Chapter 9: Breakdown
VAGIA made a bold declaration. Takuto could take it as a proclamation of war. In fact, his opponent now had the absolute advantage. Takuto always kept this outcome as a possibility in the back of his mind, but he was still a tad surprised the worst-case scenario had unfolded so soon.
If we’re talking in Eternal Nations’ terms, then they are on course for an Alliance Domination Victory. I should have just ignored this stupid conference… No, even if I hadn’t participated, this alliance would’ve formed. It’s better to have found out sooner rather than later, so I guess that’s the silver lining here?
“Wh-What do we do, King Takuto?! They’re blabbing about some sort of Lawful Continent Alliance thingy! I-I never expected that!”
“You shouldn’t speak when you are confused. Keep quiet for now.”
“R-Righto!”
Yu had lost his composure alongside Ai. Apparently, he was taken by complete surprise by this outcome too.
Takuto ignored him. He had more pressing matters to attend to first. With this situation, this declaration, conflict was unavoidable. So, he should either bring back whatever information he could or inflict some damage on his opponents first. He wanted a souvenir for having come this far and wasting his time. Even in this tense situation, Takuto did not lose his composure.
“Going straight to forming the Lawful Continent Alliance? Really? A drastic move. I can see why they would feel daunted with the power difference, but I’m still surprised you were able to form an alliance with Qualia too.”
“Even enemies can be united in a tight embrace with the right threat, woof♡. It wouldn’t have been this easy if a certain moody somebody hadn’t put his grubby hands on the Divine Nation of Lenea’s lands.”
“I see. Perhaps my greed misfired on me. Nevertheless, considering your nature as a Succubus, you will eventually infest and devour everything. I have to wonder if everyone from Qualia and the absent Mr. H agree to your real terms? What say you? Isn’t it foolish to take what they say about world peace at face value? Succubi are cunning predators.”
“Trying to drive a wedge between us is a fool’s errand, hun♡. We are as strongly bound as a man and woman on their wedding night, ehe. In other words, we have built this alliance by allowing a certain degree of compromise♡.”
Cunning, indeed…
Takuto’s plan to sow distrust ultimately failed. Of course, he never expected it to succeed in the first place. A person’s attitude and demeanor are another source of information. He was simply trying to see how she reacted to uncover what else she was hiding. Unfortunately, the only thing he learned was that this strategy had been meticulously prepared over a long period, bringing his worst premonition to life.
“Our relationship is built on more than a one-night stand, darling♡. It’s upsetting that you think you can weasel your way in to exploit our avarice. This isn’t NTR time.”
It hasn’t been long since the Succubus Army came to this world. At the very least, they have only recently started to take action. And yet, in that time, she was able to form such a rock-solid alliance? The same goes for her tactic to assimilate the Elven empire…her moves are too perfect and seamless.
Doubts flooded Takuto. But he wouldn’t be able to resolve them here. He still didn’t fully understand the game system she had at her disposal. It was possible she used some kind of skill to form this alliance, or even put her Charm skills to use to pull it off.
Takuto slightly nodded and then jerked his chin up, urging her to go on. Indicating she should go ahead and say whatever else she wanted to say.
“Qualia approves of this alliance,” the Qualian Pope said.
“I approve, too,” Mr. H chimed in.
Oh? Not a peep from Kuhara… So he’s been left out of the loop, too. Did she approach him first, and he declined? Or was he excluded from the beginning? Takuto didn’t know the answer, but it was a piece of information that provided some relief.
It would be horrible if this souped-up alliance counted even the TRPG Player among its members. Takuto loved games with difficult enemies and challenging goals, but he was absolutely not a fan of embarrassingly crappy games.
“I dare say you have pulled off an awe-inspiring feat here. You’ve brilliantly brought together people with incompatible alignments, and created a large force that includes Players, Witches, and Saints. Your ingenuity is worthy of praise. And so? I can pretty much guess what you will say next, but please, go right ahead and humor me.”
Takuto assumed an insolent attitude and roleplayed as the King of Ruin, but in his mind, he was already thinking, Whatever happens, happens. He was already working on how to make his escape, after all. Several options were available to him, and he was even prepared to toss one of his cards if his hand was forced. Vittorio could die, but his future plans required the Botchling, Hero duo, and Phon’kaven’s people to escape with him…
Let’s see, should I let Vittorio loose to start a commotion? Or is it better to have Yu cast one of his Haste spells from Brave Questers? No, it might go faster if he uses an AOE teleportation spell that will apply to the Phon’kaven envoy as well… Taking advantage of the fact that his opponents were intimidated by his roleplay as the King of Ruin, Takuto formed his strategy at lightning speed.
It was an intractable situation, but he anticipated things would turn out this way. I can still salvage this. So determined Eternal Nations’ top player on the world leaderboards.
“As you can see, the time to settle matters with combat is well and truly over, ehe♡. Not even you can make a move here, even if you are Mynoghra’s king and the Takuto Ira capable of maneuvering the armies of evil at will. Take a deep breath, I promise we aren’t going to suck you dry…much. We simply want you to accept the peace we desire, darling♡.”
You are going to suck us dry, you harpy. Takuto barely stopped himself from saying that aloud. Yu was on the verge of uttering something dumb beside him too, but Ai covered his mouth with her hands. Takuto thought they were getting close to the edge of making a scene, but he was grateful they didn’t turn the moment into a joke, so he didn’t warn them off this time.
“How about it? It’s not like we are going to kill your people just because you surrender. All that’s going to happen is that lots of sexy Succubi are going to move into your territory and everybody will live happily ever after having nonstop sex, ahh♡,” Vagia moaned.
“I’m afraid it is not as simple as you make it sound… Both Yu Kamimiyadera and I have goals of our own. And while I haven’t heard about it from him directly to say with absolute certainty, I’m pretty sure the same goes for Kuhara. You expect us to abandon our goals and submit to you. It’s not like it’s a matter that can be settled by just us saying yes.”
“Are you worried about how your gods will react? You can relax on that front, then♡. My god, the God of Expansion, will settle the matter with them. The gods don’t care about the outcome. They aren’t so narrow-minded as to punish their game piece based on whether the result is good or bad. They are playing games on a completely different scale. You will surely breathe a sigh of relief when you discover your worries were unfounded, darlings♡.”
Liar.
No one in their right mind would believe those words from their enemy. Besides, Takuto had been penalized once before when he tried to seize the GM’s authority during his scuffle with the TRPG faction. He could already see just how many lies were laced into her words. It’s fine to tempt with sweet-sounding words, but this was becoming a sloppy negotiation.
“Nobody has to suffer, hun♡. Forget about the difficult stuff and give in to the comfort.” Pushing up her ample breasts with her crossed arms, Vagia called for Takuto and the others to surrender to her.
The fact she seemed to be focused solely on Takuto despite there being other undecided factions was a sign of how much she viewed him as a threat. Takuto could even see the impatience and nervousness straining her otherwise lascivious and playful expression.
Is this conference a big gamble for her? I’m honored that she still views me as such a significant threat, despite the power imbalance with her alliance. So, what does she know that I don’t?
Vagia was acting as if Takuto was already the reigning ruler of the Dark Continent. In terms of war potential, Mynoghra definitely sat at the top of the Dark Continent. But even if she wanted to ignore the non-Player affiliated neutral nations, she still had RPG Hero Yu and the TRPG GM Kuhara to contend with. One was there in person, and the other god knows where. Yet her attention never strayed from Takuto.
Discomfort settled over Takuto like a lump in his throat. He had experienced some of the worst crises in his life because he had ignored his instincts. He would not make the same mistake again. Takuto carefully ingrained the discomfort he gained from this conference into his mind.
“With that said, this is my last warning to everyone here—or well, I’m already allied with everyone on the Lawful Continent, so this warning only applies to you Dark Continent kitties♡. Join our alliance. You can’t possibly overturn the difference in power between us, ehe.”
A final declaration.
An explicit declaration of war. An absolute demand that asks for nothing less than a yes. The moment they rejected this invitation, a new battle would begin.
And yet…
Welp, guess I’ll just run away.
Takuto didn’t hesitate.