The top brass of Nexus arrived at the main palace at the heart of the empire.
Aphosis, Aridam and Equilius—the child, the youth and the elder—sat across an arched white table in large seats, all built from capturing starlight.
Sitting near them in a smaller throne was a middle-aged man in green robe, red vertical pupils and a forked tongue that spit out every few minutes.
Ophion, the Snake of Chaos, tilted his head to glance at Equilius with a teasing gaze.
The old man narrowed his eyes and snorted.
"What's the matter?" Aridam asked with an intrigued expression. His eyes glowed with killing intent and a smile drew across his lips. "Did anyone disobey? Slaughtering a few million to discipline a couple billion is a perfect way to pass some time."
"No, we're not looking for any needless life sacrifice now." Equilius groaned in frustration. "Ophion encountered Varian in the tower. He could've found him if he really tried. I suspect he left him alone because Varian has traces of Ares' legacy.
And this bastard, no matter how much we accommodate him, is still a seed of Chaos. Order should've never accommodated chaos."
"Hiss~" Ophion spat his tongue and chuckled softly. "What a ridiculous thing to say?! I really tried my best, you know? But it's just a phantom of mine, not me. The boy was too slippery and escaped my grip."
"Nonsense! Even if it's a phantom, its prowess should be in the divine domain. How can he escape when he wasn't even a rank 9 back then? I suspect you let him go because you of the same sick mind your lot possess. You want to see the world in chaos and now, chaos is what you got."
Equilius was blunt and harsh, showing no hesitation in cursing every single being of chaos.
"Hiss~ Hehehehe, please slaughter us all to establish a proper order, Your Majesty Equilius." Ophion said with a smile, his vertical pupils glowing with a teasing gaze. "What's stopping you?"
"…" Equilius' eyes which almost always remained emotionless even though his face showed expression shook.
A dangerous aura rose from the old man, enough to wipe out dozens of kingdoms in a breath.
"That's enough." Aphosis said in a low, decisive tone.
Equilus took a breath and leaned back. Once again, he cursed the fickleness of fate. If only the plan went well, he'd have gotten the slivers and his grandson would've been alive.
"I didn't expect the little snake to be this incompetent. But well, living beings suck at almost everything. Do you want to change the camps and become an Undead, Ophi-Ophi?"
A tall woman with glowing black skin dressed in a pitch black dress appeared without any trace of fluctuations.
Her eyes bore into Ophion with a predatory gaze. Even the follower of chaos felt troubled for a moment and looked away.
Keman Aurik, a soothingly handsome man with white hair, eyes, skin and dress, took a seat in a grand throne next to the trio of Nexus.
Since they were the hosts of the match today, he had given them enough respect by not claiming the central seat.
But his throne was a tad grander than this, a show of his higher status.
Yami also got seated shortly after teasing the little snake a few more times.
Shortly after, the remaining rank 2s of the Alliance made an entrance.
Unlike what the public thought of, there was but a handful of them.
Yes, the whole of Alliance didn't even have twenty rank 2s. Interestingly, neither did the Jai.
There should've been easily over thirty rank 2s…but it didn't happen.
A gorgeous and voluptous elf with green hair in yellow robes appeared first.
All Mother Asherah.
Without a word, she built a beautiful throne from branches, leaves and flowers before sitting beside Keman.
Then came a pale-skinned man with a gloomy expression and heavy build. Right next was a skeleton in black robes.
King Hades and Reaper both of them sat at the feet of Yami without a change in expression.
Yami rested her feet on their heads with natural movement and the two didn't even flinch.
"The rules of the match will be announced shortly. But note that none of you can intervene in today's match."
Aphosis stood up and spoke in a graceful tone.
All Mother Asherah fiddled with a flower, ignoring the talk. "Dear, do you think a race based on flowers would be interesting?"
Keman remained silent for a moment before nodding.
"Alright!"
Unaffected by the indifference, Aphosis continued. "This battle will decide the better option for the Alliance's survival.
The better choice will win. The better choice will give us a better chance of survival in the future."
Grr! Grrr!
Reaper rubbed his bones against each other, resulting in an unpleasant sound.
Aphosis remained as calm as ever, finishing his speech. "If you intervene and let the bad choice win, your own survival chances will go down. For your own sake, let the match happen without any intervention."
Hmrr!
King Hades took out a skull from his pocket and blew his nose.
Aridam stood up roughly and glanced at everyone with a dangerous smile. "If you do intervene after everything that's said, then unless you kill all of us, you'll be so dead."
His words caused the three to freeze and then turn to their respective leaders.
Keman Aurik only smiled, but the smile wasn't too pleasant. The master of life preferred action over talk. He'd let the action do the talking. And it's never small.
Yami, on the other, tilted her head with a ruthless gaze. The image of a dead Nexus flashed in her mind for a brief moment and she licked her lips in regret.
"Ahem, ahem." Equilius coughed lightly and stood up. "Now that the basic instructions have been given, it's time to invite the contenders of the duel."
"All hail Nexus!" Ophion stood up. "Of course, I support our candidate! Varian! Varian! Varian!"