Chapter 1751: Chapter 1750 - Pecking Order of Fools

The slow moving front heading away from the coast began to pick up some speed after 7 months. In that time, final preparations and practice were able to be done.

Lind also spent time improving his ships a bit, especially the repaired ones. There were no major issues yet he could see strain would cause fractures in channels and other structures.

He was tinkering with the last one when Annabelle found him. She looked like she wanted to throttle someone. Since it was not impossible to be him, he instantly stopped his work and began soothing her.

The amused look on her face once she knew what he was doing, she cracked a smile and leaned into his arms. He held her until she seemed to calm down.

"So, dare I ask what brought you storming over?" He summoned a set of tea to serve her and she sipped at the simple jade cup with an even wider smile. Her azure and golden skin caught the mid-afternoon sun perfectly.

He thanked the spirits for whatever favor allowed her to find forgiveness in her heart for him.

She did not answer right away but saw the pile of materials as well as partially Forged pieces ready to be used in the hull of the ship he was currently working on. She gently touched them and looked at him.

He felt like she was remembering the days long ago or maybe something else before she broached the current topic.

She sighed and placed the teacup on its saucer.

"Now that things are about to get real, the vested powers that survived want to talk about how to divide up the resources after–" The groan of metal as Lind crushed it was heard. It was the only outward sign but it was enough.

Lind took in a deep breath and looked at the ruined part in his hands. It was not easy to make the damn things already and he had essentially made it even worse than scrap!

His hands glowed before the materials were separated and several small piles of ore, crystal, and burnt refuse remained.

"We have not even been victorious and they are plotting how to carve up the world afterward?! How many are going to die because they want to grasp things that may not exist when we are done?!" His words were harsh but Annabelle nodded vigorously to them.

It never ceased to amaze him how the greed of people could survive even facing near extinction! Even after he demonstrated his Divine Authority, they continued to believe in the old status quo as some sort of holy writ!

Most of the factions had been devastated but a few had come through relatively intact. While they had been quiet, it had also been a time of recovery and war planning.

There was too much momentum, even on the journey over to the coast, to do much more than refine their plans or prepare their forces with some simple routines.

Now, because it was taking time for the intent seed to do its work, they seemed to think it was okay to carve up their future gains before anything was achieved!

Lind focused on his work as he calmed his mind. Flying off in anger or using his Divine Authority would not solve the current issue. Fools would always exist and pompous fools were all the more impossible to prevent!

Annabelle quietly observed as they both silently knew the problem had to be nipped in the bud now. After the fighting started, it was all too possible those with the most to gain from the future would sacrifice others unnecessarily.

The pair were lost in fruitless cycles of thought when a small group approached them. There were mostly aether children and Elementals but Lind recognized a few of the alien races mixed in.

They were not from the old faction that presided over his Celestial Fields but they were close allies from the Eastern Continent.

"Divine Lord Frey, we request an audience." An Elemental woman with a lithe figure and slimmer limbs than was organically possible bowed low. She was clearly the most powerful of the group at the mid Journeyman Tier.

He nodded but continued his work. None questioned his respect as his work was vital.

"As you may have heard, the Virtuous Faction and the Heart Seeker Faction are holding meetings and plying the broken surviving powers to either join them or be expelled in the order to come." Lind found himself suddenly wishing to just walk away.

His very worry was already manifested! He pinched the bridge of his nose as he set down some jade vials. He made sure the repairs would not be affected by his pause and turned to the group.

"Expain something to me, what real power do they have?" His question gave the group pause but even Annabelle tilted her head in confusion. The power of factions were apparent.

Sects simply could not stand alone nor cover the vast tracts of land beyond the walls of their cities or towns. It was a simple issue of manpower. Even millions of people could only hold a small segment, relatively speaking, and could easily be overpowered by a single Master Tier if caught off guard.

The dangers and very real chance of alliances taking everything from them eventually led to factions. The alliances all under one umbrella acted as a deterrent as there were groups of Master Tiers behind them. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The numbers were always unknown but what was known was enough to allow sects to grow. Empires and kingdoms existed under the sects but all fed into the power of their faction.

His question, therefore, seemed odd to them all but Lind simply sighed as he saw they too were still stuck in the old world.

"Factions served a function but that function has ceased to be. They are trying to cling to it but has any Master Tier actually endorsed the plan?" Annabelle’s eyes went wide as he saw her grasp something he considered no one had.

The Elemental woman turned to her companions but all were equally in the dark. He closed his eyes and recalled the leaders of the named factions.

They were among those he had had to ’graciously invite’ to the army. As soon as he called, the 10 Master Tiers appeared. They were all human.

Lind noticed something, however. Only 4 of them looked displeased to be summoned while the other 6 seemed to have expected his call. Before he could speak, a man with sandy close cropped hair strode across the air.

He ascended slightly so he was just barely above Lind and looking down slightly at him. Lind had no time for fools and their pride.

His eyes glowed before the man was slammed into the sandy beach. His golden robes were damaged instantly as their 2 auras clashed but Lind showed not a sign of discomfort.

Shock flowed in everyone present, even Annabelle, as there was no Divine Authority that time. They felt his aura clearly!

The man tried to stand up but he could not seem to even move a millimeter!

"I will make this brief. I know what some of you have been plotting. You think you can not only go back to how things were but carve out more for yourselves. You are wrong." Lind casually waved his hands and the other 3 he noticed were also slammed into the ground.

They were all men but a mix of old and young. The one thing they had in common aside from their gender seemed to be the need to preen themselves.

An older woman with pale blue hair stepped forward and bowed low.

"We beg pardon for our brothers, Divine Lord Frey. The rumblings from our fact–" Lind only glanced at her and she flinched.

"You were not listening. Your factions are broken. Your lands are gone or ravaged. The Divine Lands need to heal. Besides, how will you hold more land when you could not before? Even if the entirety of the army followed you afterward, how much could you hold?" His words made all go pale.

It was the fact they all ignored and made them all fools in Lind’s eyes. He sighed before he ticked off the bleak truth.

"There are only a few billion of us left. While the Fiends are not in much better shape, they can force ascension and increase their numbers. So time is not on our side there. Assuming the best case scenario, we win with minimal losses, it took trillions of lives to claim a single continent." There were far more weaker cultivators in the Divine Lands.

Those numbers would grow to fill the gaps of Divine Realm cultivators lost, yet the stark truth was until that happened, no faction could hold more than they had. They would be lucky, in fact, to hold any land at all.

Lind told the bald faced truth. Rich areas had been decimated either by the Fiends’ various cullings in recent millennia or by their own evacuations to escape.

They scorched the land rather than let it fall in other people’s hands. Lind knew the recovery would take far longer than any could conceive of.

The damage the Bastard had done to the Eastern and Northern Continents would make them essentially uninhabitable.

"Divine Lord Frey, even though all you say is true, many cannot give up their old connections." It was the female Elemental that spoke up and Lind bowed to her.

"I agree, but reality cannot be ignored. Planning what to do after victory? What will you sacrifice to see that day, I wonder?" The cold tone finally sunk into them all. Annabelle had already discussed it but now his anger behind the same words brought weight to them all.

[I know you all are looking on. I am not a God nor am I able to make you see reason, but if anyone allows others to die for their greed, I will not even pause to bring judgement to you all.] The sky rumbled as Heaven and Earth responded.

The Divine Lords with the army suddenly appeared behind Lind. All those bestial powerhouses made their stance clear in an instant. They were fighting for survival.

Those that chose to play power games and be fools would only decide the pecking order of their punishment. They were free to do so, but they would not escape the consequences.

Even if Lind died, the other Divine Lords would follow through.

Compared to all the Master Tiers, they were only a handful but the power they wielded could level any playing field. Considering the current state of affairs, all understood no a drop of vitality would be taken from them if they were made to act!

The 6 Master Tiers still standing bowed low and only then did Lind release the 4. He still needed them. They were dragged away and he went back to doing repairs.

It was not the best solution but it would work for the present. If he lived, and they did, he would have to deal with it later.

First the war to kill the current Bastard, then deal with what comes after. That was all he could focus on.