COUNCIL KEYS

Aina followed after him, and Savahn and Yuri kept up as well, leaving the pair of Zephyr and Silvanus lagging behind.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?" Silvanus snapped at his elder brother with a deep hiss. "What happened to a united front? Am I even your brother? What are you choosing outsiders over me for? I didn't even say anything that bad?"

Zephyr pinched his brows. "Nothing that bad? If someone had said that about you and your woman, what would you have done?"

"So what? Can't men fight?"

"You're so naive. Fight? Some people would prefer to kill over words."

"Who would do something that ridiculous?!"

"People who've gotten used to having to scratch and claw for everything, instead of being born a pompous little prince like a certain someone."

Zephyr gave his brother a pointed glare.

Silvanus snarled. "And so what if he had the intention to kill? Would it make much of a difference? Don't tell me you actually believe all those rumors."

"You think Demi-Gods make up lies just for the heck of it?" Zephyr raised an eyebrow.

"Even then, it was in a world they could only use Dream Force in, their talents were useless. You can't seriously believe that he's a threat in the outside world. He's only here because he has no other choice, and if he wants to survive, he's going to have to rely on one of our families to do so.

"Do you think they're going to allow his wife to just strut around by his side?"

Silvanus didn't even consider the idea that Aina wouldn't be accepting of it in the first place. In his mind, she didn't have much of a choice, so the one being rejected was Aina, not who they thought would be Leonel's soon-to-be wife.

Zephyr fell into silence. He knew his little brother well, the man definitely hadn't thought so far before he went out and ran his mouth. But even so, Zephyr had to admit that he had a point.

If those families found out Leonel had a Soul Bond, they would definitely react fiercely to it and Aina would definitely have to at least be out of the picture if not dead. At that point, maybe any seeds Silvanus laid now would bear fruit in the future when Aina went from a newly wed to a freshly minted divorcee.

Even so, the Soul Bond wasn't a one-sided affair. It was impossible to form unless both parties had a certain level of trust and affection for the other.

Even if Leonel was forced to give up Aina for his survival, that didn't mean that he'd allow another man to touch her. His brother was playing with fire.

"Making an enemy out of a Dream Force Sovereign might be the last thing you do in your life, Silvanus. Think with this," he poked his brother's forehead, "instead of that thing."

Silvanus jumped out of the way of a kick to the nuts.

"Hey!"

Zephyr laughed, beginning to walk away. © content.

"You're doing a lot of talking for a man pining after her sisters," Silvanus muttered.

Zephyr laughed. "Unlike Aina, Yuri and Savahn are single women."

Silvanus snarled again.

Of course, Zephyr had no idea that this wasn't true at all. Unfortunately, Raj didn't have nearly the strength necessary to fight for Yuri the same way Leonel could fight for Aina...

At least not for now.

Leonel's attention wasn't on the two brothers to his back. All things considered, they weren't terrible people, if his scale was this twisted world.

But that was to be expected. There was no way Miel would send his daughter and adoptive daughter to a place that wasn't mostly safe.

Either way, Leonel was more interested in those GONGs.

Soon, they have come to a public square, filled to the brim with all sorts of people and races. Some even sat atop of buildings, and it was quite clear that those people above had a level of status above those below.

Some who tried to casually stand on a building themselves found themselves kicked down.

Usually, Leonel would probably immediately start fighting for a spot himself, but he found that his temperament was much more mellow these days... not that his run-in with the lion Beast was any indication.

More than these people reclining and lounging atop of buildings, though, Leonel's gaze landed on ten figures who were all standing atop of ten pillars that took up the center of the public square.

In their hands, each held out a key as though they were unlocking an invisible lock. Their wrists twisted as Leonel's disdain deepened.

Ten portals opened up in front of them before rushing forward and fusing with one another. Then a huge almost water-like bubble took shape, opening up and expanding to reveal what looked like a senate house within.

"The council has been formed, the rules will now be decided upon. So long as you are within the bounds of this city, these rules must always be followed. The punishment for failing to meet this criteria will be banishment from participating in the Gathering of Kingdoms."

Shocked gasps spread through the crowd. There was no way a council of brats would have that much authority, right? Things definitely didn't work this way in previous years.

At worst, the council could enforce their rules with jail time, but even then a person would have to be released for the sake of participating in their matches.

Something like being able to banish people for not following the rules was like putting the life and death of countless worlds at the whims of a few. That was unacceptable.

Technically, there were no limits on what kind of rules the council could enforce so long as they were unanimously decided upon.

What if they decided that no men could be in the city and got rid of half of everyone immediately?!

And then the rules began.