The group of cultivators, both young and old, stared at the creature with a mixture of doubt and caution. They had never seen anything like the creature before, and didn't even know such a sinister thing could exist in this world.
"Why should we believe you?" the man asked, his guard still raised to the maximum. He was stronger than the female who had died earlier, and was confident that he could keep himself alive, especially with the numbers they had.
As the group behind him contained some but not all of the most talented youths of all three subgroups, they had been escorted by some of the most powerful members of each group. They could also call for reinforcements if need be, which gave the man more confidence in dealing with the nightmarish creature before him.
The creature ignored the man's question, and turned around and sat down on his throne, his features once again obscured by the dark shadows in the back of the chamber.
"Sooner or later, this world will kneel under my rule," the creature said with absolute confidence. "You can choose to ally your pitiable selves with me right now, or you can choose to oppose me. It makes no difference."
The creature's words contained no doubt at all as to the veracity of them, something that the others could feel from the weight of his words.
"If you're so powerful, why haven't you made this world yours already?" the man asked warily.
"There are some…obstacles that stand in the way of that," the creature replied in obvious displeasure and disgust, its deep voice shaking the walls and floor beneath their feet. "Soon those obstacles will be removed, at which point this world will crumble beneath my heel. Your assistance will aid remove those obstacles sooner, but they will be accomplished eventually regardless of your actions."
Silence filled the chamber, with the only sounds being the wails of the captives in the cage, and the hushed whispers from those within the crowd of cultivators. The most powerful cultivators of the group got together to discuss the matter at hand, their raised voices indicating some disagreement.
The creature waited in silence, as if the outcome didn't concern him at all. The group of powerful elders eventually parted, with the man taking the forefront once more.
"Me might help you, if it is in our best interest," the man said, "but answer me this first. Why are you targeting the Honorable Alliance? While we do wish to eliminate them, we do not have the power to do such a thing at this time."
While the Honorable Alliance was weaker than the combined might of the Monster Race, Forbidden Alliance, and Barbarian Race, they still had things they could lean on. The Faerie Race was friendly with the Honorable Alliance, as were some individual powers of notable strength. This was enough to form a unified front strong enough to resist their enemies, and ensured that a war would be pyrrhic at best for their enemies.
They were making plans to enact this war eventually, but those plans were still in motion and would take a long time to implement. Part of those plans was to raise the current generation of youths to a level beyond what existed at the moment, and have their future might crush all enemies.
The creature before them was an unexpected variable in their plans, as none of them knew of his existence before today. They had received a mysterious summons, and decided to oblige based on the information provided in the summons. While the events that followed were far beyond their wildest expectations, it seemed as though their ultimate goals were truly aligned.
"'Asura' is a youth from the Honorable Alliance," the creature eventually replied, his words shocking the large group. The identity of 'Asura' was a mystery as soon as they reached twenty steps, and all the powers had been searching to find out the true identity. However, no one had been able to, something that frustrated them all to no end.
If someone as talented as that was allowed to fully grow, they would sweep across the world unchallenged.
"How do you know this?" the man asked, skeptical of the creature's claims. "The Honorable Alliance is a fading power, not capable of producing such a monstrous talent."
"You doubt my words?" the creature growled as it narrowed its eyes. The temperature of the room seemed to chill in an instant, while the sinister aura radiating from it thickened. The man couldn't help but take a step back in instinctual fear before he stopped himself from retreating further. Clearly he had enraged the creature by constantly doubting it.
"No," the man replied eventually after composing himself, "I do not doubt your words. Since 'Asura' is part of the Honorable Alliance, I'm sure you've summoned us here today to deal with that mess?" the man asked.
"I have," the creature confirmed as its eyes swept around the room, studying the youths in the group. "I told you to bring your most talented youths," the creature growled in displeasure, clearly seeing through the trickery of the group. They had brought talented youths, but not their top geniuses.
"Surely you can understand why we would not bring our best into an unknown situation," the man replied, explaining his rational stance. "If you would explain your plan to us, perhaps we can send word to bring the geniuses you desire. The Honorable Alliance's youth's are currently in the Jade Dragon Empire training realm, which is heavily fortified to the point that even we could not get through. If 'Asura' is a part of that group, then surely he is within as well. What can we possibly do to 'Asura' at the moment?"
A guttural growl sounded out from the creature, as if he despised being haggled with. His large finger strummed the armrest of his chair as he sat in silence for some time, while the group waited in silence as well, unsure of what was going to happen.
The strumming continued for a short while before the creature spoke out once more and explained the plan to the group before him. The leading man's face changed expression several times, from doubt, to surprise, and then menacing glee.
After listening to the plan, the man took out a formation disk and sent his divine sense into it. The disk was a long range sound transmission disk, one that was incredibly profound and expensive. The leaders of the Monster Race and Barbarian Race did the same, and all three soon received replies from the leaders of their powers.
"My Forbidden Alliance has agreed to this plan," the man said.
"As has my Monster Race," the monster race leader said.
"Us too," the Barbarian leader said, his voice almost as deep and guttural as the creature before them.
"Good!" the creature's guttural voice sounded out, as a makeshift pact between the four powers was formed. A menacing smile appeared on its face, barely visible through the dark shadows he sat within.
