"Awesome! When he came out, I don't have to rely on the archdemon lord for a trump card anymore!" Jack exclaimed.
"This process will take a very long time. Arlcard won't come out any time soon," Peniel reminded, but Jack wasn't listening. He was too busy doing his victory dance after learning that he would have an eternal-grade combatant at his beck-and-call in the future. Peniel gave up trying to tell him.
After Jack wasted some precious minutes celebrating, he finally went up from the basement and to the throne room. Inside the throne room, Jack saw two other individuals there. He knew one of them. Caleb Lucien, whom he met in Tranviste when he first came to Sangrod.
The other individual was a high elder vampire who was a level 75 rare elite. This vampire went by the name of Darius Armand.
"My friend!" Horatio exclaimed after seeing Jack. "Come! Let me introduce. These two are my confidantes. I think you remember Caleb. As for this gentleman, he is Darius Armand. They were the two who bravely led the rebellion outside the capital and drew Marcus' blood army away from this palace."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, King Storm Wind," Darius greeted.
"I must say, I never expected the outworlder ambassador whom I met in the past to now stand before me as a king," Caleb said. "Please forgive me if I appear to have a hard time believing it."
Horatio laughed. "We were just discussing how we are going to reorganize our personnel. Many simply followed my father out of fear, but a few were indeed loyal. I must purge them out before they cause me trouble, but you don't need to concern yourself about this. I can continue this discussion later. First, before we talk about our arrangement, I want to represent Sangrod and thank you for having ended my father's tyrant rule for a thousand years."
Jack heard another quest completion notification. His quest, Help Horatio Ascend the Throne, was now completed. He received 5,000,000 exp, 60 gold coins, 3,000 mana cores, and 300,000 merit points.
With the exp points from the completion of two quests, the exp from killing Marcus, and the exp from the vampire elders killed by the archdemon lord, he leveled up two times. His Brave Swordsmaster and Time Sage were now level 77.
"Now, I will honor our agreement," Horatio said. I've sent a request for an alliance through the monarch system. Once you accept it from Thereath, our two countries will be officially allies."
"What about the war in Palgrost?" Jack asked.
"Your army is marching there. As an ally, it won't be proper for me to just sit by. I will send an army into Palgrost to assist President Thelgrun as well."
"Thank you!" Jack exclaimed.
"But!" Horatio interjected. "It will take some time to organize this army. I've just assumed power. I need to do a lot of reorganization. I think you understand."
"… How long will you need?" Jack asked.
"I can't say for sure, but I promise I will have an army heading to Palgrost the latest within three days," Horatio answered.
"That long…?"
"Don't worry. The border between Sangrod and Palgrost has a train system. I can use all the available trains to have my army arrive in Palgrost in one day, saving the days needed to cross the border. So, by day four, we will be in Palgrost territory already. However, I need to warn you. I might not be able to muster too many troops under current conditions."
Even if the Sangrod army arrived in Palgrost, they still needed some time to reach Balgadur. This was not ideal, but Jack thought this was the best he could hope for. "Thank you, Emperor Horatio. We will hold the enemies until your force arrives."
"It will be best if you can vanquish the enemies before my force arrives," Horatio laughed.
"That will be best," Jack laughed as well. "Uh, the matter of my army crossing the Jagara region…"
"I've sent a transmission to the Sangrod army that was sent to the Jagara region. That army should have also received a notification that I am in charge of the throne now. They will stand down and stop bothering your army."
"Thank you," Jack said. He sent a message to John then, giving him the good news, only to receive a reply that his army was already in Palgrost territory.
"You took too long time. I don't feel like waiting for you, so I cross the border using my own way," John said.
"Motherf*cker. Did you kill any Sangrod troops?" Jack asked.
"Don't worry, we didn't touch them. Well, Arther did slam into the Sangrod army's leader and Meryl shot some arrows at them to slow them down. But no one was killed… At least not that I'm aware of."
"Sigh… Just head to Balgadur as fast as you can. I will join you soon. I need to return to Thereath to settle something first. We are now allied with Sangrod. They will send an army around three days from now to help us in Palgrost."
"Ho… You went to ask for permission to pass but ended up getting an ally and an army. This is good, I couldn't build any supply depot since I was marching in secret. With Sangrod as an ally, I can send a battalion to build a supply line crossing through their country. It saves us a detour. I must say you never cease to amaze me, expert."
"I'm just lucky," Jack said.
"Okay, your luck never ceases to amaze me," John replied.
Jack stopped entertaining John. He ended the message and told Horatio that he would return to Thereath now to formalize their alliance. He also informed Horatio about Arlcard in the basement. He asked Horatio to cordon off the place so nobody could disturb Arlcard.
Horatio told Jack not to worry. He would take care of it. Jack left then.
After Jack left, Caleb asked Horatio, "Should we truly send an army into Palgrost?"
"Are you suggesting we abandon our ally?" Horatio asked back.
"No… But, are we truly allies? I mean, it's not just for show?"
"I don't do thing for a show, Caleb," Horatio said. "The Themisphere king had proven to be someone dependable. He managed to defeat my father. That deserves respect."
"Yeah, I admit I didn't expect that," Darius said. "The preparation I've made to deal with the late emperor after he was weakened by the Themisphere king was wasted."
"As long as we get the result, it doesn't matter," Horatio said.
"… I heard that Themisphere king was a righteous man," Caleb said. "What if he learned the truth about Rain and Lili? That it is you who assassinated them and placed the blame on Marcus?"
"Desperate time requires desperate measures. If Rain and Lili are still alive, I will have to fight them for the throne. This means I can't ally and send troops to support the Themisphere army as quickly as I can now. At that time, perhaps King Storm Wind would have no choice but to help me fight my two siblings. The result will be the same. This is simply faster.
"The Themisphere king is no fool. I'm sure in some way, he is aware. The world has its grey. It's not always black and white. I might be cruel and scheming, but I also value loyalty and friendship. That's why you two stick by my sides, don't you?
"As for Rain and Lili, they are not my true siblings. We are only related through Marcus' blood. We never care about each other. They would have done the same to me the first chance they got. The Themisphere King, however, was different. He values relationships. As long as we stay true to him, he will stay true to us. That's why I cannot betray the thing I have promised him."
"I see. You are always wiser than me. I follow your decision, Your Majesty," Caleb said with a bow.
"Go and make the arrangement to rally the army," Horatio said. "In the meantime, Darius and I will continue our discussion about whom to keep on my officer list."
After Caleb left, Horatio said to Darius, "Before we resume our discussion, I want you to send a transmission to your mother. She has the fastest brigade in our army. Have her take her brigade to go as our vanguard into Palgrost and aid the Themisphere king."
"I think she will need at least one day to organize, but all right, I will relay your command," Darius replied.
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