Acanthio and Edward continued their confrontation at close range. Acanthio had the reach advantage with his longsword, however, Edward had two daggers, and wasn’t restricting himself from using both. Acanthio handled his longsword with two hands, striking strongly but swiftly and without revealing large openings.

Acanthio went into the offensive, Edward had to parry the blow rather than block it, diverting the force to the side and moving closer to strike with his second dagger. Acanthio didn’t sit passively and he move out of the way, avoiding Edward’s attack.

After several exchanges in a stalemate, Edward became more aggressive. I don’t know about him, but I can’t maintain my accelerated state for a long time. I have to finish the fight before I become exhausted. Edward teleported behind Acanthio as the latter was swinging his sword at him. It was a perfect opening. Acanthio had his back wide open and didn’t have the time to turn around.

That’s when all of Acanthio’s lightning left his body in an explosion. Edward had barely the time to reinforce his armor with his aura, but he was still blown back by the force. As he regained his bearing, he noticed that Acanthio’s lightning was gone for the moment, Acanthio would have to gather new electricity around his body to maintain his speed and reflexes. As the lightning was building back anew, his breath grew laborious, using so much lightning at once had clearly strained him.

So, he may be able to last a long time with his lighting active, but if he loses it, it costs him to reform it. Good to know.

Edward’s competitiveness hadn’t declined with Acanthio managing to repel his attack. He increased the length of his aura along his daggers, expanding the blades with materialized aura until they almost achieve the same length as Acanthio’s longsword. He smiled viciously before charging back into the melee.

Meanwhile, Strobilus was watching the fight with incredulity. He was barely able to follow the combatants due to their respective speeds. He didn’t favor direct fights. Apart from the other main families, nobody could oppose him in Gobéliard since he was at the predator stage. He had grown fond of the privilege and comfort that accompanied his status. He knew Edward had to be strong since he had managed to take down Quintus, but seeing from his own eyes how he was able to go toe to toe with Acanthio crystalized the fact that he wasn’t his match.

He had to hope that Edward would prevail over Acanthio. Seeing how they were closely matched, even if Acanthio won, he doubted he would be able to kill Edward. This would be the worse option for him, if Edward came back for revenge, Strobilus wouldn’t have a chance against him.

If the reverse happened, Edward’s victory would put his family at the same level as even a minor one concerning the laws, but his family assets wouldn’t disappear. They weren’t lacking money, and with him, as a predator, he wasn’t in danger. His influence would dramatically decrease but he could live with that.

As Strobilus was lost in thought, the fight only redoubled in intensity. Multiple exchanges were happening in the span of a single second, neither opponent managing to overthrow the other. Edward repeated the same maneuver, teleporting behind Acanthio. As he sensed Acanthio’s electricity ready to explode, instead of coming closer to deliver a blow, he focused all of his aura on one dagger. He let one energy blade dissipate to elongate the other one, its size surpassing even Acanthio’s longsword. Acanthio discharged his lightning around him in a blast but the aura blade was undeterred, its tip rested on Acanthio’s neck drawing a drop of blood. If Edward wanted to, he could have killed him right here right now.

A moment of silence elapsed, the immobility of the combatants contrasting with their previous flurry of movements. Edward slowly let his energy blade dissipate and put his daggers aside.

“It appears I was wrong. You defeated me in a straight-on fight. You have the qualifications to make demands. Even though it irks me, I will respect your proposition, letting a council decide the fate of Gobéliard.” Acanthio declared slightly disappointed.

In a way, it is easier like that. Simply beats your opponent to make him accept your proposition. If it was Quintus, he would never have bowed. I would have had to kill him.

Edward grinned widely “I’m glad this is sorted out. It was a good fight.” It was the best result for him, convincing the rest of the families of his plan without having to destroy them. With both Acanthio and Strobilus in the city, even if Edward left, Gobéliard should be able to sustain itself on its own.

Strobilus came back seeing that the fight was over. He was split between the relief of not having to fight Edward and the regret of having to let go of his power. But more than that, he was awed that Edward was able to beat Acanthio. Acanthio had always been the strongest of the three when it came to Gobéliard’s families. Even seeing it with his own eyes, he was having trouble comprehending how an upstart predator had been able to top them.

Seeing Strobilus baffled face Edward couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “See, you won’t have to fear me coming in the dark to hunt you down. All is good.” He was in an exceptionally good mood.

Strobilus didn’t know if he should laugh or cry so he didn’t reply and just let the comment go.

This went better than I thought. Now that this problem is resolved I have to contact Cornelius. I have to let him know of the new arrangements. I can’t wait to see his face when he learns that the reign of the families is over. He was acting like Gobéliard’s mayor for all this time I will let him manage all the details to actually put the council into place.

“It was good seeing you. Now that you are agreeing to my proposal, I will disclose it to Cornelius. I trust that he will be able to put everything in place. I always appreciate when diplomacy is working.” Edward announced before leaving.

Acanthio took it in a stride but Strobilus was dumbfounded as if he wanted to tell Edward “This is what diplomacy looks like to you?”.

Edward quickly left, heading for the town hall, even while the result of his fight with Quintus was still diffusing across the city. The people were still unaware that he had also managed to defeat Acanthio.

Edward had no trouble navigating through the city, running from roof to roof, and even having the leisure to teleport to save time. From his vantage point, he was able to see how the news was spreading across the city and the chaos that ensued. I’ll let Cornelius resolve this mess. I’m glad that I don’t have to manage a city. Being powerful and free is the best. Cornelius can keep the responsibilities.

Edward quickly arrived at his destination, the city hall easily recognizable due to its size and the city symbol, a conch on a yellow and blue background. He didn’t head to the inner courtyard, instead using his aura to probe the building, sensing its interior. When he found Cornelius, currently alone inside his office taking care of some paperwork, Edward teleported directly inside.

“Who?!” Cornelius exclaimed, half standing from his chair, suddenly sensing a somewhat familiar presence appearing in his office. “Edward? So, you managed to come back alive. But why are you…” Cornelius paused his eyes opening wide in shock. “You are at the predator level.”

Edward smiled, not disappointed by Cornelius’ reaction. When he was but a kid, he enjoyed spooking his friends, and what fun was a teleporting power if he couldn’t use it that way? “Good day to you too, Cornelius”.

Cornelius repressed his surprise and his face turned to a professional affable, not showing what he was thinking. “May I know what your intentions are?”

A crafty old fox. I didn’t expect him to regain his bearing this fast. But that’s good, he will be perfect to put the council in place. Edward grinned widely. “Well, you see. I had all that strife with the Vega family, and I thought how come the big families can do whatever they want without consequences? So, I have this proposition of establishing a council to govern Gobéliard. The idea is to share the power between the ordinary citizen and the families. The citizen will elect representatives at the council, each one will have one vote, and all of the families, including the minor ones, will also have one representative with one vote. The number of representatives will be the same for Gobéliard citizens as for the total of the families. What do you think? That seems fair to me.”

Cornelius paused, looking at Edward as if he was insane. “I know that it is exhilarating to breach through to the next stage, especially at the predator level since they are so few of you. But I must remind you that you are not the only one. I have high doubt that the main families will accept your proposal.” Cornelius explained in a diplomatic tone.

Edward couldn’t help but laugh before his eyes flashed with a glint of bloodlust. “That’s the best part. I have already dealt with that.”

Cornelius focused all of his attention on Edward, beginning to take him seriously. “Could you please explain in further detail?”

“Quintus is dead. Strobilus agreed to my deal without too much trouble. And Acanthio is a good sparring partner, after I fought with him, he agreed without too much fuss. He has a particular vision of the world,” Edward snickered. “But he doesn’t seem to be the kind to care about the details. Now that he has agreed to the matter, I don’t think he will change his mind. Additionally, all the runes the families have extracted from me are already spreading among the minor families. Soon it will be available for the ordinary citizens as well.”

“…” Cornelius was speechless in front of such a declaration.

“Oh, don’t worry, the news should come soon enough,” Edward sensed people hurrying toward the city hall from the outside thanks to his aura. With it covering a two hundred meters radius around him, he was able to monitor what was happening outside while staying inside Cornelius’ office.

“It is true then. What you have done will overturn the political landscape. It is the equivalent of a revolution. I wasn’t expecting so much from you. I knew you had some wit to you when you managed to slip through the Vega family’s wrath. But overthrowing the families and forcing them to abduct the vast majority of their power wasn’t something I would have dreamed of. This changed everything. Still, the question remains, why have you come to me?”

Edward was absentmindedly following the office worker hurrying into the building to deliver the news to Cornelius. “Why? But to discharge all of the work and fine-tuning to you of course,” he laughed. “More seriously, I know you care about Goébliard. I could have removed the three main families from the picture if I wanted to, but that would have destabilized the city too much. I don’t want to reign over a city, chained by responsibilities, having to care about mundane matters, every day pent up in an office. I am meant to explore the world and its wonders. I trust that you have enough clout to manage something like establishing the council. I know this won’t be as easy as it seems to be and there are lots of details to put in place. But I trust you, you are already Gobéliard’s mayor. I’m just removing your burden of having to submit to the main families’ whims.”

Cornelius bowed down to him. “I must thank you. What you have done will change Gobéliard forever and for the better. Being myself at the awaken level, I didn’t even imagine how one could restore the balance in Gobéliard. Pacifying the main families and taking care of the rest as best as I could was the lesser evil and the only sensible choice I had.”