Death... and me
chapter-812

At the same time Fikin considered that problem, Vance used his Spiritual Sense to tell Sevinia about what Fikin offered. Naturally, Sevinia was delighted to hear that as she replied, "20%?! I didn't expect Ancestor Fikin to be willing to give us that many troops." However, she also noticed the same problem as Vance. "Too bad it would be impossible to control such a huge army. The other clans wouldn't take our commands seriously with that size."

Qia, who was always accompanying Sevinia, couldn't help but ask, "Is everything okay? Senior seems to be struggling a little."

Sevinia looked at Qia as she pondered over it for a bit. Eventually, she decided to ask the other side about this option. Soon after, Qia sent a message to Rean and Roan, explaining the situation.

"20%?" Roan could not help but say with a bit of surprise, somewhat intrigued. "That's way too many troops for a single clan to control. Does Fikin really want to stop my advancement on the Humk, Freten, and Gargoc Regions?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders, replying, "Isn't that obvious? Those three territories will also be of great help for the demon beasts and the Zasfins in the future. Fikin and the other ancestors had been busy with Phex's group, but they're still interested in the outcome of the war."

Rean also added, "Besides, the fact that the Soul Rulers are more interested in your battles means that they still haven't noticed that Phex and the others are constantly being healed. This is also a good thing."

However, that wasn't the point Roan was concerned about. "This might be some kind of test. However, if we tell Sevinia to take the offer, she would have to succeed in expulsing us out of the Humk, Freten, and Gargoc Regions. On the other hand, I wouldn't need to hold back on the Aite and Wesdin Regions as I have done so far."

Rean agreed with Roan on that, saying, "Well, that's true. As far as I can see, you have two options. Keep things are they are and try to conquer Humk, Freten, and Gargoc. Or you could tell Sevinia to take the offer from Fikin and focus on Aite and Wesdin. Selecting the second option and playing our roles right will make the Hafel Clan stand out more as the clan who saved those three regions. Not only that, but since you don't need to restrain yourself on Aite and Wesdin anymore, you can start conquering it. That will make it appear as if the forces there only held you back because of the Hafel Clan's effort. Once again, it'll be a large merit for the Hafel Clan."

Hearing that, Roan began to ponder over which would be the best option. However, he shook his head in the end, saying, "If we really do that, it'll seem too suspicious. After all, the Hafel Clan wouldn't have real control over the forces they're in charge of. It wouldn't take long before someone points out that it doesn't make sense that the Demon Beast Army had gotten weaker just because the Hafel Clan appeared. Forget about it. Tell Sevinia everything we've discussed. She shouldn't accept taking control over 20% of the Zasfin Army. Unless, of course, she has a way to obtain full control over it, just like her own forces."

Rean nodded and passed the message to Qia, who explained everything to Sevinia. Sevinia was really considering taking up that offer, even if it meant that they didn't have a good grasp of it. However, as soon as she heard the twins' analyses over the entire situation, those thoughts disappeared like smoke. 'Too dangerous... To think there was such a backlash to this plan. Indeed, without full control over it, it wouldn't make sense that we would suddenly start winning every battle. Fortunately, Ancestor Vance didn't haphazardly accept it and decided to point the issues out first.'

Vance then received a Spiritual Sense message from Sevinia, who also explained to him the problem with Fikin's idea. He was still discussing with Fikin whether his Hafel Clan should go out of the Aite and Wesdin Regions or not. "Fikin, let's just drop it. Our Hafel Clan doesn't want to risk what we've accomplished so far. Unless you can guarantee us total control over it, we won't take this time bomb in our hands. Also, it has to be consensual. If you force the issue, that will only make the opinion of the other clans of us return to rock bottom."

Fikin then scratched the back of his head after hearing that, saying, "Fine...forget I said anything." Fikin was pretty sure that even with that problem, the Hafel Clan would take the risk. He didn't expect them to be that cautious. 'Is there a way I could have 20% of the army be fully controlled by the Hafel Clan? Then again, if I force it, that will only generate grudges against them. No, first of all, would the Hafel Clan be able to pull it off? I might be giving up the Aite and Wesdin Regions in exchange for nothing if the Hafel Clan fails to stop the Demon Beast Army.'

Eventually, Fikin shook his head and gave up the idea. He'll just tell the other clans that they should hold back at all costs until their fight against Phex's group was over. If they succeeded in driving the Stage Nine Demon Beasts away, the rest would be easy to solve with their power as Transition Realm cultivators.

However... Fikin couldn't help but feel like something was off. 'I can't drive out this feeling that something isn't right about the demon beasts' actions. Are they really only trying to keep us busy while that human conquers the Humk, Freten, and Gargoc Regions? They're the ones coming at us, so we have the terrain advantage. Not to mention that we definitely have more resources on top of that, so why?'

However, it was then that he noticed a problem. 'Wait! I've been counting on the fact that we have more resources to fight longer. If it continues out like this, we will definitely win. Yet, what if the demon beasts have some way of recovering that we don't know of?'

Fikin then thought about the conditions of Phex's group. He hadn't analyzed them deeply before since he could still see the injuries from the previous days. It truly looked like they were accumulating. 'Hmm... I'll pay closer attention to it the next day.'