The Lord Is Too Overbearing

A week after Basil and his supporters entered the Dungeon to hide, Basil asked Estel to meet the Emperor of the Dwarf and the Emperor of the Demi-Human. He asked her to tell them that he wanted to meet them, so they could establish fair and advantageous cooperation.

No matter how strong he would be in the future, Basil wasn't arrogant enough to think he could keep his people alive by himself. He needed allies and, for that, any other race than the human race would be the perfect option.

He had never met any of the supreme leaders of the other races directly, other than Eloreth, neither in this life nor in his past life; however, he was sure they would be willing to cooperate. The Pacifer, after all, had helped every race in the past.

They might not know him yet, nor did they know what he was capable of; however, they wouldn't be insolent enough to ignore the request for aid from the descendant of their benefactors. This was what Basil thought and he was half correct.

Out of the two Estel had invited, only one paid any mind to the invitation. The Demi-Human Emperor found the idea of helping him ludicrous, ignoring the fact that he was fighting for the Pacifer...in a way.

"You are tall...and big," Heragon Axellin, the Emperor of the Dwarf remarked as he looked up at Basil. "When Siofra said you were a nineteen-year-old young man, I expected you to look naïve and...fragile. This is a very pleasant surprise."

Heragon barely reached Basil's waist when he stood straightly; he was 158 centimetres tall, which was very tall for a Dwarf. What made him fearsome, other than his face that was decorated with scars and an eternal frown, was his physique which was a half times burlier than Basil's.

Such was the trait of Dwarves. They were short but ludicrously powerful and Heragon was the most powerful amongst others.

"Let's shake hands, young man." Heragon extended his hand casually, ignoring the urge to treat Basil with respect.

Basil extended his hand and Heragon immediately snatched it. In the next moment, Heragon grasped Basil's hand as powerfully as he could, causing the veins in his arm to become more prominent and his muscles to contract.

The air between the two exploded, showing how powerful Heragon's grasp was. The spectators, namely, Estel and Siofra looked at the two in worry as they were afraid an unnecessary brawl would ensue soon after.

Paying no mind to the elderly Elves' concern, Heragon smirked. "Young man...you are formidable, aren't you?"

He couldn't grasp Basil's hand any tighter but he still couldn't crush it. Basil didn't even show any change of reaction, so it was as bewildering as it was astonishing for him.

"I am clept Basil Pacifer," Basil said calmly.

"Oh, I am called Heragon Axellin. Nice to meet you, Lord Pacifer," Heragon replied with a smile.

"Very well, 'tis time to let go of my hand, dost thou agree not?"

"Why don't you--"

Heragon couldn't finish his sentence as his attention was attracted to his hand. He was about to taunt Basil by saying he could try to free his hand from his grasp himself but Basil did that even before he said that.

What made it bewildering for him, though, was the fact that Basil could casually open his hand as if nothing was hindering it. He did it without utilizing a slight amount of Mana, which was absurd for Heragon since he didn't believe a human would possess that much raw physical strength.

Boom!

When Basil managed to free his hand, Heragon's hand grasped nothing but air. The air exploded a little louder this time since it fully took the impact of his grasp.

Moving his attention from his hand to Basil, Heragon stayed silent for a few seconds. He looked deeply into Basil's eyes before laughing boisterously afterwards.

"Ku-Ha-Ha! A formidable young man indeed. Formidable! Come, sit with me. Let me hear what you are proposing, Lord Basil."

At Heragon's gesture, Basil nodded his head lightly meanwhile the two elderly Elves sighed in relief. He then sat before Heragon as the two Elders stood behind the chair he was sitting on.

"Tell me about it, Lord Basil."

"I need thy help."

Humming to himself as he scratched his chin, Heragon remarked, "I think I prefer talking with Basil Pacifer than the Lord Basil Pacifer. Do I have the chance to?" The question caught Siofra and Estel off guard but Basil didn't even blink as he deactivated his Pacifer Seal. "Now, that looks better."

"Was it repulsive--the way I talked?" Basil asked.

"No. That sounded normal to me. Back then humans did speak like that and I did too at one point. It is still shocking, though, that such a young man has such an old taste." Heragon smiled. "I believe, though, it comes out, not because you want it. Am I wrong?"

"I neither want it nor repel it. I just let it flow."

"Because it is a good façade, no?" Heragon laughed softly but deeply. "I want to know you better, Basil Pacifer. Your Lord Basil Pacifer persona is still you but I want to know you as a person, not as a leader."

"I like to believe that I remain myself no matter what role I assume but I won't refute your statement."

Basil couldn't activate his Pacifer Seal without being connected to the Fragments inside him. He had tried many methods, only to be met with utter failure.

Whenever he was connected to the Fragments inside him, he would feel like he was himself and not himself at the same time. He could control his emotion, so he didn't behave overly merciful and warm; however, he had never tried to reign over his mannerism and speech.

At first, he still considered it him being himself by not caring about those that didn't bring him harm. After so long, he had gotten used to behaving that way. That persona of him had become his other self and he didn't even realize it. He had gotten comfortable with it because he could hide his true self behind it.

Like what Heragon said, it was but a façade.

"Teenagers have it rough, eh? Do you still think that you have to suit yourself to the situation?" Heragon chuckled in amusement. "Just be yourself, Basil. People follow you not because they deem you worthy as a leader but because they believe in you."

"...I will keep that in mind." Basil nodded his head calmly, whilst inwardly cursing his teenage hormones for making him do things that he used to do in the past: allowing the situation to determine how he behaved. 'That is not overbearing at all. Hmph!'

...apparently, the person himself had realized that he was overbearing.

"Now that I am already talking to you, what are you proposing?"

"The guarantee of the Dwarf's existence."

"Hah!"

Basil's sure and decisive answer made it hard for Heragon to hold back his amusement. He knew brazen Basil was but he didn't Basil to say that in the slightest.

"Aren't you too confident to say something like that? Don't you realize where you are standing right now?"

"I am standing before the world that is ready to pounce on me. I have allies and I need more to protect the existing ones."

"So, you are saying that you need sour involvement just because you want to minimize the loss the Pacifer and the Elf will suffer?" Heragon quirked his eyebrow as he glanced at Siofra and Estel.

"That is the case indeed."

Heragon scuffed in amusement but not in a hostile way. "What will you do if I don't help, Basil?"

"Given how things are developing, the Elves will end up on the brink of extinction, meanwhile I and my soon-to-be wife will be the last Pacifers in this world. Of course, I shall have won by that time and none but the remaining Elves and my soon-to-be-wife will be alive."

"That sounds like a threat," Heragon commented with a smile as he leaned forward. "Tell me, Basil Pacifer, what is your end goal?"

"To create a world where those I dear can live happily without worrying for their lives."

"No, no, no. That is not what I mean." Heragon shook his head. "I know you have something bigger to achieve."

Basil stared at Heragon silently as Heragon's grin got wider. He didn't know what Heragon expected but he seemed to be very excited to hear it. He wondered if he should say it due to the nature of the answer. In the end, however, he decided it would be amusing to see Heragon's unamused look.

"I want to set my foot on the Heavenly Throne and send who caused my misery to oblivion."

Contrary to his expectation, Heragon chortled excitedly while slapping his thighs. Heragon stood up and then held his shoulders in vigour.

"Let us, Dwarves, ride on your boat. We want to see the day when you pull those bastards above down to the realm of mortals. I can't wait to smite those bastards' heads."

Dwarves didn't worship any Gods written in the history of the world; however, they believed in Gods. Dwarves had existed since the Age of Gods. They had coexisted with Gods until, one day, they were left behind when the Heavenly Throne was found.

Gods were said to be fond of Dwarves because they had great craftsmanship. Many of the Gods had asked the Dwarves to forge their weapons, so their relationship could be considered good.

That was, however, until Hephaestus, who got jealous of the Dwarf's craftsmanship accused their Prince, Fafnir of being a greedy hoarder after killing his father.

Said Prince was Cursed and turned into a Dragon before being sealed in the golden mine deep inside the earth, much to the Dwarf's dissatisfaction. This was the reason why they lived underground and kept mining; they wanted to find their wronged Prince.

Ever since then, their relationship strained. It got even worse when Gods found a new realm and left the Dwarf behind, who had done much for them.

"I need to remind you that we may find ourselves having the same enemy," Basil said matter-of-factly.

"It is fine. I am not that vengeful to kill all of them. Ha-Ha-Ha!"

Basil just wanted to figure out who gave him the chance to live the second time--who the mastermind of the grand scheme was. As long as none of the Gods was hostile toward him, he didn't find it necessary to make enemies with all of them.

When they acted up, of course, he would bring the Age of Gods to an end...for real this time. Just like that, a new faction was established.