"P—Please wait!" Grandmaster Alice pleaded.

"Our mission towards Neptune's dark side has barely begun, and yet you task us with killing Vespera's troops?! Our teammates?!" Even though she was speaking to a Lord, her voice sounded rightfully angry. The fact this was the first time she was hearing about this enraged her.

Azure's Lord let out a sigh. "Believe me, this isn't happening because I want to."

Several seconds later he added. "Keep in mind there is no need to kill them yourself… Just don't help them if they find themselves in a pinch against the aliens. Simple, right?"

Veins began to bulge over the face of Grandmaster Noah.

"SIR!" The man bellowed. "With all due respect—"

Before the Grandmaster could even voice his objection, the Lord interrupted him.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

Unwilling to elaborate further, the Lord cut the connection.

"..."

An eerie silence stretched, the soldiers staring into empty spaces, having trouble accepting their new reality.

It was particularly cruel considering that Michael's crew had gone towards Celestia with the Vespera's troops, freeing the civilians. They weren't just simple soldiers but brothers in arms.

"FUCK!"

Noah roared, sending a table flying.

"I didn't sign up for this shit!"

Despite the dangers the planet threw at them, they had remained here to fight against the aliens. Not kill their brethren! This was going against their deepest values as soldiers and, more importantly, as humans!

Alice's face turned pale. Having difficulty breathing, she sat on a chair, burying her face in her hands.

"I guess these Lords love to strike chaos on others' experiences." Richard muttered, unamused. Although he had been a prisoner before Michael found him, that didn't mean he took pleasure in killing needlessly.

Bryce's eyes turned sorrowful. "Here I was hoping such scenes would not play out before me anymore…"

Michael remained silent, observing the reaction of the team. Of course he was also taken by surprise by orders.

From what he had observed, Caroline, Vespera's ruler, was on good terms with their Lord. What could be the reason for the sudden change?

Glancing towards his soul weapon, he remarked.

'Do you understand why I got so angry when Caroline tried to manipulate me by using her charm? These Lords don't think much of us… They are a cancer to society and need to be eliminated as soon as people worthy to replace them appear.'

Surprisingly, Devil's Tongue remained quiet. Michael had half-expected for the weapon to laugh joyfully about how it was going to be slaughtering humans.

Apparently the soul weapon had standards.

Seeing that Azure's ranks were about to descend into chaos, Victoria instinctively glanced at Michael. There had been plenty more hopeless cases like this one, which he had managed to overcome with his planning.

Her lips pursed, about to ask for his opinion…

Yet, the words got stuck in her throat.

'Is this really the right thing to do?' She wondered.

Weirdly enough, a Master like herself had full faith in Expert's planning capabilities.

'But…'

Her eyes sharpened to those of a fearless lioness.

'Will I always depend on him when things get difficult? How can I evolve if I never challenge what I deem is beyond me? It's high time to prove, not to my family or my grandfather, but to myself, that I alone am in control of my destiny!'

She has always wanted to be something beyond the granddaughter of Golden Vanguard's leader. Rather than relying on fame gifted from birth, she had to be the one to carve her path forwards!

Shifting her glance towards Azure's troops, she spoke, her voice cutting past the heavy tension like a hot knife through butter.

"I won't accept it."

Due to her calmness, she captured their attention, the Grandmasters included.

"A leader should be somebody that inspires their team, conveys to them their objectives, and takes their opinion into account. Even if in some cases drastic measures are needed, it will never be acceptable to order soldiers to kill their brethren without even bothering to provide an adequate reason!"

Surprised by the raw emotion Victoria was displaying, Michael smiled slightly, deciding to stay away from the spotlight this time.

Perhaps… His efforts were slowly bearing fruit.

"Due to my status as a mere Master, I have been forced to overlook many things, unable to voice my concerns. What the state of the city was when we arrived, the obvious injustice happening all around. However, this is the end. I won't accept the orders of Azure's ruler anymore!"

By the end her voice was laced with primal anger. Rare look considering her normally composed nature.

"For fuck's sake! The person I'm supposed to entrust my life to hasn't even bothered to tell me his name! How am I supposed to follow his lead when he doesn't even try to hide how disposable I am to him?"

Remarkably, Victoria's speech proved to be more effective than anything Michael could have said. The reason for that was simple. Due to being so detached from most things, he could have never put so much raw emotion in his words, grasping the hearts of the others.

'To be able to resonate so effortlessly with others… it appears I was right all along.' Michael nodded in approval.

Once Victoria's speech ended, everybody went quiet. Outright stating that she wasn't going to follow the order of the Lord was bold, yet nobody could disagree with her since they felt the same.

At the end, Grandmaster Noah was the one to break the silence.

"Even if we agree with what you are saying… What are we to do with Vespera's troops? According to the Lord, they should have received the same orders from their ruler. How are we going to deal with them if they don't disobey the words of their Lord?"

Victoria didn't show a trace of hesitation as she met the Grandmaster's piercing gaze.

"I know that we will arrive at a mutual agreement."

A frown appeared on the Grandmaster's face. To him this was nothing more than the hopeful words of a child. Regardless, the truth remained. He didn't want to face Vespera's troops in combat, so he chose to trust her.

"This is the Victoria I know." Evelyn chuckled, patting Victoria's shoulder.

After Azure's troops calmed down, they exited the discussion room.

It seemed that Vespera's troops had already finished consulting with their Lord and were now waiting…

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