"Killing one of my subordinates isn't the most pleasant thing when it comes to negotiations." El Márquez smiled uncomfortably as Anton looked at him in this way.
Anton wasn't thinking about right or wrong; he was simply carrying out the intentions he had in the negotiations. "By orders of the Association of Light, you must inform the order to stop this unnecessary bloodbath in the eyes of the higher-ups. Your senseless bloodshed will be sanctioned if you continue."
As he spoke these words, Anton placed a purple coin on the table and, in front of everyone, said, "In the name of the Pope, under my authorization as Archbishop of Light, you must cease at this moment."
"What do you propose?" El Márquez wanted to maintain his authority but was completely overwhelmed by Anton's ability to kill a person without moving.
Anton sighed and said, "A duel; in fact, it has been proposed since the attack on my fiancée's hotel. She, who will now be my wife, will be under my care, so the order no longer concerns itself with whether she lives or dies."
"I suppose Wiston is also here because he wants to regain his hotel in New York; he's quite smart if you ask me." El Márquez smiled a bit when he looked at the man who would oversee the duel.
The man removed his cap and said, "Gentlemen, Archbishop, the order has accepted your proposal, allowing El Márquez to take responsibility for resolving the issues through ancient rules."
"Then I suppose the duel could start now." Anton said, watching as two men in the distance prepared the table with the tokens to start the roulette with the requests.
"Of course, preparations will begin shortly, so you will witness all of this."
As it was well known, duels were not at all simple. First, demands and requests had to be supervised; each of those involved would raise a token, and the request of the one with the highest-value token would be accepted.
Once everything was ready, Anton walked to the table where John would sit and said, "I have done the most I can for you and your friend; don't waste this opportunity."
"Is the church still on the table?" John had taken an interest in this.
Anton nodded.
"I will consider it once I win the duel."
"That's good."
It would be a real blow to the order if John became a priest. Even if John won, no one else could retaliate, no one could seek revenge, and this would be one of the hard-hitting blows that everyone in the order had not received since the last time one of their hotels was forcibly taken.
Anton's ideas began to form in his mind as both participants sat at the table.
When he noticed El Márquez's angry eyes, Anton smiled slightly.
The arrogance of men in power was something Anton was familiar with; he knew them perfectly well, and they all seemed to believe that the world was in their hands when it wasn't true.
Anton was one of those men, but now he knows that even being powerful, he was a poor devil who might not make much change in this life as he had proposed before.
"Are you going to be involved in this?" Akira approached Anton, wanting to know more about this.
"We'll just be spectators; the ones who can die if they lose are John and his friend," Anton said, watching as both stood at one end of the table where the tokens were. Understanding the rules more or less, Akira focused ahead and waited for the man in the cap to explain the rules.