Whoosh! As soon as Raon finished speaking, the previously warm atmosphere in the conference room plummeted as if they had entered an ice cave.
"Huh?"
"Join or die? That's too harsh, even for Zieghart!"
"Watch your words! Even the Five Demons wouldn't threaten us like this!"
"Has fame gone to his head? He's lost his mind."
The swordsmen standing behind the Queen of Swords bit their lips and emanated a fierce aura.
"If you had a problem, you should have decided earlier. The situation has changed now."
"Threat? How is giving you a choice a threat?"
"How pathetic..."
Martha, Burren, and Runaan sneered, telling them to assess the situation. As the Light Wind Palace and The Unyielding Blade executives raised their auras in confrontation, blue sparks erupted from the white round table, scorching the ceiling and walls of the conference room black.
"Enough."
The Queen of Swords raised her hand to stop the swordsmen behind her.
"Quiet."
Raon slightly turned his chin to restrain Burren, Martha, and Runaan, who were about to release their Grandmaster's aura.
"..."
The Thespian Emperor said nothing, and the White Whale martial artists behind her remained motionless like dolls.
"Your words are a bit harsh?"
The Queen of Swords sat back down, her eyes cold.
"Did you mean what you just said?"
Unlike when she was flustered by The Fallen's words, she maintained a calm demeanor. It seemed she would listen to everything before making a decision. A mindset befitting a Transcendent.
"I'm sure he meant it. He's not the type to bluff in a place like this."
The Thespian Emperor traced the handle of her teacup with her finger, wearing a faint smile. She seemed to have anticipated this situation.
"Yes, I meant it."
Raon nodded, meeting the Queen of Swords' cold gaze.
"Why?"
The Queen of Swords tilted her chin, as if asking for the reason behind those words.
"I believe our Five Kings, especially Zieghart, have given the Five Divine Orders many opportunities."
Raon placed his hand on the round table, looking at the subdued eyes of the Thespian Emperor and the Queen of Swords.
"What opportunities?"
"You are bound together as five forces under the name of the Five Divine Orders."
Raon continued, glancing at the Five Divine Orders' flag fluttering on the conference room wall.
"Sharing a flag means that a problem for one group is treated as their own by the other four groups."
"That's right. That's what it means."
The Queen of Swords acknowledged his words without hesitation. She seemed to know little but had nothing to hide.
"The Demonblade tried to kill me to erase his own misdeeds, and the Demon Slaying Spear attacked me first when I was trying to protect a friend."
Raon clenched his fist, which had been stained with the blood of the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear.
"Originally, Zieghart and I should have held the Five Divine Orders responsible for the actions of the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear. But I didn't make this public..."
"That's not true."
The Queen of Swords raised her hand towards Raon.
"Those two have already left the Five Divine Orders. This one tried to persuade them to wait a little longer, but they didn't listen and left!"
She frowned, referring to the Thespian Emperor as "this one." Their relationship seemed to be more than just a normal alliance.
"The Demonblade left without telling us and was killed by you, and the Demon Slaying Spear left the Five Divine Orders after the Black Tower collapsed, saying he wanted to feel alive. If we had known they would die like that, we should have stopped them by force and gone to the Five Kings."
The Queen of Swords clicked her tongue, seemingly regretting not stopping the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear.
'Come to think of it...'
Raon briefly licked his lips, looking at the frowning Queen of Swords.
'The Queen of Swords wanted to choose the Five Kings from the beginning.'
He remembered that unlike others, the Queen of Swords had hated the Five Demons from the start and wanted to choose only the Five Kings. However, even if he had a favorable impression of her, the time to overlook this incident had already passed.
"No."
Raon shook his head slowly, to the point of frustration.
"The Five Divine Orders have never officially announced the departure of the Dark Black Lotus and the Martial Society. The same goes for the Pirate King."
"What do you mean..."
The Queen of Swords furrowed her brows as if hearing this for the first time and looked at the Thespian Emperor.
"Is that true?"
"..."
The Thespian Emperor didn't speak, just quietly closed her eyes.
"The reason is obvious without asking. You didn't want the outside world to know that the authority and power of the Five Divine Orders had diminished."
Raon nodded, looking at the Thespian Emperor with her eyes closed.
"The Five Divine Orders was established to stay out of the conflict between the Six Kings and the Five Demons and to reap various benefits from the center. But three of them have left? During a war? From the perspective of the Five Kings and the Five Demons, it's just a meal served ready to eat."
He continued his explanation, looking at the surprised Queen of Swords, as he could read all of the Thespian Emperor's thoughts.
"Honestly, it's not a bad idea. I would have made a similar choice to the Thespian Emperor. However..."
Raon twisted his lips, looking at the Thespian Emperor who had opened her eyes again.
"If you made such a choice, it's right to take responsibility for it. From my and Zieghart's perspective, it's as if we were attacked by the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear, who belong to the Five Divine Orders."
"Hmm..."
The Queen of Swords bit her lip deeply, as if she now understood what he meant.
"That, that's!"
"Even so, it wasn't something we did..."
"We should have said something about this..."
The Unyielding Blade swordsmen shook their clenched fists, seemingly feeling wronged.
"Shut up."
The Queen of Swords lowered her hand, stopping the Unyielding Blade swordsmen from speaking altogether.
"..."
The Thespian Emperor said nothing even after hearing all the facts, just staring at the empty teacup.
"Actually, there's something I don't understand."
Raon looked at the Thespian Emperor sitting directly across from him.
"After experiencing the incident with the Demonblade, why didn't you publicly announce when the Demon Slaying Spear left? You couldn't have been unaware that if the Demon Slaying Spear caused trouble following the Demonblade, the damage would fall entirely on the Five Divine Orders."
The Thespian Emperor he knew was someone who would test even a stone bridge before crossing. He couldn't understand why she repeated the same mistake after being burned once by the Demonblade incident.
"Speak up."
The Queen of Swords seemed to have the same thought as she jerked her chin towards the Thespian Emperor.
"You're right."
The Thespian Emperor lowered her eyebrows as she poured red tea into her cup herself.
"If it were the old me, I would have immediately announced the departure of the Demon Slaying Spear and the Martial Society after the Demonblade was defeated."
She put down the teapot, smiling thinly as if agreeing with Raon's words.
"Then why didn't you do that?"
Raon narrowed his eyes, looking at the Thespian Emperor.
"Did you want to maintain the Five Divine Orders that badly to gain benefits?"
"..."
The Thespian Emperor didn't answer, just staring at the gently rippling teacup.
"On my way here, I heard about your anecdote from him."
Raon pointed at Mekein standing behind the Thespian Emperor.
"After the Five Demons' attack, you used your personal funds to take care of the residents' homes and livelihoods first. The you I know would have done it to mind external eyes and rumors, but there must have been some affection for your people as well."
He sneered, looking down at the vibrant city visible through the conference room window.
"But because of this incident, this city you personally cultivated could have turned into a sea of blood by Zieghart. We had both the power and the justification, so no one could have questioned it."
Raon slowly caught his breath, imagining the worst future.
"Everything you cherished could have crumbled, so why did you make that choice?"
He tilted his chin, telling her to answer now.
"Be honest."
The Queen of Swords slammed her palm on the round table.
"What were you thinking!"
She gritted her molars, demanding a proper explanation.
"Sigh..."
The Thespian Emperor exhaled a long sigh as if exhaling cigarette smoke.
"The Fallen. Yes. It comes to this in the end."
She looked at Raon with a weary smile.
"Alright. I'll be honest this time."
The Thespian Emperor nodded heavily, saying she wouldn't hide anything.
"As you might have noticed, I can read heaven's flow."
She stood up, pulled back her white robe, and placed the book tied to her thigh on the round table.
"Heaven's flow is the future that's already decided and can't be changed. I can read a bit of the future using these Celestial Scriptures."
The Thespian Emperor opened the book called the Celestial Scriptures and flipped to the back.
"But since that day, I haven't been able to see the future properly."
She let out a self-mocking laugh.
"That day?"
The Queen of Swords frowned, as if asking when that was.
"You."
The Thespian Emperor raised her finger to point at Raon.
"After reading Raon Zieghart's heaven's flow, most of the future became blurry."
She lifted the book to show the drawing at the end. Red lines were scattered in all directions on the torn page as if blood had been poured on it, making the book itself look like it was screaming.
"Is that my heaven's flow?"
Raon frowned, looking at the eerie pattern drawn in the book.
"I actually went to Zieghart after reading the heaven's flow. But all the futures I saw were shattered by you. So I came back here to find out who you were. But this is the result."
She exhaled a murky breath, showing the torn page of the Celestial Scriptures again.
"After this, I couldn't tell what I could see or what I could do. Strangely, I could know about the Soul Crystal you were looking for. Anyway, I didn't hesitate to gain benefits, but..."
The Thespian Emperor stared intently at Raon and parted her lips.
"I couldn't make a decision because I didn't know what choice would save the Five Divine Orders."
She closed her eyes tightly, saying her head had frozen after reading her own heaven's flow.
"It seems that the ability to read heaven's flow itself has become a shackle for me."
The Thespian Emperor let out a murky laugh, saying she couldn't make any choices because the future wasn't visible properly.
"The Fallen must have also gone to you after reading the heaven's flow that he wouldn't die. But the result was death."
She nodded, seeming to know how The Fallen had died.
"Now I'm certain. You have the power to change heaven's flow. No, fate itself."
The Thespian Emperor exhaled a heavy breath she had been holding for a long time, saying she could now break free from the blurry heaven's flow.
"I see. So that's why..."
The Queen of Swords chewed her lips, seeming to understand now. It appeared she had entrusted all tasks to the Thespian Emperor. As thought earlier, the relationship between the two seemed closer than just an alliance.
'Fate again.'
Raon closed his eyes, recalling the title he had recently acquired: .
'Whether I change fate or create an entirely new one, it doesn't matter.'
I just need to do what I can do. He opened his eyes again, thinking only of what he needed to do without considering things like heaven's flow, future, or fate.
"I understand your circumstances, but I can't read heaven's flow and don't believe in it, so I can't really sympathize."
Raon shook his head coldly.
"The reason I didn't confront the Five Divine Orders about the Demonblade incident and waited was because you provided information related to the Soul Crystal. But now that the Demon Slaying Spear incident has occurred, that grace has worn off. Now, please make your choice."
He asked once again whether they would follow the path of the Five Kings or die here.
"Sigh..."
The Thespian Emperor lowered her head with her hand on her forehead.
"Meeting you clears my dizzy head. Now I can decide without hesitation."
She smiled faintly, looking into Raon's eyes.
"I and the Five Divine Orders will..."
"Wait."
As the Thespian Emperor was about to make her choice, the Queen of Swords stood up.
"I'm still against it."
The Queen of Swords lowered her eyebrows, saying she wouldn't choose now.
"What? You've wanted to be with the Five Kings from before, haven't you?"
The Thespian Emperor opened her eyes wide, as if asking why she was suddenly acting like this.
"I know this one did wrong, and I understand that the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear caused problems while still being our members."
The Queen of Swords nodded, saying Raon and the Five Kings had the right to question.
"But that alone isn't enough for me to accept. I'm an unlearned martial artist after all."
The Queen of Swords grabbed the sword she had leaned on the round table.
"I want to clash swords with you directly and then decide."
She raised her chin, saying she would follow if he defeated her.
"That's not a difficult task."
Raon smirked as he stood up from the round table.
'It's worth fighting this person.'
Because of Glenn's warning-like words, he wanted to clash with the Queen of Swords first, if not the Thespian Emperor.
"However..."
Raon lowered his chin elegantly, looking at the Queen of Swords' sharp eyes.
"Come at me with your full power. Don't hide anything."
"If I do that..."
The Queen of Swords showed a chilling gaze, honed like a blade, as if she really had something hidden.
"Won't you die?"