CHAPTER 960: REPUTATION IS EVERYTHING

The clown Ogu had come not only to cripple the human kingdom’s army but to wound Saint Noel himself. It was a test, a provocation to see if it would draw the attention of a demigod.

So, when Noel offered him an olive branch, Ogu simply ignored it.

"You want a ceasefire? Fine," the clown’s voice echoed, wooden and with a strange metallic quality that made its origin impossible to place. "Surrender half the human kingdom’s territory and sign a thousand-year non-aggression pact with the Avengerarmies. Otherwise, even if I agree, the countless northern tribes at my back will not."

"Outrageous!" Noel’s voice was a low growl, now laced with fury. "Don’t you think you’re going too far? Isn’t the vast expanse of the north enough to satisfy your ambition?"

The last war against the north had been a loss for the human kingdom, a blow to their prestige among the other races. Noel would not allow it to happen again.

The kingdom had lost to the arch lord peak white dragon Frostsire not because the dragon was invincible, but because a demigod had intervened on its behalf. That was the secret reason for the truce, a truth known only to the highest echelons of the humans and dragons. Noel couldn’t believe some random, unknown arch lord now had the audacity to try the same thing.

"The north?" Ogu’s voice dripped with theatrical scorn. "Heh heh heh... that barren wasteland? Do you take me for a beggar you can shoo away with scraps?"

Through their brief earlier contact and this new clash, Ogu had already seen through his opponent. This Saint was merely a middle arch lord. The clown felt that with just a little effort, he could snuff him out for good.

"It seems you are determined to make an enemy of the human kingdom," Noel said, his voice cold and heavy. The killing intent in his eyes intensified. "In that case, I cannot allow you to leave here alive."

"Hahahaha... such big words!" Ogu mocked. "You want to take me out? Get real, will you?"

In response to the clown’s taunts, Noel said nothing more. He simply surged forward, a tidal wave of transcendent power.

"Hahahaha... an excellent welcome!" Ogu shrieked with glee, dissolving into a black shadow that shot out to meet the charge.

BOOM!

With a deafening explosion, the battle erupted across all fronts, from the heavens to the earth.

In Stoneheart City, within the stoneheart horde’s territory, Orion opened his eyes. He leaned over and gently kissed the sleeping Sylvana.

After hearing his promise to one day heal her eyes, she had given it her all, using every trick she knew in a playful attempt to conquer him in bed. But her mortal body was no match for the stamina of an arch lord.

Orion rose and slipped on a regal cloak. With a flicker of movement, he appeared in the Silent Goblet tavern in the outer city.

He went directly to the fifth floor, a place that, besides Orion, not even Delilah had ever set foot. It was a floor accessible only to those at the demigod level. And sitting by the window, already out of his brief seclusion, was Alexander.

"This is a nice establishment," Alexander commented without turning. "A shame its proprietor isn’t strong enough. Otherwise, you’d attract even more mysterious powerhouses to this city."

He was referring, of course, to Delilah.

"It’s fine," Orion replied, walking over. "It’s better to accumulate strength and foundation step by step. If you move too fast, you leave people behind, and you can’t keep control."

Alexander turned his head to look at Orion. He didn’t argue the point, nor did he continue the topic. He knew that the path to power was a complex and contradictory one.

Many abandoned their earthly attachments—emotions, desires, even personal mementos—believing them to be burdens. But he admired Orion. He felt that as Orion grew stronger, he hadn’t discarded the very things that most power-seekers deemed a handicap.

"He’s being cautious," Alexander said, his gaze shifting to the northeast. "He only sent a will projection. Not even an avatar. It seems we won’t get a chance to make a move."

Orion knew exactly who he was talking about: the traitor to the Champions Alliance, the clown Ogu. The battle erupting in the northeast was his doing.

"However," Alexander continued, a slight smile on his lips, "he revealed his presence. And that gave me an opening."

Before his ascension, Alexander would have had no way to track a creature like Ogu. But as a demigod, with a grasp on new and profound rules of power, he now had the means.

"I’ll let it go this time. Once I’ve pinpointed his base of operations, we’ll gather the grand army and wipe him out. Traitors don’t deserve to exist."

Orion nodded in agreement. Attacking Ogu’s will projection now, before they knew the location of his lair, would be foolish. It would only spook him.

"So," Alexander said, pulling his gaze back from the distant horizon and fixing Orion with a disdainful look. "I’ve been here all this time, and you haven’t offered me so much as a drink. Is this any way to treat a guest?"

"Hahaha... my apologies, bro. One moment," Orion laughed, slightly embarrassed. It wasn’t that the succubus waitresses of the Silent Goblet hadn’t wanted to serve Alexander; they were simply incapable of reaching the fifth floor.

Orion went downstairs and returned a few minutes later with a full feast and several bottles of the finest wine from the human kingdom and the blood elf territories.

"Bro," Orion said as they sat opposite each other, after they had downed the first three cups. "Is this your avatar or your true form? Won’t you attract unwanted attention?"

"Just an avatar," Alexander said. "My true form is holding down the fort in the Emerald Dream Realm. I don’t have time to waste on this garbage."

Orion shrugged, understanding completely. He despised traitors just as much.

"My avatar uses a secret technique," Alexander explained, sensing Orion’s concern. "Even crossing realms with a demigod phantom in tow, it won’t alert the other demigods of this world."

Orion was relieved. He wasn’t worried for himself, but he feared that Alexander’s arrival would trigger a siege by this world’s native demigods. If that happened, he and the stoneheart horde would be caught between a rock and a hard place.

The two continued to drink and talk. After several more rounds, Orion, feeling a pleasant buzz, finally voiced an idea that had been brewing.

"Bro," he began, "this war with the dragons... the guys are feeling pretty pissed off about how it went down. Are you telling me none of the other bros have any... second thoughts about it?"

Alexander looked up, a playful, knowing glint in his eyes. "What are you trying to do? Just spit it out."

Orion grinned and drained his cup in one go. "The dragons dared to invade our Champions Alliance. They dared to come to the Dusk Continent and stir up shit. We can’t just let that slide."

He leaned forward.

"Otherwise, it’s bad for our rep."