Chapter 780: A Big Misunderstanding.
In a few words, Victor stated that Volk should be replaced.
He would take this opportunity that Volk himself had presented to put pressure on The Werewolves.
Now, Volk might not be very efficient at negotiations, and that was normal; after all, people had their strengths and weaknesses, but he wasn't completely stupid either. He understood very well what Victor was insinuating, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to control his tone of voice.
"Demon King, you can't do this..." Volk was about to say that this was a matter concerning The Werewolves, but he was interrupted by Victor.
"Yes, I can. And I will."
"My agreement with Lady Aurora is complete. I will protect Samar from any possible invasion, and when I say Samar, I mean the planet, not its inhabitants. So long as the planet remains intact and there is wildlife, there is no problem, right?" Victor asked Aurora.
"Yes," Aurora replied.
From Aurora's perspective, so long as her planet wasn't occupied by those invaders and wasn't irreversibly damaged, she was perfectly fine.
The Werewolves around them widened their eyes upon hearing Aurora's words.
"Why the surprise?" Victor asked, confused. "Did you really think that Aurora and Fenrir were on your side?"
"....." From the silence that followed, it was obvious that everyone had thought so, even Tasha.
"... And people call me arrogant." Victor laughed in amusement.
"What's so funny, Demon King?"
Victor laughed even harder when he saw Volk's explosion of emotions. He spent a few seconds laughing until he explained.
"The World Tree is an Entity that sustains the planet. If it finds itself in a situation where it has to choose between protecting the planet and its sentient inhabitants, it will always choose the planet. That's their job and their deepest instinct. The fact that you don't understand something so basic made me laugh."
"What...?"
Ignoring their shock, Victor continued, "Sentient Beings will die, so what? In a few thousand years, other sentient Beings may come into existence with her interference or through natural evolution, just like any planet inhabited by a World Tree."
"When a mass extinction event occurs, it's not the planet that suffers, but the sentient Beings on it. From the planet's perspective, it doesn't matter much... At least, that's a fact for the World Tree of Positivity. For the World Tree of Negativity, it's a great inconvenience not to have sentient Beings because they are their main source of nourishment." Victor spoke as he looked at Aria.
Aria looked at Victor and smiled gently. To Victor, that smile was very sweet, like a child smiling upon seeing something beautiful, but to everyone around, that smile was quite terrifying.
"But it's not like their absence will make a difference. After all, it would only cause her to experience a slightly delayed development."
Victor's harsh but honest words left everyone simply silent in pure shock.
"Of course, the same thought applies to Fenrir, but in a more exaggerated way."
Fenrir opened one eye, looked at Victor, then snorted and went back to sleep.
"Fenrir may have an attachment to all of you, but that only applies to his family, Tasha. All the other inhabitants can disappear overnight, and it wouldn't affect him. If someone attacks all of you, will he defend you? Of course, but that's only because he sees the entire planet of Samar as his territory, not out of sentimentality."
Volk started to speak. "B-But... That's... That's like a..."
"Beast?" Victor completed the sentence.
"Grrr," Fenrir growled at the name. He hated that word, as Odin always referred to him in that way.
"Yes, indeed. You're not wrong." Victor stood up and walked over to Fenrir, then began stroking the head of the Wolf, who had returned to his original form at some point but was much smaller than before.
"But at the same time, you're wrong." Victor chuckled lightly when he saw the Wolf's happy face.
"Fenrir isn't a beast. He is a sentient Being. But at the same time, he is wild and primal in his nature."
"He doesn't understand sentimentality; he doesn't grasp complicated things like we do."
"But he understands companionship. You all help him in some way, and that's why he protects you. And when I say 'you all,' I mean Tasha, Volk, and eventually Thomas himself."
"Because of your simple actions, he has Blessed you and allowed you to live in his territory."
When Tasha and Volk heard those words, memories of both of them helping Fenrir in the past when he was injured flashed through their minds. Initially, they didn't know that the Wolf was Fenrir; it was only after he became healthier that he Blessed them and started living with them.
Victor's words awakened them from a great misunderstanding they had always had. Fenrir wasn't their protector; he was simply allowing Beings to live in his territory. But if he ever decided to change his mind, the entire civilization they had built would vanish from existence.
This thought sent a terrifying chill down the spines of the Werewolves.
"That's why I laughed when I called you arrogant. The fact that you didn't understand something so basic astounds me."
Aurora, Aria, and even Roxanne didn't say anything to disagree with Victor's words. After all, he was completely correct.
Roxanne herself cared deeply for Victor's Wives and treated them like Sisters, but as a World Tree, her primary instinct when faced with imminent danger would be to protect her 'planet,' and who was her planet?
It was Victor himself, where her main body currently resided. He was her planet, her safe haven, so she would always prioritize his safety over the rest.
It may seem cruel, but that was how the Beings called World Trees functioned.
"With clarifications given..." Victor looked at the beautiful Egyptian woman with chocolate-colored skin and green eyes, a woman with exotic beauty. "Tasha Fenrir."
"... Yes?"
"You have my stance on this matter. Until a competent Leader arises among the Werewolves, my protection agreement applies only to the planet."
Essentially, what Victor was saying was that if an invader came tomorrow and he was not here, it was the Werewolves' problem. He would protect the planet and only the planet; its inhabitants had nothing to do with him.
Seeing that everyone understood his words, Victor nodded, satisfied, and turned around.
"Hassan, come with me."
"H-Huh?" The man began to float toward Victor, and he was surprised that he couldn't do anything about it.
"For an entire year, you are my property. I will use you until you pass out from exhaustion."
Hassan hated to admit it, but he felt a bit embarrassed by Victor's misleading words.
Victor's face twisted in disgust. "Stop thinking dirty thoughts. I'm talking about training. I don't swing that way."
Hassan exercised his right to remain silent. He felt that if he spoke now, he would only dig his own grave further. He simply issued a simple warning: "I will train whoever you want, but I will return regularly to Samar or in case of an emergency."
"Once a month for a visit, and in case of an emergency, you can return permanently." Victor wouldn't stop a warrior from defending his people.
"That's acceptable." Hassan nodded.
"Roxanne, Aurora, Aria, let's go."
"Okay, Darling." Roxanne laughed as she ran after him.
"Eh? Me too?"
"Of course. You're the new teacher who will teach my Wife, right?"
Somehow, Aurora didn't like being reduced to just a teacher, but he wasn't wrong.
She sighed and said, "... Okay, I'll go too." She turned her head towards Aria and realized that her little sister had disappeared.
"Huh? Aria!?" She looked around, confused, searching for Aria nearby, and saw that before she knew it, Aria was sitting on Victor's shoulder.
"... When did she get there so quickly?" Seeing the small smile on Aria's face, a vein bulged on Aurora's head.
Okay, it was official; she didn't like Victor now.
"You're really good with kids, huh." Roxanne narrowed her eyes at Aria and possessively held onto Victor's arm.
"She just likes my abundance of Negative Energy, so naturally, she likes you too. In other words, you're an older sister to her." Victor knew exactly how to push his Wife's buttons.
"... Big Sister..." Roxanne's eyes gleamed. "Correct! I'm the big sister. I can take on that role better than Aurora!" She said as she pounded her chest, causing her ample bosom to bounce up and down from side to side.
More veins started to appear on Aurora's forehead. She wanted to strangle Roxanne now.
"Stop trying to steal my sister, Cow." She said as she appeared next to the group.
"Hmph, I only hear jealousy coming from you, 'older' sister."
"Jealousy, pfftt. Why would I be jealous? My figure is perfect, perfectly balanced, very unlike you, where everything is unbalanced." Aurora rolled her eyes.
"Say that when your breasts go boing boing... Or when a man smacks your butt, and it quivers seductively... Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot... You don't have a man, even though you're so old... Poor thing." Roxanne spoke with a hand over her mouth, wearing a look of pity and superiority.
"... BITCH!"
"Airport runway!"
"Mhm, it's good to see that you're already getting along," Victor said as he petted Aria's head.
"We're not!" Both of them spoke in unison.
"Hmm? Are you coming too, Fenrir?"
Fenrir looked at Victor's hands petting Aria's head and said, "... Yes."
"Hmm, okay." Victor nodded and continued walking. For a moment, he looked at his hand and thought that his hand was indeed divine, even making The Beast of The End addicted to his caresses.
'The Power of the Gods… in the palm of my hand...' Victor laughed internally at his own reference to the iconic villain from the Spider-Man movie.
As the chaotic group moved away, Tasha, Volk, and Maya observed from a distance.
"Volk... You are strong; that is a fact. I always thought you were a good King, and I still think that, but... You should have stayed silent and let Tasha handle the negotiations as usual. But no... You had to interfere, and now our people are in a complicated situation." Maya spoke with disdain in the end and then started walking in another direction.
"Call me if you need anything, Tasha. I'm going back to my Clan. I need to think about what to do. Perhaps with my granddaughter's help, I can slightly improve the situation for Samar."
"Okay," Tasha said.
When Maya left, Volk turned to Tasha.
"Tasha."
"Don't say anything, Volk... Just don't say anything."
Volk shuddered when he saw Tasha's cold gaze. It was the same look she used to give him, but he clearly felt the difference now. Before, when she gave him that look, there was still a hint of warmth, but now, only indifference and coldness remained.
"I need to think." Tasha turned around and began to walk away.
In the end, the only one left at the scene was Volk. From his expression, it was evident that he was deeply distraught and angry... Very angry.
But he held onto that anger and decided to seek advice.
"I need to talk to Vlad. He dealt with that bastard for a long time; he must have some good advice." It was humiliating to ask for help from his old friend, but desperate situations called for desperate measures.
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