CHAPTER 2347:  EXPLOSIVE START

Soon enough, the next day arrived, and the joint meeting followed suit, arriving with it. The meeting that would decide whether the Shionel Confederation was ally or enemy to the Kandrian Empire was to commence.

Rui narrowed his eyes as he walked towards the conference room prepared for the joint meeting.

The air was electric.

It tingled.

He felt a burden weighing down on his shoulders.

He had reached a nexus point from which two broad possible sets of futures branched off. One where the Kandrian Empire gained a new ally, securing the power needed to deny the enemy alliance of the strength it needed to destroy the empire with dominance.

And the other was where the Kandrian Empire gained a new enemy.

One that would serve as the trigger sending  dominoes falling until they led to the destruction of the Kandrian Empire.

Rui tugged at it, trying to pull it in the direction of the former, but on the other side was a powerful foe that tugged just as hard.

STEP

He arrived at the door guarded by Masters on either side, pausing as his gaze swept across the conference room. It just so happened to land on the figure seated at the ostentatious table in the center of the room.

There he was, protected by the three Sage knights standing behind him. The Britannian Prime Minister regarded Rui with a smile, gesturing to the opposite side of the table.

An invitation.

One that Rui intended to oblige from the very start.

"You don't look very well, Prime Minister Edward," Rui remarked with a sharp tone as he sat opposite the man. "You should take care of your health."

His gaze intensified. "We wouldn't want anything happening to the leader of our enemies now, would we?"

A thinly-veiled threat.

Yet, it merely earned a smirk of amusement. "If you care so much about my health, then send the Divine Doctor to the Britannian Empire."

"Tempting, but I'll pass." Rui shrugged. "Your father wouldn't," Prime Minister Edward snapped back. "He understands, you see. In fact…"

His smile grew deeper.

"He probably explicitly instructed you not to kill me, didn't he?"

Rui narrowed his eyes. "…An enemy wanting to keep you alive isn't something to brag about. Only idiots and traitors experience that treatment."

Yet, the prime minister chuckled at his words as he directed a knowing look at him. "There is more to the art of provocation than merely witty snapbacks, young Master."

Rui tutted inwardly as his attempts to rile up his opponent fell flat. Yet, the prime minister chuckled at his words as he directed a knowing look at him. "There is more to the art of provocation than merely witty snapbacks, young Master."

Rui tutted inwardly as his attempts to rile up his opponent fell flat. He wasn't surprised.

The man was far too experienced and proficient at diplomacy to be thrown off his tracks with such ease.

However, Rui was certain that he was unwell, despite the prime minister's attempt to hide it. He wasn't sure what was afflicting him given that the Britannian Empire, with all its resources, could not cure or alleviate, yet it was clearly something.

"Ambassadors," Guildmaster Bradt's voice drew their attention as he walked into the room, followed by Sage Sariawar. He took a seat at the head of the table. "You have my apologies for the delay. Without further ado, let us begin."

He cleared his throat. "I have given the positions and proposals from both sides an ample amount of thought and am confident that I will be able to come to a final decision by the end of the meeting. Let us commence the final round of negotiations. The Kandrian Empire was the first approach to me since the inception of the war for allies. Thus, I shall give them the first word, while the last word will go to Prime Minister Edward."

Rui's gaze shifted from the guildmaster, meeting the intense eyes of the prime minister.

It was time. "On one hand, you have an alliance whose only strategy is relying on the innate fear of death to intimidate our allies," he began with a calm tone. "On the other, you have an empire that has successfully protected every single ally in all of East Panama from the shallow tactics of the alliance. An empire with a perfect track record of absolute credibility and trust lasting three centuries. We promise prosperity and power to the Shionel Confederation, and we will deliver. The alliance has promised death and destruction to all Kandrian allies, and they have yet to deliver any results. The contrast could not be any sharper."

His opening statement was brief and focused. He didn't care to focus on the details.

Instead, he zoomed out, focusing on the big picture.

Yet, his words merely earned a smile from his opponent.

"Well, I'd hate to correct you, but technically, we did not promise death and destruction." He chuckled. "We only promised war. Because war was enough of a disincentive. However…"

His gaze fixed on the guildmaster. "…The reason that I have personally come all the way to the Shionel Confederation is not to promise war, but to promise death and destruction. We will not merely wage war against the Shionel Confederation. No…"

His tone grew malevolent as his bloodlusted vision turned to the guildmaster. "We will annihilate you, your company, and your country. We will annihilate everything you have ever built in your entire life. It will be catastrophe, not conflict, that you will experience. We do not need to win a war in order to destroy everything. Human civilization and the socioeconomic human constructs are fragile. Very fragile. You, of all people, know this."

Rui's eyes widened with shock as the prime minister abandoned all civility and openly threatened to destroy the Shionel Confederation to the guildmaster's face!

The guildmaster's eyes grew grave and severe.

"Bradt, do you really think that the combined bloodlust of three Sage-level powerhouses is something that the Kandrian Empire can protect you from?" Prime Minister Edward nonchalantly asked him. "Do you really think that bribing and external deterrents will cripple the Republic of Gorteau and the Sekigahara Confederate forever? Do you really think that a business centered around connectivity can survive when an entire section of human civilization seeks to destroy it? Do you really think…"

He turned to face Rui with a calm smile, "…this kid can protect you from our wrath?"

He leaned back with a confident demeanor as he completed his opening statement, waiting for Rui's rebuttal.

The joint negotiations were off to an explosive start.

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