As soon as the two of them arrived, the area around the table suddenly fell into complete silence. Anyone with open eyes could see how tense the situation had become.
Strangely, the air turned cold, and all the smiles on their faces vanished.
"How rude. Shouldn’t you greet me right now?" Alaric looked at them and said. No emotion was visible on his face.
But you could feel the sarcasm in his tone.
"I only greet humans and animals," Varnos replied calmly. He didn’t look like someone who was about to go insane at any second.
Daniel let out a relieved sigh when he saw this. It seemed his guild leader had managed to find a way to control his emotions from yesterday until now.
He just hoped this control would last longer and they wouldn’t fall into the trap too soon.
"Hahaha, so you’re saying I’m neither human nor animal? Then what am I? A god?" Alaric said in a smug tone, as if the insult didn’t bother him at all.
"Something lower than an animal."
Alaric’s face turned cold again after hearing that reply, but it seemed the Goblin Guild leader was also trying to control himself, or at least he didn’t see the need for violence yet.
"My brother, even after you attacked him, still kindly invited you to this ceremony out of the goodness of his heart. And not only do you not thank him, you insult him too? Tsk tsk, how trashy," Jason, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
However, his words weren’t directed at them, they were meant for everyone else around. And it worked perfectly. Every single person’s gaze fell on them.
Their eyes moved back and forth between Varnos and Alaric, as if they didn’t know what decision to make. But no matter what, from their point of view, what the leader of Everlight Moon Guild did was wrong.
"I came today to welcome you. I wanted to show you the way," Varnos said for the first time with a smile, pointing upward with his finger.
However, for a moment the others didn’t understand what he meant.
The ceiling? The upper floor of the building? Or...? Some people realized it faster, that by "up," he meant the afterlife.
It didn’t take long for everyone to understand. They all drew in a cold breath. This man really had the guts to threaten the leader of the Goblin Guild right inside their own territory?
They really had to admire that Mr. Varnos was genuinely brave. They doubted they themselves would ever have the courage to do something like that.
"Haha, no problem. I wouldn’t mind paying a visit to your dear late wife. Besides, I’m sure she’s lonely right now and could use a man by her side," Alaric didn’t get angry at all. In fact, he started laughing out loud.
However, his reply caused, for a very brief moment, an extremely intense and overwhelming killing intent to burst out. It was so strong it shook the entire palace.
But just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared.
’Calm down and don’t fall into their trap,’ Daniel said through mental communication. Right now, it was him who had instantly suppressed that killing intent toward the man.
Varnos’s eyes were still shining with blood, but he did everything he could to calm himself, at least for now.
"I think your jokes are going a bit too far, Mr. Alaric," Mirael, who had been watching, said coldly. What had just been said was a huge insult to a woman who was like a sister to her. She couldn’t stay silent about it.
"Oh, Lady Mirael, I didn’t even notice you were here. If what I said upset you, I apologize. But it was just friendly banter between the two of us, right?" Alaric turned, flashed a smile at the woman, and said.
Then his gaze returned to Varnos.
Mirael wanted to say something, but suddenly she received a message through mental communication.
’Don’t interfere and get lost.’
She frowned and looked at Varnos. She wanted to help this bastard, but he was still being ungrateful. She couldn’t stand this behavior anymore and left the area.
Rivon, who was standing there, sensed the dangerous atmosphere and decided to step back a little. Even though he and Varnos were good friends, he didn’t want to ruin his guild’s future because of this relationship.
Right now, the future of the Goblin Guild was clear, they would remain the number one in the country, and it wouldn’t be long before they might even become the best in the entire region.
But Everlight Moon Guild? Their future looked average at best. They would either stay at this level or fall.
Another reason he quietly left was because the Goblin Guild leader had just warned him through mental communication to leave the area, and in return, they could talk about cooperation in the future.
"Looks like your cowardly friends abandoned you," Alaric smirked when he saw the scene, feeling a sweet rush of pride and superiority.
"They were never going to get involved in this from the start. This is between us," Varnos nodded. He had expected it.
He himself had told Mirael to leave. As for Rivon, they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and the bond they once had had faded a lot.
"Anyway, I thought you’d bring your daughter too," Alaric then looked at Daniel, who had been silent until now.
He frowned a little. His plan required Lana’s presence. This Daniel was just a side piece, James was supposed to kill him to calm his anger and wash away the grudge.
But whether Daniel was here or not didn’t affect the main plan. Lana’s presence, however, was absolutely necessary for the plan’s success, and now she wasn’t here.
"Something came up and she couldn’t come. In her place, I brought my guild’s treasure," Varnos smiled again and said. From that frown, he could tell the bastard’s plan had been slightly disrupted.
Alaric felt anger when he saw that smile, but he couldn’t say anything.
"How about bringing two glasses of our best wine for our guests?" He turned to Jason and said.
The other nodded and left to carry out the order. Meanwhile, Alaric’s gaze fell back on Varnos.
"The attack on me won’t go unanswered. You’re aware of that, right?"
"Of course. And I’d love to see what you want to do and what you can actually do. Because even if it doesn’t happen today, sooner or later you’re going to die."
As the tension between them kept rising, Jason quickly returned with a tray holding four glasses of wine.
He and his brother each took one glass, then handed the other two to Daniel and Varnos. The two of them looked at the glasses with some suspicion.
But since the glasses had been picked completely randomly and even the two bastards had drunk from their own, they set their suspicion aside and drank them.
At the same time, the hall doors opened once more, and a young man dressed in extremely stylish clothes walked in.
Naturally, it was none other than James, the real star of this ceremony and the heir of the Goblin Guild.