A day had passed since the last meeting between the main members in the Lethal Bite Clan. Usually, large meetings like so were infrequent within the clan, but due to the current situation of having no leader, time was short for them.
A telling sign was the fact that Bargo from the Moon Shield Clan had been sent. Everyone was gathering in the room, and the one in charge of the meeting was Elder Conner, who had been part of the Lethal Bite Clan the longest.
He looked as he witnessed Niang sitting on one side. As he had entered, a couple of ministers of the Clan as well as another Elder were seated relatively close to him. Conner noticed the smile on his face.
'He seems quite confident. I assume that he has some evidence or he managed to successfully summon one from the Divine realm. That is quite an impressive feat in itself,' Conner thought.
Those in the Divine realm were able to come down to the Pagna world anyway. It was just that their powers were limited. To them, at the lower realm, it felt stifling. To not be able to use their full power, none of them wanted to stay in Pagna for long.
Equally, when Conner looked at the other side, he was expecting Harbour to come with a disappointed look on his face, but instead, he had walked in rather confidently as well.
It was unexpected. If both parties had produced results, and the vote was a tie again, Conner didn't know what to do, since it was worse for the clan the longer this went on.
The sides were fragmented, and even the regular clan members were starting to get into scuffles as they were divided.
"Does anyone know where Bargo currently is?" Conner asked.
Each looked at each other with strange looks until Harbour eventually answered.
"Bargo did stay at one of the barracks; he said he would meet us here at the base though. Has anyone seen him?" Harbour asked.
The question had no answers. Giving out a big sigh, Conner thought there was no need to waste time. Hopefully, Bargo would no longer need a reason to stay here after they were done today.
"Very well, we shall continue the meeting from where we left off last time. I expect everyone here to listen well as they cast their vote. Harbour, since you are already standing, please continue ahead with the results that you have produced."
Clearing his throat, Harbour was confident as he answered.
"Our careful curation of Wanderers as well as talented individuals in the city and around it has been successful.
"We have made sure that our assessments are done in a fair way to curate the most talented of warriors. Recently, a team of newly recruited individuals had been tasked with a mission, a rescue of someone who was kidnapped within our walls."
"Although they were new to the clan, many of them sacrificed their lives as they fought extremely hard against the enemy. In total, three survivors out of eight that were sent had come back."
"This is just one instance of the future of what the Lethal Bite Clan can be and how it won't disrupt the current flow of the clan."
Sitting back down in his seat, Harbour was confident in his results but more so, he was confident in the lack of results that would appear on Niang's end.
Summoning a Divine warrior, even if successful, he imagined it would cause more problems for them than good.
"I see, I see, well Niang, we all heard your theory from last time. I hope you have been able to produce some results that you will be able to show us all?" Conner asked.
This time, Niang had stood up and gave a respectful bow to all of the elders in the room.
"I have not been able to deliver on my plan," Niang answered.
There were large smiles on Harbour and his group's side as this was great news for them all.
"However, I believe that the situation of who should be leading the clan no longer needs to be brought into question. For the one that you know as Harbour has committed treason."
The eyeballs of everyone at the table had expanded wide, nearly popping out of their heads, and instantly Harbour stood up on his two feet.
"Lies, you are spouting nothing but lies!" Harbour shouted. "You should know that it is a great offense to accuse someone of my status of such things, and it means immediate expulsion from the clan."
"Exactly, this is why you should know that my words are not lies at all," Niang answered as he looked to his side and nodded.
The man next to his side stood up and pulled out a scroll.
"Huyng Fai, Tonar Sen, Kilfele Don," the man read out several names one after the other, and all of those in the room knew the names well.
That was because they were a force of strong middle-stage warriors that the Lethal Bite Clan had been curating for a while now. It was the core of their strength.
"All of these individuals have been found dead inside the Stone Manor."
Great shock and gasps were heard around the room. What had just occurred seemed impossible; how could so many great warriors from their clan perish just like that?
"Evidence has been gathered, and their bodies have been brought back from the manor. A mission request had been brought to our attention from the special group known as Alter."
"At the time, Harbour had used his power to force his newly assembled members to take on the mission. I was worried about the task and had ordered the warriors to follow them. The task was handed to us by Alter after all, and as the previous clan heads have told us, we should always treat those from Alter well."
"They reported back that along with the special group, Bargo, as well as Ivor the Barracks leader, were sent along with them. Even though the report that Harbour had sent forward didn't show these things at all."
Harbour clicked his tongue as he heard this. He had learned to forge this from Ivor when he had come back and had told him to stay silent about it. Otherwise, it would diminish the results he had produced.
But how did Niang know all of this as well?
"Not only that, but a call was recorded from Harbour that was delivered to Niang, that they were to do anything that was possible to make this mission a success."
"I have received a report that they had successfully gotten rid of the kidnappers; their bodies have also been brought back. However, the warriors had been found out.
"They had seen that it wasn't due to the Wanderers that this task was a success; it was due to the Moon Shield Clan along with Bargo."
Loud gasps were further heard, and Harbour was worrying now; if the story went on, they would all fall for Niang's words. Everything he was saying was just a story made up on the spot, with some truths mixed in.
But these were the stories that were the most truthful.
"Where's the proof!" Harbour asked, with a tightened fist.
"Not just anyone could have defeated our clan's middle-stage warriors. The facts that I can prove are that Bargo went along with your Wanderer team.
"Our middle-stage warriors are dead. It's simple to come up with a conclusion. In order to get those on your side, you are working with the Moon Shield clan."
"Bargo had brought powerful warriors along with him on the mission to make sure it was successful just as you ordered. And in doing so, completed the mission.
"This is treason!"
Conner sat down shaking his head; he could see that Harbour wanted to argue back, and he was sure Niang had proof to back up what he had said so far.
But he also gathered what was just filling in the gaps and conjecture.
"As of right now, it seems that Bargo, who was sent from the Moon Shield clan, is missing. This does make it seem rather guilty that he has suddenly disappeared, and you confirmed to us that you knew he had arrived," Conner added.
"Whether you are guilty or not is another matter; what we need is to stay strong. We need a leader that we can trust. With the information we have, this might not seem fair to you, Harbour, but we should cast a vote!"
Conner had declared it; right there and then, a vote needed to be cast, and hands were raised first for Harbour, and there were far fewer than last time. Some had even raised their hand then placed it down after seeing that they had already lost.
Harbour was clenching his fists. How could those who were loyal to him be swayed by conjecture? He had been working hard for the clan for a long time in his sister's place, and just a few words to defame him led to this?
"Then it is quite clear that the next current head of the clan will be Niang. However, I will also make it clear that for now, this is a temporary position. If more proof is provided from Harbour's side, then we shall have another voting across us all," Conner stated.
However, Niang's devious smile still hadn't gone off his face.
'Did you think that was all I had? I make sure that no matter what, I always win against my opponent, no matter who they are. It's time to take over the clan, and you shall learn that you should have just given me this position in the first place!'
