Vega did not like the tone which Max used to address him.
He did not like the fact that his fear in the little man's heart was less than the pride he had in himself, which made him lash out at Vega.
He was not afraid of retaliation for killing Max, sure, Hazriel would hate him, maybe his brother's allies as he said would cut economic ties with his territory and he would lose some of his economic prowess, but he was assured that he could weather through that storm.
He was a tier7 god with a very powerful army, nobody could provoke him easily, not even the monarchs.
To take his land, they would need to sacrifice a lot and make enemies with many vampire clans who were close allies with him.
It would be troublesome but it was not a deterrent for Vega to spare Max.
Only if his brother was alive and at the helm of the True Elites Kingdom, would Vega truly be scared to touch Max, because Shakuni the terrifying was one madman no one wanted to cross.
Yet, knowing all these facts Vega did not want to kill Max for one simple reason, which was the fact that his hatred for Regus Aurelius was far more terrifying than his annoyance at Max's attitude.
" Hmmm, you are sure conceited boy to call me a hypocrite, I'm stating facts here, if you think becoming a god is easy you are in for a HUGE reality check.
I'm not scared of your background, not scared of your newborn nephew's or weakling friends, I can crush them with my eyes closed.
The only reason I'm sparing you today, Is because my hatred for Regus Aurelius in this world trumps everything.
Your existence will make him suffer, just him knowing that you are alive and kicking will give him sleepless nights.
Whether or not you can become king is a secondary matter, what you can do is bring misery to Regus Aurelius and for that reason and THAT reason only I'm going to give you a chance at life ". Vega said as he flicked his finger and sent Max flying towards the shut door of the courtroom as Max collided against the door with force and fell on his knees completely winded.
-1,200
" You listen to me now boy, and you listen to me well. I'm going to become your greatest backer from now on, so despite your rash attitude towards me in private, In public you will behave like I'm your long lost father you understand? " Vega instructed Max in a stern tone as Max nodded despite having the wind knocked out of his lungs.
" Today at the banquet, we will raise the issue of why your immediate superior rejected your request for reinforcements on grounds of ' Insufficient forces ' when we have hundreds of thousands of soldiers deployed on the planet Maralago.
We will try to frame Regus Aurelius infront of all the clan leaders for being selfish and deliberately wanting to continue the conflict at borders so that he can have an upper hand over every military in every clan.
Naturally the blame will roll down to one of his men who will become scapegoats of the event, but it will leave Regus exposed and vulnerable when I make my move against him.
If I do my job correctly, he will ask you for a reward of your choice, to save face in front of all clan leaders, and you will choose the opportunity to attack Kingsman Clan and become their lord if you win as your reward.
Regus will have to agree, and then I will reward you with 50,000 Titus clan troops to kick-start your army.
Consider it my reward for your cause to become lord, and don't you ever call me a hypocrite again.
If you want to become king someday then today will be a very valuable lesson for you, as you will see and learn that not every battle is fought on the battlefield and politics is as big of a part in becoming a king as is military might and good governance.
Many clans will try curry favour with the rising star, try to know your background, but you must stick close to the Titus clan, and send all the credit of your victory our way.
Impress me thoroughly, keep your mind open and use that glib tongue of yours to frustrate Regus Aurelius.
Do everything right and at the end I might just forgive you for the fiasco today" Vega said as he snapped his fingers and retrieved an artefact from his inventory.
" Here boy, wear this ring " Vega said as he tossed the ring towards Max who felt confused as to why he was given an artefact.
[ Concealer ring ] ( Divine ) - A ring forged by the dwarf god of blacksmithing himself for the vampire king Rumi Titus as a sign of friendship.
Gives the bearer complete concealment from all inspecting eyes uptil tier9.
Max trembled as he put on the ring, it was a divine artefact, one that would hide his stats from even a monarch like Regus Aurelius.
" You have too many secrets that will be detrimental if Regus Aurelius finds out.
So along with your mask, wear this ring for tonight's banquet.
That way you won't be exposed " Vega said as Max bowed in front of him respectfully for him to be this caring.
" I'm only lending it to you, this is my father's priceless treasure, you are not getting this forever" Vega said, making it clear that this favour was for the banquet tonight only.
" I'll make sure to return it to you without losing it " Max said, assuring Vega that he will keep it safe.
" Hmm, fine go now, a tailor will be waiting outside for you, go get clothes sewn that fit you, something regal, something matching your future stature as lord.
And remember, when people ask you about how you did the impossible and captured the fort with 5 men, don't mention that you kids have dragons as pets.
While I have a strong heart and don't care, there will be many low level clan leaders who don't have the luxury to buy a decent flying pet.
A dragon is basically a dream for them.
Don't hurt their feelings unnecessarily ". Vega said as he dismissed Max for now
" I'll keep that in mind " Max said as he left the courtroom and was immediately escorted by the royal tailor to the stitching room where his measurements were taken and work was started on his clothes for the banquet tonight.
Max had a lot to ponder upon after he left the courtroom as he realised that tonight the banquet was going to be a much more complicated event than he ever imagined.
High level politics, fake comments, backroom discussions, alliances, everything would be happening at once and he would be at the centre of it all.
He would finally meet with the vampire king himself, the infamous Regus Aurelius the tier8 monarch alongside all the major clan leaders of every vampire clan.
While today he was only going to the banquet as a minor figure, but one day he was going to host the banquet as the king. He was sure of it!
************
( Meanwhile at the shrine of the unnamed god )
" Master, I have some news about the lines of fate, they are shifting fast- " Hazriel said as she waited patiently in front of the shrine of the unnamed god inside heaven.
The unnamed god was the teacher of all 7 archangels, including the fallen angel Lucifer.
Across the entire universe, there were only 2 shrines of the unnamed god.
One was inside heaven, accessible by only the 6 archangels living inside heaven.
And the other was on the planet of life, where Beniogre resided.
While every god's shrine was special, the unnamed god's shrine was the only way to have a direct communication with the god, as the hermit god had no permanent residence where one could find him, and the only way to contact him was through these shrines.
[ I have noticed the fate lines changing my child, a major part of it is because of my future master Shakuni, I think he has already broken past the tier8 barrier while reconstructing his body.
I fear there will be mayhem in the universe on an unprecedented scale the day he finally returns ] a voice replied as Hazriel immediately identified it as the voice of her master.
" While a major part of it is because of your chosen reincarnator, a minor part of it is because of mine.
I don't know what choice he made today, but his future has become murky, I can't see his path clearly anymore " Hazriel complained as she felt anxious because of not being able to peer into Max's future.
[ If you can't look into his future then his karmic value has reached a point where you can no longer manipulate his life.
From this point onwards, consider him to be on his own.
Rejoice, your student has successfully graduated ] the voice replied as Hazriel felt uneasy hearing the reply.
The time for her to meet him again was growing closer and closer, yet at this critical juncture she could now no longer look at Max's future, which meant that she could no longer reinforce his choices to nudge him in the right direction like she did by writing a letter to the Titus clan leader Rumi Titus.
If she had not written that letter, Max would need to go through many difficulties to reach his lordship, however, Hazriel mediated to make his path easier, however with her no longer having that ability -
He was truly on his own now.