CHAPTER 250: KING OF BLACKMAIL [PART 3]

Alex’s cringy backstory goes something along like this...

Alex Stratos’ Backstory

In the cold, sacred North, where snow never melted and stars burned brighter, was the Aetherian Empire, the mightiest of all empires.

Its people whispered legends of a hidden prince, born during the eclipse of two suns, marked by the Aetherion Sigil, and destined to reclaim a shattered lineage.

That prince... was him.

His true name: Aetherius Alexian Vademont

And during his birth, the Paragon of Space, Rowand Vademont, had appeared and declared that he would be the godfather of the newlyborn prince.

Fearing for his safety, the Guardian of the North had taken the prince away and hidden him from those who covet his lineage and powers.

He was then given a new name to hide his identity. Until the prophesied time arrived for him to fulfill his destiny, the world shall know him as Alex Stratos.

———

Even now, Alex wanted to cover his face out of embarrassment whenever he remembered his backstory.

Of course, he wasn’t expecting such nonsense to become a reality since that had been the result of his overactive teenage imagination.

However, since it stated there that the Headmaster was his godfather, then calling him his uncle wasn’t a big deal, right?

The tense atmosphere gripped the room, which made the Prince frown. He then glanced at the Student Council President, whom he believed was here to mediate this mess.

"Alex, four million is a lot," Theo, who wanted to play peacemaker, said. "You should accept the Prince’s offer and make peace with the Lionheart Society."

"No," Alex replied. "The four million academy points is just the start. I want the one who threatened to abuse my club member to be expelled from the academy. The same can be said for the current President of Lionheart Society.

"If my conditions are not met, I will ask the masked man to spread the other evidence he has to the public. Let’s see how the academy deals with it then. Also President, you have no idea what this son of a b*tc—errr, Duke has done to other students using his authority.

"Actually, I have an idea. Instead of relying only on my words, how about all of us visit the Lionheart Society Club Room right now and let Professor Gareth investigate? I’m sure the moment you see all his crimes, you will change your mind."

Alex had a good reason why he wanted the President of the Lionheart Society expelled.

It was because that sorry excuse of a human was the one responsible for corrupting Prince Edward and turning the Hero into one of the vilest Villains in the story of ELO.

Chester Blackvale and his Father, the Duke of Blackvale, were one of the many Nobles who supported the Demon Worshipers.

Alex didn’t want to see the Prince go down that path, so he would not rest until Chester Blackvale was expelled.

"Don’t go too far, Alex Stratos," Chester growled. "If you know what’s good for you, you will stop now."

Alex, in his infinite wisdom, stuck his tongue out at the Fourth Year who was trying to intimidate him.

He was very tempted to divulge that Chester and his family were supporters of Demon Worshipers. Unfortunately, it would be very hard to gather evidence about it.

The young man believed it was them who helped insert the spies and other low-ranking members of the criminal organization into the academy before the planned massacre in the Mistral Weave Forest.

However, since he had already killed Willow, one of their Elders, he didn’t want to give the Demon Worshipers more reason to hate him.

They were already hostile towards each other, but the severity of the hostility mattered.

Right now, the Demon Worshipers might have already placed a bounty on Alex’s head, making him the target of an unknown number of unscrupulous individuals.

That was still fine.

It wasn’t bad enough that the higher-ups in the organization would involve themselves. For now, he was just a First Year in Friedan Academy. A very annoying First Year, no doubt, but still a First Year.

If he were to expose the Duke of Blackvale as their supporter, those in the upper echelons of the organization would no longer sit still. They would personally take action against him.

Once those monsters start to hunt him down, Alex believed that he wouldn’t be safe even inside the academy.

"It seems that we cannot come to an agreement," Alex said. "Professor Gareth, can we visit the Lionheart Society’s Club Room and see what they have been doing?

"If there is nothing there, I will readily apologize. But if they committed crimes that cannot be forgiven so easily, I ask that you punish them accordingly.

"Also, if the severity of those crimes cannot be tolerated, I ask that their Club be disbanded, effective immediately. Who knows? We might discover something else that would make even the Headmaster take this matter in his own hands."

Everyone in the conference room—the Student Council, Crest Clubs, and even the Professors—were all shaken by his words.

Requesting—no, demanding the dissolution of a Crest Club? That was unprecedented!

Almost all students wished to join the Crest Clubs. Within the academy, the prestige and bragging rights gained just from being a member were almost unmatched.

But now, one of them, which had been around for hundreds of years, was about to face disbandment due to the challenge of a single student.

And to make matters worse, Professor Gareth, one of the Four Guardians of the Academy, nodded his head.

"Alright, let’s do that," Professor Gareth replied. Chester’s face lost all of its colors.

"W-Wait, Professor," Chester shouted. "This is inappropriate. Only members and those we have personally invited are allowed to enter our club room."

"Don’t forget to add ’drugged and dragged’ inside of it," Alex commented, his voice dripping with contempt. "Maybe you define invitations differently from other people."

Although the young man had known that Nessia would suffer harassment and bullying, he hadn’t expected that the Lionheart Society would go this far. Such a scene never occurred in the game.

However, Alex had changed many things. This would eventually create the so-called butterfly effect.

He couldn’t take any chances, especially when it concerned one of the Main Heroines who would rise up to protect the world.

"Very well. We will pay the compensation of four million academy points," Chester said through gritted teeth. "I will also step down as the President of the Lionheart Society and take responsibility for the crimes of my members."

"Don’t make yourself sound like some kind of victim when your closet is full of skeletons." Alex narrowed his eyes. "Also, it’s not stepping down, but leaving the academy of your own accord. Also, take that lecherous member of yours with you as well... or else."

Before they had assembled in the Conference Room, Alex and his club members had tried to calm an enraged Renard down. After seeing and hearing Lionheart Society’s plans for Nessia, Renard had almost gone rabid with rage.

Renard had trust issues. This was a fact.

However, there was one person whom he would reluctantly believe in, especially in matters concerning their club, and it was Alex.

Also, Nessia was a commoner like him and suffered the same mistreatment as he did.

This had been more than enough to incense him to the point Alex, Chuck, and Charles struggled to rein him in.

Renard had made Alex promise that no matter what, the person who schemed against their club member must be expelled. If not, he would beat that pervert half dead.

Only when Alex had given his word had Renard calmed down.

It wasn’t only Renard who was mad.

All of his Club Members, including the newcomers, like Princess Xenia and Vaan, were furious.

Of course, Alex was angry too, but he was certain that it would not be enough to get the student expelled in the academy.

The only way for that to happen was to have someone with higher authority or rank—like a Duke or a Prince—command him to leave the academy.

This was why Alex used the Lionheart Society as a hostage against its members.

If this Club, which had a rich history spanning centuries, was suddenly disbanded, its former members would surely be demanding answers. The ones responsible would have to face the anger of many powerful alumni.

While they would also target Alex, Chester would still be the one mainly facing the brunt of their anger since he was the current president of the club.

It was his responsibility to keep it afloat during his term.

Prince Edward watched as Chester reluctantly agreed to Alex’s demands and promised to leave the academy with the member who had harbored designs on Nessia.

However, he also made Alex promise that he would leave the Lionheart Society and the rest of its members alone if he agreed to his request.

"Very well, I will accept that condition," Alex said before shifting his gaze to the Merchant Alliance and the other Nobles who bullied his club members. "It’s your turn next."

His glare made these students flinch. After seeing what had happened to Chester and his club member, they already knew that the President of the Endless Horizon Club wouldn’t take no for an answer.