Chapter 308
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 308
Chapter Title: I Have a Proposal
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As if it were no joke at all.
Watching Rose declare it with even her psionics flaring, Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
"You mean to say you'll cast the deciding vote?"
"No. If anything, I'd call it a safety line."
"If the Sword Duke is to judge our qualifications, you're offering to act as judge to ensure we don't harm each other."
"You can think of it that way."
Even in sports, casualties could occur.
How much more so in a contest over dragon psionics—there needed to be someone to mediate and monitor if things overheated.
Charlotte stared intently at Rose, who spoke so firmly, for a moment.
Then she finally nodded.
"Very well. You, Rose, have the qualifications for it."
If any other princess had said it, Charlotte would have scoffed.
Neutrality sounded good, but in reality, it was just another word for a bat that waits to see who wins before siding with the victor.
But Rose was different. She couldn't be dismissed so lightly.
She was the Azure Dragon Princess.
The conscience of the Seven Dragon Society—righteous and noble.
So Charlotte no longer tried to persuade or interrogate Rose.
Instead, she turned her gaze to the last princess.
"Then it's just you left, Maia."
"No need to rush me."
Unlike Charlotte, Ekaterina, or Hasneti, she didn't press Li Chingwei aggressively.
Nor did she watch cautiously like Ainsha or Rose, agonizing over her choice.
In a complete reversal of the detached, observer-like stance she'd maintained throughout the Seven Dragon Conference, Maia responded immediately.
And she stated coldly.
"I have no intention of ceding shares to you, Charlotte, Li Chingwei, or any other princess."
"You'll stay neutral like Rose?"
"No. Quite the opposite."
As if asking if she looked like a pushover.
With a cold sneer.
Maia declared her choice, one she'd already made the moment the Gold Dragon Clan learned of Rimon's dragon psionics.
"The Sword Duke will be mine."
"...!"
"So if you want the dragon psionics, you'd better give it your all."
"...?"
"Unlike you or Li Chingwei, Charlotte, I have no intention of sharing or yielding the Sword Duke to anyone."
"...?!"
Siding with no one.
Ignoring even cooperation.
Declaring she'd claim and monopolize Rimon with her own power alone.
As everyone fell silent, speechless at Maia's near-declaration of war against the entire Seven Dragon Society—
Li Chingwei muttered inwardly.
'As expected. That's your choice.'
It was predictable.
Maia, the most obsessive among them, wouldn't simply give up Rimon.
She hadn't expected such a blatant declaration of monopoly, but in a way, it made sense.
This was likely how she intended to prove her own qualifications.
As Li Chingwei gave a wry smile at the realization—
A leisurely voice echoed through the room.
"Looks like the lines have been drawn."
Ekaterina and Hasneti, who had pooled their shares around Charlotte to divide world hegemony.
Ainsha, who had pledged to cooperate with Li Chingwei for the bride's position.
Rose, who declared neutrality to protect the Seven Dragon Society, and Maia, who vowed to monopolize Rimon even if it meant making enemies of everyone else.
Rimon chuckled as he looked at them, each having made their decisions for their own reasons.
"What now? Looks like none of you can pay my price right this second."
Like a mischievous old man watching kids fight over cookies promised only to the winner.
As if anticipating the chaos they would unleash.
With a wicked smile.
Humanity's Last Sword Master—the self-admitted mad dog—spoke meaningfully.
"With that in mind, let me make a proposal."
"...The Demon got taken down?"
[That's right.]
"Hey, hold on. That comrade bragged about getting his hands on a Seven Arcs, didn't he? If he's dead, does that mean..."
[Yes. The Seven Arcs was taken back too.]
In a dimly lit secret chamber.
At the table with cards laid out before the empty seats of over half the twelve positions, the Liberation Brigade's No. 4, Labyrinth, fell silent mid-conversation.
His face twisted, and he bellowed.
"That stupid old bastard!"
BAM!
The table didn't just shatter under the high-level player's slam—it was punched clean through in the shape of a fist.
But Labyrinth didn't stop.
He stomped the floor to pieces, grinding his teeth.
"He should've at least handed the Seven Arcs to us before croaking!"
Harsh words for a dead comrade, but no specter stopped him.
They all felt the same way deep down.
Just as the eighth dragon psionic was an unbreakable obsession for the Seven Dragon Society.
The Seven Arcs was the very purpose of the Liberation Brigade's founding.
Losing the third one they'd finally obtained—without even using it properly—was an unforgivable blunder.
Especially since they'd also lost the Forest Guild and the Monster Lord in the process, both key assets for the future.
For Diego, dying might have been a mercy.
Had he returned alive, the other specters would have made his punishment far worse.
[Labyrinth, calm down.]
Perhaps out of responsibility as the meeting's host.
No. 2 specter, Mezion, spoke softly to rein him in.
"How am I supposed to calm down?!"
But Labyrinth's rage didn't subside.
He turned bloodshot eyes on Mezion and snarled.
"Don't you get it? If that old fool hadn't lost the Seven Arcs like an idiot, things would've been different!"
[...Yes. Many things would have changed.]
"Exactly! One more Seven Arcs, and we wouldn't have to hide like rats! No one could stop us!">
The other specters nodded in silent agreement.
Just as the Brigade was founded with two Seven Arcs.
The third would elevate them to an entirely new level of power.
Beyond mere criminal syndicate—straight to contenders for world hegemony.
[No, it's too early to assume that.]
Only one denied it.
Mezion alone.
Of course, one more Seven Arcs would leave few who could oppose them.
Even now, with roots in major guilds worldwide.
The specters alone could topple a small nation overnight—that was the Brigade's might.
The problem was the powers beyond guilds and nations.
[Anyone else, maybe. But the Seven Dragon Society wouldn't fall easily, even with a third Seven Arcs.]
"Don't make me laugh! You think we can't handle some outdated relics?"
Labyrinth bristled.
The Liberation Brigade was a player cabal.
For its pinnacle specters, being compared to an old-era force wielding mere psionics was an insult.
[It is so.]
"...!"
[Just look at how most of our comrades' deaths involve the Seven Dragon Society. We can't underestimate them.]
But Mezion dismissed the objection flatly.
The Seven Dragon Society was the world's largest conglomerate.
Its finances alone made it untouchable.
Plus thousands of elites rivaling high-level players.
Religious zeal minimized betrayal, and they controlled global crime syndicates.
The more you dug, the more baffling it was that they hadn't conquered the world already.
Dismissing them as failed relics had been a mistake.
[The biggest issue is what that calamity might do if we step forward.]
Fortunately, though.
Thorough investigations into the Seven Dragon Society.
And above all, the survival of Diego's constellation, 'Worm Calling Chaos,' revealed the source of their failure.
"...Rimon Asfelder? The one who killed Demon and stole the Seven Arcs?"
[Yes. Turns out the Heart of Darkness Violinist was that calamity.]
"That fucking old geezer...! Should've shat himself to death on a wall at his age, not meddle in our affairs again!"
Labyrinth gnashed his teeth.
The one who'd slain five specters.
Kept thwarting the Brigade.
And stolen two Seven Arcs—all the same man.
At this point, "calamity" didn't even cover it.
"That's what I've been saying! We should've taken him out ages ago!"
[As I said before, he's a calamity. Touch him rashly, and the Brigade's at risk.]
"So? We just let him keep screwing us?!"
[Don't worry. We already have a plan for him.]
"What plan?"
Finally calming a bit.
To Labyrinth, who had lowered his voice, Mezion murmured.
[Soon, turmoil will erupt in the Seven Dragon Society centered on Rimon Asfelder.]
"What? Why?"
[We don't know the reason. What's important is we can use this to pit the Society against Rimon Asfelder.]
"...Fishing in troubled waters?"
[Exactly.]
Whether the annoying Sword Duke.
Or the Seven Dragon Society controlling half the world.
Whoever won, the Brigade gained.
Especially if they could engineer mutual destruction—clearing all obstacles at once and reclaiming their two Seven Arcs.
Labyrinth eyed Mezion suspiciously as he declared it.
"Sounds good, but... is it really possible? The Society's screwed us and that old man over before."
[Of course. The Society and that calamity can't coexist from the start.]
Rimon and the Seven Dragon Society were blood enemies.
They only shared a front now due to changing times and the Brigade's involvement.
Remind them of old grudges, and they'd tear each other apart.
Mezion spoke with conviction.
[Above all, this comes from the Great Star's prophecy. It can't be wrong.]
"...Then I trust it."
Labyrinth grudgingly agreed.
The Star's Prophecy was absolute to the Brigade's specters, even if it had been off lately.
To Labyrinth and the others, Mezion cautioned.
[So for now, don't touch them at all. We can't draw more attention before their conflict erupts.]
"The Liberation Brigade...? Why suddenly ask about those pathetic scum?"
"They keep getting on my nerves. And from your Seven Dragon Society's perspective, they're pulling some pretty annoying stunts."
Attacking the Black Dragon Clan.
Orchestrating the London incident.
Supplying Ambrosia.
Reminding them of the Liberation Brigade's frictions and threats against the Society, Rimon spoke meaningfully.
"So how about the entire Seven Dragon Society puts a bounty on the Liberation Brigade while we're at it?"
"You're saying to grant shares to whoever contributes to capturing them?"
"No need to grant— just give them a fair chance to buy stock at market price. And we even have an impartial judge."
Rimon grinned, pointing at Rose.
Charlotte mirrored his thick smile.
"You think we'll accept that?"
"Of course."
If it were purely a battle of money and power, they held the advantage.
Why risk such a gamble?
To her question, asked with genuine curiosity, Rimon answered immediately.
And chuckled.
"Otherwise, you'll never gather a majority stake."
With the seven clans divided.
No single princess could realistically collect over half of the Seven Dragon Group's shares.
Using force? Rose wouldn't stand for it, and it wouldn't impress Rimon.
So they'd have to take this bet to survive, right?
After teasing them.
He eyed the arrogant princesses.
The tyrants for whom war was routine.
The mad dictators.
One by one.
Rimon ended with a meaningful smile.
"Above all, you're not the type to dodge a challenge out of fear of losing."
......The transnational crime syndicate, Liberation Brigade, plotting dangerous schemes in the shadows.
In that instant, they became the target dummies for scoring the seven princesses' contest—and the shrimp whose back would be blasted in the dragons' fight.