Chapter 1778: A New Agreement
The Undeads stomped their boots in unison, adding to the threatening presence they already had.
The prince narrowed his eyes, a look of anger flashing through them. How dare they treat him this way. He pulled out his sword.
"Try and fight me. See if I don’t cut you down first."
"And we have 8000 soldiers," Matthew said, ripping off his outer layer of clothes, showing off his other two arms he had kept hidden. He grabbed the bow and pulled on it as he asked, "How many can you cut down before they get to you? How many of your people will die first?"
The prince hesitated.
Jema and Oleander knew they could not fight here. Not with so many of these people. They began whispering to the prince, saying something that the others couldn’t hear.
Ning began thinking of how he could save the others. If a fight really did start, he didn’t want the poor citizens outside to die. There wasn’t anything he could do with his Summoner’s Bracelet.
Sadly, there was no beast in there that did anything with sound.
His eyes moved to the man who made the sounds amplify and wondered if he should incapacitate him first.
Ning had a fireball scroll ready to use to kill the man. Bad as it was, it was the fastest way to stop the order from being announced.
Matthew kept his fingers on the pulled bow, staring at the prince who tried to come up with a way out of this situation. Nothing he could think of would help him from what he could see.
So long as he gave the order to kill the citizens, his own people would be killed.
"I see," the prince said finally. "Then we are in a stalemate."
Matthew nodded. "It appears so. What now?"
The prince looked around. "Alright, then I have a new suggestion. One that will help us decide the next Emperor quickly."
"What new plan have you come up with now that your previous ones have failed?" Shara asked.
The prince looked at her and then turned toward the other two behind him, gauging their expressions.
Those two had no idea what the prince was going to say at all.
"We shall fight," the prince said. "To the death."
The words raised several eyebrows, with many immediately trying to reject the idea of his. Some did so out of concern for their candidate, while some simply thought it was a bad idea to start with.
"A fight to the death?" Shara asked. "All four of us?"
"Yes. All four of us."
"Prince Trenaut, what are you saying?" Jema asked. "Why should we fight you?"
"I thought we were going to end this in a more civilized manner," Oleander said.
"If you two have a suggestion, then I am ready to hear it," the prince said. "Go on. Come up with an idea that won’t just resolve to us fighting in the end out of selfishness anyway."
The two tried, but failed to do so.
There was nothing that could be done that would be fair to anyone. What was fair had already been thrown out the window, after all.
Everyone wanted that which would make them the Emperor. And the thing that would help the most was most definitely selfish. No one could come up with anything better as a result.
"Just because we can’t, however, doesn’t mean we must accept your proposal, prince," Jema said. "We will wait until we come up with something better."
"That’s right," Oleander said. "We can think of something else on our own later."
The prince got angry as a result. If neither of them accepted his words, then what was he supposed to do?
"I’ll fight."
Shara’s words cut through the awkward silence, turning every head toward her.
Mari grabbed Shara on her arm. "You don’t have to fight. We are winning anyway. We just have to wait a little longer."
"That’s right," Matthew said. "They’re grasping for straws. You can’t let them get to you."
Shara turned toward the two. "And how much longer should I wait? How much longer should the people of this country suffer?" she asked. "We have an opportunity to end this right away. If I win, then I become the Empress today."
"You aren’t thinking right," Mari said. "Each one of them was trained to fight from a young age. They are strong."
"That’s alright," Shara said. "I have been training for the better part of a year now. I am sure I will be fine."
"You’re overconfident," Mari said.
"Is that so?" Shara asked. "I thought I was rightfully confident, given who I learned my skills from."
She turned toward Ning. "What do you think I should do?"
Ning had been staring at the prince, his mind lost in a thought for a while now. Something about the prince had caught his attention since a while ago, and he had just thought of a certain possibility.
If what he was thinking was true, then...
"Ning?"
Shara’s words brought him back to reality.
"Yes?" he asked. "What did you ask?"
"Should I fight or not?" Shara asked again. "To the death."
Ning turned toward the prince. "I will fight on behalf of her. If I win, she will be the Empress."
The others around Shara nodded. That was more appropriate of an idea for them.
"No," the prince, however, denied his words. "The candidates must fight on their own. I will be putting my own life in danger to become the Emperor. Can your candidate not do that?"
"I can," Shara said. "And I will. Fine, let us fight then."
The prince smiled and turned toward the other two. "What about you two?" he asked. "Will you fight or will you give up on your chance to become the Emperor?"
Jema turned toward Oleander, their eyes carrying thoughts to each other. Quickly, both of them nodded and so the decision was made.
The next Emperor of the Onyx region was going to be selected through a fight to the death between the four candidates.