Daniel and Varnos glanced at Lana. She wasn’t even trying to hide her emotions, and her anger was clearly visible on her face.
It was obvious that she was angry, and the reason for it was just as obvious.
"You didn’t have to do that if you didn’t want to take me with you. You could have just said it," Lana said in a cold tone. She knew her father had done it for her own good.
But it was still wrong. A stupid mistake that only made her angry.
"The Goblin Guild was a dangerous place. I couldn’t allow you to come, and I’m sure you wouldn’t have accepted no as an answer."
"Then why did you take Daniel with you? Isn’t it dangerous for him? Even if it was, I wanted to be by your side! If something happened, we would face it together!"
"Daniel is strong enough to defend himself, but you’re not. And it’s a good thing I didn’t take you, because I might have returned without you," Varnos said calmly, ignoring his daughter’s shouting.
Lana wasn’t strong enough to defend herself against the Goblin Guild. If she had been at that ceremony today, she would have either been killed or seriously injured.
He had already lost the love of his life. He didn’t want to lose his child too. He couldn’t endure the death of another loved one.
"What do you mean? What happened? Why did you even declare an emergency?" Lana asked with worry and confusion.
Varnos and Daniel exchanged a glance. The former said nothing, and the latter explained a summary of what had happened during the ceremony.
As Lana listened, she became more and more shocked and angry. She sat down on a chair, not knowing what to say, and the room fell into silence for a long time.
"So the successor of the Goblin Guild was killed by you during his own ceremony, and now the Goblin Guild might attack us at any moment?"
"I didn’t want to kill him, but that damn array disrupted my mind. It’s possible all of this was a plan to give the Goblin Guild a reason to attack us," Daniel added.
"They would sacrifice their own treasure just to find an excuse for war? I don’t think so. That’s a huge loss for them. I’ve looked into that boy, and he really is a genius. It’s unlikely they would do something like that," Varnos rejected that possibility.
"Then why did that array disrupt my mind at that moment and make me use more power by mistake? It could have been an accident, or...?"
Suddenly, it was as if an idea came to his mind, and he fell silent.
What if this was the will of that demi-god behind the scenes?
If that was the case, didn’t it mean that even the Goblin Guild were just puppets and chess pieces being used without even realizing it?
"Does it even matter? You killed him! And many people witnessed it with their own eyes. Now we have to expect an attack from those bastards at any moment," Lana said, holding her head.
She wasn’t angry at Daniel or her father. It was obvious that all of this was the Goblin Guild’s plan, so how could she blame them for it?
Still, she was furious that those bastards from the Goblin Guild had dared to come up with such a vile plan against them.
"What’s done is done. Sooner or later, we were going to clash with them. All this time, they were trying to destroy us through media influence, and now it’s clear that today was their goal," Varnos said.
"Now that we’re involved, we can’t back down," he added as he stood up.
"It’s time. We have to announce the situation to the entire guild."
Without waiting for their responses, he left the room and headed toward the elevator.
Daniel and Lana exchanged a glance and silently followed behind him.
Inside the large hall, there was space for thousands of people, though there were no seats, only standing room.
A grand platform stood at the front, and a large crowd had gathered before it. From the newest and weakest Awakened members of the guild to the strongest and highest-ranking officials of the Everlight Moon Guild, everyone was there.
Under normal circumstances, it wasn’t easy to see so many Awakened of this level gathered in one place, but today, at this moment, they stood together.
And it was for one reason: the declaration of an emergency.
An announcement that was only sent when the guild was in a critical situation.
"What do you think happened for the leader to declare an emergency?"
"I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I last saw something like this."
"I don’t even remember ever seeing such an announcement. Something serious must have happened."
"Could it be something really bad? Maybe a very dangerous dungeon had a dimensional break?"
"I doubt it, unless it’s something like the Apocalypse Rider dungeon."
The noise died down as Varnos appeared with the two behind him. He stepped onto the platform and looked over the entire crowd.
He didn’t start speaking immediately and waited until all attention was focused on him.
Daniel and Lana stood among the front row.
"All of you must be wondering why we have gathered here today!"
"The reason is simple--war!"
The eyes of the crowd widened. It was something none of them had expected.
War? But with whom?
"Today, the Goblin Guild used underhanded tricks to poison me and attempted to kill me. Their plan failed, and in the middle of it, their own successor lost his life."
"However, this matter will not end so easily. Neither will they back down, nor will we. If we retreat, they will think we are afraid, and they will definitely attack with full force to destroy us."
"This is a goal they have had for a long time, and now they have finally revealed their claws. And we must respond decisively!"
Varnos’s loud and clear voice echoed in everyone’s ears as he explained a summary of what had happened during the Goblin Guild’s succession ceremony.
How they had been poisoned and how they were attacked by those shameless bastards.
Of course, he had to slightly adjust the story.
Especially James’s death. But not too much, the changes were minor, and there was no need to distort things heavily. From the beginning, it was clear that everything was the Goblin Guild’s fault.
His words managed to ignite the anger of the guild members. After hearing their leader’s explanation, their blood began to boil.
How did those bastards dare to come up with such a plan against them?
Even though they didn’t want war, they weren’t afraid of it, and they were ready to protect their guild.
As he continued his speech, he suddenly felt numerous powerful auras approaching their territory one after another.
An army.
A powerful army of Awakened was approaching the Everlight Moon Guild, and he sensed it through his divine perception.
Suddenly, one of the guild guards rushed inside, interrupting his speech. He saluted respectfully and, while breathing heavily, delivered alarming news:
"A large army! A large army has surrounded the entire guild!"
They had finally arrived.