Chapter 1945: Swaying and Manipulating

The argument between Wendisha and Lei Wen did not last long before it was interrupted by Kelusi's calm yet unusually firm voice: "Elder Leijia, it is time to make a choice!"

This sentence made Leijia instantly alert; he looked around with some suspicion and uncertainty, while simultaneously signaling his guards to heighten their vigilance, before shaking his head at Kelusi:

"I apologize, I admire your spirit, but I have my own views regarding the future, and I cannot join you for the time being."

Leijia did not shut the door completely; this was actually a kind of instinct for him, and as it turned out, this instinct saved him from a disaster once again.

Just as Leijia finished speaking, Kelusi sighed with a hint of regret, "I held you in quite high regard; I didn't expect it would come to this in the end! Wendisha, do it!"

The next moment, before Leijia could react, everything within his field of vision instantly transformed into a sea of light, and his spellcasting ability, which he took pride in, was as weak as a beginner Apprentice in such a turbulent Magic Net environment.

Terror and anger mingled in Leijia's eyes as he glared at Kelusi and Wendisha, questioning: "What on earth have you done?!"

"Nothing much, it's just that General Kelusi brought out a batch of War Magic Artifacts from that Ancient Fortress, and before you arrived, this place was already under our control!"

Wendisha's expression was flamboyant at this moment; if General Kelusi hadn't said beforehand that Elder Leijia could be won over, he would have wanted to test the practical effects of the War Magic Artifacts long ago.

However, Elder Leijia ultimately failed to grasp General Kelusi's good intentions, and in the end, it still came to this point of taking action.

But with things having reached this stage, Wendisha could not help but worry: if even Elder Leijia, who could be won over, had to be forced to this point, then what about the other Participating Elders?

Would they resist to the end?

Theoretically, War Magic Artifacts can completely achieve Suppression over a high-level Mage, not to mention that Sluwen has been oppressed by Yierlan for many years, and not all Participating Elders are high-level Mages.

But it is beyond doubt that every Participating Elder possesses some means of a high-level Mage; once action is taken, accidents are inevitable, allowing them to escape.

And once those escaped Participating Elders tell Yierlan about the War Magic Artifacts, the organization will inevitably face early attention, or even focused strikes, from Yierlan, and the original plan for national restoration and independence would very likely be aborted as a result.

If he could think of these things, then the proposer of this plan and even its key executor—General Kelusi—must surely have been able to foresee them as well.

Thinking of this, Wendisha subconsciously glanced at General Kelusi beside him, and upon seeing that the other party's expression remained calm, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, leaned in, and asked in a low voice:

"General Kelusi, what should we do next? Please give your Indication!"

"I will talk to him again; you go prepare the contract!"

"Yes."

Wendisha responded and then stepped back to make preparations.

Hearing Kelusi say this, Leijia let out a cold laugh, "Don't think that just because you have a few sets of War Magic Artifacts you can contend with Yierlan; what you have, they have too, and they are even more powerful!"

"So what!"

Kelusi's gaze remained calm, and his will was even more unshakable, "Even if Yierlan is powerful, it is still composed of individual flesh and blood; they will die if killed, and we no longer have any way out. I do not believe they dare to fight us to the death!

"Besides, who told you our War Magic Artifacts are inferior to Yierlan's? They are all legacies inherited from Ancient Aryvandaar; who is to say whose is more advanced?

"In fact, the War Magic Artifacts I obtained come from the highest-level military fortress of Aryvandaar, which is far superior to the defective goods collected and pieced together from battlefield ruins!"

Hearing the other party mention the fortress once again, Leijia finally reacted; the expression on his face changed abruptly, and he subconsciously pointed at Kelusi, asking in disbelief and muttering:

"That Ancient Fortress discovered not long ago? Was this all planned by your organization from the very beginning?"

To this question, Kelusi did not answer directly, only saying faintly, "What do you think?"

Hearing these words that were tantamount to an admission, Leijia's face suddenly turned pale. No one who can reach the position of Participating Elder is a fool; he realized that the Ekrix Secret Society dared to take action against him, which meant they had sufficient confidence to deal with a full-scale war with Yierlan.

They might not necessarily win, but at least they could achieve some phased results, for example—a more "independent" status than before, or even shaking off "supervision."

At the thought that he might have a chance to stand tall in front of the Eaerlann Elves in the future, a surge of impulse suddenly rose in Leijia's heart; perhaps joining the other party was not a bad choice after all.

But the premise for all of this to be realized was that the Ekrix Secret Society's plan must succeed; if it failed, it might plunge Sluwen into an even more desperate situation.

So how could it possibly succeed?

Unknowingly, Leijia had already begun to put himself in the perspective of the Secret Society to think about the problem. He thought of his status as a Participating Elder, which still held a certain degree of trust on Yierlan's side; perhaps he could use this to do something.

Thinking deeply, Leijia suddenly woke up, "What on earth am I thinking! Or is it that I actually have a bit of a rebellious spirit deep down?"

After waking up, the heavy resistance of the real world rushed back to his heart, turning into an endless ocean, extinguishing the spark of idealism.

Perhaps the water flow was too much and too rapid; some droplets shimmering with crystal light appeared at the corners of Leijia's eyes, but they were eliminated the next moment by his rapid blinking.

"General Kelusi, can you let me consider it further?"

"No, you need to give me an answer right now!" Kelusi refused without hesitation.

"If I don't agree, will you kill me?" Leijia asked again.

To this question, Kelusi shook his head again, "No, you belong to the category that can be won over on our side, not to mention that you are one of the few high-level Mages Sluwen has; how could we kill you!"

Hearing this, Leijia could not help but feel ashamed of his own despicable thoughts, but he still would not join the other party under such unclear circumstances.

Yet Kelusi did not think so, "Although we won't kill you, we won't let you go either, and we might even use your identity to do something. When the war officially starts, do you think you can still return to the past?"

"You, you—"

Leijia was suddenly speechless. In fact, if it were himself, when in a position of absolute control, he would not easily let go of a prisoner who could become an enemy at any time.

But for some reason, although Leijia appeared very angry and very reluctant, a trace of relief emerged deep in his heart, but there was still one last question—

"Then what about my family?"