Chapter 2525

2525 - Distinguished Number

"...May I have a word?"

"...?" Asterion paused the drawing of his weapon for a moment and turned toward Aro in surprise. "A Martial Emperor? Didn't you come as a servant?" Then he turned to his two guests. "Who is this?"

"..." Arkail kept his silence and closed his eyes, while remaining on high alert.

Meanwhile, Grafour placed his hands behind his back. "He is Aro, The Bull who once led the armies of the Grave Empire."

"And still do." Aro raised a finger. "...I still lead the armies of the Grave Empire and all the Sectors east of Middle Sector 99, and I am one of only three Marshals in the empire—a fourth has not been added to our number."

Then he cast a glance toward Grafour. "No one ranks above me except His Majesty Lord Robin himself." Then he showed a strange smile toward Asterion. "I trust Lord Asterion has heard my name once or twice before."

"Haha!" Asterion laughed loudly and swept his eyes toward Arkail and Grafour. "This is the army's driving force? Without him... this... you cannot advance?!"

Arkail knew what was coming, which was why he kept his eyes closed, while Grafour gritted his teeth hard and contented himself with casting an angry look toward Aro.

"Don't let appearances change the facts, Lord Asterion. Don't forget that His Majesty Lord Robin is nothing but a Martial Emperor too." Then he continued with the same small smile, "It's only a matter of time before the upgrade of the Nihari Galaxy. After that, what prevents me and all the old followers of His Majesty from gaining power will disappear... then I won't stand here as an equal in status only, but in power as well."

"...?" Asterion reached out and patted Aro on the head, "Alright, alright..."

Baf! Aro pushed Asterion's hand away from his head, "Please, stop mocking me. I'm the one standing between you and the loss of everything you've worked for your entire life. If you retreat a single step, these two will destroy every inch you built, and they'll be entitled to keep anything they find. It's a policy we've been following recently to accelerate the pace of conquest and exploration, which is why neither of them wants to talk much."

"...?" Asterion turned toward Arkail and Grafour, "Is this true?" Then he raised his voice, "You came with these slogans and advice, and in the end it turns out you're greedy?!"

"..."

"No problem..." Asterion turned back toward Aro with an angry expression, "And you're the one who came to talk and convince me? You didn't even bother to bring Glacion?!"

"..." Aro stared into Asterion's eyes.

Conflicting emotions were raging through his head at this moment...

First, the fact that he stood among three Behemoths and spoke with them in an audible voice, while he himself had not yet reached a thousand years of age—something he had never dreamed of when he was planning to kill the Orphan Blood Tribes and then hand over the leadership of the planet to his beloved after him.

And second, the fact that all three of them despised him and treated him like a child.

How was he supposed to lead the army and act as Marshal when his subordinates were this much stronger than him?!

Arkail and Grafour already hated this fact and wanted to break away from him, and if he had even a shred of reason he would step down from his position in favor of one of them... but he had no intention of surrendering so easily.

So, before Asterion's gaze dripping with contempt, Aro nodded, "Normally I would ask the Foreign Affairs Advisor, Lord Glacion, to be present and handle the matter this time... but you are a special case."

Then he continued, "What Lord Glacion does is not magic; he merely explains the situation in a simplified way and opens your eyes to the facts, then leaves you to decide your path through the maze after he has lit a torch of light for you... But you don't need that, for your maze was illuminated the day the Buffer Zones were broken, and the path before you is clear, yet you hesitate to walk it."

Then Aro pointed at him, "Because you are arrogant. Arrogance has blinded your heart and covered your insight. You know where the right is and where the path of salvation lies, but you refuse to walk it so that it will not be said that the Lord of the People, Asterion, who lived a long life and braved the depths of time with his chest, followed a young lad and began listening to his words."

"..." Asterion's expression darkened as he stared at Aro.

"I understand you well because I was like you." Aro pointed at himself, "Perhaps I did not live as you have lived, nor attain any of your glory, but at least I was a person of great standing among my people. Until the very last moment I did what befitted my station and waited for His Majesty to come and kill me, and I never knelt."

Then he continued, placing his hand on his chest, "But His Majesty, because he values my talents, gave me a way out, and allowed me to say that I relinquished my honorable death for the sake of my subjects and to grant them a better life, so I can now look them in the eyes again."

Then he stared into the eyes of the man standing before him, "Lord Asterion, His Majesty has ordered that all our resources, all new training methods, the products of the Sky Conqueror Cities, and his personal products be concentrated within his lands only, and no sale or leakage of anything else will be permitted. All his knowledge and power will be invested solely in refining and strengthening the inhabitants of his lands, without regard to anyone else, for these are the ones who will stand behind him as an army on the day danger comes."

Then he pointed at Asterion, "This is why we expand—not for resources and planets, but for population, to strengthen them, protect them, and give them a better life and greater opportunity. And currently, you are the one blocking your subjects from all of this. In the end, either you cause their deaths directly, or you restore the Middle Sector 90 alliance and try to defend, and then Lord Hedrick and Lady Renara will come to erase you again."

Then Aro sighed, "Your pride is respected, and your power is formidable, but in order to protect your subjects and the future of your children, you must take a step back and endure the tide of the usurping conquest..." Then he winked at him, "For their sake."