"This is madness," Holden muttered, massaging his brow. "Ancient God? A group of religious zealots? A Wasteland on steroids in the middle of London? What's next? A bloody dragon?"

Leo blinked. "Huh. No, I haven't seen one of those yet. Makes me wonder though..."

"No, just no. Forget what I said," the chief of Eden shook his head. "Better tell me about that offer of yours. I can guess what you want, but let's hear it."

And so they did. Lily explained most of the stuff as she was the true representative of the Wildborn. Sometimes, though, Leo would elaborate on some stuff. After all, it was his plan to come here and try to combine the two groups.

By the end of their explanation, Holden had his eyes on the open window, his brow furrowed. "It's risky, very much so," he said. "I can see the advantage of working together, but what if this Payne and his people come here? We will get slaughtered, just like your group did."

Lily grimaced, but before she could say something, Leo cut it. "It won't happen. I won't allow it. I fought him once to a draw, and he had the advantage during that fight. This time, I will be ready."

"You can't make promises like that," Holden growled. "You said it yourself; those people are unhinged. What's stopping them from attacking us when you are away? Or just stalling you while they slaughter all of us who decided to follow the path of the Void?"

Hard to argue with that. Leo sighed, understanding well how the other man felt. They were trying to force him into a situation that put everyone in Eden at risk. It was obvious he wouldn't want to get involved.

However...

"You know this won't last, right?" He looked up at the chief, his eyes cold as steel. "Right now, you are living in a bubble, in a city without almost any danger. But what about a week from now? A month? Payne might still come to Wolford one day, and it will be too late for you to do anything about that. He will be even stronger while you continue to fall behind."

Holden narrowed his eyes, and he even felt Lily's stare on the back of his head. He ignored them and continued. "I understand that what we're asking for is dangerous, but isn't everything nowadays? Yes, you're right. I can't promise you that everything will go according to my plan. What I can promise, though, is that I will do everything I can to see it come to fruition."

"And," Lily quickly added, seeing Holden's resolve crumble. "Don't forget that as long as my brother here takes care of Payne, we should be able to hold off the others if we work hard enough. We're no pushovers, and within a day or two, we can get your people up to speed to at least have a fighting chance."

"Blood hell," the chief sighed. "You're not giving me much of a choice, do you?"

"I said my part," Leo stated. "If you tell us to walk away now, we will. You will never see us again."

"Is that right?" Holden raised a tired eyebrow, looking at the only woman in the room.

"It is. We're not here to take over but to make an alliance," Lily nodded, plunging the room into silence with her words.

For a minute, or maybe two, nobody spoke. It wasn't until Tony stood up and stopped before the window with his back turned to them that the silence was broken.

"I... I'll work with you," he announced after a bit of hesitation. "However, I have my own conditions. I appreciate your offer to help us with the Graveyard and this Void Gate, but I need more."

Yeah, we expected as much. He would have to be stupid not to want something else from us. Leo thought and gave his sister a nod.

"We're listening then," Lily smiled.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"First, the obvious thing. Leadership. If we are to combine or ally, it won't be under one person. A council of three to five people should do well enough," Holden stated. "I want Frank and I to be in it."

"That won't be a problem. On our side, it's only Malcolm and I. Unless you want in, Leo?"

"Hell no," he snorted. "I can help you all if you need me to, but managing people is not for me. I will leave that to you."

Lily nodded, turning back to Eden's chief. "So that's decided. What else?"

"For now? Only one more condition. I can't ensure my people's safety from Payne when they are out there, but I can while they are here," Holden said firmly. "There is an upgrade available to all Safe Zones that won't allow anyone not keyed in to pass through the barrier."

Leo perked up. This was precisely what he had encountered when he tried to sneak into the safe zone around Buckingham Palace. He had thought that it was something related to the light affinity, but it seemed he was wrong.

Good for us.

"How much?" He asked.

"Five thousand," both Lily and Tony said at the same time. His sister quickly elaborated. "After Payne destroyed their safe zone, Malcolm told me about this upgrade. He wanted to get it but never had enough Ether. We still don't."

"I do," Leo muttered with a grimace as he summoned his Ether count. Doing all those tasks paid off, I guess. Still five thousand? Shit.

Ether: 8815

"You do?" Lily's eyebrows jumped up. "How?!"

He shrugged. "I've been busy and don't have an entire group to sustain. The only things I use it for are mutations and Limit Break."

His sister crossed her arms, pretty much pouting. "Not fair."

"Life never is," he shot back.

"Right..." Holden muttered while looking between them. "Leo, are you really willing to give away so much Ether? We can cover a part of the price ourselves, but it won't be a lot."

Leo leaned back into his chair, mulling over the answer. Five thousand was a bunch, even for him. With this and the Cerevod for the Void Gate, he would be left with not even a thousand Ether remaining. It was still enough for Limit Break if needed, but not for much more.

He sighed. "Let's say I give you the Ether. Can this at least wait until we deal with the Graveyard? I'm pretty sure we will all get some nice rewards from that."

Holden nodded. "That's acceptable. I'm curious to see if your mad idea will work anyway."

"Great!" Leo clapped his hands. "We got a deal then." He frowned suddenly. "Now that I think of it, shouldn't you at least consult this alliance with Frank and the others?"

"No need for that when I know their answers already," Holden ran a hand through his hair. "Frank isn't happy with how slow we're progressing. He, Clara, and that group you directed to us are already hunting outside Wolford, hoping to find something stronger. He will be ecstatic to hear we're moving forward. I'm sure of it."

As expected of Frank. He chuckled, only to freeze when he realized what Tony said. "Wait. Group? Those guys from the ice Wasteland came here after all?"

The chief nodded. "Confused and a bit scared, but overall happy to find more survivors."

"Huh. Honestly, I expected them to just ignore me. It feels good to be proved wrong."

"We had to explain to them who you were. I hope you don't mind."

Leo shrugged. "Why would I? I'm just happy you got more people to help around here. They were quite strong back then."

Holden smiled with a faraway look. "They were, and they still are. Only Frank is the same level as them. Training others became much easier after their arrival. Although," he grimaced, "their leader wasn't the easiest person to deal with."

Now I'm curious. To me, they all looked like scared dogs. Not that I can blame them, considering the circumstances.

"Where are they?" Lily asked, returning to the conversation. "We will need at least twenty more people for the Graveyard. The faster we begin, the better."

Holden scratched his chin. "They went out at dawn toward the new Ameist nest. I can send someone to get them while we prepare everything here."

Lily nodded. "Please do that. We got a long day ahead of us."

----------------------------------------

"I don't know what's more impressive, mate," Frank clapped him on the back as they marched through the city. "That you came back with almost ten levels more than the last time I saw you. Or the fact that we are going to blow up the bloody Graveyard in a few minutes. Got any more surprises?"

Leo hummed as he glanced at the group of over twenty people behind them. All of them were dressed for war, even if he didn't expect anyone other than him, Lily, and a few others to fight. At best, they were here to throw Ether flares.

"I don't know, maybe?" He grinned like a beast, looking back at the Fallen Human next to him.

Frank narrowed his eyes. "I know that look, Hale. What is it?"

For a moment, his mind went back to the massive shadow feline hiding on the rooftops, and his grin widened. "You will find out soon enough."