Chapter 298: Make a Good Case

"Ahem. Let's make this quick shall we? Those of you who have issues with me becoming the sect master raise your hand and take a step forward!" Right off the bat, Ares came swinging with a strong start. Though it hardly affected many people here, forcing those who opposed him to out themselves amongst a sea of people who were supportive could be a bit nerve wracking. He was proving to them all that they were an extreme minority and utilising the 'public sentiment' much like he did back when he was giving his speech at the tournament. Those elders who didn't want to be the ones rocking the boat when everyone else was sitting peacefully, at the risk of looking like whiny old dinosaurs who couldn't get with the times, would maybe back down here which would reduce Ares' workload today. If they didn't feel strongly about the matter to begin with then there was decent chance this would kill all remaining motivation as it would seem unnecessary when they could just resign themself to it like everyone else and not be weird about it. Was this ethical? Bullying people who were perhaps a bit more timid and prone to peer pressure? Nope! It's not like Ares ever claimed he wouldn't be morally reprehensible when it suited him! It's not like the end result would differ anyway, as these specific elders likely didn't have any points that couldn't be swatted away regardless. If they were really this unconfident in their own questions or assertions about Ares then it was likely nothing worth discussing. Anyway, excluding these people who went back to blending in with the crowd and didn't take this chance to make their concerns heard, there were about six elders in total with their hands raised. Naturally one of these members of the opposition was Dascar, and that was no surprise to Ares, but there was one familiar face amongst the crowd... Curse you Rud! 

"Rud, the hell are you doing over there?" Ares wanted to spit at the old mule but instead figured he would at least politely ask first... Not that his tone was anything but rude...

Rud snorted and give a strange response. "I'm playing angel's advocate."

"Isn't it supposed to be devil's advocate?"

"No, because then I'd be on your side."

Ares glared at the bastard who'd gotten him good but if Rud thought he was getting away with this dig he had another thing coming! "Ok, before we continue, I want a second show of hands. When I become sect leader, who thinks I should lower Rud's wages?" A wave of hands shot up throughout the entire room, unsurprisingly given what Rud had done to a number of them, and instantly put the win firmly in Ares' hands for this round. Rud ground his teeth and looked around, remembering faces and taking names for later! Even the elders who disagreed with Ares becoming the sect master had their hands raised! The punk had swayed emotions with that last move! Who knew there was something in this sect that could unite everyone quite like payback for Rud?

"Alright, that aside, I want those of you with complaints to lay them out to me one by one so I can address them in a timely fashion. There's no order or need to wait for permission so if something is on your mind then just say it."

"I don't like you."

"Fuck off Rud." Ares gave the old coot the middle finger and ignored him. "Anything so long as it's not a waste of everyone's time and is actually relevant to the topic at hand. Also, if any of the elders who haven't stepped forward also want to say something then feel free. You can ask for clarification or even query me about the direction I plan on taking the sect although I can't promise you I'll have a fleshed out answer for everything. I've not familiarised myself with every single department or the current rules of the sect. I'm loosely aware of these things and will be going over these matters as soon as possible now that things have come to this so if there's anything I'm not aware of I ask for patience and understanding. That aside, ask away." Another smart choice here as Ares had cut off the 'you know nothing about the sect' argument from the get go. People could still make it but Ares hadn't been here that long, hadn't been openly in the running for sect leader for ages and, as a result, had no reason to be so concerned with every minor detail of the sect. He admitted it was a shortcoming and vowed to improve so as to prevent it from being an issue. It was something that had only literally just become relevant to him as of a few days ago so pinning the blame on him for not knowing every single aspect of the sect would backfire and generally be considered a bad argument. Even if these elders knew Ares had been planning on taking over for a while longer than they were aware of it wouldn't matter as Ares could just use the valid excuse that he was preparing for the tournament. In other words, he'd cut off this line of questioning as it was a bigger hassle if somebody else brought it up before he did. Sometimes honesty is the best policy.

"You're just a kid who won some dumb tournament, why should you get to be the sect leader?" Ares didn't even have to turn his head to know it was Dascar making such a blunt and stupid comment. He'd been warned this guy would fire off every single reason known to man even if they were wrong, irrelevant, or based on misunderstandings. He was already doing it which caused Ares to inadvertently sigh but he gave a quick response none the less. He didn't have to explain thoroughly as the other elders didn't need this question answered and wouldn't press him for a response even if he outright ignored Dascar. 

"First off, this kid form is temporary and I'll be back to normal soon enough. Given the circumstance surrounding my family there was no possible way for me to have known about this beforehand and it wouldn't have even really been an issue had my mother not interfered and pushed things along in this direction. Even if such a thing happened to me after becoming sect leader Calla being here would have guaranteed our safety from foreign threats regardless so it was a relatively minor matter that had actually temporarily made this sect the safest its ever been. Calla's presence will make us unassailable for the next month, give or take, so it's actually been surprisingly beneficial. I'm the only one who has any real reason to be concerned with the fact that I'm a kid right now as it's halting my cultivation progress but that's mostly irrelevant because I rarely if ever cultivate anyway. It's far easier to raise my cultivation in other ways, such as through combat, so it's not too worrying. Plus I probably gained some cultivation after my match with Mako anyway so I won't be falling behind anyone else. Not that it matters because, and this is point two, I won that 'dumb' tournament you're referring to.

I'm already the strongest of my age group unquestionably and missing a week or two of cultivation due to unfortunate events outside my control would never change that. Hell I don't think I need to say this but I'm not exactly restricted to 'my age group' either and I'm already at the point where I could start winning against a fair few of the elders in this very room. I only plan on taking control of the sect after reaching bloodline awakening, at which point I'd have access to Garmr, and then there isn't anybody left in this room that can go even with me beyond that point. Even Yulo wouldn't be able to. Be it the tournament or just in general, it should be fairly obvious my strength is sufficient to take on the role. I'm not taking over because I won the 'dumb' tournament, that's blatantly not it. I won the tournament because I have a level of power that is also capable of serving as credentials to lead this sect. The two are indirectly related at best it's just that the former helps prove unquestionably the latter. If winning the tournament were all that mattered then Yulo could have just as easily picked Enyo."

"Maybe it should be Enyo?" Rud spoke up as Ares' refutation of Dascar led to him mentioning the name of somebody that had been the previous potential candidate being whispered about by certain elders... Namely Rud... "She's not as strong as you, we all acknowledge that, but she has better leadership qualities and is strict enough for the role too. Aren't you a bit too carefree?"

Ares gave a serious response even though it was Rud because he seemed genuine in his questioning. "I guess that would depend on what your stance is on Enyo's brand of leadership. For starters, the Enyo any of you knew is long gone and that disappeared a while back. She's not uncompromising or needlessly strict anymore so I wouldn't expect it of her all the time. Second of all, that Enyo leading a sect would be disastrous as you'd all become mini Legion members not even a year in and any sort of identity this sect had as an individual entity would be eradicated fully. Third of all, there's a line between strict and tyranny that she would have absolutely crossed and any all suggestions you would have wanted to make would be ignored utterly by the person she was back then. She was righteous to a fault and stubborn to one as well. She could not be reasoned with the way you hope she might be and such a trait does not make for a great leader.

You, none of you, would have a say in the direction of this place and it would rapidly just become a branch of local law enforcement rather than a sect. There's also a limit to how uptight a person should be and, with all due respect to my wife, she had crossed that line by at least a few miles back then. Right out the gate this meeting would not even be happening as you would have all been expected to obediently fall in line and do as commanded from the get go. You think you could disobey? Well this is where the fourth point comes in and I remind you of her father who would not tolerate insubordination. You would have no agency, no individualism, no say in anything, and no chance of ever fixing it. For the rest of time this sect would just be a Legion base in Sheryashka used to hunt down criminals and, worse, revenants. And I mean worse for you, not me, because they're immortal and you're not. The Legions would expect you to give you life for them without hesitation and there's a non-zero chance you would make enemies of people in the Umbra clan who would just obliterate you on the spot eventually anyway.

Now, to be fair, that's old Enyo and, while the path she would have led this sect down was dark, new Enyo would be different, right? Yes, completely, she might even be perfect, but who do you think influenced her to be as she is now? I say this with pride but she, at least partially, tried to model herself after her sister and I. Her new personality was emulated to be more 'carefree' so if you put her in charge, you'd basically just be getting me anyway and, as I'm stronger, and can provide more benefits, I'm still the better choice in near enough every way. Also, she has no interest in leading anything other than a harem anyway and just wants to do her own thing. She knows she would feel obligated to still serve the Legions too and she doesn't want that for the sect because it has a better future under me. I'm not saying she's a bad choice, far from it, it's just that you aren't getting her and I'm still marginally preferable either way. As for me being 'carefree', and this is the last point, to some extent yes but in other ways no. It really depends on the matter and I only tend to be carefree if I'm certain of my ability to overcome whatever situation is at hand. I might not appear as such to those of you who haven't met me but I can only promise you that is the case. You're free to ask the other elders but I can be solemn, stoic, firm, pensive, and articulate if need be. I'm never going to stop being an annoying revenant, I refuse so don't even ask, but I have very clear intentions with every move I make so you needn't worry about me being rash or impulsive. Carefree but not careless."

"You mentioned the Umbra clan being a problem if Enyo had taken over before she became who she is now..." Another elder spoke up, this time not Rud as he seemed content with the answer to the question. "... But won't you attract the ire of the Legions even as you are right now? We don't want to fight them... More like we absolutely cannot."

Ares had a feeling this might come up, it was one of the tricker questions he'd been pondering how to respond to. " This one's complicated and I don't have any good suggestions for this. This simplest way I can put it is that none of you need to be worried about it. I'm not saying it's not an issue, I'm just saying the Legions, no matter how much they hate me for whatever reason, they do not hate you. So long as I am not here, the Legions also have no reason to be. I will not drag you into whatever spats I have with them so if they really do want to cause trouble I will just take them elsewhere. They do not kill innocent people so the Legions are not a group that you have any reason to fear. Besides, I imagine they would be hesitant to attack regardless. I'm not gunning for them and I have a dimension to save so you would think they'd leave me be. I can't say for certain they won't ever hassle us, apparently Major is a bit of an asshole in that regard, but I don't see a reason anyone here should ever get involved with that other than me. Just let me handle the Legion and all will be fine. I will never make the landmass as a whole, sect included, a battleground fi there is literally any single way it can be avoided. I can store it in the Primordial Blade, which is how I intend on bringing it to Vraizon to begin with, and it is completely safe in there so even if anyone attacks there is zero risk. I am the only one in danger regarding the Legions and, even then, they ought to consider my fundamental status before making any rash moves.

Now is any of this irrefutable? No, they might just disregard everything and assault the sect anyway but there are two more points I want to make. First of all, what's stopping them from doing it now? So long as I'm here the reason for their hate will continue to exist. I don't need to explain why you can't get rid of me, I'm basically integral at this point and I will not stick around if I don't become sect leader. That is partially a threat but I have every right to make it as I've single handedly turned this sect around since I arrived here and, in turn, have every right to take the benefits I've brought elsewhere. You'll be safe from the Legions, which you most likely already are, but at what cost? You'll become defenceless to other sects if neither Yulo nor I am here so you'll just end up in a more precarious situation than if you stuck with me to begin with.

Second of all, why can't you stop the Legions? Because you're weak? By that logic you can't stop me either. Part of the reason you're mostly all willing to let me lead is because I can take you to Vraizon where you're entire goal is to get stronger, no? You can't fight the Legions now but who's to say you can't do it in a few years time after training in the place only I can take you? What kind of cultivator are you that you back away from such a massive opportunity to skip upwards a domain because you're afraid of a fight? you know cultivators have to fight at some point right? And I'd be doing most of the work anyway. How the hell do you think a God of destruction is going to lose to any mere army? The destruction pillar was basically tailor made for situations like that so we categorically have the upper hand. I'm not sure yet if I'll clash with the Legions but I have no intention of losing to them. I'm even prepared to use 'No Fear' to keep this sect safe if it comes to it but you're unwilling to let me lead because the Legions might one day pass through and ask you where I'm waiting for them?

This level of cowardice is honestly shocking.

I don't know about you but I'm not someone who runs away from their problems. To summarise, you stand a better chance against the Legions with me than you do against a clan looking to overthrow you without me or Yulo. If it's one or the other, just pick the correct option and accept life in the cultivation world isn't easy. I plan on fighting most of this sect's battles so who I make enemies of is a pointless topic as you won't be needing to fight them. Rather, you get to make enemies of whoever you want and I'm the one who's really going to suffer. If I leave you alone in space for five minutes and return to find you arguing, about to start a deathmatch, with some random clan or sect, shouldn't I be the one complaining? I will reiterate, this sect gains more from me being here than I gain from being in the sect."

"What do you even gain anyway? Who's to say you aren't just using us for convenience but will chuck us away as soon as you find stronger replacements in the higher realms?" A third elder butted in.

"What do I gain? A home? I'm going to be climbing through domains like a monkey up a tree so finding a new place to come back to every single time I do would be tiring. I have a family, a big one, and I want them to be safe, secure, and with me as much as possible. This is the best solution to that. Additionally, having a base of operations is just generally handy and, should things go in that direction, this place could even turn into a small army. I'm not raising you as soldiers, so don't misinterpret my intentions, but I am aiming to gather strong cultivators here. Again, primarily to protect the people I care about but, hey, at the end of the day, use 'em if you got 'em. I will be used by you for protection for millions of years so if I can't turn around to the countless strong cultivators I've added to the ranks in that same time period and say 'hey, mind helping me out for once', then what's even the point? Now does that mean I'll replace the weak? No, I'm a man of my word. Anyone who was here from the start, and doesn't need to be removed for whatever reason..." Ares shot Dascar a glance as he was absolutely in the running for being removed and Ares wanted everyone ot know it. "... Needs not fear being abandoned. I won't make room by getting rid of you so don't worry about it. I plan on expanding this landmass such that everyone I want to have living here can. I usually care more about raising people up than finding new blood anyway as it's less of a hassle for me. I'll be busy doing other things outside the sect and won't really have time to scout. Anyone good I find I'll direct back to the sect but I'm not making that my express purpose outside the sect."

"You say that like spending all your time outside the sect is a good thing?" Said the fourth elder in the line up.

"It is and that's the reason why this sect had been failing all this time. Harsh but true. A sect leader is the pinnacle of the sect and so if they stagnate so will the sect. The leader is supposed to make business in foreign lands, find treasures and resources for the sect to exploit, kill off competition in the local area (such as bandits or mercenaries who limit job opportunities fort the disciples), and become stronger. If a peak transition realm cultivator wanted to kill you all who would be the only person who could stop it? Yulo. He is the last bastion of defence and should act as such by recognising how important it is for him to keep improving so as not to fall behind. Sure he could defeat the peak transition realm cultivator but if that same person went to go train for a year, and Yulo did nothing, he wouldn't win the second fight and then everyone here would be screwed. Does this leave the sect defenceless? In some cases but I intend on devising means to keep you all safe in my absence. At the very least, barriers that are nigh impossible to break through without considerable time and effort ought to allow you to stall until I return and that should be possible thanks to Enyo as well as the runes I recently handed over to Julio (that I got from Candy in the pagoda). That's the bare minimum and I have other means I want to create for such occurrences. I have to leave the sect, it's non negotiable because, at the end of the day, my objective numero uno is my fundamental duties. If I don't leave the sect, then big bad Xhilihx will chomp on the entire dimension and you all die anyway so no complaining. I'm a carer in some ways but I'm not your mommy. You can survive five damn minutes without me putting the dummy in your mouth for you."

"How much money could a brat like you even possibly have? How are we going to afford anything?" Dascar was back and arguing points that still made no sense!

"I'm not sure why you have to know this but I have 130 high grades, or will have soon, so what of it?" Ares was just mentioning this in passing but a lot of the elders were actually really jealous of this amount, the little bastard was richer than he looked! "My own expenses aside, as I fail to see why that matters, we are going to afford things with the stardust that we will continue making. I've already helped this sect gain stardust out the wazoo via tomes, Shock Beads and artifacts, and winning the tournament. I will no doubt find many treasures, resources, and artifcats on my adventures that I can add to this place's treasury and that's still just the start. I fully intend on making sure this sect, and the landmass as a whole, are economically independent and need no outside support. That is not something that can happen immediately but it will happen. Until then, we have the resources and the workers necessary to keep us afloat, especially when combined with the entirety of Red Sun and the businesses Hans has been negotiating with." Another weak argument from Dascar that needed little to no explanation so Ares was able to mostly ignore it with a fast response. He didn't need to explain this entire landmasses economy to this guy because that would take forever and it didn't much matter to running the sect regardless. The last elder that wasn't Dascar gave the hardest question so far immediately after, however, and now Ares was going to have to be brutally honest in response.

"Can we ever get rid of you after this? If we all collectively changed our minds, and came to the conclusion you aren't what this sect needs after all, would you leave willingly?"

Ares sighed, looked the elder dead in the eye, and made his stance clear. "Absolutely not, I plan on owning this sect forever. You may choose to disassociate with the sect at any point but I will not regardless of the pressure you try to put on me." He was going to have to explain this stance, and to some extent he could decently, but it was absolutely going to be the sorest spot for those still not on side. Hell Ares might even have a few extra elders to convince now after having replied so uncompromisingly in the negative. Still, this needed to be said and he wasn't going to lie about his intentions going forward. What he needed to do now was persuade them into agreeing with him that this was for the best. It is, it's just also a very hard sell given the nature of what he was saying. Still, Ares had been decently prepared for this argument and had a response so now it was just a matter of seeing how everyone reacted to it...