(Leo's POV)
Leo was genuinely surprised to see Luke arrive alongside PinkLotus, as he half expected Luke to stay away from this conflict knowing that he might have to face his ex-guild members and friends.
However, while Leo was surprised that Luke came, he was even more surprised to see him arrive with a spark in his eyes, as his demeanor looked absolutely focused and his eyes seemed to be brimming with determination.
"I'm glad you came, brother… though I hope you don't chicken out at the last minute," Leo said, his tone half-teasing, half-serious, as Luke merely shrugged in response, looking utterly unfazed by the remark.
"I've thought this through carefully, and I'm certain this isn't a rash decision," Luke began, his voice steady and resolute. "I've severed my ties with the DarkSky Guild—I'm my own player now, free to make my own choices and today, I've chosen to stand by my brother, and that's all that matters.
If my old guildmates are upset or feel betrayed by my actions, that's their burden to bear, not mine. You can't live a free life if you're always worrying about what others think of you. I know what I'm doing, and I'm ready to face whatever consequences come my way," he declared with conviction, leaving Leo momentarily at a loss for words.
'Is this really my brother?' Leo wondered as he knew exactly how Luke had always been a chronic people-pleaser, which made this transformation today all the more remarkable.
It was a testament to just how much Luke had grown as an individual, and it made Leo feel untold emotions.
"Come here," Leo said, pulling Luke into a bear hug as a tear of pride slipped down his cheek.
For Leo, he hadn't felt this proud of Luke since the day he earned his first money and used it to buy a small gift for both Elena and Leo.
Back then, that day had been special because it was the day Luke graduated from being a dependent in the house to becoming the man of the house, which was a transformation Leo remembered vividly.
And now, that same feeling of pride surged through Leo once more, as his brother seemed to have taken another leap forward—this time from being a habitual people-pleaser to standing tall as his own man.
"You're ready!" Leo said, patting his brother's shoulders, as Luke looked at him like Leo had perhaps lost his mind.
*Cough*
*Cough*
Coughing ever so slightly, PinkLotus drew some attention to herself at this time, as although Leo usually did not like her much, today he felt unusually generous.
"Oh come here you–, you're the biggest change in my brother's life, I know you made this happen" Leo said, as he walked over to PinkLotus and enveloped his arms around her in a hug, which absolutely bewildered PinkLotus.
Unlike Luke, she did not put her arms around Leo when he hugged her, however, she did not push him away either.
If it were a pervert who tried to do this, she would have probably cut him down to small pieces, however, PinkLotus knew Leo was not a pervert.
Infact, Leo was not even a very emotional guy in general, as his usual expression when looking at PinkLotus was one of disgust, which made this sudden burst of love even more absurd for her.
"Thank You…. Thank You" Leo mumbled before pulling away, as PinkLotus stood there stunned, unable to process what was going on for many seconds.
Then, eventually a shiver ran through her body making her tremble violently, as goosebumps ran over all her skin.
'Did 'TheBoss' just hug me?' she wondered, as it seemed to be the most absurd experience of her life.
"Lord Father…. I approve your choice in a breeding mate, that one has good proportions, but perhaps we should fatten her up slightly more to make her perfect–" Dumpy said from a distance, as for him, it was the first time he witnessed Leo showing affection to a woman of the opposite gender.
"Fool, this woman is not for me… it's for my brother" Leo replied, making both PinkLotus and Luke's face flush red, as although both had some feelings for each other, they were still not in the openly accepting phase of what their relationship was.
"When did I ever tell you she's mine? You'll make her misunderstand…. Alia, I've never… that, it's not me" Luke said, trying to clarify, as his words only made PinkLotus turn even more red.
"It's not me either…. Your brother doesn't talk to me at all in private and turns his face away from me when I come visit" PinkLotus clarified, as Leo squinted his eyes and judged the atmosphere between the two.
"So you're telling me…. You guys train together everyday…. Spending hours online in a remote first. A man and a woman, and then you visit each other in real life twice or thrice a week…. But you're not dating?" Leo asked, as if it was the most absurd thing ever, as Luke smacked him hard on the head.
"No you fool, we are not!" Luke replied, as instantly Dumpy came charging from a distance and pointed his sword a couple feet away from Luke's face.
"Hit Lord Father again and I will cut you down, even if Lord Father calls you family" Dumpy said threateningly, as Luke instantly raised an eyebrow in response.
"Oh really now?" He said in a surprise voice, as he pulled out his own sword, looking Dumpy straight in the eye.
"You don't scare me… Frog" Luke said, as Dumpy grew to his full massive 45 feet tall size in response.
"Don't test my patience…. Puny human" Dumpy replied, as Leo immediately stepped between the two and pointed his palms out towards both.
"I think that's enough…. We will have plenty of enemies to kill soon, there's absolutely no need to point swords at one another" Leo said, as Dumpy shrunk back down immediately.
"As you command Lord Father" he said, bowing his head in subservience as Leo patted him lovingly.
Meanwhile, Luke also sheathed his sword and glanced towards PinkLotus, who still looked slightly flushed from the previous conversation.
Luke coughed, and averted eye contact once again, as he just began to hope that the awkward atmosphere would pass soon enough.
Thankfully because of his scuffle with Dumpy, the worse had already passed and Leo now seemed more keen on getting a move on rather than lingering on the topic of his and PinkLotus's relationship.
"We will attack Gatusso town first…. It's just an hour's walk from here, but we'll get there in 15 minutes if we ride Dumpy…." Leo said, as both PinkLotus and Luke seemed surprised by his decision.
"Gatusso Town? But aren't we headed to Bernabeu City to fight with the Whitesabers?" PinkLotus asked as Leo wagged his index finger to signal a 'No'.
"Cervantez probably already knows that the WhiteSabers are marching with their full strength towards Bernabeu, it's dumb to join them where they're prepared.
I'm thinking we hit them in safe areas where they must have pulled their troops from, such as Gatusso, because although it's a big town it's of not much strategic importance because of its geographical location.
The defences there will be low and routing the defending DarkSky guild forces there will destabilize the region" Leo said, as his words seemed to be oddly convincing for PinkLotus to hear.
Although on one hand, if WhiteSabers lost in the main war, the victory or defeat as Gatusso was not going to matter much, on the other hand what Leo theorized was not wrong as well.
If their goal was to win the war, attacking Gatusso was a dumb choice, however, if their only intention was to destabilize and cause chaos, it was the easiest and juiciest target.
"But what about the main war?" Luke asked, as Leo flicked his hair up with a swagger.
"I don't care about the main war…. I just want to see the DarkSky guild humiliated and burned.
In my understanding, the war for Bernabeu is unlikely to conclude in a single day, it will at least go on for a few, giving us enough time to join them later if we want, or not join them at all if we don't.
Depending on how the war progresses, we can make the best decision on what's good for us" Leo said, as his POV really enlightened Luke on how to think.
As a logical and by-the-book strategist, Luke could never come up with a strategy as crazy as Leo, as it was not the most sound one to win the war.
However, it was somehow petty, genius and shady at the same time, putting Luke at a loss of words on how to describe it.
"Climb on Dumpy, we leave now–" Leo instructed as he himself climbed onto Dumpy's right shoulder, and once Luke and Alia climbed on his left, Dumpy leapt into the sky, heading straight for Gatusso town.