Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

Uhtred said nothing for a beat, as if pondering his choice of words, before he then spoke.

”When you reach Level 35, so long as you already possess a territory, you will receive an option to pursue being a Global Lord,” he said, and immediately, Glorious Eagle Vance tried to butt in, but Uhtred continued without letting him speak. His focus was only on King Alexei.

”The System calls it a Global Lord title, but you should think of it more like an... ’officially recognized as world strongest’ title. The so-called face of the planet. The one who steps up when otherworlder big dogs try to bully us.”

The way he phrased everything so simply and casually made everyone immediately get the picture. Of course, the people here were smart, they knew there were surely more details to this title that Uhtred wasn’t revealing — deeper benefits to be had for being a Global Lord — but they also knew that Uhtred was definitely telling them the general truth of what it entailed.

Being a Global Lord sounded like something many of the people present weren’t interested in dealing with whatsoever. It was above their pay-grade, literally. So, it wasn’t a surprise that the tension and confusion from before immediately eased to a large extent.

They had all thought it was something they could all compete for, but now realized it was something only four people could compete for: Uhtred, Zara, Perfection — who wasn’t present here — and King Alexei. The World Government was definitely going to try entering into the conversation, but everyone knew it was useless already.

And as if on cue, Glorious Eagle Vance spoke, not liking the way everyone had seemed to pull back immediately:

”So you’re saying that because you’re the strongest, we should all take a step back and basically... allow you to make decisions for us?” he asked, though he was mindful not to sound rude or confrontational. ”What if we’re facing an alien, otherworlder threat where we have a disagreement that can easily be solved with diplomacy? You don’t strike me as someone who cares for the troubles of being diplomatic, Uhtred.”

His words made sense, to an extent. But no one really voiced any support like he expected.

”Who are you kidding, General Vance?” Antoine Blanc was the one to speak, nearly rolling his eyes. ”You know very well as I do how effective this ’diplomacy’ you speak of was even in the old world. It’s bullshit. I was part of the French Commandos Hubert, the very best special ops force of France back in the old world...”

He paused, and his words made Glorious Eagle Vance clench his jaw slightly. Whether it was because Vance knew Antoine Blanc was right, or whether he was simply reminded of just how versatile a person the new World Government had lost, in person of Antoine Blanc, one couldn’t tell. However, his expression wasn’t good.

”Diplomacy is a fancy word for begging when you don’t have the guns, and lying when you do,” Antoine Blanc scoffed, the bitterness of his past life bleeding into his tone.

”It’s the illusion of a choice given to the weak by the strong, a polite way to delay the inevitable until the knives are sharp enough. On the multiversal scale, if we as a planet are having to resort to diplomacy against an otherworlder force, then we’re already fucked.”

Several murmurs of assent rose immediately. People were now leaning more in Uhtred’s direction after Antoine Blanc’s statement. It seemed very logical. Why think of giving the position of Global Lord to people who were without a doubt, better at sweet talk than the strongest person on the planet when it came to negotiation and putting up pretenses, but most definitely, much, much, weaker than he was in terms of real strength that mattered most?

This wasn’t the same world where all politicians and diplomats had the same aura and physical power. Everyone present had seen the entrance of the truly powerful figures like Uhtred, Zara, King Alexei. How would weak diplomats form coherent words faced against figures that were as powerful and even more powerful than that?

”The world has changed, Vance. This is no longer the pre-integration world,” Zara spoke for the first time, taking even Uhtred by surprise. He looked at her with a slight tilt of his brow. She wasn’t one to offer words in situations like these. Being here was already enough of a drag to her. So one could imagine his surprise.

General Vance also looked at Zara with an unreadable look. She was a person everyone here had the least of an impression of — ever mysterious, cold, and calm. He listened silently as she spoke:

”When small men begin to cast the largest shadows, it means the sun is about to set.”

Her words were vague and made several people frown in thought, but those that were apt enough deciphered her meaning immediately.

A deep scowl morphed on Glorious Eagle Vance’s face in an instant. King Alexei burst out into laughter, his eyes gleaming as he stared at Zara reassessingly. Isolde Castiglione, who had been very silent with her family, had a very thoughtful look on her face as she stared at Zara.

Uhtred himself was taken by slight surprise. But then again, this wasn’t particularly new to him. Zara was just deadpan like that. He chuckled lightly, and was about to speak, when the General beat him to it, still unwilling to give up.

Glorious Eagle Vance snorted at Zara’s statement then turned his attention to Uhtred with a bite to his voice.

”You speak of being ’the strongest,’ and ’a new era,’ but didn’t you come to a deal with a more powerful party back in the Trial of Ages?”

Uhtred’s eyes narrowed immediately, his expression turning cold. Everyone felt the shift and knew the General had said something he shouldn’t have. For many, this was the first they were hearing of this, and for others, particularly the true powerhouses who were present in the trials, they knew of this matter already.

King Alexei looked at Uhtred. He had been one of those to want to push into Zone 3 back in the trials, but when he finally fought his way to the border, he found a barricade of otherworlders. Silent word later spread among a select few that Uhtred had come to an agreement with them to create the barricade situation.

Where this information came from was unknown. But anyone with a bit of sense could tell it came from the Ancient Variants. They had been the ones to be with Uhtred and Zara at the border ahead of everyone else.

King Alexei had previously thought it might be Zara who revealed the information, but seeing her relationship with Uhtred now, even though he wasn’t absolutely sure, had lessened his suspicion of her and made him lean more towards it being one of the Ancient Variant Generals.

Still, the main thing was that the World Government had clearly gotten their hands on this information. Glorious Eagle Vance was now using it to his advantage, making it public knowledge. And King Alexei himself also wanted to see how Uhtred would respond.

Glorious Eagle Vance scoffed. ”You piss on diplomacy, but isn’t that what you had to resort to when you met with those powerful otherworlders on Australia?”