Limitless The Strongest Revenant-Chapter 1057: Not for my benefit [2/2]

The things my own forces spoke of were relatable. But the topics the Africans discussed were far more interesting. It revolved around Africa's actions after the continent was unified.

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"Matriarch Zanele. Where are we?"

"A pocket dimension, Prince Kaziema."

"And Hellsend has been attacking us from here by teleporting?" the prince asked as he placed his palm on his forehead.

"Yes."

"I sense large amounts of soul in the minds of my brothers. It seems almost everyone is already here. They seem—bewitched?"

"Yes. They are."

"Well fuck. No wonder none of their actions seemed to make any sense. Wait… Is that Olamide? How is he alive? I thought he had already died in Kismayo? And the one beside him is Induna Nomvula Nkosi! Why is she here?"

Seeing the return of his mother, Amari and his group moved to welcome her. Olamide and the other rescued princes were with him. Despite Kaziema having a higher standing than all of them, they treated him as if he was invisible.

"Welcome back, Mother. We're grateful to the gods for your return."

With the authority of a queen, Zanele accepted the greeting. She left Kaziema and walked towards the inner hall. Olamide's group and Pierre naturally followed her. Leaving the leader of the Conservative faction, Prince Kaziema, slack-jawed.

"Thank you, my son. Report your results."

"Yes, the entire neutral faction has decided to join us. Their price is priority malice cleansing and access to Hellsend weaponry. They have also expressed their intent to join the reclamation of Antarctica."

"That seems fair. Have the ladies or the lord mentioned how many slots will be given to Africa?" Zanele said in passing.

"No, mother, they have not. Limitless only ordered his men to make 100,000 sets of soulgear. Hellsend's current army numbers 5,000 reapers. That does not include the Awakened. Nor the new Reapers coming from their enlistment.

"10,000 would be a safe estimate of their entire force. That would leave 90,000 for everyone else. That would mean each battlefront could, at most, send 12,850 Reapers."

Zanele thought for a moment before turning to Pierre.

"Child, you mentioned that you wish to aid our cause. The lord trusts you, as does Blanche. Give me your recommendation. What could Africa do to increase our gains for the reclamation?"

Pierre answered confidently without even taking a moment's pause.

"It would be to raise 25 to 30 thousand Reapers in a month and field them as mercenaries to the other battlefronts."

At his words, Amari and the other princes all expressed shock. Only Zanele remained stoic and nodded. "Explain your reasoning," she demanded.

"Yes, Matriarch. This approach will ensure our victory as Hell's Eden's partner. Besides Asia, other battlefronts will struggle to produce more than 12,000 Reapers. The North, Australia, and South America, in particular, will find it almost impossible.

"Africa is the only place where most humans naturally ingest Reaper blood. Thus, while it will take effort, only our continent can supply this number with more to spare. This means that if we have more reapers, they can join as part of the other battlefronts

"By leveraging our ties to Hellsend, our new Reapers can gain experience quickly. All other battlefronts will race to create armies. If we offer our people as hired muscle in exchange for part of their rewards, they will accept."

"The logic is surprisingly sound, Pierre. But if our people's contributions are counted as from the continents that hired them, would we not stand to lose?" Amari retorted.

The Mauritian then shook his head as he added.

"You are mistaken, Prince Amari. I believe helping for the sake of access to Fakers is misguided. The lord's true goal is not just to compete in the number of corpses. He wishes to reclaim the continent. Our focus should be to make his wish a reality.

"The term the lord used is ally of Hellsend. So long as we give our all to accomplish the lord's objective, he will see our sincerity. Africans are resilient in combat; each Reaper we send will make a difference. The army we raise can serve Hellsend afterwards.

"Besides, given that Hellsend is currently helping us unify the continent. Our Reapers will likely join more out of gratitude than greed. At least that is my thought on the matter. Please forgive me if I overstepped, Matriarch Zanele," Pierre said with a bow.

Zanele Soldat clapped her hands in approval. She also gave Pierre words of praise.

"Well done, child. Now I know why Blanche ensured your survival. My son, this child speaks true. With the rise of Hell's Eden, the world will change. Gone will be the time when battlefronts fight alone. My thoughts are the same as his.

"The army we train to reclaim Antarctica will still be there afterward. The North will need help to get back on its feet. We can offer our services to them or Hell's Eden in exchange for rewards. Fakers, soulgear, tactics, techniques; we can use this as a means to grow stronger.

"Just like how Hellsend absorbed the South American army, we can join their forces. There is no need to aim to win the competition. Our goal is the same objective. To raise an army strong enough to close Hellsgate."

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Hearing the fierce declaration of Zanele, I couldn't help but feel emotional. Her words to me before seemed true.

"I am, Successor. Please help me save my continent. If you do, I vow that Africa will offer Hell's Eden her full support in whatever she needs to close Hellsgate."

Despite the power of the Revenants, Hellsgate remained open. Everyone kept saying I was delusional. But now my people in Africa believe in the same vision. Person by person, country by country, and eventually battlefront by battlefront.

'If seven Revenants are not enough, then we do so with thousands!'

Kaziema who heard Zanele's fierce declaration, seemed to be rendered speechless. He ignored the Soldat elders, the only ones to greet him and walked towards Zanele.

Truly, in this space, the power of my faction has already shown its influence.

But then multiple tongues suddenly began licking me all over. The sudden intimate caress felt so good; I shivered. When I turned my head, my entire harem made mischievous and sultry smiles.

"Beloved, none of us appreciate your mind wandering. Have you already grown tired of us?"

At Liv's adorable cry for attention, the other Sirens joined in. Like spoiled children, they similarly begged for my affection. I obliged. We got so heated, I kind of forgot everything else. That was until Exa called us out.

[My lord, my ladies. The last of the human targets has been executed. The only missions remaining are the raids on the Reformists and the supply cache of the ENSAE army.]

In the short time my girls and I were flirting, the Soulless terminated the last of the targets for Phase One. Now standing in this hall was my entire force along with over two-thirds of the African princes.

Feeling that the end was at hand, I beckoned everyone.

"Alright, both Enthralled units will remain here on standby. Hellsend will join me to assault the Reformist headquarters. Kaziema, I will leave it to you how to convince the other Specters from your faction. You have until I return. Amari, work with him."

"I will try, but I need more time, Limitless. My brothers are all quite pigheaded."

"I see. Then do as you will. We will execute anyone who does not wish to stand down by the time I return," I declared for everyone to hear.

"WAIT! LIMITLESS! THAT IS NOT ENOUGH TIME! THIS ISN'T WHAT WE DISCUSSED! YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!"

Truthfully, he was right. But he never asked how much time he had. His motives were more about spying on us than they were about getting his own side to stand down.

He probably was just saying such things to get on my good side. Lying was all too common in geopolitics. Seeing the power Amari and Zanele had, he knew that if the Specters suddenly died, he would be in serious trouble.

"You saw what I did to you. I am asking them to stand down not for my benefit but for theirs. You have till our assault on the capital tonight to convince them. Make them stand down by any means, or we will."

I turned to Carlos and Herman, who would remain, and gave them further instructions.

"I leave the Enthralled units to you. Use them as you see fit."

"Yes, my lord." X2

"Alright, let's go. Home stretch, everyone."

I turned around and moved towards the Gate of Irkalla unit one. The ones accompanying me? Vela's Wolves, the Seraphs of Satis, the Awakened, the soulless, the Coroner, and all seven of the Sirens.

"YES, MY LORD." They all shouted.

The presence of my reliable allies encouraged me. Frankly, the power I wielded at the moment was terrifying. But as each of my decisions shaped our present, it slowly brought about the future I sought. And it did so at a price.

The only question was who would foot the bill. When the operation started, we tried to avoid the Specters to save time. But the additional Gates of Irkalla allowed us to stay ahead of schedule.

And as we now had an accurate list of humans per Specter, we didn't even need a civil war. We could just assassinate them all one by one. It would now depend on how many of them would stand down of their own accord.

Removing needless worries from my mind, I took a deep breath as I steeled my resolve.

'Whatever happens, after tonight, Africa will never be the same.'