Chapter 1585: Real Talk

Every council member’s jaw dropped open in shock without exception. For a moment the sight created an almost comical scene across their aged faces, but the humor disappeared beneath the seriousness of the situation. None of them could treat Erebus’s words as a joke. He had just proposed something that went against everything their people had believed in for generations.

Erebus watched them in silence with his cold and determined blue eyes. He expected them to object immediately after hearing his proposal, followed by a heated debate that would probably last for hours.

Because of that, he did not laugh at the expressions of the most powerful people in the land. He just stood there and waited.

The old man who had entered with him also watched the other council members with a solemn expression, but there were feelings of anxiety that tightened his heart.

Valerian had expected this reaction. He knew the proposal would divide the council and that some of them might even consider it an act of betrayal against everything their people stood for.

But he had already made his choice. Whatever happened next, he would live with that choice and see it through to the end.

The first person to regain control of himself was the council leader. Aldric slowly closed his mouth and took a deep breath as he forced himself to calm down.

His sharp eyes fixed on Erebus as he studied the Dragonborn standing before him. After several seconds of silence, he finally spoke:

"You seem to have reached the same point of desperation as the rest of us. But your solution to our problem is outrageous. We are the Scadri. We are a people of protectors and warriors. For generations, we have fought evil forces to protect this world and its people. And now you want us to invade another world? Don’t you think that is absurd?"

"That’s right, Erebus," another council member said. Theron, a broad-shouldered old man with a deep voice, leaned forward in his seat as his expression hardened. "I know you are a Dragonborn, chosen by the heavens to become our greatest force, but that does not give you the right to decide that we should invade another world. We cannot simply abandon everything we have stood for because our situation has become difficult."

Erebus continued to stare at them without saying a word. His expression remained calm and cold as he waited for them to finish.

He had expected this. He knew they would oppose the idea because the Scadri had spent generations protecting this world and fighting against forces that threatened innocent lives.

To them, becoming the invaders would mean becoming the thing they had sworn to oppose.

Erebus understood that feeling, but he had not come here expecting an immediate agreement. He just wanted them to hear them before he gave his answer.

The other council members soon began voicing their opinions one after another.

Garran, one of the two most openly furious members, slammed his palm against the stone table and rose from his seat. "Have you lost your mind, Erebus? You are talking about invading another world as if its people are nothing more than resources for us to take. What happens to the people living there? What happens to their families? Are you willing to slaughter them because our own world is dying?"

Beside him, a council member named Maeron also lost his temper. His face that usually composed twisted with anger as he pointed toward Erebus and said:

"We have spent centuries fighting monsters, dark forces, and tyrants who believed their suffering gave them the right to hurt others. Now you stand before us and suggest that we become those tyrants ourselves? I will never support that! Not even if it means our people suffer for another hundred years!"

The sixth council member, Seraphine, remained calmer than the others. She did not raise her voice or show the same anger, but her expression also had the same clear disapproval.

She folded her hands over the table and looked directly at Erebus before speaking, "I understand why you reached this conclusion. I understand the suffering our people have endured, and I understand why you believe we need to escape this world. But desperation cannot justify everything. If we invade another world, we will create suffering for people who have done nothing to us. I cannot support that decision."

Their voices filled the chamber as the council members continued arguing against Erebus’s proposal. Some of them spoke with anger, some of them spoke with fear or tried to appeal to the principles that had guided the Scadri for generations.

Valerian was just silent as he listened to them, his heart growing heavier with every argument they said, while Aldric watched Erebus carefully from the head of the table.

Through it all, Erebus remained completely still. He did not interrupt them. He did not argue back. He did not even show anger at their rejection.

He just listened to every objection and every accusation until the chamber finally began to fall silent again. Only then did Erebus prepare to speak.

"Did any of you see that little boy who watched his mother turn into a monster last night?" Erebus asked. His voice remained cold and his expression stayed completely blank, but every word carried the heavy weight in his heart. "He was celebrating his birthday at midnight. Then his mother turned into a monster right in front of his eyes and killed his father, his sister, and his grandmother."

The council members slowly lost the certainty in their expressions. Erebus continued before any of them could respond.

"Do you know about the parents who buried their child yesterday after watching her suffer in pain for an entire year? I remember them because I was the one who helped dig her grave."

The faces of the council members slackened. Their anger faded, their expressions turned sour, they looked away from Erebus.

They didn’t have an answer for what he had said. Their accusations and arguments suddenly seemed much weaker when compared to the suffering of the people outside the council chamber.

"You don’t know because you have been holed up in this place, talking and talking," Erebus continued. His tone never rose, which somehow made his words even heavier. "You don’t see your own people suffering directly, so you can still sit here and talk about justice, principles, and what is right or wrong. But when your own child or grandchild turns into a monster and kills your other children and grandchildren, then you will see what I have seen. You will understand what our people have been suffering through."

He paused and looked across the table at each of them.

"And when that happens, all that talk about being a nation of warriors and protectors will be gone."

Silence filled the chamber. No council member answered him. The anger that had filled the room moments earlier vanished, leaving only uncomfortable silence and the weight of Erebus’s words hanging over them.

Aldric lowered his eyes toward the table while the others remained still, unable to deny what Erebus had said.

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