The army was small. Compared to Xavnik's numbers in the upwards of nine figures, the barely few hundred thousand that Leonel had come with was truly too pitiful, especially when among that number, most were just wild beasts and only about 20 000 or so were actual humanoids. It didn't make sense to take this matter so seriously.
And yet, Xavnik's pause was long and his thoughts came slow. He seemed to lag, not knowing exactly what to make of this immediately. When Leonel said that he had had the same idea, could it be that he wanted to deal with the Pyius family before he went forward to attack the Suiard and Spiritual Religion alliance? Technically, Leonel was just as vulnerable from the back as Xavnik was given the relative positions of everything, so could it be that his deduction was wrong?
In addition, Xavnik had, indeed, suddenly come up with many allies that others couldn't have expected. He had the largest numbers precisely because of this. So Leonel believing that he might have the Pyius family in his back pocket wasn't an impossible leap to make.
As for Xavnik himself, the reason he had concluded that Leonel must have the Pyius family by his side was because of those matters that happened over a year ago. Back then, Leonel hadn't done much to hide the fact that he returned Simona's beast companion. In addition, Simona had very publicly stated that her paternal family would be willing to help Leonel out.
Back then, it was still a taboo for the Constellation families to take part in the Heir Wars, so it wasn't a matter that many thought about, especially since the Godlen family was relatively unknown. However, given his unique standing, Xavnik was able to put together many oddities about the Godlen family that made him pay a little bit more attention to them.
Unfortunately for him, there wasn't anything that he could find in the end that was worth paying any more attention to, so he had forgotten about this matter, until he thought through the methods by which Leonel could have used to deal with him.
But now seeing Leonel here, he really had no idea whether he was here to help or attack him. This sort of confusion left Xavnik feeling as though he had just short circuited. It was too difficult to draw a conclusion, and right now, depending on how he reacted, he could make things either easier or more difficult on Leonel, and yet, at the same time, no matter what path he took, no step was perfect for him.
On the one hand, there was potentially offending an ally who was more than willing to work with him ahead of a timeline that he was comfortable with. On the other hand, there was Leonel and the Pyius family teaming up with one another to deal with him, and he had actually delivered himself on a silver platter.
Looking at Leonel's smiling face, he actually couldn't tell which one it was, and it was actually beginning to agitate him. He had always had everything in the palm of his hands. He was easily forgotten as the Third Nova, it could even be called middle child syndrome if he wanted to be dramatic about it, but this had also allowed him to fly under the radar while setting up everything exactly like he wanted it.
He had even played with the governing structure of the Void Palace as a mere Sixth Dimensional existence, but right now he actually didn't know what to do.
Leonel's expression gave nothing away, and the few seconds that were ticking by truly felt like an eternity. The more he tried to find an answer, the further it slipped away from him. It felt like everyone was observing him, waiting to see how he would react.
Xavnik's confusion was just the same as everyone else. This was the largest conflict currently taking place in the Heir Wars, so the number paying attention to this location was over 90%. But they couldn't make heads or tails of it either.
Suddenly, Xavnik began to laugh. He shook his head.
"Indeed, it's a funny matter," Xavnik responded to Leonel's words finally. "As they say, great minds think alike. But I'm beginning to feel that your mind and mine aren't exactly the same at all. It seems that we've been quite on guard against one another, so what will you do, Leonel?"
Leonel grinned. "Well that depends. If I help you out, will you kill me like you did your subordinates once you're finished with me?"
Xavnik's smile didn't fade, but the downcast over his gaze only grew.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Littlest Nova."
"You don't? Ah, you really might not, but that's because I forgot to explain something during our first meeting. What you might not know is that the reason no one else can build territories in the ocean is because all four seas have already been claimed."
Xavnik's pupils constricted, but his expression wasn't too surprising. After all, he knew this already. Everyone was dealing with the very same situation and they were all wary of one another, wondering which four powers had actually managed such a thing.
The problem was that there weren't many powers remaining, there were barely over four in number to begin with. So who could have done it?
"The simplest answer is usually the right one," Leonel said with a chuckle. "But even when you have that saying in mind, the importance of context is also important. There are only six powers remaining. Myself, yourself, the Omann family, the Pyius family, the Suiard family and the Spirituals Religion. However, two of those powers are in an alliance, and so there's only five powers remaining, technically. And you yourself are certain that you don't own a sea, so that means what, exactly?"
Xavnik suddenly shuddered.
It was either all four powers remaining aside from himself had claimed a sea, or...
"Or," Leonel grinned. "They were all claimed by a single person. You tell me, which is the simplest answer?"
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