, but her eyes revealed a deep hatred.
Upon hearing this answer, even Arthur felt a deep anger.
"This world is so dark. Humanity is on the verge of disappearing, but this kind of thing still continues to exist. It makes you wonder if humanity is really worth saving."
"Well let's not be pessimistic, I'm sure our majesty will be able to solve this problem one day, but in the meantime I can try to save as many soldiers as possible, that way less families will lose their source of income, and therefore less children will be condemned to this tragic fate." said Eva with an honest and determined smile.
"All this to say, you don't have to marry me. Otherwise if I resurrect thousands of people, would that mean I would have to marry thousands of men?" she laughed.
"Although, I'm not completely indifferent to the idea of having a harem full of men at my service." continued Eva as she looked away, as if visualizing this scene.
"Does that mean that..." asked Arthur, completely ignoring Eva's fantasies as he looked into her eyes.
"Yes, as long as I have the power, I will resurrect your loved ones without expecting any return from you." nodded Eva, smiling.
Upon hearing this answer, Arthur's whole body relaxed completely, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart.
Eva smiled and began to sing the same kind of language as before.
Their souls in the tunnel began to become translucent as they sang.
"Don't worry, I will definitely come back and bring you back to life. Then we can live happily together for the rest of our lives," Arthur secretly promised in his heart as he looked at the bright spot at the end of the tunnel.
For her part, Eva also had her own thoughts:
"Marriage, huh? I guess only that kind of loveless marriage could suit a woman like me."
It wasn't long before their presence disappeared completely from the tunnel, and the tunnel returned to its usual calm.
When Arthur and Eva opened their eyes again, a new apocalyptic scene appeared before them.
Dead bodies could be seen everywhere, it was literally raining blood, the smell of corpses and blood was beyond horrible.
Glancing above them they could see the hundreds of corvettes brought by the Victorian Empire fighting with several hundred Zaran corvettes, while the Empire frigate was exchanging fire with three other frigates.
While in the west Charles could be seen fighting fiercely against powerful experts, in the south it was Frederick, Edward in the east while Victoria was in the north.
From time to time, huge screams rang out across the battlefield.
On closer inspection, the source of these cries were bears ranging from 3 to 4.5 meters in height.
When they screamed, it was usually because a new sword was thrust into their bodies, followed by a counterattack on their part, killing at least hundreds of soldiers at once.
The strongest among them could even intervene in the battles of the supreme generals. But the one that stood out the most was a bear that was more than 10 meters tall and stood next to Victoria on the battlefield.
He was the son of Odysseus.
When William was upgraded to rank (C-) in hell, the entire bear tribe under his command received feedback from his talent, drastically boosting their stats, talents and rank.
Thus, among them the weakest were at rank (D+) with a rare talent, the strongest were at rank (C) with a super rare talent, while the son of Ulysses was at rank (C-) but with a spicy talent, which made him the strongest of the tribe on the battlefield.
So even Arthur thought he might lose if he was confronted with the whole tribe, and even if he won, he would not come out unscathed.
At the same time, right in front of them there were two men who continued to talk calmly despite the current context.
One was a man with a face marked by the features of life, looking into his eyes, it was as if he could see the world at his feet.
Opposite him was a young man with a very different temperament, but an intensity that was no less than that of the first. Looking into his eyes was like contemplating a calm ocean.
The latter noticed the slight movement to his right and directed his gaze in that direction.
Seeing Arthur looking him straight in the eyes, the young man smiled, then he looked at Eva who had a slightly disturbed expression, but who pulled herself together when she felt the young man's gaze on her.
"Thank you very much Eva. Now that you've done your part, I'll do mine too," the young man announced.
"I don't deserve such praise, your Majesty."
"Enjoy it Klavis, you may not have the chance to admire such events in the future, which will undoubtedly become one of the most sacred events in the universe." finishing his sentence, he placed his hand on Eva's forehead and announced:
"I, the Soul King, will now grant the rank of Supreme General to Eva, a soldier under the direct command of General Alexander.
ding
[Private Eva is promoted by the Soul King to the rank of Supreme General].
This notification was passed on to all the soldiers, generals and supreme generals, resulting in a sudden great cheer on the field, disturbing not only the zarans but also the soldiers and generals brought by Emperor Klavis.
"What's going on? A Zaran general with a very good reputation has been killed?" they thought.
But before they could even hear an answer to their questions, a gigantic face of a dragon made of lightning appeared in the sky.
This momentarily stopped the entire battlefield because of the fear felt by everyone present, except for the top generals and most of William's generals who had already seen this scene and so took the opportunity to kill the still stunned enemies.
But this only lasted for a moment, because the next moment the gigantic dragon moved at a speed beyond all logic towards Eva.
While this spectacular scene was taking place, the young man looked again at Arthur and said:
"Sorry I woke you up while you were sleeping, but I still need you to conquer the universe."