บท 196: Negotiation

Leaving aside the ambitions of the new Eastern Roman Emperor and whether he can achieve them, the current focus remains on the West. A crisis that could potentially threaten the world has yet to be resolved.

With Crimson Moon as a backup, Gaia's mindset eased slightly, as if she had grasped a lifeline. She found some psychological comfort in it. When she continued her conversation with Artorius, her confidence grew significantly, and she even sounded somewhat smug.

She had once considered making Artorius her guardian, but after having someone as kind and gentle as Crimson Moon, the idea of him as a guardian seemed less appealing.

It wasn't that Artorius was necessarily bad, but he had hundreds of maids at his disposal, and it seemed like he had his eyes on numerous prominent women as well. Not only was he flirtatious, but he was also fickle with his feelings, especially when he borrowed power from her to fight against X and XX before; he never returned it.

Therefore, Crimson Moon was the main tire, while Artorius would be the spare tire.

"The power you borrowed from me earlier... I won't ask for it back, for now."

"That's good."

"This benefits both of us and also, after this battle is over, we—"

"Let's talk about it after it's all over." Artorius interrupted Gaia before she could make a flagrant statement. "We'll get in touch after this chaos is over."

"Okay."

Artorius quickly cut the communication with Gaia off, but she wasn't too upset.

The reason she wasn't too upset was that she had initiated contact with him dozens of times before, wanting him to return the power she lent him privately, but he had ignored her dozens of times in a row.

'At least this time, he's willing to talk to me.'

'Yes, it's a good start.'

'If this man is willing to work hard for me, then maybe it's not a bad idea to give him those powers.'

If Artorius knew what Gaia was thinking, he would surely mock her for daydreaming. After all, why should he return powers he obtained through his own abilities?

The communication time was just a moment. After the conversation with Gaia ended, X still hadn't made contact. It was unclear whether they hadn't found the Order of Avalon or the Dark Rounds, or if something else had gone wrong.

But at the same time, another terrible situation emerged.

The vampire army had crossed Eastern Europe and reached the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. Lancelot, stationed on the empire's border, urgently contacted Artorius, asking what to do.

The vampire's black and blood-red army did not directly attack the empire's border defense legions; they only stayed in an eerie silence.

They sent envoys, claiming they had received an 'invitation' and requested that the empire clear a path.

Lancelot breathed a sigh of relief. At least they didn't launch an immediate attack.

However, relief was followed by profound distress.

What should they do?

Fighting was not an option. Sending all the empire's border defense legions wouldn't work either. But letting them through and allowing them to enter the empire's territory without a fight? That was out of the question.

As they watched the advancing horde of vampires under the rolling crimson mist, even Lancelot's complexion had turned white. His tone changed as he contacted Artorius through communication crystal.

"Your Majesty, I believe the empire should gather all its forces at the border regions! We should construct a defensive line against the vampires, and if necessary, we can make some concessions to the Church and enlist their aid in this war. Relying solely on our strength to face the vampires is quite a stretch. Ah, and there's one more thing—"

"Make way for them..." Artorius interrupted Lancelot.

"We can—Wait, Your Majesty, did you just say 'make way'?"

"Yes..." Artorius replied calmly. "Regarding this matter, you can rest assured, Sir Lancelot, that although the empire and the vampires are enemies, at least this time, we will not wage war against them. We have a common enemy, and that enemy is extremely powerful. So, we must unite."

"Unite with the vampires? Forgive my impertinence, Your Majesty, but this is—" Lancelot began to complain.

"If the Earth ceases to exist, both humans and vampires will perish." Artorius's tone grew heavy, leaving Lancelot speechless. Though he was still not pleased with allying with the vampires, he had no choice but to defer to his emperor.

Unlike Lancelot, Artorius had a bit more trust in Crimson Moon. Besides the reasons he had shared with Lancelot, there was one more.

That was to maintain a favorable impression in front of Gaia. Crimson Moon needed to continue pretending, at least until she reached her ultimate goal—replacing Gaia and tearing apart the Earth's surface. But before achieving that goal, she needed to play her part.

A minor indulgence to the vampires was acceptable, but large-scale destruction was not an option. It would disrupt the proper human history and trigger another Counter Force—Alaya, to attack relentlessly and plunge the world into chaos.

It would also raise Gaia's suspicions. Although she had attempted to uproot humanity before, her stance had always been uncertain.

Gaia lacked the determination to annihilate humanity, at least until the cataclysmic end like in the Land of Steel's timeline.

'And besides... Crimson Moon probably thinks she's doing a fine job so far. No one knows of her true aims, so she's likely to continue playing this 'acting' game.' Artorius thought in his mind.

"Let's negotiate with them a bit..." Artorius ordered Lancelot calmly. "Tell them that a significant crisis that could endanger the Earth is unfolding within the empire's borders. But in the face of a planetary-level crisis, regular armies are meaningless. It's fine if they want to help, but we only need their strongest experts. The weak should return whence they came, not to burden us."

"Your Majesty...?" Lancelot's tone became strange. "Are you truly certain that—"

"What's wrong with negotiating with us? Do you have objections, O Sir Knight of Humanity?"

In the next moment, just as Lancelot was preparing to express his doubts and hesitations further, a woman's voice filled with dominance and a hint of allure appeared by his side and interrupted him.

Crimson Moon had taken over the communication with Artorius.