Chapter 145

World Gathers (IV)

The world was back at it; however, unlike yesterday, where the meeting was relatively quaint and peaceful, the cards had flipped ever since the start of today's discussions. Rather than the quaint, somewhat somber, and tense atmosphere that reigned yesterday, anger, shouting, and a lot of insulting reigned supreme today.

Amidst all that, Cain sat in silence while Rick and others hollered back and forth with other countries' leaders. It was a mess; he felt as though he was surrounded by packs of rabid dogs that hadn't eaten in weeks rather than people. There was something so primal and unrelenting about the whole ordeal that it was, in some ways, even sad.

"... can you believe those assholes?!" Rick grunted as he sat back down, short of breath due to shouting. "They want us to just give 'em free, no-restrictions access to the Tower right away!! Shit, one of them said that we should even just give them the Tower since they're more talented than us!"

"Yup..."

"I mean, honestly? I was willing to make a few concessions, allow some people inside, loosen up a bit, you know? But fuck that. Those assholes don't deserve anything!"

"Yup..."

"It's like, 'hey buddy, if we're taking a step back, you don't get to take a whole fucking mile instead of one step!'"

"Yup..."

"... are you even listening?" Rick asked as he realized Cain's responses were... short.

"Nope." Cain chuckled lightly, sighing. "It's all... just noise, Ricky."

"... this is the future of the country we're talking about here, Cain. You have to care at least a little bit."

"Is it, though?" Cain asked back. "Want to hear the truth?"

"..."

"People are scared, man," Cain said. "That's the only reason their demands seem 'insane'. Think about it -- if America's military alone was any form of a deterrent, what do you think about if we added tens of thousands of demigod-level beings to them? What if we, one day, decide we'd really like more land? Perhaps some Conquerors get so big that they demand the whole states be their homes... you think you will have the power to say 'no' to that? Fear rules them, and you guys don't understand it. It's fine, it really is. But..."

"... I didn't think about it like that," Rick sighed, leaning back. "They could just say it, though."

"Could they? What do you think the world would think of a country if its leader came out and said 'hey, we'd like access to the Tower 'cause we're fucking terrified of other countries raising thousands of Conquerors that could blow us up with their finger'? Hey, uh--Mr. President."

"You will never--ah, yes, Mr. Gregory?" the man abruptly turned around and immediately shifted his volume from top to bottom.

"Would you mind if I settled some things here?" Cain said as he took out a can of beer from his inventory and took a sip.

"O-of course not," the President said, sitting down. "I have full trust in you."

"..." Well, that's a bad idea... Cain chuckled as he stood up and stretched for a moment before walking over to the elevated podium that currently stood empty. Most people didn't notice him, and those few that did went silent and sat down, their gazes anticipatory.

Cain stepped up on top of the podium and looked around at the hall of madness; terror and rage almost coalesced into two vestiges that levitated above the crowds. Insults in countless languages were being tossed back and forth and not a single word worth even a dime was uttered all the while. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Pipe down." he said lowly, though charged Body into his throat so that his voice spread out throughout the entire hall; furthermore, he charged and unlocked Mana within himself, letting the sea go berserk for a moment. Not only the Conquerors, but even ordinary people suddenly felt as though the sky was falling on top of them, closing their throats and ending their ability to even think. They began shaking in terror as their eyes inadvertently glanced toward the center of the hall where a solitary figure stood, looking at them with a hollow gaze. He was back -- the Phantom. The figure that every country both wanted dead and to possess at the same time. The man who could ruin a country within a breath's time if he so desired.

"..." the whole hall went silent abruptly, so much so that people stiffened even their breathing. It was like a graveyard at night, with no soul to peep.

"You've been at it for five hours," Cain's voice was mellow but eerily emotionless as he spoke. "Screaming, wailing, bitching, and moaning like a pack of kids. I'm tired. I don't care about the rest, but I'm tired. I decided to attend this... meeting, I suppose, because... well, honestly, it was because I was bored -- but, in part, it was because I hoped it would be different this time around. But it's not. It won't be for a long time, I feel. And, since I can't wait that long, if you won't listen to reason, I'm sure you'll listen to that tiny voice in your soul that told you a few moments ago that if you spoke... your head would fly off your body in a beautiful shower of blood and gore."

"..."

"Countries without Towers," Cain said. "You know those with won't allow you to enter... not just yet anyway. So, allow me to be the harbinger of what you actually wanted to hear during this meeting -- Conquerors, those within these halls and without -- and countries with the Towers... I'll give a single warning -- if anyone, and I mean anyone," he paused for a moment, glancing at Rick and others. "Invades a country without a Tower... I will personally fly over and kill every single person who had a part in it." shallow gasps rang out throughout the hall as Cain took another sip of the beer. "I don't care about any of you. Heck, I can barely muster a single bout of care for my own country. But... as I'm sure most of you here do, I have a family. And I don't want to go into the Tower dreading that something might happen while I'm on the inside. So, here's the conclusive deal that you all will accept or, I swear on my own daughter's name, I will kill you right here and now -- countries without Towers... pipe down and walk away. Wait for a while. The Towers are not a sprint -- as someone who went the deepest in them, I guarantee you that. They're a marathon. You'll get your chance to catch up. Countries with the Towers... raising an army of Conquerors to defend yourselves is fine. But, if at any point you march them across your borders... I will visit."

"..."

"Ask your own Conquerors," he added with a faint smile. "It's not that they don't want to move and shut me up. They physically can't. Not one of them. Their Mana won't listen to them. Their minds are so wrought with terror... the only thing they can think of is running as far away from this place as possible. And this is me being gentle. The Towers... are a gift. From God, from aliens, from lizard people -- whatever you wanna believe. They belong to all of us, one way or another. What we get in them isn't meant to be used out here. So... don't make me. The last people that did... well, I'm getting a bit sleepy so I'm gonna go back to my apartment and have a long, nice nap. I hope you'll be nice to each other! Cheers!" he raised the can and emptied it as he walked off the podium, the hall still wrought in silence.

He winked at Rick who was sighing, hand on his forehead, and breezed past the others -- none of whom looked him in the eye, not even Jake, Bren, or Khristina.

It didn't take him long to reach the outside; he took the underground tunnel so he wouldn't have to deal with the impatient press on the outside, reaching just outside Rick's massive compound within less than fifteen minutes. It was a nice day; the sun had just passed its zenith, and the sky was cloudless. He glanced at the Tower in the distance and sighed, realizing that he had just condemned himself to killing many more people in the future.

There was not a doubt in his mind that most wouldn't listen. They believed and will continue to believe if they just gathered hundreds of Conquerors to throw at him... they'd be fine. How the non-Conquerors perceived his strength was a bit different than the Conquerors who experienced it directly. In his mind, he had no doubts that Conquerors who were actually there would never lift a finger even if they were 'ordered to'. It's like a scar; eventually, people slowly forget about the time they got hit by a car and had a bone jet out of their bodies. But, every once in a while, when they brush past a similar experience... they remember. And the searing pain returns from seemingly out of nowhere -- a mind's way of warning.

In the future, even just sensing Cain's Mana signature would freeze them up in place, rendering them unable to even speak -- this would even be the case if Cain stopped getting stronger and let others blast past him. Well, he sighed once again as he made his way back to the apartment. It should still buy us a few months, at the very least, before anyone does anything stupid. By then, Mana should be widespread enough that I won't be hampered. Aaah... I'm gonna have to waste a Spell Creation slot on Manalock, won't I? Shit...