Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

After his talk with Osiris, Ace led Killian and the others through the estate into a large hall where he had sensed Cirulus talking with his mother, Wukong and the others.

As soon as he entered the hall, the eyes of Linley and the others immediately fell on him.

“Ace,” Linley stood up, a complicated light flashing within his eyes. “It’s been a while.”

“You look well,” Ace nodded, giving the rest of his group another cursory glance. “What are you guys doing here anyway?”

“That…” Linley sighed as he scratched the side of his head. “It’s a long story.”

“They went and provoked the church to save the Armand brothers, not knowing they were being guarded by a peak saint,” Cesar shrugged casually from the sofa he was lying on.

Linley could only glance at Cesar helplessly. He hadn’t wanted to tell Ace what happened as it was embarrassing.

He saw Ace as his biggest rival, yet unlike his rival, who by now had already defeated two genuine saints, he and his group have needed to be saved by Cesar twice now. Still, there was nothing he could say or do. Cesar hadn’t lied, and even if he had, Cesar was a Demi-god. Forget deities; Linley could barely fight against the weakest of saints.

“Armand Clan, huh…” Ace nodded as he looked at the five tyrannical-looking brothers. “That makes sense.”

“Alright,” Cesar lazily rolled to his feet. “I’m going to head back to Saber HQ. I should still have a copy of your clan’s [Secret Undying Manual] somewhere over there. I’ll be back by morning.”

“Lord Cesar,” Barker and his brothers all hurriedly stood respectfully. “Thank you for everything.”

They now knew from Cesar that he, the legendary king of killers, had been sworn brothers with their Ancestor, the original undying warrior. It was the reason he had agreed to save their lives as well as Linley’s.

Regardless of the reason, all five of the Armand brothers were incredibly grateful. If not for Cesar, their lives would’ve been all but over.

“It’s fine,” Cesar waved his hand dismissively. “I just hope that in the future, you five brothers will restore the glory of your family’s Undying Clan.”

“We will,” Barker, the eldest of the five brothers, nodded resolutely.

“As for Alissa,” Cesar said as he glanced at Ace before sighing and turning to face Killian. “Tell her I’ll be back soon.”

Even though he knew that granddaughter of his needed to hear Ace’s harsh truths, he still didn’t like the fact that he hurt her.

Killian didn’t reply verbally, all Cesar got was a simple nod, but as much as he hated to admit it, he knew Killian was reliable.

With Cesar gone, many of the weaker experts present subconsciously relaxed. The anxiety caused by the presence of such a powerful expert was a lot for most mortals to bear.

“Young master,” Cirulus exclaimed as he hurriedly stood to his feet when he saw Ace taking a seat across from him beside Milianna and Lance.

“After everything we’ve been through, please don’t stand on ceremony around me,” Ace smiled. “Ace is fine.”

“Understood,” Cirulus beamed when he heard that. “It’s good to see you on your feet, Ace.”

“You too,” Ace nodded. “I had been worried about you until Mira told me you were alive and well.”

“I appreciate your concern, youn…” Cirulus quickly corrected himself. “I mean, Ace.”

“I was also told about your work creating this city on my behalf,” Ace continued. “I don’t know why you thought I’d want to rule over a city, but I have to admit, you’ve done one hell of a job.”

“I did it for your future war against the O’Brien Empire,” Cirulus replied.

“I appreciate that,” Ace said sincerely. “But I no longer have any desire to take down the Empire as a whole; my problem starts and stops with O’Brien.”

“I understand that, but you need to understand that the respect and awe the residents of the O’Brien Empire have in O’Brien is near fanatical. The awe, respect, and belief they have in him are ingrained into every fibre of their very beings.” Cirulus explained. “I assure you that now that you have shown your hostility to their patron god, each and every one of them will see you as a mortal enemy – even with your complicated relation to him.”

Ace could sense the hesitation in Cirulus’ voice as he mentioned their relations, but before he could say anything, Cirulus continued. “Even if they’re still hesitant about acting against you for fear of the Pavilion’s retaliation, they won’t hesitate to attack if they get the chance.

If you really want to get to O’Brien in the future, you’ll likely need to get through them.”

“Cirulus is right,” Milianna said as she stroked her son’s long dark hair. “Plus, it’s not just you. You have people you care about. Even if they can’t get to you, your enemies won’t hesitate to target your loved ones to get to you.

I don’t care what happens to me, but if my weakness is the cause of something bad happening to you, I would never be able to live with myself.”

If he had been on the fence after Cirulus’ explanation, he had definitively made up his mind after hearing his mother’s words. He couldn’t allow anything bad to happen to her or any of his loved ones.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t be in more than one place at a time, so unless he took each of them with him everywhere he went – which he knew was impossible – this was undoubtedly the best option.

“What did you have in mind moving forward?” Ace asked, knowing that the City of Gol, as it currently stands, was far from enough.

An excited grin suffused Cirulus’ lips as he prepared to answer. “Well, I’m sure you already know about the chaotic nature of the Anarchic Lands. It’s the largest and wealthiest of the uncontrolled lands on our continent. As such, aside from your Yin-Yang Pavilion, just about every major force on the continent has their hands in this pie, slyly making moves to expand their current territories. But the two with the most influence here are actually the Radiant Church and the Cult of Darkness.

But because everyone knows that everyone else is interested, no force has used their saint-level experts to make a move – at least not outwardly, anyway.

Using the influence your name now holds, as well as the power you personally hold, which has incredibly reached the saint realm, we can quickly take over the surrounding cities and form a small duchy before attempting to continue expanding and forming our own empire in your name.”

Hearing that, an odd light flickered in Ace’s eyes as a plan of action began to form in his head. “Whether it’s myself, Amira, or Leo, none of us will be taking part in any of the battles unless our enemies decide to send saint-level experts out!”

Cirulus’ brows furrowed slightly when he heard that. As far as he was concerned, the fastest and most effective way was for Ace to personally lead the charge with his invincible Divine Beast so that they could hurry to create their own force, but now Ace was saying that none of the city’s current strongest experts would be able to take part – he just couldn’t understand what Ace was planning.

“Siris,” Ace called out, turning to the dark-haired archer. “Can you get Kannal and the others for a moment?”

Osiris’ eyes lit up with understanding as he hurriedly left the room.

It wasn’t just him; everyone present seemed to understand what Ace was planning to do. But just because they understood, it didn’t mean they all agreed.

“Ace…” Cirulus said. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to have your friends lead the army on this campaign?”

“You don’t?” Ace asked back.

“It’s not like I don’t think they’re strong enough,” Cirulus answered. “After this beast tide, I have a good understanding of each of their strengths, and I acknowledge that not even I’m a match for a couple of them.”

As he said that, Cirulus subconsciously looked up at Killian before turning back to his young master. “But you need to understand that there’s a lot more to leading an army into battle than just strength.

On a campaign as important as this, especially at the beginning when we’re still effectively creating a name for ourselves, we should be trying to win as impressively as possible so that later down the line, our name, along with our previous records in battle instils fear into our enemies.”

“That makes sense,” Ace nodded, causing Cirulus’ eyes to light up, thinking he had gotten through to him. “Even more of a reason to go through with it this way.”

“But…” Cirulus hesitated.

“But what?” Ace asked calmly. “Cirulus, I value your opinion, so please speak freely.”

“Okay,” Cirulus nodded before taking a deep breath. “The truth is, it has nothing to do with their strength. Even the weakest of them have the strength to take over a small and weaker town or city in the Anarchic Lands. The real reason behind my hesitation is their current state of mind.

If this were yesterday, I wouldn’t disagree with your idea at all, but today, after your conversation with them, it’s clear that most of their heads aren’t where they need to be, not for a task like this.

If they go into war with such a mind state, it could prove fatal, not only for them but also for their subordinates.

If such a thing does happen, finding soldiers willing to follow you into battle will become several times harder, and even if they do, they’re not likely to give their all.”

“You’re not wrong,” Ace sighed. “But Cirulus, you made one mistake.”

“I did?” Cirulus asked.

“You did,” Ace nodded thoughtfully. “You used ordinary standards to judge them. I’ll tell you right now, each and every one of them is anything but ordinary. They, on their worst days, are still better than the average genius on their best days.

What I said before may have sounded harsh, but that’s only because I know they’re capable of so much more than what they’re currently giving. The fact remains, I trust each and every one of them with my life, and by extension, the lives of our soldiers.

So if you trust me, you trust them!”

At the same time, just outside the hall, Osiris had just returned with Kannal and the others.

With their incredible senses, it would be all but impossible for them not to hear what was being discussed inside the hall.

When they heard Cirulus’ concerns, each of them was frustrated, but ultimately, they knew they couldn’t say anything as he wasn’t wrong. After Ace’s rant, aside from Kannal, each of them felt lower than any of them could ever remember feeling in their past, which was why they were so shocked to hear Ace’s words.

They knew there was no chance Ace hadn’t sensed their presence, but they also knew that Ace wouldn’t lie just to make them feel better. The fact that it came out of his mouth meant he meant every word.

Without even realising it, a tiny seed had taken root in each of them. They had no idea, but in the future, those seeds would grow into trees that would one day tower over all other experts in their coiling dragon universe.