Back at her territory, Eden saw her walls were now made of stone. Her castle had grown and her troops had a different look to them. She stayed on Thunder and called out, "Arthur, assemble the army. We are heading out now." The troops got ready right away. As they marched, they made many monster kills. Eden kept increasing her power fast.
By the third day in this world, Eden's power was noticeable and she then began getting messages from others asking for help. One message was from her alliance leader asking to speak to her privately. Eden sighed and thought, he probably doesn't want me to leave the alliance since my power has increased exponentially. She put away her scroll and signaled her troops that they were returning home. By now, she had grown an army that appeared large in strength with different tiers. She kept the force field on because she knew if an attack was to happen, her power level would drop and the vultures would come. She needed to make an appearance until her foundation was strong. After resting for a bit, she got dressed in her formal attire and had Thunder adorn as well. The troops proudly carried their banners with their crest and behind each, the alliance banner. They marched to the leader's castle.
Upon arriving, the leader wearing black metal armor greeted her. He spoke very slowly and praised her show of strength before asking, "Is this your entire army?" Eden looked back, and took pride in her troops. "This is my best, but not all" She replied with a grin.
"Are you not afraid of an attack?"
"Why would I be? My castle walls are strong and there's no worry because I have a shield active," replied Eden with a hint of distrust.
"I didn't mean anything by it," replied the leader with his hands up. "I was surprised to see your entire army march here."
"You are the leader, I assumed you wanted to inspect my strength," said Eden as she got off Thunder.
"Yes, about that, I wanted to talk to you about leadership," he gave a small bow and gestured to enter his castle.
They sat in an office adorned with different type of animal skins and weapons picked up from monsters. There were names on the wall with the title R4 next to it.
"How can I be of service, leader?" asked Eden as she sat down.
"Please call Menki," he replied as he cleared his throat. He poured wine for them and kept a straight face.
"I requested an audience with you because I wanted to discuss our alliance affairs."
"What of them? I stay out of trouble for the sake of the alliance"
"Yes, but you are strong and we need your power on the front lines Eden"
"What do you mean front lines? Is there a war with another alliance that I don't know about?"
"Our members have been attacked on the outskirts of our alliance territory. We can't defend them with our troops if you stay in your lands."
"So you want me to move my forces to the center of the alliance?"
"That's one option, the other is to show your strength to the attacker, make them see we are not to be messed with"
"I cannot pick a fight with everyone who attacks our alliance members, they need to get strong as well. Damage to my army cost repairs and time to regain. What you need to do as a leader is teach us how to get stronger. Organize your people to fight back with their own strength. The cost to only defend is high if you understand what I mean"
"Yes, but since you are the strongest in our alliance, then you should help the others."
"I can help, but for how long until my army is weaken and then I suffer from those vultures"
"We will support you"
"How?"
"We can send you resources"
"Resources are only good if I still have an army to feed, but if I lose half my army, it will take time to recover."
"I understand what you mean"
"I'm not trying to be selfish, if anything I want everyone to grow strong as well. But if they rely on me, then they will be easy pickings for the enemy. That is a losing battle."
Menki took a gulp of his drink before taking a deep breath. He smiled a bit as he kept looking at his glass in his hand. Through the glass he saw Eden still sitting without breaking away from staring at him. She had a stern look on her face. He then took another gulp and placed his glass down. "Thank you for your time," Menki said as he rose from his chair. Eden, still slightly bewildered, stood up thinking of what she just said. Had she gone too far. Was she disrespectful for how she spoke to him? All these questions were replaying as she was walking back to Thunder. Eden climbed on her horse and looked back at Menki. "If you ever need help defending your castle, don't hesitate to ask." Menki gave a nod and smiled warmly towards her. Her army began to descend. Menki kept watching Eden as she disappeared into the woods. He lit a cigar as he took out his passport. He released the contracts he had with his army and then went to his leadership board. He was on the window to select a new leader and hovered his finger over Great Eden. Taking another puff he said to himself, "you will make a good one. Too bad I'm tired of this world to see it through." He pressed the button and then selected the leave alliance. Menki went back inside his castle. His gates were then blown open by the army of FTG Expatriate. Calvary rushed through as men set the buildings on fire. His infantry looted the treasury. Steps were heard approaching Menki's office. A General dressed in armor with gold and equipped with high level gear walked in. He looked at Menki, still sitting there with a drink in his hand. The General took off his helmet and spoke, " You deserve to see the face of who will kill you." without any restraint, Menki was killed. The fire devoured everything. There was no trace of a castle standing there.
Eden had gone to bed having an uneasy feeling. Her memory of Menki eyes that looked like they lost their light. She had looked back and beyond the mountains she saw the sky still clear before she kept going. When she got to her castle it was already raining and it was really dark outside. Something kept bothering her about the demeanor of Menki. Did he really invite her just to ask for her help? He could have just messaged her. She decided to set things on her queue until she fell asleep.
Erza woke up Eden as usual, however this time she said, "you have urgent matters to attend to my liege, your people need your guidance." Eden frowned because she had already placed things on the queue the night before, which was so urgent it needed to get addressed, she thought. She went to her office where she noticed it looked larger than before. There was another wall in her office similar to Menki's. She furrowed her eyes and sat down as she began to read her reports. Then she noticed multiple messages on her desk. She began to read them. They were all from alliance members and they all had questions of what happened to Menki. Eden was shocked, she just spoke to him yesterday. She then saw another message from Corruption, Congratulations on being our leader. Eden opened her passport right away. There it was, next to her name, Leader of DRK.
It took an hour for Eden to reply to all the messages she had received regarding leadership and questions about Menki. Then Ezra spoke, "My liege, why don't you send an alliance message. It would save you time in addressing everyone." Eden was annoyed with Ezra for not saying anything sooner but moved on.
" Greetings from your fearless leader,
Forgive me for a belated response in addressing all your inquiries. I was unaware that Menki had appointed me his successor. Our last conversation was regarding the alliance defense. I have sent a scout to his castle coordinate and am awaiting to see what happened to him. He left the alliance before I can reach out to him. In addition, my first order of action will be to implement alliance rules and select a leadership board who will help in making this alliance strong. Please reply only if you have interest in the position. As for the rest, please wait for another alliance mail to address all questions.
Best Regards, Great Eden"