After the banquet, Thea, alongside the Elders of the Misty Sect, conducted a high-level meeting. None of them had expected their guardian to choose to self-destruct during its battle with William, and it caught them completely by surprise.

Because of this, all of them were facing a great headache. Without a powerful deterrence, the Misty Sect was just like an average sect that could be stepped on by forces that were much more powerful than them.

The reason they were afraid was because they had also done this in the past. Meredith was once a Demigod, so very few people wanted to mess with them. This allowed the Misty Sect to develop for a thousand years, which allowed them to become one of the powerful forces in the Central Continent.

They had stepped upon countless small forces during their rise, and they'd purposefully stepped on each of them due to their strong backing. Without Meredith to hold the fort, the prestige that they had built was just like a castle made of sand.

A castle that would easily be destroyed once a powerful wave washed over the shore.

"What should we do?" Lady Miriam asked anxiously.

The Elders looked at her, but none of them could give her the answer. All of them were feeling anxious as well, and they hoped that there was someone that could find a way to solve the difficulty that they were facing.

Thea had already asked Rebecca if she knew why Meredith had decided to self-destruct during its battle with William. The young genius only said that William had touched Meredith's reverse scale, which prompted it to self detonate in an attempt to kill William while he was inside its body.

Unfortunately, William survived, and Meredith's rank had dropped to the Centennial Rank.

Thea scanned the depressed faces of everyone in the room. She had already thought of what to do, but she was afraid that none of the Elders would support her decision. Seeing that all of them were clutching at straws, she decided to speak up and tell them about her plan.

"I have a proposal," Thea said with eyes filled with determination. "We need to ally ourselves with a powerful faction in order to preserve our heritage."

The Elders's expression turned grim, but they also understood that this was the only course that they could take. The only question was, which faction would they join?

They were surrounded on all sides, and their borders contended with two Empires, a Kingdom, and the Glory Sect.

All of them were incredibly strong, and had been eyeing the resources of the Savadeen Mountains for hundreds of years.

They were the forces that the Misty Sect was very wary about. Any among these four factions could become their new Master, after the celebrations in their Sect ended. For now, no forces would attack them because they were currently their guests.

However, after a month or two, these people would definitely send their representatives to negotiate with Thea, and kick them while they were down.

"Which faction should we join?" Eleanor asked. "Will it be the Glory Sect to the West? The Kingdom of Rinoa to the North? Or perhaps the Elun and Aiur Empire that lies to our East and South?"

Eleanor gritted her teeth in frustration. She didn't think that she would see the downfall of her sect during her lifetime.

"None of them," Thea answered. "We will ask for external support."

"Who are you going to ask?" one of the Elders asked. "Looking for external support is difficult. Their power must be strong enough to deter our neighbors. Also, if their base is far away from us, having them as our allies will be useless."

The other Elders nodded in agreement. They didn't mind getting a strong ally, but they also had to consider that seeking help from factions that were too far away from them would be useless.

Thea understood what they were thinking, but she didn't care. As the Sect Master, the preservation of their Sect was her topmost priority. She was prepared to bleed and be extorted by the other party. As long as their territory wasn't conquered before their Guardian had regained its full strength, there was still a way to make their comeback.

"I'm talking about the Ainsworth Family," Thea said in a firm manner. "We will ally with them in order to prevent our Sect from being conquered by others."

"The Ainsworths?"

"What can they do?"

"This is not a good idea, Sect Master. While William had shown his prowess, he is but a single person. He couldn't possibly protect us from these powerful factions on our behalf, right?"

The Elders looked at Thea in disappointment. They didn't expect that their Sect Master would choose to ally themselves with the same person that had caused this problem in the first place!

"Think about it. William is the owner of the 51st Floor of the Tower of Babylon," Thea said. "No one wants to be on his bad side because he can blacklist anyone from entering the 51st Floor. Also, he is the owner of a few other floors in the tower. Simply put, no one can advance through the floors that belong to him without his approval."

After pondering about this logic, most of the Elders realized that this was indeed an effective deterrent to a faction that wanted to expand.

Right now. The era of great wars had ended. No one could expand their territory unless they went to war with their neighbors. With several chips in his hand, William could freely designate ownership of the various floors under his command.

To the powerful factions of the continent, this was a temptation that none of them could resist.

—-

The next day…

"You want me to make an announcement that the Misty Sect and I are allies?" William asked. "Sure, I don't mind! That is the answer you want to hear, right?"

His tone was laced with sarcasm, but no one dared to offend him at this point in time. They were holding onto him as a lifeline. If William didn't agree, the name Misty Sect might cease to exist a year or two from now.

"Yes," Thea answered. "We are willing to heavily compensate you for accepting our alliance."

"So in short, you want me to become your meatshield," William said as he rubbed his chin. "Do you think I'm a goon that you can hire by giving protection money? I'm not that cheap!"

"Lord William, anything can be discussed."

"Yes. We are willing to accommodate any request you have."

"Your Excellency, you are our only hope."

William had a carefree look on his face. For him, the Misty Sect was a band of scoundrels who only relied on their backing to bully others. Now that they had lost their Guardian, they were like wild ducks that would fly away once they heard a gunshot.

"Oh the irony." William chuckled. "A few years ago, I was being ridiculed by your sect. Now, you are practically begging me to save you guys. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

William then shifted his attention to Eleanor and Lady Miriam who had their heads bowed in shame.

"I bet both of you didn't see this day coming, right?" William sneered. Although he was the root cause of the Misty Sect's possible downfall, he didn't give a hoot about their low-quality acting.

"I failed to see your greatness because of your upbringing," Eleanor replied. "It was a terrible mistake on my part. I am willing to do anything so I can have your forgiveness."

Rebecca's Master had no choice but to eat her pride and lower her standing in front of William. If this was the only way on how their sect could be saved, she was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

She was an orphan that was picked up by the previous Sect Master and raised with love and care. For her, the Misty Sect was not only a sect, but her home. Eleanor would do anything in her power to prevent its downfall.

Elliot and Conan stood on William's shoulders with their arms crossed over their chest. They had no intention of intervening in the discussion. Even so, a mischievous glint flashed on Elliot's eye.

Unlike the straightforward and innocent Conan, Elliot was just as much of a scammer as William and James.. Even if he didn't say anything to William, the angelic familiar knew that the Half-Elf was already formulating a plan on how to make the Misty Sect cough up their resources until they cried a river of blood and tears.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read