Chapter 867: Grand Gamble
"Leon Merlin, you damned bastard! I'm telling you, this isn't over. Our Charlotte Family lost the Goldspire Realm all because of you. So just wait—our family will make the Merlin Family give us an explanation. If you don't compensate us with a realm, don't blame us for taking matters into our own hands! I know exactly which realms your Merlin Family controls..."
Having run out of threats, Wesley turned and continued his tirade at Leon.
Leon folded his arms and let out a cold laugh.
"Go ahead and talk all you want. To me, it's just like you let out a foul stench. But if you really want to try something, then be my guest. Let's see how many claws you have that my magic can't tear apart."
Wesley wanted to say more, but seeing the looks from those around him—and catching the impatient, even cold expression on Droy's face—he just glared fiercely at Leon and slunk away with his people.
With Wesley gone, the onlookers dispersed as well. Droy took the opportunity to approach Leon, exchanging a few polite words and subtly expressing both apology and a desire for friendly relations.
But Leon was still preoccupied with processing the materials he'd collected from the Ancient Venom Dragon, so he responded absentmindedly.
Droy sighed inwardly, perhaps realizing he'd gone a bit too far this time. Still, a good start was enough—for now, he'd leave things as they were and plan to approach Leon again in the future.
Once Droy left, Leon dove right back into his alchemy lab, continuing his work alone.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed. Nearly every faction in the Andalusia Kingdom had gathered, but there was still no definitive plan for the upcoming full-scale assault.
Leon couldn't be bothered with these matters and let them argue as much as they wanted. Just then, someone came to notify him—a formal meeting was about to start to decide on the grand offensive against the Blazeforge Realm.
Fresh out of the alchemy lab, Leon hurried straight to the council chamber.
At the center stood a massive round table, easily over ten meters across, around which sat the most powerful figures in the Andalusia Kingdom.
On either side sat two rarely-seen figures: Chairman Heron of the Black Tower and Star Sage Joey of the Cloudspire Tower.
Leon was a bit surprised to see both of them here in person. What’s more, neither sat at the head of the table—instead, they took seats at the sides, leaving the main seat conspicuously vacant.
The other attendees included people from the Charlotte Family, Seth from the Watson Family, and Droy of the Caucasus Battlemages.
Surrounding the large central table were many smaller round tables, reserved for the Andalusia Kingdom’s lesser factions.
Anyone with even a scrap of territory in the Blazeforge Realm had shown up, without exception.
After Leon took his seat, both Star Sage Joey and Chairman Heron nodded in greeting, offering him a friendly smile.
Wesley even sat right next to Leon. Aside from the Charlotte Family members, who wore sour expressions, everyone else maintained basic courtesy.
Soon, the quiet murmurs in the hall faded. From outside, a man strode in—over two meters tall, face stern, clad in pitch-black dragonscale armor.
With a grim expression, the middle-aged man headed straight for the main seat at the central round table.
A flicker of confusion crossed Leon’s eyes. Wesley, ever considerate, used magic to transmit a message directly to him.
"Archmage Leon, that's Prince Azure of the Andalusia Kingdom. He's also the king's own brother, and the kingdom's foremost Azure Sword Saint. He's leading the Blazeforge Realm Grand Offensive. He’s been away these past few days negotiating with the Odin Kingdom. Looks like he’s back with results."
With Wesley’s explanation, Leon’s eyes lit up in understanding.
Just judging by his appearance, Leon had no impression of the man. But mention Azure Sword Saint, and it all clicked.
Azure Sword Saint was a legend in the Andalusia Kingdom—exceptionally gifted, with extraordinary insight. In his youth, he was known as a sword fanatic, constantly seeking out opponents and battling across the land.
He fought his way up from apprentice to Azure Sword Saint. When the old king abdicated, he voluntarily withdrew from the succession, believing he wasn’t suited to rule, but rather to defend the kingdom.
As the king’s own brother, Azure Sword Saint enjoyed deep trust—not because of family ties, but because he was famously impartial. He never let personal feelings cloud his judgment; everything he did was for the strength and benefit of the Andalusia Kingdom.
That was what people admired most. Once, a royal relative leaked some minor court secrets to outsiders. Right there in front of the king, Azure Sword Saint executed him on the spot.
And that relative was, strictly speaking, his own cousin. But Azure cut him down without hesitation—for the kingdom’s sake.
Back when Azure Sword Saint was only a Fifth-Rank Sword Saint, he personally hunted down a traitor trying to flee the kingdom—a traitor who was a Seventh-Rank Titled Archmage.
While everyone else was wracked with worry, Azure returned, furious, with the traitor’s severed head in hand.
That was the last public battle Azure Sword Saint ever fought. It wasn’t some earth-shattering clash—in fact, it seemed almost effortless. The Seventh-Rank Titled Archmage was dominated from start to finish and, in the end, decapitated with a single stroke.
Since then, only rumors of his victories have surfaced. By now, no one truly knows the extent of Azure Sword Saint’s power, but everyone agrees: he is the undisputed Sword Saint of the Andalusia Kingdom, the strongest among them.
Only Star Sage Joey and Chairman Heron of the Black Tower could be considered his equals—their strength unfathomable.
As all this information flashed through Leon’s mind, he felt reassured. Azure Sword Saint’s reputation for impartiality meant fewer headaches ahead—he truly put the kingdom first.
True to form, Sword Saint Canglan wasted no time. As soon as he sat down, he produced a magical device that projected an image onto the table—a map of the Blazing Flame Plane. It was divided into dozens of irregular territories, each marked with its current occupier.
"Storm Fortress here is jointly held by Cloudspire Tower and the Black Tower. It’s our forward base for the offensive and the closest stronghold to the Blazing Flame Orcs’ territory. This area is controlled by the Watson Family, and this one is..."
Sword Saint Canglan’s voice was as hard as steel as he named the owner of each section on the map, then pointed to the remaining areas marked in red.
"The red-marked territories are all controlled by the Blazing Flame Orcs. Only six tribes remain—over half have already been wiped out. Our advance is accelerating, their strength waning, while ours continues to grow.
Complete conquest of the Blazing Flame Plane is now a certainty. The only question is how quickly we can do it. This offensive is to crush the plane, subjugate the orcs, and suppress every last rebel."
He paused, then continued speaking.
"But we still face many problems. The most urgent is this: the Kingdom of Andalusia and the Kingdom of Odin are the two dominant powers in the Blazing Flame Plane; the rest are negligible. Both kingdoms have poured immense resources and strength into this plane.
You could say our kingdoms have committed their very best forces to the Blazing Flame Plane. It’s a risky move.
We can’t afford further delays. With our strongest forces tied up here, other planes are left dangerously exposed—some have already begun to destabilize, and even those we’ve conquered are facing fierce counterattacks. Our strength is being stretched thin.
If we don’t conquer the Blazing Flame Plane soon, there’s a very real chance we’ll be stuck in a stalemate for a long time to come.
The grand offensive was now imminent!
But there was another, even more pressing issue. Barring any surprises, the conquest of the Blazing Flame Plane was all but assured—the orcs would be wiped out.
However—
Once the plane and the orcs were conquered, control of the Blazing Flame Plane would fall to the Kingdom of Andalusia and the Kingdom of Odin.
At that point, war between our two kingdoms would be inevitable. To fully seize control of the plane, a clash was unavoidable.
From either side’s perspective, neither would want to share control of the Blazing Flame Plane.
Sword Saint Canglan paused here, and a heavy silence fell. Anyone with half a brain could see this outcome was unavoidable.
What came next was clearly the result of negotiations with the Kingdom of Odin.
Sure enough, Sword Saint Canglan glanced around, then slowly rose and pointed solemnly at the map.
"To avoid such a conflict and prevent tremendous losses on both sides, our two kingdoms have agreed to a high-stakes gamble—a wager that will decide the fate of the Blazing Flame Plane!
Whoever conquers the Blazing Flame Orcs’ Sacred Mountain first will become the sole master—the true ruler—of the Blazing Flame Plane!