Chapter 649 - I Will Show You Who Your New Master Is
In the City of Babylon that was located at the base of the Tower, the patriarchs of the families that had been expelled by the Guardians were all having an emergency meeting.
The previous ruler of the 49th Floor, the Moreau Family
The previous ruler of the 45th Floor, the Valkazar Family
The previous ruler of the 41st Floor, the Amaral Family
The previous ruler of the 37th Floor, the Valatieri Family
The previous ruler of the 23rd Floor, the Hesse Family
The previous ruler of the 16th Floor, the Zaleska Family
And the previous ruler of the 2nd Floor, Agnis Family.
These Seven Families were among the families in the Tower of Babylon that everyone looked up to. But now, all of their fame and glory had been ripped apart by a Half-Elf who had just started to climb the tower not long ago.
For them who had been born and thrived in their Domains, this was an outcome they couldn't accept. If not for the fact that they had their own residences within the City of Babylon, all of these families would have been homeless by now.
All of them gathered today to talk about how they could reclaim their position. These seven families were divided into three opposing factions. One of the factions wanted to try and negotiate with William, and find a way to compensate him for whatever they had done to annoy him.
These families had no idea that the reason they were kicked out of the tower was due to their misuse of authority which William hated the most--human trafficking and slavery.
The other faction, on the other hand, wanted to eliminate William and plead with the Guardians to reinstate their rule. The Agnis Family was adamant that as long as the Half-Elf died, their authority would be returned to them.
The third faction was on the fence. Naturally they wanted to regain their former rule, but they were unsure which side to choose. In the end, they decided to abstain and see which of the two factions' plans would work against the Half-Elf who had kicked them out of their homes, without even letting them pack their belongings.
—-
"Listen, you are not familiar with the boy, so you are able to act like this," Waltier Agnis, the Patriarch of the Agnis Family said. "He is a very ruthless individual. He has already killed most of the High-Rankers in our family. If we don't unite now, we stand no chance against him."
The Patriarch of the Moreau Family, Janos Moreau, sneered at Waltier.
"That's because you had antagonized him from the very start," Janos replied. "If you didn't send your men to kill him, they wouldn't have died a dog's death. Actually, this entire scenario is due to your family's incompetence! If you didn't annoy that Half-Elf, none of this would have happened!"
Hexxat Valkazar, the Patriarch of the Valkazar Family, nodded his head in agreement, before glaring at Waltier. "That's right, because of you, the Half-Elf bore a grudge, and is now making us pay because of your stupidity! This is all your fault!"
The tension in the room rose because what the two Patriarchs said wasn't wrong. If the Agnis Family didn't antagonize William and send High-Rankers to kill him, none of this might have happened.
"We haven't even met him! Why did he punish us like this?" the Patriarch of the Amaral Family, Damon Amaral, asked in annoyance. "Do any of you know the reason why?"
After Damon asked this question, everyone inside the room quieted down.
"Him having a grudge to the Agnis Family is justified, but what of us?" Kaleo Valatieri, the Patriarch of the Valatieri Family, inquired with a serious expression. "Why us?"
Everyone inside the room were Patriarchs. They had gained their position because they had their share of blood and schemes, so it wasn't that hard for them to connect the dots to reach an answer.
"The Half-Elf might have targeted us due to our… business practices," Zorin Hesse, the Patriarch of the Hesse Family, stated. "That is the only thing all our families have in common, is it not?"
Lexi Zaleska, and the last patriarch in the room, sighed in agreement. "That brat might have been enslaved in the past and is taking his vengeance on us. Talk about bad taste."
After understanding the real reason behind why they were kicked out of the Tower, the Seven Patriarchs weren't feeling well. Now that they understood what grudge the Half-Elf bore against them, they had a feeling that getting their position back would require them to pay an exuberant price.
They knew that kneeling in front of William and promising that they wouldn't do it again was pure folly.
Bribes?
Now that the Half-Elf was the owner of the 51st Floor as well as the seven other floors, he wouldn't be lacking in money, tokens, and resources.
Women?
Although this may work for some people, everyone in the room believed that this method wouldn't work against William. Of course, if the girl was an otherworldly beauty then there was a chance that she might ensnare the Half-Elf.
The problem was that there were no young ladies in their families who were beautiful enough to bring down the downfall of a nation.
"Maybe we can use the people important to him as bargaining chips," Waltier Agnis proposed. "We need to know more about him and target his family members or friends. Perhaps we can come to a compromise once we have them in our hands."
All the Patriarchs nodded their heads in agreement. They were men who didn't mind getting their hands dirty because this was their way of life. William had pushed them into a corner and this was the only thing that they could think of in order to make the Half-Elf meet them eye to eye.
—--
A week after the news of William clearing the tower was announced to the world…
"It's been a while since we climbed the tower, I'm getting excited!" an energetic voice said. "I wonder what this William is like? Is he strong? I hope he is strong. I want to spar with him."
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Violence is not always the answer," a calm and pleasing voice replied. "The first impression is important, so we need to do this in a civilized manner."
"But a fistfight is faster!"
"And this is why you always get into trouble. Not everything can be solved with violence."
A soft sigh was heard beside the two voices.
"Stop arguing." a mellow voice stated. "Once we arrive in the city, we will immediately go to the 51st Floor. Let me do the talking. That way, no troubles will arise."
"Che~ you're no fun."
"This is the best option we have."
"Since both of you are in agreement, it's time for us to go," the beautiful Elf stared at the Tower that rose up to the sky. "I finally have a reason to meet you, William."
—--
Meanwhile, on the Floor of Asgard…
"We are gathered here today to welcome the newest members of our team, Bacon and Sharur!" Kasogonaga announced with an adorable voice. "Let them feel welcomed, everyone!"
Erchitu, Psoglav, Bastian, Scadrez, B1, B2, and Aethon, clapped, whistled, and chirped to welcome the two new recruits to their forces.
Gullinbursti, now nicknamed Bacon, by William, nodded its head and squealed cutely to acknowledge his seniors. Sharur, on the other hand, just floated in the air and laughed.
"Hah! It's your honor to be in my presence!" Sharur declared in an arrogant tone. "I have seen many battlefields and have always been on the front line. As long as all of you call me Boss, I will make sure that no one can bully you!"
No one paid attention to the arrogant Mythical Mace. Instead, they circled the golden piglet who was looking back at them with genuine curiosity.
Gullinbusti was only fourteen centimeters tall, and twenty centimeters long. Due to its size, the Beasts in William's Herd and Legion found him quite cute, and had a strong urge to protect the little guy who had become Chiffon's pet, and Third Beast Companion.
In the world of Hestia, there were very few people that could have more than one Beast Companion. For some reason, Chiffon was an exception to this rule, and had not only one, but three Beast Companions.
Beast Companions were Beasts who shared their power with their contractors. In turn, their contractors, also, shared their power with them.
This was also the reason why B1 and B2 were able to transform into a Red and Blue Phoenix during their battle against Belial. Now that Bacon was part of the picture, the little golden piglet might have also gained the ability to transform and grow bigger due to Chiffon's awakened ability.
"Oi! You bastards dare ignore this great Sharur!" The dark-blue mace was angered because of the lack of attention it was receiving from William's inner circle.
"Stop shouting you Motherf*cker! Do you think we are deaf?" Kasogonaga replied as it pointed its small paw at the floating mace. "Hmp! Call you Boss? I don't even call William, Boss. What makes you think anyone here will call you that? Stop dreaming, you cunt!"
The dark-blue mace shone bright blue. This was the first time that someone had dared to curse it openly. It opened its eyes and mouth and looked down on the rainbow-colored Anteater with disdain.
"Hmp! I will give you time to take back those words, you little creature!" Sharur shouted in anger. "If you don't recognize me as the leader of this group, I will beat you up until you submit to me."
"Hohoho, you want to make this Sir submit? You've got guts, Little Mace."
"Shut up, puny anteater. I will show you who your new Master is."
Psoglav picked up the golden piglet who had hidden himself behind Erchitu's foot. It seemed that Kasogonaga's and Sharur's argument had scared it and immediately took refuge in the safest place it could think of.
"Let's just watch from the side," Psoglav said with a devilish grin. "I, too, want to see what this so-called Smasher of Thousands is capable of."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and evacuated the place. They watched from afar as the pitiful Mythical Mace fought off against an opponent it couldn't smash to pieces.
Sharur's previous owners died of heart-attacks due to how talkative and obnoxious it was. However, it had been sleeping in the treasury for hundreds of years.
It didn't know that the moment it woke up, it would find that there were creatures that had long mastered the art of cursing.
This made even the most chatty mace in existence shut its trap in the face of Kasogonaga's adorable curses, that it had learned from the Angray Birds, and nearly knock itself silly on the unbreakable rainbow-colored scales that even the Gods of Hestia recognized long ago.