Chapter 1360: Arrival of the Western Pole

The day of the duel had arrived. The Western Pole company wasted no time in deploying their troops to the Chasm. They didn’t want to give Reborn any more time to prepare for the battle.

An army marched forwards from the horizon. Their metal armor clanged through the open plains, creating a tremor in the ground that would intimidate normal armies. Exotic materials made their weapons, their chestplates, and even their boots.

This was the kind of luxury that even Upper Echelon companies couldn’t afford. Only a Conglomerate could so lavishly endow their army with these materials.

They weren’t even being subtle about the fact that the Oscorpe Conglomerate was behind this whole operation. They didn’t even seem to care that they were blatantly defying the laws of the Montgomerys.

Xere had mandated these kinds of ploys. No Conglomerate would face a lower ranked company using facades. One must always announce themselves as a Conglomerate.

But they didn’t care. They just wanted to get the duel over with as fast as possible. They’ll deal with the repercussions of this maneuver later.

After all, the rewards of this duel would outweigh any kind of punishments that the Montgomerys would impose upon them. In fact, they could even use the Chasm itself as a bargaining chip to the Montgomerys in order to lessen their sentence. Maybe even forget it entirely.

That was why they marched with haste and with purpose. They didn’t want to give Reborn the time to complain and ask for mediation from the Montgomery family.

But in truth, Reborn didn’t care. Michael already expected them to fight dirty.

And it wouldn’t change his plans at all. He’d eventually fight with the Conglomerates in the future. It was good to start showing fangs now so that they wouldn’t underestimate their company any longer.

It wasn’t long before the Western Pole army arrived in the lips of the Chasm.

They had 40,000 soldiers in total. The same as Reborn’s swordsmen division. This was one of the details of the duel that Michael had ensured to be fair.

Waving proudly, the Western Pole’s emblem flag became a symbol of a new force trying to conquer the Chasm.

And as expected, there were a lot of eyes on them at this time. Michael had his Mini Drones surrounding the entire area. Numerous spies and information networks were condensed here in the Chasm, ready to relay information back to their companies at a moment’s notice.

Of course, the Shadow Orcs had all marked them in their places. Any kind of tampering would immediately be stopped.

"No funny business, Narito, Sasuki."

"BU TO TO! Understood, Supreme Leader. Our Orcs are disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to taste the blood of our enemies. But they will stay put as you have instructed."

"RAH TA TA! But we do have permission to act with force if a foreign army tries to interfere with the duel, correct?"

Michael nodded. His approval seemed to have made the Shadow Orcs happy as they began to beat their cultural rhythms in the shadows.

"Leader of Reborn."

A man with bald hair and a goatee approached the Rebornian camp. Trilla informed him that this guy was the current leader of the Western Pole company. And a distant family member of the Oscorpe Conglomerate as well.

"My name is Arcos. And you are Michael, the leader of Reborn..."

Michael hovered above the gates of their camp. His youthful, golden aura surprised Arcos for a second, before it turned into relief.

He seemed happy. Joyful, even. He was already underestimating the Reborn company because of Michael’s young age and presumable ignorance and hastiness.

Then, Arcos’ eyes glanced towards the people at the gates. Castelle, Yuna, Theresa, and Trilla.

His eyes lingered on Trilla. Of course, they both recognized each other. The frequent family reunions in the Oscorpe estates had made them familiar with each other.

"Miss Trilla. I take it that you are forfeiting your own place in the succession?"

Arcos’ words were filled with challenge and conceit.

Trilla, on the other hand, simply shook her head. "I am not. I simply believe in an Oscorpe that is not conceited within itself. One that can coexist with other companies in peace."

Her words almost made the Western Pole leader scoff. "It seemed that you have been wrongly influenced," he said, his eyes looking at Michael.

"No matter. We will prove that Oscorpe will still prevail despite the numerous betrayals that have plagued our company."

With those words, Arcos turned back towards the safety of his army and let his representatives deal with the rest.

The Western Pole army stood in attention, weapons at the ready.

And in response, the Rebornian camp opened their gates. Soldiers marched forwards. Both human and demi-human.

In comparison to the Western Pole company, the Rebornian soldiers looked disorganized. The were even talking with each other, having merry conversations despite being just moments away from being deployed in battle.

Truly, they looked amateurish.

Then, Yuna stepped forwards. As the arbiter of this entire duel, she was in charge of creating the Sanctum where the battle would take place.

She stood in between the two armies. Raising her hand, a soft, ethereal power emanated out of her body.

Light as a cloud. Beautiful as a rainbow.

That was how Michael described the strange power emanating out of Yuna.

It was at this point that a new question emerged from him. He never considered it before, but what were the special powers of a Montgomery?

Clearly, it wasn’t magic. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to perform their mediation and arbitration in the current world.

It wasn’t Maugnetic Power. It wasn’t Sword Intent. It wasn’t Arcane Magic.

Then, what was it?

He was very curious as to how the Montgomerys were able to carve their own power in this world. They truly looked like a neutral party. One that wasn’t on the side of swords versus magic versus Aubility Power.

As he was having these ruminations, a large portal appeared on the ground, signifying the creation of a Sanctum!