“Wh-why?!” Regina’s eyes widened, hearing Ryuk’s words, not understanding how he could abandon these crew members before composing herself, “Forgive me, Liege, but I hope you reconsider.”
“Regina, having so many people will only cause havoc. I find it a bit of a problem.” The problem was not that there were so many people here, but their strength was far superior to his. Defeating them was not impossible, but still, he could trust Regina, but not these people.
“My Liege, I suggest letting them accompany us. I definitely don’t doubt your strength, but if you ever collide with any Flagbearer, then their army will also engage with you. It will only be a hassle for you,” Regina informed about the most common strategy applied by branch families when they encountered any Flagbearer.
Technically, until any guardian notices them with their eyes, which is impossible since none of them ever left Ardoros to begin with, Branch Families could suppress a Flagbearer with overwhelming force and use their own other Race’s slaves to finally put an end.
And the Insignia gets transferred to the nearest Flagbearer in its range.
Since no Flagbearer can directly kill each other, the transfer of the kill occurs while considering the nearest Flagbearer, which could obviously be the one who put an end to its previous owner’s life.
But it was practiced by very few Branch families to directly engage with a Flagbearer due to fear of being caught by Guardians, which may be impossible yet remaining cautious of their actions; every family avoided it.
‘….’ Ryuk observed all of them; they were behemoths on their own.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to let them accompany him just to avoid confusion from the other party, but the issue was these individuals themselves.
Regina could be trusted since she formed a knighthood Oath with him, but these people who can’t be controlled were the problem.
Their presence will be assurance, but their loyalty was a variable to him.
But seeing Regina’s bow with all of the knelt figures, there was only one thing he could do. “Fine, you all may go with me.”
“THANK YOU, LIEGE!”
188 individual voices resonated throughout the place, firmly kneeling on the ground while compressing all of their auras in submission. Yet, the mere voice of theirs caused a ripple to form in the air, visible enough.
In front of him was a whole Legion, stronger than himself in stats, much experienced, and true veterans.
But was this enough to let them follow him?
“But how can I trust all of you?” Ryuk firmly stated, not caring about some emotional feelings, since all of them were experienced enough to guess this much.
“My Liege, I can guarantee them,” Regina came forth, her eyes meeting Ryuk’s, showing her determination and resolve. For her words, proof of her trust in her members.
“I didn’t ask you, Regina.” With a cold gaze, Ryuk firmly stated.
‘!?’
“I-i apologize, My Liege.” Regina’s widened eyes made her retreat, standing beside while other members too noticed it but still kept their gaze downward.
“I repeat myself once again.” Standing with eyes completely cold, with pressure surrounding his body increasing rapidly, Ryuk stated, “How can I trust any one of you?”
“I can sign a Slave contract,” one of the knelt figures firmly stated, without a hint of hesitation, prepared to lower himself.
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
It felt confusing how such strong powerhouses were showing their dedication to serve a newly arrived person.
‘!?’
“Stop it, all of you. What is the meaning of this?” Regina interrupted, seeing her own comrades lowering themselves to this level because of her own oath.
They all wanted to work under her, they all rose to their ranks after so many years of struggle, sharing life and death experiences, becoming habitual of each other’s presence as comrades in arms, and finally accepted Regina as their leader.
But due to the tradition of Sword Valley, she wanted to serve someone deserving. After all, it had been thousands of years since anyone from Sword Valley accepted someone as their liege.
They didn’t choose someone who could easily overpower them, nor someone who had enormous potential to become the strongest in the world.
It was based on instincts.
Simple yet impossible at the same time. Simple since it didn’t have some complex steps to qualify it, impossible since never once their instincts accepted anyone as their master.
Regina too had just assumed to never encounter someone deserving, but somewhat her instincts rang that day and the rest is history.
Indeed, she chose because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Of course, she had even done all background research about the person she needed to choose and after all that, she accepted him as her liege.
But these people.
They were not bonded by her to decrease their status to mere slaves.
Even for her, those words from Drishti about this whole Soul offering tradition being pathetic, was absolutely true. Regina, with her own hands, had sealed her faith with someone unknown.
Data can be manipulated, which she knew from her experience. So she assumed that there was nothing she knew about Ryuk Devereaux.
“Fine then,” Ryuk replied to their words, no hesitation in his tone.
He respected their dedication to even consider accepting becoming a slave, knowing it would be a humiliation for such individuals.
But in matters of emotions, he couldn’t make decisions that would be regretful in the future.
Thud
“L-liege, please reconsider. They are just following me,” Regina knelt down, requesting him not to accept such an offer that would cause humiliation for one of the strongest divisions of the Devereaux Army.
Yes, this number represented one-fifth of the whole Devereaux strength.
Having them was akin to an army that could stand against any major families on Ardoros.
If counted on fingers, then there were only a thousand individuals in the Devereaux Army with ranks higher than EPIC, excluding the mysterious and little-known Guardians.
“Don’t speak, Regina. It’s an order,” Ryuk could clearly see the bond they all shared as a team, which was very rare to see.
Until now, even in his previous life, only Reinguards had such connections among themselves.
“I apologize,” Regina finally accepted her fate with guilt, knowing she would bring down all these individuals with her into this hell.
It would be a guilt that would remain even if they won the whole world. Due to her choices, 188 individuals would become slaves today.
“Make a line and come one by one,” Ryuk ordered the men, who seemed unfazed even after openly expressing their desire to become slaves.
Has their value degraded in his eyes?
If they were truly that powerful, why submit to anyone else and be mere slaves?
No, instead it increased to the level where he was sure to rely on them, they followed a single individual named Regina Devereaux, She Choosed him and they also followed her— proof of their loyalty.
But precautions were slightly necessary, while still highly respecting them rather than treating them as fools who bowed their heads by entangling in emotions.
“Huh?” Lifting their gazes, each of their eyes fixed on the young man standing, wearing a black suit with grey embroidery. Eyes of deep amber looked back at them. Pointing towards themselves, they asked in unison, “Do we stand in line?”
