The Ladies' Gathering (5)

"Sure," I gave Chloe a chance to speak her mind.

"Ms. Alicia, you think our plight is just nonsense, right?" Chloe said.

"When I ever said that?" Alicia frowned.

"But you think it is not a worth to fight for?" Chloe squinted her eyes, making Alicia's temper rose.

"I think you exaggerate, there are other races who are in your position; the cat race, the succubus, etc... but you don't see them raising armies of monsters and decide 'let's have a war'," Alicia said.

Chloe laughed, then she turned her face toward Claudia, said, "Ms. Claudia, do your church also have a crusade against the cat race and succubus?"

"No, they aren't vile creatures, although the succubus race is a shameless bunch," Claudia said.

"Ms. Alicia, do you see the difference? What exactly this so-called position in your mind? You can see the Cat race in the tavern, serving people drink, and they get paid, you can see the Succubus in the brothel, and they get paid..." Chloe grit her teeth, "of course, they wouldn't raise their swords, of course, they wouldn't start a war, because no one is hunting them down!!!"

"Do you know how we Dark Elves escape the witch-hunt?! Either we hide or we become a slave!"

"Do you see how absurd is that? No one wants to be a slave, but we? We don't have a choice, either death or submission, do you know life as a slave? Of course not, forget about hardship, you are born with a silver platter," Chloe sneered.

"How dare you?!" Alicia rose from her seat and clenched her hand, I saw her anger seemed to reach its peak.

"Am I wrong? Had you not born as a Lord's daughter, do you think you can become the commander of one of the forts?"

"..." Alicia frowned, the chatter of her teeth was in rhythm with the trembling of her body.

"So, this plight in your mind is 'exaggeration', for us is the entire purpose of our life, Queen Olga is the only person in the entire world that is willing to fight for us, but where are you? Where are the rest of the races? The church spread nonsense and you just go along with it? How can you still claim yourself as an intelligent race?!"

O, oh, Chloe used the red-flag words. True enough, the moment she said it, Claudia cast another pillar of light and aimed it toward Chloe, I jumped toward her side and erected a barrier, the attack clashed but my barrier managed to stop Claudia's pillar of light.

"What do you think you are doing?" I coldly said.

"Anyone who dares to blaspheme the church shall be punished, it is already insulting enough for a vile creature to speak its name," Claudia said.

"But she wasn't wrong," I smiled, "how do you think what the church says is always right?"

"The church spread the Goddess Larentia's teaching, their words are absolute," Claudia's eyes were firmed.

"That include send only Volt and the mercenary to finish off Olga?"

"They made the right decision, with the mercenary and Olga's army clashed with one another, we won't suffer casualties..." Claudia said.

"Oh my God, are you that dumb? Or the church's poison has been deeply numbing your mind?"

"What did you say?" Claudia's expression changed, she summoned more pillar of lights, and all assaulted me, I summoned the Sword Qi from every meridian point in my body and clashed against the pillar of lights, dissolving them.

"Think, Claudia, use your brain! Do you think Volt doesn't know this?! Do you think the mercenary will just accept to become cannon fodder? What is the mercenary? They are the third force besides the alliance and the legion (Olga's army), why should they obey what the alliance wants?"

"They were being offered reward, and whatever treasures Olga has would become theirs," Claudia said, but I noticed a hint of wavering in her tone.

"Hah, what's the point of gold when you are dead? Do you think of Volt as someone who has faith in Celestine's vision? If the church themselves don't trust their Goddess' vision, then why should he?"

"That's true!" Ruu-ruu said, "Celestine is the church's goddess, they should be her most devout believer, yet they thought it could be a trap, does the church think their goddess will send us to a deathtrap? Or her vision is a trick from Olga? But how could that be possible? If they thought Celestine will get tricked by Olga, then what's the point of worshipping her?"

"... God's words are absolute, if my God Pangu told me to kill myself, I will do it," Kaguya replied.

Alicia and Prim didn't say anything, but from the looks on Alicia's face, I felt like she also had sensed this strangeness, but because the church has the final say, she didn't have the choice but to obey.

"Claudia, from your standpoint, why do you think Volt still accepts it and goes to war with the Legion?"

"Otherwise, after the alliance defeats the legion, the mercenary will be our next target."

"True, therefore, what if Volt actually has the plan to annex the Legion into his army and attack the alliance?"

"How's that possible?" Alicia's expression changed, she understood the heaviness of the situation.

"It is very likely," Olga finally opened her mouth, said, "the savage race only listened to me because I provide them benefit, as long as that benefit no longer exists or Volt can offer better benefit, the savage race will not hesitate to abandon me."

"And do you think the church is a bunch of moron who doesn't know this? No, in fact, I think they know very well, but they do it anyway," I said.

"What are you talking about?" Claudia's hostility had decreased, but she obviously still couldn't accept it.

"Do you know Celestine's vision after the church sent Volt and his army to finish Olga?" I said.

"What vision?" Claudia said with some confusion, then the rest of the women also looked at me confusedly.

Now, everything's clear, these women were surrounded by enemies, but they haven't realized it.

"Claudia, I have another vision, it's about Volt and how he will turn the land of Eos into a nightmare..." Celestine trembled, "I tried to warn the church, but they disregard me, I tried to warn you and the other, but you sent me messages that everything will be fine."

"Goddess, we never receive any message," Alicia was the one who said it.

"Me neither," Maia shook her head, followed by Ruu-ruu and Kaguya.

"What's the meaning of this?" Claudia's posture was a bit unbalanced, she supported herself with the chair behind her.

"It's simple," I said, "the war will be over, but for the church and the mercenary, as for you, the war will still continue, and it will end up with your defeat."

I took a deep breath, said, "In another word, the Church and the mercenary are in cahoots, and they have conspired against you."