Cthulhu Gonfalon

Chapter 905: Speculations (Part 1)

Sui Xiong first went to the God Kingdom of the Orc God System, the “Endless Field.”

The Orc gods were surprised by his visit but had extended their welcome to him. They could not wrap their minds about this. Why would Sui Xiong come visiting them at this point in time?

After exchanging greetings and making small talk, Sui Xiong said that he needed to discuss something with the “Sky Devourer Canine,” Lefon, in private. Of course, Lefon would not refuse him. Lefon was just as curious and wanted to know exactly what matter it was that could possibly bring the Void Mask, who had originally declared he would take a neutral stand, to visit him.

After the attendant had taken his leave and left the room, Sui Xiong spent a moment on some brief consideration, then in a most straightforward manner, he said, “Theoretically speaking, this war should be a sure-win for the humans while you guys are bound to lose. But for some unknown reason, recently I keep getting this strong premonition and feel that there’s something ominous in store for the future of the humans.

“I’m a man full of curiosity. Though I clearly know that so long as I wait patiently, I will eventually get to know what’s going on exactly, I just can’t help but go around asking and making inquiries. Just what on earth is happening?”

Initially, when Lefon heard Sui Xiong say it was a “sure-win for the humans,” his expression reflected his unhappiness. But thereafter, his anger turned to delight, and he fell into deep thoughts.

As the Master God of the Orcs, naturally, he was the clearest about the balance of power between the two sides. If both parties’ bottom cards were not taken into consideration, just looking at the power on the surface, the humans had at least a 70-percent chance of winning, while the Orcs… most likely not even a 10-percent chance of winning.

After all, other than the “humans’ victory” and the “Orcs’ victory,” there was also a “lose-lose situation” with no winner at all.

Most of the gods felt that the best outcome for the Orcs was nothing more than dragging the humans into a troublesome situation of fighting a war that would have no winner. That was all.

Of course, Lefon was not that pessimistic. Since he dared fight this battle and did not directly arrange for the Orcs to retreat from the Main Plane, it naturally showed that he was still somewhat confident. But even he himself did not have much hope of defeating the humans, let alone fighting the humans to the point where their future would come to no good.

So after listening to Sui Xiong’s words, he could not help but be filled with doubt.

The future of the humans will come to no good? How could their future come to no good? When they already had such a great advantage…?

This was like playing StarCraft, where a combat population of 120 was pitted against another combat population of 80. The huge advantage of the former was unbelievably huge. Right away, it could box up and select everyone in the entire troop. Then casually pointing at its opponent’s base camp, it could put an end to them with just the pressure from one wave of attack.

There was a saying that went, “The flying dragon is already riding above their faces, how is it possible to lose? How could they lose? How is it possible to make them lose?”

Amidst the silence, Sui Xiong was secretly entertaining some wild thoughts. Suddenly, he felt a jolt of surprise in his heart… No, something’s wrong with this allusion!

If he did not remember wrongly, that allusion of a “flying dragon above their faces, how to lose…” seemed like… they really had lost!

At that moment, Lefon finally broke the silence and asked in a low voice, “Why have you thought of asking me? Shouldn’t you be asking the human gods? Ask Wuther, for example.”

“He will not tell me!” Sui Xiong said and shook his head. “Moreover, it’s actually pretty much the same looking for you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’ve heard a saying that ‘the people who understand you best are often not your friends, or not even you yourself, but your enemies.’ I find that it makes a lot of sense. The deeper the hatred, the more you try to find ways and means to study the other side, to understand the other side. In today’s world, if we must point out who bears the greatest hatred for the Human God System, then of course, it would be your Orc God System. If I want to inquire all about the secrets related to the Human God System, then coming to you is definitely the right choice,” Sui Xiong said in a most leisure manner.

Lefon did not know how he should react after hearing what Sui Xiong said. He wanted to reproach with a “bullshit,” but he felt that what Sui Xiong just said were really words of wisdom. He really had no right to rebut Sui Xiong. So he laughed bitterly and said, “These words… do make sense.”

“Most certainly. That’s why I’ve come to ask you for information.”

Lefon pondered for a long time, then finally, he shook his head and said,

“Auscar, I’ll not tell you anything baseless. Let’s just be frank with each other. We Orcs do indeed have some cards to play. But according to what I’ve reckoned, even if we use them all, and our allies are willing to put in the effort to help us, our overall situation will still be lagging behind.

“Maybe you think that it’s okay to be lagging behind on the whole, that we can always open up another gap somewhere else, then catch the humans by surprise and claim victory. But I don’t think there’s such a possibility—if we must defeat the humans by catching them unaware with a surprise attack, then the most reliable way is for me to assemble a group of men carry out a deadly raid. We would just perish altogether with that Wuther guy. Other than him, there’s no other god in the Human God System who is considered a convincing leader by everyone. The internal strife among them is so intense, so long as I can die with him, maybe we can still win this war.”

Sui Xiong nodded slightly as he listened. Then he asked, “Indeed, this idea does sound reliable. But you aren’t really planning to carry it out, are you?”

“Of course I have such an intention,” Lefon said. Then he sighed and said, “If by sacrificing myself, we can win this war, then I, Snakenell, or any of the Orc gods, will not hesitate at all. But… no way!”

“Wuther is stronger than us all. Though I’m most unwilling to admit it, I have to admit it, that he’s strong, stronger than me. And it’s not just a little stronger, but much stronger!” Lefon admitted. His face showed a most bitter expression, then he said, “Not too long ago, I had tried him. Though it was only a brief collision of aura, I clearly felt that he had already taken the most crucial step, that is, to advance from a great Divine Power to a greater Divine Power.”

Sui Xiong was greatly taken aback and asked loudly, “A greater Divine Power?!”

“That’s right, a greater Divine Power. At that time, his aura was still a little chaotic, but I could already feel that a most crucial change had taken place. He’s already taking that step.”

Sui Xiong thought for a moment, then asked, “Is he going to succeed?”

“I don’t know,” Lefon replied and shook his head. “If I knew, it would mean that I myself have made it there. The truth is, I really can’t go beyond where I am at now because I have not accumulated enough. My understanding is not enough as well. Though I can see where the threshold of a greater Divine Power is, I still can’t reach it no matter how hard I try, let alone try to get one foot across.”

Sui Xiong frowned and then asked, “So… from how you see it, is he going to succeed or fail?”

“Whether he succeeds or fails, he will at least have a period of extreme power,” Lefon replied. “If he succeeds, then of course, there’s nothing much left to say. I can only kneel before him and beg for him to show us Orcs mercy and give us a chance to survive. But even if he fails, I’m not confident of being able to hold him back long enough before the period where he steps across the critical point and become stronger than I can ever imagine.”

“So in this case, you seem to feel like it’s a sure-lose for you?” Sui Xiong could not help asking.

“Not necessarily a sure-lose. I will still try to think of a way I can to stall him as much as possible,” Lefon said with a smile. “I don’t hold great hopes. But if he fails, maybe I can still stall him until the time where he goes into a state of decadence. And this, this will be the crucial opportunity for us Orcs to take down victory!”

Looking at the thoughtful Sui Xiong, Lefon said in a low and serious voice, “If the future of the humans really comes to no good end, maybe it means that what I’ve speculated has been realized. If that’s the case, I can die with no regrets.”

Sui Xiong felt surprised as he looked at Lefon, only to see Lefon’s calm expression. In his eyes, Sui Xiong could even detect gratitude and relief.

Though he wanted to give some words of advice, he was eventually unable to say anything. So silently, he bade farewell and left.