Chapter 1010: Isn’t that a good deal?

“Did you know this would happen?”

That was the first question Arabel asked as soon as Darkia appeared on the screen.

“I’m very glad to see you too, Arabel,” Darkia replied in her unusual monotone voice, greeting her with an unchanging smile on her face.

“Oh, Idan, and you’re here, hello, hello. How are you doing? How was the journey through the Fire Anomaly?”

Instead of answering, Idan took Arabel’s hands.

“Relax. That’s exactly what she wants, and she’s playing on your emotions.”

When he was sure Arabel had taken his words into account, he turned to the screen.

“Hello, Darkia.”

“To answer your question, I had a great time in the Fire Anomaly.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, answer my wife’s question.”

“Heh,” — Darkia grinned, looking around the audience. She knew everyone because of Arabel’s memories and her spy in her mind. However, the same could not be said for others who saw her for the first time.

“Maybe,” she replied with a smile. “Or maybe not.”

Then her smile disappeared and she repeated the same words as before.:

“I see no reason to share this with someone who doesn’t trust me.”

Darkia seemed deeply hurt by Arabel’s earlier statement that she didn’t trust her.

Which was surprising in Idan’s eyes, considering that Darkia was a Dark System.

“Let’s get down to business. Have you considered my offer?” asked Darkia and clarified, “I am offering the help of my people in exchange for a portion of the Seeds of law.”

“I know that you have received the seeds that are not ripe yet, so I will wait until you have fully ripe ones.”

Arabel was most offended by her words, because she could only find out about it thanks to that little creature that lives in her head.

“As for the specific help of my people, in addition to them, I offer you my network of portal systems that I have been working on lately.”

“A network of portals?” said Arabel in surprise, finally speaking.

Seeing Arabel’s interest, Darkia’s smile returned to her face.

“Ask Leo to accept the file from my people, and you’ll see everything.”

Leo received the data from the Eye of the Web without a command, and his eyes widened in amazement. After a short pause, he drew several dots on a large holographic map.

“This is…” exclaimed Idan, Arabel, and everyone else, startled by what they saw.

“These are the places where my people have set up portals,” Darkia explained, enjoying Idan and Arabel’s reaction.

The points where they saw fell on a part of the cities that were just in the path of the moving waves of beasts.

This once again confirmed that Darkia had foreseen this outcome of events and had begun to prepare for it in advance.

“Isn’t that a good deal?” asked Darkia, turning to Idan and Arabel.

“I offer you the opportunity to quickly come to the rescue, as well as send some of my people to the cities to protect them from the waves of beasts.”

“In exchange, I only ask for a few law seeds.”

“What is more important to you: to save civilians or to preserve the seeds of the law?”

Knowing about these portals and the fact that it was possible to quickly come to the rescue and save people, Arabel and Idan did not hesitate for long.

“Okay, we agree, but I have an additional condition,” Idan said.

“Oh, and what is that condition?” asked Darkia, clearly interested.

“Release and release Nathan, Rachel, and Crowey.”

Darka’s smile widened.

“Ah, Idan, haven’t you thought about the fact that they might be under my command of their own free will? Have you asked them about it?”

Idan shook his head.

“I don’t need to ask about it. There may be people who seek power and are willing to sell their soul to the devil, but from what I know about Nathan, Rachel, and Crowey, I’m sure their pride wouldn’t allow them to come to you of their own free will.”

“Heh, didn’t I tell you that I like you?” laughed Darkia, and her laugh sounded quite unusual.𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Arabel immediately looked at her seriously and angrily, which only increased Darkia’s amusement.

The rest of the participants watched their interaction in silence and with interest, without interfering and noticing how Darkia was playing with Arabel’s emotions.

“Just these three and no one else? Do you want to save this girl as well?” asked Darkia, pointing at herself.

“I am not so bold as to demand more. I doubt you can let those three go anyway,” Idan replied to her question.

“You know, Idan, you need to be more persistent and straightforward.”

“Actually, I would have thought about it and maybe even agreed. But unfortunately, we won’t find out.”

After a short pause, Darkia said:

“Okay, if that’s what you want, Idan, I’ll give in and release Nathan and Crowe.”

Idan raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked:

“Just the two of them?”

“Yes, because of the three you mentioned, only these two are in my power. As for Rachel, it wasn’t necessary.”

“By subjugating Nathan, you drew her to you.”, — Arabel guessed.

“Exactly. No matter how you look at it, they’re husband and wife, and they really love each other. And it so happened that I had enough power over one to make the other bow down to me.”

These words made a particularly strong impression on Idan and Arabel, and they looked at each other with concern. If Darkia could subdue Arabel, would Idan bow to her?

Arabel wondered the same thing. If Darkia subdues Idan, will she surrender?

Both of them not only didn’t want to answer this question, but they also didn’t want to be in a similar situation.

Then Darkia, promising to provide the exact coordinates of the portals as soon as they were ready, ended the conversation.

“To be honest, this Darkia makes a strong impression,” Sierra interrupted the silence.

“She’s very dangerous,” Milisa said. “Especially for you, Arabel.”

As sad as it was to admit, Arabel nodded in agreement with this observation. Darkia knew everything about her, so it was easy for her to manipulate and play with her.

“And now what?” asked Eulalia. “Split up into groups and defend the cities?”

“Yes,” Idan nodded, carefully examining the map and counting the number of cities.

Fortunately, there weren’t many of them.

“It will take time for the Beasts to reach the capital, and the Federation and the Awakened Associations will have already prepared by then. So we don’t have to worry about the capital and the cities closest to it. Our main task is the cities that are closest to the wave of beasts and which will be attacked first.”

Everyone agreed that the Kingdom should not take on all the responsibility. They are not the only masters of this world; there are other powerful forces.

After a quick discussion, it was decided to form several groups, and everyone dispersed. Idan and Arabel moved aside to talk.

“Belle, you already realize that there is already a huge ‘target’ on the Kingdom’s back due to the gifts of the Tree and our actions on Anomalies. Our location is not a secret, and sooner or later many will unite and attack us.”

“Yes, we have Sierra, Master and Lucinda, and we are able to protect ourselves. But if a major battle starts, the Kingdom’s barrier may not be able to withstand, and then everything we’ve achieved so far will be in jeopardy.”

Arabel nodded, sharing Idan’s concern. Yes, they were strong, but the same couldn’t be said about the barrier. If they besiege and destroy the barrier, then the interior of the Kingdom will be in danger.

“And what do you suggest?”

“I want you to do something,” Idan replied and started explaining what exactly it was.

In the end, he said, “For our own safety, the Kingdom can no longer stay on Earth.”