Bond and trust were one of the most important factors to succeed in a war.
The first rule of War of Throne : ex aequo et bono, highlighted the importance of trust from a subordinate to their King – where every member had to believe that the decision their King made was the best decision for them all.
And to achieve that kind of trust, a psychological war between members and their leader was a process a King had to go through.
Counting the age and mental development of my members was one of it.
I pondered as I looked at my members. We were now sitting down on the field, forming a circle as we sat facing each other.
A total of 8 people, each bearing irreplaceable roles.
'3 of the core members are still students so they might not be able to grasp the concept of death well.'
"How far do you know about War of Throne, Mr. Ornil?" I asked starting from the oldest person in our group.
Ornil adjusted his glasses, "All right, listen up, you punks! I'll explain things so listen attentively. This war is about defeating the opposite faction and being granted a wish by God Uola. Any wish from wealth, health or fame could be obtained."
He then shifted his gaze to me, "The catch is, that wish could only be granted through one person, the King."
"Huh?" One of the high school students, Eliot, muttered in confusion. Realizing that Eliot hadn't fully grasped his words, Ornil pointed at me.
"That means this guy would be the representative of our group to ask God Uola to grant our wish on our behalf."
He rolled his eyes at me, "So the promised wish will be granted to us based on what this guy wished for."
"So if he asked for money, we will be granted money even though that's not what we wished for and we don't want it?"
Samuel, another one of the three students, chimed in. He was older than the other two students as he was a college student, but just like the others, he didn't know the details of War of Throne.
"That's right." Ornil shot a fierce look at me, "That's why I don't trust him, especially since he's an omega, I don't want history to repeat itself."
I just smiled at Ornil's words.
There was a time in history when a male omega became a King – just like I did.
The problem was, society was harsh to omegas, especially the male ones back then, so when the faction led by that omega won, that omega King betrayed their group member's wish and asked Uola to change his secondary gender instead, which turned his other members' secondary genders too.
He must be referring to that centuries-old history. Even though gender discrimination was now less problematic than back then, it's still as bad as one could think of. So me, being a male omega, add one more probability for a chance of betrayal.
Loosening the tie on my neck, I smiled, "Don't worry, I'm selfish but not that selfish that I switch our agreed-upon wish to fulfill my own."
There were rules you had to follow for your wish to be granted : you can't make the same wish twice, you can't resurrect someone who's dead in the same timeline, and you can't wish for War of Throne to be annihilated.
Even though Uola promised he could grant any wishes, these three were the exception. These wishes carried a price too heavy for humans to bear. Who knows what retribution would befall you if you still proceed with these wishes?
So it was better for me to just stick to what our group wished for and kept our relationship as it was.
"We're really going to die?" Jessi muttered with a blank look on her face. That expression made the other two students worried too, they lowered their heads and avoided direct eye contact.
This situation clearly wasn't heading in a great direction, so I decided to take control.
"You guys might not believe me now, but as your King, I swear on my name that I will protect my members."
I raised my head high, it wasn't a show of my arrogance, but it was a show of how confident I was.
"I won't let any of you die."
Each of my members gave out different expressions. Some were still skeptical, some looked sad, some looked hopeful.
As dreading silence slowly engulfed us, I continued as I put on my brightest smile, "I don't promise you won't get any injuries though. So be ready for broken bones and large wounds that can make you wish you were dead instead. But hey, as long as we are still breathing, right?"
"What a psycho."
Ornil scowled at me with scorn in his eyes. But what I said was true wasn't it? I had no intention to lie to my members because that's precisely what I would choose – losing a limb or two rather than death. And knowing how dangerous War of Throne could be, you had to prepare for the worst.
"Enough with the introduction, we should start with our plan shouldn't we?" Baretta, the woman with exotic sunglasses, suggested, to which I nodded.
Pulling out a stack of cards from my suit's pocket, I explained.
"Because this is our first meeting, I want you guys to know the location of our base first. I expect your arrival within two days, so prepare everything you need and be there by the end of Sunday or else I'll force summon you myself."
Rolling my eyes, I continued, "If you've arrived earlier for some reason… Well, don't worry, I have supplies stored inside the building, so use it well. We will discuss our plans once all of you have gathered."
My members took the cards I gave them and gave a subtle nod. It was now the start of our first official hunt.
"Um, excuse me, but how about our school? This… Thing… It will take a long time until it's done right? We can't exactly take days off for that long-"
"Drop out."
Eliot asked and I immediately cut him off with a cold tone.
"Drop out of your school. Don't tell anyone about your crest. Just quietly leave your house and don't attend school."
"Huh? But we still need a degree to work and such…"
"Once you survive the War of Throne, every university and workplace will shed blood just to get a speck of your attention." I interjected again, then locked my gaze with Eliot.
"War of Throne is considered a sacred religious ritual, placed above all else in this world. If you're dead, your name will be condemned in all history, but if you survive? You will be worshipped as Uola's greatest apostle, so you don't need to worry about trivial things like that."
After all, this world was a world ruled by gods.
Uola would announce our names to the world by the second midnight, and the status of our life or death would be displayed for the whole world to see. As long as both Kings were still alive, the status screen would adjust according to the current state of our party.
By then, the whole world would search for those people displayed on it. Both with good intentions and bad ones.
"After I send you back to your place, don't trust anyone, even your parents. There are a lot of people who will try to take that crest out of your hand and I certainly don't want my members to suddenly change." I said with a serious tone.
"You too, don't suddenly die and let the black faction win. You'd better protect yourself well." Baretta said.
I gave her a thumbs up, "Don't worry, my life is like that of a cockroach, I'm hard to kill."
Which made Baretta scoff at me, "Huh, do you seriously have time to joke right now?"
I just shrugged at her words, "At least I'm confident in my own skill."
Raising my hand again, the King's crest on my hand glowed white and light enveloped the body of my members. The only exception was Cassius, as I still needed him to discuss my plans.
"Well then, I'll see you guys within two days."
"Wait Yolan, I want to talk!"
Azazel grabbed the hem of my clothes which made me halt the reverse summoning. From the look on her eyes, she definitely had a lot of things to talk about.
"Alright."
I waved my hand as I nodded. So other than Azazel and Cassius, I sent the others back to their places.
With the building now empty, I turned my head to Azazel.
"You know a lot about War of Throne, don't you Yolan?" she gave me a look and I knew what that look meant – she was trying her best to dig every piece of information out of me.
"So are you. There's no need to hide the fact that every one of us has a deep desire to achieve something." I pulled out my cigarette. With the kids now gone, I could freely light up one and smoke.
Feeling the nicotine slowly spreading through my blood, I said, "Let's cut to the chase, what information do you want from me?"