Published at 15th of June 2024 8:23 am

Chapter 1716 Forced Change [2]

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

More than just a few spectacular events had taken place in the past month, but in the end, not much changed.

The chasm actually made it impossible for either side to raid the other's territory covertly, and though the inner cities had suffered through many battles, they had yet to fall.

On August's side, it was because of their planning. The three cities had become inaccessible unless one knew how to get past the mechanisms protecting them, so every time a force was sent to raid them, it fell under pressure.

This was the main strategy used outside of just slaughter to bring the armies of the other side from over seven hundred to just around fifty.

August still had two hundred people at his command, but in the current situation, the armies had faded into the background.

Wilhelm seemed to hate following the rules. Whenever possible, he stirred the pot and absolutely ruined the civilized warfare that was going on. He made it impossible for August and Eris to have the tactical showdown they were trying to have, and more importantly, he completely ruined the essence of the third stage.

There weren't any civilians left on his side of the arena. They weren't killed as collateral damage from battles, nor had they been slaughtered by August's troops as they marched.

Each and every one was murdered in a terrorist attack performed by none other than Wilhelm Liqua.

He just wanted to see chaos. For Wilhelm, the heir wars were just a game. He didn't care about who won, and he had no interest in winning, because, at the end of the day, the newly crowned Dragon Emperor would still be a pawn for the Holy Clans to control.

All of these geniuses were trying to win the competition so that their clan could hold more power over Arulion, but did they think that was actually possible?

As long as the Liqua Clan existed, anyone who tried to break the balance would die.

They did it to Qinglong, they did it to the Dragon Emperors who came after him, and they did it to Zenith.

Wilhelm was the most arrogant person August ever had the displeasure of meeting, but there was nothing he could directly do about it.

Not yet.

That man was from the clan that ruined his ancestor, but he was also technically a distant relative. The Liqua Clan stemmed from the blood lineage that August carried in his veins. Even if he had measures keeping the aura of that bloodline hidden, he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't be detected by someone who shared a portion of his lineage.

The audience's perception of the battle had changed since Raphael's elimination as well.

Rather than a competition between the kingdom's best geniuses, it had become a battle of good and evil.

August's side, filled with people who kept the common populace in mind and attacked in ways that didn't affect them, was the side of justice.

Meanwhile, everyone around Wilhelm had been sucked into his vile reputation. Whether they agreed with his actions or not, everyone on that side of the competition was now a villain in the eyes of the crowd.

Thus far, the main focus had been territory. Eris was the one who controlled the armies in most matters, so she and August properly underwent the challenge as they were meant to, fighting in the light and in the shadow to see which one was the better strategist.

Eventually, Wilhelm's schemes led the competition into nothing more than a combat test. Genius against genius, they were to fight until only one side still stood.

It was annoying, quite frankly.

Nobody wanted to see the stage be ruined by an unruly brat, but that brat had too much power. His influence had woven itself too deeply into the nature of the third stage, which left everyone else dancing in his palms.

'Eventually, I have to confront him.' August thought to himself.

That day had to come, but it was not now.

It was a miracle that Valerie and Faldren hadn't found a way to end their battle yet, but that truly was the case.

He had even been over there to see what they were up to, but it truly was a stalemate. Everything they threw out was properly countered. With the passing of time, they ended up learning from each other, which gave them even more ammunition to use.

Still, they had to be running out of comprehension. Their battle was already in its final stage.

Melania was currently with Juno and the rest, confronting Nathanial Aureat in their quest to siege the palace.

Wilhelm and Estavian were being cornered by Seryius, Cera, and

Bianca, while Iridia led the remaining troops to lay claim to the

three inner cities on the enemy side.

Everyone was busy except for him. Well, for now.

He was waiting for an opponent of his own. She was coming

over the horizon now as if they'd agreed upon a time and a

place.

'Well, that's because we did.'

The third stage was, for lack of better terms, going to shit

because of Wilhelm.

August and Eris secretly communicated just a few days prior

and came up with this.

The two of them would fight, settling the grudge they formed

in the first round. The goal was to settle everything before their

fight ended.

August sent his troops out without keeping anyone in reserve.

It was easy to find everyone else, but it took Eris' help to catch

Wilhelm.

Their unlikely alliance was the only thing keeping the third stage

from sinking entirely into chaos, but it was made only out of

necessity.

This stage needed to end so they could move back into a

proper competition again.

And, this stage needed to end so they could get Wilhelm out of

this competition.

At the heart of Eris' territory, there was a great battle taking

place. Several separate clashes in close vicinity were creating a

scene that all audiences would have loved to witness.

However, their focus remained on these two.

It was subtle, the rivalry they'd formed. At first, it was just Eris

chasing a pointless grudge against someone who beat her

honestly.

As the third stage went on and the two of them tried their best

to compete under Wilhelm's tyranny, it evolved into something

more.

Even August wanted to see who would win between them. He

had seen Eris' good qualities through her tactics which

remained honorable.

Unlike Wilhelm, she wasn't inherently a bad person. She just had

a bad personality.

Though, it wasn't like August was going to tell her that.

Eris arrived in her human form, which was surprising when

everyone else had switched to their true forms.

It was likely because August refused to transform.

He couldn't.

No matter how much Damien's artifacts helped him conceal

himself, they'd lose their entire purpose the moment he

transformed. It really didn't matter if his aura was hidden at

that point, because the sheer majesty of his appearance would

immediately give him away.

The current state of events was scary for August specifically. If

he was forced to take his true form, what would happen?

It was a question he considered many times, but this was the

moment for his hypotheticals to become reality.

Eris Noct, a woman who was far more powerful than him just a

few months ago. Facing her directly, August truly couldn't be

sure.

Either he would be able to end this fight without either of them

transforming…

…or he would be forced to reveal his greatest secret to the

world.

It was either one or the other.

There was no in-between.

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