Chapter 482 423: Declaration of War
After William finished his little speech.
William was filled with scorn, mocking him in his heart. 'Trying to play political games with us? Reinhardt, you're still wet behind the ears!'
Too bad he never would have dreamed...
...that this very thought was a delusion deliberately cultivated by Reinhardt.
If he couldn't achieve this, how else could he have been so certain that a large group of rebel leaders would "voluntarily" attend this closed-door meeting?
When a war reaches the negotiation stage, anyone would understand that the bloody slaughter over power has simply reverted to a political game at the negotiating table.
Making demands exposes weakness.
Once things reached this stage, political maneuvering was often more effective than brute force.
This was the source of William's confidence—the reason he dared to be so arrogant, to subtly vie with Reinhardt for control of the floor and attempt to dominate the meeting.
In other words, whether the Lord of Vengeful wanted the title of Governor or wanted to win them over as powerful warlords, as long as he needed something from them, he was handing them a weakness they could exploit.
They might not have been experts at quelling rebellions, expelling Demons, or reforming a corrupt government.
But power grabs and profiteering had always been their forte.
But contrary to the resounding support William had envisioned, only a few Local Lords who caught the scent of power rose to echo his sentiment. The others remained on the sidelines, watching.
Watching to see how Reinhardt would react.
Watching to see what this Lord of Vengeful would do after being subjected to such a great insult.
If he didn't react strongly, or even tried to offer some meaningless defense, it would prove this muscle-bound Imperial Knight had no idea what William was even doing.
And if that were the case, wouldn't he be putty in their hands?
If he reacted fiercely, well, they had the eager, iron-headed fool William to serve as a shield, so the fallout wouldn't reach them.
Seeing that few were backing him up, William cursed the selfish bastards under his breath and turned back to Reinhardt, hoping to find an exploitable weakness in the expression of the Lord of Vengeful he so disdained.
But he never saw Reinhardt's expression.
Instead, the dark maw of a gun barrel was starkly reflected in his pupils.
No matter what he had been thinking, no matter how smug and confident he'd felt just a moment ago, the threat of death was now more direct than any words could ever be!
His pupils contracted, and his face turned deathly pale.
He simply couldn't believe that this newly appointed Lord of Vengeful, a man who lacked any real power base, would actually dare to kill him in front of so many Local Lords!
But.
Before a single drop of cold sweat could even trace a path down his forehead.
While the Knight Power still circulated through his body.
"You—"
BANG—!!
The muzzle flash and the deafening roar of death completely drowned out William's voice!
Under the blast of the Furnace Cast Holy Artifact, his upper body exploded. His head, still attached to a stump of neck, flew like a kicked ball across the hall, finally landing in the lap of another warlord.
Even Reinhardt had to admit that when it came to classical mechanics, a firearm was far more efficient than a War Axe.
And that wasn't all.
After the shot, the unique roar of Messiah's Gift's binary language erupted, a piercing detonation that suddenly echoed through the hall.
[I AM MESSIAH'S EXECUTIONER! YOUR PRESENCE DISGUSTS MY CHAMBER! PURGE THE UNCLEAN!]
After William's execution, the hall instantly erupted into terrified screams and ceaseless commotion.
Many Local Lords shot up from their seats, instinctively wanting to flee, but a single glance at the two Holy Fire Guards stationed at the doors was enough to make them abandon the suicidal thought.
"Emperor above! He actually killed William!"
"Doesn't he want to end this war? He's... he's a complete madman! How can we possibly talk about peace now?!"
The smarter ones immediately realized they had been tricked.
Peace negotiations?
This closed-door meeting was clearly just a trap set by the Lord of Vengeful to lure them in and slaughter them!
One Lord ducked down and whispered to his Guard Knight, "Damn it! I knew the Lord of Vengeful wouldn't be easy to deal with!
Is there any way out of here?
I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for another minute."
He killed a Knight General appointed by the Regent Council without a second thought. The Lord couldn't even imagine what other outrageous things this war-crazed Lord of Vengeful might do!
His Guard Knight's brow was furrowed, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword. After carefully scanning their surroundings, he gave his Lord a slight shake of the head.
If this man weren't the Lord to whom he'd sworn allegiance, there were a few things he was dying to say.
'Escape?
For the Emperor's sake, do you really think we can escape from right under the Lord of Vengeful's nose?'
As an Imperial Knight himself,
his Lord might be clueless, but he knew very well what a terrifying existence the man on that stage was!
And it wasn't just him. The Knight's own Knight Perception detected an extremely powerful Spiritual Power, constantly monitoring every single movement in the hall.
Analyzing the situation with his combat experience, he suspected that this Spiritual Power alone would be enough to kill everyone in the hall in an instant, long before the Lord of Vengeful even needed to lift a finger!
Reinhardt ignored the commotion and terrified screams, his voice remaining cold, his attitude ruthless.
"Does anyone else have an opinion to offer?"
As his voice fell,
the hall, which had been in an uproar just a moment before, became so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Whatever intentions these Lords had brought with them to the meeting, in this moment, their gazes held nothing but fear for Reinhardt.
Once silence fell, Reinhardt put away Messiah's Gift. "You all know better than I do how the war on the Verne Front Line is developing," he continued.
"So, I would like to discuss with you how we can solve the problems of supplies and manpower on the Verne Front Line.
There's no need to give me an answer right away.
You have seventy-two Holy City standard hours to consider it carefully. Three days from now, I believe you will give me a satisfactory answer."
At the mention of resources and finances, the expressions of the Lords below visibly shifted from terror to tightly knitted brows.
But Reinhardt gave them no chance to speak.
He simply stood on the stage and said coldly, "Please remember, gentlemen: a war will begin when you want it to, but it will not end when you want it to.
Consider carefully what sort of answer you will give me in three days."
With that said, he reached back, took the Black War Axe from his back, and with one hand, slammed it down, piercing the stage floor and leaving the War Axe standing firmly before him.
Having done all this,
Reinhardt's gaze, carrying with it the threat of death, swept over everyone below.
Lu Jia then walked onto the platform. She glanced at the War Axe embedded in the floor, then exchanged a look with Reinhardt and nodded slightly. Turning to the audience, she said, "Gentlemen, please rest assured. I have already instructed the Governor of Surt's Stereoscopic City to arrange for your accommodations.
And I guarantee that over these next three days,
no one will be harmed.
And no one will die."