"Alright you guys, listen up! I'll share the basic rule everyone needs to know."
I was now sitting on a table I had set up in the middle of this 8-meter square basement to have a meeting. The two days limit I set had ended, and all my members had gathered inside the base fully prepared.
Fortunately, there's no one other than Eliot who suffered the same fate as being hunted. They obeyed my words of not showing the crest to anyone and to cut off the ties to their family, work and school.
'Guess Ornil's words of possible death made them realize the severity of this war.'
Opening up the bible I had been carrying in my hand, I spoke, "Within the countless rules in the bible, there's nothing that explains the rule of War of Throne. But there's one verse that indicates how this war functions."
I stopped my fingers on one of the pages, showing my members the verse.
"Calin XVIII 12:14 All knowledges about the war shall be imparted to the leader. These 'knowledges' indeed filled my mind the moment my crest formed on my hand. It contains a list of rules that we have to obey. And what do you think these rules are for?"
Then I closed the bible with one hand – creating a dramatic effect as I sharpened my gaze.
"They are rules intended by Gods to kill your opponent."
The others fell silent at my words. Uncertainty, fear, doubt – each of them wore a different expression that reflected their inner thoughts.
"If you guys still think Uola is a revered God with a kind heart, I suggest you throw away your ideals now. All He wanted to achieve was to see us kill each other."
I said as I threw the bible in my hand – not minding the flabbergasted look of my members as I nonchalantly flung a precious religious item to a dusty corner.
Clapping my hand to gain their attention, I continued, "There's one term you guys need to ingrain inside your brain. Ex aequo et bono. The ruler will decide based on what they think is right and good. So I need you to believe me and my decisions no matter what it is."
"Isn't that tyranny…" Eliot muttered under his breath, which I immediately gave a side-eye, "Shut it Eliot, I haven't finished talking."
I crossed my legs, a slight annoyance rose as I formed my words with Uola in mind, "As you guys have already known, Uola doesn't value life as much as humans do. That's why death is described as a graceful act of leaving behind your ego and worldly attachments. The same applied to this war."
Raising my hand, I showed the crest to my members, "The authority granted to the King allows them to control their members to act based on what the King wants. This authority is a form of power to fulfill this ex aequo et bono rule. For example…"
I shifted my gaze to Samuel. The crest in my hand gave a soft white glow before the same happened to the crest in Samuel's hand.
[Raise your hand.]
"What- Huh?! My hand moved on its own!" His flustered scream shocked others too.
I exhaled as the glow on my crest receded. Samuel could freely move his hand again – surprise was still apparent on his face.
"As you can see, I have the authority to take control of your body. So if you ever disobey me, I have the power over you." rolling my eyes, I continued, "That being said, forcing other people to submit to me isn't in my nature, so I'll use this as a last resort."
'It also takes too much mental energy to use.'
Even using it one time on one person already made me sleepy, that's why I was reluctant to use this even in my past life.
"Basically once you've become one of the pawns, you're a slave to your King, is that right?" Baretta was the one who commented, crossing her arms across her chest as she frowned.
I nodded, "If you look at it from that perspective, then yes. You're all slaves to my will."
"Yolan…" Cassius called out my name which made me glance at him. Worry had filled his eyes, the same also happened to Azazel, who was sitting beside him.
I knew what I said might spark a problem, but I'd take that risk if that meant I could lay out the first foundation to gain their trust.
"I won't sugarcoat it. What Baretta said is true, that's how the gods designed this war to happen. That's the price you have to pay to obtain your wish."
Staring directly at each of my members, I continued.
"And I'll tell you before you ask. Even if you kill me, you won't get this King crest embedded on your hand, all you will get is the enemy's victory. Each crest can't overlap with the others. Unless you are killed by someone who has never received a crest before, the crest on your hand is yours until death."
Then smiling brightly, I asked, "Any questions?"
They gazed at my face in silence. For a few seconds, the room was still – each person was swirling in their own thoughts.
As there seemed to be a lot of doubts lingering on their minds, I tapped the table to gain their attention as I slowly opened my mouth again, "You can ask me anything. Your fear, your worry… As long as I can answer, I'll answer."
"After all, I want all of you to survive and having more knowledge about things could increase your chance of survival." I continued, the smile on my face never faded once.
Jessie was the first to raise her hand, "Then… What's the true purpose of this war? And how do we do it?"
"From the gods' perspective, it's an entertainment. From our perspective? It's a way to obtain desire. And desire is a wicked feeling that could control every human."
I continued, "It's a game that depends entirely on the King, so it could last between a day to years. If there's one of our members who can kill the opposite faction King right at this moment… Then we'll win. But if there's someone outside of the chosen pawns who killed one of the two Kings, the crest will move to them, continuing the cycle."
"It's not actually a war in the sense of territorial war where you aim weapons and defeat soldiers. It's a psychological game where you have to doubt everyone around you and keep your identity hidden to survive."
I ended my explanation, "In short, a hide and seek."
Then I raised the question, "The problem would be : Will we be the ones who hide or we will be the 'it' and seek our opponent? This is what we should plan on from now."
"So what's your plan?" Ornil asked. I stood up and pulled out a map from my pocket – laying it out for my members to see.
"The sewer?"
I nodded, "Have you seen the names written on the golden board in the sky? There are 2 famous people who got chosen as white faction's members. Keith Zylvar and Rachel Harper, these two are important economic figure that run the world in their palm."
"And their connection to this sewer is?" Ornil asked again when I stopped explaining.
Rubbing my chin I continued, "It's a sewer located near Rachel's main office building, we're going to plant bombs in it."
Gasps of fear and surprise immediately erupted in the room.
"Are you crazy?! Are you going to kill innocent people off?!"
I stared at my team members with icy cold gaze, other than Cassius, all my members here didn't know how brutal War of Throne was, so I couldn't blame them.
Sighing, I opened my mouth, "How do you think we can lure out the enemy then? We have to find every crack in their defense so we can aim for their King. Do you think a mere vandalism or childish threat would work on these people?"
Unlike my team members who were unknown people living their daily life peacefully, people at the top had a higher mental fortitude that couldn't be shaken easily by mere threats.
Being cursed at was already part of their daily life, so if they weren't threatened by something that could shake the foundation of their business, there's no way they would move.
'Though, there's another reason I choose to target them instead of Haide himself.'
I was a selfish bastard, I would rather sacrifice others rather than my loved ones. I wouldn't care if any of these people died, as long as my members, my friends and Haide stayed alive, I would do anything even if it meant sacrificing innocent people.
I closed my eyes as I exhaled, slowly opening them again and meeting my members' furious gazes.
Narrowing my eyes I said, "Throw away any righteous beliefs you have in your mind. People will inevitably die in this war, there's no need for you to feel sorry or be responsible for their lives."
Clenching my fist, I shut my mouth as the end of my words trembled.
"I'll bear the sin alone."