A trade embargo strictly on the capital of a nation was unheard of. That's why nobody was prepared. Acelot was the center of commerce, not production. Like gluttons, they consumed everything and produced nothing. So when Gadreel's forces began obstructing trade routes, the city's economy came to a halt and as an effect so did a large part of the entire country's, as there was money coming out of the capital.

The trade embargo wasn't a simple thing. Far from it. Such a thing required enormous resources, and there was nothing apparent to gain from it. It was a lose-lose situation. Gadreel could feel the knives of his allies scratching at his back, but so could William, as he had allowed such a thing to happen. It wasn't long until the president became disillusioned with William as well and took an objective stance to settle the situation.

So in barely a month, another meeting was called out of necessity. One of unseen scale.

Gadreel walked into Acelot along with his allies, escorted by the evaporation squadron. His allies wore grim expressions as they looked around. Gadreel smiled softly.

Acelot was Mircrest's oldest city. A thing of beauty sculpted by pioneers. Even the old temples had been maintained for their simplicity and antique material. The common houses were also pleasant to look at, made of large rocks framed with wood and decorated with windows at the root of which grew flowers. However, the flowers were dead as were their keepers, starved to death on the streets.

Gadreel heard someone gag in the background and noted the smell. Not the most pleasant.

He didn't quicken his step, though. As he walked he kept looking around. The quality of the streets got better when they neared the center, and people avoided them more. The sky was dark and gray with just a hint of orange in the distance, but the time of light had already passed.

Once they got to Mircrests National Museum, they were taken in by a group of grim soldiers. They were the president's people.

Gadreel took his cloak off and threw it at one of them. The man simply let the cloak fall and acted like nothing had happened. His straight face provided some humor.

As they walked through the King's Court into the underground, Gadreel straightened his pure white suit and checked the buttons of his black dress shirt before fixing his crimson tie.

Then he walked into a room of chandeliers and hostility on the second lowest floor. At the table sat William in surprisingly black robes and obsidian jewelry. Next to him was the long-faced, stringy Mr. President as well as the plump Mr. Vice-president with his little spectacles.

Gadreel had maintained his signature stylish hair that met his eye level. With an untouched air and the addition of gold-diamond earrings dangling from his ears, he looked around with his unreadable silver eyes as well as an appropriately charming smile on his lips. "I have arrived."

He greeted William's soldiers and branch managers with a couple of nods in different directions before sitting at one end of the table. There were some faces he knew to be from the government. Some he didn't recognize at all. They were of no matter.

William sat in silence with dead-set eyes full of repressed spite and violence. He didn't look like he had slept in days. Just as planned. The threat of further betrayal as well as Sherridan had gotten to him. Still, Gadreel avoided his eyes, preferring to address others as his allies took their seats and gathered around the large table, his soldiers blocking the entrance.

"I must ask, Gadreel, what made you do this?" the president asked.

Gadreel looked straight at him with seriousness in his eyes. "What makes anyone do anything?"

"That is a question. An answer, please."

"It is an answer if you are capable of thought," Gadreel replied with uninterest. "Your thinking is not mine to do."

The president frowned at that and laid his hands on the table. This meeting was quite different from the last one. This time not only the most important people in Numen were present but also the heads of central government and plenty of military leaders, making it effectively Mircrest's most significant gathering in ages.

Nobody was happy. Hell, everybody was on guard like the room could explode into frightening violence any second. Given, it was for a very good reason. Many bloody battles had already been fought over the trade embargo and this was the night it would all be finished.

However, it was unlikely the conflict would be between both sides. No, the conflict would be very one-sided. Someone would be eaten alive.

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Many thought it would be Gadreel. They despised him. It was a common thought that Gadreel did not comprehend the weight of his actions. He understood full well. He just didn't care. No matter how many innocents starved to death and were dumped on the streets to not sully the air their children breathed, his heart was not moved.

"Gadreel," William growled almost inaudible from the other side, "do you know how much damage you've caused? For all of us."

"I do," Gadreel answered, not even a twitch in his expression.

"I see." William blinked, whatever hint of emotion disappearing. Then he raised his voice and spoke again. "We have come to the end. Either one of us dies here or we both die later. I wonder if you haven't realized that."

"I said I wanted an organization of my own. You don't need to die for that."

"It's too late for that. Tens of thousands are dead because of you."

Gadreel looked around then stood up and walked around his chair. "I lied. What I wanted was not my organization but your organization."

William recoiled. He knew of the possibility but did not yet see Gadreel's next move.

Then Gadreel addressed everybody. "As I see it, you all have two options. Side with me or side with William." William's eyes opened as he saw Gadreel's plan unfold. All this preparation for a few words that would put everything into perspective. "Now we all know William. He is cruel, unnecessarily so. It is why we all fear him. He likes that, but it is what makes him unreliable as a leader. He is petty. He will never forgive those who wrong him even at the cost of his country. My trade embargo is a demonstration of that. He does not negotiate. The Ruler of Mircrest as you know him puts his own needs above the collective."

William looked to be clenching his fists under the table and his eyes were growing red with ferocity, but he couldn't speak. Everybody in the room was curious about Gadreel's words. Obstructing his ability to speak would only enrich their flames of curiosity.

The president was the next to speak. "And are we supposed to think you are any different? You are the cause of larger catastrophes than William."

"I have caused incidents, yes, but the accumulated damage to Mircrest caused by his egoism is much greater in comparison. And I can assure you, it doesn't get worse than William." Gadreel put his hand on the table before sitting back down and crossing his legs. "Your main concern should be who will cause more damage is sided with. William will surely execute all who went against him, but you don't know what I will do? I bear no grudges against people who were against me when this began, so I will naturally welcome those who side with me now. To William, people who side with him will be former traitors, so I correct myself in that the only two real possibilities here are as follows." Gadreel raised one finger." You all side with me, things go back to normal as no one outside this room will know of the change in leadership, and everybody lives except for William that is." Then he raised another finger. "Or no sides change because nobody wants to join me and siding back with William means execution in any case. If that happens, this will become a bloodbath. And I'm sure nobody wants that. Especially you, my opponents." Gadreel flicked his wrist, and in the next moment, Sherridan stood by his side, her expression hidden behind that blank mask.

William's eyes were downcast and his allies looked rattled. They were turning. Gadreel's plan was working.

Then William raised his hand. "Everybody who sides with me will receive impunity. I give you my word."

The hall seemed to freeze. Gadreel felt tingling in his fingertips that spread into every part of his body. William didn't mean it. It was an obvious lie. But he could see the effect. People wanted to forget all this and go back to the way things were. So much so they would believe the words of William.

Gadreel's allies eyed him uncertainly. The silence spanned minutes until Gadreel laughed out loud. Everybody sat in uncertainty while he kept chuckling and guffawing uncontrollably.

Before long it drained out of him and he slammed his hands on the table. "You don't believe this, do you?! William does not spare people. Your two choices remain. Side with me or this will become a bloodbath." Nobody said anything and Gadreel's body shook, his eyes dilating. He turned to the president. "You think his word can be trusted?! On what basis?!" It was ridiculous. To have his logic be ruined by idiots.

"This is not a matter of trust in William but trust in both of you," the president answered with a stable voice. "We may not trust William, but nobody is ready to side with you simply because of that. You may have proved our leader's weakness, but you have yet to show any strength of your own. You have failed to provide us with an incentive to be led by you. Nobody will give you power. If you want it, you must take it."

Gadreel brought his shaking hands up to his temples. "Y— y— y— you're all moronic." He shook his head as his eyes grew hollow, whispering, "I can't believe it."

"I told you." Gadreel's gaze jumped to William who suddenly spoke. "They're tired of fighting our battles. You should have known that it's come to this." They both knew where this was heading.

That's why Gadreel lashed out, turning to his side. "Sherridan, kill him now!"

She stood still as a rock. Gadreel's eyes widened as he repested before grasping Sherridan's cloak only to have his hand swatted off.

"Fight your own battle." She glared at him with cold eyes. "I'm here to watch."

Gadreel fell back to his seat, his breath escaping him as he met William's eyes and saw his death await him.

"In all honesty, I never expected your betrayal for this very reason. I thought you'd see this coming, and you were never ready for this." William stood up and announced what everybody already knew. "Let us descend a floor. It is time to settle this. Me and you, Gadreel. A battle of leadership to the death."

***

The next thing Gadreel's numb mind became conscious of was the silencing of the crowd as he walked into the circular arena on the lowest floor of Numen's main branch. The combatants there had bled so much that the ground had become burgundy. Gadreel's blood would mix with that of the rest. Meaningless as all the others.

And as he faced William bare-chested and the difference in their physiques became apparent, everybody knew that they were watching an execution.

Like a lamb to slaughter.