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Chapter 241 A cross-roads (2)

"I\'ll be waging war against the necromancer... and later, against the council. I\'ll take out anything else that poses a threat to the settlement you guys are going to build. And after that?... Maybe I\'ll come visit," he replied.

The others were stunned at this.

"Why?" Hannibal asked after some silence had passed.

"Because it\'s the most logical line of action. At the very least, it means that if I fail, you guys would\'ve made enough progress to protect yourselves," Lucius replied.

They would be able to develop without the hindrance of being involved in Lucius\'s ploys. And the chances of them losing a crucial member of their settlement would be greatly decreased.

To Lucius, this was the surest way to achieve his goal.

"I am sure Hannibal will be able to manage all that. However, I cannot leave the Lighted One to fight his battles alone any longer. We have been separated long enough," Pagan replied immediately, his expression having remained the same throughout the entire conversation. It seemed he had made up his mind on this before Lucius had even begun speaking.

"And I won\'t be of much use to this plan either. I\'ll go with you," Ghost added, nodding towards Pagan as she said so.

"I don\'t think this plan will work Lucius. Nobody\'s going to allow you to fight alone, at least not anyone from the commune. And if you say no, they\'ll just sneak off to your side anyway," Hannibal said finally.

"We made a promise when you invited us onto this council. And without you, there is no commune. In fact, the only reason we\'re still together is because Pagan wouldn\'t stop talking about how you were fighting on the outside," Artemis added, to which her men nodded their heads in agreement.

"I had visions about it," Pagan added hesitantly.

There was a fundamental flaw in Lucius\'s line of thinking.

Safety wasn\'t what the commune wanted

He had never once forced any of the leaflings to follow him. Of course, he had forced them to make oaths, pacts, and such. But those were empty words that could\'ve easily been broken once they had gained their powers.

No, everyone had followed him of their own free will.

If he left him to build this settlement he dreamed of without his presence, they would be reduced to the same life they\'d been living before he met them. Aimless existences.

Perhaps a little stronger than before, but nonetheless undirected.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Lucius asked after a moment of thought.

To which the council members slowly nodded their heads in agreement, as if extinguishing any doubts they had in their minds.

~Hmm... then it\'s settled,~ Lucius decided to himself. Accepting that his children would once again be risking their lives for him, while at the same time understanding that - if he planned things well enough- he could make their risks worthwhile.

"Then I\'ll give you a quick rundown of what\'s going on the outside, and what the plan is moving forward," he said finally, a look of relief appearing on the council members\' faces.

*

He briefly explained how he had woken up in the Chames\' den, how he had tried to get them to help him... and how he had failed. He told them about the civil war he was planning to orchestrate within their ranks, and how he would use them in the future.

He then told them about the Zeldraves, about what had happened to Alpha, and how they tried had heal him... to the best of their abilities.

The council members were happy to hear that Alpha had survived as well, but the loss of his limb and the information that he couldn\'t be healed properly came with much sadness.

Lucius also told them about the deals he had made with the golems and the magic weapons he had promised to make for them. And how the deadline was fast approaching.

"Magic weapons? I haven\'t thought about that," Hannibal said thoughtfully.

"I already have the basics down. All I need are the relevant runes, and manastones to power it. The materials I\'ll use for them aren\'t really a problem right now," Lucius replied.

"Runes?" Hannibal asked, prompting Lucius to gesture towards the markings around the gemstones that lit up the chamber.

"So they\'re called runes... Asclepius led a raid on one of the council structures not too long ago. She and the Furtong stole a few dozen chunks of earth with those runes, maybe one of them might help," Hannibal replied thoughtfully.

"I can search the other buildings for them if you want. The main settlement isn\'t too far from here," Ghost added, though Lucius shook his head at that offer.

"Too dangerous, not worth the risk. I\'ll check with Asclepius and see where I go from there, speaking of which... where is she?" Lucius asked, only now noticing her absence.

"She\'s cleaning out Eikthynir\'s den. Lately, she\'s been... a collector of sorts," Hannibal replied, with a sort of exhausted expression on his face.

Just then Lucius remembered the items he had asked the workers to bring and began scanning around the room for them.

However, they were nowhere to be seen.

"Did Asclepius\'s group bring back any from the mansion yet?" he asked.

Hannibal looked confused for a moment, before suddenly remembering, and gesturing for Lucius to follow him.

*

"How far do these tunnels go?" Lucius asked as Hannibal led the group down one of the many networks within this underground hideout.

"They connect the central area of the forest to just until Eikthyrnr\'s den. We\'d been planning to take him down for a while now, but he and Eiknyr coupled with the guards were going to be too much for us," Hannibal replied thoughtfully, walking right beside Lucius.

"At the very least we\'d lose a few good members," he continued.

Lucius pondered over this answer for a moment. It was a stark contrast to the type of tactician Hannibal had been when they had first met.

A welcome change.