The commander ended up returning to the base, thinking the situation had become too dangerous. At the same time, the Royal Family and the Tower Association had also learned about his action.
"What is this? Did the commander do something this big without even consulting us?"
"Is he planning to rebel?"
The ministers were berating the commander's action in front of the king, trying to pin the blame on the commander. However, it didn't change the fact that the commander was killing the bad guys, which was the Supreme Devil Organization.
For these nobles, the fact that the commander moved without consulting them was a bigger problem. After all, this could be seen as insubordination. Even if the Demon Banner Army was an independent army in charge of demons, it didn't change the fact that it still belonged to the Muivell Kingdom.
They could easily give a lot of reasons why they should punish the commander, such as the Supreme Devil Organization could retaliate back by wreaking havoc in multiple cities or they would be terrorized by the Supreme Devil Organization since those higher ranking people in the organization wanted to make their move.
They had been pushing this matter to their king, wanting him to punish the commander.
However, the king remained silent the whole time. He had been watching their debates with a cold face.
He thought, 'These fools… Did they not realize that Oscar wiped out the bad guys? If I punished him, there would be a loss of trust in the citizens' hearts. I can't let myself be seen as a tyrant since it'll cause many problems in the economy.'
'Besides, the commander has enough reason to justify his operation, considering he has suffered a lot of defeats against the organization.'
'Still, I've been utilizing the Arbiters a bit too much recently. If I continue using them, there will be a crack appearing within the system itself.'
'It seems that I can't make my move for the time being. However, we have to keep the commander in check so that his popularity is not growing to the level of the royal family.'
The king was assessing the situation carefully. He didn't care whether the commander beat the organization or not. He never planned to punish the commander from the beginning.
What the king actually cared about was his public image. He had to maintain a certain public image to lead the kingdom. And if the commander gained a lot of popularity because of this action, it would diminish his power.
So, he decided, "Tell Commander Oscar to come to the palace. Give my message to other arbiters that they are to remain stand by for the time being."
"Your Majesty." The people didn't expect that the king would decide to let the commander go. Even if he called the commander here, it would only be a formality to appease the citizens. There wouldn't be any setbacks the commander would face.
Of course, the king had another plan. He turned to the prime minister that was standing next to him and whispered, "I want you to send a message to the Tower Association. Incite their anger regarding the Plant Lord."
The prime minister nodded with a serious expression.
The political war between the three big influences in the kingdom was about to begin. The royal family wanted to retain their power as the absolute ruler, the commander wanted to use his power to not bother with politics so that he could focus on his enemies, and the Tower Association was desperate to rebuild its reputation after the Plant Lord incident.
Obviously, as an Arbiter as well as a high ranking noble, Marquis Stargaze could see the storm brewing in the Muivell Kingdom.
He let out a long sigh and looked at the sky, "It seems that there will be a huge civil war sooner or later. And the Supreme Devil Organization will be taking advantage of this situation to weaken our kingdom.
"Just like what you said, Luke… the Ardagan Family has been stretching their hand toward the three influences not because they are greedy for power, but because they want to balance their power to reach a peace between the three influences."
"Now that the Ardagan Family is out of the picture, there is no one keeping everyone in check anymore."
"What will you do, my friend? Will you finally make your appearance or will you remain in the shadows? But if you make your appearance, it will be clear that those nobles will use it against you. You're supposed to have died from execution after all."
"There is also the young Ardagan, Noel Ardagan. It seems that my daughter is interested in him. Nevertheless, if he doesn't grow stronger, he will be swallowed by this storm. The same applies to my daughter, who seems to have run away from this kingdom."
"I hope that they can reach the Spirit Grandmaster stage as quickly as possible…"
Marquis Stargaze fell silent for a moment before shouting, "Butler Lin!"
"Yes, Sir?" A butler entered the room with a serious expression.
"How is the preparation?"
"It's almost completed."
"The secrecy?"
"No one knows about it yet."
Marquis Stargaze nodded. "Good. Complete it. It's time for us to cause a mess with the other arbiters… We'll have my daughter defeat an arbiter and become one herself. We don't have much time left."
"Understood. But who will we attack this time?"
Kevin squinted his eyes while tossing a piece of paper with a name on it.
The butler was surprised but immediately acknowledged the order. "I shall complete the preparation."
"I'll leave it to you." Kevin waved his hand, dismissing the butler from his room. "I have done all I can for you, Anna. Become a Spirit Grandmaster as soon as possible."
…
As he wished, Anna and Noel had been proceeding with their trip quickly.
They were about to arrive at their destination.
"To reach the location, we have to cross this valley. As much as I don't like it, it seems that we have to fight against Superior Demons and a lot of Peak Level Demons." Nicole pointed at the map.
