1771 Do You Have A Worthy Successor?
Sir Astarot took a glance at Grey, not trying to speak on the meaning behind Grey's words.
Lucas looked at the Toad Leader and then at Sir Astarot, seeing that the Toad had already shown signs of wanting to retreat, Lucas knew that this was the perfect time to act.
"Let's renegotiate, please, Sir Astarot; for privacy purposes, I'd request that you keep those three from overhearing our coming negotiations." He said with a serious expression.
Sir Astarot didn't know what Lucas had in mind. It took a glance at the Toad Clan Leader, wanting to know if he would agree to renegotiating, after all, it obviously didn't want this matter to end badly for either side. And Sir Astarot himself would like to settle this matter properly in a nonviolent way.
The Toad Clan Leader looked at Lucas and was about to speak when he heard the other say.
"Don't worry, we won't launch an attack on you." Lucas reassured the Toad Clan Leader. He initially gave the Toad Clan Leader the ultimatum to submit or die, and seeing that the Toad Clan Leader was clearly showing signs of wanting to take a step back, he felt it was best to take advantage of Sir Astarot's words. He wanted to use the fear of death he could sense from the Toad Clan Leader to put him in check. Of course, he didn't plan to go overboard.
Hearing the reaffirming words of Lucas, Sir Astarot fell quiet and looked in the direction of the Toad Clan Leader, communicating with him privately using mental transmissions. A short time later, the Toad Clan Leader nodded to the three other Toads before allowing Sir Astarot to set up a barrier, blocking inspection from outside.
Lucas scanned it and after a thought, he decided to create a second barrier. He flashed the Toad Clan Leader a smile while acting like he didn't do anything a second ago.
The Toad Clan Leader frowned, displeased with Lucas' actions, "Speak quickly, I have things to attend to."
It knew it had already shown Lucas and the others that it didn't want this matter to go in the manner Lucas and Grey were seemingly trying to force it to. Since that was the case, the only thing it could do was speak with Lucas and hear what he had to say.
"The offer is the same as before, you have to fully submit. That's the only way we can be rest assured that you won't doublecross us later on." Lucas didn't hide his intentions.
"I can swear an oath that I nor anyone from my Clan will take any actions against you humans." The Toad Clan Leader restrained its anger as it spoke up.
"Of what use does swearing an oath have to do with me?" Lucas snapped when he heard this, "I said submit or die. You have to fight with us, there's no other choice."
"Astarot has already acted as a mediator, are you trying to say you won't even give him any respect?" The Toad Clan Leader was already shaking from anger. It had even bowed its head, yet Lucas was telling it to kiss the ground. How could it agree to this?
'I want to see how you plan to act with Astarot already giving his word.'
As this thought came to mind, it couldn't help but have a bad feeling. Regarding Astarot's words, from what Grey is seemingly trying to imply, there's a hidden message behind it that might not be a good thing for him. If that's true, then things were about to take an even worse turn for him.
"I naturally have massive respect for Sir Astarot; that's the reason I'm giving you an opportunity to submit." Lucas looked at it and seeing its face, he said with a calm look, "The only way we can be a hundred percent certain that you'll help and not doublecross us is if your life is not under your grasp. I naturally won't tell you to place it in my hands, I believe Sir Astarot is the perfect candidate, and you can make him swear an oath to give you back your soul brand after the war is over."
When the words 'Soul brand' rang out, the expression of the Toad Clan Leader turned unsightly, and even Sir Astarot didn't expect Lucas to make such a request. Delivering one's soul brand to another is no different from giving that person complete control over one's life and death. Said person can be regarded as the servant of the one holding onto the soul brand. So how could a matter be treated so casually?
The Toad Leader almost lashed out right there and then. It was a top expert, even in the entire Aurora Continent, no one would dare to treat it carelessly, yet Lucas wanted it to hand over its soul brand. The only reason it didn't attack was because Lucas suggested that the soul brand should be handed to Sir Astarot and himself, which was a sign that he still had some self-awareness. But the thought of handing its soul brand to another master is not something that it would agree to.
"Human, it seems you're adamant in tearing face with my Magical Beast's Race?" The Toad Clan Leader dragged the entire Magical Beast Race into the conversation.
The Toad's ability to always have a way of trying to drag others into his problems was quite astonishing. Even the old man from the Vaergahl Family was a bit tongue-tied by the Toad's actions.
"This is between you and us, there's no point in bringing the entire Magical Beast race into this." Lucas replied nonchalantly, already used to the Toad's antics.
"And if I refuse?" The Toad Leader looked at Lucas with cold eyes.
"I wonder if your Clan has a worthy successor if the Clan Leader's position suddenly becomes vacant. I'm sure the new Clan Leader will not hold such hostility towards us, and with a few words from Sir Astarot, we will be able to form a good relationship." Lucas looked at the Toad Clan Leader with a meaningful grin.
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